Downtown St. Joe

This year downtown St. Joe had painted dog statues. We knew that we had to get Wes down there to see them before they were auctioned off next week. As expected, he loved them. An extra bonus was that there were just as many live dogs downtown as there were painted ones.

First off... I want to mention that you aren't supposed to climb on the statues. This was one of the very first dogs that Wes saw and he bolted up and onto the dog before we could stop him. After he was up there, he was too darn cute to take him off without getting a few quick pictures in. He even picked the doggy that was dressed up for golf. The boy has good taste, what can I say?

Then there was this doggy. This was my favorite one and Wesley seemed quite impressed as well.

Wesley even got his first glimpse into a real toy store window display. We had a hard time prying him away. Good thing the store was closed at the time. :)

Swing Set

After about three and a half weeks we finally finished the swing set. Wes is ecstatic that he has a slide in his very own backyard. He gave his daddy lots of help and made sure that Ben took a lot play breaks.

Wesley's Favorite Things

I'd say that Wesley has two favorite things right now... popsicles and elephants. Favorite #1 came about when our neighbor introduced Wes to this frozen juice in a plastic sleeve concept. After she gave him several popsicles over a few week span I finally bought him some at the grocery store. He now likes to run over to the freezer and beg for a popsicle. These things are messy, but I've got a trick. I match the popsicle color to his clothing and if I don't have a match the default is orange or grape. :)

Favorite #2 started when he watched a Barney episode that has a funny song about elephants. It is his favorite episode and I'd say it is by far our most played DVR recording. He likes to run around and swing his arm out in front of him like an elephant trunk and he shouts out, "elephant, elephant" in a sing-songy voice. It is so darn cute I just can't help it. I think a trip to the zoo is in our near future.

Wesley's 18 Month Stats

Wesley had another great check-up today. He weighs in at a whopping 21 lbs., 12 oz. (5th percentile) and 32 3/4 in. (75th percentile). He is growing up so quick. He only has about 10 weeks until he will be a big brother. If you ask him where the baby is he either will lift up his shirt and show his belly or he runs over to me and points to my belly. I hope he is going to like having a little sister around.

Mr. Wes

So many people have commented to me that 18 months is their favorite age for kids. I have loved every stage so far, but I do agree that this one is a lot of fun. He can finally understand most of what we tell him. He can communicate to us with the several words he knows. He hasn't fully hit the terrible 2's yet, but we've seen glimpses into what is to come... :) Yep, I like this 18 months old stage so far.

Going through the desk drawer the other day I found a few disposable cameras that I have been letting Wes run around with. He is still really fascinated by cameras. He loves to say, "cheese!". The top picture above is his "cheese" face. He runs around with them and makes us say cheese. Ben and I can't wait to get them developed to see what goofy pictures little Wes man took.

He is also into telephones. His favorite "telephone" is a dollar store calculator. He holds it up to his ear and walks around the house chatting on it. He even throws in pretend laughs here and there between the babbles. I'm trying hard to get a video clip of this, because it totally cracks me up.

Everyday he amazes us. Just last night he grabbed a flash card that had the number three on it and said, "three." Ben was like, "what did you just say?" Wes said it again... "three." We just looked at each other in amazement. Our babysitter said she had been working with him on his numbers. That just blows my mind that our little guy knows some numbers already.

The Fair: Goats & Ci Ci's

We went to the fair twice this year, because we love it so much. Wesley's favorites consisted of the goats and horsies, or "ci ci's" as he calls them. I guess he takes after his daddy with his goat thing, because Ben is a big fan as well. I think Wes likes the goats because they are down at his level, super friendly, and kind of up in your face. He likes that kind of thing. His favorite dogs to pet are the ones that lick him like crazy.

Wes ran screaming with delight up and down the goat aisles giving love to every single one.

Have you ever seen such a photogenic goat before? Geesh, I try not to post pics that don't have people in them, but I couldn't resist this little guy. He was just screaming, "Please take me home with you and let me live in your new fenced in backyard!" Yeah, I don't think the neighbors would notice, right? At least right away... Okay, we decided not to bring him home, but what a cutie!

Let's Go Fly a Kite

Ben mentioned that he wanted to get a kite because he thought Wes would really think it was really cool. I think Ben thinks it is just as cool as Wes does. After several attempts that spanned about over about a week and a half they finally got the kite to soar. All I can say is that these boys definitely keep me entertained...

Here is a video of their first attempt. Warning: This video is absolutely hilarious!

Daddy, the Slave Driver