Summer

Summer has been packed with fun for our family. We took a trip to Amelia Island in June and had a blast. Wylie is at such a fun (and sometimes tiring) stage right now. He is into absolutely everything. As you can see in the picture from the beach where he is asleep in his pack-n-play with tissues all around him. He pulled the tissue box off the counter that he could barely reach and pulled out every tissue. As soon as he goes outside, he's dirty within about 2 minutes, and when he walks in the house it's a wreck within about 3. It's great!...most of the time. He is learning so much everyday, so he has to play! Wylie's most recent characteristics, he runs all over the place even more than ever, points to pictures in books, says more words like hot, door, hat, nose, eyes, please, more, dog, book, no and some more that I can't think of right now. You never know what he's going to say these days. He still loves his thumb and his "lovey" elephant. He enjoys picking all of the blueberries off our bushes and eating them while I pick everything else from the garden. He is a very busy boy! What a personality and temper he has. It can be a challenge at times. He's gotten to spend more time with Grandma (Sheila) this summer since she's out of school. He loves to feed the cows with Papa (Chuck) and ride the gator. What a mess! It's hard to pick just a few pictures to share from the things we've been into this summer, so here are a few from the beach.

Lovin' to run around

I finally got a short clip of Wylie and Will playing chase. It is so funny. He just cracks up when we hide and then chase him.

So much fun

We have been having so much fun with Wylie lately. He is learning new things daily and we continue to watch his personality blossom. He says quite a few words now. Besides Mama and Dada, he says more, book, up, out, moo (when you ask him what a cow says), and eat. I'm sure he's saying much more, but we just can't understand it yet. He "talks" nonstop and has no volume button. Everything is loud or louder! He loves being able to go outside now that it's warm. He collects rocks, eats dirt, and generally likes just wandering around the yard. I've been trying to post some videos, but apparently the ones I have tried to upload are too large. The one above is one of his funny things he's doing now. Be sure to catch the very beginning. He does this really exaggerated clap that is hilarious. Once he caught on to walking, the running came very quickly. He loves to be chased. I tried to upload a video of this, but it's not working. He's a lot to keep up with these days, but the exhaustion is worth all the fun!

1st Birthday

Wylie's first birthday was great. We celebrated on the 18th with grandparents over for supper. Then on Saturday we had his blowout party. We were thankful for the beautiful day that it turned out to be! Wylie love his cake. I made him a lemon cake in a special size just for him. He ate A LOT of it. He kept looking around like, "Hey, isn't anybody going to stop me?" He also enjoyed opening presents. We did it gradually throughout the party. He loved the toys that made noises and of course he enjoyed getting more books.

Will and I agree that this has been the fastest year of our lives. Watching him grow has been such a joy.

And we're off!!!

It's been awhile since I updated everyone on what Wylie's been up to. That's because I've been busy chasing him! He is absolutely all over the place. He can get out of sight very quickly and into things just as fast. He still has a very big appetite and shows no signs of pickyness yet. He's started feeding himself with a spoon a little which he thinks is just hilarious. He loves making sounds with his mouth such as "smacking" his lips and clicking his tongue. Waving hasn't been a big thing for him. He can do it, but only when he really wants to. He says "Bye, bye", "Mama", "Dada" and "Baba"(for ball or bottle). Other than words, he "talks" all the time. He is actually pretty loud which is fine except for quiet places like church. He learned how to play catch in November and continues to improve his ball throwing skills! It's one of his favorite things to do. He continues to love reading books. He is definitely showing preference toward certain ones that we have to read every night. This past week he started giving kisses. He actually just opens his mouth and slobbers on whoever he is kissing, but we love it. Now, for the biggest life-changer...two weeks ago Wylie took his first steps. Up until this weekend he would just take a step here and there, but this weekend he really started getting brave. Now, wherever he has pulled up, he takes a few steps in the direction he is going next before going back to crawling. He's up to taking about 6 or 7 steps before he goes back down to the floor. I was not in a hurry for this to happen, but it is so cute to watch. He gets very excited and pleased with himself the further and further he goes. We are having so much fun with him each day. We can't belive he will be 1 this week.

1st Christmas

Christmas was very special this year for all of us. Of course it was Wylie's first and we were able to pass on some traditions as well as begin some new ones. We went to many family gatherings and also spent time with friends during the holiday. Will and I did really well and didn't over buy for this guy, but somehow our living room is still full of toys! My sister, Alesha, bought him a Little People barn set. That was her favorite toy growing up and so far it looks like it might be his too. At this age, nothing holds his attention for very long, especially when he tries to follow us around the house (which happens a lot). Wylie is on the go these days. He's a fast crawler and easily pulls up on everything. He can let go and stand by himself for a couple of seconds too. He's trying his best to stay into trouble. It does no good to clean the floors because even when I do he finds the one speck of dirt the broom left behind. Wylie's best trick is that he can play catch. He's been doing it for a couple of months now. If you sit across from him and give him a ball he will throw it to you and you can throw it back and he will pick it up and throw it again. He has also started clapping which he does all the time and it is too cute. He mama and dada, but I still can't tell if it's on purpose, but he does day Bye, bye consistently when someone is leaving. He has several teeth now and eats everything we let him. He's not picky so far and has quite the large appetite. Even though he really didn't get Christmas and what it's all about, we had fun with him. For me, Christmas was more special than usual this year. Having an infant during Christmas and reflecting on what took place that first Christmas stayed with me throughout the season. Thinking about that babe in Bethlehem who was born to accomplish such a great cause while holding my little boy was truly magical.

Thanksgiving at the Beach

We went to the Jekyll Island for the week of Thanksgiving with Will's family. We stayed the entire week. It was a nice break. The weather was a little too chilly for sitting on the beach, but we took lots of walks. Wylie enjoyed his first Thanksgiving dinner there. He definitely feasted! He's still eating anything you put in front of him. He's been moving around on his own for awhile now and pulling up on things. He figured out how to go up the step to our kitchen awhile back too, but after we got home from our trip he mastered going down the step which looks hilarious. He's starting to do a little wave with his whole arm which is pretty funny too. He's definitely making us laugh.