The Nautical Santa!

 

If He Only Knew How Lucky He Was...

 

 

 

Hampton Yacht Club does a lot of great things for the younger members over the year, one of which is  Breakfast with Santa.  Of course, this is our first experience with the event but we made sure to take advantage.  Santa arrives by boat from the North Pole to the dock at the club and is then transported home in the same manner.  We were very lucky in that our very good friend, "Uncle Dave", was the one who volunteered his boat and time to deliver Santa and Mrs. Clause.  We watched Santa come in to the docks and enter the club where he let every child tell them their wishes.  He handed out sailboat ornaments and candy canes and was quite a treat for everyone.  The biggest treat of all and surprise was that Uncle Dave invited us to go on the boat to take Mr. and Mrs. Clause back to thier "sled" (at the city docks).  This was not only a special treat because Santa was on board but it was also Wesley's first real boat ride!  Below are a few of the better photos...our camera battery ran out just in time so our friends Leigh and Suzanne helped out.

 

Breakfast at HYC

Our good friend, Leigh and her son, Will

Waving goodbye as we left the dock!



My Visit with Santa!!



Visit with Santa!

Same Santa Background, Santa isn't as Jolly! 

 

 

The day after Wesley's Birthday Party, Chris and I took off of work to recharge but also thinking it would be a great time to take Wesley to see Santa.  It is truly worth the time off to not have to wait in line (we walked right up).  I was on maternity leave last year when I took him and same thing happened so that will be a tradition for us if we can continue to do so.  The only challenge is while it was nice to have some continuity with Santa or at least his location (local mall) year after year, he isn't the most genuine looking or friendliest Santa you have ever seen!  The second picture isn't so bad but in the first one, he looks a little rough...I shouldn't care because Wesley didn't seem to mind at all! This year or the prior...I posted both to compare.

 

 

November 22, 2012---365 days!

 

It's Official, I am ONE!

 

 

Wesley's 12 month check up went very well.  He is now 23 lbs and 31 1/2 inches tall.  He is in the 90% for Height and 70% for Weight...still sort of a stringbean!  Although it is funny because you wouldn't think that looking at his clothes.  He seems to need a roll up on his pants legs and the waist is always a bit snug.  Chris swears he needs "husky" pants...I just chuckle.  He's adorable whatever way you look at him and seems just right.  The doctor was pleased with his progress.  He has 8 teeth now and smiles often to show them off.  He is a pretty happy kid most of the time.  He is starting to push our buttons a bit when he doesn't get his way.  He is still doing the "revival fall" where he just falls backwards to initiate a tantrum.  This can be scary because he doesn't care where he is when this happens...in front of the fireplace, on the hard wood floor, on the tile in the entryway...so it could hurt.  The pediatrician told us that babies' heads were very hard in the front and very hard in the back for a reason.  Hopefully he will learn sooner than later. 

 

His asthma and excema seem to linger and flare up more regularly-the winter weather is definitely the culprit for the excema but not sure about the asthma.  He is on his daily inhaler which is SO much better than the electric nebulizer treatments---it's basically in place of that and Wesley and Mom and Dad do much better with the inhaler.  We hear that it is very common to grow out of both of these conditions so we will hope.  He has now had 6 ear infections so we have been referred to the ENT to get another opinion...more to come. 

 

He started walking the week after his birthday and hasn't stopped since. He points a lot to direct us to things he wants. He has several words that we can decipher. His first word was definitely "Dog".  His daycare has two of them, a yellow lab named Wrigley and a smaller terrier named Boomer.  Wesley is infatuated with the dogs and loves them!!!  After that, he uses 'sish' for fish which he says a lot. He calls Mrs. Shelia, "sheeee-ya" which we hear all of the time. In fact, that is typically how he wakes us in the morning from his crib, calling her name. He calls her daughter, Kenzie, "KiKi". He also says "boat" (yeah for dad), and has named his blanket, "teetee" (no idea!).  

 

It has been a great first year!  Definitely some hard times and challenges for Chris and me as new parents but the smiles, giggles and love from Wesley make us forget about the tougher moments. 

What is most important is that we have a happy, healthy one year old! 



Birthday #2...

 

Hey Sugar, Sugar...

 

Since Wesley's Birthday fell on Thanksgiving, we threw another party at our house after the fact to celebrate with friends and family.  His Grandmother, JJ, said he was smart before his time to be born when he was so that he could have two birthday parties.  This was quite a party for little W.  He had lots of friends from Hampton, friends from Duck, NC (Chris' college buddy, Jim and his boys), family from Delaware (Aunt Alex and cousins Holly and Lily), Mimi and Pops, most of his daycare friends and Mrs. Shelia and KiKi (Kenzie) as well as neighbors, Mike and Debbie.  We had BBQ and the fixins' from Malbon Brothers, cupcakes, cakes, chocolate dipped marshmallows, chocolate dipped pretzels amongst some other "healthier" items but it was a sweet day in more than one way! 

Wesley loved playing with his friends...there were a lot of children!  We were very lucky to have an unseasonably warm day so that the kids could play on the back deck. 

Mimi and Pops were a WONDERFUL host/hostess and helped us immensely with preparation, cooking, entertaining and cleaning!  We couldn't have done it without them!  It enabled Chris and I to visit with our friends as well...guess it was another excuse for us to have some friends by for a Sunday Funday!  Happy 1st Birthday, Wesley!!!

 

 

 

MY cake!!!  Happy 1st Birthday to ME!

  

The BIG Cake!

Wesley's "smash" cake (although he was pretty delicate with it)!



Cupcakes for my friends (thanks, Mimi!)

BBQ and the fixins'!



Mommy was worried about entertaining the kiddos...they did just fine!

  

My daycare friend, Chase, enjoying a marshmallow!

 

 

"Uncle" Dave and my friend, Will Chapman from Hampton

More daycare friends!

I LOVE CAKE!!!  Happy Birthday, Wesley!

Check Me Out!

Just Because...

We don't have our camera at the ready as often as we'd like.  I do have a phone with me most of the time and sometimes that is faster although lacking in quality.  Below are a few random shots of Wesley...

 

 

He loves helping out with the laundry.  While I am sure this will change by the time he is actually able to fold clothes, right now it allows me to get a chore done with him in my eyesight!

 

 

Our good friend, Mike Park, sent Wesley a NASCAR bib for his birthday.  Here he is below sporting his new race wear!!!  Boogity, Boogity, Boogity!!!

 

This is what happens when Daddy goes out of town for work.  Instead of enjoying his pre-breakfast milk and snack downstairs with Daddy, Wesley has to hang out in Mommy and Daddy's room while Mommy gets ready for work.  There are a lot of things that he can get his hands on...perfect for blackmail later! (my headband)

 

Wesley LOVES the garage!  There are a few things that he is very interested in...the outboard motor, his red wagon and Daddy's tool box.  He points at the door several times a day and begs for us to take him out there.  This particular morning (New Year's Day), the boys were playing with the hats in his stroller.   We have a house full of toys...the garage will always trump! 

 

It's a Walk in the Park Once You Turn 1!

 

Burning Off the Turkey!!!

The day after Thanksgiving was beautiful in Midlothian, where my folks live. We decided to take a walk to the park to enjoy the sunshine and walk off some of the birthday cake! Wesley seemed to enjoy the swings and the slide. We tried to take some pictures of him in the grass but he didn't care for it at all!!

Weeeee!!!!

Love the Park!!!

Having Fun with Pops!!!!

Thankful for First Birthdays!!!

 

Who Needs Pie When You Have Birthday Cake???

Wesley was a lucky guy this year to have his 1st Birthday fall on Thanksgiving Day!  Instant Party!  He was fortunate to have a lot of his extended family including his nearby cousins at his first party.  Mimi and Pops hosted Thanksgiving so he also had great aunts and uncles to help celebrate.  This was truly his first taste of birthday cake and while he didn't "dive in" or get messy, he did love it!
Here are some shots from his party! 

My oldest cousins...Hayden and Logan!



 

Having a Ball!

My nearby cousins minus one! (Preston was hiding from the camera!)

So far, so good...I think I could get used to this!



Somehow we always end up on the balcony!!

It's My Party!

My new toys are So much fun!!!

Wesley missed out on this fun...but who is the biggest kid????