10 months

William will be 10 months old tomorrow and we can't even believe it - where has the time gone? He continues to amaze us with all of the new things he can do - standing well unassisted, climbing on everything, and pointing at objects. Two big milestones were hit this past week - his first official word ("kitty") and his first step. William has also had another tooth break through, earning him the nickname "Triceratooth."

I haven't been able to get his length measurement yet, since he won't stay still ever, but he now weighs 23lbs 6oz, and we are feeling every ounce of it. It's not too surprising, since he eats like a champ. He usually eats whatever we are having, unless, of course, we're having something off-limits (milk, egg whites, honey, nuts, shellfish, strawberries, chocolate) or something too hard for him to chew (raw veggies). It's not too big a deal though, since I mostly prepare pasta dishes, which William loves.

He continues to terrorize the animals - he's especially fond of pulling tails. While Joe and I are trying to stop this behavior, Crookshanks is trying to regrow the tail fur William pulled out. Other favorites right now are playing ball, making music with a wooden spoon and mixing bowls, playing with his Fisher Price gumball machine (Thanks, Grandma!), catching bubbles and dancing (like mother, like son, right?) He also loves to experiment with his voice - yelling is a big thing right now.

-Adrienne

Cruising Along

So, first off, I should apologize for the long delay in updates. Apparently it was my job to do the posts and I've (obviously) been slacking in that department. William's been growing like a weed - at seven months he was 29" and just over 20 lbs. He's crawling at lightning fast speeds and likes to pull up on stuff and "cruise." He's especially fond of chasing the cats, but has no real interest in the dog, Lucy (yet).

He hasn't said any real words yet, but he loves to entertain us with stories of Ba-ba-ba and Da-da-da. He also likes to "read" Ian Falconer's Olivia. William will flip the pages of the book for us. Oh, and if you're unfamiliar, go read Olivia because it's hilarious.

William is starting to work on finger foods and drinking out of a cup. He's especially fond of my oat muffins. The concept of the sippy cup is a bit much for him, so we usually just let him drink out of regular cup (supervised, of course). I'm still making all of his food, except for the cereal, which is great fun and very easy.

William has also graduated to the big tub. When I first put him in, he was so excited by the splash potential. He likes to "read" Mimi's Toes (a Baby Einstein vinyl book) in the tub, and eat his rubber ducky's head. Yesterday I caught him trying to drink the bathwater out of the bowl I use to rinse his head.

Joe, William and I took our first family trip to the zoo a couple of weeks ago. William was intrigued by the monkeys. He also really liked the coral tank in the aquarium (complete with Marlin, Nemo and Dori fish). He slept through the entire African and Australian exhibits, though, so we'll have to go back for those animals. One of the best things about the SA Zoo is the Kronkosky Tiny Tot Spot. It's an area of activities and exhibits especially designed for kids 5 and under. The best part (in my opinion), is the Riverbank, which is basically a wading pool. William LOVED being in the water, especially on such a warm day. And, of course, Joe and I loved it too!

In other family news, Joe has gone full time at Southwest Research for the remainder of the summer. It seems that he is in high demand, which is good. I am full time as the interim executive director at SADU for now, until I hire in a new development director, then I will go back down to part time, unless I can get some grant money in to supplement the executive director's salary. Although I'm kind of bummed about going back down to part time, it will be nice to spend more time with William, and maybe even have time to take a few dance classes and/or work on some new choreography.

Hopefully my next update won't be months and months from now...
-Adrienne

New Pictures!

Hey everybody!

Adrienne, William and I have been so busy lately that we haven't been updating the blog. Sorry for the lack of posts. Anyway...William is now scooting his little behind into all sorts of mischief. He isn't quite crawling yet...but he is definitely mobile. Adrienne and I have spent the last few weeks making sure that things are okay in the house for the mobile William. I am just waiting for him to start chasing the cats.

I took some time and fixed/organized Williams pictures. I now have them organized by month (what month he is in and not by his age). So update your links! I will try to be a little more frequent with my posts...but I can't promise anything.

Joe

Month 1: Nov 4, 2006 - Dec 3, 2006

William Joseph Westlake: Month 1, Nov 4, 2006 - Dec 3, 2007

Month 2: Dec 4, 2006 - Jan 3, 2007

William Joseph Westlake: Month 2, Dec 4, 2007 - Jan 3, 2007

Month 3: Jan 4, 2007 - Feb 3, 2007

William Joseph Westlake: Month 3, Jan 4, 2007 - Feb 3, 2007

Month 4: Feb 4, 2007 - Mar 3, 2007

William Joseph Westlake: Month 4, Feb 4, 2007 - Mar 3, 2007

Month 5: Mar 4, 2007 - Apr 3, 2007

William Joseph Westlake: Month 5, Mar 4, 2007 - Apr 3, 2007

Month 6: Apr 4, 2007 - May 3, 2007

William Joseph Westlake: Month 6, Apr 4, 2007 - May 3, 2007

3-1/2 Months

Sorry for the lack of updates, but between caring for William, work and school, Joe and I have been hard pressed for "down time." William has made great strides over the past month and a half - he is consistantly rolling from tummy to back, has great head control (he can hold it upright) and has even started trying to crawl. Mostly he sticks his bottom in the air and does an "inchworm" movement - he doesn't realize that he needs to use his arms and lift his head. William is wonderfully verbal - he constantly babbles to us.

A couple of weeks ago, William had his first cold. He was up every hour, every night for about a week and a half because he was so congested and uncomfortable. That was the longest 10 days of my life! He's better now, thank goodness.

In a couple of weeks we'll be heading back to Michigan for William's baptism. We're all super excited to go back.

Be sure to check out William's photo album for recent pictures.


William's 3 month stats:
Weight: 14 lbs 5 oz
Length: 23-1/2"

-Adrienne

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everyone! William is growing so fast! He has started to smile as you can see in the picture below. He also rolled over all on his own on New Year's Eve! It is great to watch him grow and learn new things (I have taught him to stick his tongue out...it is the cutest thing). On another note I have MANY MORE PICTURES that everyone should look at. There is also a link to his album on the sidebar to the right. There are several pictures of William smiling and other goodies. I put them up on my Picasa web album (just follow the link), this is because the Blogger picture upload thing is slow and painful to use. So keep an eye here for updates and there for pictures (I will try to keep both updated).
I hope that everyone had a safe and fun holiday and that we see you all soon! Keep in touch and don't be afraid to COMMENT ON THE POSTS to let us know what you think!

One Month

William is now one month old. We can hardly believe its been a whole month - it feels like we brought him home just a couple of days ago. He's doing well, he's lifting his head and cooing now. Although he has occasional bouts of crying for no apparent reason, he's a pretty happy, relaxed baby (thank goodness! He must take after his Papa in that respect.) William is such a delight- he continues to amaze us. We're so excited to see what the next month has in store for us. We're really looking forward to seeing his first real smile.

One month stats:
Weight- 8 lbs 9oz
Length-22 1/2"

Happy (Belated) Thanksgiving

Yes, Thanksgiving was a week and a half ago, but William certainly makes it tough to make timely updates. Thanksgiving was great, we got to host our first holiday in our new home. The DeGraff and Westlake grandparents were present, as were "Uncle" Rob & "Aunt" Heather (friends from Joe's school). William was adorable as a little pumpkin (see pics below). He's still up two or three times a night, but we're adjusting. He's becoming more alert during the daytime and can track an object and lift his head a bit when he's on his tummy.William in his Michigan onesie and socks, before the UM vs OSU game. (Too bad Michigan still lost)

William in his bear suit from Great-Aunt Staney

William in the cardigan knitted by his Great-Great-Grandma

William Joseph Westlake is born!

We had a nice little surprise this weekend when William decided to make his grand entrance into the world! He was born at 5:52 am on November 4th. He weighed 8 lbs 2 oz (he's a good sized baby) and is 20 3/4" long. The labor was relatively short (~6hrs) and Adrienne did very well. We stayed in the hospital until about noon today when we were discharged.
William has been doing very well. He is getting compliments from all of the nurses and doctors (I know it's their jobs to make me feel good, but everything they are saying is true). He is a very strong boy, he has been lifting his head on his own and about breaking my fingers off with his strong grip. He has been very docile for the past few days as well, he sleeps most of the day and is up for a little while at night. He really doesn't cry or scream much, and he spends alot of time looking around and checking things out.
Anyway I have put some new pictures in here so everyone can see. Also there is an announcement page from the hospital where you can order the baby's pictures at http://www.growingfamily.com/webnursery/default.asp just put in the info (don't forget we are in Texas) and it will take you straight to it.

Love,
Joe (and Adrienne)

The Home Stretch

Here is a picture at 37 weeks and 4 days (which means I'm in my 38th week). As of my doctor's appointment last Thursday I was 1cm dilated and 60% effaced. The goal, for those of you who may be unaware, is to get to 10cm dilated and 100% effaced. Swimmy could come any time now, since I'm now considered "full term." Joe and I are both eagerly awaiting Swimmy's arrival - the hospital bags are packed, I'm on maternity leave, and reaching anything below waist level now requires a full on diagram complete with a pulley system.

Hopefully our next post will be announcing the little one's arrival.
-Adrienne

36 week ultrasound

Today we went in to get an ultrasound to make sure Swimmy is swimming the right way (head down). The technician said everything looked good - the head is down, the measurements are right on track for a 8 Nov due date, and right now the baby looks to weigh 5-1/2 to 6 pounds. In the top picture is a profile of Swimmy. The bottom picture shows Swimmy's hand (toward the top of the screen, thumb is pointing to the right).

-Adrienne

35 Weeks

Here is a picture at 35 weeks. I am amazed at how rapidly the due date (11/8) is approaching, although I also kind of feel like it will never get here. We've completed all of our childbirth preparation classes - we'll see how helpful they are. We are getting another ultrasound this week to check the presentation of the baby, and to get an estimate of the baby's size. At our last appointment, the baby was head-down, so hopefully that head is still down. My last day of actively teaching is the 5th, although I will be at work until the 15th to make sure everything transitions well to my subs.

-Adrienne

32 Weeks!

Here is a picture at 32 weeks. We are anxiously counting down to the due date (only 2 months left!) and have started taking a battery of childbirth/baby education classes. We did a have a slight scare last week which required a four hour trip to labor & delivery, but luckily it was just dehydration. Our doctor today said everything looks great - the baby's heartbeat is strong, the uterine growth is right on track, blood pressure looks good - all in all, we're fantastic! Now we're just waiting for Swimmy to make his/her grand debut.

7 Months

So, we finally made it down to Texas and have gotten somewhat settled. The baby showers were wonderful, and for those of you who haven't gotten thank yous yet - we're working on them (it took a while to relocate the thank you cards). Joe has started working at Southwest Research Institute and begins his classes at UTSA next week. I have opened my dance studio, and classes started this week (visit www.encorepas.com for more). The baby is very active and it seems like he/she is in constant motion. The baby weighs about 2-1/2 pounds by now, which doesn't quite explain the rest of the weight gain. :) Here are picutres of the nursery, which Joe did a great job painting (currently the only finished room in the house), and also of me at 28 weeks.

-Adrienne

Ultrasound

Hooray! Here are the ultrasound pictures of Baby Westlake (aka "Swimmy") at the 20 week ultrasound. The ultrasound went very well - Swimmy is measuring right where he/she should be. The doctor called the pregnancy this far "an A+ pregnancy." These pictures show, from left to right, top to bottom - head and torso profile (head on right), right foot, head and torso profile (head on left), baby's face, and two head profiles. In my opinion, the baby face picture is kind of scary - the high contrast of the ultrasound make the baby look like an alien.

Adrienne