Paging Social Services

Rather than working on his verbal skills, Waylon seems to spend all of his time testing gravity. For the past six weeks he has had some major bruise, gash, or bloody lip at any given time. Daycare actually called one day to ask about his lip. I cant believe I used to represent kids in foster care, and now that is where my son is headed if he doesn't slow down. I knew toddlers could look beat up, but this is getting ridiculous.

To add to the drama, Waylon got bitten on Friday at school and had teeth marks on his wrist for the rest of the day. Not to be outdone, he has now decided to "bite back" and got two kids so far this week. I am mortified.

Here is a cute "before" shot prior to Waylon's first (of many) bloody lip. He was so cute sitting down, playing in the box.
Then he decided to stand up. Still cute, until he reached out and only the top part of his body moved forward.

Here is a close-up shot a few hours later (after my heart started beating again and I stopped beating myself up for photographing my child while he injured himself). You can see how huge his lip got. This is what got us a call from daycare.

Here is a good shot of several of Waylon's injuries. Luckily, none of these were on mommy's watch. The mark under the eye was during daddy time, and the cheek happened at daycare.

Future All Star

Aaron recently decreed that we could not buy any more toys for Waylon. Zero. Zip. Nada. The next day while Waylon and I were napping, Aaron went to Wal Mart and bought a T-ball set for Waylon. It has turned out to be the best toy purchase yet since it has consistently held Waylon's attention. We spend all of our time in the backyard while Waylon wildly swings at, and sometimes even hits, baseballs. He has a surprisingly good swing and coordination for a 16-month-old, which I credit to his grandpa Fred--certainly not to Aaron. In case you are looking for something to do during an upcoming weekend, feel free to come over to the Davis household, drink beers with Aaron, and cheer on our future slugger.

True Love

Apparently Waylon's love is not reciprocated. If you look closely you'll see Thelma hiding from him in the bushes.

Wedding Weekend in Santa Barbara

We had a great mini-vacation to Santa Barbara for Courtney and Doug Olander's wedding on July 6. Courtney is a wonderful friend from my days at UCSB on the crew team. As usual, all of the "girls" were out in force, and it was an awesome weekend catching up with tons of friends. We also got to see one of Aaron's oldest friends, Brandi, and her boyfriend Josh. They hosted us at their beach pad. Not only were they great hosts, but they were the absolute greatest, best, most wonderful babysitters while Aaron and I enjoyed a night out for the wedding.

Another bonus was having my cousin, Doug, there as the wedding photographer. Doug takes amazing pictures of Waylon, but I was blown away at how beautiful his wedding pictures were of Doug and Courtney (a huge relief for me since I'd recommended him). Doug also did an impromptu photo session of Waylon at the beach, which turned out great (despite my rather strange choice of wardrobe--but in my defense I didn't realize it would be a photo shoot). To see Doug's fantastic photos of both the wedding and Waylon's beach photo session, check out his blog at www.dougmiranda.com/blog. As for my photos, there were so many great shots of good friends that there were way too many to post here. Besides, one of the blog's biggest fans, Kath Kelly, informed me in no uncertain terms that no one really cares about photos unless Waylon is in them. Thus, here is my Wayloncentric view of our mini-vacation...

Waylon instantly warmed up to Doug as we cruised the beach on Friday morning
Waylon was in heaven in Santa Barbara because he got to spend lots of time with dogs and spraying water. Brandi got to experience WFD's passion for hoses first hand, while their dog, Daisy, was extremely tolerant of Waylon's affection.

Waylon dries off post-beach visit

Naked! Outdoors! Waylon looooooooooooooved Santa Barbara

The wedding was BEAUTIFUL at the Mission rose garden. Aaron and I were thrilled to dress up and get out. (I was trying desperately to look pregnant and not just fat in this photo)

All the "girls" and some of the babies. One of the best parts about the wedding was seeing all the little kids get jiggy with it on the dance floor. Although it would have been fun to see Waylon in the mix, we were grateful for a night on our own.

Mr. and Mrs. Olander had an amazing, warm, loving wedding. It is always a treat to see two people totally in love, and the wedding also verified Aaron and my theory that bride's make the wedding. Courtney was so happy and having so much fun that everyone else did as well. Congratulations!!!

A Week of Fun

We were so excited to host the Trevino Family as our first guests in our new home. Nick and Dana have a 19 month old son, Matt, and another one on the way, also due in December. They made the long trek from Houston to enjoy some milder temperatures. It was nice that the boys had very similar nap and sleep schedules, while Dana and I are both pregnant so we also have similar food and sleep needs. It was a great week, and we had fun showing them our town. We are also hopeful that Matt, who is very verbal, taught Waylon how to communicate beyond grunting and tugging.

Matt and Waylon get to know each other by exploring the joy of water and hoses. They were not so excited about learning to share, but got much better as the week went on.
We had a fun morning at the neighborhood pool where Waylon couldn't decide between playing in the fountains and swimming in the pool. In case my other posts have not made it clear, Waylon is a TOTAL water baby! Its kind of scary because he is like a wild man around the water and has no fear whatsoever.

Nick introduces Matt to the water fountains. He liked them, but definitely seemed to enjoy the pool much better.

Apparently its not just our crazy son that enjoys playing in the dog crates. Both boys loved it and took turns locking eachother inside (egged on by their mature fathers of course).

After dragging them all around, both boys ended up inside the dog crates.

After exploring all over San Clemente, we headed to Newport for the day. Despite the good food, beautiful houses, and interesting ferry ride, I think all the boys really cared about was the park we found near the beach.

Waylon had his first completely solo sliding experience. Mom and dad were very scared, but extremely proud.

This look says it all. Waylon was VERY proud of his sliding and kept running around to slide down again.

Our new neighborhood celebrates 4th of July all day long, including a parade. Here are the boys in their "float." Luckily, they were both so interested in everything going on around them that they didn't freak out or try to crawl out.

Thelma and Louise also participated in the parade. Please note my subtle political message with my float decorations.

No trip to Southern OC is complete without a trip to the beach. We went to the pier area, which has great restaurants, but also attracts all of the non-locals (that is the most PC term I can think of). Waylon once again was a crazy man for the ocean, and wanted to run in--whether or not mommy or daddy was nearby.

Aaron holds on to Waylon tightly, while our future surfer appears to plot a way to get back in the ocean.

Catching Up

Here are some pictures of Waylon since we moved into our new house about a month ago...

Waylon strolls through the grounds of his new hood
Waylon immediately figured out how to open these horizontal door handles so it was only a few days before Daddy's first trip to Lowes for a new handle and babyproofing items

Waylon is upset to learn that the baby locks have been installed

...but he's excited that he still has access to the tupperware and plastic cutting boards

Waylon is not exactly a slave to fashion

When we are all out of fun activities, Aaron often takes Waylon to the car where he goes bananas.

Showing dad how to drive (I think Waylon may actually be a better driver at 16 months than Aaron is at 35).

Waylon was very proud of himself when he crawled up into the glider himself. I got this picture in the second or two before he threw the book down since he no longer has the patience for letting mommy and daddy read to him.