Gardner Wilson

Gardner's slowly feeling better....I think. His congestion is not changing, but his fever has been gone since Friday morning. I think it is just a long illness that needs to run its course. Not to mention that his gums are bruised because his molars are starting to come in. Maybe that is what all of this is, anyway, who knows. All I know is that I have one little miserable kid who just wants to feel better. It breaks a mommy's heart to not be able to work a miracle to make that happen instantaneously! He is learning animal sounds now, with our help and prompting. He can also point to parts of our faces (namely the nose and eyes). His new favorite word is "P.U.!" He has learned to stand and sway/bend to music, and he points to his open palm to indicate he wants "more" of something at the dinner table. For halloween, his grandmama so graciously crafted a handmade costume of a "circus monkey," complete with vest and big ears. :) I cannot wai

Gardner's under the weather. :( We left him at Mom and Dad's last night while we were at home group. Mom called me about 7:00 and said that he had a fever of over 101. I panicked! I felt terrible, too, because I had been running errands all day with him and hadn't noticed (although I don't think he had a fever then....I held him much of the time and kissed his face a lot, and I would have noticed he felt warm). Evidently it came on all of a sudden. He took some Tylenol and went to bed early. I was up two or three times with him in the night, helping him settle back down (he woke up and whimpered and coughed). Of course, I was the first caller to the pediatrician this morning....the nurse said I even beat them to turning their computers on! It turns out he just has a viral thing....most likely a viral throat infection. The poor guy endured a painful ear exam, blood oxygen testing, and even a strep throat culture. He's back home now, more Tylenol in him and

He's everywhere! He's walking 80% of the time now, except when he wants to get somewhere really fast OR if he's exceptionally tired. Ken and I have been helping him walk when we're out in public...and we have finally started being able to do the thing we've always dreamed of doing when we became parents....the thing where you each hold a hand, count to three, and lift him up in the air! He laughs and laughs. Funny thing is, I can still remember my mom and dad doing that to me like it was yesterday. We were watching Baby Einstein's Baby Noah today and Ken pointed to the screen so Gardner could see the caribou. "See, Gardner, caribou!" Gardner looked up and said, "Caa-boo." I thought Ken would fall out of the chair. :) We bought him a booster seat so that he can eat at the "grown up table" with us. He thinks he's something special sitting up there.

Gardner's first county fair. We thought he'd enjoy this, and he did. First stop, the cows.

Oh, my. The best fair ride of all.

Bruiser the rag dog stopped to say hello and pose for a photo with G.

All of the colors and sounds held him captive.

He looked legitimately worried about the people who were screaming on the fair rides.

Gardner....right after his first taste of cotton candy.

My little dear on a John Deere.

Gardner looks at the Bantam roosters.

Gardner started imitating the roosters, bobbing his head and making cluck sounds.

Gardner has more fun IN the wagon of blocks than he does playing with the blocks themselves!

Gardner playing with the same little white plastic car that's been at Grandma and Grandpa's house for over 30 years....the third generation to roll this little (now delapidated) car around the house. :)

You can see who Gardner's pulling for this football season.

Gardner can point now...that's the big skill for this week. He did it out of the blue. He reached out and pointed to a cracker I was eating (and yes, I gave him some!). I was ecstatic! I've been trying to teach him how to point for weeks. Now....if we can just get him to point at things, and not get into the habit of pointing at people.... To top it off, he learned Sunday how to point at my nose. I've been pointing to his nose all week and saying, "Gardner's nose." When I asked him, "Where is Mommy's nose?", he pointed right to it! (and then he proceeded to stick his tiny finger up IN my nose before I could stop him. :) Last night, he pointed to our eyes and ears, too. This is just the beginning!! So autonomous he's becoming....he no longer wants to eat without a fork or spoon, although using a utensil is still something he hasn't mastered! He can scoop and stick, but hasn't figured out the next step yet (putting it in his

He just keeps getting cuter and cuter. I mean it. Recently, Gardner's been kissing us like crazy. Not just a little peck, but a "grab you by the ears and come at you open-mouthed for a big one" kind of thing. It catches you off guard. It helps you forget you have a "bubble." And it's 100% precious. I bought him some pots, pans, and play food for his little kitchen in the playroom. I marvled at how he set right to work. Just from watching me cook, he lined up pans on the stovetop, stirred them with a spoon, dipped between two or three pots with a spatula, put the spatula to his mouth, then muttered, "Mmmmm." I was already dumbstruck, but I was even more taken aback when he turned to me, spatulaed hand outstretched, and begged me to taste, too. He climbed into his toybox today, just like Mom says I used to do at his age. He was much more content playing INSIDE, surrounded by all of his toys. He's walking more and more. Just today, he's teete