Wesley [8 months]

This happy, playful, lovable boy is 8 months old! This is my 8th monthly blog post for our darling Wesley, which means that I only have 4 left to go. Although time has surely gotten away from me over the summer, and I surprisingly found it MORE difficult to write while off from work, a part of me feels like I won't know what to do with myself (or this blog) after Wesley turns one. I still can't even imagine him becoming an entire year old, plus the fact that I've already begun actively planning his first birthday party. It will all be here before we know it, leaving me with the desire to just slow time if only in the slightest bit. I will pause the pity party for now and go on to sharing about our time during Baby Bear's 8th month.

Size: Our big boy is so big, yet I suspect he hasn't grown much in the last month. He still fits into 3 month, 3-6 month, and 6 month sized onesies. Our bigger 6 month bodysuits remain too baggy, and I don't think we've recently retired any items to the "Too Small" box. The weather has been hot, so there have been many days that Wesley has rocked only a diaper while hanging out at home. He's in a size 3 when wearing disposables, and we haven't needed to adjust his cloth diaper size since last month.

Health: On our home scale Wesley's weight shows 19.2 pounds. He added 2 new teeth to his collection this month (lower lateral incisors), making a total of 8 pearly white chompers. His poor, perfect baby face has been the recent landscape to lots of new boo boos and ouchies, since our little guy is officially on the move. I've hated seeing him develop little bruises as a result of the falls he takes on our hard wood and tile floors due to his desire to go everywhere and get onto everything. Wesley was looking like quite the tough guy showing up to one of Eric's hockey games with his first black eye and evidence of his first bloody nose. This definitely hasn't been my favorite stage of babyhood, and my heart has just ached with every accident this sweet little boy has experienced.

Feeding: Wesley is still nursing on demand successfully. Night feedings remain short, and daytime feedings are closer together in the morning and further apart in the afternoon and evening. The new solid foods we introduced to Wesley this month include banana, plum, and a brief taste of nectarine. He is very eager to eat and is immediately interested in any food he sees. We have to be extra careful while eating our own meals with Baby close by; those curious, little fingers will quickly make their way onto your plate before you know it. I've had to pry pieces of food out of Wesley's hands in order to keep him from ingesting things he isn't yet ready for. I'm excited for him to expand his palate when the time is right and his system catches up to the recent changes in his diet (hence the need for plums, if you know what I mean).

Sleep: The new teeth that Wesley grew in brought us back to waking every 3 hours during the night. Most often he'd go back to sleep easily after a quick nursing session, but there have been nights that he's been restless and thrashed about the bed and needing to nurse more for comfort. Teething also caused lots of daytime fussiness, so Wesley started napping more often with Cho-Cho. Baby created his own schedule of needing a late morning nap and sometimes one in the afternoon, depending on how long he slept in the morning. I've noticed that Wesley has become a lighter sleeper at home and will wake easily at noise caused by Simon, the animals, and loud talking. Thankfully, Wesley will still sleep in the car and typically wakes happily after doing so.

Milestones: That's right, Wesley is officially crawling! He was super close to this huge milestone last month, so we knew that it was only a matter of time before this guy would be on the move. The day Wesley first crawled was July 3, an independent mover just in time for Independence Day. He's become a skilled crawler pretty quickly and enjoys the freedom to go wherever he pleases. Wesley is so strong and coordinated enough to pull himself up into a standing position on just about anything, and he also likes to cruise along the furniture and get his little hands into everything. He can support himself while sitting much better now, and he even sat in a restaurant high chair for the first time when we went out to Yard House for Jen's birthday. Wesley has also sat in the front of a shopping cart with our shopping cart cover, being entertained by the new sights available from the new position.

Likes: Baby loves the animals so much. He tries to play with Courage and Riley's tails every chance he gets, even after being told no and pulled away multiple times. Courage doesn't seem to care too much and will just move if he wants to be left alone, but Riley is not a fan and is losing his patience with Wesley's persistence. Wesley is also fond of getting into the basket of cat toys, as well as snacking on Courage's Nylabone whenever he finds it laying around. Adding to the list of inappropriate things that Wesley likes to chew are my phone, the remote, and our bamboo drink coasters. And for some reason, his absolute favorite chew items of all are straps. Whether it be from the high chair, car seat, or changing pad, that strap will find its way into Wesley's mouth in no time at all.

Dislikes: Wesley will get super upset not being in the same room as us if we need to go into the next room for just a moment while he's in his Jumperoo. He does not like to think he's been left alone, and will cry unhappily until you "reappear." Similarly, he will leave the room he is in to come find Mommy if he wants to be with me instead of in the room where he had been happily playing with someone else (Simon, Eric, etc.). On a positive note, Wesley's baby bath tub has been in his room since he refused to use it, and Simon got the idea to pretend that the tub is a boat and got Wesley to crawl in and play with toys. He really likes climbing in and out and can do so with ease, and I gave Wesley lots of praise to show him that the tub isn't scary. Wesley has also allowed us to dip his toes into the water at the lake and at home in our inflatable pool in the backyard, and he even enjoyed sitting on my lap in the pool with his feet in the water. I'm wondering if he's becoming more comfortable with water, which will hopefully lead to future bath time fun in the tub with all our fun toys!

Social: This social butterfly constantly shares his silly smile all the time. Wesley scrunches his nose and shows his teeth, and the expression immediately has Eric and me in stitches. Baby has his own version of what I call "happy feet" when he's excited to see Mommy or Daddy or is enjoying getting a person's attention. While being held, Wesley's happy feet come to life when he bounces his hanging legs up and down as if almost mimicking the motion of being in one of his jumpers. Wesley's babble has yet to advance beyond his "ugh" grunts of approval or acknowledgement, but he does respond to and understand when I say and/or sign MILK and sign ALL DONE. His response to ALL DONE during diaper changes is dropping whatever he's chewing on and adorably reaching up to me to pick him up. Signing and asking Wesley if he's ready for MILK results in either an excited yelp or an impatient wail as he fumbles around trying to get into my shirt.

Other Updates: July was a jam-packed month full of so many fun summer activities. We celebrated the 4th of July at our house and invited Uncle Boom Boom and Lilly over for swimming and barbecuing. Wesley watched in awe while the big kids danced around with sparklers and the dads lit our larger fireworks. The kids and I took a day trip with Cho-Cho to San Francisco. We hung out at Pier 39 and had lunch, visited Aquarium of the Bay, enjoyed the view of the water, and had an ice cream treat. Wesley slept most of the time, but he was great during the whole trip. I took the littles to open play at Simon's gymnastics center, where Marcy and Bailey joined us for fun on the big trampoline, the foam pit, and the special just-for-summer bounce house slide. It was cool getting to play on all of the equipment that Simon uses during class, and Wesley had so much fun crawling around on the squishy mats and sitting in the foam pit while watching Big Brother show off his big jumps. As a family we went to Folsom Lake for Uncle Joe and Aunt Cherise's baby shower for their daughter, Abigael. It was a very hot day, but I was so surprised that both of the boys liked the water as much as they did. Our other family outing was to the State Fair. We had a wonderful time looking at the exhibits (Expedition Dinosaur--14 dinosaur animatronics in-action-- was Daddy and Simon's favorite), petting the livestock, and splurging on the food. Eric bought a Dole Whip for us to share, and even Wesley got a taste! It's definitely been a season to remember as our first summer shared with our little Wesley Woo.

Mommy's big boy

Poor baby's first eye boo boo

trying banana

silly sleeper

 standing on everything

first restaurant high chair!

first time going to Daddy's hockey game

in pool with Mommy?

cool babies

4th of July baby

Mommy, boys & Cho-Cho at Pier 39 

in the foam pit at the gym

Folsom Lake

avocados at the fair

Wesley [5 months]

Time with this munchkin is just flying by! Eric, Simon, and I have so much love for this little boy. Wesley amazes us everyday with his happy spirit and adoration for our family. He is growing and learning like crazy, and I am so incredibly honored to be the mommy of another adorable and fantastic son.

Size: Mr. 5 Months now weighs 17.2 pounds according to our home scale. I pulled out our 3-6 month and 6 month size clothing in preparation for our warmer temperatures, although Wesley is still fitting comfortably in most of his 0-3 month and 3 month size clothing. It seemed like we were dressing him in the same few outfits over and over again, so it's been nice to have some variations in his wardrobe with the bigger sizes that fit. I noticed that Simon's hand-me-downs don't include many pairs of shorts, so we bought some new ones for Wesley in the 6 month size to get longer use out of them. Wesley is also still wearing the same waist adjustment and rise on his cloth diapers.

Health: Our poor baby battled his second cold during his fifth month, this one worse than the first. Wesley dealt with a few weeks of watery, goopy eyes and a runny nose. The congestion didn't seem as bad as before, but he definitely wasn't comfortable. On top of the cold and possibly related, he also struggled through the pain of his third and fourth teeth coming in (the upper lateral incisors, early again). Wesley's slobbering has been out of control, and he was unfortunately needing his face wiped constantly with all of the other leaking. On a happier note, he is still blue-eyed, blonde-haired, and looking more and more like his handsome daddy everyday!

Feeding: Wesley's heavy teething had him biting Mommy A LOT. This stage made nursing more stressful for me. Being so young with so many teeth, I felt like Wesley isn't old enough to understand "no" when I scold him and unlatch him at his first bite. I know he will come to learn and understand with time, but his biting was hurting so badly that I began ending the nursing session entirely after too many bites. I hate to upset him, but the pain was becoming more than I could bear, and I think that taking short breaks is better for both of us in order to reset and start over.

Sleep: With all the congestion and increased teething, Wesley began waking during the night as often as every 2 hours. It was so heartbreaking trying to console our poor boy, who was obviously uncomfortable and in lots of pain. Running the humidifier in our room at night seemed to help with the congestion, but frequent nursing was the only thing that would soothe Wesley's poor gums and help him get back to sleep. Eric and I were extra exhausted for a while, to say the least.

Milestones: This one is on his way to becoming mobile very soon. Wesley is starting to scoot backyards while on his tummy, now never staying in one place when we put him down. He's completed a 270 rotation and figured out how to push himself forward by kicking off of Daddy's arm. Wesley is so strong and loves to go from lying on his back to pulling himself into a standing position by grabbing onto our fingers and sitting himself up. We've started sitting him in the Bumbo chair so he can enjoy being upright and get some practice learning to sit up. Wesley understands the cause-and-effect relationship of peek-a-boo and happily squeals with delight when Mommy plays (Big Brother likes to join in the game, too). And finally, Baby Boy found his feet! The discovery is like a new entertainment factor, as he loves going to those toes when his curious fingers need something to do.

Likes: Love Bug is a fan of Mommy's singing. I first noticed the way Wesley stares at me when I sing "I Love You So Much" to Simon before bedtime. Wesley's gaze appears to be one of recognition, like he recognizes the song from having heard it in my belly every night I put Simon to bed while pregnant. It could totally all be in my head, but the way he looks at me is just so telling. Wesley also loves literally anything and everything his brother does. Simon is a super helper and loves to keep Wesley company when I need a hand, and he's always delighted to sing a song or do a dance to make Wesley laugh and smile. They already have their own little games and a true budding relationship.

Dislikes: Of course Wesley doesn't like being awake in the middle of the night; who does? With the constant waking and broken sleep patterns resulting from teething and congestion, Wesley is one very unhappy boy when he unintentionally disturbs his own slumber. It also seems as though I never pick the right time to take a shower, as every time I turn off the water I hear a wailing baby trying to be soothed by Daddy. It's as if my needing to bathe is Wesley's cue to want Mommy!

Social: It's probably the high pitch of my voice to which he is responding, but I like to think that Wesley understands that when Mommy says "cheese" when taking a picture, he knows it means to smile. We're starting to get some really great photos of Wesley looking so happy! He's also figured out how to make his lips vibrate and create all kinds of spitting and humming noises. His face is completely coated in slobber when he's done, but the length to which he will go on and on making these cute noises is truly hilarious. It seems that he's fascinated with his ability to master this new skill and is very entertained by practicing it.

Other Updates: I was so excited to go fully festive for Wesley's first Easter. Simon helped me pick out Easter baskets for Wesley (a traditional wicker one for the Easter Bunny to fill, and a fun character one for collecting eggs), we decorated the house, and I found coordinating outfits for the boys to wear. We visited the Easter Bunny at Bass Pro Shop and got a cute picture taken (and even ran into our friends Bailey and Marcy doing the same thing!), and we tie dyed Easter eggs at home with food coloring (hopefully Wesley will be able to help next year). Easter morning was spent going through the goodies left by the Easter Bunny and having breakfast with Cho-Cho, and in the afternoon we went up to Laura's parents' family home in Grass Valley for dinner with Pappy and hunting Easter eggs with Ben and Lucian (Simon took it upon himself to help gather Wesley's eggs for him). I look forward to continuing these family traditions with Wesley as he grows!

our big boy

poor baby's newest teeth

sitting in the Bumbo chair

we found our feet!

brother love

shower time

smiles for Mommy in the mirror

Wesley's first visit to the Easter Bunny

Easter morning

Easter at Laura's family home

 

Mommy's bunnies

Pappy & his sons and grandsons

Wesley [1 month]

I can't believe I'm already back with my first monthly baby post! It seems like it was just yesterday that I was writing these about Simon, let alone pregnant with and giving birth to Wesley. But alas, our sweet Number 2 is already one month old and growing right before our eyes. To keep with the theme of his pregnancy updates (as well as my sanity whilst raising not one, but TWO little boys), I am going to continue writing about Wesley in survey-style. His first four weeks sped by like nothing, but they were exciting and wonderful nonetheless. Let's get started with what we've been up to during Wesley's first month!

Size: As expected, Wesley was born fitting into newborn size clothing and diapers. It's been fun dressing him in some of the same outfits and pajamas that Simon wore and showing big brother his baby photos comparing the two of them. Wesley is still in the newborn size, but Daddy thinks that Baby is beginning to outgrow some of his jammies. Size 1 diapers will be in rotation this next month, and we will begin using cloth once all of our disposables are used up.

Health: According to our home scale this boy weighs a whopping 10.4 pounds! At our 2-week well baby visit he hadn't gotten any taller, but his head size had increased by half an inch. Wesley is quite a gassy, little thing and toots all the time. He grunts a lot when trying to toot or poo, which wakes Eric in the early morning hours. Baby Boy is trying to hold up his head and has very strong abdomen/trunk muscles. We have to keep two steady hands on him at all times, otherwise he'll try to fling his body forwards or backwards like a little baby ninja! Wesley is also starting to grab at things, mostly when he's impatiently waiting to eat. He's gotten a couple of good fistfuls of my hair.

Feeding: This kiddo is a champion eater. I was able to get him to latch within his first hour of life, and since then Wesley has never stopped. Our postpartum nurses complimented me on how easily nursing came for both of us, which was made successful partly because I'm a second-time mom, but mostly because I was determined to introduce breastfeeding immediately. It seems like I have to burp Wesley during feedings more often than I remember having to burp Simon, but again Wesley is very gassy. He sometimes has bouts of spit up that leave me soaked, and I'm not sure what it is that I eat that contributes to this since I haven't been consuming a whole lot of dairy (the usual culprit). It doesn't happen so much that I'm concerned, just curious. Either way, Wesley is nursing so well, and his weight definitely shows it!

Sleep: We've been co-sleeping since Day 1. I wasn't sure if it would come naturally again like it did with Simon, but I've been careful and comfortable. Wesley and I have done lots of skin-to-skin, and I closely monitor his breathing, which has been regular and normal. His gas grunts and early morning fussiness disturb and wake Eric, who it seems is an even lighter sleeper than before. Sleep also comes for Wesley while babywearing, which we started with our Tula carrier and infant insert. I also rented a ring sling carrier from my local babywearing group, and then purchased my own new wrap-converted ring sling to wear Wesley out and around the house. We also got the swing fully assembled and set up with batteries, so Wesley has started to nap there as well.

Milestones: Eric and I are trying to fit in tummy time for Wesley when we can; on his play mat, on our bed, on our chests. While flat on his tummy on our bed, Wesley figured out how to roll over onto his back! We moved him to his play mat where he did it again, but of course he became camera shy when I tried to get the event on video.

Likes: Wesley is always soothed by us patting him on his back. He likes to sit with/be held by his big brother, who is always so eager to be my helper and take care of Baby when we're home without Daddy or I just need an extra hand.

Dislikes: Little Bear is not a fan of being buckled into his car seat. He cries while being safely secured and swaddled but quickly calms down when we pick up his infant seat to leave. The car ride always puts him to sleep, thank goodness!

Social: We were lucky to have lots of delicious meals delivered to us during our first few weeks home with Wesley. All of our kind visitors got the opportunity to hold Wesley, and he was content with meeting so many new people. He will mostly tolerate being held by anyone who isn't Mommy or Daddy until hunger strikes. Simon always jumps at the chance to hug, kiss, and fawn over Wesley, who is seemingly comfortable with having an excited big brother in his face. Baby also doesn't seem to mind having a curious doggy in his face, either. Courage's introduction to Wesley has gone extremely well, and he's calmed down and gotten used to our new addition even faster than he did with Simon.

Other Updates: Sharing the holiday season with both of my boys was absolutely wonderful. Our family included Wesley in all of our Christmas traditions including the Auburn Festival of Lights Parade, seeing Santa, and looking at Christmas lights on Christmas Eve (we drove through the neighborhood this year instead of walking--it was very late and terribly cold). We were lucky to spend a lot of time with extended family during the holiday season, especially my Uncle Chris and Eric's Aunt Sam. My Uncle Chris visited from New Mexico in early December and got to meet Wesley and see Simon for his second time. Aunt Sam visited during Christmas with her friend, Chad, and was also excited to meet Wesley. We enjoyed our annual Christmas Eve dinner at Pappy's house and Christmas morning breakfast at our house. Simon was excited to help unwrap the few gifts we had for Wesley under the tree and in his new stocking. It was a magical holiday celebration with our new little one, and I cannot wait to experience everything the rest of the year has in store for us with Wesley.

Wesley's going home outfit

first full day at home

sleepy boy

first ride in the swing

in Mommy's new ring sling

under Big Brother's watch

sleepy smiles

brotherly love

Wesley's first time seeing Santa

Great Uncle Chris' visit

Great Aunt Sami's visit

our first Christmas as a family of four

so this just happened...

We'll see what Eric says when he gets home. 

Muah ha ha. Or, is it ho ho ho?

it's beginning to get closer to Christmas

Wesley's stocking is officially en route to our house, and today I purchased his First Christmas ornament for our tree. It amazes me how on top of things I am with this child, especially since I didn't even purchase Simon's First Christmas ornament until after his first Christmas (but don't tell him that).

I had it all planned out that we'd put up our Christmas tree last Friday evening, specifically because it was the kick-off of my Thanksgiving break. Then when the time came, it felt way too early for a Christmas tree. Eric even agreed, which wasn't much of a shock at all.

Now it's Monday night, I'm officially on break, and I'm still pregnant. I'm kind of feeling ready to put up the tree now, but just the tree and the lights for the time being. Eric looked at me like I'm crazy, and I assured him that I'm not exactly asking him to pull the box out of the garage... yet. I just feel like I should be doing anything and everything productive around here until this kid comes out!

We'll see how far I make it... which will make a debut in this house first: Wesley or our Christmas tree? Taking bets now (probably best to put them on the stupid tree).

I decided

Remember my great stocking debate?

I settled on the polar bear one!

Of course when I asked Eric for his opinion he voted for the penguin one, and then immediately looked at me and said he felt like he picked the wrong one.

Like I said before, I don't think I could stand another mismatched stocking. I'm even considering replacing Eric's and my stockings with ones that go with the Woodland Collection by Pottery Barn. Do I dare? And, do I buy an extra for a future child just in case?

Seriously getting ahead of myself over here. I need help. Or to give birth.

the perfect stocking

I started writing the following post about three years ago. I never finished it, and I can't remember why. It could have been a factor of time, or just forgetting, or just plain laziness. It could have been that after I wrote so much about such a trivial topic that I felt silly finishing it and posting it for fear of being made fun of.

I was reminded of this post today, because I'm finding myself in a similar--yet less dramatic--predicament now. Reading through my words written as a first-time mom during the holidays, I still find this post lighthearted and comical, which was the intended purpose of it all along. I think it's time to share this silly story from 2013 so I can come full circle with how to face this repeating quandary this year.

Being a new mom, there is honestly very little that I obsess over regarding Simon. I won't buy something just because it is 'trendy,' it's not important to me that he has all the toys in the world, and not everything about my parenting style is exactly mainstream. But, as a lover of everything spirited and celebratory, there is one thing that I have been freaking out about getting just right as the Christmas holiday quickly approaches:

The Perfect Stocking.

What's perfect, you ask? Well, to me, 'perfect' would've been me being smarter three years ago and purchasing this entire set of carnival character stockings sold at JCPenney rather than only two for Eric and myself (his is the penguin, mine is the snowman) so that we'd had a matching set for our future children. These stockings are no longer available, so our family won't have matching stockings due to my lack of thinking. Is this a huge deal? No, it's really not, and I've since let it go. But, Simon still needed a stocking, so my new hunt began.

As with many things, the search for Simon's Christmas stocking was superseded by the millions of other more important tasks that take up my day; like work, and laundry, and breathing, and CARING FOR MY SON. Eric and I were able to hit up a few stores on Black Friday, but nothing I saw seemed special enough or fit in with the style of our stockings. Jen suggested getting a "Baby's First Christmas" stocking for just this year if I couldn't find anything I liked, which was a plan I was keeping in my back pocket. But still, I didn't want a stocking that wasn't personalized for Simon's first Christmas. I didn't want to give up on finding something while there was still time.

Eric probably thought I was making a bigger deal out of this whole stocking thing than I needed to, and maybe I'd built it up in my mind to be this huge, important thing that really isn't what Christmas is all about. And now that I think about it, I am probably sounding a little materialistic. But I promise, materialism isn't what it's about at all.

My favorite thing about the holidays is traditions. We don't have many holiday traditions in my family; as a kid, the holidays were great when it was my mom, dad, and me, but we didn't always do the same thing. I think I was kind of older when I started opening a gift on Christmas Eve, but we didn't really have any other traditions put in place. Then after my mom passed, my dad and I had small, nice Christmases together, but still we celebrated differently year to year. Eric and I have begun some holiday traditions in the years since we've been together, and we are still in the process of starting new ones as a family. I decided that I wanted Simon to have the same stocking for every Christmas, starting with his first one. This stocking would be the stocking that would be hung in our home every year, for every Christmas, through his childhood and into adulthood. And from 10 months to 10 years to when he's in his 40s, I will stuff his stocking with holiday goodies when he is home for the holidays. I will do this for all of the children we will have, and they WILL always have to come home for Christmas, because Mom might have stuffed the stockings with cash this year.

That's my dream, and I promise myself to begin and continue this tradition for as long as I am living.  But, the tradition cannot begin without a stocking, and on the inside I was kind of starting to freak out about finding one in time for Christmas.

It was getting dangerously close to C-day, but with little hope that I'd find something I'd love in a store I decided to do another Internet search (I'd done several before Thanksgiving with no luck). If one matching our set was no longer an option, the next best thing an even better stocking for Simon would be one with an owl. For some magical reason, I finally found THE STOCKING. I knew it was it from the moment I saw it, and it was just perfect in every way for my son. I began to imagine his future Christmases with it, eager to find what treasures Santa Claus left inside. And then, my heart dropped when I saw three little words of doom on the website:

No Longer Available.

This is when I pulled my chin up off the floor and typed eBay's site address as quickly as possible. To my surprise, I found a listing for an auction that would end in just over 24 hours. Don't tell Eric, but I probably would've been willing to pay an ungodly amount of money (that we don't have) to win the auction, but I told myself that I'd have to let it go if the highest bid exceeded another $10 before the end of the auction. I set an alarm on my phone and checked back the next day just 15 minutes before the auction was set to close, and the bid had not changed! It was like it was meant to be, as I waited until one minute was left in the auction to place my $1 bid increase to make it mine. I'm typically more of a 'Buy It Now' kind of girl, but there was something so satisfying in winning that auction. I felt badass. And excited!

So that's a far as I got with my silly story. In a nutshell, the stocking came, I figured out my own way to personalize it with Simon's name, and Christmas was saved. We've used it in the years since, and it's served its purpose perfectly. Yes, he loves that there are owls on it, but he would love it regardless of how it looks because it's his Christmas stocking, and what kid doesn't love their Christmas stocking? I'm laughing at myself now, but I think it was completely normal of me to worry about trying to make my first baby's first Christmas 'perfect.' I'm human and I love him, and that's about as much as I'm guilty of.

here's how it turned out, by the way

But now... I've got another child on the way, and he needs a stocking, too. So, what do I do here? Bend over backwards do a simple Google search to find a stocking with a penguin on it, or order another stocking like Simon's so the two match? I've already gotten over the fact that Simon's doesn't go with Eric's and my stockings, but could my OCD really handle a third eyesore on our mantle? (Totally kidding there!)

Here are my options:

penguins, not matching Simon's

polar bears, matching Simon's

I do know that it's totally not that big of a deal whether Wesley's stocking has penguins on it or not. He's the second kid, so we don't care about getting it as right as we did the first time, right? NO. But, I'm human and I love him, and I want to be just as guilty about that, too. He will have the perfect stocking, too, simply because it will be his.