Happy 28th Birthday, Daddy!

Almost two weeks ago Dustin turned 28 years old.

It's amazing how quickly one year can fly by...

Getting Crabby

Here's a cute little video of Southern in his newest pool. I couldn't pass it up at Target - on clearance for just 3 bucks! We have a pool for just about every occasion and every stage in Southern's life now ;) We're going to move it outside and fill it up with water tomorrow. But as you can tell, it's very fun even without water!

Scentsy Baby

Here is a look into the results of my first Scentsy party as a Scentsy Independant Consultant :)

I had a little worker "helping" me sort out the orders...

17 Months Old

At 17 months old, our little Southern is an observant, energetic little guy. He picks up new tricks easily and constantly. He can climb up and down the stairs upright while holding my hand, and when he's ready to go down he'll motion at me with his arm that he's ready for my help.

We go to the library a few times a week, and he enjoys interacting with the other kids there. Also, he can check out our books. He knows to scan the bar codes and can do it by himself once I point them out to him and help hold the scanner.

He still enjoys riding in his stroller but wants to be down exploring more often. He loves nature and is already a rock collector like his daddy.

He loves learning. We go through multiple books every day, and he likes for me to name the different animals/objects in the pictures. He'll point to each one and then look at me to say what it is.

He's good at giving hugs and kisses. He is more clingy with his daddy now that school's started up again. He really misses him during the day. He knows when I say "Daddy's home," to get excited and run to the door to greet him when he's returning from work.

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!