6 months - Now what???

Yep, Tyler turned 6 months on August 28. I honestly can not believe that 6 months have passed since our little boy came into our lives. It's amazing to see how much he has changed, and how much he has changed our lives. But there's no need to go getting all sappy on everyone here....not yet. I'll save that for his first birthday.

We had a busy day on his 6 month birthday. It started out with a VERY nice luncheon at my work. See, there were 3 of us on my floor at work that were all due to have babies within 3 weeks of each other. So there was a big baby shower planned for all 3 of us in February. However, since I was unexpectantly taken out on bedrest at the beginning of February, I missed the festivities. So they decided to celebrate with me upon my return. And it just happened to work out that the best time to have the "shower" was on Tyler's 6 month birthday. So I felt that he HAD to be there for it. So I picked him up from daycare, and Travis even came for it. How often do you get to have a baby shower with the baby REALLY there??? It was so much fun and was very nice. Everyone brought great food and we got some really nice things for Tyler. Though it's a very well-known fact that I don't want to be back at work, and I'd rather be at home with my little boy full-time, I do work with a great bunch of people. A very generous group of people.

After the party, which Tyler did VERY well at by the way, we had his 6 month pedia-trician's appoint-ment. He weighed in at a whopping 17 lbs. 9 oz. and was 26.5 inches long. This keeps him in the 50th percentile for weight and height, so he's growing right on target and his doctor is very happy. She was happy to hear about how well solid-feeding was going, and gave us expectations for the future - crawling, teething (which we thought was in full-swing, but doc couldn't confirm), "talking". He also got his shots, which is never fun. It's especially not fun for Travis, who is the designated "baby holder" for those shots. Mommy continues to hide in the corner. (Yep, I'm a chicken. What of it????)

We had Tyler's 6 month portraits taken this weekend. Let me just advertise for a second here and say if you have any portrait needs, go to Portrait Innovations. They are WONDERFUL. And VERY reasonably priced. They took every bit of 60 shots of Tyler, and were so great with him. You can go to http://www.portraitinnovations.com/ for locations near you.

OK, enough with the free advertising, I was just really impressed. Tyler seemed like he was starting to get yet another cold this weekend, and we debated whether or not to even keep our appointment. But on Sunday, he looked like he was feeling better and we decided to go ahead. I'm glad we did. We got some great shots of our little man. But we realized once we got home, that his good mood was an act. He had a fever of over 102, so we called the after-hours service for our pediatrician. He also had a bad cough, and some congestion. We were told what to do, and if he didn't get better by this morning to call back. Well, he had another low-grade fever this morning and we decided we needed to see the doc. So we got in, and it was confirmed that he had yet another cold. He & I are staying home tomorrow, and I hope that he's better by Wednesday.

Here's where I am going to go off on a daycare tangent, so feel free to bypass this as you see fit. Tyler's been in daycare for 3 and a half months. He's had 3 colds. That's approximately 1 cold a month. Seriously, there are some plusses to daycare - socialization, lesser stranger anxiety. But there are some serious downfalls - germs. Now, many people have said that the germs will make him stronger, and these colds are good for him, etc. Honestly, these colds are HELL on us. All of us. At what point do the colds get less severe, because he's had, oh I don't know, a million of them???? And why do parents feel the need to send their kid to daycare when they are outside of the sick policy. Kids aren't allowed in until they have been fever-free (without meds) for 24 hours. Many people must lie about this, but we aren't those people. We strictly adhere to that rule in this house. He's not going to daycare because at 10:00 this morning, he had a fever. We've been pumping him full of Motrin and Tylenol all day. He should stay home tomorrow, just in case. I understand people have to work, hell, I'm one of them. But please don't put MY kid in jeopardy because you don't have another plan for him/her when he's sick. *Steps off soapbox**

We'll get through this cold. We always do. I just hate seeing my Little Man sick........