It has been a big week for us...

Many things, big and small made last week busy, busy, busy!
I made Wes a snugglie for his carseat before we left.  The previous weekend we went out to dinner with my sister and her husband and it was wet and snowing and had a blanket tucked around Wes' legs.  We made it inside the restaurant only to see he had kicked off the blanket in the parking lot and nobody noticed.  So I figured out, with some fabric I already had, a way to fit something around his carseat that would cover his feet and not be easily kicked off.  This is what I came up with:

Does he like it?  He tries to kick it off right away, but it does keep his feet and legs warm and for a kid who despises wearing anything on his feet, I think that this is going to be vital this winter.  It tucks down around the foot of the chair and then comes up to the handle of the chair where it ties with ribbon on both sides.  It is made of a semi-stretchy cotton blend and to make it a little warmer, I used a fleece receiving blanket that was too small to actually use and sewed it in as a lining.  

Thanksgiving was last week and we went down to my in-law's for the holiday weekend and were very happy to see not only them but three of my husband's four siblings and their families.  There is a lot more stress involved in packing with a little guy than there was when it was just Casey and I.  We had to make sure that we had not only everything we needed but also made sure that a lot of stuff was easily accessible for in-car access.  Food in the cooler to feed mid-trip, diapers and wipes in the catch-all bag, as well as toys to occupy him and his silkie to help him sleep, if he chooses to.   Here is Wesley doing his part to help pack:

After a really good trip down to Southern Utah, we got settled in to Grandma and Grandpa's house and got to visiting!  We got Wes to bed around normal bed time and started talking with everyone and didn't make to bed until about one that morning.  Thanksgiving morning came way to early, as you can see by Wes' face!

(PS- Grandpa goes to the store and gets little toys for all of the kids when we get together as a family and this is what he found for Wesley.  He loves that little frog!  It was the perfect gift for him!)  After nap time and lunch Wes got dressed for his day and enjoyed his first Thanksgiving.  

On development levels, Wes hit some pretty big milestones this week.  He said "Da" for the first time this week.  Casey left the room and Wes turned to follow him and cried "Da!" after him, as his Casey's mom told us after we returned.  Then on Saturday, all three of us went for a drive and stopped by a local clothing store. As Casey was trying some snowboard goggles on I took the baby and just walked around the store.  I asked him if we should go find daddy and he said to me "Da?"  I am happy that he is trying to talk but a little sad that his first word isn't mom.  I know that hard consonants are easier for small babies to say so I was kind of expecting this but I was hoping to be the first word.  Wes also tried his first baby snack while away this weekend.  Gerber baby puffs are the best baby snack!  Boy does he love his snacks!  He is still working on his fine motor skills which is why we wanted to get something small for him to feed himself and his pediatrician said that these snacks are perfect for him to start with.  He is not really left- or right-hand dominant right now so he just grabs a puff with either hand and maneuvers it into his mouth.  

The last  big milestone we hit this weekend was Wes now walks assisted!  He has been standing assisted for a while now, but last week he has learned to hold onto us and pull himself upright.  He then only wanted to stand up, not wanting to sit down and play.  Now, he is taking steps while he is holding onto us!  I am so happy that he is doing so well at this but I still lay him on his belly to try and get him to crawl.  He can army crawl and is super fast doing so, but upright on all fours?  Still hasn't happened yet.  

Here he is doing his best 'climb daddy' routine:

It's been busy, and this upcoming weekend we are headed back down to Southern Utah to see a friend get married so it's another roadtrip and then the craziness of the holiday season will be fully upon us.  Yay!

Making Baby Food!

So I totally imagined, pre-delivery, that I would be one of those mom's who has the house cleaned up every day, the baby is fed home-made food, that I would be in better shape than I was before I got pregnant and that life would be an endless fun-filled playdate with Wesley.  I didn't like cleaning before so I'm not sure why I thought that I would clean now.  I hated to workout before I got pregnant so I guess thinking about getting in shape was supposed to do the trick.  And fun all day, every day, is apparently an expectant mom's wish; this was before teething and getting sick with baby measles, and general crabbiness.  The only thing that I have done, that I thought I would like to do, is make Wes' baby food fresh for him.

To start, Wes' doctor thought he was underweight at his six-month check up.  At the time, he was just starting to eat solid foods after being exclusively breastfed.  He wasn't unhealthy, just underweight for his height.  She recommended feeding him at least five times a day, which is a lot for a kid who basically was playing with his food instead of eating it.  At seven months we went in, and he was still at the same weight, about fourteen and a half pounds, so she wanted us to try feeding him fattier foods.  She was happy that he was eating more and loved his fruits and veg, but wanted him to eat meat and mashed potatoes with butter in them.

We left his appointment and my sister gave me a Magic Bullet to start making his food.  To begin, I was totally making it up as I went along.  No recipes, although if you want to find some you can surely buy books or just look online.  I went with what she recommended to us: turkey, mashed potatoes, etc.  For the turkey, I got ground turkey and fried it up like normal and then when it had cooled down, I added a little bit of chicken broth to it and put it into the Bullet to blend/process it.  It worked well and when I was done, I poured it into an ice cube tray to freeze it.  I did the same with some peaches, a peach/plum mix, and some broccoli.   Here is his first batch:

All I have to do when it is time to feed Wes is get a cube out and I usually defrost it and add applesauce to it or mix two cubes together, resulting in some pretty weird combinations but he seems to like them.  Since his first batch of food, I have made plenty of food for Wes using many different options.  We have used frozen fruits (strawberries, pineapple, mango, peaches), frozen veggies (broccoli, cauliflower), fresh food (broccoli, carrots, potatoes, yellow squash, butternut squash, plums, bananas), turkey, spaghetti (cooked), butter and jarred peaches and pears.  I now try to mix a fruit with the veggies because it will sweeten it, hopefully making it more enjoyable.

I also have killed the Magic Bullet and had to replace it.  I looked for about two weeks before getting a new appliance.  I considered another Bullet, also a Baby Bullet, and traditional food processors.  After looking online and in stores and comparing different brands, I ended up with the KitchenAid 3.5 cup Food Chopper. If I fill the bowl up to the brim, it will fill a whole ice cube tray perfectly, which is a great measuring device!  It also has a spot to add liquids into it without having to take the top off, which is one thing I did not like about the Magic Bullet.  It is easy to take apart, clean, and store and so far I really enjoy using it.  Next week I am going to take it with us as we travel out of town for Thanksgiving and hope it works for our needs at Grandma's house!

Pictures!

 Halloween 2011

 My handsome baseball player

 At the pumpkin patch

My monkey

Smiling this time

 Playing with photoshop

 My sister and her (now) Husband, photoshopped

 My other sister and her husband, also photoshopped

Pop-art Wes!

Post-wedding blues

Yesterday my sister got married and it was so much fun.  This is the final wedding for my parents and while I am so happy for both of my sisters, I am a little blue because now there are no more Sandoval girls.  We are all married now, all grown up and things are changing and I am alright with that.  But we will never be "the girls" again.  Maybe this would be easier for me to swallow if both of my sisters didn't get married within two months of each other.  I am kind of sad though really happy.