A Halloween Shark Attack

After having some dinner, Wesley got into his shark costume and I had to shoot a little video. As you can see, he is starting to take some steps! This has been going on for about a week now and we're just waiting for him to really get it and just take off walking. It was especially cute watching him crawling in his costume. I just love how his tail swishes!

Then, Greg and I decided to take him out for his first Trick or Treat in his car. We were just going to take a quick stroll down the street and show him off to a few neighbors. We didn't collect any candy, although one neighbor, Miss Catherine insisted we take a piece for the baby and told us, "Oh, let him lick it!"

We think Wesley was a little confused. He must have been thinking 'Wait a sec, it's bedtime and Mommy and Daddy NEVER take me out for walks at nighttime.' As if the whole staying up past 7 and walking around outside weren't enough, a few of our neighbors had their homes and yards decorated for Halloween quite elaborately. We stopped and watched the lights at one house and they even had a mock graveyard! There was a guy in the corner of the year was dressed like a zombie and he had a chainsaw and Wesley was just watching intently and then the sound effects recording went into screaming... and it got a little intense. Wesley just sat in the car and stared. He must be a horror fan, like his Mommy and Grandma M.

Our neighborhood is full of kids and lots of people stopped to admire Wesley's super cute Shark costume. People would stop and take pictures of him and parents were even making their kids check out Wesley! There was one Dad who stopped us and said his son just LOVED sharks. The dad called little stormtrooper over, who then "shot" Wesley with his blaster gun. This made me sad. What is even worse was, the same kid "shot" Greg when he came to our house for candy. Jeesh kid! Must be fun times around his house. I bet he has been shooting everything in sight for the past few days.

It was so funny walking behind a shark driving a car. He is just so cute!

While we were out walking, we ran into our neighbor, Lindsay, and her BEAUTIFUL daughter, Kira. So, we walked the neighborhood together. It was so much fun watching Kira get excited about things. Halloween was so much fun this year and I know it will just continue to get better. It will be so neat to watch him get excited about Trick or Treating and the costumes and the decorations, oh and the CANDY!

Daddy, check these things out! They are SO COOL!

Mail!

Wesley LOVES paper! He loves to crumple it, crinkle it, tear it and above all... chew on it! I recently discovered junk mail = baby entertainment. I don't have to worry about him ruining something important. Now if only I could find a way to prevent him from wanting to eat it...

Look-alike Meter

MyHeritage: Look-alike Meter - Family roots - Tracing ancestors

The Tub, a beginning, a middle and an end

Wesley's hearing is MUCH improved, if I haven't said that already... here he is tapping along to the beat. (I tried to get a dancing video Aunt Cole, but not today...)


Look at Wesley standing! Balance is improving... walking might not be too far away...


Or maybe not... this is a common sight in our house these days...

When good cameras go bad

On occasion, Wesley and I have attended a breastfeeding support group at Anne Arundel Medical Center in Annapolis (meets in the Sajak building the 2nd and 4th Thursday of the month). We haven't been to support group in a few months, but they had a Halloween party today and I thought it would be fun to see the other babies in their costumes and also show off Wesley in his super cute shark costume! We all got together for a picture in the end and I handed off my camera to a stranger to snap a pic.

Eek! I left it in Manual Mode and the flash didn't go off (because it was in Manual). Needless to say, the picture was not properly exposed AT ALL! Thank heaven for Photoshop. Luckily, I had left the camera to shoot in RAW and I was able to recover a lot of the picture... sure, it isn't quite frame worthy, but still... those kids were too cute not to share. Fall is even more fun with a little one! That is for sure!

Sad Balloons

We had these Mylar balloons at Wesley's birthday party (Oct 4) and they are still hanging in there. Wesley just LOVES them and he'll just hold it and carry them around by the string. At this point, one of them is barely above the floor and the other one is looking pretty sad too. Tell me, does the second photo accurately say "sad balloon" to you?

Fall has arrived

We had to take a few pictures today amoung the autumn leaves. Wesley was really interested in them. He would look at them and even tried tasting a couple. Of course, I'd stop him as soon as I could, but that made him sad. Hence, the last pic.

Chug Jug

These pics just make me smile! Wesley has really gotten the hang of using a sippy cup and we've been teaching him how to use a straw. He saw my 'chug jug' and wanted to give it a try. He picked it up all on his own and tipped it back as he was sucking on the straw. I thought it was so cute, the jug is almost bigger than he is! Of course, I had to grab the camera.

1 year checkup

Wesley had his one year check up with the pediatrician today. He weighed in at a whopping 20 pounds 5 ounces and now measures 30 inches tall. He looks very healthy and is growing appropriately. The doctor took one look at his feet and said she would venture to guess he is going to be tall when he gets older. One bad thing though, she noticed a heart murmur. It is probably innocent, but we need to go to a cardiologist to get it checked out. We have the number to Johns Hopkins and I'll be calling on Monday to make an appointment. Hopefully it is nothing, but it is somewhat reassuring to know some of the best doctors in the world are down the street and will be checking Wesley out. Don't worry, I'll keep everyone updated when we know something.

And an update on Wesley's hearing. We haven't had his hearing retested, but it is OBVIOUS his hearing has improved since his surgery. He has been dancing to the music his toys make, and tapping his hands to the beat. It is so much fun to see him enjoying songs and melodies. It is just another testament that we made the right decision to have the tubes placed. The ENT doctor said the tubes will stay in for 6 months to a year and usually (95% of the time) they fall out on their own. There is a small chance he made need surgery to remove them, but we will cross that bridge if/when we need to. Until then, rock on little boy! I love watching you shake your little bum!

The shark baby

Cutest Shark EVER.

Alexander

My good friend, Erin, came over yesterday and we talked a little bit about photography. I was trying to teach her some of the techniques I have been experimenting with when I am taking pictures. We had both Wesley and her baby, Alexander downstairs in my make shift photo studio. The session was mainly for her to experiment. One of our main problems was she has a Canon and I don't know how to work her camera. That being said, she doesn't know how to work her camera except in full automatic mode. At this point, I am usually shooting in manual, and I use a combination format that shoots the pic in both RAW and JPEG. I love the ease of the JPEG and am hanging onto that setting as a crutch and for ease, but when I want to get into the nitty gritty of photo editing, RAW format is so much better! Aside from that, I just wanted to recommend the book Understanding Exposure by Bryan Peterson. It is a WONDERFUL book for beginners, like me, and help explains how to use different techniques to get the effects you desire.

I only took 8 pictures, and only 2 are blog worthy. That is a 25% turn out. I think my personal goal is 5 "good" pictures per session. Well, maybe that doesn't sound like a lot and frankly that is failing marks in school, but with photography, especially child photography, it sounds like a slightly attainable goal for me at this point. Of course, I could snap pictures all day, but my subjects can be a little difficult to work with. Wesley will turn every way, except facing the camera, and then he won't smile and half the time he does smile my lighting is bad or the focus is bad or there is some other technical difficulty on my end. Again, I am still learning. I must remind myself that often. Regardless, of the 8 pics I took, I LOVE LOVE LOVE 2 of them. That makes me super happy. Then again, it was easy to get a couple great shots when you have a cooperative (and handsome!) subject.

Riding along in my automobile

Wesley's has really been enjoying all of his new toys and presents from his birthday (and even an early Christmas present!), but he has really been loving this car. He pushes it around the living room and will sit still in it for us to push him around in it. Today we took it for a spin out on the open road... errr sidewalk. Wesley really liked his new ride!

The Pumpkin Patch

Wesley might have had his birthday party this past weekend, but we still had to celebrate his actual birthday! So, we headed up to Valley View Farms to see the biggest pumpkin in Maryland, hang out in the pumpkin patch and pick out a pumpkin to take home. I think Wesley had fun, he was certainly interested in them! It was a nice way to celebrate autumn and Wesley's birthday.

I am 1 year old today!

Bittersweet is such an understatement! I can't believe a whole year has gone by. I keep thinking about where I was and what I was doing one year ago today. As I type this, I would have been in the recovery room, holding Wesley in my arms for the first time. Since then my world has changed and definately for the better. It has been amazing to watch him grow and develop into such a sweet and curious little boy. It is such a priveledge and I am so lucky to have been able to experience so much with him. I am excited about the future, but I am saddened he is no longer itty bitty. I have tried to savor it, document every moment and commit every detail to memory.

It has been so wonderful and I just want to treasure these days. When we went to a wedding recently, I watched the groom dance with his mother and it made me think about someday dancing with Wesley at his wedding. I hope he is as blessed as I am. I hope he is able to someday experience marriage to a wonderful supportive partner and experience the birth of his child and the first year of parenthood is as much fun as it has been for Greg and I. Of course, I hope the years leading up to that moment are full of happiness and health, joys and excitement. And of course, I hope I'm along for so many of the adventures that await. And I'll do my best to treasure them as well. For someday he won't be my dependant, but he'll always be my baby!

Birthday Eve

These pics are from Monday, but are too cute not to share. With everything that has been going on, I hadn't had a chance to post them. Wesley really enjoyed the balloons from his party, so we had to take a few pictures of him having some fun. Oh my sweet baby, where has the year gone?

We're home!

Part I
It all went well. I'll update this post later, but the jist is:
surgery took all of 10 min... I swear a minute after I posted the waiting room post, the doctor came out and got us. He said the fluid behind Wesley's ears was "glue like" (EW!) and would not have drained on its own. That statement really made us feel like we had made the right decision. We were brought to the recovery area and a nuser carried Wesley over to us. He was crying and tossing and turning a lot, as the effects of anesthesia were wearing off. After about 10 min he was much more settled. At 15 min, I was able to nurse him and all was well with the world. We left the hospital and from parking the car to pulling away, we were there a total of 2 hours. Again, I'll post more/edit this post later... but wanted to give an update.

Part II
So, as I said before, things went very well. Here is some more in depth info for those interested in the details. Watch an online video about the procedure by clicking on this link, PE Tube Placement Video. Wesley is currently taking a nap and appears to be doing just fine. I gave him a dose of Tylenol just in case his ears are bothering him. He has antibiotic ear drops for the next couple nights and he has a follow up appointment in a couple weeks. I am optimistic that he will have a smooth recovery and hopefully his hearing will return to normal very soon (if not already!) Thanks for the well wishes everyone!

At the hospital

We're at the hospital right now. More specifically, Wesley is in surgery having his tubes placed. Greg and I are in the waiting room. It is a pain, but I am blogging from my phone. I am hoping that by the time I finish this post, he'll be done and back in my arms soon! Until then... we wait!

Aunt Nicole and Uncle Drew

Aunt Nicole and Uncle Drew came all the way from Rochester, New York to Maryland for Wesley's party. We took them to the Inner Harbor on Sunday to see some of Baltimore's sights and they were adventurous enough to try steamed crabs. It was a great visit and we can't wait to see them again next month. We miss you Aunt Cole and Uncle Dew!