Little Fuzzball concentrates hard to get that toy is his mouth 

K & W mug for the camera 

Wilder shows off his blue eyes and his fine motor skills. 

Papa Scott (posted for our good friend, Jeff Gryder) 

Mama Scott (Hiya Gryder!!) 

Our 'lil punk rocker 

Listen lady, can you go away? I'm trying to shove my whole fist in my mouth here ... 

Get It Together People

Hello, this is Wilder. I have taken hostage of this blog. Please do not try to help these people who refer to themselves as my "parents." If you try to rescue them, I will surely exact my revenge in the form of raging stinky diapers and thrice-nightly waking sessions. I may be 3 months old, but I can be hell-on-wheels if you force my hand.

Anyway, my demands are simple:

1. I want my bottle prepared BEFORE I have to start hollerin' bloody murder for it. Is it THAT hard to figure out when I'm getting hungry? Are you people really not paying attention? What do you think you have, a life or something?

2. Get that stinky dog out of my face. It's bad enough he wants to lick my chin ... his breath is unholy and if I have to breath it one more time, I might keel over.

3. While we're on the subject of these furballs you call your "pets," tell the freakin' cat that those things hanging from my play gym are MY TOYS. Not his. Keep his claws away from them or I will pull his tail. Repeatedly. Until I'm 12.

4. I like a clean diaper. I repeat: I. LIKE. A. CLEAN. DIAPER.

5. When the unfortunate occurrence comes about that I am tired, I would like for you large monkeys to concurrently rub my head, hold my pacifier in, coo to me in a soothing voice and just generally make sure I'm comfortable until I fall into a deep sleep. This might take an hour and a half. Just deal, OK? If I awake 5 minutes after you leave the room, come back and do it all over again.

6. I barely know you and yet you keep kissing my face and telling me you love me. You also hug me tightly. Really, do we know each other well enough for all that? If you love me so much, why can't you pick me up within a millisecond of when I start crying. You need to work harder.

7. Finally -- and really, this is a small thing -- buy me some socks that fit. I have big feet for my age and those puny things you keep puttin' on my dogs are for two-month-olds. You're embarrassing me.

Signed,
The Eternally Disgruntled Wilder

ps. I'll throw you guys a bone: You're both funny-looking, and that entertains me at least.

A more contemplative moment with the increasingly less bald Wilder. OK blog visitors ... who does he look like? (We can't figure it out.) 

Having a grand old time in the crib. Life is good when the world revolves around you. 

I know this face doesn't say "lovin' it," but I really do dig my new baby backpack! 

Jerry & Wilder are ready for the great outdoors.Now if we just had somewhere to go hiking ... 

Our blog is now Google's blog

You might be wondering what that little box is above what you're reading right now. To be honest, I'm not even sure how it works, but we joined Google's AdSense program, which means content-appropriate advertisers can now use our site as a place to put a small, tasteful banner ad. And, if our blog visitors click on the ads, we get some minute amount of money.

Thought it was kind of a cool new technology and wanted to see how it worked. It certainly won't and isn't meant to jump us up a tax bracket, so feel absolutely no obligation to click on anything.

Anyway, just thought I'd explain that we're now pimping ourselves out to Google and its advertising partners. Perhaps it'll buy a couple extra diapers each month. : )

(Hello PAMPERS? HUGGIES?? Did you hear that? Our blog is your blog, too — advertise away!)

Me & My Shadow

Just thought I'd post this pic of a zonked-out Wilder and I at my work's annual bowling party this past Friday. Sure proves that babies can sleep through just about anything, including 14-lb. balls being hurtled toward — and even sometimes hitting — bowling pins.

Thanks to my friend Amy Durant for taking and giving me a copy of this photo!

Wilder Weeble Wobbles!

Just received a call from Nanny B at work — Wilder rolled over onto his belly! The great tide toward crawling, walking and, eventually, running in the direction of what will no doubt scare the bejesus out of Jerry and me has begun. AGH! But "Yea Wilder ... way to go little man!"

Happy 3-month Birthday Wilder!

Wow. Can't believe the kid is three months old. Can't believe how much he's changed in that time. It's incredible. And he's learned so much in such a short period of time too. He's already got the beginnings of a little crawl going on — it's more like a snail/slug scooting along (and yes, he leaves a slimy trail of drool), but still, it's locomotion.

I've learned a lot too. And, I thought, on this, the day after his three-month mark, I'd give my kiddo some props for the things he's taught me. Things that go above and beyond just changing diapers or warming bottles to the perfect temperature.

So here are some things Wilder has taught me in his first months of life:

1. How to stretch a REALLY good stretch. It takes your whole body, and you have to make that face — pooching out your lips and getting your nose and mouth all contorted — that makes you look really goofy. But it feels so good, who cares what it looks like? I'd actually forgotten how nice it feels to put your whole mind and body behind a stretch until I saw my kid do it. I think as adults we forget these things; same thing with yawning. We yawn self-consciously so we don't make a funny-looking face, when it's the funny-looking face that is part of getting the job done.

2. Burping with gusto. OK, anyone who really knows me knows that I never un-learned this. But what I've learned is that it doesn't matter how big your body is. Wilder weighs less than 15 pounds and the kid burps like a guy named Tiny in a pool hall who's just polished off a rack of ribs and a six-pack. Huge, hearty, from-the-diaphragm belches. It's SO COOL.

3. How to smile with your whole face. As adults, we don't let our delight in life shine through our eyes like babies and children do. We should change that.

4. Wilder has taught me that some things are worth stretch marks, six extra pounds of flab and one giant scar. I spent the better part of two decades before having him sucking in my stomach. Now it's my badge of honor and my badge of love. Do I want it to go away? Yes, and I'm working on that. Do I care a wit as much about it as I would have before Wilder came into my life? Not even close.

5. Improvisation and inventiveness. Being a parent, mom or dad, makes you into a mini-MacGyver. You will rig up ANYTHING that will make your kid happy or make him stop crying for even 10 seconds. Your mind will do flips trying to figure something out. You will pretend to be a taking hippotomus. I never knew how many voices I had in my repertoire. I never knew I'd be unself-conscious enough to use them all in front of total strangers. "Who cares if that guy thinks I'm nuts??? Look at my kid — he's SMILING!"

6. And the given: LOVE. This one makes me cry, because contained in how much I love my own son is realizing how much my mom loved me. She's been gone five years now, and I feel like in the past three months I've learned a world of things about her, first and foremost being how much she loved me and my siblings. It's indescribable and unfathomable how much you love your own children until you have them. It's cliche, but really true. I would turn the world inside out and tie it in a knot for this kid. I'd grow horns if it would make him laugh. I'd wear plaid pants with a polka dotted shirt in public to make him happy. And, of course, I'd smote anyone who tried to lay a hand on him.

Anyway, that's probably about all. Thanks Wilder for being such a good teacher and wonderful baby. MWAH!

Almost three months

Just a quick note to go along with the new pics. Everything is going great here -- Wilder seems to be becoming more boy than baby everyday. His hair is growing like crazy and he's going through another growth spurt -- this one seems to be causing him a little discomfort, but we're getting through it.

We're off to meet some friends for brunch. Will try to update more later.

xoxo, k.

Aghh! Too close Mama! 

Lil' Blue Eyes 

Battin' at my toys