Wyatt James

Wyatt Wyatt James! Well, he's a year old now, so it's about time I write something about him.   Or at the very least acknowledge his existence on the blog. Don't let my lack of blogging fool you- he's a delightful addition to our family. All the cliche's about third baby versus first baby are so true- I documented every second of Gabe's life. With the nice camera, with scrapbooking accents, with tons of detail. With Wyatt, well, he gets a lot of iPhone pic action and that's about it. But he has two older siblings to love (read:smother) him so I figure he'll be okay. ANWAYS. So Wyatt.  Highlights include that he's our fist baby to NOT have crystal clear blue eyes. We're still not sure what color they are- kinda a grayish, blueish, green with gold in the middle. The seem to change to whatever color I dress him in. I'm going with hazel because the the first baby to look sort of like me! Aside from his long skinny fingers and feet.

He's a very chill baby until he's not. What I mean is, he'll be happily eating any food you're shoving into his mouth until he decides to shut his mouth real tight and stiff arm the spoon. This can be three bites into a meal or twelve. It can be yogurt or tacos or grapes. Doesn't matter. He'll stiff arm anything he feels like. The dogs find this behavior very rewarding as they clean up all of Wyatt's reject bites. Also, he'll sit and play anywhere as long as people are in the room with him. As soon as I leave for a minute, to maybe use the bathroom or something, he erupts in hysterics. Panic! And it's not separation anxiety. I can drop him off at the nursery no problem. He just hates being left out.

His first word was "mama" at 6 mths, then he promptly switched to the "dada" camp and stayed there till about 3 days ago. All he would say was Dadadadada to everyone. Especially me. He FINALLY started saying momoma again which is the sweetest. He loves to babble for a few seconds and then look back at whoever is in the room and smile and laugh like he just said something hilarious. Right now his funny trick is to try and stick whatever toy he's holding down the back of his shirt. I think that's because  Gabe & Evie constantly do this to him-so he thinks this is the way to play. If you go over and put whatever toy he's struggling with down his shirt he'll reward you with the biggest smile and coo. Or he loves to shove all of his toys under the TV stand so I (or Gabe) have to lay on my stomach to reach them back against the wall surrounded in dust bunnies. He laughs and shakes the whole time during retrieval of said toys. And tries to climb on you. Or grab your glasses. Either works for him.

As far as mobility, Wyatt gets around in his own unique way. At first we thought he would crawl, but no, he figured out how to sit up and was very content with that for awhile. He could get himself up to sitting from being flat on his back. He has some serious baby abs. Once sitting, he would just squawk for anything he couldn't reach and his sweet, indulgent siblings would bring it to him. Well now at 12 mths he is finally attempting to crawl/scoot/roll to move about the room. He won't go far, in fact he literally will only crawl ONE INCH and then flatten out and sit up again. I think he's on the cusp of realizing the power he'll have when he can move fast and pull up on furniture, but so far he's pretty chill. It's actually spoiled us- we've had to do very little baby proofing.

He loves music, clapping, waving (with both hands), laughing really loud, and Daddy. He's pretty much obsessed. As soon as Mike walks in the door Wyatt's whole body starts shaking with anticipation for Mike to come pick him up. It's very sweet to watch them together. This was the age Mike missed for Gabe & Evie (thanks to Iraq & Afghanistan) so it's especially fun to see their bond.
    Wyatt decided to quit nursing at eight months. I tried to keep at it, but it was frustrating both of us so I decided to follow his lead and wean him. He took formula from a bottle for about 2.5 months and then quit that too. So I said, whatever, I'm switching him to whole milk at 11 mths and we did. He's clearly not failing to thrive (he's 26 lbs) so were both happy with the situation. As long as his milk is warm he's happy to guzzle it down. It cannot be cold or room temperature or too hot. We have to go Golilocks-style and get it "just right" for Mr. Picky. Don't worry, we've figured it out- we go through almost 2 gallons of milk a week. A week people! I think a cow would be a more affordable option. He also gave up the bottle pretty easily. He goes to bed between 630 and 7 and I have to wake him up at 715 am to give him his morning milk. I know. I Know! He's a dream sleeper. He also naps 1-2 times a day depending on my taxi service committments for Evie & Gabe that day.

 They're all sitting on Wyatt's new Saddle Rocker. It's Amish, which means I'm in love.  Evie uses it the most- sits on and and rocks during Daniel Tiger so it's great for wiggly children!

Yeah Mom, I'll open up REAL wide for carvel ice cream cake. Best ice cream cake there is folks. No stiff arm here.

 Look at that mischevious grin! He's got a lot going on up there. He's a total sponge.

 He's our little family guy. He wants to be wherever we are. He's watching us work on a project in the garage.  I think that's been my favorite part of his first year- watching how much Gabe & Evie ADORE him and he them! Especially Gabe. Gabe kisses Wyatt goodbye at school drop off and kisses him hi as soon as he's in the car when we pick him up. He loves to play with him and is repeatedly telling me "it's good you had a baby brother Mom". Or "I just love my baby brother". What a heart melter. Wyatt calls him "GayGay". Evie loves him too, we just have to tone down her maternal instincts a bit. Love = suffocating in her mind and we have to remind her daily that he is not, in fact, a doll but a live human that feels pain. Especially when you shove a sippee cup in his mouth at full force.

Overall he's the best! I'm going to try to blog more regularly again if anyone actually cares. It's a good way to keep a journal for myself of a day in the life of the Texas Nulks. And it's fun to look back and see what we were doing and what the kids were up to. Right now were building a house! I'll write about that soon. Thanks for reading!