Wow, has it really been 4 months????

Tyler had his 4 month appointment on Friday. He tipped the scales at 15 lbs. 10 oz.!!!! And he measured 25 1/2 inches long. What a big boy we have! He's in the 50 - 75th percentile in weight, the 75th percentile in height, and the 50 - 75th percentile in head circumference. So he's growing right on track! His pediatrician was very happy with his growth and said that he is doing all of the things that she would expect him to be doing - i.e. smiling, cooing, grabbing for toys, turning towards Travis & I when he hears our voices (boy does he ever!!! More on that in a minute.). She was happy to hear about his sleeping habits and gave a good overall report of the exam, except for his cold, which I will also get into in a minute. He got his 2nd round of shots and boy, am I glad that Travis was there again. I had hoped that since he did so well with the 2 month shots, that he would do well this time too. It must be different as they get older and can register pain better and are more active and alert. He most certainly did NOT like his shots. I cowered in the corner of the exam room, with my fingers plugging my ears, as Travis bravely held Tyler as Dr. Phillips administered the shots. He seemed to react much worse this time. However, that may have also been because we were at the doctor's during nap time and he had a cold and didn't really feel 100% to begin with. But he got home and slept from about 5:30 that night until 7:00 the next morning, only waking twice. He was kapooped. But he seems to have recovered well!!! That's our boy!!

OK, now more about the cold......ugh, the cold. What a freakin' nightmare the first cold was. I brought him home from daycare on Thursday and noticed that his little nose was a bit runny, but nothing too bad. He didn't seem like he was feeling bad either. So off to bed he goes at his normal 7:00 time, when we hear strange noises coming from the baby monitor around 8:30. Poor baby's nose was all stuffed up, snot was everywhere, and he couldn't get comfortable and couldn't breathe. Travis & I sprung into action, not 100% sure what we should be doing. We started up the cool mist vaporizer, elevated his mattress, put saline drops in his nose, and tried to gently suction his nose. Despite our best efforts, Travis still ended up sleeping sitting up on the couch with Tyler draped over his shoulder. It was really the only way that Tyler could breathe. It was a long night. As a parent, you feel so exteremely helpless when your little one is sick. He can't tell you what's wrong, you just have to wing it. All I wanted to do was tell him to blow his nose, but you obviously can't tell that to a 4 month old. So you do what you can to help make him comfortable, but in the end, you just have to wait it out. And that is no fun at all. But the pediatrician reassured us that we had done all that we could, and that it would eventually run its course. And it seems to be on its way out now, thank goodness. So the first illness is out of the way, and I'm glad it came now and not while we were headed to the beach. I guess this is one of those things about daycare that you hate and love. You hate that your baby has caught some nasty cold from some other kid, but at the same time, you're glad that he's been exposed to the germs and his body is learning how to fight.

One of the neat things that Tyler has really gotten into is following the sound of mine & Trav's voices. When he hears us, that little head whips around looking for us. Once he lays eyes on us, his face just lights up with this huge, toothless smile. It's the most amazing feeling in the world when it happens. He knows us now, and expects us to be there. It's an awesome responsibility as a parent.

We also had a visitor Friday night - Grandpa Ed. He spent the night with us as he was in town on business. Since we had just had the doctor's appointment, Tyler wasn't in the best of moods, but did flash a few smiles on Saturday before Grandpa left. He was our first overnight visitor since Tyler came into our lives. It went pretty well!

And one last note: Happy (early) birthday to my brother, Eddie (aka Uncle Woody). He'll be 27 on the 3rd so wish him a great one!!! We love you, Uncle Eddie!!!!!