April 29, 2011

Life of Wilder: Week Twenty-Two

Our hearts are going out this week to all our fellow Southerners affected by the horrible storms and tornadoes over the past few days. Paul and I are so thankful that our families and friends remained safe and we wish a speedy recovery to the towns and neighborhoods that were damaged. To donate to the relief efforts through Salvation Army click HERE and write "April 2011 Tornado Outbreak" in the Designation field. Wilder's showing his support in his camo this week :) Hang in there, y'all!

We had a fun, relaxing Easter last weekend. I decided last minute that I needed to make a traditional Easter lunch for us since our Christmas meal was less than stellar. I bought a delicious spiral-cut ham and made green bean casserole, deviled eggs, and rolls. Even though I bought the smallest ham I could find it still ended up being over 8 pounds so, needless to say, we ate ham for pretty much every meal until Wednesday. At that point, I had ham coming out my ears and I couldn't even think about eating another bite of it. We still had about a third of it left though so I pulled the rest off the bone, divided it into single portions, and froze it. Who knows if it will be any good when we finally feel like eating ham again but I just couldn't bring myself to throw it away... it was sooo delicious! 
After lunch I dressed Wilder in his cute little Easter outfit and we took some quintessential Easter pictures. Even though it was overcast and chilly, we had a great day just hanging out together after Paul had been gone all week. I love my little family :)
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On Monday Wilder and I went over to my dog park friend Ashley's house to watch the Lifetime movie about Prince William and Kate's courtship. I honestly cared nothing about watching this but I really wanted to get the babies together because they only ever see each other from their carriers at the park and Wilder doesn't have any other friends his age yet. It was actually really fun because we just ended up making fun of how awkward the movie was the whole time and Wilder and her little girl, Lorelai, loved looking at each other and playing with their feet. As you'll hear more about later in the post, Wilder is all about grabbing things this week so he kept trying to hold Lorelai's hand -- it was too cute :)
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I hate to say this after the awful weather the South has been having but it's been so pretty here this week. This has really been the first week that it's felt warm enough to get Wilder out in the yard and we have both enjoyed being outside so much. He loves lying on a blanket in the grass watching the dogs run around and I've been having fun fixing up the yard. I've weeded the front flower bed over and over since we moved in but it seems like the weeds grow back ten-fold every time. Finally this week I decided to take charge once and for all. I weeded, sprayed with Roundup, mulched, and finally put down some Preen to hopefully prevent more weeds from coming up. I also bought some geraniums to hang on the front porch (hopefully I can keep them alive) and got Paul to mow the yard. It looks about 50 times better than before and, although it's a big commitment for someone for whom yard work has never even touched the priority list, I'm determined to keep it looking nice so we can keep enjoying it. And don't worry (Grana) I always have Wilder in the shade unless he's completely slathered with sunscreen :) Oh, and I also ordered him an outdoor swing to hang in one of the trees. I can't wait for it to get here... He's going to LOVE it!
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We've also been going to the dog park a lot this week with Ashley. It's much more fun to have someone to walk with so we've been staying like 3x longer than usual. I'm so glad to have another mom to hang out with. We both want to see "Water for Elephants" and decided to take the babies Thursday morning to the matinee. 

Lorelai had already been to several movies but it was Wilder's first. I was going to feed him right when we got there but we walked in during a preview for a movie whose premise apparently was some sort of explosion competition (I thought they tailored movie previews to the type of movie showing? Why they thought moms and old ladies at a matinee of "Water for Elephants" would be interested in "Explosion Movie 2" is beyond me.). Anyway, it was SO loud and Wilder totally freaked out. Obviously, just-woke-up-from-nap + hungry + ridiculously-loud-explosions-50-feet-away = screaming baby who won't eat because, let's face it, what's the point of eating when the world is in the process of being demolished? There was no calming him down while that dumb preview was on so I took him out in the hall and nursed him. By the time we got back in the theater the movie had started and he was perfectly fine the whole rest of the time. He sat in my lap so nicely playing with his links, sucking/chewing on his paci, and he even slept for like 45 minutes. I was so proud of him. 

Now we know we can take him to a movie if we want. We just have to choose the movie wisely -- "Oh Paul, I think we better go to a chick flick so he doesn't get scared" ;) -- and wait for the previews to end before we go in. Sidenote: I've watched two movies this week with Wilder, which is two more a week than I'd like him to watch. When he's awake I much prefer to be doing something productive/interactive with him. I think a movie every now and then is OK but he doesn't gain anything from them so in the future I'm going to suggest to Ashley that we go to Balboa Park or the zoo or something instead when she wants to get together. Anyway, not that y'all care, I just wanted to get that out there to remind myself. 
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So, Wilder's new thing this week is reaching for and grabbing things. Last time we went to Gymboree some of the other babies were reaching out for the bubbles that were blowing around the room and I mentioned to Paul afterwards that Wilder never reached for things. Well, apparently I spoke too soon because now he reaches for everything. I have to be careful when I'm carrying him around the house because if I walk to close to something he'll reach out and grab it and if I let him he pulls himself toward it and tries to put his mouth on it, haha. I'm talking the screen door, door frames, bookshelves, the refrigerator, mirrors. If I'm sitting with him and the dogs walk by he reaches out for them every time. This morning I had him in my lap on the floor and Rider was lying in front of us. He reached for her so I let him lean toward her and he grabbed her with both hands and then proceeded to put his mouth on her back. He got the worst look on his face when that resulted in a face full of fur :) Also, this week at the dog park whenever our dogs run by he reaches out his arms for them, even though they're yards away from us. I think it's amazing that he recognizes which ones are Rider and Posey and ignores the others. It really is so cute and I'm loving this new development. I can't wait for him to reach out his arms for us when he wants to be picked up. 
 He was reaching for the table so I let him sit there and 
hold onto it. He thought that was pretty fun :)
He discovered his shadow and of course had to try to grab it :)
My mom asked me why Posey hadn't been in many pictures lately and I think the new grabbing thing is the reason. She prefers to not have her ears/skin/tail pulled so she's started lying farther away from him when we're playing. Rider obviously doesn't care how much abuse she has to take, she just wants to be the first one there when he spits up... gross, I know.

Multitasking -- chewing on a toy while 
pulling Rider's fur and kicking her
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We are so excited for Aunt Lauren who graduates from Mississippi State today! Congrats, Lauren! You've worked so hard and now it's on to vet school... We are so proud of you and know you will make a wonderful and compassionate veterinarian one day!
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Here are a couple more cute pictures from this week...

There he goes reaching again... He was 
sooo not interested in pictures this week
 Helping Daddy work on a project... 
until he started banging on the keyboard
Sitting up playing with his Mozart Magic Cube

Alright guys, hope everyone has a good weekend!

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