Tyler: Week 39

March 16-March 22, 2011 (38w-38w6d old)

Tyler Update:

• This child will not co-sleep with us!  We've tried numerous times.  We go to bed, let him nurse and try to snuggle with him.  All he wants to do is yell, stand and play.  Even if I can get him to lay down, he fusses the entire time.  I've tried waiting him out, he out lasts me.  I give up and take him back to his crib because I need some sleep.  He's out cold as soon as his head hits the crib mattress, so he's clearly tired.  I know this is the opposite problem most people have, but I miss my little guy sleeping next to me!  =(((  For those of you co-sleeping with your baby who refuses to sleep in their crib, give them a big squeeze and really enjoy them.

• He's a tosser just like his mama.  Every time I look at the monitor he's in a completely different position.  It makes my life a little less stressful as it seems every time I wonder if he's still ok because I haven't seen him move in awhile, he'll roll over.  I then say thanks Tyler!

• He now understands the edge of the bed.  Before he continued crawling as if the bed just kept going.  I of course had him tethered by the ankle.  Now he'll stop right at the edge, look over and then try to spiderman down.  Now I just need him to understand that he's no super hero and wouldn't slide down nice and slowly solo.  It's stressful because he wouldn't hesitate to give it a try on his own.

• We introduced him to acorn squash and it was a hit!  I introduced kale to his mixed veggie puree and he didn't seem to notice.  He refused banana again.

• Eating just got messier.  He now sucks on his fingers after each bite and then rubs them all over his face.

• I believe he has truly weaned himself from his paci.  He has no interest in it when I hand it to him.  He even refused it when he was crying super hard in the church nursery.  That was just way too easy.  I kinda miss it, it was a really nice calming device.

• He starting dancing.  He sways and bounces to his toy's music.  It's no surprise considering how much we dance with this boy.

• He really loves his music.  When he gets fussy during playtime, his Tyler CD almost always fixes the fussies.

• He clearly knows the word milk as well as the sign.  While playing with his toys, he continually ignored me despite trying everything to get his attention, until I said milk.  He yelled, ditched his toy, climbed on my lap and tried to nurse through my shirt.  We laughed so hard.

• Last week he started saying mum, mom and mama, but I wasn't completely sure if he knew what he was saying.  I now definitely believe he does.  He looks me right in the eyes and calls me mom and says it when he's really wanting me.  He hasn't call anyone else mom.  Kerry always hoped he would say mama before dada after all I had to go through and then all the sleepless nights.  Now that he has, Kerry says to him "you Tyler, me Dada" all the time.  Tyler just squawks and giggles.

• He's not much of a snuggler as he never sits still, but boy is he a hugger.  He reaches for me all the time and as soon as I pick him up, he wraps his arms around my neck and squeezes.  If he can't reach my neck, he steps into my hand and pushes himself up.

• He can now climb to the top of the stairs and at a pretty good pace.  I'm working with him on how to get back down safely.

• He can now go straight from sitting to standing without pulling up on something.

Chick and Dude Update:

• I had my first dream since pregnancy, at least one that I was aware of.  I guess it's been that long since I've fallen asleep deep enough to dream.

• We celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary!

• Tall Dude celebrated his 45th birthday!

This week in photos:

Giddy-up Ducky

Enjoying a stroll

I put Kerry's reading glasses on him and he sat like this for a good 5 mins just smiling.
Shockingly he never once tried to take them off.

Bad bad kitty caught on video!

This week in video:

Video:  Tyler dancing to his toy music

Video:  Tyler and Daddy dancing

Video:  Daddy teaching Tyler how to dance

Video:  Tyler getting anxious to get in his tub
(He says "mum" at the very beginning)

Tyler: Week 38

March 9-March 15, 2011 (37w-37w6d old)

Tyler Update:

• He started sleeping with his butt in the air.  He also sleeps face down on his hands which totally stresses me out.  The video monitor and I have become best buds.

• He loves the song "Somewhere Over The Rainbow" by Katharine McPhee.  Whenever he starts throwing a wing ding in his car seat, all we have to do is turn this song on and he instantly becomes peaceful, every single time, has never failed.  We've tried many other soothing songs and no other song will do.

• He can stand unassisted for up to 10 seconds.

Video:  Tyler practicing standing

Video:  Look Mama, no hands!

• He knows where my office is and how to get to it.  While he's with the babysitter, he tries to sneak away and crawl to me while I'm working.

• He followed his daddy all over the house for 30 mins while daddy vacuumed.  Actually, we're not sure if he was following daddy or the vacuum cleaner.

• He can now climb the stairs.  He attempts to stand after each step and doesn't hesitate to fall back to his butt.  He would totally go tumbling down if we weren't there to catch him.  Baby gate time!!!

Video:  Tyler climbing the stairs

• He's hilarious when we remove his diaper and hold him in the air.  His legs go 90 mph.  Looks like he's doing the Running Man from the 80's.

• He loves bath time in his duck tub.  In the beginning he refused to sit down but now he sits right down and plays and plays.  The other day I was in the bathroom getting ready to give him a bath.  He was crawling away towards the door.  As soon as he heard the tub turn on, he turned around and very excitedly crawled to the tub and practically jumped in.

• He learned how to clear his nose.  He breathes in/out really fast and loudly while he scrunches his face.  Quite funny.

• He's no longer sticking everything in his mouth.  While he still taste tests most things, I've noticed that he is starting to just hold and look at an item and not have to stick it in his mouth.  I will be soooo glad when he's completely done with this phase.

• He loves opening and closing things and this week he added drawers to that list.

• We started teaching him "no".  Up until now we would remove him from the no object but now we let him touch the object, gently remove his hand and tell him no.  We repeat as many times as needed.  We also keep our voice/tone at a normal level as we want him to learn the word and not the tone.

• He said his first 3 words this week; mum, mom and then mama.  It was a very nice surprise since he hasn't started babbling yet.  I tell him he can have anything in the world when he calls me mom.

• Banana is still a no go.  What baby doesn't like bananas, or any fruit for that matter??  He has yet to turn down a veggie.  Every 3 or 4 days I steam up a large basket of random mixed veggies, puree them in the blender and then store them in small mason jars.  When it's time to eat, I grab one from the fridge, warm it up in the bottle warmer and then Ty gobbles it up.

• Ty got a very nice surprise visit from his Gpa and Gma who haven't seen him since he was 3 weeks old.  It was one of those kind of surprises where you get a phone call asking if they can stop by in a little bit.  I was completely shocked!!!

• I'll end with Ty's latest silly faces, including his new toothless grandpa impression where he sucks his upper lip in:

Tyler: Week 37

March 2-March 8, 2011 (36w-36w6d old)

Tyler Update:

• He's fighting naps like crazy after being rocked to sleep for a week while he was sick.  We are having to do nap retraining and it's not fun.  But, once he's out, he sleeps up to 7.5 hrs at night which is totally amazing for him.  I wish I could say I'm getting that much sleep as well, but I have to get up and pump.

• He boycotted his paci while he was sick last week so we decided no better time than now to wean him from it.  So far so good.

• We dedicated him at our church baby dedication service.  Our pastor asked Kerry to share the story of our miracle child.  It was so sweet to see him get all choked up while telling it.  Thank you God for such an amazing little boy!

• He chases the cat all over the room.

• His new favorite activity (besides standing) is disassembling his play mat.

• His teeth are very noticeable now.

• We introduced him to green peas and it was a big hit!

• He enjoyed a play date with his buddy Grayson.

• He's working really hard on standing unassisted.  He constantly uses his entertainment mat for practice.  This kiddo is going to be one amazing athlete someday as he practices a new skill like he's training for a marathon.

Video:  Tyler and his unstable standing trainer

Video:  Tyler standing unassisted

• I put his walker in front of him just to see what would happen and the little guy took his 1st steps!

Video:  Tyler's 1st steps

Tyler: Week 36 (8 Months Old)

February 23-March 1, 2011 (35w-35w6d old)

Tyler Update:

• He turned 8 months old on February 23!  He adorably stuck his tongue out in every single pic I took.  Here's a few: 

• He loves actions where we go out of his view and reappear in a different location.  He thinks it's hilarious.

• He loves door stoppers.  Here's a video of it:

• We put him in the grocery cart seat for the first time.  He thought it was pretty cool.

• He's a great little shopping buddy.  He loves walking along the grab bars while mommy tries on clothes.

• His new favorite thing to do is open doors, over and over again.  He doesn't mess with anything inside (yet!), just opens, sticks his head in to take a peek, closes and repeats.

• We introduced a new veggie medley, mixed carrots/spinach/broccoli and he loved it!

In other news, our little guy experienced his very first illness this week.  It started off with what seemed like the common cold, just some coughing and sneezing.  After a few days, the congestion came in and the poor little guy had to learn how to breath through his mouth.  He was happy all day but miserable and very needy at night.  I rocked him to sleep at every nap/bed time.  He had no interest in solids and wanted to nurse constantly.  I nursed 14-16x a day.  It didn't matter to him that he had to strain to breath through a congested nose, there was nothing going to stop him from nursing.

After about 5 days of this, it became apparent this was more than a cold as he started sounding wheezy/rumbly, so I made him a doctor appt.  He was diagnosed with RSV and a double ear infection.  I did not expect that.  She said that Nashville is getting hit hard with RSV and believes it could be related to all the flooding we had last year.  He weighed 16 lbs 11oz.

His pediatrician wanted to try an all natural approach before prescribing antibiotics and steroids.  She had me give him oil of garlic ear drops 3x/day, rub oil of oregano on the bottom of his feet 1x/day and dispense colloidal silver by mouth 1x/day.  Ty smelled very Italian.  She had us put a vaporizer in his room and rub baby Vick's on his chest.  She banned me from all dairy for 2 weeks.  She said this would significantly help him because dairy is very phlegm producing and can pass through my milk.  She said if he got worse over the next 2 days, to come in and she'd put him on the antibiotics and steroids.

Let me tell ya, babies and congestion is NOT fun!  They can't blow their nose and won't let you touch their face. Trying to suction him with the bulb syringe was insane.  You fight a screaming, hand flailing baby to get the tip in his nose, let go and it doesn't suction anything out.  You insanely repeat this hoping to help him in the end.  You worry your neighbors may think you're torturing your baby.  I gave up, the bulb syringe is absolutely worthless.

I desperately ordered the NoseFrida.  It is amazing and is a must have for every parent of an infant!!!  It was unreal how much and how well we were able to clear him out.  He screamed bloody murder and it definitely takes two people, but he was so happy and relieved afterwards.

Within 24 hrs, he was so much better.  Within a couple of days, all symptoms were gone.  The natural approach worked beautifully.  I love our pedi!

Here's hoping for another long stretch of perfect health.  Whew, I thought I knew what exhaustion was, but I sure do now!

Tyler: Week 35

February 16-February 22, 2011 (34w-34w6d old)

Tyler Update:

• He started climbing up us when we hold him. His little legs walk right up us like we're an escalator.

• He has a new noise. It sounds like he's hissing at the cat or maybe clearing his throat.

Video:  Tyler's new "hawking a loogie" sound

• He was given his 1st pair of shoes and he hates them.

Video:  Tyler's 1st shoes

(We had to take them off out of fear of him starting them on fire.)

• He thinks our cat is hilarious.  He lights up and giggles every time he sees him.

Video:  Tyler cracking up at Homey

• He loves outside.  We finally had a nice sunny day so we took him outside and he just jumped and squealed for joy.

Video:  Tyler excited about being outside

This week in photos:

I love the way he sits!

He's so proud of himself standing!

These next 2 photos show his 2 bottom teeth.

He loves his veggies...

... and a wet paper towel for dessert!

We took him out to eat twice this week.  He loves sitting in the restaurant highchair.  He kicked and bounced in excitement.  I missed his mouth several times because he was bouncing so much.  He is such a ham!  He looks all around him to find anyone willing to gaga over him and then he flirts with them.

I never got around to sharing this, but this is his name I made for his nursery wall.

This week in video:

Video:  Tyler standing

Mama Update:

Nothing new, just another blocked duct.  Poor Lefty!

Tyler: Week 34

February 9-February 15, 2011 (33w-33w6d old)

Tyler Update:

• He's pulling himself up to a standing position on anything and everything that he can get ahold of and he's pretty good at it. Occasionally he lets go and stands without support for a second.

• He's no longer falling straight back and hitting his head, he's learned how to sit back down.  He also has learned how to bend at the waist when he does fall and land on his butt.  Thank God!

• Getting him to sleep has become a challenge as all he wants to do it stand in his crib and yell for us.  

Notice the red sound meter?  That's how loud he's yelling!

Sometimes he looks right at the monitor as if to say; I know you're watching me, come get me!!!

• He can walk a short distance while holding onto furniture.

• He's cutting his 2nd bottom tooth.  The 1st tooth is starting to show in pictures (you may have to click to enlarge to see it).

• Thanks to teething he no longer sleeps longer than 2 hrs at a time, around the clock.  I'm beyond exhausted.

• He fell asleep in his jumperoo for the first time.  Obviously he's exhausted too.

• His Granmomma babysat him while daddy and I went to a party. Tyler squealed and giggled with excitement when he saw me return. That one little moment washes away all the exhaustion.

• He's loving peek-a-boo.

• He can now clap.

Video:  Tyler clapping

• He took his first bath in his new duck tub and it did not go too well. While he loved it, all he wanted to do was stand in it, which is dangerous. This child will not sit down!

• I've introduced spinach into his pureed veggies and we have another winner! He's still loving all his veggies and won't have anything to do with fruits.

• Just when I thought diaper changes couldn't get anymore difficult, they have! Every time I change a poo diaper, he grabs himself as soon as I open the diaper, gets poo all over his hand and then grabs everything in sight to get himself flipped over. Poo gets everywhere! Thank God he poops on his potty about 75% of the time.

Mama Update:

Lefty is still underproducing Righty by 50% from a series of blocked ducks ducts a few weeks ago (I think the above pic subliminally messed with my spelling!).  It's embarrassing going out in public when I'm full as the twins are definitely fraternal these days.  I would say they are easily a cup size in difference.  Someone with experience please tell me that Lefty will eventually repair itself!

On Valentine's day, hubby and I were watching The Bachelor on Tivo.  Kerry left and then came walking back in with a rose and said "will you accept this rose?".  Too funny!  I of course happily accepted!

I'll end with a funny on Grammy.  She babysat Ty while Kerry and I attended a health workshop.  Half way through the workshop I got a text from her telling me that Ty had pooped in his exersaucer and was standing in poop.  Grammy has a hard time getting his diaper on well as he won't hold still.  I started silently chuckling and Kerry started nudging me to stop.  Then I get another text; "Yes, that is your son's poop!" with the following pic:

Poor Grammy stepped in Ty's poopy diaper she had left on the floor.  Maybe you had to be there, but I was bent over, wheezing and tearing up I was laughing so hard.  Kerry was getting perturbed so I handed him the phone.  He read it and then joined me in the hysteria!  When we returned, we went to change his diaper and found one side completely unattached.  No wonder poop is falling out of his diaper!  LOL