Wesley [1 year]

Holy cow, we have a ONE YEAR OLD! It doesn't seem real at all, but according to the calendar Wesley is now over 12 months of age. I look at him, and he doesn't look any different or older to me. He doesn't look like a toddler. Well, apparently he is, and all I want to do is rewind the clock and hold my tiny baby so tightly that he can't grow any bigger. While I wish such an irrational thought as that were true, it isn't, and I instead have to get to enjoy watching this beautiful and bright boy continue to grow and learn and blossom into a wonderful, young person whom I look forward to knowing. For now, I will pretend to pause that clock and will recap all of the amazing moments and memories from Wesley's last 'official' month of babyhood.

Size: Dare I say, this child has finally grown a touch? Yes! We've retired a few pair of footie pajamas recently. Even though he still fits in a few 3-6 month zipper jammies, the sleeves are a little short, and there isn't much room in the feet. Wesley's 6 month pants are a little short, even though they still fit fine in the waist. The next size up we have in Simon's hand-me-downs is 12 months, which are mostly too big for Wesley's tiny waist. I think that 9 months is probably a better fit for Wesley across most infant clothing brands out there.

Health: At his 12 month well baby appointment Wesley measured 29.5 inches (33rd percentile) and weighed 18 pounds, 10 ounces (11th percentile). This weight is 2.5 ounces less than what he weighed on our home scale at 10 months and 11 months old. Our pediatrician wants to see Wesley increase his caloric intake, mainly with table food, which shouldn't be an issue since he happily eats everything we put in front of him. Poor baby was also seen by the doctor for a nasty cough stemming from his first chest cold, as his previous bugs in the past have all been head colds irritating his sinus passage. Although it sounded awful, the cough passed relatively quickly with lots of extra fluids and the help of Wesley's new humidifier he got for his birthday. (Thanks, Laura!)

Feeding: Wesley wasn't regularly eating three meals a day before his birthday, but his meals with solids usually included a LOT of food (much like his Daddy and older brother, they can all eat like it's going out of style). He ate everything at Thanksgiving dinner including turkey, mashed potatoes (minus the green onion Eric added), green rice casserole, candied yams (minus the marshmallows), green beans, and a little bit of pumpkin pie! New foods that he enjoyed during his twelfth month include Cheerios, ravioli, and pierogi. Wesley is starting to do better with larger pieces of food and shows more control and patience with how much he puts in his mouth, although there are still occasions where he's too excited and shoves way too much in there. He loves to eat apples by the slice and even bit into a whole apple that he shared with Simon and Cho-Cho. Wesley happily drinks lots of water from his straw sippy during the day and is still nursing on demand.

Sleep: Nighttime slumber is coming a little easier these days. Wesley is only waking about twice a night now, which is a welcomed improvement. When he had a stretch of nearly six hours, it made for some much needed rest for Mommy and Daddy. Wesley's back teeth are still working their way out, so I don't expect him to be sleeping completely through the night until all them have come in. For this reason, I see no point in transitioning him out of our bed if we are still continuing to get up two times a night. Naps are pretty scheduled with one in the late morning and one in the mid-afternoon. I've noticed that we have an extra cranky baby if we deviate from that schedule for whatever reason, such as if we're out running errands or attending a get-together.

Milestones: We have had fun encouraging and cheering on our bug as he figures out walking. In his twelfth month Wesley could stand independently for a few seconds at a time and even managed a few steps. This happened mostly when he was distracted by something and not paying so much attention to holding on for support or maintaining his balance. He's very skilled in walking while pushing an object such as our lightweight Lego table and his Mega Bloks scooping wagon Cho-Cho got for his birthday. I've noticed Wesley squatting more, which is a funny-looking position for him, and his ability to sit up from lying on his back is now an effortless transition for him. His memory is amazing as he's learned the entire layout of our house and crawls from room to room with purpose. That boy knows exactly where to find me when I'm in the shower and will abandon play with Daddy to come greet me while I'm getting clean.

Likes: This busy body cannot be contained when he's curious and determined. Wesley loves to crawl onto the fireplace bricks way too much. It makes me nervous that he'll hit his head, regardless of the fact that we've yet to build a fire in the house since it's been cold. To keep him away from danger and injury, we blocked off the fireplace with a 6-panel play yard that our neighbor across the street gave to us when she was getting rid of a bunch of her grandson's baby items. The gate also worked wonders doubling as baby-proofing the enticing Christmas tree. Wesley's arms are long enough to reach over the top of the gate, but aren't long enough for him to actually get a strong enough hold of anything and cause damage. Other things Baby enjoys getting his fingers on are the toys we keep in toy bins between the car seats in both cars. Wesley knows the drill and automatically reaches into the bin for something to chew on as we prepare to buckle him into his seat. He is also fond of dumping out baskets or containers of toys at home and putting the items back in one by one. He'll repeat this process over and over, and I clap to give him praise of this new skill that will later lead to learning how to clean up.

Dislikes: Although he's very much a social butterfly, Wesley was being more clingy during his twelfth month and wasn't as accepting of being held by other people. He would happily go to the welcoming arms of any of our friends when we were camping back in August, but this changed into fussiness and immediately reaching back for us when in the arms of anyone other than Mommy, Daddy, or Cho-Cho (my dad is still watching Wesley for me when I'm at work, so Wesley is very comfortable being with him). Wesley was only somewhat cooperative when being held by Pappy and Auntie (whom came home to visit!) during Thanksgiving and his birthday party, as well as with other party goers and with various friends at additional events. I know that his shyness is a natural part of development as he enters early toddlerhood, but I do look forward to seeing Wesley more easily enjoy interacting with different people in our lives and being comfortable in their company.

Social: While in the comfort of his most familiar faces Wesley is very active and talkative. I'm finally convinced that "Mama" and "Dada" have meaning to Wesley. When he crawls though the house on a quest to find me, Wesley chants "Mama" the whole time until we meet with smiles. He also says "Dada" when Eric arrives home and greets him with an excited and happy face. Wesley can wave and says "hi," can sign ALL DONE and has tried to voice it as well, and is making tons more babbling sounds like he's carrying on a complete conversation with himself or anyone else close enough to hear. My new favorite communication from Wesley that I absolutely cannot resist is when he crawls over and reaches up as a request to be picked up. He spreads his cute, little fingers as far out as possible and always has the best, most happy expression on his face.

Other Updates: Our first Halloween as a family of four was very fun. We'd already warmed up our costumes at the ASL Harvest Festival earlier in the month, so we were excited and ready to get dressed up again for trick-or-treating. James and Lilly joined us at Laura and Lucian's house, which made it really special to be with Pappy and Uncle Ben for Wesley's first candy haul experience. I wore him in the Tula as we navigated the neighborhood, and he did a really good job keeping on his minion hat while I carried his bucket full of treats. Both he and Simon made out pretty well and got lots of chocolate to share with Mommy and Daddy! We also celebrated Wesley's last "First Holiday"--Thanksgiving--with a turkey dinner at our house. Pappy and Cho-Cho dined with us, and Auntie and Teresa visited with the boys later in the evening. I was so happy and grateful to share this holiday with everyone in our family, especially our two boys. We look forward to another year of celebrating and making memories together with our darling Wesley Woo. We love you so much, Baby Bear! Thank you for coming into our lives and giving us joy and love greater than this whole world.

Check back about Wesley's birthday party in separate post!

 big boy growing up fast!

last night as an 11 month old!

fabulous dinner position

cozy nighttime with Mommy

skilled at standing

 learning to game with Daddy

with Pappy on Thanksgiving

so much happiness and love

Wesley's first trick-or-treating

candy haul!

Thanksgiving feast!

Auntie home!

our family on Thanksgiving

Wesley [11 months]

The next time I blog I will have a ONE YEAR OLD! Eleven months has come so fast, and it simply does not feel like it's been nearly a year since this darling boy came into our lives. Wesley's addition to our family has been beyond a joy, and our love for him is insurmountable. I want to soak up these last few weeks of our baby's infancy and cherish every moment before he officially becomes a--gulp--toddler. That pill will be so hard for me to swallow, as I want this boy to be our little baby forever.

Size: Mr. Wesley has grown so much in spirit and not so much in actual size. Our daytime temperatures have finally cooled, so this boy has been getting to wear more of his cold weather apparel. He is wearing size 6 months pants, some 3 months/3-6 months and 6 months size onesies (and he can fit in 9 months depending on the brand), and infant size 3 shoes. We'll need to buy more cold weather footie pajamas and warm sweaters in 9 months to get him through the upcoming Winter season. His current diaper size remains the same.

Health: On our home scale Wesley still weighs 18.8 pounds, the same as last month. Teething is in full swing, as he's working on his upper molars. We took Simon to the dentist a few weeks ago, and the hygienist kindly added an infant toothbrush for Wesley to Simon's bag of oral care goodies at the end of our visit. Wesley loves using his new Winnie the Pooh toothbrush, I think because he gets to chew on and suck water off of the bristles. Simon absolutely loves that they share the ritual of brushing their teeth together at night before bedtime. Wesley's hair continues to grow and is showing some curl at the ends. Even though it looks pretty wild at times (and appears to reach the bottom of his neck when wet!), I'm going back and forth on whether we should really get it cut. He's got so much more hair than Simon did at this age, so maybe it's just Mommy whom isn't ready yet!

Feeding: I've been working hard to increase my hydration and taking supplements to help with my milk supply when pumping. I'm seeing some results, and I'm trying to fit in pumping time at home when time permits. Wesley wants to drink way more milk than I'm able to pump in a day, but I think we'll be able to manage with the few frozen milk bags I have left until his birthday when he can have almond milk. I'm told that he absolutely loves seeing that bottle when it makes its appearance, and he can hold it on his own--one handed!--and drink independently like a champ. Wesley has now mastered drinking from his sippy cup on its straw mode, which quickly led to him figuring out how to drink successfully from any straw. We learned this when in just one night we observed him grab both Simon's CamelBak bottle and my Hydro Flask with a straw lid and guzzle down a bunch of water like it was no thang. New foods that Wesley is eating and enjoying like crazy are cheese, apple sauce, mango, chicken, and scrambled eggs.

Sleep: Nighttime sleep improved temporarily and then took a turn for the worse. At the beginning of his eleventh month Wesley was waking a little less at night, sometimes only once or twice. With the onset of his upper molars coming in, our poor boy has been uncomfortable and easily stirred. My dad says that Wesley gets some late morning/early afternoon nap time in when they pick up Simon from preschool on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Wesley uses the car seat that Simon first used for daycare in Cho-Cho's car, and I'm happy he's able to sleep comfortably in it while riding.

Milestones: Wesley's pincer grasp is finely tuned with all the practice he's gotten with self-feeding, as we've noticed that he's an ace at picking up the tiniest of particles he finds on the floor. Everything from small leaves, pieces of plastic from tags, and even a single rice grain winds up in those little fingers and sometimes in that little mouth until we carefully fish it out before it's swallowed. Even though he primarily self-feeds, Wesley has also enjoyed being spoon-fed homemade applesauce (made for our recent visit to Apple Hill) and has recently tried handling the spoon to feed himself. I've also noticed that Wesley mostly understands the concept of pointing and will look in the direction of where we are gesturing rather than at our finger. Additionally, he sometimes helps with getting dressed by putting his arms in and taking them out of his shirt sleeves when appropriate.

Likes: While our silly boy will assist in dressing himself, he just loves to pull off his socks! They seem to make perfect play objects for Wesley, as his socks come off while playing at home and practically immediately after being buckled up in the car. Wesley also loves playing with his big brother's toys, and Simon is much obliged to share. Baby will crawl into Simon's room and go for the ball bin, the stuffed animal basket, and the very attractive bag of wooden blocks. While in the playroom together, Wesley likes to sit aside Brother while Simon builds with Lego Duplos, whom will in turn provide a few captivating blocks for Wesley to play with nearby. When we play together in his room Wesley loves to play the stacking game with Mommy, where I count and stack as many of his One Two Squeeze blocks as I can before he excitedly knocks them over. He's also grown to really love Pat-a-Cake even more and enjoys grabbing my hands and making me clap them together.

Dislikes: We may have reverted back to hating baths. Wesley hasn't let us sit him in his baby tub for a while, so we're holding him in the shower again. He's getting too heavy for me to carry for long periods of time, so when it's my turn to take him in the shower I end up sitting on the floor and letting Wesley sit or lie cradled in my lap. He seems to tolerate that just fine, as long as I don't try to get him to sit on the shower floor himself. Wesley's still not a fan of the nighttime diaper changes and is no help to Daddy when needing to get those stubborn feet back into his jammies. 

Social: I'm pretty much convinced that Daddy is Wesley's favorite person. This boy lights up in a way that he doesn't with anyone else when Eric comes home from work. I will ask, "Do you want to go see Daddy?" and a huge smile will erupt across Wesley's face accompanied with either looking around for Eric or starting to crawl away from me to find him. The two of them have developed their own little social interaction of lifting their heads, pursing their lips and humming. They do this back and forth several times a day, and watching it is so hilarious! Wesley is signing MORE very clearly and has a more discriminate sign for MILK that I'm starting to see a little more frequently. It sometimes sounds like Wesley is trying to say MORE when he signs it and EAT after I sign it to him. We wonder if he is trying to communicate his hunger to us when he crawls over to his high chair and uses it to pull himself up into a standing position. Once standing, he grunts a lot and loudly taps on the high chair's footrest. When we respond by asking if he wants to eat, he smiles and babbles and happily allows us to buckle him in and waits for us to prepare a snack. Wesley is saying "Mama" and "Dada" a lot more often, but again he says it just to say it instead of calling us by name. He is getting lots of practice with repeating sounds that we make, so I'm sure he'll be talking away before we know it. Peek-a-boo is still Wesley's most favorite game to play with us, and he understands that when I say "Where's Mama?" that means to look for me hiding under the blanket without me needing to model the game first.

Other Updates: With Fall officially in full swing, we spent the last month enjoying many of our favorite regular Fall activities with Wesley for the first time. We joined our big group of friends for a trip up to Apple Hill and had fun playing and visiting in the nice weather. At The Pumpkin Farm we pulled the boys around in our wagon and picked out pumpkins, watched Simon play on the tower slides, found our way through the corn maze, and took Wesley on his first hay ride. For the first time I was able to volunteer at the 2nd annual ASL Harvest Carnival for Deaf, Hard of Hearing, and Hearing families learning American Sign Language at William Jessup University. I helped with set up and assisted at the information table, and Eric brought the boys to visit and play the carnival games. A few of Simon's friends from preschool were in attendance with their families, so he had a ball hanging out with them. Wesley spent most of the time just taking in the sights, but it was so special for me to be able to share my time in volunteering in this community with my family. We were also decked out in our Halloween costumes, so it was really exciting being in our first coordinated costume as a family of four!

 cutie in a shopping cart

brushing teeth

 one handed bottle skills

grocery store nap

hard at play

 smiles for Mommy

brotherly love

High Hill Ranch at Apple Hill

 The Pumpkin Farm

 our pumpkins ready to go

our family costume at the Harvest Carnival 

 Mommy's littlest minion

number 2 [week 35]

Symptoms: It's difficult to tell from the picture, but my belly has dropped. It wasn't until others began pointing it out to me that I examined my unclothed belly in the mirror at home and found my bump resting in a lower position. I didn't notice it myself because I haven't felt like I'm breathing easier or experiencing less heartburn, but gravity has made an effect. I'm trying to stay active--doing as much as I can around the house and even sometimes walking a little bit during the end of my lunch break.

Cravings: French fries. I did indulge. It was amazing.

Aversions: Salads and I still aren't friends. I don't think Eric believed me when I told him I was done.

Missing: NOT having heartburn!

Mood: I'm still happy as a clam, excited, a little hormonal, and tired. A pretty good mix of normal pregnancy emotions.

Sleep: It's been rough here and there some nights. I've woken with horrible cramps and not gotten enough rest. I'm craving naps.

Dreams: I don't know if I've even slept well enough to dream. There was probably something random about work or friends, but my brain is too jelly to remember.

Movement: This little boy continues to feel bigger. He's all over the place, quite literally. Kick counts remain solid.

Best Moment: So many to choose from; I was showered with gifts and love at my work baby shower, Eric and I spent a wonderful night away for our belated anniversary celebration in Lake Tahoe, and Simon enjoyed his 4th Halloween dressed as Rocky from Paw Patrol. It was such a busy week, no wonder I'm exhausted!

Baby Buys: My generous coworkers gifted us an Arm's Reach Co-Sleeper. It wasn't the exact co-sleeper that I wanted, but we're going to try it out and hopefully make it work. I am so thankful for their kindness!

Other News: Eric and I attended our Preparing for Childbirth class offered by Kaiser. We were the only second-time parents there, but there was still a lot of valuable information to be reminded of and learn about. We never took classes when I was pregnant with Simon since I planned to ask for an epidural. Ending up with basically a non-medicated delivery left me with no idea what to do or how to breathe and a serious lack of control. In the class we found a lot of value in learning the different labor positions that can be used during a non-medicated labor, as well as several different types of massages that Eric can perform to ease discomfort and relax me. We feel much more prepared, and I am so glad we attended the class.

Looking Forward To: The end! I want this babe to fully cook, but I don't think we're going a full 40 weeks. We shall see!

my work baby shower

our Tahoe getaway

Clark Kent, Winnie the Pooh, & Rocky

2014: a year in review

It's absolutely atrocious that I haven't posted on my blog in over 8 months.  I had planned to continue posting here after The Big One, but after 31 weekly pregnancy posts and 12 months of baby updates I guess I needed a little long overdue break.  What matters now is that I'm back and ready to play catch up and reflect over this past year of 2014!

We began the year on January 1st with a cranky and brief after-midnight photo, one that may have interrupted an early slumber on the couch.

In February, our little boy celebrated his first birthday!

During the month of March I attended my very first Comic Con with Justin, Athena, and James.  We enjoyed the beautiful sunshine with lots of outside play.

April brought us Simon's 2nd Easter and a more successful visit to see the Easter Bunny at Fairytale Town.  Pappy and Uncle Ben joined us, which made the holiday extra special.

Simon was enrolled in his very first swim lessons in May, I turned 29 and celebrated a relaxing Mother's Day, and Eric and I both left Simon overnight for the first time... separately!  One night for me chaperoning the 8th grade field trip in Yosemite, 3 nights for Eric spent at KublaCon in the Bay Area with the guys.

In June the regular school year ended and summer school began, and we had a fun Father's Day with both of our dads.  Simon of course played, played, played.

When summer school ended, July included many adventures such as Independence Day, our FREE TRIP to the Aulani Disney Resort in Oahu that we won (joined by Jen and Bliss because Eric was unable to come due to work), and a visit to the California State Fair.

We took a family camping trip to Bucks Lake in August with all of our friends.  I went back to work mid-month to start the new school year.  Great Aunt Sami traveled to Lake Tahoe for a wedding so we drove up for a visit.  Simon also turned 18 months old and got his first haircut!

September was a busy month full of many birthday parties, including Uncle Ben's 9th birthday at Roller King.  Simon visited the dentist for the first time and was an all-star patient!

Our family was even busier during October celebrating Eric's 29th birthday, our 4th wedding anniversary, the wedding of my wonderful friends Josh and Rob and Caitlin's visit, and Halloween.  Oh, and Courage turned 4 years old!

Things calmed down in November and we had a nice Thanksgiving celebration at Cho-Cho's house.

The holidays came and went in a flash this month in December.  We saw Santa, watched the Festival of Lights Parade in Auburn, and continued our Christmas traditions as a family.

Oh yeah, and Eric's been growing a beard.

2014 has been one crazy ride full of many wonderful memories and experiences.  As we close out the year tonight, I am reminded of the adventures that await us on the horizon: Simon turning TWO, Eric and me turning THIRTY, celebrating FIVE years of marriage, and so much more.  I hope to make as solid of an effort as possible to be here on this blog documenting as much happiness and love as time will allow me.  I hope that you decide to stop by to share in this journey, too.

See you soon, 2015!