Wesley at One

When I retired just before August 2008, Finn was already almost 5 months old. That made Wesley the very first baby I've ever had with me since birth. It's been a completely different experience for me than with the other two. Babies are immobile, you know. By the time I got Fini, he was practically walking already, so Wesley, the laziest baby I've ever met, was a complete change of pace.




I honestly feel like Wesley knew on some subliminal level, that he was last and he could take his time growing up. I'm sure this is common in larger families: the first is treated like an adult and always acts as if he should be grown up; the second feels the need to catch up and so develops even quicker; the baby has so many devoted servants he feels like an emperor worthy of worship. Where Cole was walking at nine months and Finn at seven, Wesley is happy to crawl still and shows no desire to walk on his own.



Still, as a crawler, as a small baby, he revels in his stealth abilities. It is no mere nickname that we call Wesley the Ninja. He is always finding ways to get to the exact worst item for him to have in any room. I feel like I'm always taking dangerous or delicate things from him. If we're in the shower, he's got a razor. If we're in the playroom, he's found the marbles. If we're in the kitchen, he's got a knife. The prideful look he gets and the shriek of delight when he finally captures his prey is so adorable you almost go, "Aw, baby! Of course you can play with Uncle Andrew's lighter!"



As the only baby who's crawled, he's gotten quite good at it. He's now super fast, gone in a flash into the next room. He's officially entered the danger toddler period: not yet advanced enough to understand "No!" and too mobile to stay out of trouble. In our family, this is called "crock pot age" after visit to grandma's house when Cole was in this phase where he broke a crock pot in the two minutes we looked away.

But he is a delight to have around. He's quick to smile and laugh and shriek. He's never been a baby who cries a lot and was quick to learn to put himself asleep (although slow to learn to stay asleep). He loves any attention his brothers give him. They'll give him "guys" to play with and then act around him or they'll talk to him and make funny faces. Just this morning Stacy asked Finian, "What fun are you going to do today?" and Fini responded, "Um. I'm gonna play with baby Wessie."  Fini really took to being a big brother much better than we anticipated (perhaps a little too much, as the constant calls of "Finian, put the baby down!" can attest) and Cole enjoys feeling like there is someone around that he can teach (and parent).



Three does end up feeling like the right number of children.



All three are wonderful originals that truly complement each other. Happy birthday, Wes. I am so glad to have you in our family.