Wilder in 2014, week 2*

i've been wanting to take weekly portraits of wilder, and the beginning of a new year is a good time to start.

can you believe this baby is 9 months old today? he is crawling and standing and "talking" all day long like he's going to be a toddler any minute now. naturally, he is just getting better and better. i really can't love those little dimples enough. i know i keep saying it, but this is all going by so (too) fast. can someone please stop time for me?

my favorite thing lately is when he lays his head on my shoulder just before and just after naps and bedtime. also, the way he says "mama" even if he doesn't really know what he's saying. it's the sweetest thing in the world.

*since i didn't post a photo for week 1 last week, i'll probably do a retroactive post for it. hope that doesn't disturb you too much. ;)

6 months, hit with precision!

wilder hit the 6 month mark with precision today! can you believe it? i wasn't sure he was going to make it on time, and then, wham! 6 months! boom. it's shocking how prompt these babies are with their getting older.

it feels like i just had him about a second ago. so that means in, oh, five minutes, you can expect a tenth birthday announcement. i mean. can this baby really be already halfway to one whole year of living? how does the time go by so fast?

so, i get these weekly emails about my baby's current development. today in my inbox: "6 months: week 1." and sometimes i don't want to read them and find out all the things that are developing and what i should be doing with my baby now (baby signing, introducing solids, new toys and activities, sleep training, 6 month vaccines, teething, bathtime in the big tub, separation/stranger anxiety). sometimes i just want to pretend that he's still 3 months. just for a little while longer. because does he really need to start sitting up and crawling around and eating with a spoon? can't he stay a newborn whose biggest milestone is lifting his head up in tummy time? it's just—it's all so fast.

and also, this week is a bit hard because of all those above things, which means very little sleep happening around here. for everyone.

and i might be a little bit cranky about it. i quite enjoyed this article the other day about parenthood. i'm trying to carpe diem, because you should, you know. and i am. but sometimes each diem feels like a mini lifetime (of no sleep and lots of caffeine and not enough time). and so sometimes, i can't make up my mind. am i loving this time of life right now? do i want to go back? forward? maybe somewhere else entirely?

of course i am loving this time of life. of course i am. it's just the sleeplessness talking. i am also loving the thought of another day off. how about grownups get two birthdays a year? can we make that a rule?

dear six-month-old wilder baby,

you're mama loves you more than lots. more than lots and lots and lots. to the moon and back and all around the globe. i think you're the cutest, most amazing things that's ever happened ever. i especially love your trilling ticklish laughs, your gummy smile, the way you fold your lips in to munch on them, the dimples on your hands, your fuzzy baby hair, that sweet spot on your neck that's perfect for kissing,  and the way you stare. i love you, and i can't wait for six more months with you. now please go to sleep.

here is my heart,
kisses,

your mama.

two months old already, someone please stop the clock

this weekend was a momentous, but strangely uneventful weekend. or maybe it just seemed that way because the ratio of things to-do to things done is horribly huge and undiminishing. and apparently undiminishing isn't a real word. we tried to do some things (i think?), but the weekend always goes by too fast, and then you're still left with a huge long list of things that didn't get done. and oh, maybe half a thing crossed off. however, of dates to mark, there were two big ones over here: loverboy and i's five-year anniversary was on friday and our baby boy turned two months on sunday. can you believe it? two whole months. that is nonsense.

i know it's total cheese balls and probably super boring for everyone else to hear, but i'm still in complete awe of this babe. i. just. can't. believe. he's. real. like, really. i can't believe it. whenever i go out with him, and people are looking at us (well, him really), i have this constant slight paranoia that they don't believe he's mine. i think it's because i don't believe it myself. he's just too wonderful. how is it possible? every time i look at him, i mean really look, i start to drool. seriously, this boy is yummy. last night as i was going to bed, i had to shine my phone light in his face as he was lying in his bassinet (i know, i know, mean mommy) just to make sure he was still there and still breathing. ever since he's started going to bed at 7 or 8 i really miss him by the time i go to bed around 11. it's like a missing limb or something. but in a non-creepy kind of way;)

and so, to commemorate the two month mark, Wilder got his first shot today. yay:/ of course it was horrible, but he was a total champ and didn't cry as much as i thought he would.

i promise i'm not going to give you a laundry list of everything he's thinking, doing, eating and pooping, because i know you'd probably toss your computer across the room, BUT this one thing you'll want to know — over the past couple of weeks he's been super smiley. it's the darned cutest thing you've ever laid eyes on. just so you know. see, told you it was important. but he also totally knows my phone is a camera and is trying to steal his soul, and so i don't have much proof of his smiles. so here's another look that i still can't get enough of:

dear Wiley Bear, please stop growing up so fast.
love,
your mama