He's ours

This pic was taken just outside our local bakery, which happens to sell coffee as well.  I believe this was at the tail end of my night float, and I had walked there with Wessy to grab an iced coffee before heading into work.  I always bring my own cup, hence the mason jar (couldn't find travel coffee mug, still can't).  

Wessy kept lunging for my coffee and we had several close calls.  I figured that maybe if I let him taste a tiny bit, he would find it bitter and would be deterred.  Incorrect.  He took the little sip I gave him and gulped it, and then he tried to put his face inside the mason jar to get more.

Welp, could've seen that one coming.  He "drank" coffee through his placenta all through my pregnancy and I'm going to guesstimate that, depending on the time of day, my breastmilk is about a third to a half coffee by volume.  So yeah, he loves coffee.  OF course he does.  He's ours.  

Wessy better

Quick update for all you Wessy fans: He is doing better! He's still a little sniffly/fussy/cough-y but overall he looks much better and doesn't seem to have a fever anymore.  He does, however, have exploding pampers from the antibiotics. 

Back to his busy ways

Wessy sicky

Poor Wessy is sick again.  Last time he was sick we suspected the flu, and this time we are not sure what it is.  He has had about four days so far of cough, congestion, fever and malaise.  I think it's worse this time than it was before--when he was sick before he seemed to bounce back faster.  Coincidentally (?) both time he has gotten sick I have been on night float.  Don't know why that is--am I bringing something home with me (I am very careful to shower and change before I touch him when I get home)? Or can we somehow pin this on Daddy?


Yesterday morning when I fetched him from the crib he was burning up, glassy-eyed and seemed kind of out of it.  I freaked out a little bit and demanded that we go to the ED.  It wasn't that I was certain that he was so sick he needed to be in the hospital, it was more that I didn't want to be trying to make those decisions myself.  Stevo stayed calm(er) and suggested making an urgent appointment for later in the morning.


I am on nights now so I wasn't able to go to the appointment, but basically he was diagnosed with acute otitis media (ear infection).  I'm not at all convinced this is the case, but again, I'm trying hard not to be his doctor.  So we are giving him the amoxicillin that was prescribed, along with a lot of Tylenol, motrin, probiotics and cuddles.  He did look better today than yesterday, though he is still febrile and I'm still worried. 


The one upside, if you could call it that under the circumstances, is that Wessy aka Mr. Mega-Wiggly, is much more cuddly when he is sick. Today we took a dreamy little nap snuggled on the couch, something he would never, ever tolerate under normal circumstances. 


The other thing that is a huge help is that Geraldine is still able to take care of him. If he were in daycare, he would definitely have to stay home and I don't know what the hell we'd be doing for childcare.  So that is very lucky.


But I still hate to see him sicky and cuddliness notwithstanding, can't wait for him to get back to his wiggly, grabby, peripatetic ways. 

Flower child

Playtime at the playground

Lil flirt

Wessy's flirting with the little old ladies game at church is quite strong

Busy busy baby

It seems like all of a sudden Wessy is just so darn busy.  I guess it was more of a slow ramp up, but at almost nine months now (eep!) he is one restless little dude.  Things he does nowadays:
-He bangs on his high chair tray when he wants you to bring him food
-He has figured out how to get his silicone bowl to un-stick from the high chair tray.  This is not supposed to be possible; it is supposed to suction onto the tray so that the baby can't overturn or throw it.  It takes 3-5 seconds for him to do this.
-He WILL NOT sit still in your lap or in your arms. He looks like a little stuffed animal, but holding him is really more like trying to snuggle a feral cat.  He will lunge out of my lap and do a full-body layout onto the couch to try to grab something he wants.  If it is fragile, important, spill-able, messy or otherwise off-limits he wants to grab it and put it in his mouth OMG RIGHT NOW. 
-He will on occasion bite.  He has bitten my shoulder, my hand, my eyebrow, my nose and my lip.  I believe he does it more in the spirit of exploration but his little dientes de ratoncito are quite serrated and sharp.  When he bit my eyebrow I hoped very hard that he didn't break the skin so that it wouldn't get infected and I wouldn't have to show up to the ED and tell them (ie DADA) that I got a fight bite from my baby.
-He babbles, more than ever.  Still no great concordance between his syllables and what he is seeing but a time or two he has thrown a contextually appropriate Dada out there.
-He still doesn't crawl or try to crawl.  He hates the idea of crawling.  Crawling is the worst thing you could possibly try to make him do, according to Wessy (except for wiping food off his face--now THAT is truly THE WORST).  I don't think that he understands why you would crawl if you can toddle around while someone else holds you under the arm pits so you don't fall due to your extreme top-heaviness (ie giant bobble head). 
-He is getting quite used to inordinate amounts of attention.  Due to our schedules, one of us is often home during the day; He is also used to Geraldine constantly being one-on-one with him.  I am trying to leave him alone in his bouncy chair or on a blanket on the floor with some toys for little chunks of time to try to get him used to amusing himself and feeling secure without someone right there.  Sometimes he will do okay with this, but often he will whine and whinge until someone comes over and gives him some attention.  Uh oh. 

Daddy says...

"You know, this parenting thing is kind of hard."

Next time you travel...

...remember to pack your handy dandy Wessy Suitcase!

City weekend

This past weekend, we decided we needed a mini-vacation/staycation, so we headed to the city for a little getaway.  I had Friday afternoon off (woot) and Stevo did not have to work at all on Friday, so we were able to get out of town around lunch time.

Our first stop was Tennessee Valley in the Marin Headlands.  There is a nice, relatively flat and stroller-friendly trail there that leads to a stunning beach with crashing waves and cliffs on either side.  The history buffs among you may also remember that this was the site of Stevo's proposal. OVER FIVE YEARS AGO.  We told Wessy this, but he remained unimpressed. 




Wessy was mesmerized by the ocean.  He just stared at it.  He has seen the Pacific before (a number of times, actually, between Point Reyes and Ocean Beach), and he has even seen the Atlantic, but I think that he really was able to enjoy/appreciate it for the first time given his growing sentience.  He also loved digging his bare feet into the sand and, of course, tried to eat/lick the sand as well. 


After that gorgeous walk, we headed over the Golden Gate and into the city.  We didn't have to go very far because we were staying at the Inn at the Presidio.  This is a swanked-up former Army barracks in the middle of the Presidio.  We were just in time for wine and cheese hour! 

Strolling in luxury at the Inn at the Presidio

After wine and cheese, we decided to push our luck with a no-nap Wessy and loaded up the stroller to head up Lovers' Lane to Pizzeria Delfina in the Fillmore.  He fell asleep on the way there and stayed that way briefly, but awoke just in time to force mommy to put down her wine glass and PAY ATTENTION TO HIM.  Luckily, we were seated at the only table in the establishment (an outside table away from the others) where it was possible to dine with an over-tired and grabby baby making pterodactyl noises and not be thrown out.  Ultimately Wessy was placated by a breadstick, and later a pizza crust, and we were able to call the expedition a mild success.

Wessy fell easily asleep in his stroller on the way back to the hotel, and once back there, we deposited our disruptive little sweetie directly into his crib.  He slept wonderfully until 7:30am. 

The next morning, we had breakfast at the hotel (amazing!) and then had a little siesta in the room.  After that, we headed out to see the city.  It was a warm, glorious day with temps in the 70s and no clouds.  We hit up b Patisserie (the last time we were there Wessy was 5 weeks old and smiled for the first time) and then picnicked in Alta Plaza Park. 

In Alta Plaza park, a smiley Wessy enjoyed the swings and then enjoyed climbing all over Daddy.  It was such a joy to take him to the playground there and see him actually be able play.  We have walked by that park so many times in the last few years, including a few times when Wessy was a brand-new grub, and this was the first time that he was able to actually play. 

Then it was time for some window shopping on Fillmore, followed by a quick trip to the Cherry Blossom Festival in Japan town, which was mobbed.  We left and went to Sacramento St to look at the baby boutiques.  We got Wessy this silicone mat thingy for his high chair.  Also, because I'm a SUCKA I also bought him a plastic set of keys after he picked them up off the shelf and started gleefully shaking them. 

After that, we stumbled upon munchkin paradise:  A playground built just for babies and very small children.  The place was full of toys and helicopter parents.  We gave Wessy a turn on the swings again and also let him lurch around and try to put some things in his mouth.  This is a picture of Stevo taking Wessy back to the stroller after we finished playing in the munchkin playground:

 playground just for munchkins!

After the munchkin playground, we headed back to the Presidio to get our stuff and our car.  We made a last-minute decision to go to Pizzetta for dinner on the way out of town.  Again, we sat outside, and again, Wessy was placated with pizza crusts.  High end but casual pizza places apparently hit the sweet spot in terms of passing as a night out for adults but still being kid-friendly.  Again, Pizzetta was one of mommy and daddy's old haunts--we first went there in 2006.  I never imagined that we would come back TEN YEARS later with our little towhead in tow. 

After a lovely dinner, we headed back to Santa Rosa.  Cap'n Pampers aka Wessy cried heartily (poor baby got almost no naps and we dragged him all over) but ultimately fell asleep. We returned home on a post-trip high...it was such a lovely weekend.  We had so much fun as a family in the city!

April 17th

2015 and 2016

If you're going to San Francisco

Be sure to apply some sunscreen to your face

Hop on pop

Wessy prefers to chew on the baguettes

First on the list

Pizzeria delfina

My hiking buddy

Daddy says...

Me: You never change his pampers anymore. When he needs to be changed, you just hand him to me.
Stevo: I helped out a lot at the beginning!

Daddy says...

To me: "Your heart is bigger than an unrepaired hernia in an obese man."

New talents...

-Biting: ouch.
-Simultaneously patting me (or Daddy or Geraldine) on the back while we pick him up and are patting him on the back to burp.
-"Hugging": unclear if he is really being snuggly or if he is just trying to see over my shoulder, but today he wrapped his little arms around my neck and laid his head on my shoulder.
-Saying mamamamama in a semi-appropriate way!  Maybe.  He may also be using mammaamaama sounds to request milk, but since I am milk, it is hard to say.
-Reliably sticking his tongue out when you stick your tongue out at him.  He thinks this is hilarious!
-Using baby sign language to request milk when he is hungry: We were hiking yesterday and Wes started whining.  I looked at him, asked him what was bothering him, and he held out his fat little fist and made the "milk" sign in baby sign language.
-BIG ups: Wes is going cray cray in his bouncy swing.  He now knows how to get a big bounce, to pivot, to swing back and forth and to jump in a rhythm.
-High fives: today he reached his palm up to my open palm and slapped it. I think this is because Geraldine is trying to teach him how to clap and in his mind this is a variation of clapping, but the byproduct has been that he is giving out lil high fives!
-Busy pampers: Since starting solids Wessy has made an average of just one busy pamper a day, which is so different from his constant breast milk poops.  He is still making gallons of urine, though.  I often will take off a cloth diaper that he has been wearing for only a few hours and it will be completely saturated.  He doesn't seem to notice.
-Still loves: chewing on his feet, empty sour cream containers, gnawing and/or throwing fruit, and Daddy-tainment (whereby Daddy does silly stuff to be funny).

This Wessy

I have been meaning to write for days and days.  And somehow it never happens.  But now I have a sec so I'm going to try to dump out all the things in my mind.

A few weeks (months?!) back I wrote about the different versions of Wessy that we had already gotten to know, and I wondered what iterations were to come.  Well, there is a new little Wessy in town.  He is still beautiful and squishy, but now he is intrepid, curious and, above all, grabby.  

When he was two or three months old, I gushed about how he was my sweet, mellow guy.  He is still so so sweet but there is nothing mellow about him these days.  He is a constant wiggler, a quick and vocal critic of things that do not meet his exacting standards, and he is basically made out of velcro--he grabs anything that comes near him.

He turned eight months old on March 31st.

His new obsessions include the aforementioned sour cream containers, a wooden spoon, his new Merry Muscles Jumper and lastly, the garage door.

He has always had a sense of wonderment about the garage door.  He loves to watch it go up and down.  Recently it occurred to me that I may be able to teach him how to push the button to make it open and close.  Now every time I need to open the door I hold him up to the key pad and he smashes his fat hand onto all the buttons.  After a while, I take his hand and put his thumb on the right button and help him along a bit, and.....MAGIC!

whoa i love yanking on the curtains 

He still doesn't crawl at all, nor does he show any interest in learning.  If you put him on his belly he will first be confused and then flail angrily.  He prefers to be on his feet at all times.  Since he cannot stand on his own, he is dependent upon others to hold his hands or below his armpits to keep him upright. In the last few days he has learned to take little wayward steps while standing.   If you try to get him to sit down he will straighten his legs and go stiff to keep you from doing so.  He is not into sitting down, really.  Unless he has an empty sour cream container.

betcha can't see me!

He smells like milk, both fresh and sour.  He burps like a sailor.  He hates it when you get him dressed but generally likes diaper changes.  

He has finally gotten more consistent in baby sign language.  He is not afraid to ask for "more" of anything.  The other day I was giving him some baby food.  He was not showing much interest and kept turning his head away.  Then he started making the "milk" sign with his right hand.  I made him a bottle of milk and he got excited and then drank it all down.

As you can see, he ALWAYS reaches for the camera when you are taking pictures.  

this interview is OVER

Daddy's ear

In Healdsburg

Let's go Tar Heels!

At the Russian River