Month 16

This has been a month of loving rocks and crayons.


Coloring
Wesley has a new love of coloring, and he is refining his skills. All of a sudden one day, coloring became top priority, and it has remained that way for the remainder of this month. For a while we were coloring for maybe five to seven hours a day. He was staying up late to color. But it paid off. He went from wild scribbling to directed coloring in a week. He has learned all of his colors and can say the names of many of them. blue, brown, green (can't say "gr" yet so it sounds like "dee"), orange "oh", yellow (the most adorable little tongue rolling noise), purple (puh-puh), magenta (ta-ta).

One day when Wes and I were coloring, Wes began getting upset. I was focused on my coloring task, but after some time, I realized that he was getting very upset and yelling the color "green" at me while waving around a green crayon. I had been coloring a turtle multi-colored (one begins to take creative license after so much coloring). He was calmed immediately when I began coloring the turtle green, as he should be.

Brown, yes sir

Wesley is very directive about coloring. He often dictates what crayon his coloring companions are supposed to use, where on the page they should be coloring, etc. He seems to have a creative vision in mind. As one coloring companion lovingly remarked "you're a bossy colorer".

An Opinion, clearly expressed (sometimes)

Wesley expresses his opinions with "No" and "yaah". He responds to questions and suggestions, typically with "no". And he means it. He does not like to be overridden after he says no. It's still surprising to hear him say it so frequently.

That says, he cannot express everything in language and it has led to an increase in frustration this month. Fortunately, if I can get his attention, I can usually say "please show me" and then he takes my hand to the object he's referring to. Or, we often use the guessing game strategy of "what do you want? is it this? or this? or this?" He is patient throughout the guessing game. Eventually I get to the right thing and he exuberantly exclaims his affirmation. Then we just hope it's something he's allowed to have.

Particular Particulars
All of the above stories point to an undeniable fact. Wesley has gotten very particular about what he wants and how he wants certain things. And very attached to certain objects. I have a compendium such stories

    How he kept saying "water" with increased frustration while hitting away his water cup and yelling "no" until I realized that he wanted water, but out of a mug, not a glass, because in the morning we drink our beverages from mugs.


  How he is attached to a very certain tiny broken brown crayon and none of the five other browns will satisfy his need when he's misplaced his brown.


  How his favorite rock of the day (typically either his rose quartz or his amethyst) cannot be substituted for his other rocks, and he cannot do without it.


  How he wants his red stocking cap not the green one.


  How half a day was spent whining so sadly around the house the day that Daddy accidentally took the amethyst to work. It was the first thing Wes asked for upon waking from a nap, and I lost my breath in horror when I deduced that it must have been left in Casey's pocket. He had been given charge of it on our walk that morning.

His comfort objects switch daily, but when he feels the need to have one, he really needs that particular thing. The unfortunate reality of his favorite objects is that they are so small. Rocks and tiny broken crayons. Rocks that get set places, put in things, carried on walks (and put in pockets), moved to different rooms during play, etc.

Also, Wesley has decided that our house needs to be vacuumed every day (which of course it does). He gets his little vacuum, brings it to the closet where the big vacuum is stored and gets my attention until I get out my vacuum. This has led to a much neater living room for much of the month, because I have to pick up in order to vacuum. He waits until I turn my vacuum on, then he runs back to his, turns it on, and we vacuum side by side. So fun.

Language
Wesley has so many words I can't list them. Most are one first sound of the word, but many two-syllable words are emerging. He has started repeating some words after we say them. He says words for many objects he sees. He has on a few occasions used short two word sentences like "da-da bye-bye".

Also, he knows all of the names of the Sesame Street characters. From his coloring book and one book I had when I was a little girl. He instantly committed the names to memory and repeated them. There is something truly magical about those characters, I guess, because he has never seen Sesame Street nor had any toys related. But they were of instant interest.

He's started saying Mommy (Ma-Ma) again all the time which I totally love.

Teeth
Three additional molars poking through (not all the way in), plus the unfinished one from last month. So much less sleep than usual. So much more crummy thrashy cry-and-yell-outloud and get up in the night sleep. So much whining. So much discomfort. The final week of the month he has respite between teeth and we are reassured by the happy, playful, easy going Wesley that returned.

Boo! And more fun

We had a wonderful visit with Gram and Grandpa. It was absolutely gorgeous Fall weather, and we took advantage of it. Guitar on the patio, walks around town, Anne Lamott en plein air, delicious dinners with everyone. And of course, Halloween festivities. Wes was really excited for their visit and didn't let his three emerging molars ruin the fun. 

Wes started calling Gram "Ma-Ma" which sounds the most like Grandma of anything he's said so far. Since Grandpa left, Wesley carries around a pen with his picture on it saying "Pa-Pa".

Thanks for the necklace, Gram

Halloween Festivities

We had a wonderful Halloween season. Grandpa Pizz (currently Wesley-deemed "Papa") and Gram (sounds like Ma-Ma) were visiting. Wesley just loved Halloween and so did I.

And I loved Casey's pumpkin pie made from real pumpkin. And he made a mini-pie just for me. It was truly the best pumpkin pie I've tasted. Using fresh pumpkin must have made a difference.

We went to a Day of the Dead parade. Casey was working, but the rest of us got dressed up.

Gram read Where the Wild Things Are to Wesley to get him excited about putting on his monster costume. It totally worked.

Wesley actually fell asleep on our walk to downtown, and stayed asleep through some loud drumming, mariachi music, and crowd noise. He is wiped out with his molar challenges, family festivities, and what appears to be a transition to one nap a day, at least for now.

Then it was Halloween. Casey, Wesley, and I carved a bunch of pumpkins this year. Wesley was totally into the process. He was very busy scooping out guts and poking in the pumpkin with his spoons and spatulas and measuring scoops. He enjoyed picking up the stray pumpkin seeds and putting them in the waste bag. He like trying to put the lid back on the pumpkins (a little challenging to get it settled just right). I love pumpkin carving, so it was a treat to share it with Wes.

Then we walked around town during the afternoon...

Jesse & Lisa came over for dinner and then we met up with Grandpa and Gram to walk the mega-street of Petaluma Halloween Festivities (D Street).

On our way Wesley went to two houses and trick r treated. He loved walking up to the houses and up the stairs. He didn't want to get very close to one of the homeowners, but was happy to look at him from a distance and to have him come put something in his pail. When I asked him if he wanted to go to more houses he gave a hearty "yaaaaaah".

It was a very fun start to the holiday season.

A Cook's Beginnings

Wesley and I had our first real experience cooking together. We made pumpkin pancakes. They were yummy.

Wesley's favorite parts were scooping and pouring the flour and then stirring everything together. He was so excited about the flour that he actually continued to practice this skill with extra flour while I set up and completed some of the other steps.

He was very good about stirring the mixture gently. He was focused and careful and did a great job.



Month 15

Wesley continues to be a cute spectacle as he jerky-leg runs up and down the sidewalks and all around town. By the end of the month he has started to bend his knees more when running. His new technique has paid off in increased speed.

Wesley is in a really adorable phase of early running, highly affectionate, pretty happy (except when teeth are bothering him), very silly, and increasingly capable toddlerhood.




Of course the highlight of this month was the visit by my parents (so amazing).

The shocker of the month was that Wesley pushed through TWO TEETH AND A MOLAR. I think there is still one tiny corner of the molar that has not yet emerged (after about two weeks during which at least some of it has been poking through). YIKES. He soothes himself by nursing. We have had a really hard time of it. Poor guy.

Language
Wesley continues his love of letters. He is ravenous for words and letters. He is so delighted when he sees letters that he recognizes around town ("A" on the CHASE bank sign, "T" on the side of a van, etc). We'll be walking up the street and all of a sudden I hear a little "ah ah ah" by my side and he's found a letter A.

I can see that what was a continual "BLLAAAHHH" for garbage sightings at the beginning of the month is starting to transform into new games of amusement. Primarily, a game Wesley created and plays with himself, the Find a Letter game. He loves finding letters and hearing the sounds of letters.

Letters for which Wesley says the phonic sound:
A, a, B, D, F, H, M, N, P, T, W, V, Z

Wesley's successful matches

Wesley has really upped the baby babble this month. Most of his "words" are still a single syllable/first sound of a word or sound effects ("woof"). He's added a few. He now says "ff" for finger, fish, and flower (when he doesn't just sniff his nose or make a bzzz sound for bees he associates with flowers). and "tr" for truck. also "puh-puh" for pumpkin, "bo" for boat, "boo" for ghost. He points to his wrist for watch.

He has refined many of his animal noises. His seagull, which he picked up on his own after chasing them on the beach, sounds shockingly like a seagull. He does it only for seagulls, and it's way better than any seagull noise I could have suggested.

Memory
Wesley's memory amazes me. If we walk by a house one day and we see a new dog, then the next time we walk by the house, even if it's four days later, he'll "woof" like a dog at the fence. We three walked to town one beautiful Sunday morning and there was a bush FULL of loud red-winged blackbirds. I had forgotten about it a week later when Wesley and I found ourselves downtown again. He pointed at the bush and laughed and said blackbird. He knows all the houses on our route that typically have dogs, cats, and boats, and he makes the noises for each as we pass.

Humor

Wesley loves to be a clown for laughs. And he knows that certain things he does are funny. He does stuff hoping we will laugh. And it is funny.

He continues to love peek-a-boo. Peek-a-boo behind a pole on a walk, popping up over the edge of a chair, over then under a table, around the door frame, in a corner, under a blanket, peek-a-boo behind your back. Our lives continue to be filled with fun games of peek-a-boo.

Peek-a-boo and other fun

Related to this, though not exclusive to humor is that we now have to be really careful what we say and do, because he picks up on it all and is a mimic. I have had so many "uh oh" moments this month when I did something which he noticed and I quickly realized I couldn't take back.

For example, once he burped and, though I typically indicate that he should say "excuse me", we had been a bit rambunctious when it happened, so instead I said "burp" in a funny voice. Oh, it stuck. Every time he burps now, he gives an impish little grin and says "burp".

Once as Wes was eating, I was telling Casey how my Dad made a hilarious "blah" face about the healthy food that I "force" poor Casey to eat, and Wes immediately looked at his food, said "blah" with dramatic flair, and refused to eat it. Yeah. Fortunately after a day and a half that disappeared.

Fall
Fall has come to Petaluma this month. We enjoy finding many Fall treasures on our walks including buckeyes/chestnuts, leaves, spikeballs, and acorns. Wesley loves crunching through the leaves. He loves seeing the ghosts (boo!) and the pumpkins which are up for Halloween decorations.

Hair
Wesley's hair is coming in at a more rapid rate now, but he is still pretty thin. He has a Dennis the Menace cal lick in the back that curls.

Pumpkin Patch

It was a great day of family. Auntie Lisa, Uncle Jesse, Grandma D, Casey, Wesley, and I all piled into our car, and we went to the pumpkin patch together. It was one of those idyllic experiences that left me with the feeling that the world was glowing all around us.

Before hitting the pumpkin patch, Wesley enjoyed looking at the goat, the horse, and seeing (& petting) his first pig.

When we went to the pumpkin patch last year, we leaned Wesley on top of a pumpkin for a photo.
This year, he was walking around the fields trying to pick up pumpkins until he finally made his selection. Looking back at the photo, though, I see a similar intensity of focus present in him as he stared at the pumpkins. Also, he both then and now has very little interest in looking up from his busy work for the sake of a photo opportunity.

It is hard to tell in this picture just how heavy this pumpkin was for him to carry, but it took a lot of effort to carry it across the field. He tried to pick up many larger pumpkins before making his selection.

It was an absolutely gorgeous Fall day.

Wesley loves his "pah-pah"s (very throaty sounding). We have ours on the balcony railing and his in the house (so he can play with it). I can hardly wait for the fun of carving them.

Noo-Noo

Will this be the last major Noo-Noo harvest of the year?

The air now feels like Fall. The leaves are falling from the trees. We went to the garden after days of rain and found our SunGolds split and snails in our thin-skinned heirloom tomatoes.

We have harvested such a bounty of tomatoes this year. Bowls and bowls every couple of days. We have tomato sauce frozen for winter pasta dinners.

Wesley has learned to identify the red tomatoes and to pick them. He knows to water them at the base, and he finds peace and calm in their midst. He spots tomato plants in other people's gardens when we're on our walks.

We have not yet pulled out our plants, but I have a feeling that this may be our last big harvest. We have had so much fun tending the tomatoes this summer. And homegrown tomatoes are so yummy.

Now onto the winter delights. We have planted part of our Fall garden, and I hope to plant the rest this weekend (a little late).

Lovely Parents

My parents just came to visit for a week. We loved their visit.

Wesley spent the week before their arrival carrying around a picture of them, pointing to them, and nodding his head that he knew they were coming to visit. He was happy to see them when they arrived. He glummed onto my Mom and followed her around the house, he loved shopping with my Dad, and he enjoyed playing with both of them.

It was a week filled with a nice balance of being out and about and also staying around our house with plenty of time for talking and low-key play.

We went on some hikes:

Casey and I were also treated to our first Date Night since Wesley's birth. Despite skipping his afternoon nap, reports are that Wesley did quite well. They walked to the park, played, and when we found them Wesley was snuggling with my mom, sound asleep in the carrier. Casey and I had a wonderful time going out to a delicious Italian dinner at Risibisi.



Watching the ducks at Sonoma Square

My parents took Wesley away on their own quite a bit. He hadn't previously been away from us very often. Whether outside to play ball or to splash in a fountain when we were dining out in Sonoma (within visual distance), we found it nice to have little moments together with Wesley a short distance away, perfectly content, on his adventures with my parents.

I didn't want my parents to leave. Having them here made me miss them even more. I wonder if it just going to get harder and harder to have them far away. I'm not sure, but I loved having them here.