Life of Wilder: Week Twenty-One

Happy Easter!

Well, call me stupid but the consensus from last week's question is that Wilder is in fact not five months old until next Tuesday, the 26th. Oh well. I don't know all the technicalities of this baby stuff. But at least I've got that figured out now... it only took me (almost) five months :) 

Having Paul gone this week has been pretty hard but not as hard as I thought it would be. I mean, for the most part I'm with Wilder by myself all day even when Paul's in town so not much has changed. I just miss being able to wind down with him at night and the occasional morning play time that he takes over so I can nap. The first half of the week did suck though because I was still sick from last week. It started out as an awful sore throat and then turned into horrible congestion. My nose was literally running off my face. I don't know if it was a cold or just allergies, but luckily Wilder didn't catch it. That would have been the worst: being sick and taking care of a sick baby too. 

Anyway, let me back up to last weekend before Paul left. Friday I got an email from a children's boutique that I love in South Park saying they were having an Easter egg hunt on Saturday and the Easter Bunny was going to be there. Sidenote: I'm totally grossed out by mall Santas and Easter Bunnies -- germs from all the other little kids they've been holding plus you never know who's under that costume -- so even though I really wanted Wilder's picture with Santa over Christmas there was no way I was handing my four-week-old over to a germ-ridden possible ex-con at the mall. But I was determined to get one with the Easter Bunny and, since I knew this store's bunny was going to be one of the girls that works there and I'm about 99% sure she doesn't have a record, that's what we did on Saturday. I texted my dog park friend and told her about it because she lives in South Park and I thought she might want to get her daughter's picture too so she met us there and we ended up going to lunch with her afterwards.

On Sunday Paul went with us to Gymboree and we had such a great time. He actually really liked it and Wilder loved having him there. He does the puppet thing way better than me so that was helpful. :) Even though I love going to Gymboree just for something different to do and I know Wilder loves seeing all the other babies there, we may have to be done with it after this month. Wilder still will not take a nap afterwards! He sleeps for 20 minutes on the car ride home and I guess he thinks that's enough but after all that singing and clapping Mama needs a nap too. It would be OK if the class was late in the afternoon and I could put him to bed a couple hours after but it's in the middle of the day so I have to entertain him for like 6 hours after it's over. It's super exhausting so I'm going to have to decide if the fun is worth the marathon afternoon that results from it. 

Paul left on Monday for New York and I was still sick so Wilder and I really didn't do anything Monday or Tuesday. On Wednesday I was feeling a little better so we met Amber and Henry in Newport Beach to hang out and stroll around for the afternoon. It was a gorgeous day. We walked around the cute little bay area and then took the ferry to Balboa Island and ate lunch. 

Balboa Island was super cute and had some 
beautiful houses and landscaping...

I took this one to show Paul. 

Definitely not your typical beach house.

Some of them may have gone a little overboard on the 
Easter decorations though. Yeah just a little creepy...

Wilder and I always have a great time 
hanging out with Amber and Henry.

Oh, and Wilder got to swing so of course he was a happy camper :)

I guess he was teething a little because all day he was 

chewing on his dinosaur Wubbanub. On the way home he 

was so pooped that he fell asleep with its foot in his mouth :)

Even though we got home pretty close to his bedtime, since he had been in the stroller for most of the day, I let him stay up a little while to play before bed. I don't know whether he was delirious from exhaustion or maybe he really missed the dogs while he was gone, but I got the cutest video of him laughing his head off at them. They weren't even doing anything that funny, mainly just lying on the floor behind me, but he was totally cracking up at them. I absolutely love this video. This is what I call pure joy.

Like I said last week, and obviously from that video, Wilder is totally loving Rider and Posey. I think the love is contagious because they have been extra sweet to him lately -- letting him pull their fur, grab their faces, and cuddling up to him whenever they get the chance. I mean, how sweet are these pictures? :)

Since Paul's been gone I've been letting the dogs sleep with me this week. Sleeping in the bed is Posey's heaven so this is what I've been waking up to every morning. This dog is so ridiculous...

Last week I mentioned that Wilder is usually super laid back but that he can get a little attitude sometimes. Case in point: He is totally obsessed with rolling. He will not lay on his back for more than half a second without trying to roll onto his stomach. But, for what it's worth and for obvious reasons, I have a rule that there is no rolling on the counter when I'm trying to get him ready for bath time. Of course, he doesn't understand "no" yet so I end up having to hold him down with one hand while undressing him with the other. 

He gets SO mad! Can you say AT-TI-TUDE?

And then I'll give up and roll him over onto his belly myself and, in an instant, he's perfectly happy watching the water running. I kid you not, these pictures were taken 5 seconds apart... Crazy baby.

Here are a few more cute pictures from this week...

Trying to sit up in the tub like a big boy

Apparently Rider thinks Wilder's play mat 

is her own personal canopy bed haha

All I know right now is this bunch is looking forward to a certain daddy coming home tomorrow! :) Maybe I'll do a Mid-Week Minute about his NY trip. Anyway, y'all have a fabulous weekend and a Happy Easter!

Life of Wilder: Week Twenty

I can't believe Wilder is 20 weeks old today! Since I always just talk about what we've done during the week, let me give you some facts about my sweetheart of an almost 5-month-old boy. He weighs 16 lbs. and is turning into a regular old roly-poly baby. His chubby little arms and legs are like sausage links and he's been wearing 6-month clothing for a while now. He's slowly getting more hair and it's blonde as can be. His eyes are lightening up but they are still blue blue blue. He's still eating every 3 hours during the day but he's sleeping 12 hours at night so I don't complain. He takes 2 or 3 1-hour naps during the day. We're going to wait until next month to start rice cereal/solids. He's a laid-back little dude but can definitely get an attitude sometimes and knows how to get our attention (see pterodactyl scream). He's not a squealer when he's happy, he's a chuckler. He adores Paul of course, but he has also become exceedingly fond of the dogs. Every time they come into the room he gets a huge grin on his face, like his friends have come to play. 

He always wants to be on his belly. Anytime I put him down on his back he immediately rolls over and will stay like that for as long as I'll let him. He's started to figure out how to spin himself around on his stomach if there's something behind him that he would rather look at. He's also found his feet but has yet to put them in his mouth. He looooves bath time and sits there happily kicking and splashing while I bathe him. He gets a bath every night as part of his bedtime routine and it really helps him get into sleep-mode. I read to him a couple of times a day but he is so not interested yet. Sometimes he even starts going "ahhhahhhahhh" over me when I'm reading to him, haha, and I've even tried singing books to him but it doesn't help. He'd rather eat the book. The English major in me is in serious distress over this but I know he'll come around if I keep at it. We don't let him watch TV for various reasons, except an occasional sporting event. He loves to be outside. He is the absolute joy of our lives and we feel so blessed to be his parents. 

Now, let's see, what have we done this week? The weekend was bittersweet because it was Paul's last before starting back to school. We spent a lot of time at home just hanging out (and watching the Master's). Wilder and I went to Gymboree on Sunday. 

Monday we had another play date with my friend from work, Brandie, and her son Junior (yes, Junior). We went to the park at Liberty Station and Wilder got to swing again, which he, of course, loved. I may have gone a little overboard with the sun-protection... sunscreen, socks, sweater, ugly fisherman's hat... but I would just die if he got sunburned so fashion be damned! 

 (Just realized he's upside-down flipping me off in this pic...

probably for making him wear this awful hat)

Junior wanted to hold him :)

Tuesday we went to the dog park. The sun protection that day was a little more stylish, haha...

I found these adorable Kicky Pants hats on Diapers.com. They are so soft, adorable, and breathable and since I can't put sunscreen on his head they're great for protecting his little noggin. I ordered a couple on Sunday and they got here Monday night. Now that's what I call service! Especially compared to my teething-themed order from Amazon, which I will discuss complain about below. Anyway, we saw our dog park friend that day and apparently we don't have quite as much in common as I thought. Last week when she invited me to go to the Mommy Movie Mornings movie this Thursday I went home and told Paul I hoped they were showing "Arthur." I think Russell Brand is pretty hilarious (hello, have you seen him in "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" or "Get Him to the Greek"?) and I think that movie looks pretty funny. But when we saw her Tuesday she said disappointedly, "Oh, and the movie they're showing Thursday is 'Arthur' with that stupid Russell Brand so I don't think I want to go." Mehhh :( Oh well, I'm not a great friends-maker so I can't be picky plus "that stupid Russell Brand" isn't a deal-breaker for me as far as mom friends go so even if we don't have that in common I'm good. I just think it's funny that I was like "Oh I hope it's 'Arthur'!" and she was like "Eww, it's 'Arthur'" haha. 

Oh yeah, so I ordered a few teething items from Amazon on March 31st. Guess when they got here? April 12th! Seriously?? I love Amazon and have never had a problem with ordering from them but it should not take almost two weeks to get something in the mail. I will say this, when I emailed them asking about the package and complaining about how long it was taking they did refund my shipping cost, but that didn't really make up for having to wait that long for something I needed right away. Aaaanyway, as far as the products go, from our 3 days' use of them so far, I can highly recommend the Razbaby RaZberry Teether. It's easy to hold and since it's shaped like a pacifier Wilder knows where to put it and how to get it there. The little nubs on the berry part seem to feel good on his gums too.

The teething pain has subsided a little this week so we've only used the teething tablets once but they worked within five minutes when I was sure Wilder wasn't going to take a nap because of the pain. Lifesaver! The ones we got are called Homeostasis Labs Teething Relief tablets. So yeah, good products, just maybe get them from somewhere other than Amazon if you're in a hurry. 

We've been doing a lot of walking this week. Wednesday we strolled around North Park for an hour and a half. Thursday Wilder sat outside with me while I push-mowed the yard (so proud of myself, haha) and then we went to the dog park and walked with our dog-park friend for an hour and a half. The weather has been sunny and in the high 60's and it has felt so great to get outside and get some good exercise. 

We've had some very productive play times indoors too though. Even though Wilder much prefers to be on his stomach, I've been working with him on sitting up and he has now officially sat on his own several times!

At first I put the Boppy pillow around him just in case he fell backwards but he decided he liked laying across it better...

Now this happens every time I sit him up. He'll sit there for a few seconds and then he sort of throws himself to the side so he can roll onto his stomach. I would think the sitting position would give him a better perspective from which to look at his surroundings but apparently the stomach position is better for playing with/chewing on toys and that's pretty high on the priority list right now. Oh well, at least I know he can sit up if he wants to. 

Whenever the dogs bark I always try to smile at Wilder or make him laugh so he won't be afraid of them barking, which happens a lot since Rider believes her sole purpose on earth is to loudly ward off anything making any type of noise outside our house. The other day we were playing on the floor in his room and both dogs suddenly barked and Wilder automatically laughed at them. Since I love to hear him laugh I then proceeded to bark myself and he thought it was so hilarious. I tried to get a good picture but he tends to laugh with his whole body so they turned out pretty blurry. I think they're cute anyway...

Alright guys, I guess that's all for this week. Oh, and Paul got into a new honors' studio the school's trying out this quarter (go Paul!) and the teacher told them Monday that he wanted to take them to New York City to tour some buildings and, oh yeah, that trip would take place next week. Wow, thanks for the heads-up there, guy. Sooo, yay fun for Paul, not fun for Emily, especially since I woke up this morning with my throat killing me. Ugh, perfect timing :( I haven't been sick in the two years we've lived out here so hopefully I'm feeling better by next week. All that to say that there may or may not be a Mid-week Minute next week depending on my level of exhaustion. Y'all have a great weekend!

Mid-Week Minute: It's No Big Deal, Just the BEST Chicken Salad You'll Ever Make!

I had every intention of making this recipe last weekend so I could take a picture of it for this post but Paul started a new diet that prohibits like half of the ingredients and he looooves this chicken salad so I thought I would be considerate and not tempt him with it. It's fine though, even though it doesn't taste like your regular old chicken salad, it does pretty much look like it so really a picture isn't necessary. Anyway, here ya go...

Emily's Super Special Chicken Salad
Ingredients

1/2 cup light or regular mayonnaise

1/2 cup light or regular sour cream

1 heaping tablespoon honey

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon pepper

4-5 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, seasoned (I like Mrs. Dash or Kickin Chicken), grilled and chopped

3 cups red and/or white seedless grapes, quartered

1 cup chopped pecans or almonds (toasted optional)

Preparation

Season, grill, and chop chicken. Stir together 1/2 cup mayonnaise and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl. Add chopped chicken and grapes, tossing gently to coat. Cover and chill at least 1 hour. Stir in nuts just before serving.

The key to this recipe is that it's all about the chicken. Don't boil it or bake it -- season it with your favorite seasoning and grill that shiz. It makes all the difference. Also, don't be shy with the honey. It makes it soooo good! I've found that the mayonnaise mixture sometimes turns out to be more than you need so don't dump it all in at once. Stir in about half and then add more until you get the consistency you want. If you aren't planning on eating all of the chicken salad that day you might want to add a little extra mayo mixture because it will partially absorb into the chicken overnight and be less moist than you want the next day. 

Last night I made another yummy hodge podge stew, this time with just vegetables... lots of vegetables. It turned out really good and super colorful and I did actually take a picture of it:

Veggie Hodge Podge Stew
Ingredients

One onion, rough chopped

Two medium sized squash, quartered and cut up

One green bell pepper, chopped

2-3 medium carrots, chopped

One can diced tomatoes, drained

1 1/2 cups frozen corn or 1 can corn, drained

1 can pinto beans, drained

1 can chicken or vegetable broth

Basil, oregano, garlic powder, S&P to taste

Preparation

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large pot over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion. Chop the carrots and add those to the pot. Chop the bell pepper and add to pot. Then cut up the squash and add to pot. These four ingredients need some extra cooking time before adding the other ingredients. The onion needs the most time and the squash needs the least time, so add them in that order. Cover pot and let them cook for about 5 minutes after the squash is added, stirring occasionally. Then add the rest of the ingredients. Bring to a boil and then simmer covered for 20-30 minutes. 

Anyway, that's all for now. Hope you enjoy the recipes and join us back here on Friday for the unveiling of Wilder's latest milestone. 

Life of Wilder: Week Nineteen

Wearing his MS State onesie in honor of Super 

Bulldog Weekend going on in Starkville this weekend...

Wish we could be there! Go Bulldogs!

(And thanks, Amanda, for the cute onesie!)

This week has been fairly busy for us. Wilder is still teething pretty hard but it seems to help take his mind off of it when we get out of the house. On Saturday we took him out to eat with us for the first time in a couple of months. It was easier when he was just a few weeks old because he would sleep through the whole meal; but now that he's more alert and active we have to gulp down bites of food between bouncing him on our laps/making faces at him/giving him the paci/giving him Sophie/giving him toys/wiping spit-up, etc. I can't imagine what it will be like when he starts being mobile and talking, but we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. After lunch we took him to the beach for the first time. We just stayed about half an hour because it was sort of a last-minute thing and we didn't have chairs/towels or anything. Plus, even though I put sunscreen on him, he's so fair-skinned I'm super paranoid about him burning. We went to the Ocean Beach dog beach and he loved watching all the dogs run around. It was fun to do something different and the smell of the ocean and the feel of sand between our toes banished the bad memories of the Tooth Monster for a while. 

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Sunday we went to a friend's barbeque and got to hang out with some of Paul's school friends. It felt good to socialize and talk to people who can talk back and Wilder had fun watching everyone as usual. 

Someone brought mini-hamburgers to grill

that were just Wilder's size, haha :)

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On Monday Wilder and I finally made it to Gymboree and, let me tell you, the boy loved it. I thought he might be overwhelmed by everything going on. To be honest, I kind of was a little bit -- I mean there's so much singing and clapping and puppeteering. But Wilder absolutely ate it up. He laid there really paying attention to everything and kicking his legs the whole time. He was so excited to see the other babies. We sat in a circle with the babies on their backs in front of us facing us but Wilder kept trying to roll over and look at everybody else. I think it will be really good for him so I signed up for a month and will probably keep going back after that. The only bad thing was that he was so jacked up afterwards that he was pretty much a little hellion all afternoon and, even though I know he was worn out, he refused to take a nap the rest of the day. In a totally inappropriate but hilarious analogy Paul said Gymboree is like meth for babies. It so is! I think he was just overstimulated and he'll calm down once he gets used to going (hopefully). Oh, and, if you recall the hippie baby names from my Mommy and Me yoga class, there was one in the Gymboree class that definitely beat out all of those: Sunset. Hahaha, wow. 

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On Wednesday I took Wilder and the dogs to the dog park and saw the girl we met a couple of weeks ago there. The dogs love when we meet up with her because we end up staying for like an hour and a half. It's nice to get some one-on-one time with another mom my age and we seem to have a lot in common. One of the movie theaters in town does a Mommy Movie Morning on Thursdays where they show a current movie, provide changing stations and stroller parking, and everyone there has a baby with them so it's not a big deal if they cry. My dog park friend and I made plans to go next week -- I'm so excited I have a mom friend out here finally! :)

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I joined a moms meetup group like a month ago but so far all of their meetups have been more focused on activities for older kids. Finally this week they set up a play group at Liberty Station and I saw that several moms with babies were going so I decided to check it out. Even though it was a little overcast and chilly, Wilder and I had a great time. The other moms were so nice and all of the babies were at least a couple months older than Wilder so he was fascinated watching them crawl and toddle around. 

We hung out on blankets next to the playground at first and after about an hour he started getting a little antsy. I was about to call it a day but some of the moms had drifted toward the swingset so I decided to see if Wilder would like to swing. "Like it" turned out to be quite an understatement. Oh. My. Gosh. He was in heaven. By the first push his cranky, I-need-a-nap and Oh-yeah-I-just-remembered-I'm-teething mood did a 180 and he looked like what I imagine the first people who rode in a car must have looked like. His face said, "What is this glorious contraption? I'm never getting out of it!" He stayed in there happily for 30 minutes kicking his legs, watching the ground rush by underneath him, and smiling so big. To tell you the truth, I was actually a little afraid of the consequences when I finally had to take him out to go home but he was in such a good mood by then he complied nicely. He loved everything about it and it was amazing and so so fun to watch him experience that for the first time. 

And yes, I took about 57 pictures and a video because it was the cutest thing I've ever seen (this week) and, hello, I have to document all of his firsts. 

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So last week I talked about how badly Wilder wants to move himself. He's been doing the swimming motion and pushing up on his arms for a while and now this week he's been pushing up on his legs (see picture below) but he just can't get the movements coordinated together for transportation purposes. I think it's really frustrating to him and, I don't know for sure, but I think that is the cause of the new noise he's been making. Every so often for the past week he's been making this awful, gravelly/screachy, pterodactyl-ish sound that scared the crap out of me at first. It sounds like he's dying or being tortured but his face is totally normal while he's doing it so, even though I hate to laugh at his vexation, it's actually kind of hilarious. It's even funnier because Posey is super-sensitive and she gets so concerned about him when he does it but she can't decide how to react to it -- half the time she goes off and hides and the other half she feels compelled to stick close by and support him in his crazy baby rantings. 

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Now that I've made your ears bleed with that clip, here's a sweet one of Paul making him laugh. We've sooo enjoyed having Paul home on break these last two weeks and I soooooo am not looking forward to him starting back to school on Monday but hopefully the home studio he created last week will allow him to be here more because, like I've been saying and like you'll see here, Wilder absolutely adores him...

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Wilder has also started doing this other thing this week with his tongue. That's what he's doing in his 19-week picture at the top. I guess he's just discovered that it can be used to make sounds so now he constantly looks like he's trying to say something that starts with "th". It's so cute because he really concentrates hard on it. I can't wait till he finally gets out what he's trying to say, haha :) I got a video this morning but it was almost his naptime so he's a little cranky while doing it, but it's cute anyway. And yes, I have my phone halfway hidden behind the alligator in his room because as soon as he sees it he always stops whatever he's doing. This boy better not turn out to be camera-shy because I already have several hundred pictures of him and I don't plan on stopping any time soon!

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Alright guys, hope you all have a great weekend! A friend asked for my chicken salad recipe the other day and it reminded me that I hadn't posted it on here yet, so look for that in the Midweek Minute. I promise you, it is the BEST chicken salad you will ever make! Oh, and speaking of recipes, check out my sister-in-law's new blog, Chewing the Fat. She's an amazing cook and is going to be posting lots of delicious and healthy recipes. 

Mid-Week Minute: It's a Deee-licious Sandwich!

Paul and I looove to eat out. We love to try new restaurants and compare them with others we've been to. We also love to find great restaurants and keep going back to them over and over. Basically, we just love to go out to eat no matter what. However.... with Paul being a student and me not working right now we're definitely on a budget. Also, with a new baby it's a lot more difficult to go to restaurants. (Although we did suck it up and successfully take Wilder to Souplantation on Saturday, mmmmm!) Anyway, a few weekends ago after taking Wilder to the park, we were starving and ran across Grant's Marketplace in South Park. It's a cute little local grocery/deli with a great neighborhood feel, awesome wine selection, and some of the most delicious sandwiches. We love the place but for two sandwiches and a bag of chips it ends up costing almost $20. OK, yes, the sandwiches are delicious but like I said... budget... so I decided to try to replicate the sandwich we both always order here at home. Paul has declared it the best sandwich I've ever made so I thought I'd share the recipe with you. 

The Californian

Two slices of sourdough bread

Deli turkey (or sliced grilled chicken is also good)

Two strips of crispy bacon (see recipe here)

Pepper-jack cheese

Guacamole

Lettuce

Tomato slices

Mustard

You can use whatever bread you like best and whatever other condiments you choose. Also, bean sprouts would probably be great on this. BUT, whatever you do, don't leave off the guacamole and pepper-jack! The cool of the guac plus the hot of the pepper-jack are what takes this sandwich from ordinary old turkey sandwich to the best sandwich you'll ever make. Oh, and I usually like to make my own guacamole but I found an awesome pre-made brand at Target the other day -- Wholly Guacamole. Sooo good and so convenient when your avocados are either too ripe or too unripe like mine always seem to be. 

(Yeah, I was so excited about it I accidentally took a 

couple of bites before I remembered to take a picture, haha)

Oh, and I learned a new technique for chopping onions the other day while watching Restaurant: Impossible (love that show!). I've always cut the ends off the onion first thing but then when I go to chop it the slices won't stay together and it makes it so much more difficult to cut up. You all probably already do this and, if so, I wish someone would have told me about it before now! Thanks a lot! What you do is quarter the onion leaving the spots where the roots and greens were attached and then proceed to slice it like the pictures below. The ends of it hold the slices together while you cut it crosswise. So simple but so smart! I'm sure right now you're thinking it sure doesn't take much to impress this girl, but hey, if something saves me any amount of time/frustration/severed digits, then by golly I'm impressed.

(And yes, I took pictures of myself slicing an onion. I mean, I'm at Wilder's beck and call all day long so after he goes to bed I guess I go a little crazy with the free time.)

Alright folks, have a great rest of the week and I'll see you back here on Friday for Wilder's 19-week update including video evidence that my child believes he is a pterodactyl. 

Life of Wilder: Week Eighteen

Soooo, yeah, the Tooth Fairy's evil step-brother, the Tooth Monster, has chosen Week Eighteen to strike our house with full force. At least I hope this is full force because I don't think we can handle anything worse than what poor Wilder's been going through the past few days. As you know he started chewing on things a couple of weeks ago but now he's gnawing on everything he can get his hands on (even his hands) and usually cries while he does it, is much less interested in eating, is super irritable for a lot of the day, and wakes up at night crying in pain. I've tried using Orajel but I'm pretty sure it washes off immediately and probably numbs his tongue and throat more than his gums. He gets the worst look on his face when I offer him frozen teething rings and it's hard for him to hold most things in his mouth in order to chew on them in a satisfactory manner so he's been resorting to his poor little fingers when I'm not there to hold something between his gums. He managed to chew on one of my fingers the other day and it hurt like hell so it makes me feel awful to see him gnawing on his tiny little ones. Infants' acetaminophen helps but not quickly enough. 

A friend of mine, Brittany, had blogged a while back about some teething tablets that were a lifesaver when her son Ryder was teething. So the other day I walked Wilder down the street to look for them at Walgreens, CVS, and Fresh-n-Easy where they were out of stock at every store. I thought "Man, there sure are a lot of teething babies in my neighborhood!" but, alas, that wasn't the case. When I got home and googled the tablets it turns out they had been recalled. Luckily I then typed in "teething" on Amazon and found a plethora of teething solutions, including a different brand of tablets and a couple of cute and easy-to-hold things to chew on. Hopefully my mini teething-themed shopping spree will help my sweet little Wilder ward off the Tooth Monster more effectively. I hate seeing him in pain and feeling so helpless! Plus, I'm not about to let that awful Tooth Monster mess up the awesome sleep schedule he's been on for the last six weeks. As it is, this is what I've been waking up to at ungodly hours on the monitor this week:

So, anyway, that's been the big thing going on with us this week. What else... We're soooo enjoying having Paul home on break. Wilder absolutely adores him and it's so cute seeing them together. Normally when I nurse Wilder we sit in the recliner with Wilder's back to the couch. Now that Paul's been home so much he's often sitting on the couch behind Wilder so now every time I sit him up to burp him he turns around to look at Paul. Even when Paul isn't sitting there he still turns around to look for him. It is seriously the sweetest thing ever. I'm going to be so sad when Paul goes back to school and is rarely there when Wilder looks for him. But, I don't want to think about that right now. Now I'm just enjoying these moments with all three of us together. 

So, I was going to take Wilder to Gymboree on Monday to check it out, but that morning the teacher called and said that day's class was really full and she didn't want us to be overwhelmed for our first class so we rescheduled for Thursday. But then on Thursday we decided to go ahead and drive up to the LA area to pick up Paul's computer. We were supposed to do it on Friday but freeway traffic is such a nightmare anyway it would be the absolute worst with everyone trying to get home/go out of town for the weekend and we wanted to avoid that as much as possible. I didn't really mind missing Thursday's class anyway. I saw the girl I met at the dog park last week again on Monday and she said the ladies in the Thursday class were a little, shall we say, hoity-toity. As in, they dress up their kids in tutus and jeans for class, have designer diaper bags, and Louis Vuitton changing pads. Soooo not my scene. Anyway, we're definitely going to Gymboree this coming Monday barring any other unforeseen circumstances. Hopefully we'll even make it to yoga on Wednesday too. All this traveling and teething has had us totally messed up but I'm ready to start getting out of the house again.

Yesterday we went to pick up Paul's computer, like I said, and since La Habra was on our way I had Paul drop Wilder and me off at Amber's house to have a little playdate with her and Henry. Henry has now officially taken his first steps on his own -- so proud of that little dude! Wilder was fascinated by and, I think, a little jealous of all Henry's moving around. He desires the super-power of self-locomotion more than anything else in the world (except maybe an instant, pain-free set of pearly whites). Whenever he's on his stomach, which is most of the time these days, he is working his arms and legs and huffing and puffing so much you'd think he was swimming the English Channel, although to his great frustration he's not going anywhere but maybe a few centimeters. Also, now whenever I prop him up in a sitting position he does little baby crunches trying to sit up by himself. If he can't do it he straightens out his whole body in a prostrate, overly-dramatic "I give up" pose. This boy just wants to MOVE! And I have a feeling that once he does, Lord help me, he's never going to stop. 

Kicking those legs

Pushing up on his arms

Trying to sit up

Playing with cousin Henry

Playing (and chewing on those darn fingers)

Since Wilder's go-to mood has been set to "irritable" this week I've been going out of my way to entertain him and make him happy. This has resulted in a couple of cute videos, even though by now pretty much as soon as he sees my phone pointed at him he turns the enthusiasm down about 8 notches. 

To our great delight we've discovered that 

Wilder is ticklish under his chin(s)...

Also, even though I know he is totally infatuated with Paul, 

it gave me a huge confidence boost the other day when I got this on video...

This weekend I think we're going to try to go hike part of the Torrey Pines trail with Wilder and just enjoy spending more time with Paul. Also, Paul and I desperately need a date night so that's my next project -- finding a babysitter. Several friends of ours have offered to watch Wilder for us, but he goes to bed at 6:30-7:00 every night so really all they would be doing is sitting bored at our house being bothered by the dogs for a couple of hours instead of getting to play with the baby so I kind of feel bad asking them to do that. However, if any of those friends are reading this and don't mind doing that please let me know ;)


Here are a couple more cute pictures from this week...

 Asleep with his links in his hand on the 

way to see Amber and Henry

Alright guys, hope everyone has a great weekend! I have a super-duper sandwich recipe waiting for you on next week's Mid-Week Minute so stay tuned :)