Life of Wilder: Week Thirty-Six

I promised a new weekly picture format so here it is (for now). I actually totally forgot all week that I was supposed to be thinking of a new way to do these photos so what I came up with at the last minute today is pretty unsatisfactory because a) I hate it and b) Wilder is still determined to get those letters and/or escape my annoying flash. Oh well, back to the drawing board.

I've taken over 100 pictures this week. Is that a lot? I feel like that's a lot. 

We have done so much this week and I'd say I've definitely been fulfilling my vow to take as many pictures as possible. On Sunday we had our friends, Holly and Jacob, and their 3-year-old daughter, Reagan, over to grill out. We have had almost no one over since we moved into this house almost a year ago. I feel bad but, what with the dogs and now the baby, it just takes so much work to get our house into what I consider "having company" shape. I usually go into a little bit of a cleaning frenzy, become a slave driver (sorry, Paul), and spend two entire days cleaning and preparing. I was a little more relaxed about it this time but I definitely still need to work on the obsessive cleaning freakout when faced with the impending arrival of visitors. Note to self: No one will know or care if you don't dust the baseboards. Life is too short to not have friends over just because of a little mess. Plus what better excuse to have a messy house than a baby? Remember this guy?

Aaanyway, so Sunday we had the Revords over for dinner. We had some delicious food and I'm pretty sure we all ate too much. We had pulled our kitchen table out into the front yard so we ate out there and watched Reagan and Wilder play. Wilder loved Reagan's antics and her twirly, ruffled dress and we had fun catching up with our friends. 

It's a yard party!

I mean, how cute is this??

On Monday I set up Wilder's new pool in the yard and we tried it out. He absolutely loved it and would have happily stayed in there the rest of the afternoon if he could. About half of the 100+ photos I've taken this week were of him that day in this hilarious-looking pool. If it's possible, I may have enjoyed watching him enjoy the pool even more than he enjoyed the pool. And he enjoyed the pool A LOT. I'm not often one to bore you with a dozen variations of the same picture (you're welcome) but these were too funny not to share. Please indulge me as I tell you a story in photographs of Wilder's first time in his very own baby pool.

Yeeepp, just checking out this pool situation...

 What are those dogs doing?

 Oh, we're taking pictures? Cheeese...

 Aaaand, now what?

 FREAKOUT!!!

 Ohh, hey Daddy... No, nothing, just having

a little fun in the pool...

 See, everything's cool. Nothing to see here...

 Except the dreaded splash monster!!

 OK, I'm done.

On Tuesday I took Wilder to the zoo with a woman and her almost 1-year-old daughter that we met at last week's playgroup. We went to the zoo's petting zoo which, for some reason, we haven't been to before so that was a first for Wilder and he seemed to really enjoy it. He even leaned over and petted a sheep when it walked by. I think he's going to be an animal lover like his mama. :) 

We had such a good time at the zoo that we decided to go back on Thursday with Holly, Jacob, and Reagan. I am loving having this zoo membership. It has already more than paid for itself. 

We had to visit our favorite 

animals of course -- the otters

 My little buddy and me

 We watched this acrobatic trampoline 

show for a little while...

 Wilder was less than impressed.

 Giraffes!

 The zebra was so gorgeous and came right 

up to the fence and let us ooh and ahh over him

 This kangaroo is not dead, I promise. 

He's just catching some rays.

When we got home Wilder was pretty beat so he relaxed while his daddy played the ukulele for him. I hope he gets Paul's musical abilities because I have zero. As in, the other day I told Paul I hope Wilder didn't get my rhythm and Paul said "What rhythm?" -- exactly. 

The ukulele lesson apparently gave Wilder a second wind because he was quite chipper the rest of the evening...

The coffee table got in his way while 

he was chasing his ball

Watching Daddy mow the yard with Rider

 Happy boy at dinner eating lima beans

Finally it was bedtime but he still wasn't done playing. He discovered he could get on his belly in the bath tub and pretend to be swimming. He now will not take a bath any other way and spends the whole time scoot-swimming from one end to the other. It's pretty hard to wash him that way but I figure that's gotta be getting him pretty clean anyway. 

Today I invited Ashley to bring Lorelai over to swim in the pool with Wilder. It's been pretty hot this week (nothing like in the South though -- 112 degrees, are you serious? How can y'all even stand it?!) but it finally cooled off today and so we sat out in the yard and let the babies swim and play on the blanket. Lorelai sat in the pool with Wilder for a little while but then wanted out and Wilder stayed in there for an hour by himself just splashing and playing with his toys. He was totally worn out after they left but still found the energy for a raucous bathtime tonight. I'm telling you, the boy loves water!

 He kept trying to pull on Lorelai's 

ruffled swim diaper, haha

 Thoroughly enjoying himself

 Just minding his own business

 Remnants of a baby pool party

Let's see, what else have we been up to this week...

Getting into mischief as usual

Shutting himself and Posey into

the dogs' room AKA getting into 

more mischief (notice how 

forlorn poor Posey looks)

Trying really hard to pull himself up

 Standing holding onto furniture

Getting an XBox 101 lesson from Daddy

 He also got to go eat with the 

big people at a restaurant! 

 And was understandably jealous of 

our delicious Philly cheesesteaks

Speaking of food, Wilder has been munching up the finger foods this week. He loved the banana pancakes I made him and is now also a huge fan of lima beans and cooked egg yolks. He was particularly excited about the eggs and gobbled them up while doing sort of a little food dance. Notice he's clutching a fistful of eggs here that he's about to shovel into his mouth.

We also tried avocados again and I think he may be coming around to them, don't you? No?

No new words to report this week, as in "Mama," but we have been working on high-fiving for a while and he's started to get it the last couple of weeks. It's super cute and I've been meaning to get a video of it but haven't been able to yet. I'll work on that for next week. Oh, but I did get a video of his mad scooting skills. When he sees something he wants he takes off after it with a fury...

Well, I guess that's all so I'll leave you with a few more cute pictures from this week...

I just love this sweet face :)

 Resting in the yard after a swim

 Kicked back enjoying a stroll

 Yay for swinging!

How funny is this picture?! I posted it to Facebook

and our friend photoshopped Paul's beard onto Wilder

and sent it back to me. LOVE it!

Alright folks, that's it for this week. Hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!