It was a hard Monday coming off an amazing break with my little man. Despite a double ear infection and a fever to accompany it, things went pretty well. I got to enjoy many wonderful new developments including catching him spitting on the coffee table and using his saliva as a means to produce some table art. Incredible. But, alas there were other developments. Everyday there is a new word. Today he was commanding the doggies to “sit.” He also wanted “nanna’s apples” for dinner. He likes to go into the kitchen and yell “go” and run into the living room. He likes pulling the lights off the Christmas tree as well. When wanting to go for a walk, he hand delivers our shoes to us. He walks with flailing arms above his head when he is excited and puts raspberries on his fingers before eating them. He informs us when he has a poop, and is infatuated with everyone of his grandparents. He is a good boy and a bucket of fun.

Good Lord I am thankful for him.

While the rest of the family is rejoicing in new babies abound, TC and I managed to get a new baby of our own. Oliver.

Oliver found us, I wanted to get him out of the house as quickly as possible. Then I met his owner, who didn’t seem to like or care for him much. This was apparent for two reasons. 1) she made no attempt to look for him, and 2) when I tracked her down she asked me if I could PLEASE keep him.

At first we said no. But the more we thought about it, the more we thought Oliver needed some love. So we took him. Maybe only temporarily, but at least until we find him a good home, or our home becomes his.

So, meet our newest family member.

Here are the favorite things of Wesley at 16 months: monsters, go cars, talking, and the phone. Just try to get Wesley to give you a kiss, it won’t happen. Kissing is for the monsters.

Halloween was a big success this year. Children were filing into our neighborhood by the truckload and Wesley was walking the neighborhood like an old pro. Wesley had an abundance of fanfare for his Halloween debut. All his grandparents made it over, some aunts & uncles, cousins, and many tias. He, by the way, looked absolutely adorable.

Wesley, Ava, TC, Kristin, and I headed to the Avery Ranch Harvest Festival for an evening full of hayrides, apple cider, and Halloween costumes. There were only a few flaws to our plans.

1. it was a tiny affair

2. the social committee did not seem to want to serve me apple cider (thought I was a high school mom I think)

3. we were not aggressive enough to actually make it on the hayride. Apparently, it was a free for all. We waited in line like decent folks would. But, that was not a good strategy, you were supposed to shove your children over the side of the trailer and make them hold your spot while you pushed your way through the crowd to claim your spot on the wagon. What were we thinking??

So, we went to the playground- the babies in their Halloween costumes and had our own private party. It was better. Oh these burbs.

Wesley, my favorite little man is up to so much. He is an official toddler, wanting to walk on demand, and constantly trying to control  his immediate destiny. He is heart breaking-ly cute. He is picking up words so fast. Some of my favorites are, wheres my momma, wa-wa (water), old wa-wa, dada, more, elmo, wor wor (word world), baball (football), big bird, hot, bat, tank you, and of course his best word bye-bye. He also likes to make animal sounds.

One of his favorite new activities is to walk around the house with his eyes closed; or the safer alternative, his hands over his eyes. He loves to throw his body down on top of dirty laundry and put stinky socks on his shoulders (we love this habit). He LOVES these little plastic monsters that he got for Halloween (thanks Mary Ella). He carries them all over the house, positions them, knocks them down, and then takes them to a new place and repeats the activity. He does this whole routine by making a “dee-dee-dee” noise (thanks Nana).

He is fun loving and care free. His sense of humor is precious. He is all I could of ever wanted, plus some.

Here are some photos from different trips to the pumpkin patch. The random photo on the couch is when Wesley had an OCD moment and had to line his books up perfectly along the back of the couch. I applaud his organizational skills.

After a lovely day in Boston we headed to Newport, RI to begin the wedding events. Our first stop was to meet one of Wesley’s potential mates Lilly, the beautiful daughter of one of my favorite friends Curly. We scooped them up, grabbed a bite to eat,  and then headed to the coast. We stayed at a beautiful old beach house, where Wesley had the privilege of meeting all of my college friends.

On Friday night we had the rehearsal dinner. Wesley wore his Sunday’s best and was quite the little charmer. He was in full fledged walking mode. In fact, we had to walk a good mile at Wesley’s pace. If you picked him up he threw a toddler fit. So, we walked, and fell, and walked, and fell. It was cute, but a slightly painful pace.

On Saturday came the wedding. Wesley had a babysitter for the event. It was his first time to stay with an official “babysitter” that was neither family or very close friends. He did amazing! He even went to sleep in a timely manner. However, he did cry “momma, momma” as he went to sleep, which not only broke the babysitter’s heart, but mine in addition. The wedding was a fun and emotional experience. Sometimes you forget how special your friends are, especially the ones you only see every year or less. I miss them, and I only wish they were here not only to be part of my life, but little Wesley’s.

We had to leave at the crack of dawn on Sunday. The plane ride was smooth, Wesley napped the entire time. He did manage to do a little charming during our layover.

We had a great trip. Nothing beats time with family and old friends.

Wesley went on his first plane ride this week. TC and I went on our first ride with a child this week. I will be the first to inform you that the latter was more of a shock. Traveling with a baby (okay toddler I suppose) is an adventure in itself. It is not necessarily the adventure that you are excited about or look forward to. It is one of those moments where you think, “life was a lot easier pre-baby.” I mean that in the kindest way, life is better post better all things considered.

There were a couple highlights from the plane ride. Wesley, an always avid peek-a-boo player thought that the plane offered a perfect environment for lots of peek-a-booing. This made TC and I nervous, we didn’t want to be the ones with the annoying child on the plane. But, much to my surprise the entire plane was into Wesley’s game. When I looked back to check out the scene he had at least three rows of people engaged in a game of peek-a-boo, waving, and clapping. He charmed them. After we landed we were bombarded by people complimenting our well behaved baby. I acknowledged their compliments, reminding them that a child is a product of their parents. Just kidding, I am lucky.

After making it Rhode Island, we headed over to Liza’s house for some much needed catching up and sleep.

The next day, we were off to Boston. Our trip to Boston consisted of some hunger, grumpiness, and finally a good solid nap. After that, Wesley woke up in a splendid mood and enjoyed the afternoon.We walked the Freedom Trail, ate some delicious food, then headed back to RI for some more adventures..

Wesley is a full blown walker these days. Yes, he only does it on his own terms (do not try to make him walk, this causes fits of rage). And yes, he falls a lot. But, he is a walker.

Wesley, as I have previously mentioned is all boy. He loves collections of water big or small. This is from the days after the big monsoon. He accidentally fell into it once, you can never take your eyes off this child.

He also like to wear this flashlight on his head.