Feeding Daddy Birthday Cake
Learning to Share…?
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The dark side of age one
This morning was Will’s one-year wellness exam.
What a traumatic experience!!
The good news: Will is perfect. His diet “could not be better”, his weight and height are fine (he’s caught up to his normal progression), and his milestones are great.
The bad news: He had to endure routine blood draw (standard in this office for one year wellness exams) and after, a vaccination.
The phlebotomist was horrible — she couldn’t decide where to stick him, made us switch rooms after spending over 5 minutes torturing him with a plastic tourniquet, and had me tightly squeeze his little body and limbs as he laid on my chest. It was awful — I’ve never heard Will so miserable. I did my best to remain composed and calm (so he wouldn’t feed off my nervousness) and softly sang to him. It was all I could do to not cry with him!
THEN… he had to get his 4th DTP. It’s important to note here that in previous injections, when I have held Will and sung to him and distracted him, he barely cries. So, I used our method again: held Will and distracted him with a favorite toy. The nurse didn’t pay attention to how she was holding his leg, and when she stuck him with the needle, he kicked. The needle turned under his skin, had to be pushed back in and the rest of the serum pushed… it caused lots of blood and a huge, red, swollen bruise. (To match the one on his little hand from the blood draw!)
Even when Will was a few weeks old and dealing with colic-like gas pains he didn’t cry as much as he did today.
It was awful… definitely, the hardest part of parenting!
Will’s First Birthday!
This afternoon, we (Will, Paul, Grandpa and Nana Wisneskey, and I) enjoyed a lunch at Italian Pie (the little pizza and pasta place a stone’s throw from our front door) and then went the 7 blocks west to Audubon Zoo.
We acquired an annual membership — one that allows Paul and I, our child(ren), and any two guests into the Zoo and Audubon Aquarium of the Americas (downtown) for free. (So, to all visitors — free outtings to the zoo and aquarium with Will!)
The Zoo was a blast. Will loved the animals and spent the whole visit talking away, pointing, cooing, and being just the cutest kid. The highlight was when Will and I fed the giraffe!! I held the biscuit as “Murray” (one of the big males) bent down and licked up my hand for his treat — and Will reached out and touched his head! Murray stayed there awhile and let us pet him and scratch his nose. (No pictures, unfortunately. Paul was outside the exhibit and missed it all!)
We took tons of pictures of Will pointing and talking away and can’t wait to go back!
THEN… we came back home. We thought Will would be tired and ready for a nap. Not so!! He was totally charged up. So, we ordered a pizza and started opening presents. He had wonderful gifts from Grandpa and Nana Wisneskey, Aunt Amy and Uncle Kevin, Uncle Skip and Aunt Emily, and friends Randy and Katherine Musgrove. (Granna and PapPap Scheib sent Will a card and a check for his college fund and have presents to give him at birthday party #2 later this week.)
Randy and Katherine sent a Leap Frog baby tag (so cute — Will is learning to press the buttons!) and music table that he loves to stand up and dance to (1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10! Apparently, he loves this tune…! Paul and I have all the songs and sayings memorized, that tells you how much Will likes them!) Aunt Julie Stanton sent the classic “Elmer the Elephant” story with a stuff Elmer to go with it! Aunt Amy and Uncle Kevin sent a sports ball set (way cool!), a nikey sport suit, and a Leap Frog alphabet pal that does several alphabet and color learning games — really neat! Uncle Skip and Aunt Emily sent magnetic letters, a fun dinosaur book (Dinosaur Roar!), and beach toys and watering can that Emily specially decorated and designed especially for Will! Grandpa and Nana gave Will a beautiful Osh Kosh onesie and jacket (with adorable matching socks), a quack-along duck set, a musical block set that squeeks when you put the sounders in place (hard to describe, but TOTALLY cool) and his first Richard Scary book. This was an especially precious gift, as Paul’s Ga (Ga was young Paul speak for Grandma) gave him his first Richard Scary book for his first birthday. Other family and friends sent birthday greetings as well. All were thoughtful, fun, and so appreciated!!
Of course, Will had a blast with just the ribbon and paper (especially the ribbon)!!
In between presents, we breaked for dinner. Pizza was the menu (Will also had some, along with leftover tofu and a jar of Plums, Banana, and Rice). And then birthday cake!!! We neglected to think about getting a cake until the last minute, so yesterday, I bought a small cake at a bakery across the street from Whole Fodds (Chez Nous). It was the perfect type of cake — white with butter cream frosting, my favorite! But had blue flowers — maybe not the perfect for a boy’s birthday?? Even so, that was our cake! Will had a BLAST eating his piece…. or, rather, feeding it to Daddy, rubbing it all over his head, face, arms, chair, back (really, he got it on his back!), and even some on the floor. It was right into the shower from there!
After a long night of fun, it took two swings on the front porch swing to put him out for the night. (A big deal for a boy who is next to impossible to get to sleep!) What a wonderful first birthday for our little man!
Family at Riverwalk Fountain
Enjoying a rainy day in downtown New Orleans!
St. Charles Famous Streetcar
The morning streetcar on a quiet Sunday morning… on Will’s first birthday!
Birthday Boy!
Will trying on Grandma Wisneskey’s shades on his FIRST BIRTHDAY!
Will’s First Birthday!
We just got back from a wonderful walk on a goregous morning in our beautiful city!
After a quick stop at CC’s for famous iced coffee and bagels, we walked up to St. Charles Street and then back down through our lovely neighborhood to home. What a great day to be in New Orleans and what a great day to be ONE YEAR OLD!
Riverwalk
A rainy day kept us inside today!
Paul and Dad Wisneskey installed speakers into the kitchen ceiling first thing this morning. Then we enjoyed brunch at Bluebird Cafe (a yummy veggie-friendly eatery on Prytania Street!) The drizzle (and lack of convenient outdoor partking) kept us inside for the short tour of the Garden District and French Quarter. We ended up parking on the 8th (!) floor at the Wyndam Hotel across from the pier and walking over the Riverwalk, the mall that extends from the Aquarium to the Convention Center. We window shopped, enjoyed some beignets and chickory coffee at Cafe du Monde, and watched the ships in the Mississippi.
I fell in love with a local jewelry shop featuring work exclusively from New Orleans artists… wow!
Will at Dinner, Nov. 18
Wild Man!
Will at Breakfast, Nov. 19
Will gleefully throwing Cheerios!
