Sicky.

I am really power blogging today.
We've been a little behind in the Magnuson household the past few weeks. Wes has been sick for the first time in his almost one year of life.
When I got home from work a week ago, his eyes were oozing snotty looking stuff and I decided then it was time to go to the doctor. He had been running fever (very low grade, never over 100) for a few days, which I attributed to teething. But the eye ooze scared me, so off we went. It turned out that he had a double ear infection.
After a day of getting better, he took a turn for the worse on Saturday night. The oozing was back, along with the crankiness and fever. We went back to the doctor on Monday morning and got a prescription for another antibiotic. It turns out the Amoxocillin was not strong enough to kill the ear infection, and it was worse.
The poor little guy feels much better after a few days of his new antibiotic. Looking back, he had been cranky for about a week before we took him in to the doctor, so I'm sure he's been feeling bad for awhile. It's so hard to know when to take them in to the doctor at this age - on one hand you don't want to be that overprotective anxious mom that's in the doctor's office weekly, but you don't want your baby to hurt, either. It's hard to know!
I stayed home with him on Monday and he was very needy - he wanted to be held during his nap and sometimes he would just cry out to hug me. I'd pick him up and he would just collapse into my arms and love me. It was a great feeling to be able to give him some comfort!
I took a couple pictures of him so we could document his first illness. You can see Mr. Puffy Eyes well, but here's one that's pure Wes so you can tell he doesn't feel that bad.

Swimming...with an ear infection post to follow.

Check out Wes' pool. It is so cool and he absolutely loves it (even though he has to wear swim diapers with bows and the Little mermaid on them).
You hook a hose up to it and water squirts out of various little holes all over the pool. Wes loves getting squirted in the face and laughs hysterically and screams at the water. He is such a little fish!
We are starting a mom and baby water aerobics class next weekend and I'm so excited.

Wes' first trip to the Symphony!

The NC Symphony played a free concert in Southern Village a few weeks ago, and we all went to enjoy the music. They play outside on the lawn, which happened to be the perfect setting (it wasn't too terribly hot). We found a shady spot, spread out a few sheets, and had a great picnic supper - fried chicken tenders, chicken salad, potato salad, chips, melons...all the great summer stuff. The night was perfect, except for the crazy Chapel Hill people (who were quite possibly transplants from the North)who brought in their loads of crap at the last minute and crowded us, including a full salmon dinner for 10 and a rice cooker (!!). Who brings a rice cooker to a picnic?!
Anyhow, we had lots of fun, and Gina Riess joined us for a little while to enjoy the music. Wes made it through almost the whole concert, but we were only a block away, which made it very convenient when he decided he had had enough.


Wes reading the program


The crowd on the Green


Wes and Neil enjoying the picnic

Blueberry Muffin

Wes is loving eating with his hands these days. His favorites are chicken, potatoes, green peas, cheerios, watermelon...basically anything he can pick up and eat. He's been known to push the spoon that you're trying to feed him with out of the way - he wants to do it himself.
He loves the blueberry muffins at Weaver Street. So much that now we just get him his own when we go to get breakfast on the weekends. Mom and dad were in town a few weekends ago and we took his high chair out on the patio to enjoy the beautiful morning and eat our breakfast outside. Once I saw Wes tearing the muffin apart and getting blueberry all over the place, I had to get the camera out to take some pictures.

Curls, Teeth, and Funny Faces (an update)

It's been awhile since I've updated here! Things have been crazy around the house. Our living room is now the "Kiddie Corral" - we've rearranged the furniture, moved the valuables, and covered up cords with towels. Motherhood has definitely forced me to be a little less anal about how my house looks! Wes is into everything. He army-crawls over to whatever he's not allowed to get into and when you say, "No" he looks back, smiles, and keeps crawling. By the end of the day his knees and elbows are red and he's worn out (he's going to bed pretty easily these days!).
His hair is turning blonder by the day and curls up as soon as he steps outside into the humidity. I love it and am threatening to never cut it!
Everything is "Da. Da. Dada. Da-di." He loves saying Dada and usually reserves it for when Neil comes home from work (usually while wrapping Neil's tie around his head like Rambo).
A funny, but not so charming trait is his new "smile" for the camera. Whenever he hears the "beep-beep" of the camera, he grins with all teeth and closes his eyes. It's hilarious and impossible not to laugh. We'll have to break him of this before Kelly's wedding in August.
He's still not walking without help but he loves to cruise on the furniture. I'm sure once he realizes he can let go, there will be some falls (and some tears), but he'll figure it out quickly.


what a sweet face


the curls

the funny face

Motherhood in a sentence.

My friend Kim had her twins last week at 32 weeks. Henry and Ben are doing fine - they will be in the hospital for a few weeks, but they are sharing a bed and doing better every day. I just got an email from Kim with an update - they have been at the hospital literally every waking moment to spend time with their babies.

In her email I thought she summed up motherhood in a sentence (well really two sentences, but one thought):

Today is their one week birthday and it has been the longest week of my life. Filled with fear, helplessness and overwhelming joy.

That's it, isnt't it?!

I am so proud of Kim and her boys! Please keep them in your thoughts as the boys grow stronger and hopefully go home soon!

don't mess with texas....

We just got back from Wes' first trip to Texas! This brings his number of states visited to three (not bad for a 9 month old!)

Neil's best friend, Ryan, got married in Austin on Friday, May 16th. My mom and dad came along with Neil, Wes, and me for the trip. Neither of them had flown in over 12 years so this was a big trip! One of the most fun parts of the trip for me was watching my mom as the plane took off and landed. She was craning her neck to look out the window, and then would turn around and grin at us and say, "OH! I'm SO excited!!" All the while, my dad closed his eyes and waited for the whole thing to be over. We had a very smooth trip - Wes is a fantastic traveler/flyer. He sleeps on the plane and then is easily entertained by his toys, bottles, or cheerios.

Once we got to Austin, we went to Serrano's near our hotel for some fabulous Tex-Mex (fresh tortillas, quacamole, pico de gallo, etc. etc...SO GOOD.) Wes loved the tortillas!


After some much needed naptime (our flight was at 7am!) we went to the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. It was so great to see and meet Ryan and Gina's families! Ryan has a huge family (2 brothers and 3 sisters and the most wonderful parents) and I honestly feel like an adopted Riess sister when I'm with them! There were also lots of other kids around, so Wes definitely had plenty to look at and do.


(check out the view in this pic...very texas!)

We had a lot of fun at the rehearsal dinner, and when 9pm rolled around (central time), we couldn't believe that Wes was still awake!! He didn't make it through the video slideshow, however:


On Friday morning, we slept in, went to breakfast at the hotel, and then went exploring around the University of Texas! We didn't realize that it was graduation weekend, but thankfully, once we parked, we didn't get caught up in too much more traffic.

Everything in Austin is UT related:



We couldn't see in the football stadium, but I took this picture from the top floor of the parking deck:


Texas also has a ton of statues around campus. We posed with Wes at several, because they were just so fun (Chapel Hill definitely needs more statues)!






And, finally, the wedding!!
Ryan and Gina's wedding was beautiful. Wes and dad spent most of the time outside (Wes doesn't yet understand that it's not appropriate to talk out loud in church) and Neil was a fantastic groomsman. The bride was absolutely gorgeous, and Ryan could not hide his excitement. I am so happy for both of them and can't wait for them to get back from their honeymoon and move into our neighborhood!


Wes (check out the outfit) and Neil

The reception was at the One World Theatre, which overlooked a beautiful valley in Austin.



Ryan's sister Alyssa with Wes and Xander (Ryan's nephew)



Neil and Me with Mr. and Mrs. Riess!!

Again, Wes had a blast with the Riess family, Ryan's sisters, and all the kids We danced to a few songs but Mr. Wesley conked out early, so we called it a night around 11pm. Another early morning flight put us back in North Carolina by early afternoon!

It was a whirlwind trip but so much fun. I love the Riess family and am so glad Gina is a part of them now, too. I also love getting my mom and dad out to faraway places to travel!