Tyler: Week 50

June 1-June 7, 2011 (49w-49w6d old)

Tyler Update:

• He apparently loves to toss items into receptacles!   He puts our phones in his hamper, the nanny's keys in the garbage and random objects like a trackball and nursing pads in the toilet.  

• He experienced his 1st set of scrapped knees.  Kerry tried to hold his hand while walking down a sidewalk, Tyler yanked his hand away and fell to his knees.  Displaying a little independence?

• He wants what he can't have and is starting to develop a little temper.  I am so ordering Happiest Toddler on the Block!

• Running errands with just Tyler and myself has become quite challenging.  He's fine as long as I keep moving, but if I need to stop and pick something out, which is a frequent requirement of shopping, he gets very antsy.  He wants out of his stroller, he wants to be held, he wants down, he wants to run and knock things off of shelves.  I of course just go into the mode of doing anything to keep him from throwing a wing ding.  I hand him random (safe) items off the shelves hoping to gain 10 seconds to pick out a product.  One time I handed him a big pair of women's sunglasses and I couldn't help but laugh when I turned back around and found him staring at me with a huge grin and the glasses on!  Needless to say, errands take forever, or require frequent short trips, or better yet, I make Kerry go with me.

• He knows how to get off the bed by himself.  He crawls to the edge, rotates a half turn and slides off feet first.

• His favorite song is the abc song.  He has a Leapfrog Leaptop that plays about 10 songs.  He pushes the music button until it gets to the abc song, let's it play, then pushes the button again until it gets back to that song.  We now sing this to him during diaper changes, he goes from impossible to change to holding still and smiling.  Who would have ever thought that the abc song had such a lullaby affect!

• He tried a few new foods this week; lentils (thumbs down), lima beans (thumbs up), and his first meat, organic free-range chicken breast (big thumbs up!)

• We took him to the pool for the first time and he LOVED it!

It amazes me how one little person can be soooooo much work all the while never ceasing to say, he is the best thing that has ever happened to me!  I've found the saying "children are the hardest job you will ever have, but the most rewarding" to be spot on!  I love this little guy more than I could have ever imagined.

This week in photos:

Coloring

Obsessed with my keyboard

Always sucking his lip in, he must be feeling those front teeth

Having fun at his new water table

Sporting his new cloth pull-up training pants

This week in video:

Video:  Tyler's 1st time eating chicken

Video:  Preview of the terrible twos?

Video:  Tyler's 1st time at the pool

Video:  Tyler water skiing

Video:  Tyler standing in Daddy's hands

Tyler: Week 49

May 25-May 31, 2011 (48w-48w6d old)

Tyler Update:

• He started saying ba-ba and finally da-da!

• We introduced watermelon and cantaloupe and he loves them both.  

• He experienced his 1st trip to the zoo.  His favorite part was the petting zoo.  All he wanted to do was lay his hands on the goats and yell at them.

• He can color.  He shocked me at a restaurant when he grabbed a pencil and tablet out of my hand and started scribbling.  Later at home, I handed him a crayon and paper and he colored.  Not sure where he learned this as we've never colored with him before.

• He can throw quite the temper tantrum when we take something away, holy cow!

• He shakes his head no and understands no.  Whenever we say "no Tyler", he pauses and moves on, other times he tests the limits.

• We couldn't find any of our home phones, our nanny later found them all in his laundry hamper.  Now whenever I can't find something, I can usually find it in his hamper, lol!

• He goes to the door and waits when I say "Daddy's home!".  It's so cute!

This week in photos:

Stud Muffin

Cheese!

Toofers

Ever since he started getting top teeth, he sucks on his upper lip.

A snuggle with Daddy

This week in video:

Video:  Tyler yelling at the light.

It's amazing how much his walking improves each week.

Video:  Tyler yelling at a goat.

I think he was trying to make sure he was heard over the cicadas!

Video:  Tyler saying ba-ba.

Video:  Tyler's new smile.

Tyler: Week 48 (11 Months Old)

May 18-May 24, 2011 (47w-47w6d old)

Tyler Update:

• He started kissing us and I've got to say, it's one of the best things ever!  He looks us right in the eyes, opens his mouth slightly and plants a long still kiss on our mouth.  We always say "Awww, thank you for the kisses" and then he smiles real big.  But, it has to be on his terms!

• His teeth are coming in well.  I had to install some crib rail covers after finding a few bite marks.  I highly recommend the Trend Lab Crib Wraps if you have a little termite on your hands.

• He's walking all over the house huffing and puffing, breathing like he's out of breath.  I guess this is his new noise of the week.

• We had to disable the buttons on the front of the tv as he learned how to turn the tv on/off and crank up the volume.

• It's very difficult getting a good picture of him these days.  Not only is he constantly on the move, but now he intentionally turns his back to camera every time I aim it at him.  Little stinker!  Now if I put his sunglasses on, he'll pose.  He so thinks he's a stud!

• He turned 11 months on May 23.

This is probably about the 239th picture I took as he would not hold still.

I only got this one because I teased him with a cell phone.

I took it back as he tried to take off with it.

Little guy was not happy about it!

Ok, REALLY not happy about it!
Ha ha, I just noticed my nanny in the background diving for the couch to avoid being in the photo!

This week in video:

Video:  I love how Tyler walks with his hands in the air!

His stance is starting to narrow a little bit now that he's gaining balance.

Video:  Tyler loves these closet doors and breathes like he's out of breath.

Video:  The boy loves hangers!

(This was at bedtime, so we had his diaper double stuffed.  We call his walk the cloth diaper waddle.)

Breastfeeding:

I've had several people, in real life and on this blog ask me about breastfeeding, so I thought I would answer them here.

• Am I still breastfeeding and how often?  Yep, around the clock.  I pretty much nurse on demand and the boy is very demanding.  He still nurses once or twice in the middle of the night and while it is exhausting, I love the special time with him and I believe it's crucial to keeping my supply going.  

• My baby is very distracted during nursing, does this mean they're not interested and/or wanting to wean?  Every baby is different, but I would say no.  Most babies go through a stage where they are very distracted during nursing.  I remember Tyler going through this and having to nurse him facing a blank wall or in the dark to get him to finish.  It was just a stage. 

• Is my little guy as interested in nursing as before?  Yes, maybe even more.

• Am I still pumping?  Nope.  I haven't pumped in quite awhile.  Basically I gave up because Ty takes everything I make.  There is only 1 time frame where I can collect and that's when he first goes to bed.  But it has never failed, every time I decided to pump, he would wake up as soon as I was done and then I had to turn around and give it to him.  Recently we had an event we had attend all evening, so I pumped and left a bottle for the babysitter.  This was the first time I had pumped in months and made a bottle. We were completely taken off guard when he refused his bottle.  I offered it to him again when I got home and the babysitter was right, he wouldn't have anything to do with it.  So I guess he's done with bottles which also means I'm officially done with pumping.

• When do I plan on weaning?  My goal was to make it to 1 year and now that I have, I'm just playing it by ear.  The only reason I would want to wean at this point is to get more sleep, but when I think of all the benefits of continuing (see below), weaning at this point is not even a consideration.  
• Tyler loves nursing and I can't imagine denying him.  I've experienced those crocodile tears when I was in situations where I couldn't nurse him and it does some serious heart tugging.
• All of the pediatric associations recommend breastfeeding for at least one year, some say two years.  There's a reason for this.
• There is nothing more nutritious available.  My milk is designed specifically for him and is still supporting his developing immune system.
• Breastfeeding decreases your risk of breast and ovarian cancer.  This is really important to me considering I increased my risk by injected myself with 240 injections of fertility meds to conceive Tyler and I want to be around for him for a very long time.
• I get to eat 500 more calories a day and it got me below my pre-pregnancy weight without effort.
• It's free!!!!!

These are my personal decisions/reasons and is no reflection on what another parent does.  Each must decide what is best for them and their child.  I hope this helps, let me know if you have anymore questions.    =)

Tyler: Week 47

May 11-May 17, 2011 (46w-46w6d old)

Tyler Update:

• Walking... that's all he wants to do.  Around and around the kitchen island with a loud pitter patter on the hardwoods.  Sometimes he assumes a wide squat position, lifts his knees high and stomps as if he's saying "hear me walk!"  I was a little concerned about his super wide stance, but upon a little research, it appears it's normal for early walkers, is used for balance and will resolve itself.  So I'm not going to worry about it, for now I think it's cute.  He's not falling much anymore, thank God!

Video:  Tyler walking (really wide) around and around the kitchen

• He's not doing so well when I leave him in the church nursery.  He's that child that cries hysterically for his parents.  When I serve in the nursery, he demands my attention and does not like to share his mama.  If I'm consoling another baby, he hangs onto my legs and cries for me.  I'm hoping this is just a phase.

• He loves looking out the window.

• He steals my mouse.

• He loves opening and closing everything, especially closet and cabinet doors.  Cabinet locks are on their way!

• Electrical outlets are really cool!  Plugs are going in!

• He's a tosser.  These photos were all taken within 5 mins.

Tyler: Week 46

May 4-May 10, 2011 (45w-45w6d old)

Tyler Update:

• He started tossing and turning like crazy at night and then started making a teeth grinding noise. He was refusing to eat and was very fussy.  I took a look at his upper gums and sure enough he has his first set up upper teeth coming in!  By the end of the week he had 3 coming in at once.

• We celebrated our 1st out-of-the-womb Mother's day together.  I'm hating my new haircut and I can't wait to get these ugly braces off!

• He experienced his first park swing and omgoodness did he love it!  He grinned and squealed with joy.

• He's walking pretty well this week, though still with a really wide stance for balance.  He's lost interest in his walker and is crawling less.  He's able to rotate and switch directions.

This week in photos:

Tyler and his potty seat cover, such a ham!

Loves crinkling newspaper!

This week in video:

Tyler walking all over the place!  He also shows off by standing up hands free.

Tyler swinging at the park

Thank you to all that left me a comment on my last post!!!  It was really nice hearing that some of you are still out there following along and would continue following if I kept this blog going.  A special thanks to those of you that are still fighting the fight and continue to read all these baby updates, you are brave, strong and a faithful blog friend!  I will try to keep this blog going even if it's not as often.  My goal is to get it completely up to date before Tyler hits 1 which is only 1 week away!!  Hugs!