Long time...no blog

I can't believe it's been almost 2 months since I've updated. We spent a month back in the States to see family and friends and it was great!
Wyatt is so much fun these days and is wanting to walk so bad! He wants to climb on everything and is all over the place. He started really cruising while we were on vacation.
Disclaimer...these are all of Wyatt..but I promise to show pics of the rest of the fam in the next entry.

Nothing feels more like Sunday than going to church...and of course a favorite wooden mallet in hand. Combine the two and there may be a joyful noise(s) coming from a certain 9 month old on the very back row of Santiago Community. Don't judge that I couldn't find any brown socks that day.

Wyatt had swimming lessons with several other babies from 3 months - 1 year of age and one of the requirements was that all of the babies had to wear swim caps..(!). You can tell that Wyatt is ecstatic with the idea.
This pic was taken from our neighborhood the day before we left for vacation in the States. It had just snowed in the mountains here and I was realizing that I was about to face a month of hot Texas summer. I was also trying to take in some deep breaths before I faced the 10 hr flight with Wyatt the next day.

Much happier without a swim cap. He enjoyed some pooltime with cousins at my sister's house.
One of 8 flights that we took in 4 weeks. He was always trying to get people in the seat behind us to give him some attention. Most people said that he was cute...but I don't know if that was code word for "annoying"..but at least we avoided a meltdown on board.
Water does taste better out of the hose. Is it weird that I am deeply considering getting Wyatt a hose of some sort for his 1st birthday? He LOVES them.
Even though he was born in Chile, he still has a lot of Texas in his genes.
"My crystal ball tells me....that Yes....my parents won't get any sleep on this next flight, whereas I will sleep like a baby. Life is good."
I sure do love my two boys!

If Only....thinking of Wyatt

If only time could stand still
And we could stay suspended this way-
He being content in my arms
Eyelids closing on another day.

Tiny arms are around my neck-
His chest slowly rises and falls.
The smell of shampoo from his hair-
I'm completely in awe of it all.

I'm locked in this moment-
Knowing later they may become far and few.
So I hold him close and begin to sway-
To a silent song for two.

Often there are no words-
Just a mother and her son.
Circling around around his room-
A last dance before the day is done.

My partner has on footed pajamas.
His feet barely reach my thigh.
No fancy attire is required here.
Only sweet dreams and little sighs.

Though his eyes have been closed a while
I choose to hold him a minute more.
Pretty soon these days will pass-
And baby toys will gather dust on the floor.

First steps will become more steady
And then he'll have lunchbox in hand.
Play dates will change into real ones
And my baby will become my young man.

Maybe then he'll want fewer hugs
And not want me to hold him too tight.
So for now I'll continue our dance
And thank God for giving me this night.


-I love you so much Wyatt and feel blessed beyond words that God allowed me to be your mother!

8 month update and other randoms

I know, I know..I say it everytime..but I can't believe how fast my little man is growing! 8 months..Wow! I feel like by 8 months I should have this parenting thing down..but I still feel like a newbie so much of the time. Actually, I still am in awe that I am a mommy at all and wonder if that feeling will ever go away.
A couple of stats on Wyatt are:
-We haven't been to the doctor yet for his 8 month checkup... so these stats are coming from our Ikea scale and a measuring tape from the garage. So the odds of the numbers being correct are close to nil. That being said..Wyatt is 22 lbs and 28-3/4 inches which puts him in the 75th-90th percentile for height and weight. Random people are always saying that he is "muy alto", but I don't see it yet.
- Wyatt went from army crawling a month ago, to "normal" crawling...today! Yea. I realize that babies have different milestones and do things on their own time, but I will admit that I was having visions of an army crawling toddler in my head. Maybe Wyatt feels more ambitious to try new things without clothes on. I would have inserted a picture here of his new feat..but when you have a naked baby boy crawling, sometimes it's hard to get a modest action pic.
- Is wanting to pull up on things. He can pull up on the couch if he sits in my lap...isn't at the point yet where he can do it all by himself.
-Instead of banging on his toys, he prefers to cautiously point and turn things very seriously with his index finger.
- Loves being outside, but when it's cold weather and he has a cold...we hibernate inside. It's so sad to see him catch a glimpse of the outside when I let the dogs in or out and as soon as I close the door, he starts bawling...! Poor guy.

-Loves to turn the pages of his board books. We read the same 10 books every morning since books in English are hard to find down here.

- He thinks that his puppies are the most hilarious things he has ever seen. Every morning when we walk up the stairs, he just starts giggling when he sees Major and Molly. They have started dropping their toys in front of him, hoping that he'll pick up the ball and throw it back at them. Too cute!
- 3 teeth are coming in on the top..which makes for one fussy little baby on some days. He also has started grinding his lower teeth to his top two....! The sound has the same effect as nails on a chalkboard. Nice!

Random side notes of being an expat mom in Santiago...(I may devote an entire post to this later..but here are just a few that are on my mind...)
1. I am a devotee to Starbucks down here, but have found that it's easier to give an alias when they ask for my name b/c Kipley is just too difficult. So some days I am Maria..others I am Catalina.. When they ask "Como se llama?" in regards to Wyatt, everyone is totally confused about his name..even when I explain that it's common in the US. Several people thought I named him Quiet...or White.

2. Wyatt seems to eat better when he is watching TV (I know, probably starting some bad habit)..so I usually put it on Disney or Discovery Kids. I can't understand a word that Donald Duck says in Spanish...and I can get every other word that Mickey says. It's definitely humbling to realize that your Spanish is probably much worse than the average 3 year old!

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.