Summer Wish List

I saw the idea for a Summer Wish List and thought I should make my own simple list of things I hope to do this summer...

This Summer I want to . . .

• Make Iced Tea and drink it on my balcony with my feet up
• Eat Fresh Basil often
• Share with Wes the fruits and veggies of summer
• Eat a Tomato we grow in our garden
• Tend our garden plot
• BBQ
• Have a picnic on a blanket in the park
• Fly a Kite, at the beach
• Build a sandcastle
• Blow some bubbles
• Swim at the pool
• Go tent camping
• Hike
• Go on a date with my sweetie
• Go to the Farmer's Market
• Make a Puppet Theatre
• Swim in a river clean enough to swim in
• Set up my second bedroom so I like it
• Learn to better use my camera
• Bake and decorate a cake
• Learn how to identify a new constellation
• Go berry picking
• Make a pie or cobbler with said berries
• Make and eat our own popsicles

Month 10

Month Ten is the month of walking locomotion and "don't confine me now" sentiments.

We have first steps! On a couple of occasions Wesley has been standing solo and looking at me and with a little encouragement he takes a couple steps. He thinks it's hot stuff. Sometimes he tries to jump instead of step, this does not work very well, but is a funny "figuring it out" moment.

 Wesley loves to walk with his walker or while holding hands. He now enjoys walking holding one hand.

Wesley loves to stand unassisted while being read books. He has gotten so confident and fast with his walker. He pushes it across the living room really fast, then we turn it around, and he quickly pushes it back to the other side.



Wesley hates to be confined, including walks. Even for just a couple of blocks. It is hard to leave the house or to get to the park which is four blocks away. If I carry him on my hip the whole way, and let him touch every tree, we can often make it without too much upset. This has seriously transformed our lifestyle. Before, we took at least one if not two hour-long walks a day, exploring, seeing town, etc. Now our routine centers around a walk the garden, then to the adjacent park.

Wesley likes to point at things on walks, prefers if he can then touch them. He points to things with his fist, not his finger.

Set free on a walk

Wesley loves the park. He loves to watch the big kids play on the playground, to swing, and to climb on the playground equipment. He loves being outside and exploring new places.

Exploring Rocks at China Camp State Park

Wesley loves to dance. When music comes on he dances. He bops his head and rocks up and down. Casey has caught him dancing in the room by himself. He dances when his music playing toys come on, when we turn music on, or sometimes when we sing.

Wesley likes to play pat-a-cake (which I always say as "patty cake", is that just me?). When you start to sing the song, even without clapping, he will start clapping. He also does a nice "rooooll it".

Wes loves to clap. He claps when he's happy. He claps when he's upset and trying to soothe himself. He claps hoping you, too, will join in.

clapping down the trail

He's learned how to give high fives, but by the end of the month isn't as excited about them.



Wes has started copying certain things we do, like he picks up the broom and pushes it back and forth, or he brushes his teeth/gums back and forth with his toothbrush. Of course he needs our help if we want the floor to be actually swept or the teeth to be fully cleaned.

We can now read books with real pages without Wesley ripping them up. Mother Goose is the current favorite.

On the language front, Wesley now says, in association "da-da-da-da" with Casey and "ma-ma-ma" for me. "ba-ba-ba" appears to refer to diaper change &/or nursing. Sometimes he crawls after me saying "ma-ma-ma ba-ba-ba" or he nuzzles me and says it. He's mostly stopped signing his "milk" sign which he had been doing for a few months. He only signs it now when he is reeeeeaaally wants to be fed right that moment.

He has gotten very good at waving hi and bye. If he just notices someone is getting ready to leave, even before they say bye, but if they're putting on their shoes/coats, he will start waving byebye. His understanding and ability to anticipate behavior and respond accordingly is becoming more sophisticated.

Moments:
One of my favorite moments of the month was when Casey was getting ready for work. He was walking over toward the shoe rack and Wes intercepted him, held onto the backs of his pant legs and walked with him across the room. So tiny there walking behind his Daddy. So sweet.

Another favorite moment was when we were playing with his walker outside and he just stopped, went over, and gave a tree a big hug. He held it for maybe five seconds, then put his face to it so sweetly, then hugged it again. We don't make a habit of hugging trees, so it was such a remarkable spontaneous gesture.

This month also contained my first Mother's Day with Wesley on the outside. It was wonderful. I felt so happy all day, so appreciative of my son, of motherhood, and of Casey. And of course, of my Mom, too.


Mom's Day 2011

On the final day of Month 10, Wesley's Gram & Grandpa from Kauai arrived. Great fun! More on that next month...

Outdoor Time

With the wonderful weather this week, Wesley has had some fun outside.

He loves trees, and their leaves. On a walk to the park (he was pushing his walker and being carried), Wesley stopped to spontaneously hug this tree. On another walk, he played with its leaves.

We have been going to the playground in the evening after we water the garden. He loves to watch the big kids play, he likes to climb on the playground equipment, and he enjoys swinging.

And sometimes he does this...

It was so warm we played with water on the balcony a few times.

We also planted our garden plot at the Community Garden. I noticed this morning that we have a few little sprouts showing! We planted two rows of salad mix, a row of lettuce, a row of beets, a mound of cucumber, a short row of kale, and bought a few tomato and pepper starts. I am very excited for it to grow. Gardening will be a practice in patience. Did you know that you have to wait 55 days for most of these plants to produce? I am so glad we have our little garden.



There is a well-shaded grass area behind the baseball field near the park. We play there in the evenings. Wesley can watch the dogs in the dog park and play in the grass or on the backstop.

I love this warm weather. It does bring new challenges to keeping Wesley protected from the sun. Up until now he was not very mobile so he could not crawl off the blanket into the sun, or he was in the carrier and we would carry a sun umbrella or he would have on long sleeves. With the warmer weather longsleeves will overheat him, so we're going to have to make adjustments. I imagine I'd feel this way about any baby, but a little redhead is all the more vulnerable. That said, I hope this summer weather sticks around.