Walking around at Grandma and Opa's house

Look how bashful he is, so cute! "I'm walking!"

Happy Thanksgiving

My work schedule allowed us to take some time to spend Thanksgiving with my family in Rochester, NY. My mom worked very hard to prepare a scrumptious meal, enjoyed by all, especially Wesley and Eilee! Fortunately, we have had a great year and we have so much to be thankful for. Our families are healthy and safe, our home is warm and full of love, our lives are rich and full of excitement. We wish you the very best the Thanksgiving and all the year through.

To Grandmother's House We Go...

Wesley was a GREAT little boy who behaved so well in his car seat all the way to Grandma and Opa's house today! Mommy and Daddy are so proud!

Me & My friend JO

You know, Jonathan Ogden! We ran into him at the Raven's game today. Wesley's Daddy was awfully proud Mommy threw the baby into JO's arms and forced him to take a picture.

Just before Wesley turned one, I got a little sad. My new little baby was not quite so new. But I am beginning to see that the world is still full of lots of "firsts" for Wesley to experience. Today he attended his first football game, the Baltimore Ravens defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in a 36-7 victory.

It was pretty cold today, but we were fortunate enough to have Club level seating with Grandmom and Grandpop. That being said, Wesley spent the majority of the game inside the nice warm club level where he and Mom and Grandmom dined on some mandarin oranges, baby goldfish and the worst "soft" pretzels known to man. He did venture outside for the opening kickoff and found people watching to be much more interesting than the game being played on the field before us. We did also bring him out for a few moments of the third quarter where we watched a few very exciting plays including a touchdown. Wesley LOVED hearing the croud go wild. Maybe Wesley is the team's good luck charm?

Emmanuel & Family

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Here it is, my first attempt at family photography. I went over to a friend's beautiful home and snapped a few pics of her family, but mostly of their little guy, Emmanuel. I am not used to 22 month olds... he had A LOT of energy and it was right before nap time. Seeing other peoples' older children is kinda like looking into the future. Emmanuel had the cutest little dance and you can tell he just ADORES his father, which is a little unfair considering his mother had a rough road to get him here. Nonetheless, Emmanuel is the sweetest little man with two awesome parents! It was a lot of fun trying to capture their energy.

Wasn't I just saying...

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As you may have seen in the video, Wesley likes to climb into his toybox just to hang out and relax. I took advantage of him actually sitting still for a few moments and got a few good pics. But the last one just illustrates my blog entry from yesterday. He keeps handing me stuff, it is really cute.

A work in progress

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I tried to get some cute pics of Wesley today for our Christmas card. It is so hard trying to get him posed and operate the camera by myself. This was the best one I got today, and believe me I think it is super cute, but I need to retry them. He wasn't too into the lollipop, it was Peppermint flavored and I don't think he quite liked it. He only licked it a few times and then mostly was carrying it around while charging me behind the camera.

I'm feeling a little lazy...

These pics are actually from last week. I've been a little busy taking pics of other babies and I've been giving Wesley a much needed break (for him) from the camera. As you can see, he has been getting into everything. He loves to open drawers and cabinets and has really been enjoying flipping through books lately. SO, between shooting other kids, working, cleaning, meeting up with friends and life in general, I've been somewhat neglecting my blog. My goal is to have like 3 entries (with Wesley pics) per week. I have just found that keeping this blog has helped me to remember all the little stuff. Well, maybe not ALL the little stuff, but a lot of it. I am doing my best to savor every moment. Having this record is, in some ways, better than the traditional baby book. So, I'm trying to keep it up. And I get to show off my gorgous baby *wink wink* to all my internet savvy friends and family (including my grandma!)

One neat thing he started doing the other day. Well, I don't know how neat it is, but everything "new" he does has it's thrill, but I digress. Tuesday evening I was working till seven and Greg brought Wesley to the hospital to see me. We went to the cafeteria and all had dinner together, it was a nice diversion from work, believe me! Wesley had a handful of something and gave me this "look" that said he wasn't going to eat whatever it was, he was done with Goldfish (I think). He has mastered the "toss the food overboard when I'm done" routine. But, he had this little handful and this inquisitive look on his face, so I held out the palm of my hand to him and he PLACED the goldfish (I think it was a goldfish?) in my hand. Pretty cool.

It was so cool to watch him set something down with purpose and carefully. Most things he has been "done" with just get dropped immediately or a backhanded accidental-like toss, so this was definately different. He has done it a few times since then and it still is quite novel to me... for now.

Nolan

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No, I'm not "in business", but I have been helping my friends save a few bucks and I've been taking a few pics for Christmas photo cards. Today, I got a few of Nolan, baby of my friends Samantha and Jason. Only 3 months old and already such a sweetie!

Storyville!

Today we took a trip to Storyville, a WONDERFUL place for children under age 5 (and their parents!) to play and learn at the Rosedale branch of the Baltimore County Public Library. Yep kids, it's FREE!!! I could make a joke about being happy with my tax dollars at work, but Storyville was built all on donations. I think I'll be adding Baltimore County Public Library on my "good" list when it comes time for charitable contributions. As previously stated, it is a GREAT place to play, worth the drive and was a lot of fun in a baby friendly (and safe!) environment. They had toys and books and things to climb through and books and several themed areas for role play and books. And you could borrow the books - just like at the library, oh wait, it was a library! You couldn't check out the toys though... and you can return the books to ANY Baltimore county library.

This place was just great! Of course, I took a few pics. But I'll warn you, I had bad lighting, so they aren't as technically "good" as I would have liked. But there ain't nothing wrong with snapshots while playing, hunh?

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A view of the "Baby Garden"

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Did I mention there were books?

Wesley's sweet smile

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I had my computer on my lap and Wesley came over to see what I was working on. We started playing peek a boo with the screen and I grabbed my camera and snaped a few shots in an attempt to capture that sweet smile.

Walking AND Talking!

It may only be a few steps, but Wesley has been practicing and practicing! He'll usually take about 5 or so steps and then crawling is faster, but he is getting the hang of it. Practice makes perfect!

Baby Noah

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6 Months old and looking great! I'm using a new technique to post pics, that is why this one is so large and I'm working on figuring out how to add pics this new way, so be patient with me!

A photographer's kid

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Does NOT want his picture taken! It seems like whenever I try to take a portrait of Wesley he ends up turning around. Since we were just playing, I didn't try too hard to get a decent pic. This was about all I got...

He even uses a fork!

Look at that smile! Looks like he LOVES Daddy's meatloaf! Yum!

Dream big little one

I learned a new flash technique and had to try it out. Of course, I didn't want to disturb the sleeping baby, so we only got one shot. Thankfully he continued his slumber, but I think the picture was worth the risk.

We've got a toddler!

Every day Wesley gets a little closer to walking and today he really did a great job! He is still pretty wobbly, and he teeters quite a bit, but he is officially a toddler!


Oh, and he has been enjoying going through drawers lately... it is so cute, but challenging, as he is getting into EVERYTHING! Bring on the baby proofing!

Toy Box

Not the most thrilling video, but watch the first 20-30 seconds. Looks like we've got a climber!

I had to work until 7:30 tonight, so Greg picked Wesley up from school today. Then they swung by the hospital and I got to have a little visit with my two favorite guys. Wesley then showed off his walking skills and he really, REALLY walked from me to Greg, stopped, turned around and started to walk back. The little guy is really getting it! SO EXCITING!

Baby Steps

Vote!

At the drive in

Wesley just loves his little red car. He will just climb in and hang out in there. It is so cute! Today I had the TV on and his little car was right in front of the TV. Recently, we have found that Wesley LOVES the show 'Little Einsteins.' Greg and I aren't sure if it is the music or the colors or why, but he will just stare at the TV. But if something like the news is on, he could care less. We still don't let him watch large quantities of TV, but we've let him watch 5 minutes a couple times this week. It was especially cute this morning when he was sitting in his little car. He looked like he was at a tiny indoor drive in.