Saturday, May 31, 2008

Troublemaker

Today Wyatt was in full effect. This morning I put him in his playroom with the gate up so that I could take care of some chores. Actually, my "chores" involved sweeping and vacuuming up broken glass. The broken glass was a direct result of Wyatt picking up Noelle's food bowl and dropping it on the tile. Needless to say, Noelle needs a food bowl now.....

So anyway, Wyatt was playing nicely in his playroom, which is no small feat. It took forever for him to be able to play nicely by himself. And then I heard the bang. I ran into the room to discover his toy shelf completely knocked over onto the ground and my son standing behind it smiling. Happy that he was okay, I took inventory of the room which he had DESTROYED in no less than 10 minutes. He had opened up the wipes case and there were diaper wipes strewn about the floor. His toys were everywhere. But he had a huge smile on his face, so I couldn't be too mad. Plus, it's Daddy's chore to clean the playroom!

After I let him out I went back to vacuuming. After I turned the vacuum off I noticed a slight "swishing" coming from the kitchen. I walked in and saw that Wyatt had found a bag of kool aid points (yes, kool aid points - my husband used to drink kool aid obsessively and won't let go of the points even though you can no longer redeem them) all over the floor. And Wyatt in all his glory was smiling and skating across them. He wasn't very happy when I started to clean them up, but once I took out the broom he was very happy. Wyatt loves to sweep!

At this point, it was about nap time so I laid him down. Exhausted from his morning activities, he slept for three hours (and I napped too)! Later on in the day Wyatt's friend Tyler came over and played and they both seemed to have a lot of fun, which is good because these boys are gonna be stuck together a lot! Tyler's Mommy and Daddy are our good friends Pete and Shannon, and now that the boys are both one (well, Tyler will be in a few weeks) they can actually play and have fun. Shannon and I are hoping that it will be nice enough to take the boys to the waterpark tomorrow and I know that they will have a blast!

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

Wyatt and his Big Cousin!

Like I said in the post about Mother's Day, Wyatt is starting to have a lot of fun playing with Colin. The day that we took him to see Piper, the boys went outside and were running around all over the place! They played soccer and then came inside and played with John Deere trucks.

Brian told Colin that there is a picture of him that Wyatt always picks up. It's one of Wyatt's favorites because it has Daddy in it and Colin as well. He carries it around and I'm pretty sure we're a few weeks away from some form of "Colin" to come out of Wyatt's mouth because he loves his big cousin. When we told Colin how much his little cousin loves his picture his face got bright red and he said "Aw shucks!" It was so cute.

Here's a picture of the boys hanging out last week!
John Deere trucks bring boys together. And yes, that's another yellow lab!

Baby Cousin Piper!

I've been waiting for Allison to put up some pictures of Piper Leigh before I put up one of her too (didn't want to steal her Mommy's thunder)! Wyatt's baby cousin was born last Monday and she is PRECIOUS! Wyatt met her last Wednesday before they went home. He just kind of stared at her, but I think he knew she was a baby because I point babies out to him EVERYWHERE. We're so excited to have Piper in the family!


Piper wasn't thrilled to leave her Daddy, but Wyatt tried to calm her down! On a side note - how cute does my husband look holding two kids? :)
Aw!
"So, that's what these look like up close and personal?"Piper with her Mommy and her eyes open. Piper looks like her big brother did, but she has her Mommy's eyes I think. As is always the case with the Bakers there is a Lab in the background!

Monday, May 26, 2008

Sleepy Boys

This weekend Wyatt and Mommy hung out a lot. Daddy is officially working at least six days a week which is depressing....

On Friday we went with my Mom to see my Grandmother at the "home." Wyatt's Aunt Allison pointed out last week that when he says "Bye" it comes out as "Die." I'd never noticed it before, but it was a little awkward when my kid was waving at all the old folks as we were leaving the home waving and saying "Die. Die." Later on that day I took Wyatt to get his pictures taken and was pleasantly surprised when Daddy showed up for the pictures. I was so excited he came because Wyatt loves his Daddy so much and I knew he'd smile more. Plus, I would never have been able to keep up with him throughout the session so it's a good thing that Brian came. His pictures turned out really well!

On Sunday Wyatt and I did some shopping at Babies R Us because we had a 10% of coupon for the baby monitor for Baby Girl and a $10 gift card. Then we went to Pier 1 and Bed Bath & Beyond (the number of gift cards that I had left from our wedding was getting to me) and stopped at Petsmart so Wyatt could see the doggies and fish. I then felt guilty for having him in his stroller for two hours, so we went to my Mom and Dad's house so that he could run around outside. Wyatt fell asleep in the car on the 7 minute ride home, and we were surprised to find Brian home when we got here. I put Wyatt down to say hi to Daddy and this is what happened....



Sunday, May 25, 2008

My Kid!

Here's a picture of Wyatt from Mother's Day (wearing Colin's hat)!


Wyatt, Get in Your Crate!

My parents have a puppy (well, she's older than Wyatt, but she's still a puppy) named Bella. When Wyatt is over at their house he loves to play with her, and she loves to play with him. They play soccer together and run around in the backyard. He's developed a bit of a habit of climbing in her crate either with her or on his own. We're all very careful about Wyatt's treatment of dogs, mainly for his safety but also because we all think teaching him to respect animals is important. Here are a few pictures of Wyatt having "crate time."

Climbing in for some crate time

Sitting with Bella
They're best buddies

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Baby Girl Update!

This morning I had a Doctor's Appointment for the Baby Girl. I am measuring right at 25 weeks and her heartbeat was strong and perfect this morning. Now that I'm at 25 weeks along I need to go for that nasty glucose test, and it's time to get us registered at the hospital. The Doctor said today that at my next appointment in mid June we'll go ahead and schedule my C Section, so we'll hopefully have her due date! I need to have it taken care of too because today I called to schedule Wyatt's 15 month well baby check up with the Pediatrician and they wanted to schedule him for August 25th! I told the receptionist that it was a little late seeing as how he'll be almost 17 months old and I might be in labor that day! Fortunately they had an available appoinment on the 14th so we got him in, he'll still be well over 16 months old but I waited until mid May to call and schedule it like they told me too.

Anyway, now Wyatt's off to Grammy and Grandpa's for a little bit so that I can go see his baby cousin at the hospital!

Sunday, May 18, 2008

Our Weekend....

Wyatt and I had a pretty interesting weekend (well, in his eyes it was pretty interesting anyway). On Friday I watched another baby who is six months old. I was interested to see how Wyatt would react to me holding and taking care of another baby, and he really impressed me! He was very eager to make Payton laugh and put on a show. He was constantly making faces or running up to him laughing. Only occasionally did he get jealous while I was holding Payton. Then he would just walk up and lift his arms up so I could pull him on my lap too. At the end of the day I think we were both pretty tired though!

On Saturday, Wyatt and I got a preview of what our summer will be like. The waterpark opened, so Daddy was gone most of the day. We went garage saling in my parents neighborhood looking for some baby stuff that we wanted two of - like an extra swing for upstairs for $10. I almost bought a Christmas Tree, but I decided we don't need another fake one. We have a fake "Yankee Tree" in the "Yankee Room," but we like to have at least one real tree in the Family Room. We also ran a few errands and came home for nap time. And this summer, I fully anticipate it to be nap time for Mommy and Wyatt. I think we're both in better moods if we get a little nap! We were going to go visit Brian at work, but I was an idiot and locked my keys in the house. My Mom came and got us so we hung out at her house until Brian came home from work (early I might add....he really is getting better about coming home to see the little fella, and me too I guess!). Wyatt's face lights up when he sees his Daddy. I'm starting to get a little jealous because he always asks "Where Daddy?," "Is that Daddy?," etc. and the kid still doesn't ask where I am, or even say my name!

Today we ran more errands while Brian was at work and went to the park to play. Wyatt basically was just interested in picking up sticks. Even the swings hold no charms for him anymore. Just picking up sticks! He came home and took a nap (none for me today unfortunately), and then we went to see Brian at work. Wyatt walked into that office and for the first time I noticed like 25 things that he could get into. Things that have always been in Brian's office that I just never paid any attention to. A phone cord that just hangs off the desk, electrical outlets with no covers, and a cool Nerf sword (which is really harmless). Wyatt had a blast playing in Daddy's office, and he even got to give Noelle another cookie. Then we got to walk around outside so Wyatt could look at all the cool waterpark stuff. I can't wait for him to be able to play in the kiddie section when it gets warmer, I think he'll have a lot of fun.

I have to work tomorrow because our schedules were a little tricky this week. I have a Doctor's appointment on Tuesday and needed the day off, so it works out well. Not much else going on with us this week, but we are looking forward to the arrival of our new niece and baby cousin (hopefully) tomorrow!

Friday, May 16, 2008

Busy Week!

The last few days have been a little crazy around here. I've been working my regular days, but I have been exhausted when I get home at night. And I'm not going to lie, I've probably been a little grumpy too! I love to spend time with my little guy, but I'm used to having Daddy at home by 6 - and with the waterpark opening tomorrow and all the last minute little things, we've been lucky if Daddy's gotten home before Wyatt goes to bed. I don't know why, but by the end of the day my legs and backside feel like I've done about a million squats during the day. And let's just say that I have been doing no squats. I would be fine if the pain was actually getting me some sort of result like an actual workout, but it's not, and I'm finding it difficult to stand up or even comfortably sit at night.

On top of my already sour mood, I was trying to help Brian do some yard work the other night when we had a bit of a malfunction. Our patio furniture was knocked down during the Mother's Day Monsoon and I was trying to pick up a chair when some sort of chain reaction happened that resulted in the table top glass shattering into like a gazillion pieces. It's bad enough that it broke, but now we have to take Noelle out on a leash at all times because there's still a chance glass could be somewhere, and we're not 100% sure that some glass didn't get in the pool. So that's going to require some extra vacuuming over the next few weeks to make sure that it's out.

On a rather exciting note, Wyatt has started to say more new words than ever before. Anything green and leafy is a "tee," which is tree. He knows that Ducks say "cack, cack, cack," and that a doggie says "Woof." Yesterday he said "Noelle" really well when he pointed at a picture of her, although it did come out sounding a little country, but very cute. Now if only he would say "Momma" at some time other than than when he's crying....

He's also started giving Noelle cookies which makes them both really happy. She's warming up to her little brother now. Hopefully Wyatt follows her example when his little sister comes!

Monday, May 12, 2008

Mother's Day!

I had a really great Mother's Day, mostly thanks to my super husband since my little one isn't big enough to come up with anything....yet :). Brian let me "sleep in" which means that I woke up on my own at 7:30 rather than waking up to hearing Wyatt talking to himself through the monitor ("Ere's Daddy? Ere's Ducks?"). I was still under explicit orders NOT to come downstairs until Brian came to get me so I laid in bed and watched "Costas Now" on HBO. Yes, when my husband is away I still watch sports on TV. Lucky Guy.

Brian came upstairs and told me to close my eyes and not to touch anything. I could feel him putting something on my stomach, but I went along with it. When I opened my eyes he'd spelled out "I love you Mommy" on my stomach in pink glitter stickers. What a perfect gift from our little nameless girl! Wyatt came running in the room in a "My Mom Rocks" T-shirt, exploring everything while Brian brought me breakfast in bed (cinnamon rolls...yum!) on a tray.

When I came downstairs I got my cards. Never one to let me down, my reliable husband gave me not one, but two Mother's Day monkey cards. Brian firmly believes that you just can't go wrong with monkeys. Typically Noelle gives me the monkey card, but he was lucky enough to find one for Wyatt to give me as well. Or rather, I was lucky enough that he found one. It's kind of funny, but nothing makes me happier than watching my husband get excited while I open monkey cards. They always make him laugh. I got a picture frame that I've been wanting for a LONG time (now the dilemma...fill it up now before the baby comes and it has no pictures of her, or wait?), and the book Why a Daughter Needs a Mom. Brian and I both have our respective books in reference to why Wyatt needs each of us and we like them a lot.

We spent Saturday with my Mom and family, and yesterday we went over to Brian's parents and spent the day there. The food was great, I think I had a second helping of everything (including Snickers Pie...yum!), and Wyatt had a lot of fun playing with his big cousin Colin. I think Wyatt is starting to get to an age where Colin is having fun with him too, they played very nicely together. I can tell that Colin is getting ready for his Baby Sister to come next week because he was also very helpful with Wyatt. Allison and I were saying yesterday that it's going to be crazy when both the baby girls are here because we literally went from Colin alone for almost 3 years, to adding Wyatt and two more babies in about a year and a half. We're definitely going to have even more fun in the next few years with all the kids playing!

With the exception of the monsoon I drove in on the way home, it was a great day! And today I found out that Wyatt knows a word I've never taught him. I was cutting up a banana for his snack and he started saying "Nana, nana, nana, nana!" I'm going to have to investigate where he learned that!

Saturday, May 10, 2008

Wyatt the "Artiste"

For Wyatt's first birthday my Mom and Dad got him a little picnic table that he could sit at, and he also got some of those new Crayola markers for babies to hold with a drawing pad. On Monday it was so nice outside that I decided to set up Wyatt's picnic table on the patio so that he could color. He did a very good job (if I helped him hold the marker), but he got the marker all over the place. The very good thing is that they are 100% washable - they came off his hands, the carpet (so I accidentally dropped one, and they don't have lids - but that would be another good recommendation I have - Spot Shot for carpets), and the picnic table. I think they're great to help him learn and he seemed to have a blast!


Holding the green marker and coloring

Taking a break to watch the ducks

And taking a break to watch the jets fly over the house

Wyatt's friends. I have named them Sarah and George. After this picture was taken George assaulted Sarah...if you know what I mean.

Wednesday, May 7, 2008

We Missed our Little Fella!

Brian and I had to leave Wyatt alone at some point (I'm going to be in the hospital at least 3 nights when the new baby comes), but we missed him so much! We had a lot of fun on our trip but we still couldn't wait to pick Wyatt up from my parents. We took him to the zoo as soon as we got him. He had a blast. He's not one to be a grump (usually he's not anyway....the last few days he's been a little off), but he can be very serious. When he plays with his toys he gets very focused on what he's doing and concentrates very hard. At the zoo he was in a serious mood. We could tell that he was enjoying himself, but he was almost so busy trying to figure out what all the animals were and why they looked different that he wasn't smiling much.

Daddy decided to take Wyatt out of his stroller and let him run around, and he was all over the place! We kept trying to get him to focus on the animals. He's really into ducks and kept calling the geese "ducks." We tried to tell him that they were geese, and it sounded at one point like he said "s a goose?" which in Wyatt speak translates to "What's a goose?." He's picking up now on "what" and "where" and he'll say little things like "s that?" or "ere's Daddy?," but he's not that consistent with it. He only uses them in select little phrases like that.



Very seriously staring at the tigers
With Daddy
With Mommy
Oooooooh
Playing in the water

He spent the rest of the week hanging out with his Grandmothers while we were at work. Something especially exciting happened at my parents' house this week. They had a HUGE oak tree in their backyard that had gotten some sort of disease that caused it to rot and it needed to be cut down. The company came to cut it down on Wednesday while he was over there, and he had a blast watching it get cut down!
Wyatt playing on the oak's stump after it got cut down!

Monday, May 5, 2008

Yankee Stadium - Day 2

Friday night was a blast at Yankee Stadium and we had a great time, but by the time we got back to the hotel we were wiped out - it had been a long day! We were able to get some rest and get ready early because we had to get going around 10:30 to be back at Yankee Stadium two hours before game time again.

This time there was a bit of a glitch in the subway travel. We got on the A train and they said it was an express making all the stops, so we stayed on instead of getting off to catch the D train. So, we got off at what we thought was the right stop...and ended up in Harlem! We walked a few blocks because we weren't sure exactly where we were, but then ended up hopping back on the A to catch the D and ended up back at Yankee Stadium. We did a little shopping outside of the stadium and got Wyatt a new, bigger sized Jeter shirt and the baby girl a pink "My First Yankee's T shirt." I got a "Joba Rules" T shirt that I wanted (although I did almost get a pink Jeter shirt - but I already have one). The lady kept trying to tell me that the shirts were kid sizes when I asked for a medium. So I finally had to say "Look, I'm usually not this big! The medium will fit me fine after I have her!" It was kind of like that Yoplait commercial where the lady wants her stuff taken in, but the tailor keeps thinking she wants it let out...but the opposite.

We made our way over to the stadium, a little later than we wanted to because of the shopping and the Harlem excursion. Our seats were farther down the first base line on Saturday, but they were still great. We were right in front of the players while they warmed up and stretched, and then Johnny Damon came and signed autographs in our section. Brian is an "autograph professional" thanks to his many trips to Spring Training, so he was able to get Damon's autograph, which was awesome! We were pleased to see that both and and Robinson Cano were in the line up for the game.

Mike Mussina was the starting pitcher on Saturday and he pitched a really good game. He's had a few ups and downs, but he was great on Saturday. The team also did well offensively, with a final score of 6-1. Jeter, Cabrera and Damon all hit doubles, with Damon hitting doubles twice. Damon hit a 2 run home run as well, which was the first (and last) home run that we saw at Yankee Stadium. It was a little sunny out, which was good. We got lucky because it was chilly both days, but the forecast called for rain as well, and we never got any.

I'm not going to lie to you, the three most annoying women on the planet were sitting behind us during the game. There were about a dozen times that I almost turned around to tell them to shut up. One lady in particular kept saying "Why are there 2 retired number 8's?" (Because they didn't retire it immediately after Bill Dickey wore it and then Yogi Berra wore it...it was retired twice in 1972), or "This guy's batting average is .153, I bet he's the pitcher" (No you dope, it's the American League, pitchers don't bat. They have a Designated Hitter). And then they kept talking about their personal lives...seriously, not the place. Go out to lunch, not the ballgame. And what irritated me the most was that one of those ladies knew the answers, but she just kept letting the other one talk and talk and talk and talk! I was jealous because Brian can block anything out, so they didn't bother him! They didn't ruin the game, I just wanted to punch them in the face.  (Sorry, crazy pregnancy hormones).

After the game we made our way back to hotel and got on the road and drove home. It was late when we got back, so Brian and I didn't get to pick Wyatt up until Sunday. My parents had gone to church and taken Wyatt with them, so we didn't get him until 1 and it felt like forever until we saw him! We took him to the zoo and out for ice cream, so look for those pictures soon!



Brian and I
The back of Brian's head and Johnny Damon...getting his autograph
Jeter, Damon and Giambi
Moooooooose!
The Stadium!

Damon rounding third after his home run!


Damon and Cabrera after Damon's home run

Jeter avoiding getting picked off. 



The team after the game
US!


Sunday, May 4, 2008

Yankee Stadium - Day 1

This weekend Brian and I took a major step on the path of parenthood...and left our baby for two whole days. He was left in the completely capable hands of my parents for the weekend so we could get out of dodge, and he actually seemed to have a great time.

We have always wanted to go to a Yankees game at Yankee Stadium, but we've never been able to go. Not even Brian, who has gone to more Spring Training games than I can count, has ever been to a game at Yankee Stadium. He's seen them play at Legends Field in Tampa for Spring Training and he's seen them play the Orioles at Camden Yards, but not on their real home turf. Since it's their last season at the Stadium before the new one opens next year, we knew we had to go now.

On Friday morning I dropped my little fella off, and then we hit the road with Brian's parents to go the game. We got to New York around 3:30, but wanted to be at the stadium by 5 when they opened the gates for fans to come in. So we dropped of the bags and got subway directions to the game. So we took the A to the D to the B (I know, I'm so cool with my subway lingo) and ended up at 161st Street - the Yankee Stadium stop!

We went to the first gate we could find and went in the stadium, and immediately got ushered into Monument Park. It was actually a lucky break because we would have had to look for it, but we stumbled right on top of it. So we made our way through Monument Park and saw all the retired numbers and the monuments of the Yankee Greats. The part of Monument Park with the retired numbers is below the Visitors' bull pen and while we were down there Mel Stottlemyre, the former Yankees pitching coach walked in with his pitching staff for the Mariners, which was pretty neat.

Then we went to the gift shop and got Brian a sweatshirt (someone forgot to pack it for him), and went to our sits behind the Yankees dugout. Brian was able to get us GREAT seats for the game, it was a blast! We were a little concerned going in because A-Rod and Jorge Posada are both on the Disabled List, and then we saw that Robinson Cano and Johnny Damon were not in the line up once we got there. Nevertheless, it was an awesome game and the Yankees won! Chien Ming Wang pitched a great game, and after a shockingly good inning of pitching by Karl Farnsworth (let's just he's typically not...good), we got to see Joba Chamberlain and Mariano Rivera close the game.

The coolest part of Yankee Stadium is being in the stadium where Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Joe Dimaggio, Mickey Mantle, etc. all played. There's so much history there and it's a shame that they won't be playing there after this season. I've personally only been to Turner Field before, and while it's nice and relatively new and beautiful, it just doesn't even compare! Anyway, here's a few pictures from the game on Friday.


Monument Park


Me at Monument Park

Brian with Mickey Mantle:)

Brian and I at Yankee Stadium

The view from our seats!

Joba rules!

Derek!

Ichiro stealing a base (Boo!)

Rivera closing the game!

Brian and I at our seats!