Southerners in SoCal: Life of Wilder: Week Thirty-Eight

Seriously, this is the best picture I could

get this week so that's it. These weekly

pictures have become a thorn in my side ever

since I began this dumb new format.

Next week I will come up with a better

way since, for some reason, this way

prevents him from

a) smiling,

b) looking at the camera, or

c) staying put.

Yesterday was my birthday so that's why this post is a day late. It started out not so promising because I was not (and still am not) very excited about turning 28 (ugh!) and also because apparently Wilder's teeth have something against me. He was teething on Mother's Day and he was teething again for my birthday. He woke up at 1:00 AM Friday morning and wouldn't go back to sleep until 2:30 then he woke up all cranky a few hours later and didn't want to nap either. But the day actually ended up being one of the best birthdays I've had in a while. And compared to last year's, which I spent working with ~~morning~~ all-day sickness and then in a birth class, it was awesome! Wilder's mood vastly improved in the afternoon (unfortunately not until after I took his weekly picture) and he and Paul walked down the street and got my birthday cards and some delicious cupcakes from HeavenSent Desserts. Paul is notorious for picking out the silliest cards for special occasions (remember my Mother's Day card which I'm sure said some very nice things?) and this time was no different:

He let Wilder pick out his own card so he gave me a nice, sensible Snoopy card with the sweetest message that made me cry.

The cupcakes were sooo delicious! I won't tell you how many of them I ate, but since it was my birthday you can just assume all of them.

For lunch we picked up sandwiches from our favorite deli and went to Balboa Park for a picnic. It was so relaxing and fun to spend time together just laying on a blanket in the shade and not worrying about anything else we needed to be doing.

After lunch we went to the zoo and had a good time showing Paul all the cool stuff we've discovered the last few times we've gone without him. We spent a couple of hours there and were exhausted when we left but it was such a fun afternoon.

Look at Wilder kicked back in his

stroller. He loves propping his leg

up on the tray, haha :)

When we got home I got to open presents that had come in the mail from family and Paul gave me an afternoon next week of shopping all by myself while he watches Wilder. Whoohoo! Later we Skyped with my brother and his wife and Wilder got to show them his scooting skills. After Wilder went to bed, Paul picked us up Chipotle for dinner and we watched a movie. It was a simple, perfect day and I felt so special and loved, even though I'm an old fart now. ;)

Wilder discovered the simple joy of bubble wrap

Speaking of birthdays, last Saturday Wilder and I went to the first birthday party of one of his little friends. It was Elmo-themed and although Wilder was one of the youngest kids there he had a fantastic time playing in the sandbox and watching the other little kids play.

Wilder still doesn't watch TV so

he had no idea who Elmo was but

he loved pulling on his fur. I think

he thought he was just a big red dog.

Playing in the sandbox

Sand doesn't taste as good as one might think

He was fascinated by the balloons

And thought it was hilarious to continually

hit me in the head with them

The good thing about birthday parties

is that they wear a little booger out

On Tuesday we went to the playground at Balboa Park for a playdate with a friend from my moms group. Wilder had a great time swinging and going down the slide (with my help of course).

Just a-swingin' and a-thumb-suckin' y'all

Playing on the slide

I love watching him interact with his little friends

We've also gone to the Y a lot this week. As you may have read on Tuesday we had an awful experience at the childcare that night but I was determined we weren't going to quit going. I decided we should just try a different approach, so the next day we tried letting Paul carry him in there and drop him off. I thought it might be too upsetting for him to go from his mama to a stranger in a strange place and my instinct seems to have been correct because, ever since Paul has been taking him, we've come back to find him sitting happily in an exersaucer like he'd forgotten we even existed. Of course as soon as he sees us he remembers that he's supposed to be upset and starts crying but I can definitely handle a few seconds of tears when I'm there to comfort him instead of half an hour of wailing when I'm gone. So, hooray! It looks like I may get the chance to shed these last few prego-pounds after all; although, darnit, now I won't have an excuse to get off the elliptical after 15 minutes.

We've also taken him in the pool a few times this week. This has been the first chance Paul's had to swim with him. Wilder loves having his daddy in the water with him and Paul loves it too. Grana sent Wilder a floatie suit this week so we tried it out for the first time the other day. Even though it zips halfway up the back it's ~~a little difficult~~ almost impossible to get on and off of him. Let's just say chubby baby + wet spandex = one hilarious situation (until you realize that scissors might have to be involved in the removal of the garment).

The rest of the week has been spent in what has become the usual manner, which is us trying to keep Wilder from seriously maiming himself in new and exciting ways. It seems like he's finally bored with exploring the main open floor of the house and has now branched out to discovering uncharted territory...

Rider was in his way so he decided to climb over her.

Bless her heart, that dog is a saint on this earth.

We also finally had to lower his crib this week because we heard a ruckus coming from his room during naptime and walked in to find this...

Caught in the act!

Although it doesn't seem to have helped much because he still managed to pull his monitor off the wall somehow. What are we going to do with this child??

He's still loving his books...

Sometimes a little too much...

Foods he's loving this week are tofu bites and black beans...

But NOT grapefruit. Sorry to post all of these but there's almost nothing funnier than a sour baby face...

He's also still loving his doggies...

...which brings me to what I know you've all been eagerly anticipating reading about -- his first word, which is... surprise, surprise... "dog"! Ever since he was born I've said "dog" or "doggie" to him whenever the dogs are around. The other day I carried him into the living room after one of his naps and when he saw the dogs he said "dog, dog" very excitedly over and over. He says it like "doh-g" (kinda sounds like Homer Simpson, haha) and every once in a while he'll say "doh-gee."

One of my proudest moments came the other day when we were walking at the dog park with Ashley and Lorelai and I was telling Ashley about him saying it. I'm not sure she believed me at first but when he heard me say the word he started kicking his legs and pretty much yelling "Doh-g! Doh-g! Doh-g!" and we had to pause the conversation for like 5 minutes until he got it out of his system. We were both cracking up and I could tell she was impressed, haha :)

I've been trying all week to get a video of him saying it and this is the best I could do. A couple of things to notice about this video: 1) He's surrounded by dogs as he is pretty much all day every day so it's really no wonder that was his first word. 2) Posey is retarded. She's standing outside the front door like she's locked out of the house but she just doesn't remember that she went out through the back door which is still open and through which she could easily come back inside. Poor Posey. If it weren't for her helper dog, Rider, I don't know how she would make it through life in general. (Although every helper dog needs a break sometimes -- as you'll notice Rider is making no move to remind poor dumb Posey how to get back in.) Anyway, enjoy the video (and turn your volume up because it's a little hard to hear him)...

Here's another video of me trying to get him to say it. He says it a couple of times right at the beginning but then his natural turdiness comes out and he quits cooperating. Enjoy a fine sampling of the new shriek he's been doing lately. You're going to want to turn your volume down for this one...

Am I a little disappointed that he said "dog before "mama"? I'd be lying if I said I wasn't, especially after I had a dream the other night that he said it and then woke to find it wasn't true. BUT, he's getting closer. Now when I say "mama" to him, he doesn't say everything he can think of that sounds nothing like "mama," he actually seems to be trying. So far, he's managed to get out "blah-blah," which does sound sort of similar so I'll take it. We'll get there one of these days!

Anyway, I guess that's all for this week. Here are a few more cute pictures...

Bored at dinner with the grownups