Up

We love watching movies together as a family. We have Netflix, so we have access to thousands of movies instantly... not to mention all of the DVD possibilities. So when we have extra time (which is usually at night anyway), we like to watch movies together. We make popcorn, snuggle on the couch under a blanket, and watch while we munch. Usually, Southern will watch for a few minutes (or until he is full of popcorn) and then run around, play with his toys, etc. during the rest of the movie.

Well, not with Up. He sat through the entire thing with his eyes glued to the screen. During the "bad" parts (when the villain was ahead), he would point at the TV and grunt. He knew they weren't being nice.

And when we paused it to take a potty break, he stayed on the couch gesturing to the TV so we knew he wasn't going to rest until the movie concluded. I don't know what it was about this movie that interested him so much, but it was so fun to share this experience with him.

Tagged!

I was tagged by my good friend Jessica at Country Boy and City Girl (http://www.countryboyandcitygirl.com/) so I must answer the next 8 questions.


1. What is your greatest achievement?

Obviously, it's Southern! He constantly amazes me. He's growing and learning things so quickly. I like to attribute some of that to all of the time and energy I spend on him and for him, but I know he should take some credit as well. Just little things he does make me so proud. I can tell him to wiggle his toe, and he knows to stick out his foot and start wiggling. How many 16-months olds know that?!? :)


2. What is your worst habit?

Yikes! Well, I guess it depends on who you ask, but I would say it's my shopping habit. I love it too much!! ;) At least I'm always getting good deals, and we don't use credit cards anymore, so it's not that bad.


3. What did you want to be when you "grew up"?

At different points in my life it varied from a secretary to an interior designer to a worker at Dairy Queen (access to all those steak fingers... what more could you want in life?). But through it all, I've always wanted to be a wife and mommy, so I guess you can say my wish came true. {And here's the *aww* moment. As my Aunt BeBe pointed out, my posts usually do have one of those.}

4. What is your favorite childhood memory?

Definitely the trips to Port A with my extended family. I love those guys :) Wish we could do it again.

5. How did you decide on the name for your blog?

I created it before we knew Southern's gender so we didn't have his name settled on yet. And it's a blog all about him, so Baby Wyatt it was.

6. What is your favorite place to go out to eat?

I love going out to eat most anywhere, but my current favorite is Cracker Barrel. It's kid friendly, and they have really good homemade tasting food.

7. What is the last book that you read?

Right now I'm going through the China Bayles mysteries. {I recommend them, Jessica!} They all take place in a small (fictional) Texas town located between San Antonio and Austin so the hometown references are fun. Plus, they keep you guessing until the end. And mixed in are recipes and info about plants. Too cool. (They're by Susan Wittig Albert.)

8. What is your favorite family tradition?

Old - Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpa's house. No matter where we are in our lives (or in Texas!) we all gather together on that evening every year no matter what. And by all, I mean all 25+ of us and growing. The presents are pretty awesome, but my favorite part of the holidays is family.

New - Another Christmas-ish tradition, stockings on St. Nick's Day (December 6th). Some families open up stockings on Christmas, but it is a lot more fun (and a perfect opportunity to teach Southern about a saint instead of a jolly ol' non-denominational guy... no offense, Santa) to spread the gift-giving out a little. And this year will be especially fun with Southern old enough to realize what's going on.

A Day at the Library

The Wyatts are now proud card-carrying members of the New Braunfels Public Library. That was one of my goals this summer, and ever since we made that first trip over to get our cards, Southern and I have gone at least twice a week. We would have gotten them sooner, but I wanted Dustin to be a part of the special day.

So here we are, the whole Wyatt family...

Southern sure does love the children's room in the library.

He has fun playing with the toys.

And he especially loves having a chance to interact with other kids.

So we try to go often. It's great having an alternative to the park during these hot summer days!

Southern's Sounds

At 16 months old, Southern is not officially "talking", but he is saying words. As I've said in the past, he has different sounds he makes such as "do" for dog, "da" for ball, "t" for cat, and "du" for duck. His latest word is giraffe, though when he says it, it comes out more like "girf". It's exciting to hear him making strides each day.

He also makes noises for other animals. When he sees a certain animal, he will make the noise they make. He can hiss like a snake, baa like a sheep, neigh like a horse, moo like a cow, bark like a dog, meow like a cat, and growl for dinosaurs, lion, tigers, etc. It's funny the things kids pick up. We have a painting on Southern's wall (that was painted by his Granny Denise) that he likes to point at each morning. There are cows on it, so after he points, he will moo.

He must have gotten that from his dad. Dustin's great aunt Georgia told us a funny story not too long ago. When Dustin was little, he and his mom visited her at her house in Houston. They were sitting in her kitchen talking, and baby Dustin kept making this funny noise. It took them awhile to figure out what he was doing - there were cows on her wallpaper border, so he was mooing! And she said that when they got that room re-wallpapered years later, she saved a strip of that cow print because it always reminded her of him. So sweet :)