Thursday, November 11, 2010

Weston

When Weston joined our family on October 3, 2008, I realized I no longer would be alone to face the tidal wave of pink, barbies, curling irons, and everything else girls like. I now had a "little man" to experience it all with me. To celebrate Weston as a part of our family, I put together this short history in pictures. Hope you enjoy.

This is Weston at 10 months old. This was about the time he decided he was old enough to sleep through the night. I think he wanted to make sure he had plenty of food reserves, just in case it was a REALLY long time until breakfast. He has always been smiley.

Weston was always a healthy baby. For several months he displayed his man boobs (or as we often call them, "moobs") without reservation or hesitation.

The girls simply adore Weston. Here Britta and Avery subject themselves to his magnanimous rule. "Oh wise and powerful Sultan! How may we serve you?" (Aladdin reference).

At 9 months Weston had 6 teeth and had a huge appetite for baby food. This boy is ready for a growth spurt!



8 teeth by 11 months old. He can't wait for the meat!


12 teeth had appeared just after his 1st birthday. Again, always smiling!


If it wasn't apparent before, it was obvious by 13 months. Weston has a fixation with food (as do most babies). Someone (girls!) gave Weston a stick of butter one day. He proceded to slather it on. Butterball anyone?


For his second Christmas, Weston's favorite present for much of the day was the sucker Santa left for him in his stocking.


Once the sucker was gone, he replaced it with the broom Grandma Anderson got him for Christmas. Aside from food, Weston's next favorite thing is cleaning. Weston loves sweeping and vacuuming.


At 18 months old, it was clear that Weston's blond hair and blue eyes were here to stay. Stephanie and Ben have siblings with similar coloring, but it was still a surprise to have such a fair child with our darker hair and eye colors.
When asleep, Weston can often be observed to have his hands behind his head. Very relaxed and chill.


I love his many faces. The summer of 2010 he went through a "gritty" phase.


At the end of August 2010, we took the kids to the Chesapeake Bay. This was Weston's first experience with open water. Hesitant at first, he didn't want to get his feet wet. By the end of the afternoon, he was walking fearlessly into the small waves and laughing at how they pulled at his legs.

"Eat it or wear it" in the words of Judy Blume's character Fudge. If you can't fit it all in your mouth, you might as well roll in it. This is powdered sugar, and I don't know who left it on the table for him.

During September of 2010, our family discovered/rediscovered the goodness of Nutella! Weston was an enthusiastic participant in this effort.

For Weston's 2nd birthday, we encouraged his natural curiosity with several small presents. Perhaps his favorite gift to date was the DVD of the Disney Pixar movie Cars. He still regularly (i.e. multiple times a day) asks to watch it.

Weston is a sweet boy. Sweet when he's awake, sweet when asleep, and sweet (sometimes) when he's in between. This was just after a nap and was being very sweet and cuddly.

I've been known to set aside my pride and dignity when it comes to my kids. This year for Halloween I made costumes for Weston and I. Any guesses? (Nope, I'm not Tigger). Calvin and Hobbes!
Since Weston joined our family, there has been a corresponding increase in the amount of cars and trains, wrestling, and roaring in the house. We're so glad he has joined us. We love you buddy!

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Washington DC Temple Lights


Some of you may call this announcement pre-mature, but the DC temple lights go on only 3 WEEKS from Friday! Temple lights go on at dusk on the evening of Friday, December 3rd. The first concert is that night at 7 pm: The Chapel Ringers from Fort Myer Memorial Chapel - Handbell Choir.

Last year, Stephanie, my younger brother Alan, and I took the kids to the temple on the 23rd of December. We enjoyed the lights, the nativity, and being close to the temple. We also caught a free handbell concert in the visitor center. I love handbell concerts at Christmas time. I think this was my second most favorite Christmas concert ever. My favorite had hand bells, a full orchestra, a choir, and "falling snow" (really a disco ball). We left that night in high spirits, deeply satisfied, and full of Christmas spirit.

If you are near DC, you should check this out. For more information on the DC temple lights and concerts, check out the website: http://dctemplelights.lds.org/

Wednesday, November 03, 2010

Virginia in the Early Fall

The week after Weston's 2nd birthday, our family, including my brother Alan, got in the car and drove out the the Shenandoah Valley. We were in search of apples to pick and fall colors. We found a quaint family farm out past Front Royal in the Granite Hills area, and came away with a quarter bushel of apples (enough for about two weeks at our house!).

Then we headed for Shenandoah National Park's famous Skyline Drive. This scenic highway is purportedly used for filming many of the car commercials where you see a car zipping around curves with great fall foliage in the background. We drove in about 20 miles hoping to see some brilliant colors, but the changing of leaves this year really didn't peaks until a couple of weeks later (around October 25th).

We still enjoyed the scenic overlooks, the early signs of fall, and the beauty of nature. Well, most of nature. There were swarms of stink bugs in the clearings and along the highways. At one point, the girls refused to get out of the car at a scenic overlook. I had to sit with them while Stephanie and Alan got out to take pictures and enjoy the view.

At the end of the day, we found a shady hiking path with no stink bugs, and we were able to convince the kids to get out of the car. We spend a good hour exploring the trail, looking a fuzzy caterpillars, moss, mis-shapen trees, and all sorts of things. Alan took several pictures, including one of our family:


While we were probably out a little to early to see the colors we had hoped for, the weather was beautiful, and we took away several fun memories ...and a few stink bugs that hid in the cracks of our car doors...

Run away!!

The Weston Lexicon

With Weston having celebrated his 2nd birthday a month ago, he is well on his way to talking. But, like any two year old, what he hears and what we hear when he speaks are two very different things. To aid those of you who may have the opportunity to converse with Weston during this phase, I have prepared a lexicon of his more frequently used words and a translation of what they mean:

"Speed!" = I want to watch Disney's "Cars"
"Nana" = I want a banana
"Bite" = I want a bite of what you're eating
"Mon" = Come on/come here
"Up!" = Hold me/Pick me up
"Wah-ee" = I want a drink (water)
"Milt" = I want some milk
"Soos" = Please put my shoes on so I can go outside
"Side" = Let's go outside
"Off" = Turn something off or on
"Bye" (while waving his hand at you) = Go away so I can get into something I'm not supposed to without you interrupting me.
"Peas" = Please
"boo-t" = Read me a book
"All dun" = Stop tickling me/I'm done eating
"Run!" = Run crazy fast while holding me in your arms
"Daifer" = Somebody please change this wet diaper!
"sil-al" = I want some cereal
"Yeah" = Yes/You finally got what I've been trying to say