Life of Wilder: Week Forty-Seven

It was really hard leaving after a month in Tennessee, but it had to be done. We said goodbye to my brother and Lauren on Sunday (after one last spin on the four-wheeler of course)...

spent Monday wrapping up some last minute errands while Paul's grandparents kept Wilder for me...

and then my mom and grandmother drove us to the airport on Tuesday... 

I know it was so hard for my mom to let us go but she'll be coming out here for Wilder's birthday next month and then we'll be home for Christmas (for the first time in four Christmases) so that's giving us stuff to look forward to. 

We made it back to San Diego Tuesday night after a looong day of traveling. I love flying Southwest but it makes a tough travel day even more grueling to have to drive two hours to Nashville before the 5+ hour flight. (Hint, hint, Southwest... please start flying out of Memphis!) Even though the day was exhausting, it really couldn't have gone any better. Wilder was an angel on both flights and slept for a good portion of them. The rest of the time it was pretty easy to entertain him. I've gotten better at knowing how to keep him occupied and happy and, I'll tell you what, that's worth all the tea in China when you're flying with a baby. It makes me so proud when we are waiting to deboard and the passengers around us tell me what a good baby he is. He really is. I don't know how Paul and I got so lucky. 

We had a 2-hour layover in Houston and I don't think I realized how long it was when I booked the flight or I probably wouldn't have done that... But I'm actually glad it worked out that way because it gave me enough time to feed Wilder and let him burn off some energy in the terminal before getting back on a plane. He was not feeling the impromptu photo shoot I was staging while he was eating though...

Enough with the pictures, Mama!

 I'm serious, lady, you're pushing it.

 I'm talking to YOU!

 But in the end, he can't help but

smile. It all goes back to that

entertaining I've been learning to do.

By the way, I think every airport should have a play area like Nashville does -- that's a super nice amenity and makes flights with children more bearable for everyone involved. Houston didn't have one so we made do with circling the bank of seats in Terminal 41 with Wilder walking behind the stroller and "pushing" it, watching the planes take off and land, playing with someone else's Elmo doll, and befriending everyone who came into our immediate vicinity.

He had to stop and stare at the

person sitting at the end of each

row of seats we passed until they

looked at him and then he would

grin at them and move on. 

He was totally cracking me up.

He loved watching all the 

goings-on of the airport

This little boy was a little ca-raazy...

but also sweet.

This girl gave Wilder her baby 

brother's Elmo doll to play with.

I don't know how much baby brother

appreciated that but I sure did.

Wilder loved this nice lady's suitcase.

He may have stalked her a little bit.

Also, yes, observant readers, we did have an outfit change between lunch and playtime. Let's please not go into why. I'm trying to purge that experience from my memory bank at this time. So, I'll remind myself of how sweet he is...

 And cute...

(Super excited about sitting

in the seat by himself, haha)

This is why I love flying into San Diego. You see farmland, then mountains, then desert, and then the ocean all within like 15 minutes. 

We were sooo happy to see Paul and the dogs when we got here. The rest of the week has mostly been spent trying to adjust to the time difference (which hasn't been going super well), getting back into our routine, cleaning (Paul vacuumed before picking me up at the airport but otherwise had it pretty bachelor-padded out up in here), unpacking (how did I go with one suitcase and come back with two?), handling some errands/to-do's that have built up over the last month (1), scrapping my original plan for Wilder's Halloween costume and scrambling to come up with something else (2), and beginning to get stuff ready for his first birthday party (3). 

(1) One errand was picking up these prints. Paul and I had ordered these back in August using a Groupon for a framing business in Pacific Beach. It's nine of my Instagram pictures adhered onto board backings (I can't think what the process is called). Anyway, I picked them up today and I'm pretty excited about them. Can't wait to get them on the wall, although I'm sure they'll be a pain (for Paul) to hang. ;)

(P.S. You know it's going to be a lengthy, probably overly descriptive post when I start adding footnotes. I can't help it, Paul has been gone since Thursday on a hunting trip with his dad and a friend from San Diego that they've had planned for a year so I haven't had much adult conversation the last few days. That's OK, that's what blogs, particularly mom blogs, are for, right? Right? Hellooo, is anyone still reading this?? Moving on...)

(2) I had bought Wilder an Eeyore costume for Halloween. It was sooo cute!

But then someone informed me that Eeyore is a girl (even though she's blue) and Piglet is a boy (even though he's pink). That makes total sense, don't you think? Anyway, I had decided to just go with it though because who really knows that little piece of Winnie the Pooh trivia? But then I got the costume in the mail and discovered that maybe I'm just not as up on my Winnie the Pooh trivia as I should be because Eeyore was very obviously a girl... she had a hot pink bow on her tail! I suppose I could have cut the bow off but I didn't want to chance scarring Wilder for life when he found out I dressed him as a girl for his first Halloween so I went to Plan B, which is Davy Crockett since we already have the coonskin cap and all. 

I have everything for that costume except a suede fringed jacket or vest so, naturally, because I'm an expert seamstress, I decided to make one. Wilder and I went to JoAnn Fabrics last night to get materials for the vest and apparently I had blocked out my experience from last year with the week-before-Halloween-fabric-store-insanity because I totally took a number like a dummy and sat there with a baby for over an hour waiting to get half a yard of fabric cut. 

Wilder was a trooper though and there was another mom (sans baby) in line with me so we passed the time comparing notes. She asked where I learned to sew and I told her I didn't really know how but that luckily the costume called for a certain level of "ruggedness" which I thought I could pull off perfectly with my inferior sewing capabilities. Then she asked where I found a pattern for the vest and I told her to refer to my answer to the previous question. Not really... I think I mumbled something about just winging it. So, we'll see how that goes. Don't expect too much out of this costume, readers. 

We're going to a little Halloween party tomorrow at the children's boutique in South Park where we took Wilder to see the Easter Bunny so I should probably try to wrap up this post and move on to the "sewing" of that "vest" but I'm having too much fun telling you alll about our week right now. Aren't you glad I'm so thorough in documenting the details my fascinating life? Hello? OK, moving on...

(3) I started thinking about Wilder's first birthday party a few months ago. It started out with a dog theme, then changed to a sailboat theme, and now in the last couple of weeks I changed it to something that is much more meaningful to us -- airplanes. My dad was a pilot and I wanted to somehow include him in the party even though he won't be there. Also Wilder loves airplanes anyway. Whenever he hears one, even if we're inside, he looks up and points. I've always said airplane to him when we see one but now I've started saying Yep, there's an airplane. Granddaddy's flying by to say 'Hi' to you, let's wave to him. I figure that's one way I can keep my dad in Wilder's life and let him be a part of his childhood. 

Speaking of my dad saying Hi... I've been thinking about and missing him a lot today. This morning I remembered a recordable book that my parents had done for Wilder so we sat on his floor and listened to it a couple of times and I just sobbed. Now that I'm back to my normal life, I think it's finally starting to really sink in that I'll never get another call, email, or hug from my dad. It's been an especially rough day today, but I kid you not, on the way home from errands this afternoon I was stopped at a redlight and I looked up to see a single red balloon floating up to the sky. I watched it until it disappeared. I have no idea where it came from but I knew it was meant just for me. My dad's not here, but he's definitely not gone from my life. I just have to keep reminding myself of that. 

So, party theme... check. But, after being out of town for the last month, I'm a lot farther behind on executing everything I need to do for this party than I'm comfortable with. It just can't be helped and I know I'll get it all done but I hate a time crunch. Wilder and I went to the craft store yesterday to get some supplies and today we went and scoped out a possible location for the party. Hopefully I can get a location nailed down and invitations made and sent out soon. Paul thinks it's silly how much work I'm planning on putting into this party but the first one's special and I want it to be the best I can make it. I know you fellow moms understand.

OK, let's see, what else have we been doing this week?

Wilder has been enjoying rediscovering his toys he hasn't seen since the middle of September. Babies change and grow so fast, it makes me wonder how much he remembers of our life here in San Diego after being away for a month. He definitely didn't forget his love of pulling all the books off his bookshelf...

Or his love for his best friends...

Who still, thankfully, tolerate him just as nicely as they always have... (That child is whacking poor Rider with a drumstick, which had to be promptly taken away from him.)

Wilder has obviously gotten taller over the last month because now, to his delight, he can reach into his toy basket and pull out anything he wants...

We've gone for several wagon rides... It's not a cool old, rusty red wagon but it'll do.

And have even taken the wagon to the dog park a couple of times because Wilder is now in a transition phase where he's too big to carry in the Baby Bjorn but he's not yet walking on his own...

He couldn't be happier about said transition phase... He even picked up a chick in his wagon the other day. A little 19-month-old girl insisted on riding in it with him so her mom and I took turns pulling them around the park together. Wilder was loving it.

In case I wasn't sure if I was actually back in California, I was clearly reminded the other day when I was driving down the street and looked over to see a tortoise walking nonchalantly (as tortoises do, you know) down the sidewalk...

I was a little worried that after having so many people around him at all times in Tennessee, Wilder would have forgotten how to entertain himself. But twice in the last two days I've peeked in his room when it got too quiet to find him sitting on the floor flipping through a book all by himself. Oh, child of mine, how I love you.

Well, I suppose that can finally be the end of this week's post. If you've made it this far, thank you for hanging in there with me. Paul will be back in a couple of days so I can return to bombarding him with all of my questions/comments/concerns instead of dumping them all on you again next week. He looks like he's having fun getting out of husband duties for now though, doesn't he? :)

Alright, hope everyone has a good week!

UPDATE: After a little Google research, many credible sources are telling me that Eeyore is in fact a boy! I don't know why I didn't look it up when someone told me otherwise in the first place. But that's neither here nor there. Now at least we'll have a backup if the Davy Crockett vest turns out a little too "rugged" but after standing in line so long for fabric I feel like I still have to at least try. 

Life of Wilder: Week Forty-Six

If you look closely at that cheesy, 

crooked grin, you can see all

six of Wilder's teeth. Such a big boy!

Wilder and I have had a pretty fun week. My mom went back to work on Monday so I've intentionally planned stuff to get us out of the house and keep us busy. 

We finally went over and used our gift certificate at Mags & Lulu. Jackson people, y'all should check out their store! They have such cute stuff and reasonable prices. I got Wilder this Zutano outfit, which is so colorful and fall-ish and sooo soft and comfy, as well as a super soft Kicky Pants shirt and the cutest sweatshirt I've ever seen. Wilder enjoyed playing with the toys on the floor while I shopped. I'll definitely be stopping back in on future trips to Tennessee. 

Speaking of shopping, my mom and I had to go buy Wilder some new pajamas the other day because he's outgrown the ones I brought for him since we've been here. The next size up has grippy feet because apparently, even though I'm in denial of it, my tiny newborn infant son will be walking on his own two legs soon. He seems a lot more excited about that than I am. I do love these cute pj's though :)

Wilder has been in boy heaven the whole time we've been here. There are always machines around that he needs to work on and fun stuff to ride on. There's even a tractor in Grana's backyard that he can ride to in his wagon and sit on whenever he wants. He doesn't even have to get dressed to do it. I'm fairly certain this is what he wants for his birthday.

Or a Ranger...

Pretty please, Mama?

Wilder has also been enjoying getting to spend time with his cousin, Gracie. She is 15 months and thinks she's his little mommy. She tries to help him do stuff, pick him up (even though he weighs almost as much as she does), and the other day she tried to check his diaper, haha. It is so cute seeing them together and we've been able to get some great pictures of them.

My grandmother with her two great-grandchildren

Peekaboo

 Sweet cousins

 Getting some lovin' from Gracie

whether he wanted it or not :)

Like I said, we've gotten some great pictures of them together... But this is not one of them, haha. Although I have to admit it's pretty hilarious. 

Thursday afternoon Wilder and I drove to Memphis to have a playdate with my good friend, Megan, and her 14-month-old son, Mason, at the Memphis Botanical Garden. It was so beautiful and it had a great children's section. The weather was perfect and we had such a great time playing and strolling around. I would definitely recommend checking it out if you're looking for something to do in West Tennessee. 

The boys were absolutely thrilled to have 

their picture taken, as you can see

Again, totally thrilled, I'm telling you

 Flower beds, get it?

 We fed the fish and it got a little crazy

Today we went to Donnell Century Farm with Jinny and her kids. Oh my word, that place is SO cool! There was a petting zoo, a corn maze, hay rides, huge tires to play on, "cornboxes" (like sandboxes but filled with corn kernels instead of sand), a slide made out of a huge corrugated pipe, a cotton gin filled with cotton that you could play in, and more that we didn't even get to. It was such a fun afternoon. If you're in the Jackson area and you have kids you should definitely take them there. 

The slide was awesome

Me and my bestest friend

Of course, I had to stop along Hwy. 70

on the way home and get some cotton

field pictures. Wilder may have been

born in California but he's a country

boy at heart :)

I also had to stop and take a picture of this. Oh 

Tennessee, how I love you and your tendency

to combine businesses that don't go together.

This is tied with the Army-Navy Store/Tanning

Salon for my all-time favorite.

Oh, and here's a video of Wilder crawling just because I think it's so darn cute.

Well, that's it for Week Forty-Six. We'll be back in San Diego for next week's post. It's going to be hard to leave my mom but we're ready to get back home to our normal routine and to Paul. We've sure been missing him. We Skyped with him the other day on my phone so he and Wilder could see each other. The next morning, Wilder saw my phone sitting next to me, grabbed it, and held it up to his face yelling Dada! Dada! over and over into it. I'm pretty sure he thinks I banished Paul into that little black box... So yeah, I think it's time to mosey on back to our side of the country. Alright guys, hope everyone has a great week.