Life of Wilder: Week Forty-Eight

Could he be cheesing any bigger??

Oh my goodness, this child totally amazes me. Every night, Paul and I sit here and laugh and talk about all the funny things he's done that day. We just can't believe how big and smart he's gotten lately. He turned 11 months on Wednesday and he is all over the place and constantly talking our ears off. This house seems to be getting too small for him by the day. I've now made his closet, our bathroom, and the dogs' room off limits to him because there's just too much for him to get into in those spaces. But his room is sooo not interesting to him anymore so he is constantly looking for new stuff to get into. I can't open the refrigerator without hearing him racing over to get to it before I close it so he can check out everything in it. I have to open it and quickly grab whatever I need before he gets to it or I have to literally pry his fingers off the door in order to close it. The boy has a kung-fu grip, I'm telling you! And for some reason, things being where they are supposed to be goes against everything he believes in. He wants everything out on the floor where he can see and inspect it at all times. Top on Paul's to-do list this weekend is finish putting latches on the rest of the kitchen cabinets. I wonder why...

In fact, ever since we got back to San Diego, the baby-proofing we had done before just no longer cuts it. We're having to rethink and redecorate for a baby who is a month smarter, taller, and more curious. It's been an interesting and exhausting couple of weeks around here. 

A few of his new favorite things to do are:

• follow me around the house and pull up on my legs whenever I stop moving, then either cling to my legs or force me to walk him around 
• flush toilets
• unroll an entire toilet paper roll in 2.5 seconds (so now we can't even keep the rolls on the holders, we're high-class around here)
• test his own strength by trying to pick up things or move things -- he will pull his pack n' play around by the legs -- and if something is too heavy he strains and grunts like a bodybuilder. It's so funny to watch. 
• not just dig in cabinets anymore but climb into them and pull every last thing out

• push the coffee table around the room

• pull on the strings of the guitar and ukulele

• stalk the dogs

• constantly look for new things to mess with

One of Wilder's more endearing new favorite things to do is read books. It's almost scary how obsessed this child is with books. I think it all started when Paul, in an attempt to deter him from pulling all the books off his shelves during playtimes, made a rule that each book he pulled off he had to sit in Paul's lap and have it read to him. Paul told me he was doing this so I started doing it too. At first Wilder would give up after 3 or 4 books and move onto another activity, but then I think he discovered that he liked being read to so now that's pretty much all our playtimes consist of and even when I'm busy doing other stuff he will sit on his floor and flip through book after book. It is the most adorable thing I've ever seen and I hope it's not just a phase.

Wilder has gotten sooo smart and I know all the reading we've been doing has a lot to do with it. He can recognize different animals and knows other words like airplane, tractor, light, and ball. When he points to something and I say the word for it he gets so excited because he knew what I was going to say. I'm still working with him on pointing with his finger to things when I ask Where's the cow? etc. but he will look at the thing I've asked about when I ask where it is. He has been "talking" so much too. He babbles all day long and also tries to mimic some of the things we say. When we say vroom vroom for a motorcycle or car he says voovoo. Here's a short little clip I got of him babbling a little. He's so hard to catch on video these days because he's rarely sitting still.

This may be the most exhausting age so far but it's definitely my favorite age so far too. I love watching him discovering new things and new abilities. He is so happy and fun to make laugh. When he gets excited his whole body bounces and rocks back and forth like he just can't contain himself. He totally cracks us up all day. Here is a funny video Paul took of him tonight. He was in the pack n' play while I got his dinner ready and he decided to entertain himself (and us) with a game of peekaboo.

For all of you keeping up with our Halloween costume saga, I did end up making a fringed Davy Crockett vest for Wilder and I have to say it turned out much better than I expected it to so that's what we ended up going with as his costume. The Eeyore costume was adorable but I decided if I had a perfectly good costume that cost $7 to make it would be prudent of me to just go ahead and send back the $28 costume. Maybe we'll do Eeyore another year because it sure was cute...

But I doubt we would have won "Best Costume" at the Halloween party last weekend (which we did!) if we didn't go as the most adorable Davy Crockett there ever was. So crazy, considering I spent all of one hour making his costume. All I can think is Wilder's overwhelming cuteness must have blinded the judges to my total lack of sewing abilities. ;) 

 Wilder had fun with his cute 

little buddy, Lexi the Ladybug

 My little mountain man and me

 Us with our friends, Rachel and Lexi

 Wilder got a dog balloon animal and

was determined to pop it in his face...

 Hence the pacifier

On Wednesday we went with Rachel and Lexi to the Pumpkin Station pumpkin patch in Mission Valley. There were TONS of pumpkins...

A petting zoo...

A tiny train...

That was definitely not meant for 

anyone over three feet tall to

ride but we did anyway...

And an awesome inflatable slide 

that even the babies could go down...

But we weren't allowed to go down 

together so I had to send Wilder down 

on his own. He wasn't too sure about it at 

first but when he got to the bottom 

he had the hugest grin on his face. 

We went down it over and over and 

I'm pretty sure that slide was the 

highlight of Wilder's life so far :)

I love my little pumpkin :)

Paul has been busier with school this quarter than we thought he would be because in addition to thesis work the school sprung another studio class on them, ugh! But he took off tonight to take Wilder on a Halloween spin in the wagon around our neighborhood. 

I've been birthday party planning in full force this week. I'm so afraid that we won't have many people there because of the holiday weekend, but I just can't think about that right now. I want to make it a cute, memorable party for Wilder not for whoever might be there. I've gotten about half of the invitations made and sent out, some really cute favors ordered, and other ideas in the process of being executed. It's coming together slowly but surely and I'm getting really excited about it. I'll do a post after the party with all the details and hopefully better pictures but here is a sneak peak of the invitations -- paper airplanes that you unfold for the party info mailed in airmail envelopes...

I made some meatballs for Wilder tonight from a recipe my cousin Amber gave me and he gobbled them up. I'll post the recipe for a Mid-Week Minute. They're super easy, delicious, and healthy. Alright folks, that's it for this week. Hope everyone has a fun and safe Halloween!