Thank God the heat has finally broken enough for me to think. We literally could not have picked a worse time to move to Tennessee. I had a headache for a week straight and poor Wilder has not stopped sweating since we stepped off that plane. He was a fairly sweaty baby even in the 70 degree San Diego weather but he basically spends his days completely drenched in this humid and hot Southern climate. Our doctor in San Diego had told me that I needed to just bathe him every other day at the most so his body could learn how to produce its own oils. Well that has completely gone out the window here in Tennessee. He gets so sweaty and dirty playing outside that many days he actually gets two baths.
He is absolutely loving being here though -- there's so much nature and space and family. I still miss San Diego so much, especially when we're sitting inside in the afternoon because it's too hot to go out (or it's raining) and there's no indoor play places to take him to. (FYI, we're still in Jackson for the moment until Paul starts his job in Nashville.) I've definitely been bored on ordinary days but on the days when my mom is home or we go to the pool with my brother and his wife or we have family dinners... life just feels more full here.
It hasn't taken long to convince me that we've made the right decision coming back home. Life is comfortable here; it's familiar. Not that that was ever a priority for me -- I always wanted change and adventure. But I have to admit that after being all out on our own 2,000 miles away from most of the people who loved us and could help us for so long... it's a nice break to have some of that weight off our shoulders.
And just seeing Wilder so deliriously happy to be around so many people who love him and seeing them falling all over themselves adoring him makes my heart dance a happy dance. This is what he needed. This was a missing piece of the puzzle that I didn't fully realize was so vital until it snapped into place and the completed picture was so much more vibrant and replete.
Of course, not everything is perfect or better but knowing that Wilder is so happy trumps all the other little inconveniences or annoyances. Life is what you make of it. This is a new chapter in our lives and we're going to make it a better one no matter what.
~~~
So, what has this new chapter entailed? Quite a lot so far actually... (P.S. Sorry for another gigantic post. After this I promise to start posting more regularly again so I don't have to bore you with any more marathon posts.)
The weekend after we got back was my cousin Katie's wedding. Katie and I grew up the only girls in a family full of boys so we've always been close and I was so excited to be a bridesmaid in her beautiful wedding. The weekend was HOT but everything to do with the celebration was so fresh and lovely.
Wilder had so much fun playing with all his little cousins!
Hugs for his twinkie cousin, Mackenzie :)
How cute are they?!
The bridesmaids and flower girls at the bridesmaids luncheon
Mackenzie is only about 6 months older than
Wilder but she thought he was her baby haha ;)
The bride and me at the rehearsal dinner after party
Getting into her gorgeous dress
I loooved our bridesmaids dresses!
Katie and our sweet grandmother
First dance
Wilder was enthralled with the band
My sister-in-law and me
Wilder dancing with his cousin Liv
These two had a big time together :)
It's not a party until someone ends up in their underwear ;)
Us with the newlyweds
The next week we drove up to Nashville one afternoon and spent some time with Paul's sister, Lizanne. We hadn't seen her since Christmas so it was nice to get to hang out a little.
Snack break
We've been having fun riding around town in the jeep my brother restored. That thing is so cool!
Paul learning how to drive it
A month or two before we left San Diego Wilder started telling me when he was about to poop but I had so much on my mind and knew that we were about to be so busy with the move that I decided to wait on getting him a potty. Once we got here and got settled a little bit Paul and I went to Target one night and bought him one. When Wilder saw it the next morning he got so excited and the next time he told me he needed to go we rushed in there with a toy to occupy him and he successfully did his business! I was so excited! We had to bring Grana and Dada in to show them his accomplishment and we all high-fived him and told him how big he was. That was a couple of weeks ago and since then he's gone in the potty at least once most days. Today he went twice. I really haven't pushed it but if he tells me or I see that he's about to go we make a game of running in there and I sit on the floor next to him and entertain him until he goes.
While we're on the subject of Wilder, let me just tell you how big he's gotten... He pretty much narrates our entire day. Everything that he sees or anything that we're doing that he knows the word for he says it -- kitty, chair, truck, sun (Sun -- bright. he said to me yesterday), light, dark, pool, baby, wet, etc, etc. Sometimes he also describes what he's doing at the moment -- he'll say reach if he's trying to reach something, put when he puts his cup on the table, running when he's running or if he sees someone jogging, etc. Its cracks me up! I had a list of almost 120 words that Paul and I wrote down for his 18-month checkup. Now a month later, I could not even count how many words he says. The other day I got him ready upstairs to go somewhere and then started down the stairs with him and he pointed to my shoulder and said, Purse. I had to assure him that I hadn't forgotten my purse, that it was already downstairs. I really cannot believe how smart and perceptive he is.
His new thing is touch. Anything he sees that he thinks is interesting or exciting he says touch, even if it's an 18-wheeler we're passing on the highway or a bumble bee. My grandmother always has deer in her yard when it gets toward dusk and the other night we saw some when we were over there. They were pretty far away but Wilder insisted that he wanted to touch them so we told him to go for it and he started making his way towards them. I guess they could see that he was a baby and they didn't feel threatened by him so they actually let him get within probably fifty yards of them. We couldn't believe it. We just kept watching him get closer and closer until they finally ran off. It was pretty amazing.
He and his doggies are still big buddies. He loves to hug on them, share his food with them, and run around with them in the yard.
He is OBSESSED with sports but his favorite right now is baseball (closely followed by golf). He can tell you all about "America's favorite pastime" -- baseball, bat, swing, hit, ball, catch, throw, running, glove, and I swear to you today we were looking at shapes and I pointed out a diamond shape and he said Baseball -- diamond. I am seriously blown away on a daily basis by the things that he has picked up on or remembers.
I swear he's ambidextrous...
Batting left handed
And putting right handed
Also this kid sweats like a man
Here's a video of him yesterday playing with his tee that Paul got for him and talking about the baseball game we were going to last night. He was SOOO excited about the game all day and said baseball no less than 500 times in the hours leading up to it.
Peanut butter sandwich smile :)
Saying hi to the "Jackson General"
Pretending to throw the ball
Wilder and his buddy, our family friend, Mr. Tim
Last Sunday I decided we were going to have a family day, just the three of us, so we loaded into the car and drove to Memphis to take Wilder to the Children's Museum. We had so much fun and Wilder loved all the vehicles and balls and other boy stuff.
When he walked into this plane and saw the real cockpit with
all the switches, buttons, etc. he almost had a mini heart attack
My dad used to fly a FedEx airplane so it was
special to me to sit in there and play with Wilder.
I can't wait for him to be old enough for me to tell
him about his Granddaddy.
Hahaha worst photo booth photos ever!
We've been enjoying spending so much good time with family including...
Celebrating Aunt Lauren's birthday
Wilder's and my artwork on her birthday present wrapping
Playing and eating dinner with Paul's sweet
grandparents. Um, how cute is this picture??
Wilder absolutely adores them :)
"Helping" Uncle William work
Entertaining my grandmother and her two sisters
who were visiting from Kentucky
For the Fourth of July we had the ultimate family day in the country. We went out to my grandmother's cabin in Cedar Grove with my mom, William and Lauren, and our family friends, the Wilsons. We had the best time and Wilder was in heaven riding the four-wheeler, sitting on the tractor, fishing, swimming in the lake, exploring the waterfall that my grandfather built, and eating burgers and pounds of watermelon.
Watching amazed as Dada reels in a fish
Uncle William got Wilder his own tiny fishing pole
Trying to cast his line out like the big guys haha :)
Helping Dada reel in a fish
Catching a fish on his own little rod
Not too sure about it
He thought he was big stuff in Uncle William's boots
He sure loves his Grana
Sitting in the waterfall
My mom and her BFF
That ice cold water sure felt good on such a hot day
Love this picture :)
Happy baby
Hahahaha
My bloggy friend Tiffany is kind of in the same situation as we are. They have been away from Jackson for about eight years and have been living in Texas most recently. Her husband just got a job offer in Pickwick so they decided to move back closer to home. Until their rental starts in August they are staying with her parents here in Jackson so we knew we had to get together. We went over to North Park the other day so the kids could play. Despite the heat Wilder had fun with her girls. (Although he was quite confused when I told him we were going to play with Rory and Ryder and he said "PoPo?" (Posey). He didn't understand why Ryder was going and not his other doggy too haha. I kept saying "No, Ryder the girl, not Rider the doggy.")
Wilder and Rory
We found them hiding in this one shady spot together :)
Wilder was very taken with Ryder and her leggings
And her stroller
Paul and I have also been enjoying the freedom to go out with friends after Wilder goes to bed. It's been a long time since we've been able to socialize like this and we've missed it.
OK I think that just about covers it all. Like I said I will definitely make an effort to post more regularly so these blog posts don't take me literally days to write and hours for you to read! Thanks for coming over to the new blog with me. I'm still working on the layout and design but I think the private blog will do me good. Hope you all have a great weekend!
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