Let the insanity begin!

The holidays are here! Thanksgiving was a week long event for us this year. We started out with a pre-Thanksgiving meal at Laura and Matt’s house (Aunt Lala and Uncle JDub) on Saturday. Aunt Lala had quite the feast prepared and had invited Sara, Judy (Matt’s mom), and Jennifer & Bryon. Tyler enjoyed watching Kadence, Aunt Lala’s dog, though I’m not sure Kadence really enjoyed Tyler. Tyler got to sit with all of us at dinner, and had his first taste of turkey. We had a feeling he would like it, considering the way that the child will devour chicken. He also had some potatoes and carrots – his own little Thanksgiving feast! He also did something that we thought we would never see. He fed himself a bottle of breastmilk. Yep, no bottle striking, no fussing, no screaming. We just placed a bottle of breastmilk on the tray of his highchair and he picked it up and went to town. Daycare has told us that he feeds himself there, so we thought we would try and see what would happen so that Mommy could enjoy some wine. It worked VERY well. The kid just likes to do things himself, it seems. But anyway, we had a great time, and are now looking forward to our annual fondue Christmas dinner at our house! It will be a bit different with an infant, but still just as fun.

We had Aunt Jenn & Uncle Brian over for dinner on Sunday for Jenn’s birthday. We had chicken enchiladas and Tyler once again ate at the table with us. (I make this a big deal because usually Trav & I don’t eat dinner until well after Tyler has gone to bed. So he usually eats solo.) He had his own dinner, but tried a spoonful of refried beans. His face said it all – I don’t think he liked them. Maybe he’ll warm up to them later. We know that Chris & Carol’s Emma sure did!!!! But he had a great time that night too, playing with Jenn & Brian. He showed off all his cutest tricks and toys and loved having Jenn chase him around the house. This is his newest game, and I’m not really sure when it started. But one night, Trav was taking Tyler upstairs for his bath, and I followed behind. Tyler was fussy, so I started saying that I was going to get him and next thing you know, I am chasing the two of them around the house. Tyler just giggled and laughed the whole time. Now, whenever you put him so he can look over your shoulder, he smiles and laughs at the person behind you, and that person must promptly chase you around. No exceptions to this rule. None. (OK, ONE exception. When it’s time to go to sleep, there is no chasing – no matter how cute the face. And that’s HARD to resist.)

After a short week of work and daycare (well, for Trav & Tyler…..I had to work on Friday until 1:00), we had Thanksgiving with Gramme and Granddad Snead, as well as Jenn & Brian and Grandma Smith. Tyler did so well here too. He had more turkey, potatoes, green beans, and pasta. He impressed everyone with his self-feeding ability and loved all the attention. He even got to sit in the highchair that Gramme used when she was a little girl – very special! Lunch was wonderful and we had a great time visiting with everyone. Grandma Smith gave Tyler lots of gifts – a new teaching teddy bear, a book, and his first Christmas ornament. As soon as we left there, we headed to Wal-Mart for our annual shopping trip. Yep, I said annual. Travis and I refuse to go to Wal-Mart – ever. So we discovered 2 years ago, that Wal-Mart on Thanksgiving is actually a pleasant place to be. So every year after lunch, we head there and load up on gifts and decorations and whatever else we may need. We were a bit concerned how it would go with no-nap Tyler, but it went very well. Tyler loves to be out in the stores anyway, since he’s so nosy, so it was ideal for him. We had a great time, and were home in time for Travis to catch the beginning of the Cowboys game.

On Friday, we loaded up the car and headed to Grandpa’s house after I got off of work. We had a big weekend there. Mark, Dina, & Erin Hamric came to stay Friday night too. We hadn’t seen them since the beach so I am so glad that we were able to spend some time with them. Dad had lots of people over on Saturday to watch the UVA/VA Tech game (GO HOKIES!!!!). Tyler did very well around everyone and even managed a nap throughout all the noise. He had a great time playing with Erin, Grace, & her cousin Blair. Bridges even came over with Wagner & Waylon, so there were lots of younger ones to entertain him. And on Sunday, we got to visit with both of his great Nanas – Woody & Scoggin! Nana Scoggin was passing through town as she and Eddie had returned from PA for Thanksgiving. What a nice surprise!

Tyler’s got a lot of new tricks up his sleeve now too. He’s decided that he wants to start pulling up now, and attempts to do so on just about anything and everything, including us. He’s getting really good at pulling himself to a sitting position from his tummy, and is still working on forward crawling. He’s gotten pretty good at backwards crawling. So good that I joke that I need to install a beeping alarm on his butt to let others know that he’s backing up. Though he’s a little later than some on the crawling, I have a feeling he’s decided to wait until the holidays to pull out all the stops and go for it all at once. As I start to pull out some of the Christmas decorations, I’ll have to take that into consideration. Ah, life with a little boy!!!!

Holy schnikes - he's becoming a big boy now!

I wanted to kick those people that repeatedly told me when I was pregnant, "Enjoy every minute of it. He's going to grow up so fast." It was just another one of those chiches that I wrote off. Well, here I am today, cursing those people. Why? Because they were right. Tyler's first year is going by so fast. And in the last week, it seems like he has just taken this jump into Little Boyhood. It's scary. And exciting. And scary. (Oh wait, I already said that.) In the matter of one week, it seems that he no longer fits into his 6 - 9 month clothing anymore. He's "graduated" into a big boy winter coat. He's eating more table food and had his first taste of real (not pureed) chicken and beef this week. He has his first pair of shoes. We moved his crib mattress down to the lowest level (not because he's pulling up yet, but because we are preparing - it's coming ANY DAY now). That's a lot of big boy stuff. A lot.

We decided to give Tyler a little taste of our food this week, as I had taken some chicken breasts and cooked them in the crock pot all day. I knew it would be really tender, so I thought that this would be the best trial for him. He made his initial "what-in-the-world-is-this" face, then proceeded to self feed himself several pieces. He has become quite the carnivore, just like his Mommy & Daddy. We sent him to daycare with some of the leftover chicken and carrots, and he devoured them. So we also tried some pot roast. Same result. We have a meat-eater, people! Tyler has decided that he's not real keen on being fed. He'd much rather be a self-feeder. This can be difficult, since he doesn't get 100% of the food into his mouth (and then his tummy). So we still work to get some Stage 3 food into him, and he reluctantly eats it. If he had his way, he'd feed himself all the way. We'll be there before we know it.

This week also brought a new coat and new shoes. We had bought a winter coat (or what we thought would be a winter coat) at Babies R Us back when he was just a newborn (or maybe even before he was even born - I can't remember anymore!). Well, when the weather here dipped into the upper-20s, lower-30s we discovered that the coat we bought wasn't quite what we wanted. So we bought him a nice warm toggle coat - in 12 to 18 months!!!! It's a little big on him now, but he's got several months to grow into it. And growing is something that he does well! He also got his first real pair of shoes this week. With the cold weather and the holidays coming up, we thought it would be best for him to have a pair of shoes. We have a wedding to go to in December, plus 9-month portaits, and family pics coming up. Shoes would look nice. So we bought him a pair of Pedipeds. Ironically, the style we got him are named "Tyler". Must be meant to be. They fit him perfectly and he seems to tolerate them! We'll see how he does as he starts to wear them more often. But they are adorable!

I just don't know if I'm ready for this little boy to become a big boy! His first Thanksgiving and his first Christmas will be here before we know it. And then his first birthday will be soon thereafter. His first birthday???? Enjoy every minute of it. He's growing up so fast.

Bonus Halloween pics

Posing with the pumpkins before heading out:



















First Trick-or-Treat house ever - The Brants:














With Julia:














With Daddy on the porch waiting for Trick-or-Treaters:



















All "Halloween-ed" out: