7 months...

I know I know...I suck at his blogging thing. In fact you've probably all stopped checking back for updates! Anyhow for those of you loyal followers I will give you an overall synopsis of the last few weeks. I am officially calling last Monday August 23rd Wes's first day of officially sitting up on his own. He has been doing it here and there, but as of Monday I felt comfortable plopping him down and walking away! He continues to rock and roll on his knees but is not really making any forward progress...don't get me wrong he gets where he needs to go but its more of a commando stealth version of transportation. He's definitely got the reverse army crawl down, and those rolling skills are coming in mighty handy. His little fingers make quite the vice grip and now he can hold onto a blanket and roll himself up in it like a little burrito! Time is moving at the speed of light and I really need it to SLOW down just a bit. We have another Children's appointment tomorrow to check up on the belly issues...however it seems to have evolved into more of an exorcist like scene, and the spit up is just shooting out of him. On the topic of eating...or spit up, it seems all the same to me at this point...Wes is actually feeding himself now. He picks up puffs and attempts to bring them to his mouth, no super successful with the little bits, but give him a wagon wheel and he's a pro. My little burger boy doesn't mess around either, he just takes full on bites out of those teething biscuits...gone within minutes they don't stand a chance! Oh and the last comment gave you a clue about his Halloween costume...first one to guess wins!

xoxo
Erin

Love those wagon wheels...

Obnoxious park photo shoot that Mommy put me through...

At the beach house with Auntie Amy...

Dada...

Yep he said it..."Dada." The rational side of me is so happy. Developmentally he should be making that sound and babbling it over and over again. The hormonal mother side of me is livid! Not only was Dada his first intelligible word, but of course he did it in 1 of 10 hours a week I am not with him. There was a mere 158 other hours in the week he could have chosen to utter his first "word." I too was a skeptic. I thought Ryan was just being silly, no way did he say something intelligible, but I heard it myself. He actually did it on command multiple times! Of course now he thinks he's cool and all I've heard all night is "Dada, Dada, Dada..."


xoxo
Erin

Did I mention....

Wes has teeth! It happened a few weeks back, but I have been incredibly lacking in the blog department! He has 2 little chompers right on the bottom and he looks like a little woodchuck! He officially cut his first tooth on July 16...of course while Mommy was away! What a champ though...you wouldn't even know anything was happening, no crabby patty here! He has also started transitioning from the "crawl" position to his bottom and is sitting semi independently. He does pretty well for a few seconds and then in slow motion he starts to tip over! Occasionally he catches himself and will hold himself up...but we are getting there! He continues to work on the crawling, he's getting braver and takes at least 10 face plants a day. Its still rainy season here...we had a little hiatus while Wes was adjusting to the new medication, but we are back to full on monsoon except now its green or orange depending on what was for lunch! And speaking of food he actually spit out his green beans today...full on raspberry style....I never thought I'd see the day that my little burger boy refused food! There is always something new to share I could go on for hours....

xoxo
Erin

PS... congrats to Auntie Nikki on a job well done at the falmouth road race...7 miles in mid august! What an accomplishment!  Also an accomplishment that among 11,000 runners she managed to track down and hug Cape Cod Chris from the Bachelor!

Home Sweet Home

Well we made it! We are home from our road trip and enjoying every minute of CT...aka couch time. Wes did WONDERFUL! He stayed right on schedule and made the trip as enjoyable as 16 hours in a car can be! We traveled through 6 states, logging about 2000 miles, in just under 4 days! It was quite a trek, but well worth it to attend the 70th Sommers Family and Friends reunion...yep you read it right, 70 years...consecutively. Every year on the first Saturday in August, 5 generations of Sommers converge on Indiana, Michigan, and even a few times in Texas to eat, drink, and catch upon all the happenings throughout the year. Its quite a feat, and it seems to run like a well oiled machine. Starting on Friday the campers start to roll in, tents start to pop, and kegs get tapped. The greetings begin and even the most distant relative is immediately welcomed with open arms. As Friday rolls into Saturday the tables are filled with every food imaginable...fried chicken, mashed potatoes, noodles and gravy, taco salad, pasta salad, hams, frog legs (yep I'm serious), fried fish, sweet corn, and on and on. As our bellies are filled the meeting starts....families are welcomed and introduced, accomplishments are celebrated, and prayers are said for those who have passed. As evening rolls in, the party slowly shifts and circles around the giant bonfire, toasts were made, kids ran through the dark playing hide and seek in the corn fields, and babies quietly drifted off to sleep. All around the fire stories were told... ones that have been told many times before but only get better with age. As the stragglers finally drifted off to bed, the fire died down, and before we knew it goodbyes began and the campers and cars started to roll out headed back to the eight states this family represents.

This was my first reunion as a spouse, and its amazing how welcome I felt right from the start. Its a simple concept, a family that meets one weekend a year. But there is nothing simple about this tradition. Ryan has so many wonderful memories of his reunion days and I hope someday my children have those same memories...

xoxo

Erin

Family Photo...each color represents a different generation 

The beginning of a friendly rivalry...

Me and Nana P in the corn fields...

Indiana or Bust!

We have packed up and we're heading West! Me, Ryan, and Wes are making the 15 or so hour trek to Monticello, Indiana to attend Wes's first Sommers family reunion. We are leaving tonight and driving straight through...hopefully arriving by noon tomorrow. We are hoping Wes gets really comfortable in his car seat, or we are gonna be in big trouble! This weekend long bash is an annual event in the Sommers family (Ryan's Moms family) and Nana P is elated to be bringing Wes along! I'm hoping to find some rest stops that have wi fi to keep you all posted throughout our journey, I'm sure there will be no shortage of ridiculous stories to tell! Wish us luck...and maybe say a prayer or too....

xoxo
Erin

Light at the end of the tunnel...

Dr. Ben has given us the go ahead to try a new reflux medicine...and after 2 days things are looking up. So far we've had a few minor leaks, but so far so good! I'm hoping that we stay on the same path, but we've been here before. The first few days are great and then BAM we are back to square one! So keep your fingers crossed for us...because once we get this spit up under control Ryan says we can start thinking about a christening! What's the connection you ask? Ry is a bit afraid of Wes throwing up in the holy water...needless to say decision was made...no christening until the formula actually stays in his belly! We'll keep you posted! 

We are rocking a super cute cammo red sox hat that we scored from the Trops this weekend...check it out!