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 :)

First Professional Haircut

As you all know, Southern got his first haircut at home on Good Friday. While I think we did a pretty good job at it, it was shorter than I wanted. And it was hard to do! I have been cutting Dustin's hair with a buzzer and scissors for a few years now, but he holds still. Southern doesn't. So I decided we should go to a professional this time. I found this really cool place for kids - ironically named Cool Cuts 4 Kids - where they have video games and toys, and the younger ones can get their hair cut in a fire truck or a car. Very fun! We drove on over to the Forum and stopped at the store.

Once inside, we were greeted and told to sign in. They didn't have prices listed on their website, but I assumed it would be about $10-15. Well, we now saw that they were $18. That's more than we pay for my haircuts! Oh well, we'll deal with it. There were 3 kids in line in front of us with 2 people working so it would be a bit of a wait. Okay, we'll deal with the wait too. There were video game stations (that Daddy played with), some stuffed animals, a train track, and blocks (all that Southern played with). So we played... and played... and played...

One hour later, we still don't have a haircut. One lady had just finished up with a customer, checked them out, sold them some hair gel, and was cleaning up her station. We're up next, right? WRONG! She then clocks out and walks to the break room. That's it. Dustin's had it. No one had talked to us for over an hour, and then she just walks off. He proclaimed the haircut cancelled. Luckily, I had noticed a Super Cuts in the same strip of shops as the one we were in. So we walked over there and were told our wait would only be a few minutes.It wasn't as kid friendly, but oh well. We were getting that haircut no matter what now!

She calls our name and asks if we would like to hold Southern or if he will sit on his own. We said just to try whatever was best for her. So she plops a cushion down on the chair, and we sit Southern on top of it. She whips out a kid-sized cape, and off we go.

She put it around Southern, and he starts snuggling with it! I guess he thought it was a blanket.

Then she brings out the comb and squirt bottle. Southern didn't know what to think!

But she squirts and combs, and he is doing fine.

Daddy had to help hold his head while she cut around the ears so he wouldn't move.

Still holding while she trims around the ears...

And then he gives Dustin a look as if to say, alright Dad, that's enough. I'm a big boy.

So Dustin lets go and Southern is just sitting like a pro, getting his hair cut so calmly.

But then he starts to get squirmy. Daddy distracts him by pointing out the different animals on his cape.

That worked for a little while. Then that was it! Southern started crying and wiggling. I had to sit down and hold him on my lap with his head up against my shoulder and Dustin holding his arms as she finished the last few snips. It was nap time, and he was letting us know it!

We got him out of there and into the car where he soon fell asleep. At least his hair looks good now!! And lesson learned... just go to the cheap place first next time!

New Car

Southern experienced something new this past Friday - buying a new car. I have driven the same car since I started driving at age 16. My trusty ol' 1998 black Honda CR-V. It has been such a great car that I couldn't imagine driving anything other than a Honda. While my car is perfect for a single girl or a couple, it started getting a little cramped with a baby on board. It was getting hard to try to carry everything we now need on trips - car seat, high chair, play pen, etc. But my CR-V is just perfect for zipping around. It gets great gas mileage, is easy to drive, and can carry a large amount of cargo for its size.

Dustin's car, on the other hand, has been having problems since he bought it. It was his 2nd car. He got it his senior year of high school. His Paw-Paw is the one who actually spotted it and drove it home for Dustin to try out. He loved it, but it has been costing us money over the years. It was mainly just little things - chipping exterior paint, control knobs popping off, vinyl peeling up inside, windows not rolling down, cargo light falling off, doors not staying open, etc. But then there was also the failed transmission that no matter how many times we got it "fixed" we would still occasionally find new red stains in our driveway. So it was decided that if we ever got a new car, his would be the one to go. And sadly, last week was the last time he will ever drive it. I got a video of that final drive...

It was with us through his senior year of high school. We went to prom in it that year. It saw us through college, two moves since Dustin's TLU graduation, and it was the car that Southern and I would wait on the front porch to see driving home to us in the afternoons of Southern's first 15 months of life. We'll miss it.

But in order to expand our family, we will have to have a vehicle that can hold everyone and all the stuff that comes along with us. So we've been casually looking a larger SUVs for the past few months. I came across one on the internet just last week that really caught our attention. We stopped by to look at it one evening, which led to us test driving it the next day, which led to us buying it the next afternoon. Our "new" car is a 2004 Honda Pilot. It is "loaded" with leather, nice speakers, a CD player, and even a tape player! It has the third row that we needed and is in almost perfect condition. It had belonged to a doctor who would use it for his commute from East San Antonio to South Austin during the week. Only the front seat shows wear. It was just too good of a deal to pass up.

So now my car is Dustin's commuter, his truck is for his hunting and fishing adventures, and our new Honda Pilot is our family vehicle. The only thing we need next is a bigger driveway!

15 Months Old

Southern had his 15-month check up at the doctor's yesterday. His doctor is popular, and there is usually a little wait, but Southern didn't mind. He made a new friend. He and another little boy played with a train together in the waiting room. The little boy was playing with it when we got there, and when Southern noticed, he started making his car sounds and ran right over to join in the fun.

The nurse soon called us in. She first weighed and measured Southern. He weighed 23.781 lbs (47th percentile), was 32.75 inches long (91st percentile), and his head circumference was 18.5 (49th percentile). He grew an inch and half and gained 0.4 lbs since his last check up at 12 months old. Then she took us to the exam room. Each room is a different theme, and we got the dinosaur room this time! Southern loved it. As soon as we walked in, he started growling. haha!

We waited in the exam room for awhile, looking and growling at dinosaurs and reading a few dinosaur-themed books. Then the doctor came in. He was very pleased. He says all too often kids Southern's age just live on junk - french fries, candy, etc. - and that he could tell from Southern's weight/height ratio that this wasn't the case with us. Yay! And that is true, Southern eats whole grains, dairy products, and veggies each day with fruits and meats about 4-5 times a week. He'll sometimes eat sweets but not very often. I'm glad the extra effort I'm putting in is paying off. Fast food is so much easier but not always healthy.

He then did Southern's exam, proclaiming him a growing healthy boy. We also talked about Southern's development. He's perfect on the walking and coordination development mark for his age, but he is not talking yet. The doctor said that at his age, the mark is 3-5 words. I was telling him how Southern has different sounds for dog, ball, duck, etc., and he said that that counted as the 3-5 word mark in his eyes. He said as long as Southern is recognizing that those things have different sounding names and is trying, pronunciation doesn't matter yet. He said that by the 18-month check up, he wants Southern onto 5-10 "words". Let's hope all my reading to him will pay off.

We concluded the check up with two shots. Southern got a Haemophilus Influenzae Type b (Hib) Vaccine and a Diphtheria Tetanus & Pertussis Vaccine. He took the first one like a trooper but then cried with the second one. It was short-lived though as I soon picked him up, and he calmed down.

And speaking of fast food, we took Southern out for a treat after his doctor's appointment. We went to Chick-fil-a and got him a kid's meal of chicken nuggets, fruit, and milk. He loved it! He ate the chicken first, and quickly. He took his time with the fruit but ate most of it. Daddy had to help with the leftovers, but I don't think he minded too much! ;)