More From FLA

Today we got a sunny day and some time on the beach and swimming in the Atlantic. Brrrrr ... but tolerable. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring my camera. But here are some more pics from our second beach excursion yesterday:

Ahhh, the ocean air.


Granddad fed the gulls so Wilder could get a closer look ...


He really dug them. Kept making bird noises back at them.


Argh Matey!

FLORIDA: Granddaddy Central

Hello from not-so-sunny Florida. Actually, we've seen plenty of sun while we've been here, but right now it's pretty overcast. It's Saturday morning, 9:30, and so far today we've took a nice walk on the beach, had plenty of coffee and eggs and bacon, and relaxed. Which is pretty much exactly as I pictured this vacation.

Wilder's met his great-granddaddy, great-grandmommy Margaret and hung out a lot with his granddad Jerry Ray, who's staying with us here near the beach. We also met Margaret's daughter, Becky, and her husband George and visited their home near the Indian River. I have to say "hi!" to all of them as we found out they visit this blog and have seen Wilder grow up here.

Despite the fact that we're all still germy, we're having a blast. Some pics from the first couple days below. More to come ...

Wilder's first beach visit this morning.


Hanging out with his great-granddaddy Vechel. They sure do love each other!!


First sandage on the footage. Woohoo!


With Mom and Granddaddy -- the first time the ocean hit his feet he cried a little, but got over it quickly.


Hey, the beach is fun!!


Wilder contemplates the ocean's vastness and life's complexities.


First thing he did upon waking up? Climbed on Granddad's lap, making for a fine pic.


Looking cool (or slightly "special") in Jerry Ray's sunglasses.

A Must Have??

Ha! I couldn't not share this ...

So there are all manner of over-the-top things designed these days so that parents can:
A)keep little Johnny germbag away from other people's germs;
B)keep the kid so entertained that he won't experience boredom until freshmen year biology class;
C)never have to teach the kid to sit still or suffer the consequences; and
D)never have their wee ones farther than two feet from them.

I think of that leash thing everyone had back in the 80s as the first in this endless string of silly "inventions." But I don't think any of them have entertained and horrified me so much as The Babykeeper

The photos are awesome (I especially like the kid eating the toilet paper). But I like to think that if I put Wilder in one of those, he'd probably shoot me the bird with an angry scowl. And deservedly so.

Mr. Sandman, Bring Me New Parents ...

Well I have been somewhat remiss in posting lately. It seems being a toddler's mom and doing my job have caught up with me. I never seem to have time to just sit down and write. My apologies to the grandparents, aunts, uncles and possibly two to three other people who actually visit this blog. I will try to post some cute pics later — there haven't been enough of those lately, I realize — but, in the meantime, here are some updates on general happenings and milestones in Wilder's lives and ours:

Our goals as of a month ago were to:
A. Get Wilder off the middle-of-the-night bottle to which he'd become all too accustomed
B. Get some sleep
C. Get the kid away from bottles and over to sippy cups
D. Switch from formula to milk

Well, for starters, I'm happy — nay, ec-freakin'-static — to report that we are again sleeping through the night. Anyone who's had a more-than-two-minute conversation with me in the past few months knows that I had gotten rather cranky from sleep deprivation. Wilder was waking up three nights out of four screaming for a bottle, and, after granting him said request, I would then usually be up for at least one additional hour — usually more like two — worrying and fretting over work issues, life issues and, sometimes, more consequential issues such as who would get voted off on the next episode of Survivor.

Through all this, I learned that sleep deprivation is a very nasty little worm that burrows into your brain and changes your demeanor completely, rendering you a useless and endlessly bumbling and grumpy idiot. Just ask my husband — he can confirm the personality change. It also magically transforms your appearance into a wild-eyed, severely haggard and hideous version of your former self.

Anyway, fast forward because this post is already entirely too long: All I can say is man, is our kid a trooper. With very little of the crying and screaming and kicking that our pediatrician assured us we would experience, Wilder just let go of that bottle. And, since, goals C and D have happened, too. They say your kid will let you know when he's ready for these changes, which seem miniscule to us but can be HUGE to them. Anyway, I thought that sounded like a lot of hooey, but it's true. One day Wilder just stopped showing interest in his bottle. A couple days later, cold milk suddenly didn't seem so bad.

Phew.

Of course, there are always other challenges. We're all sick again. Wilder's almost over it, Jerry's somewhere near the end of it and I'm just getting started with it. Meaning I'll be spreading germs to my fellow plane riders on our way to Florida Thursday while Jer and Wilder will more than likely be picking up some new form of the crud. Oh well, at least we can bask in our sickliness near the ocean. We are SO looking forward to getting away. We need it. In fact, I'm hoping by the end of it that I'll look like my former 34-year-old reasonably happy self again.

He Gets His Kicks ...

We've been remiss in putting Wilder in shoes, preferring to keep him a barefooted little hippie baby as long as humanly possible. But, it's getting chilly here in Texas, and he should probably learn to walk well in shoes before going to college. So today we bought him his first two pairs of kicks. The cooler pair? Black Chucks. Jerry and I have already decided to write "I LUV PAPA" and "I HEART MAMA" along the soles.

He'll grow out of them by 2007, I'm sure, but these shoes at least I'm planning on keeping forever.

Wilder's Own Chair

Many thanks to Wilder's Great-Grandaddy and Margaret in Cocoa, Fla., who gave Wilder this rocking chair for his birthday. He didn't see us load it into the car, but when we brought it in the front door, his mouth dropped open and his eyes lit up. He LOVES it, and loves to sit next to his mom and dad in it.

Here's a little video of him in his new chair, watching a DVD.

You Know He's Not a Baby Anymore ...

When you take his shoes off after daycare and the rankness of his feet hits you like a cinder block to the nose. What the hell? When did my sweet little cherub of a boy get stinky feet?

Wilder RAWKS!

I realized recently that I haven't posted any videos of Wilder since he really started cruising. The following videos will give you an idea of how highly ambulatory he is now. Now, the soundtrack might have impacted his activity level slightly (What can I say? The boy loves "Black Betty"), but keep in mind: I've lost five lbs. since he started walking.

Hyper toddlers? Best exercise program ever. Enjoy the videos.
k.