Life of Wilder: Week Twelve

I can't believe Wilder is three months old today. It's such a weird feeling. It seems like he's always been with us but it's also going way too fast. How strange to feel like something has lasted forever, but is flying by at the same time. Every day I think I couldn't love him any more than I already do but every day I do. I feel so lucky to be able to spend all day with him and every night before we go to sleep Paul and I watch him on the video monitor and marvel at how amazing he is. He is such a precious blessing and the best thing that has ever happened to us. 

I was kicking myself two weeks ago after I announced how well Wilder had been sleeping only to have him revert to his old ways that very night. So, in the interest of full disclosure but also in the interest of not jinxing it again, let's just say he may or may not have slept 7 PM to 7 AM every night this week since Saturday. It may or may not have been totally amazing and I may or may not feel like I could conquer the world due to how much sleep I may or may not have been getting. Here's to hoping he keeps it up! 

And there's a good chance he will now that he's implemented a new and improved sleeping position. He now works his arms out of the swaddle almost immediately, rolls onto his side, sticks one or more of his fingers in his mouth, and conks out. I think, before, he was waking up in the night, not because he was hungry, but simply because he needed something to suck on. A pacifier just made it worse because it would constantly fall out of his mouth and we would have to go put it back in over and over. Now that he's gotten coordinated enough to get his fingers in his mouth, problem solved. The only time he woke up in the night this week was if he turned all the way over onto his stomach and got stuck that way, which he did a couple of times. I can totally deal with getting up for 2 minutes as opposed to 40+; plus now we know he can, at least unconsciously, roll over from back to front. 

He also discovered a new sound this week that he now makes when he thinks we're not paying attention to him. It was funny at first but I think we're going to have to invest in some ear plugs pretty soon haha :)

I also got a cute video of him trying to put the ball in his mouth.

It's been a good week. On Saturday Paul and I walked Wilder and the dogs to Bird Park, which is this beautiful little grassy space at the very north end of Balboa Park a little over a mile from our house. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, the kind of day that reminds us why we moved to San Diego. We laid in the grass and since the park is up on a hill we could see some of the air show over the bay celebrating 100 years of naval aviation. It felt so good to relax, get some fresh air, and just enjoy being together. 

Sunday was suuuper lazy. We didn't even get out of our pajamas. It's nice to have one of those days every now and then. Oh, but I did make the onesie that day that he's wearing in his 12 week picture. It's the San Diego skyline. 

Monday was Valentine's Day of course. This V Day was really special because of all the love Wilder has brought into our lives. He was extra sweet that day and I had so much fun hanging out with him. It was a long day for Paul and he had class late so we didn't end up eating dinner until after 9:00. We grilled some delicious steaks and had homemade garlic mashed potatoes and baked asparagus with parmesan... sooo good! I also made Nutella cupcakes (who knew those even existed!) from a recipe I got from my friend Kristin. Delish! I'll put the recipe at the end of this post. 

Now is that not the sweetest little

Valentine you ever saw? :)

Tuesday was pretty much a total loss of a day. Wilder has been spitting up a LOT more than usual and drooling a lot and I read that those could be symptoms of acid reflux so I called the pediatrician on Monday to ask what to do about it and they wanted me to come in the next day. I guess since it was a last minute appointment they had to fit us in between other appointments so we sat in the waiting room for 45 minutes and in the room waiting for the doctor for 20 minutes. Finally she came in, said it probably wasn't acid reflux since he wasn't acting like it was painful when he spit up, and told me everything to do to minimize the spitting up that I already knew from reading about it on my own. What a waste! Oh, except we did get to weigh him so I know that officially he weighs 14 lbs. 6 oz. and at least we're pretty sure he doesn't have acid reflux. When we got home we were so tired that I don't even remember what we did the rest of the day except nap.

On Wednesday we went to Mommy and Me yoga again. It was a hard workout this week and I'm still sore from it, but I'm addicted. I just wish it was more often than once a week! It totally wore Wilder out and he took a 2 1/2 hour nap when we got home, which is about an hour and a half longer than usual. So, um yeah, looove that yoga class!

Thursday we took the dogs to the park because Rider gave me the hugest guilt trip. I was in the kitchen that morning when I heard her rummaging around back in our room. I went to see what she was getting into and found this:

I swear that dog is human sometimes. That's a picture of herself on a hike with her backpack on that she dug out from under the bed... I don't think a bigger hint was possible haha. I promise I did not set this picture up. I felt so bad; it was like she was saying, "Remember when you used to love me enough to frame a picture of me?" So anyway, we went to the dog park that afternoon and have been giving her a little extra attention ever since, poor girl!

Wilder and I also ran some errands yesterday afternoon. There are times when living right in the middle of the city drives me crazy, like when I'm woken up by a homeless guy noisily digging through our garbage cans at 5:00 AM or when my neighbor decides to practice the same song over and over and over on his guitar with the amp turned up to 11 (notice I said "practice" not "play" -- there's really nothing worse than being forced to listen to someone learning a song). But there are also a lot of things I love about the city. One of which is being able to walk, instead of drive, to the grocery, CVS, the post office, etc. I don't know what I would do if I had to get Wilder and the stroller in and out of the car at every stop we had to make. Probably be a lot less productive than I am. 

I'm so so so glad it's Friday. Paul usually reserves the weekends for spending time with us but since his midterms were this week he had to work a lot of last weekend. I'm really looking forward to getting to hang out with him for the next two days. I just love seeing him with Wilder. It makes me so happy. :) I think this weekend too we're going to have to try out the Johnny Jump-up we got Wilder for Christmas. It's still a little early since he's not completely holding his head up yet, but whenever he's laying down he's kicking his legs and whenever we're holding him he's trying to "jump"/"stand up". The boy is so freaking active he needs a way to get some exercise and move around. Plus maybe it will encourage him to hold his head up more. I don't know, we'll see how it goes. 

Oh, and we'd also like to wish Wilder's Daddy G a very happy birthday on Sunday! He's the type of guy who always wants to be doing something, is always full of ideas, and always makes sure everyone is having a good time. I think Wilder is going to be a lot like him :) We love you, Mr. Gary!

I can't believe I leave for Tennessee a week from Tuesday! There is so much to think about, do, and pack that I should really have already started. Frankly, it's a little overwhelming. Not only everything I have to do to prepare for the trip, but also everything I have to do when I get there. I always say everyone is going to have to come to us, but it never quite works out that way. I have so many places to go that I had to start putting them in my calendar on my phone just to keep up with what I'm doing each day! Luckily Wilder is usually laid back and just goes along nicely so let's hope he doesn't pick that week to start being unruly. If anyone has any tips for traveling with an infant they would be greatly appreciated. 

Oh, and I'd also like to say Congratulations to my soon-to-be sister-in-law, Lauren, for getting accepted into MS State's College of Veterinary Medicine this week! What a smarty pants! She is so good to my brother and I'm so excited she'll be joining our family soon!

Here are a couple more cute pictures from this week:

We finally decided it was time to take the little newborn sling out

of the tub when I discovered he had gotten so heavy that his butt was

dragging the bottom. Not sure why we didn't do it sooner; I guess 

we just wanted to deny that he's growing up so fast.

Here he is trying to sit in the tub like a big boy :)

I got two of these adorable monogrammed diaper covers 

for his 6-month pictures we're having done in May. They're still

a little big but so cute I couldn't resist trying one on him. 

Thanks, Kara, for passing along the website. They came from

Monogram Chick, a Tuscaloosa-based store, and they make great

baby shower gifts!

Oh and here's the Nutella cupcake recipe:

Nutella Frosted Cupcakes
10 tbsp butter, softened
3/4 cup white sugar3 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cups sifted all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
Nutella, approx. 1/3 cup

Preheat oven to 325F. Line 12 muffin tins with paper liners.
Cream together butter and sugar until light, 2 minutes. Add in eggs one at a time, until fully incorporated. Don't worry if the batter doesn't look smooth. Add vanilla. Stir in flour, salt and baking powder until batter is uniform and no flour remains.
Using an ice cream scoop, fill each muffin liner with batter. They should be 3/4 full, if you're not using a scoop. Top each cake with 1 1/2 tsp Nutella. Swirl Nutella in with a toothpick, making sure to fold a bit of batter up over the nutella.
Bake for 20 minutes.
Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
Makes 12.

Alright guys, y'all have a great weekend!