7 month update

I can't believe my little man is already 7 months! He seems to have grown more this past week than ever before. He weighs 19.4 lbs (55th percentile) and is 28.3 inches long (75th percentile). A couple of new things he has been doing lately are:
- army crawling...At the moment, he does it only when he really wants something. After a point though, he gets frustrated and doesn't want to make the effort.
- he started saying ma-ma and ba-ba. I love hearing him say ma-ma so much and can't wait till he starts saying it when he is referring to me.
- he is teething again which means quite a few fussy moments during the day (and night!). He sucks on his thumb, wrist, anything that he can get into his mouth.
- his naps are getting pretty nonexistent...(unfortunately for me!!)...they are averaging 30 minutes and he may get 2 a day. The good part of that though is at 7:30pm, he is wanting to go to bed and sleeps hard till the next morning. I love that he wakes up and is content to play in his crib by himself until 8:30 or so...Nice! I know karma is going to get me with the second one.

Wyatt had a playdate with two of his other friends: Cleo and Daniel. Daniel is 4 days younger than Wyatt. It cracks me up because Wyatt usually doesn't care when toys are taken away from him, but he is slightly distressed to see the other kids having so much fun with HIS toys...and he is trying to take them back.

What a handsome little guy! This pic does not make him look like a 7 month old..he seems like a toddler already!
There are some hills behind our house where there are some horse stables. I'm always finding the horses in the oddest places...on the playground, crossing the street, etc. I took some pics of the gorgeous fall colors in the neighborhood. It's great to have four definite seasons..but the flip side of fall/winter is the smog. You can see the haziness in this pic. I mean, you can barely see the mountain in the background..(!)Thankfully we'll be in the States for part of the winter.
We got Wyatt a little riding truck for us to push him around in. I love how he puts his feet up when he's in it and just takes it easy. By the way, that is correct...you do see a baby doll in the "trunk" of the car. Surprisingly, the doll came with the car...already inside the trunk. I don't know what to make of that.

Prayer Request

I am apart of a close knit group of girls here who all have babies around the same age. One of them, Carolyn, has a baby girl who is 5 weeks younger than Wyatt. Her name is Kalei. On Friday, after having problems breathing, she was admitted into ICU. She went into heart failure, but is now in stable condition. She is having respirators to help her breathe and other machines to help her eat..etc at the moment. The doctors have yet to determine what is the cause of her heart problems. Please keep this sweet little one in her prayers as well as the medical staff that is taking care of her. I can't imagine what Carolyn is going through.

Kalei is the sweetheart next to Wyatt. It was taken the day after the earthquake..so please excuse the fact that the babies aren't wearing any pants.

Stop calling my baby a girl!

I have heard "She's so cute!" and "How old is she?" multiple times in the past month or so in regards to Wyatt...so I finally decided that his long locks really needed a trim. I gave his first trim at 4 months or so..but I don't think I did the best job and wanted to have someone more professional do it this time.
I had no idea how much I was attached to his long hair until I saw the hairdresser cutting his hair pretty short. I thought I was going to cry and realized that it was too late to go back now and that in time his hair will grow. In hindsight, I think that the hairdresser asked me if I wanted it short..but at the time, I couldn't understand what he was asking me..and so I gave the answer that I often give people here when I don't understand them..I say "Yes."
Wyatt definitely looks like a little boy now and should NOT be mistaken for a baby girl anymore. I definitely am thankful that the hairdressser did not give my baby a trendy Chilean mullet..which is very popular down here. Short in the front and long in the back.
I realize that it looks better..but I feel that it makes my baby look older..which I don't like. I feel like he doesn't look so much like a baby anymore. Anyways..here are the Before and After shots. What do you think?
BEFORE
AFTER

Warning...excessive pics of our baby!

My apologies in advance for the many pics of Wyatt that are to follow..but I feel that he's changing all the time and since we're down here in Chile, I don't want family and friends to miss out.

We took Wyatt to the duck pond and he was absolutely transfixed...completely content to just sit on the blanket and watch the commotion of the ducks. He seems to find them wildly entertaining...unlike the geese which have a tendency to draw tears. I don't know if it's the honking or the hissing from the geese at the passing dogs ..but he would be happier if the pond was a 'duck exclusive' piece of property. Maybe he took the hissing to a personal level.
Love a profile shot!
This outfit is too small..but I was determined to catch a pic of him in it since it was one of my favorites. Seriously..you can see how the sleeve is almost to his elbow.
I realized that I NEVER have pics of Matt or me in the blog..so I had our babysitter snap this pic of us before we went out to dinner. We have just started using a babysitter..and Wyatt is 6 months old! I don't know why I waited so long..but I honestly just found it hard to be away from the little guy. Maybe I'm just slightly neurotic..who knows!
I can't wait till Wyatt is older and can have fun with all the Easter egg hunts..but for now, I had to be content with getting a few shots of Wyatt reaching out for a plastic egg or two. And maybe trying to eat some grass or leaves in the interim.
Love it when he gets tickled and shows those 2 pearly whites of his. Nothing better!
A baby and his dog...looking off into the distance and contemplating the finer things in life. For one..a bottle, for the other..a bone.

6 Months...where has the time gone?!

So..our little man turned 6 months yesterday! I can't believe it. He is so much fun at this age! It gets better all the time. I love that he seems to be enjoying more of the world around him..and so the dogs get laughed at more, old toys have a new angle, and a simple thing as grass can be so very interesting. I feel lucky every day that I actually have a baby..and I find myself staring at him all the time..still in awe that he's actually mine. I thought that feeling would have subsided by now..but it's as strong as ever. I just feel so blessed!
A few stats on Wyatt:
-he's 29.5 inches long (90th percentile for height) and 18 pounds for weight .
- he has been eating carrots, squash, chicken, potatoes, and bananas. Spinach, pears, and rice are going to be introduced this week.
- we have a thumb sucker...who also twirls his hair...! It never fails, Wyatt will be taking his bottle and one of his hands will be constantly twirling the hair on the side of his head. I find knots ALL the time in his hair from this.
- still goes to bed at 8:00pm and then starts babbling in his crib around 8:30am...Nice!
- on the verge of crawling..he's on all fours and rocking back and forth...but not quite there yet.

Wyatt....meet Squash and Carrots!

So...we started Wyatt on food last week. The menu: squash and carrots. I had the idea that as soon as Wyatt saw the spoon full of bright orange gelatinous goo, he would be so excited that he would open his mouth wide and happily gobble it all up. Well, I don't know why I thought things would go as planned with a 5-1/2 month old...Poor little guy. He didn't have the luxury of having rice cereal to slowly introduce his little taste buds to new tastes and texture...We had to dive head first into the vegetable world. The woman in the clip is Lucy, our nana, who absolutely loves Wyatt and vice versa. She is Peruvian and hopefully Wyatt will pick up a few bits of Spanish from her before we go back to the States in a few years. I practice as much as I can with her..but I know that most of what I say probably makes no sense and I am impressed that she doesn't fall down laughing because of me.

Quake story....(warning - may be long post)

We have power! We got it back Monday morning and I was so glad to finally be able to see what was going on in the south and to be able to use the Internet. It's amazing the devastation this earthquake caused and how powerful it actually was (an 8.8). The stories of the people who narrowly escaped their collapsing buildings with just the clothes on their backs - are countless and so very sad. They are in desperate need of the essentials and are now homeless. Being a new mom, it hurts to watch the TV coverage of mothers clutching babies, who are pleading for diapers and formula. I can't imagine what that must be like for them. As a parent, you can handle being without..but it's a totally different story when it comes to your kids. It must be terrible living day to day..not knowing where they will get their next meal and how they will be able to provide for their family.
The epicenter of the quake was a 196 miles south of our house, so the strength of the quake here in Santiago was an 8.0 (!!). You know..being from Texas..I'm familiar with tornadoes and where to go if one should appear. Coming from Houston, I know about hurricanes..since we evacuated for one and stayed while a level 2 came ashore. But...I have to admit..I knew pretty much nothing about earthquakes. So..I felt utterly helpless and completely terrified when I experienced one this past Saturday morning...(3:38 am exactly).
So...Matt works in shifts of 8 days up north (680 miles away) and then he's here with us for 6 days in Santiago. As luck would have it, when the quake hit, he was up north and I was by myself with Wyatt. (!) I woke up in the middle of the night to a loud rumbling noise and the ground was shaking pretty violently. I immediately ran to get Wyatt and I started to hear things crashing around. I vaguely remembered seeing something of how you should get in the doorway in the event of a quake..so that's what I did. I held Wyatt close with one hand and braced myself against the doorframe with the other hand to steady myself. The strength of the quake kept getting stronger as time went on..and it seemed to last forever. I just stood there and prayed...I prayed for it to be over and for us to be OK. Since this was my first quake..I had no idea what to expect...if the walls were going to start crumbling around us..or if this sort of thing happens all the time.
In the end, there was no damage to our house and we amazingly didn't have anything broken. Books, CDS, and a mirror fell..but nothing else. It's crazy how well the buildings here in Santiago withstood the strength of the quake. But..they are built specifically for things like this..so I guess it shouldn't be too surprising. This quake was several times stronger than the quake in Haiti, but fewer buildings collapsed here due to better construction and building codes.
Obviously, we immediately lost power and since there is a seismograph where Matt works up north, he knew right away that there had been an earthquake where I was. Cell phone reception was non existent for a while and so it took several hours for Matt to be able to get a hold of me. It was SO good to hear his voice! My other network of friends got in contact with me and they had even scarier stories since they lived in high rise apartments and could actually feel their buildings swaying when the quake hit. They have broken glass and cracks down walls..but everyone is OK...which is important.
I'm sure everyone has seen coverage of the quake on TV, but I thought I would post a pic of what the earthquake caused to a highway in Santiago.
So...after it all, there was mass hysteria for a while...(long lines at gas stations, long lines at supermarkets with everyone filling up the carts, no bottled water to be found, etc). Thankfully, I had plenty of formula..so I didn't have to worry about Wyatt. Unfortunately, I didn't have much non perishable food at my house, so I feasted on some fruit and a hamburger bun on Sunday. I know...!..I will be better prepared next time. Grocery stores still didn't have power where I was and since traffic lights weren't working, I didn't feel comfortable trying to drive down into the city to try to find more food.
Matt got here Wednesday morning after a 16 hour (!) bus ride down from where he was working. The airport had a 3 day backlog, so there wasn't a guarantee that he would be able to have a seat on the plane for his usual flight. So..he and several of his co-workers had to take the bus.
We were able to get a hold of some water and the only thing we have been unable to find is more of the formula that Wyatt takes. The shelves are almost always in short supply and the brand that he uses is always out of stock. The brand has formula for 0-6 months and then 6-12 months..so we had to buy the 6-12 months, since that was what was available. Hopefully, since Wyatt is 5-1/2 months..it's not really a big deal. We started him on solids Wednesday...!! Squash and carrots..but that's for another post. They don't have rice cereal here in Chile, so we just had to jump in and start with real food.
Anyways...we have experienced several aftershocks and I find that I am still pretty jumpy. Most of my friends here feel the same way..so I guess it's just apart of the process. I am thankful that I have a great support system down here of people that constantly checked up on me since they knew I was alone with Wyatt.
I feel very blessed and fortunate that things turned out for our family the way they did...but also realize that other families suffered loss and devastation..so please keep them in your prayers.

Note...happier posts to soon follow!