Thursday, August 30, 2012

Houston, we've got a toddler!

Tyler is all toddles now, barely crawling at all! His first steps were right before his 1st birthday, but for the last couple weeks he's really been taking off and using walking as his primary mode of transportation. I guess that officially makes him a toddler. Today we went to the grocery store and I put him in one of the carts with the little car attached/in front of the basket. Well when I was trying to decide on something, Tyler managed to escape the car, walk over the shelves of hotdog buns, and grab a couple packages. He then toddled over to the cart and put them in the front seat of the car part, then went back for another two packages! I was laughing so hard I thought I'd cry. He's a goofball!

He also has been sprouting all sorts of teeth! Our tooth count is at 11, and will probably get to 12 in the next week or so (there is one just pushing to get through!). While his bottom molars weren't too painful to come in, these top ones have turned my little angel into an obnoxious, whiny toddler. Boo. I know it's bad to call your kid obnoxious, but if you heard "uh, uh, uh" and had to bend over and pick up then put back down then pick up and then put back down a baby all day long, you'd think he was obnoxious too. But I still love him nonetheless! I hope this last molar comes in and we get a break for awhile.



Thankfully, even though he's been fussy during the day, he's been a great sleeper! (Welllll with a few exceptions!). Last night, he was asleep by 9pm and slept all the way to 7:15 or 7:30ish. I can't remember. Either way, it was great. I LOVE SLEEPING THROUGH THE NIGHT! Almost makes me not want to have anymore kids.... almost ;-) Jordon and I have officially starting getting the not so subtle hints that it's time for #2. Not that I'd argue at all, but it is definitely a little daunting thinking about going through sleepless nights, constant carrying, and the wonderful breastfed-baby-poop stage again. We will see when God decides we're ready for the next little blessing in our life, but for now we're just trying to enjoy this new stage in Tyler's life!

And as for Mommy and Daddy, we're getting ready for the school year which starts on Monday. Yes, I said WE because I got a job! The head of the health and human performance program here asked me to teach 10 credits of classes, and I definitely agreed! This momma is ready to work and use her degree! I get an office and a laptop and everything... big time adjunct faculty here! Of course, getting all my prep work done is near impossible while watching baby, but hopefully once the year starts up and we start having Jordon's grandma watch the baby, I'll have more time to get work done.

Lots of growing all around for this family!

Monday, July 23, 2012

One Year!

Wow, does time fly! My little baby turned one year old yesterday, and I cannot believe it. One year ago today I was FINALLY holding my little one in my arms, after a long 39 week and 1 day wait. Phew.

To celebrate Tyler's first birthday, we had a Very Hungry Caterpillar themed party with family and friends. It was a blast. Thanks to Pinterest, my Cricut, and my personal creativity, we had a Very Hungry Caterpillar cake, cake pops, decorations and more. I had so much fun making everything and definitely went all out. I have a lot to live up to for the next birthday! But it was definitely fun.

Instead of gifts, we had people bring baby-related donations for us to donate to the local food pantry. We collected 471 diapers, 420 wipes, 97 containers of baby food, 7 cans of formula, 9 bottles of infant juice, 16 boxes of pedisure toddler drink, 3 bottles, 2 boxes of baby cereal and a fresh food mesh feeder. I was just amazed at everyone's generosity, and was so excited that we could make such a large donation to such a needy cause. I have a huge spot in my heart for feeding and clothing those who don't have much, so I am hoping that this was just one step in teaching Tyler to have the same convictions (sure, he won't remember it much, but you have to start these kind of traditions young!).

Tyler seemed to have a great time at his party. He loved seeing all his family and honorary aunts, and all his baby cousins! He was apprehensive when it came to his cake though. He spent a good couple minutes just feeling the icing haha. I finally put a bit of icing on my finger and gave him a taste, then gave him some cake which he shoved in his mouth. Lots of frosting everywhere! And he played in the sandbox awhile, and with the pinwheels we put out in the yard as favors for the kids.

On his actual birthday (the day after his party), Tyler had a special breakfast (Daddy shared his biscuits and gravy with him), and then played and played with his cousins outside in the sandbox (his new favorite). He went swimming in the evening then slept a nice longggggg time (9pm to almost 8am straight!). Who says parents don't benefit from their children's birthdays? As for our gift for Tyler, his Daddy is building him a toy box! It didn't get completed quite in time for his birthday (we've been traveling like CRAZY and Jordon's been working a lot at Wintergreen), but it should be done soon. Then Jordon's talented aunt will be painting it a Noah's Ark theme! I think Mommy may be more excited than him about this gift!

We took Tyler in for his one year doctor's appointment today and everything looked great! He weighed an even 20 lbs and was an even 30 inches long (although Jordon claims Ty man is at least 30.5 inches), putting him at or just below average for everything. And his head circumference was right at 50%, which is amazing considering everything we worried about while I was pregnant with him. Praise God that he is a healthy boy! Tyler had a blood test for lead and a CBC to check his iron levels, all of which were normal (although the doctor commented his WBC were just slightly elevated and he may be getting a cold soon.... yikes!). Finally, Tyler got 3 shots, much to his discontent. We definitely had a grumpy boy on our hands!

This week we are back to Wintergreen and then next week we'll be camping at Philpot Lake for our family reunion. I'll be excited to finally get back into my house and settled once all of this is over! We have some new neighbors just two houses down from us... the new wrestling coach at the college and his wife and twin boys. I am SO excited to have another mom my age around. I baked some homemade apple streusel muffins with the apples from our apple tree for them, so I think we'll be good friends :-) AND I got a new job! I'll be an adjunct faculty member at the college, teaching Exercise Prescription, Kinesiology, and Athletic Training courses. I even get an office! I'm pretty excited to get out of the house a little more and finally put my degree to good use.

That's all for now! Thanks for sticking around and keeping updated with us this year!

Saturday, July 7, 2012

Baby's 1st Fourth of July!

What an awesome week we've had! First of all, Tyler took his first steps on the 3rd! So proud of my little one. He still needs some practice, but he's going to be running around in no time. He's been busy eating like a big boy too, including whole milk! The pediatrician said we could cheat a bit and start it midway through the 11th month, so we decided to give it a go and he loved it.

Little boy is now also officially weaned. It is definitely bittersweet. I had planned to keep at least one feeding in the schedule until his first birthday, but a couple of weeks ago he came down with hand foot mouth disease (sounds a lot worse than it is, I promise). He got little blisters in his mouth (and a couple on his feet and hands, hence the name) and didn't want to nurse AT ALL. They healed after 4 days or so, but when I tried to nurse him after than, he still didn't want to nurse. Although I REALLY wanted to keep breastfeeding him, I knew it probably wasn't the best idea to try and try to get him to nurse, especially when I was planning on weaning him in less than a month anyway. So my once exclusively breastfed, bottle and paci-refusing baby, weaned with NO problems at all.




It is nice not having to worry about nursing/pumping at all now though. Especially because we've been so busy traveling and doing fun stuff for summer! On the fourth of July, we went to Smith Mountain Lake because Jordon's aunt, uncle, and cousins were vacationing there and graciously opened up their house, food, boat, and two jetskis to us :-) Thanks Kosers! Anyway, it was a BLAST. Seriously, I can't remember the last time I had so much fun. We took Ty man on the boat and he loved it! Even though we put him in a life jacket, he didn't complain once. Jordon and I got to tube behind the boat, which was awesome and hilarious at the same time, and Jordon got to wakeboard (I was a wimp and didn't try haha). Then later, Jordon's aunt watched baby so we could go out and ride the jetski. Awesome. The lake was beautiful and we just had a blast. Tyler loved meeting all his family and they loved having him. I definitely heard the phrase "cutest baby ever" at least 10 times that day. He is pretty cute, huh? We even came back the next afternoon to hang out some more (we only live about 40 minutes from the lake) and to see Jord's Pap and Grandma who came to visit the Kosers too. It is awesome to see family!

We're visiting with Jordon's parents, Luke and the kids this weekend, and are off to Wintergreen tomorrow for Jordon to work and for me and baby to play. And then it's off to Columbia to visit my side of the family. Phew... busy month! Next thing I know, it's going to be Tyler's FIRST birthday. My oh my, where does the time go?!

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

About time for an update!

About time for an update, huh? Please forgive my slack... unfortunately I don't have much of an excuse, as Jordon is now officially off work for the summer and I have plenty of help watching baby. We have been very busy though!

So last time I checked in, my little 9 month old monster was really starting to move, and now my 10.5 month old child is unstoppable. I remember the days when I could lay him on his play gym and he'd just quietly bat at toys while I got stuff done.... those are long gone! Tyler is normal, hand and knees crawling now. Bye, bye army crawl! He also is on the verge of walking. My mom got him a little walker and he just takes off on that thing! It's pretty funny to watch him crawl up to it, pull himself right up and take off. Occasionally, it's in a corner and he just pushes it against the wall over and over again until we come pull it out and situate it so he can walk somewhere.

Tyler is doing great with eating as well. He eats 3 meals a day with some snacks, and can pretty much eat whatever we are eating for dinner, just cut up into small pieces. Last night he ate leftover pork roast (in small pieces of course), sweet potatoes, and green beans. I still give him some puree for dinner though, just to make sure he's getting enough. Also, my baby is finally a sippy-cup boy! I am no longer an on-demand restaurant for him (so this is what freedom feels like?). Phew. It's really bittersweet weaning him though... I still cherish the 2x a day that I nurse him (when he wakes up and after dinner) because he snuggles right up and is so happy, but I am happy not to have to find a place to nurse him whenever we are out and about. Plus he was getting so distracted and rambunctious during his daytime feedings that both I and the pediatrician believed he was starting to self wean. Ideally, I want to keep at least one nursing session until he is 1 year old, so we shall see how it goes! But I am very proud of EXCLUSIVELY breastfeeding for 9 months... it was hard work!

And you may have noticed I didn't mention anything about those middle-of-the-night feedings. That is because my baby is FINALLY sleeping through the night! I seriously thought the day would never come. He sleeps 8:30(ish) to 6(ish) and I am so happy to finally get some uninterrupted sleep. Ideally, he'd sleep in a little later, but hey, I'll take what I can get. We didn't really do anything special to sleep train him this time. We went away for one night into Roanoke for our anniversary (2 years! Can you believe it?!) and Jordon's parents kept him, and obviously had to comfort Tyler without nursing during the night. I guess that's all it took because the next night he slept right through. When his 8th tooth finally popped through he did wake up during the night for a few nights, but we were dead set on NOT reintroducing those night time feedings, so Jordon and I took turns rocking him back to dream land.

Tyler is also babbling away these days! He was pretty slow to make consonant sounds (probably because he was putting all his energy into moving), but now he just talks all the time. His first, and favorite, sound to make is "dada." Of course. He doesn't really know what he is saying (although my dear husband would beg to disagree) but he will say it all day long. The other night Jordon was rocking him to sleep and I could hear "dadadadadada" softly coming from his room for about 10 minutes. He also says "wa" and "ba" and "ya" and "ha" but absolutely no "ma." grrr. I keep saying "Tyler, say MAMA!" and all I get is "dadadadada." You see the kind of appreciation I get?

I did, however, have an awesome first mother's day! My mom was in town so I was able to see her (and let her know how much I now appreciate her MORE since I know what it takes to be a mom!). Jordon worked at Wintergreen, but came home Sunday afternoon and presented me with a generous spa gift certificate (I'm going to get a massage, but I have to figure out what I'm going to spend the rest on!) and the cutest photo collage from the Ty man. Plus he made me pancakes for dinner. I was craving them ;-)

Tyler is just the best baby ever! We went to Grace and Chris's wedding up in Connecticut, and he was seriously an angel. He did pretty well on the drive up (he slept a lot of it and then I'd play with him in the back seat for awhile until we'd take a pit stop) and did awesome while we were there. We stopped in New Jersey to visit Niki and her family (and to break up the trip a bit), and while we were there we visited Carlos Bakery in Hoboken, so Tyler was able to taste a famous cupcake!



At the wedding, he slept during the ceremony and was good at the reception too. We dressed him up so cute in a shirt and tie, and everyone there just adored him. I think he was giving Grace and Chris a run for there money when it came to attention (just kidding!). We had a blast. And, we got a sitter for the second half to the reception (8:30pm-11) so we could enjoy ourselves some more and Tyler could go to bed on time, so the night was just perfect! Obviously, traveling that far with a ten month old is not ideal, but we made it work and had a great time.

We're excited for this summer since Jordon officially has time off work and we can spend time doing things as a family. I certainly enjoy the help taking care of Tyler during the day as he is a handful now that he is moving so much. Jordon has been taking him for rides on the lawn mower (which he loves!) and we've been taking him on short evening walks around our block. It's awesome to be able to spend quality time all together. We are so blessed!

Thursday, April 26, 2012

On The Move And Keeping Me Busy

Please forgive my long absence on the blogging front... as you will read, Tyler has been keeping me MORE than busy, so I've barely found the time to clean my house, let alone type up an update!

So since I've last blogged, Tyler has gone from having three teeth to having SEVEN. Yes, my 9 month old has seven teeth (he's actually had seven for a few weeks now... I'm just bad at updating the world about it). Needless to say, it was a rough four weeks during which those teeth were making there way in. He has four on the top and three on the bottom. He's still missing his bottom tooth to the left of the center two. I'm not really sure what that one is waiting for!


He's also become much more active. Although he still primarily army crawls, he's finally caught onto the proper form of hand and knee crawling, which he'll do if he's on the right kind of surface and not wearing pants or socks haha. Talk about picky. And for the past few weeks he's been pulling himself up to standing, which scares me to death! At first I was so excited, but now I just stand behind him ALL the time, and of course the times I'm not right by his side, he falls and bangs his head. Which is why I am exhausted and have no time for anything! I do have to give him some credit though... he's becoming a lot better at keeping his balance and most of the time will stick his butt out and catch himself in a sitting position if he starts to loose his balance while standing. Although now he's been testing himself by letting go to whatever he's holding so he stands free for a couple seconds (and my heart stops until he grabs back on or I grab him). Long story short, the kid loves to stand. No more sitting and playing with toys nicely.... nooo he needs to make a bee line to the closest object he can pull himself up on and stand.


While all this was going on, Jordon was in the height of tennis season, which made my life even busier! Jordon would be gone until 6pm on practice nights, and as late at 11pm on nights he had matches. Plus every weekend in March was taken up by matches. Rough life for this tennis family! Tyler was precious though, because anytime Jordon would come home the little guy would try to crawl as fast as he could to Jordon and would cry because he couldn't get there quick enough and wanted Jordon to pick him up. We are SO happy the season is over and was have more family time!

 
Ty man is eating great as well! Lots of new adventures in food... a cupcake on his daddy's birthday, an oreo from his great-grandma (definitely not an everyday treat but you can't say no to great-grandma!), ritz crackers, little bits of hamburger, bits of a chocolate bunny from his 1st Easter basket (okay, I ate the majority of it), strawberries, etc. And he's doing pretty well taking a cup! I'm trying to get him to replace a couple of his feedings with cups of pumped milk (slowlyyyy working our way to weaning). He usually just takes sips of the cup, but he'll finish 4 oz. over a couple hours which is much more than he ever did before, so I won't complain.


As much as I hate that he is growing up so quickly, it is pretty exciting being able to do new things with him... take him to the park and put him in a swing, play in the sandbox, put him on my shoulders, etc. I'm so excited for all the fun our little family will be having this summer!

Monday, March 12, 2012

Right on Schedule

Tyler has been growing, and in doing that, has definitely matured and settled into a SCHEDULE. ah! Every parent's dream. I have been trying to get him on some sort of schedule since he was born but never succeeded. Now he has developed, in his own timing, a schedule that has been working wonders for the whole family.

Baby boy wakes up around 6:30 or 7am every morning, and is down for a nap by 8:30 or 9. Most of his naps are at least an hour long, and sometimes will be 90 minutes long. Definitely gives me the chance to get some work done around the house! Then he naps again around 12:30 or 1 and then again around 4. He get solids at breakfast, lunch and again at dinner and nurses after each nap. He gets his bath around 7:30, nurses and is usually asleep by 8 or 8:30 at the latest. Then it's time for Mommy and Daddy to relax! It's so nice to have a (semi) predictable day. Yes, sometimes the schedule does get a bit thrown off, like when he had a cold last week, but he always seems to get back on track. And he even did pretty good keeping with it the last time we traveled.

He's been eating very well (except last week when he had his cold, but sickness throws everything off). Some new things he's tried are apricots (I mixed them in with sweet potatoes and he loved it) and peaches. I made a fruit medley of apricots, peaches, apples, and bananas which he loved, and it is great to mix in with his cereal in the morning. I've also made other combinations like sweet potatoes with apricots, sweet potatoes with banana, and carrot with pear. I made him some applesauce with cinnamon as well, which was a hit! Last week I introduced yogurt which is a new favorite and daily staple for the little guy. Plus he's been munching plenty off our plates, so he's had a bit of banana bread, he chewed on a roll at Logan's Steakhouse (it was too cute!), black beans, and some other foods that I can't remember off the top of my head. We gave him some baby pureed chicken (we bought the organic jarred kind to try before I went out making and freezing a bunch), but he hated it! I'm not sure if it was the taste or the texture. It smelled like cat food to me, so I'm not surprised he wasn't a fan. I'm thinking about buying some ground turkey and giving him finger-food sized chunks to try (he's getting pretty good at picking up food and feeding himself)... if he doesn't like then I know Jordon can use the ground turkey some other way so it won't go to waste.


And if all of that didn't convince you that Tyler is officially a big boy, listen to this: he has THREE teeth now! Well, his top tooth just popped through this morning and the other one appears to be on the brink of getting through, so I think we will really be able to see those top pearly whites clearly next week. I was so surprised because although I thought he may be teething again (he had been drooling a ton and slightly more fussy than usual), he was nothing like last time. Plus, he had "teething" symptoms for 2 months before either of his first two teeth popped through, so I figured I had a little awhile before his top ones came through. But yesterday I was playing with him and I noticed a rough white spot on his gum, and then this morning I felt the tooth. I'm so glad teething was easier this time around.

Lastly, he has started to really become smarter (I'm not sure if that's the right word here, but go with me...). If he is making a bee-line towards trouble (ex: the floor lamp, the wheels of his stroller, shoes, etc) I can say "Tylerrrrr...." and he'll turn around and look at me. Of course, he usually decided to ignore my warning and go on his merry way towards the contraband item, but at least he is recognizing his name! And he makes this funny face sometimes while in his highchair, where he makes his mouth the shape of an O and looks surprised (See photo above) and Jordon and I laugh so hard. He's learned that we think it's funny because he'll do it again and again as long as we laugh and usually laughs along with us!

I used to have a very optimistic view of him growing up, telling Jordon that with each month and year, there will be something new to be excited about and embrace, but now I'm starting to fall into the typical feeling of "I want my baby to stay a baby forever!" I cannot imagine him growing to be a *gasp* teenager or even getting married one day. yikes. I'm hoping I'll be able to embrace all of the new changes as they come. But for now I'm just trying to enjoy each milestone he's reaching and taking advantage of all the cuddle time he'll give me!

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Off he goes!

Tyler is a moving man! Not "officially" hands-and-knees crawling, but since Valentine's Day Tyler has been doing the army crawl all over the place! And boy is he efficient at it... and becoming a handful! He loves to crawl toward anything that is NOT one of his toys. In the last few weeks I've seen him make a bee-line for scissors, the trash can, my computer charger cord, wall outlets, my breast pump, my water cup, and the remote control. He is just keeping me on my toes! In fact, I had him on the floor playing in the living room and went into the kitchen to get something, and while I was in there talking to Jordon, Tyler made his way to the hallway (right in front of our stairs!). Yikes. Time to get some baby gates! I've plugged up the wall outlets and ticked away all the cords we have, so I'm getting closer and closer to a baby-proofed house. Which is good because he has been getting up on his knees and rocking like he is getting ready to take off!


He's been adventuring in eating more as well. I made him green beans and plums for the first time and I also made him an apple/banana medley (he LOVED that). We tried a organic fruit and oatmeal cereal I found for FREE (well, you have to mail in a rebate form, but after that it is FREE haha). He is a huge fan of it. And per the pediatrician's suggestion, I've been trying to give him more finger foods. He's still working on the pincer grasp, so most of these finger foods stay in his fist rather than make it in his mouth, but he's practicing nonetheless. I also decided to have him try Baby MumMums, and he LOVES them. They are big enough for him to hold on his own and helps him practice chewing (although I will admit, they have absolutely no nutritional value and have sugar and salt in the ingredients...bad mommy). And they keep him occupied enough during dinner that Jordon and I can eat in peace haha. And although I swore up and down I wouldn't give Tyler foods with added sugar/salt for awhile, I've definitely given him a few bites of random stuff I'm eating. He gives me those big baby eyes that say "Mommy, can I please have a bite?!" and I can't help but give in haha. So he's tried a bit of ice cream (obviously a hit) and pancake. Oops. It's fun to feed my kid :-)

So with more energy from eating, and the skills to get around the house, he is sure keeping me busy. Sometimes I think maybe I don't want him to grow up anymore!! But on thing is for sure, I love this baby more and more everyday. Seriously. Everyday.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Growing, growing, growing!

Tyler just celebrated his 6 month birthday a little over a week ago, and I believe a half year has never gone by quicker. In fact, just the other day I was thinking about how time has been flying... I didn't really have much concept of time (or really never paid much attention to it) while I was in middle and high school, then in college I started to realize just how quickly the semesters went by. When I got married, the first year of marriage zipped by, and now that I have a child, well, sometimes I think a month has gone by in the blink of an eye. Does this mean I'm officially getting old?


Although it makes me sad that Tyler is growing, I am starting to appreciate it as well. First of all, my 6 month old baby sleeps much better than my 4 month old did! Last Monday (the day after his 6 month birthday) I told myself I just needed to get him sleep trained. I was just so tired of being tired, and wanted him to be getting good quality sleep as well. The first step in my plan was to get him sleeping in his crib in the nursery rather than in the pack-and-play in ours. I figured it would be easier to let him fuss a little and soothe himself if he was in a different room than if he was next to my bed. Well I didn't even need to worry about the fussing, because that night I put him down in his crib, turned on his mobile, and within 20 seconds he rolled over to his side and fell asleep. I couldn't believe it! I did the same thing with his naps the next day and again, he just rolled over and passed out. It was like that for the whole week! And instead of waking 3, 4 or 5 times a night, he woke up just once... AND it was after sleeping for 6 straight hours (then he went back to sleep for 3 or 4 more). So I definitely was getting better sleep. Unfortunately, this Monday my dear child did not want to go to sleep on his own! Jordon even had to take him for a car ride! He woke twice during the night (so not as bad as before) but I felt defeated because I thought my nights of freedom were over. Last night though, it was a little difficult to get him to sleep but he managed to soothe himself in his crib (it just took a little longer than it had before). He also slept 9 straight hours. Amazing. I'd like to say I got 9 straight hours of sleep, but I had to wake up at 4:30am to pump (my body is not used to waiting so long to feed baby... I pumped 11 oz. in 5 minutes!). We're traveling this weekend, so we'll see how he sleeps during/after our trip!

His little teeth are growing on in too! I think his sleep improvement definitely has something to do with his teeth finally breaking through. Of course when they broke through you could only see the top ridge of them, but now the first to break through is about halfway through, and the tooth that followed 3 days later is about a quarter of the way in. They are far enough that when he gives me a smile it is no longer a tooth-less grin, but a cute smile with two visible pearly-whites! Although I'm happy he is no longer in pain from teething, it is sort of sad that I'll never see that tooth-less grin again.

Tyler is sitting up very well these days, but if he gets distracted he always tips over. It's pretty funny actually. He has the hardest head too! We've laid a blanket down over the area run in our living room, but I still hear a small *bam* every time he flips over while holding his head up, or tips unexpectedly. And he never cries! Plus he still rolls under the coffee table all the time and lifts his head exactly at the edge so it bumps the table. I cringe every time... I think it's about time to either bubble wrap my furniture or move the coffee table out of there. I'm not sure if he's getting closer to crawling or not. He pushes himself up in a push-up position so well, but just doesn't understand the concept of moving those little knees. Sometimes he lifts his arms and legs off the floor (so he's just hanging out on his belly) and wiggles everything, so I think maybe he wants to swim places haha. I'm sure he'll figure it out soon enough though.

On the food front, Tyler is being adventurous! He's tried and liked a lot of different things so far... brown rice cereal, oatmeal, avocado, sweet potato, apple, banana (favorite), butternut squash, pear, and carrot. And he's eating more, amount-wise, as well. He eats a good meal about twice a day... sometimes I offer a third but I think he's pretty content with two because he never eats all of the third. I'm so excited for when I can just give him small pieces of finger foods on his high chair tray and let him go at it! (And no, he isn't actually eating crackers in the photos above. He was loving playing with that empty Cheez-it box, and we took the saltines to feed to the ducks at the pond on campus.)

So as sad as it is to see my baby boy grow into a toddler, I'm so excited by all of this progress! We're visiting the pediatrician tomorrow, and I'm anxious to see how much he weighs and how tall he is. And as always, I have all sorts of questions for the doctor... yup, I'm officially a mom :-)


Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Incredibly Thankful

These past few weeks I have become more and more incredibly thankful for my perfect little boy (no matter what he does to drive me nuts) and everything God has given me. Jordon and I have been having a time with Tyler and his sleeping habits. Like I mentioned in my last few posts, Tyler has NOT been a good sleeper recently. Out stint with the Ferber method was great, but after the crazy-ness of the holidays, Tyler was not sleeping well. In fact, some nights he'll wake up 4+ times a night. Yes, I am a tired momma. I'm pretty convinced he's waking so much because his mouth hurts, but regardless of the reason, I'd like for him to sleep better haha. And because he is such a smart little baby, the Ferber method aint cutting it this time. He will just cry for an hour (if I'd let him... I've made it to 20 some minutes then normally give in). Plus, Tyler KNOWS how to get his tears to puddle up in his eyes and the right cry to sound pitiful so I have to pick him up.

So my little one isn't sleeping well at all, but I am still thankful. In fact, Jordon and I have started to laugh at our situation and look at it with some perspective. Sure, Tyler insists on sleeping in bed with us some nights, but how am I supposed to be upset with that when I wake up to him cooing at me and touching my face? It's by far the best thing ever. Or when he insists on being rocked to sleep rather than just soothing himself to sleep... When he is a squirmy 2 year old and won't let me rock him for anything, I sure will be missing these days. So for now I'll take the sleep deprivation and enjoy the time I get to spend with my little one.

Plus, I'm hoping these restless nights will soon come to an end because Tyler has a TOOTH! Yes, finally, alright! I had been getting quite impatient because our pediatrician said he thought those pearly whites would come in soon back in December (maybe even before Christmas) and I had a fussy, drool-y baby on my hands. Yesterday Tyler chomped down on my finger (per usual) and I felt something sharpy and bumpy! He wouldn't let me look in his mouth, probably because his mouth was sore, but this morning I was able to get a peek and you can see a nice hole in his gums where the tooth is growing in. I'm excited for it to come in all the way and from him to have a cute little baby tooth :-) As long as he doesn't take up biting me while nursing haha. But this experience reminds me of when I was pregnant and the midwife told me I could go into labor anytime when I was 36 weeks (only to have to wait 3 more to finally have my baby!)... I won't believe anything doctors tell me to expect until I see it! Needless to say, I am thankful for his tooth finally getting here!

As of Monday, Tyler will SIX MONTHS OLD. Wow, where has time gone?! My little newborn is no longer a newborn, but half a year old. I've had to put so many clothes away in the "too-small bin" that it is now full and Jordon and I must invest in another (where we are going to put it is beyond me!). And the box of clothes for Tyler to grow into is now nearly empty! hint hint grandmas ;-) He has been developing right on track as well... he has been sitting up all by himself for a few weeks now, and it really mastering it these days. He can sit up for 10+ seconds by himself now before tipping over to one side or the other.

Tyler has been eating very well, and has tried sweet potato, banana, apple, avocado, brown rice cereal and oatmeal so far. And he likes them all! I've had no problem at all making my own baby food... in fact I love it! We've been trying to figure out what we should try next... Jordon is voting for meat (go figure) but I'm thinking probably squash. I've thought about peas but every baby I know hasn't like peas haha, so we'll see about that. He's also been nursing much more efficiently these days which makes my life much easier! And as of Monday we'll reach the 6 month mark of breastfeeding! Six months was my initial long-term goal, so I'm very proud of myself (especially because he's probably taken less than 10 bottles of milk his whole life, so it's been 6 months of hard work for me). And despite all the work, I've loved every minute of it! We actually got Tyler to take some of a bottle the other day fairly easily, but overall he is still pretty much exclusively nursing. So I'm not really sure if we're going to wean anytime soon... I want him to have breastmilk for at least his first year, so I guess we may have to wait until he masters the cup! Anyways, I am so thankful for how big and healthy he has grown (even if it has gone by way too fast).

Last Monday I started my first day of WORK. I am technically no longer a stay-at-home-mom, but now adjunct faculty at Ferrum College. In all honesty, I'm only teaching 2 eight week classes, so I'm still a full-time mom, but it feels nice to get out of the house two mornings a week. I'm teaching a cardiorespiratory activities class, so basically I'm getting paid to workout with college kids twice a week. But I love it! I've done plyometric and yoga workouts with them so far, and both have kicked their butts ;-) I'm a mom, but I've still got it! I absolutely love teaching the class and hope I can teach some more next semester. It's definitely made me re-think my plans of going back to school... If I could work part time exercising and still get to raise my babies, I think I'd be the luckiest in the world. But who know... we'll have to see! Overall though, I am very thankful for this opportunity to work and very thankful that Jordon's grandma watches Tyler for me so I can do it!

So much to be thankful for these days! I love my little boy and wonderful husband.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

My Little Sweet Potato


Ah, the time has finally come for my little sweet potato to eat his sweet potatoes! That's right, we have started solid food! Well, not quite solid (more like mashed haha), but he is sure growing up! As you've read before, we started rice cereal about a month ago, and Tyler liked it as first, but then he sort of went on strike and didn't want it much. About two weeks ago we tried reintroducing it and he starting eating it a lot better. He opened his mouth wide up like he was a pro at it! So a couple days ago we decided that at about 5 1/2 months old, we could go ahead and try to introduce some other foods. Being a fan myself, I decided we should start with sweet potatoes. He loved them! Ate like a champ. Now I have to mix it in with his cereal though because I think he thinks the taste of cereal is bland compared to the amazing taste of sweet potatoes! haha.


And I have decided to make my own baby food! Yes, I am super-mom :-) I got the Baby Brezza baby food maker for Christmas, and broke it out the other night to use for the first time. After reading the directions through and back a few times I finally got the hang out it, and whipped up some sweet potato, avocado, apple and banana baby food! I even tried everything I made, and it isn't half bad (although I prefer my food un-mashed personally). I'm still trying to decide which I am going to introduce after the sweet potatoes though! I wish I could just give him a taste of everything all in one day because I am so excited, but you are supposed to wait 3-5 days between introducing foods to make sure they don't have an allergic reaction (and if they do, you'll know exactly what food caused it!).

I have been doing all sorts of researching on introducing solid foods, and have found there is just SO MUCH to learn! There are certain foods they shouldn't eat before 1 year (like honey), and there are some foods like some people say are okay before 1 year and some say shouldn't be given (like peanut butter, chocolate and egg whites). I learned you need to cook all fruit before giving it to a baby younger than 8 months, except banana and avocado, because they can have issues digesting it. And there is just so much more. Yikes, so much to know! I guess I'll just have to keep studying up!

I'll keep you updated on our new adventures with solid foods!