Wilder's April 2016

Wilder looking at the Eiffel Tower

I'm a bit behind on this post. We just got back from Paris last night with our family. I'll be blogging about the trip over at http://throughabbyslens.blogspot.com!

We have had so much fun with Wilder this month. He talks so much and it's fascinating to have insight into what he's thinking. He's over-enunciating a lot right now, it's so cute. 

Wilder really likes to spend time with us, and we enjoy that. He likes to play with his toys trains, cars and planes, read books morning and night, search for the moon in the sky and negotiate for iPad and pouches. 

On our trip, it was interesting because he really took to our borrowed things. The flat was owned by a family with several children, and he loved going in "his room" and playing toys. He really liked the stroller we borrowed and would ask to get in and go for a walk every day. And he liked taking Uber--he would ask to go for a ride in the minivan 😂. Watching him take in Paris and narrate what he saw was so fun. He was enthralled with the Eiffel Tower and going under tunnels and bridges. He went from being scared of pigeons to chasing the birds after he saw other kids doing it, and he had a good time playing with our French friends' little boys. That was really neat to see. He was really really adaptable, which surprised us a little bit.

Other things from this month... He told me I'm the best mom in the world! And he loves his family--he always wants to know where everyone is and wants us to play with him and read to him. It's a really special age, and Zach and I are soaking it up.

I didn't take any photos with my big camera / edits with Lightroom like I usually do, but I did take some with my fujifilm xt-1 and edited on my phone :-) here are some from around Paris!

Airport

Chasing pigeons

Playing with his French friend Maxime

Train ride!

Loving the train

Versailles

Checking out the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles

Awe

Looking at the Eiffel Tower

Looking at the Eiffel Tower lit up!

Eleven Months Old

11 months old

I wrote this post on Wilder’s 11 month birthday while we were in Italy, but I waited to post it until we took the monthly photo. I’m trying to come to grips with my baby turning one in November. It’s coming on too quickly!

This month I’m seeing Wilder mature into a little boy. He’s a crawler, he’s starting to pull himself up and he has so much personality. He’s a bit cautious and precise in his movements, but he laughs easily and it doesn’t take much to make him smile. He loves interacting with people, petting Pierre, smacking things to make noise and throwing balls. He eats just about everything (except tomatoes and eggs) and loves blowing bubbles in water. Our little boy is the joy of our life, and we’re so happy to spend this time watching him grow.

This month, Wilder:

• Stats—I don’t know how much he weighs or how tall he is. He doesn’t have a pediatrician appointment this month, and we don’t have a scale around. He’s a bit small for 12 month old clothes and too big for 9 month old clothes.
• Wilder says “Hey” when you come in his room after a nap or when you bring him into a room where people are. He says ohlohlohl a lot too. His big thing this month is nodding “yes” and shaking his head “no.”
• He crawls really fast now and can pull himself into a standing position. He’s even started trying to climb up stairs. he’s stood without holding onto anything for a few seconds, but hasn’t started cruising. He’s super careful to sit down deliberately after he’s stood for a while.
• Wilder eats three meals a day with the occasional afternoon snack. He loves cutie oranges, peaches, pears and strawberries. He can feed himself yogurt and soup somewhat with a spoon as well as his other foods. He drinks water like a camel from his cup and blows bubbles in water and yogurt. On our trip to Europe, he’s tried: croissants, pastries, foi gras, pate, gnocchi, gelato (just a smidge), all kinds of pasta, prosciutto…
• Wilder sleeps through the night most of the time. In Europe, he would often wake up when we went to bed because he heard us come in the room, but when he slept in a separate room he slept all night. He takes two naps a day.
• Reading is by far Wilder’s favorite activity. We read him about 20 books a day… or like 4 books, 5 times a day. He is content to sit and be read to for many many minutes at a time. If he’s fussy, pull out a book and he will laugh and clap his hands as he turns pages on cue. His favorites right now are: Huggy Kissy, Brown Bear Brown Bear, Sophie the Giraffe books and a couple of bath books I got at the dollar store. I will always remember reading Huggy Kissy literally 20 times in a row nonstop while traveling on planes, trains and automobiles in Europe.
• He recognizes people and pets, and he will look at the correct person/pet if you ask him “Where’s Mimi?” “Where’s Pierre?” etc. He’ll also wave “bye bye.”
• He got two more teeth on our trip--both on top! That makes 8 teeth in all--three all this last month. Yikes!

Here are some more photos!

This is his fish face. He'll do it if you do it to him too!

Four Months Old

Four Months Old

Today we are headed to Florida to visit family. This is Wilder's first plane ride! He's such a joy to be with--everything is interesting and entertaining to him. He has such a sweet heart so far!

This month, Wilder:

• Weights 14 pounds and is 24.75 inches long.
• Rolled over from back to front
• Prefers to sleep on his side
• Takes naps in his pack n play--no more naps in the swing. He gets to be in his big boy crib when we get back!
• Baby talks, laughs, squawks, screeches--you name it. He is constantly trying to communicate with everyone.
• He felt grass for the first time and LOVED it. This kid loves being outside.
• Has gotten awesome at tummy time
• Tries to walk when you hold him upright
• Reaches out to hug his family
• Tries to pet the cats and dog
• Turns pages in his books
• Puts many things in his mouth
• Alternates between waking up 3x a night and sleeping through the night. Can't be too predictable Mom!

Here are some more photos!

Topkapi Palace and TILE!

I have written this post twice -- the last time while I was in labor -- and Blogger ATE the post with all 60+ photos both times! Here's hoping this works because these are some of my favorite photos from Istanbul.

After a leisurely breakfast at our hotel (Stayed up way too late thanks to Turkish coffee) we made the short walk to Topkapi Palace. It took a while to get through the gates, and to get an audio guide you need cash. Once in the palace, we were overwhelmed with the beauty!

Soldier playing with a stray dog

Istanbul kitteh

Entrance to Topkapi Palace

Beautiful typography

So ornate

Even the ceilings were impressive

We had lunch within the palace with a gorgeous view!

View of the Bosphorus Strait from our lunch table

Enjoying lunch

My traveling partner

spices for lunch

our lunch mate

the waiter--so dapper!

walkway in the harem

Courtyard of the harem

Some of the things in the palace are more than 1,000 years old. We even saw one of the world's largest diamonds -- the Spoonmaker's Diamond.

More than anything, I loved the tile in Istanbul, and especially Topkapi Palace. Here is a collage of my favorite patterns.

Evening view from our hotel of the Bosphorus

 We spent more than 4 hours in Topkapi Palace. After resting up, we went to a wonderful restaurant near our hotel in Sultanahmet Square called Palatium. We had good food--the best of our trip--and wine, and the atmosphere was really special. You can sit at tables, or on poufs on the rug smoking hookah. We also had baklava and ice cream--AMAZING.

Our waiter showed us what lay beneath the restaurant. There was plexiglass to show ruins below. We went down there and saw remnants of tunnels and rooms built by Romans 1,700 years ago! These rooms linked to the Sultan's quarters in Topkapi Palace.

love the pattern

We admired Turkish chandeliers the previous day at the bazaars. I figured I would just buy one when I got home, but the prices were much much higher for smaller chandeliers. We stopped in a shop and found the perfect chandelier, but didn't know how we'd get it home. The shop owners quickly offered to bubble wrap our purchase and they did a great job--served us tea while they did it too! We lovelovelove this chandelier. We need to fix the electrical connections before we can put it in our home, but we can't wait to put it up!

our chandelier!

Lamp in the restaurant

enjoying dinner

My fish. So good!

Zach's lamb

bread and hummus

baklava and ice cream

delicious tea

 So ended our third day in Istanbul!