I think that the craziness of the Summer of 2007 is behind us! We had our last big event this past weekend – Jennifer & Brian’s wedding. It was a great time, and everything was beautiful (especially the blushing bride!). And Tyler did really well, considering he was up way past his bedtime both Friday and Saturday.
Friday was the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. So I picked Tyler up from daycare a bit early and got him home for a good, long nap. We headed to the rehearsal, and he behaved very well. He had a bit of a fan there in his 4-year-old “cousin” Kaylen. I say “cousin” in quotes because I don’t know what you call kids who are related because their parents are cousins. Is that 2nd cousins? Or 3rd? In any event, they are cousins. And they share a birthday. Kaylen was very excited about this when Tyler was born. And she was thrilled to see “Baby Tyler” this weekend. She wanted to help with him, hold him, dance with him, the whole nine yards. I think Tyler liked all the attention. The dinner went well too, but we decided to leave a bit before it was truly over, as our little man fell asleep on Travis’ shoulder and we felt that with such a big day ahead of him, he needed to get as much quality sleep as possible.
As matron of honor, I left early Saturday morning to be with Jenn and help her prepare for her big day. Travis left early as well to help his parents with last minute preparations. So Tyler was in the hands of his “Aunt” LaLa and “Uncle” JDub (aka Laura & Matt) for the day. We had made the decision before he was even born that he would not be at the ceremony, but would join us later in the day for the reception. We didn’t want to chance Tyler having a bad day or a breakdown in the middle of the ceremony. That wouldn’t have been fair to anyone, especially not to Jenn & Brian. So Tyler spent the better part of the day napping, making Laura & Matt’s job pretty peaceful. And the ceremony was wonderful and went off without a hitch. Congratulations, Brian & Jennifer Bilyeu!!!!
Off to the reception we went. They did such an amazing job with the reception. It was absolutely beautiful inside the clubhouse, and the food was wonderful. Tyler made his grand entrance shortly after it had started and he was a big hit! And he was quite happy to be the center of attention. The boy likes to party, what can we say? Travis took him out on the dance floor and let him stand up and “shake it”. That’s about the best dancing that he can do – shakin’ it. But it’s damn cute, if you ask me. He got to watch all of the other little kids run around the place, and there was a sea of ceiling fans, this making it an entertaining experience. He was once again up way past his bedtime, but he tolerated it well. He was passed around like a hot potato and rarely had any complaints about it.
He did show off one new trick at the reception though. Apparently over the course of the past 5 months he has discovered where his dinner comes from. Not long after he & I were reunited at the reception, did he grab the top of my strapless gown with both hands and try to yank it down and bury his head in my chest. Nice, Tyler. Real subtle. Since this discovery, he has proceeded to do this at almost every feeding, with every shirt that I have had on. I’m gonna have to watch those little hands in public now, it appears.
We spent the better part of Sunday just relaxing around the house. We felt certain that Tyler would eagerly go to bed at his normal 7:00 time. Boy, were we wrong. That boy thought that since he had partied for two nights in a row that there most certainly was a party that he was missing last night. We had to remind him several times that there was no party, just Mommy & Daddy & Tyler and that it was time for bed. He wasn’t buying it. He was determined to either find the party or BE the party. He finally crashed a few hours later. Hopefully, he’ll get the message tonight that there are no parties.
Developmentally, we’ve got a few things going on around here. Tyler’s newest trick is rolling over. Unfortunately for us, the only time he chooses to showcase this trick is in the middle of the night. So he’ll head off to dreamland on his tummy and a few hours later, he’ll roll himself onto his back and not be able to get back on his tummy. So he decides to “talk” about it. The talking wakes us up. Travis goes in and flips him back on his tummy, only to be awakened a few minutes later by him flipping again. We’re going to start leaving him because he’s gotta learn sometime, right? He’s also working on sitting up on his own. He does pretty well when he’s got a little support behind him so I’m sure unsupported sitting isn’t too far off. Also, after several weeks of trying, he has finally gotten his foot in his mouth. And boy is he proud of that! It makes changing his diaper, getting him dressed, laying him down, ANYTHING a more interesting experience. And also, today is his first day out of his infant carrier and into a “big boy” car seat (in my car at least). He seems to fit better in there, and I think that he is much more comfortable. It was a quiet ride home from daycare today.
So now that we're all finished with our summer craziness, we can just start enjoying ourselves. We can't wait to get Tyler to our neighborhood pool, and visit with our friends and their little ones. We'll start solids before the end of the summer, which will be its own adventure. And before you know it, fall will be here, and our little man will be more than half a year old. Time is a flyin'.
We headed to Lynchburg last weekend to see Dad & Eddie, and the rest of the family and friends. We left on Friday night this time, after we fed Tyler and got him dressed for bed. We hoped that he would just go to sleep in the car, and he did. He slept the entire way there, and was very close to being transferred to the crib at Dad’s house when he awoke and decided that he was no longer ready for bed. As far as he was concerned, it was PARTY TIME. So we allowed him to stay up a little later that evening, as he showed off his newest tricks and toys to Dad and his neighbors, Ken & Edie.
Saturday we went to Waylon’s 3rd birthday party out at Bridges & Jay’s house. They had rented the “Stretch Bus”, which is a hollowed out school bus loaded up with all sorts of exercise equipment for young kids. The kids at the party had a great time playing in there, and Tyler even got to join in the fun. Travis took him inside and bounced him on the trampoline and let him go down the slide. I think that Tyler had a great time, especially watching all of the other kids play around him.
There was also a 4-month-old Chihuahua puppy there. We introduced him to Tyler and they both were taken with each other. Well, Tyler was taken with the puppy. The puppy seemed to want Tyler’s brightly colored links toy. But Tyler reached out to pet the puppy and was very gentle with him. This is something that we are working on with him at home with the cats – well, with Gracie. (Beemer still wants nothing to do with him.) Gracie is very tolerant of Tyler, and has even started to rub her face on him when he gets near. He has gotten a few “handfuls” of Gracie, but she never gets angry. 
She patiently waits for me or Travis to release the fur from his hands and she goes back to rubbing against him. We are very careful not to let their interaction go unsupervised, but for now, we are very proud of both of them. We’re hoping that by teaching Tyler early to play nicely with the kitties, he’ll be a little less harsh when he becomes mobile.
Sunday we had Uncle Eddie and Nana & Grandaddy (Tyler’s great-grandparents) over for lunch. Grandaddy hadn’t seen Tyler since he was 5 weeks old, and it was nice to see him interact with Tyler. He brought a big smile to my grandfather’s face that I haven’t seen in some time. And of course, Nana was just in love with Tyler. She couldn’t believe how big he’d gotten! Neither can I sometimes……
We headed home after lunch and we thought for sure that our traveling wonder would nap on the way home. Boy, were we wrong. The last hour of our trip was seriously the most painful hour ever spent in a car. Tyler screamed and cried and was just inconsolable. I ended up jumping in the backseat with him, making silly faces and pulling all sorts of toys out of the diaper bag. Some of these worked briefly, but there was no permanent solution until we got home, got him fed, and put in his crib for a nice nap. I hope that this was a one-time fluke in the car. He’s usually a pretty good traveler. Man, I better go find some wood, and knock….QUICK.
