So much has been happening!

The blog updates have hit a small wall recently. It's slightly amazing how much more time Wyatt occupies as he gets older. He's gone from sleeping a lot to playing and wanting to be entertained. So, that is what we've been up to. Back to Feb and Wyatt is almost 9months old. Seriously, 9 months old!!! I was pregnant a year ago and hopelessly anticipating the arrival of May and our son. Now, he's here and life is insane.

In November, Wyatt and I joined the local MyGym for an 8 week membership. MyGym is one of several chains of companies that promote activity and development for infants/toddler/kids. We went once a week and played. At his age, there were numerous physical development milestone activities: hanging from a trapeze, parental assisted flips, stretching, balance, core muscle development, etc. Plus, it was a great way for Wyatt to socialize with some other infants.

He also has 2 teeth now! The song request was answered and he got his 2 front teeth over the holidays. It seemed to take months for them to finally break through, but they are here now and are wicked sharp. With the slight personality and mood change we've noticed, it seems that early stages of teething for his next teethies has started.

We survived our first head cold, which took 2 weeks! Those were fun nights!

Wyatt loves to stand. Whether we hold him standing or he stands holding onto something, he loves it. A favorite place is in his pac n play. I can stand him up and let him hold onto a rail and he loves it. For quite long stretches at a time he stands and bounces and chews on the side rail. James and I were shocked and impressed when Wyatt reached to his side, grabbing the changing table with one hand, ten the other, and then turned his feet so his whole body is turned 90 degrees. It's unbelievable!! Holding his arms and standing, Wyatt will start to move his legs in a walking manner.

Sounds are also developing. Momma and dadda can definitely be heart, but he hasn't associated one of the words with either of us yet. Mum, mumma, can also be heard.

Pictures from January

More pictures from January. Wyatt in the snow and just him laughing.

January 2009 Pictures

Pictures from December

Obviously, these pictures are late coming. Here are some pictures of Wyatt from December.

Pictures from December 2008

Wyatt's First Snowfall

Here are some pictures of Wyatt hanging out in the front yard. We tried to get a few photos while the snow was still on the ground.

First Snow Fall

Christmas at the Rockery

The village of Easton has an annual Christmas festival where Santa arrives in a firetruck and there are events for the kids and food for everyone. Here are a couple of pictures of Wyatt in front of the firetruck.

Rockery Photos

Christmas Tree Photos

We attempted (and eventually succeeded) in getting a classic Christmas photo of Wyatt in front of the Christmas tree. After 104 attempts we finaly got a series of useful photos and 1 finalist for the Christmas card. (Gotta love digital cameras)

Christmas Photos

Gym Class

James saw a commercial for a local gym for infants, toddlers, and younger kids. The whole premise is activity with mom/dad and physical activity in general. I decided to try a class out with a free session and took some videos of Wyatt having fun. The class is structured and the "teachers" lead the parents and kids through joint activities that help with coordination, flexibility and other development. The one activity I didn't get a video of was the trapeze. The teacher held Wyatt's arms under the wrist as Wyatt "held" the trapeze bar. I let go and he was then able (with her help) to swing freely back and forth. This sensation definitely brought a smile to his face :-D Needless to say, I signed up for the class and will be spending some fun time with Wyatt every Friday.

Laughing at Charlotte

Charlotte is a neighbor girl and we occasionally drop her off at the bus and/or get her from the bus after school. One such time occurred last week. Her mom had an appointment so Charlotte hung out at our place for a little while. As you can see from the videos, Wyatt had a fun time while she was here. She wasn't ever really doing anything purposefully funny, but Wyatt seemed to think she was hysterical!

Videos

Not much to say other than here's a medley of videos I keep meaning to share with everyone. They range from laughing with/at the pets to hanging out with dad to talking to himself while in the saucer.

Eating Cheerios (well, trying anyways).


Petting Tiger


Giggling


In his Saucer


In his Saucer again

Big man on the couch

It's very hard to believe that Wyatt is already 6 months old. Aside from the fact that he is now huge (the newborn next door is severely dwarfed by Wyatt), so many developmental changes amaze us everyday. From batting at toys to learning to reach out and grab them, from quiet to talkative and making various vowel and consonant sounds, from hating being on his belly to propping himself up to look around and then rolling over to his back. There are so many changes happening as the weeks go by. He's also found his feet and whenever he's on his back, Wyatt usually has one or both feet pulled up and in his hands. This also causes a very strange movement as he tends to roll to one side when both feet are raised. He then loses hold of his feet and ends up slightly turned from his original position. Without realizing it, you can lay him down facing one direction and look down later to see he's turned 180 degrees. And now there's also the hitting of toys and flapping of toys around in the air (sometimes hitting himself in the noggin). As you can see from the pictures in his the previous blog, there is also now a very serious look on his face as he plays with his toys and gnaws on them. It's a hilarious intensity that cracks us up!

As you can see from the photos, Wyatt is also sitting up fairly well. He still can't completely sit on his own, but when we sit with him, he does very well maintaining balance. There are face plants now and then as he reaches for a toy, but he's definitely improving. He hasn't mastered crawling yet either, but he manages to move backwards and turn sideways.

Sitting Up

Baths should following Feedings

Starting at about 4months, we decided to introduce cereals and baby food to young Master Wyatt. I do wish I'd taken a picture of his first cereal experience, but I can't seem to find it. Let's just say he made a serious "Yuck" face. After a lot of patient feedings (mostly by dad), he got the hang of the spoon. Bananas quickly became a favorite, as did peaches and apples and even sweet potatoes and butternut squash. We now slam a lot of cereal and jarred food twice a day and at 6 months, he's moved on the larger jars of food with more variety. Sadly, we will have to get the creepy pureed meats (like chicken) at some point and time, but the cheesy mac with veggies didn't sound too bad (although I don't think I'll be trying it anytime soon).

A fun and splashy bath follows dinner. Fortunately, Wyatt is occupied with the fishie book while James and I clean between fingers and toes and all the other crevices that accumulate gunk.

Feeding and Bath

Wyatt Helps Mom and Dad Vote

James and I have always felt voting to be not only a duty, honor and a privilege, but also a responsibility. People who say that voting doesn't matter are apathetic idiots who should be voted off the continent. Now that we are parents, it has also really hit us that Wyatt will grow up with a Black president as a reality. 8 or even 4 years ago, I would not have imagined a Black president so early in my life. I mean, maybe in 10 or 12 years, but I didn't see the country as ready for such acceptance yet. And let's not forget Hillary. She was damn close to being the Democratic nominee and would have also ran hard against McCain. Just like the fact that Wyatt will grow up with crazy technology and always having the Internet at his fingertips (and literally fingertips as touchscreens will soon be the rage and available to all, my first email was DOS based at Michigan Tech). There's my spiel. We took some video from the polling place this morning. I need to work on my documentary abilities, but part of the bad shooting was due to my paranoia that someone would kick us out for taping our votes.

Wyatt as an Elephant

Here is this awesome outfit that Grandma Truax made for Wyatt. Its an elephant and everyone who has seen it loves it.

Pictures

Honk! Parade

Aunt Barb and Melinda (AB's niece) were saying in Boston over the weekend. We wanted to go into the city with Wyatt so went to this parade we found. It was summarized as "Octoberfest" but, in the end, there was no beer. The grand marshals were Click & Clack (the hosts of Car talk). Check out the pictures. Wyatt was dancing (kicking while Mom held) the entire parade.

Honk! Parade

Aunt Barb from California

Here are more pictures. The first link are pictures of Wyatt with Aunt Barb visiting from California. The second are a few pictures of trying to feed Wyatt cereal.

First Day With Aunt Barb

Feeding Wyatt

It's official, teething has started!

During his bedtime routine the other night, James, after what seemed like a long time, was finally able to figure out what was causing the fussiness. It seems that a gum rubbing made it all feel better. So, to the fridge I went for the collection of teething toys we'd put there a while back. Of course, looking back on that day, the way Wyatt gnawed at one toy with a teething end with all his might should really have been a tip off. A bit of baby tylenol and he was till simply unhappy. That is when mom decided to try and rub his gums. Well, Wyatt didn't want anything to do with that and thrashed his head away from me. This caused me to inadvertently scratch his gums with my fingernail. If he was unhappy and uncomfortable before, he was now in pain and pissed. There was that brief silence with his face as scrinched up just before the real screams began. James walked and soothed him a bit while I felt like a horrible mother before handing him back to me to try and rock him again. It seems that the crying helped to really tire Wyatt out as he soon fell asleep. Thankfully, he had a good night's sleep as well. Yesterday, we were more prepared when he had another bout with teething discomfort during the day. A lot of soothing and rocking led to a good nap. Let's just hope that it gets better with each tooth!

Meeting the cousins

When I called my paternal grandmother (Grandma Feighner) to tell her that I was pregnant, I found out that not only was my younger cousin Katie pregnant with her first, but another cousin's wife, Stacy, was also pregnant with her fourth child. As an added bonus, I was due first, with my younger cousin 2wks later and the cousin's wife 2wks after that. It was going to be a summer of babies. Shortly after the New Year, we also found out that yet another cousin's girlfriend was also due, this one at the end of summer. So, four babies in a span of 4 months. Our last trip to Michigan, we were able to meet up with Katie and meet her son Daniel. We've got a few pics in his 6wk album.

In Michigan in 6wks

This most recent trip, we had a very large gathering at Aunt Kathy's and Uncle Dan's with just about everyone. I didn't get a good photo of all four together, but I did get a few really good pics. Sophia, Stacy's little girl, is the only girl of the four. She is also Stacy's first girl, here other three kids are boys. The cousin I'm missing is Kellen. Uncle Dan is my dad's younger brother. He and his wife, Aunt Kathy, hosted the party at their home. They are also Katie's parents. The babies definitely got a kick out of each other.

Feighner Clan

Downstate pt. 1

Once downstate, our few days were full of family get activities. After arriving at my mom's very late, we got around Saturday and went to meet up with the Truax clan at the mall for lunch. As you can see from the pics, Wyatt is the only boy amongst a gaggle of girl cousins. There are 5 in total: Brianna, Shyann, Sierra, Sapphirah and Angel (Joel's stepdaughter). The mall was peaceful and we had a fabulous time catching up with everybody. Wyatt and Sapphirah are close in age (9months apart), so he will have a buddy to play with each time we visit. Well, he'll have a buddy as soon as he is able to sit up, crawl and walk. Until then, he's a cute bump to stare at :-) A very adorable bump!

Truaxes at the mall

After enjoying lunch, the girls went to the park while the rest of us went over to JoAnn Fabrics. Fortunately, Grandma Lynne is a fabulous seamstress and looking forward to making Wyatt's first Halloween costume. Surprisingly, there are very few infant costume patterns, but I think we've found a winner. You'll have to wait for Halloween and the pictures to see for yourselves.

Very behind...

Back from Michigan and very behind on our blog updates. On the first Friday of our trip, we rented a car and made the drive from Houghton to Webberville. It's a trip James and I had done many many times together, sometimes with the dog, but this was the first time we attempted it with an infant. To help ensure Wyatt was asleep for as much of the trek as possible, we left at 4pm. Good idea for Wyatt, tiring idea for James and I. We're not early-20s anymore, so driving until the late late night isn't as easy as it used to be! We did stop once, along the shores of Lake Superior to let Wyatt experience the beautiful view. James even let him feel the refreshing chill of the lake by dipping his feet into the water. I think Wyatt enjoyed himself! Sadly, it was dark and he was asleep when we crossed the Mackinaw Bridge, so Lake Superior shore was all we had. The first few pics of this album are obviously not of Lake Superior. They are of some of our Houghton friends holding Wyatt. We got to know Heather and Liz over the years we were there and were excited to get back up there so they could meet Wyatt.

Lake Superior +

A few scenes from Houghton

The trip to Houghton was a whirlwind of visits. We also got all the latest updates on friends still there and those who have moved on. Sadly, we had another night in which the card out of the camera left us without some great pictures. Friends Molly and Erik had 2 girls when we left and had a little boy shortly after we left. Shortly after arriving in Houghton we found out that they had added to the family... twins!!! They now have 5 kids, 3 girls and 2 boys. The twins are 2 months old and so precious. The house is crazy. Fortunately, Molly and Erik are great peoople and wonderful parents. Their 20 month old was enamored with Wyatt and Wyatt was with him as well. Wyatt being hugged was beyond adorable and we are really sad to not have had the camera for a picture or 2. Still, it was a great visit

Here are a few pictures from our stroll along the Portage to the lift bridge.
By the Portage Lift Bridge


Firday at 4 we loaded up the rental car and started off for the long road tirp downstate to Lansing. To make it easier on Wyatt, we left later so he would be asleep (hopefully) most of the time. He did pretty good, sleeping nicely and only getting fussy around final bedtime. Outside of Marquette but before Munising, we stopped at a roadside park to let Wyatt dip his toes in Lake Superior. Other than the cold, I think he enjoyed the experience :-)
With friends and along Lake Superior