You Can't Hide (Your Lion Eyes)

Wes and I chase each other around the house, taking turns hiding from one another. Wes was a pretty good sport about letting us dress him up in a furry, fuzzy lion costume (he must think we're really weird)... Wait 'til we get him out and about the neighborhood, begging for candy.

Ready to (Tootsie) Roll!

Leaving the house... Wes is moments away from trick-or-treating. It took several houses before he became clear on the "trick or treat" concept -- which is weird, right? 1) We're outside at night (rare; semi-forbidden), 2) We're walking in the street (definitely forbidden), 3) We're knocking on lots of peoples' doors (bizarre), 4) They're all thrilled to see us (whatever), 5) They've all carved out a squash and put a candle in it (voodoo?) 6) They hold out a giant bowl of candy (unheard of) and 7) I'm encouraged to take some (is this a "trick"?)... And we're doing this over and over.

Hallowhine Candy

Wes eventually got into the swing of things, Trick-or-Treat-wise... But it wasn't easy. He mostly wanted to ride his bike, run around the yard, and ask to drive Mom's car.

Impostor Lion Looks At Wes "Funny"

Wes is sort of a biker dude these days. (Is there such thing as a "triker dude"? Then he's that, maybe). When another lion -- aka an Impostor Lion -- started getting a little too wild, started roaring a bit too much, Wes got territorial and gave him a "warning look." Note the moment captured in the above photo, when Impostor Lion realizes he's pushed things a little too far and WesLion is about to get off his bike.

...So Wes "Took Care" of the Other Lion

"You talkin' to me?"

Let's just say we didn't have any other trouble with any other impostor lions on Halloween...

Victory Feast

Wesley shared some (organic, whole-wheat) Spaghetti-O's with Lion, and told of his great victory over the impostor lion.

Mother's Little Helper

"Kids are different today," I hear ev'ry mother say...

The good news? Wesley likes to help.

The bad news? Wesley likes to help.

But tell me this: Could you look into that smiling little face, with his one eyebrow raised mischievously, his eyes shining with excitement, and tell him "No, I don't want you to help!"?

(And if you answered "yes" to that, do you use the traditional burlap sack or do you prefer the more modern nylon mesh netting when you drown puppies?)

Wes Rocks!

During the 4th of July week, Wesley spent quite a bit of time at his "Mer-Mer" and "Grandpa Dude's" beautiful house in Solana Beach.



More specifically, he spent quite a bit of time in the planter in front of the house, carefully placing little fistfuls of rocks and seashells...


...all over the concrete edge...



...and onto the ground... and onto the tops of the landscape lighting... and onto the nearby wooden chairs...

...and probably a bunch of other places that Mer-Mer and Grandpa Dude are still finding. Sorry about that!

Boys' Toys

Wes insisted that we spend almost half an hour studying the truck.

I had a sociology professor at UCLA who peppered her lectures with snarky asides about how men and women were virtually the same, except for a few trivial anatomical differences. She explained that society conditions little girls to like dolls and little boys to like trucks and that a gender-neutral Utopia was likely just a few decades away...

And while we're waiting for this alleged "Utopia" (?!), here's a bit of bumper sticker wisdom from someone who probably did not spend eight years getting an advanced degree in sociology:

Chips Ahoy!

Although sunscreen and a hat protected Wes from harmful UV rays, he decided to just take his chances with his sodium and saturated fat intake.

Another pic from our Easter in the desert, with Wes-Chop chomping chips. He wasn't all that fascinated with this year's Masters telecast ("Zach Johnson... Is he someone's caddy?"), but the endless parade of salty snacks marching across his path made for its own kind of entertainment.

Southwest Easter Bunny Tale

For whatever reason, Wes doesn't immediately trust hip-hop chicks.

Guess who we met in Palm Desert on Easter Sunday? At first, Wes wasn't quite sure what to make of the long ears, the puffy tail, and the tendency to hop around quite a bit. But after 45 minutes of chasing (and being chased by) the Easter Bunny around the lawn in the backyard, we learned that you can't spell "hysterical laughter" without H-A-R-E (well you can, I suppose, but then it would be "ysticl lugt" and this post would make even less sense).

Oh well. I guess the weekend's excitement made us "basket" cases. (Sorry.)

Of course, if there's a camera pointed our way, we're certainly happy to smile!

Taxidermy Headwear?

Wes models the latest in faux fur fun!

Our Breakfast Rolls/Roles

Yes, we get silly at breakfast time. Yes, sometimes we play with a paper towel roll (cut in half). Yes, there was a song that we were singing to accompany this paper towel roll dance.

No, we will not be singing it for you here. (Sorry, but silly morning songs have a very short shelf life. It'd probably make you sick if you listened to it now.)

Our Swingin' Guy!

Wesley has a new place to hang out! The photo above (and video below) is from his first time riding a swing at our local park, an experience that had him laughing out loud.

And, yes, just like at Starbucks: People come over and talk to him. He lives in a world filled with smiling faces, populated almost entirely with people happy to see him and eager to say hello. And why not, right?

Low-res video, anyone?

Shop with Chop & Pop

Apologies to Wesley's fans who have been clamoring for more frequent blog updates. Management and labor have reached an agreement that should (?) prevent future work stoppages.

In addition to the stoppin', we've been shoppin', among other things. While Mom was trying stuff on in the Puma store's dressing room, we were fairly patient. For the first 73 minutes.

5:17 p.m. - "Daddy's wearing a hilarious hat and taking a picture of me!"

5:41 p.m. - "Yeah, I saw the hat, Dad. It was mildly entertaining the first 11 times you showed it to me."

We needed more than just the usual amusement: mirrors would be needed.

Mirrors would be found:

5:58 p.m. - "Okay, this is kinda fun."

6:03 p.m. - "Dad, did you see this kid in the mirror?!"

6:05 p.m. - "Okay, now you're just scaring me, Dad. Let's go find Mom and get outta here!"

Kangaroo Invasion

Wesley dusts the floor with his Halloween costume.

Wes is Kangaroo'd

Shanon and Wes strike a Happy Halloween pose prior to trick-or-treating. We decided not to overdue it and stopped after about, oh... one house.

(Note: Stop with the emails. We know male marsupials don't have pouches -- they also don't have Pampers. It was a Halloween costume. It was pretend. I hope you didn't tell the little girl dressed as Nemo that a "real" fish who went trick-or-treating would die.)

Messley Hartford

You know how when you're dining with someone and they get a little piece of food hanging off their chin or maybe their lip, and you sort of dab at your own chin with a napkin, as a hint to them that, you know, "Hey, ya got a little somethin' right there..." and then they pick up on the hint and quickly wipe away the crumb or whatever?

I don't even know where to start with Wes.

"No, it's still there. A little lower."

Wesley Looks Up to Us

...or maybe he just looks up at us?

The cats aren't thrilled about Wesley's newfound mobility -- nor are they amused by his attempts to "pet" them (i.e. when he grabs a drool-drenched fistful of fur and squeals with laughter).

We humans, on the other hand, can't help but smile when this little face looks up and invites us to play.

Even if it's a game involving loud "singing" and clattering blocks on the hardwood floors at 5:42 a.m.

Right, Shanon?

Wesley in action!

World premiere footage of Wesley crawling:


More to come!