Wesley vs Winter

I've never been a fan of winter.  Being inside all day makes me restless (ask the neighbors who witnessed our 7 A.M. walks during the hottest weeks of summer), and winter offers a surplus of gray, dreary days.  Wesley, however, has done a stellar job of fending off the winter blues.  Newly discovered bipedal mobility along with an enthusiasm for exploration offers little time for cabin fever.

Now that Wes uses walking rather than crawling as his main form of locomotion, I have taken him outside to explore our yard.  Admittedly I tried this when he began to crawl a few months ago, but his proximity to the ground made him much more apt to eat his way through nature.  Things he chose to consume explore include (but are not limited to): potting soil, mulch, rocks, worms, and bird poop.  Now, as he stands upright and his mouth is a whopping 2 feet from the ground, his tastes seem to have matured.  And I have his hands bound in mittens.

Most days it has been too cold to take Bear on a walk.  Wes, however, has been making sure he doesn't get out of practice by taking his toy dog for a walk around the house.  Practice makes perfect, bud!

Bear and Wes have developed an interesting relationship.  Bear is usually found nearby, as Wes finds it very entertaining to drop food off of his tray for Bear (yes, Mom's face does appear contorted with unspoken curse words).  Wes loves to give Bear treats when she comes in from doing her business.  Sometimes, though, I walk upon a scene that makes everyone look a little guilty.

Wes has become pretty good at exploring all areas of our house, and consequently, we have baby-proofed things we never thought we would.  

In between explorations, we sometimes get some work done.  Watch out Sean, Wes is winning some big points!

With great mobility comes some epic crashes.  Wes managed to give himself his first shiner the night before his check-up with the pediatrician. 

Hopefully if DCFS makes a surprise visit because of aforementioned bruise, Wes will choose to play with something different that he did this day:

We had our first snowstorm this past week.  The wind blew so hard that our power went out during dinner (and now our son is absolutely afraid of the dark, thankyouverymuch Mother Nature).  It did, however, offer a new medium in which to play!

On days when it is too cold to go outside (which seem more frequent lately), we try to find new things to do inside.  Our newest venture is coloring.  Mostly I doodle and Wes eats the crayons.  

The holidays have been low-key so far this year.  We are getting together with family after Christmas, and we spent Thanksgiving together as a family of 3.  We celebrated with class at our local Steak-n-Shake.

 We wish everyone well this Christmas, and look forward to sharing another year of learning and growth with everyone.  Merry Christmas from all of us!