The first weekend of this month brought our friends, the Clarkes from South Carolina, to visit for the weekend. Madison and Tyler were reunited early Saturday morning, and it was so much fun to watch them interact again. It had been about 3 months since their last visit, and much had changed since then. Madison was now walking, and Tyler was keeping up on his hands and knees this time. They had a lot of fun playing peek-a-boo, sharing toys (or not sharing them, whichever the case may be), and watching Backyardigans. We all loaded into the Highlander that morning for a trip up to Arlington for our friend Julia’s little girl’s birthday. Claire turned one on February 1. Oh and yes, you read that right. All 6 of us loaded into the Highlander. I really wish we had taken a picture of this feat. Travis and Stephen in the front seat, the kids in the second row seat (I think they had more room than anyone else in the car!), and Maggie and I in the 3rd row seat. This was the first time that the 3rd row had been used. Not all that uncomfortable, but definitely made for shorter people.
Anyway, we got to Claire’s for the party, and had a great time. We even saw another of our friends, Jamie, and her little girl Lily, who turned 1 in January. These girls are all part of the group that got together in Fredericksburg in October. The kids did a great job, and Mad & Tyler even managed to take naps that afternoon! We all went out to dinner together that night, and while the parents enjoyed themselves, it became quickly apparent that our smaller guests were unhappy with their surroundings. Very unhappy. The long day had finally taken its toll. So we headed back to Richmond, wishing we all had earplugs. Tyler decided to cry (loudly) for the majority of the trip home, while Mad sat next to him and yelled back. I’d never been so happy to get out of the car. But all in all, it was a wonderful visit, and we can’t wait to see everyone again. Claire and Lily may be in attendance at Tyler’s Richmond birthday party, and then we’ll see Madison at Maggie & Stephen’s wedding in SC in May. Tyler is actually the ring bearer!
Since playing with all of his little friends, Tyler has gotten really good at “cruising” – walking while holding onto everything, the couch, the table, the wall, your hands. He’s not far from taking those first steps, I believe, but I’m in no hurry for it. He’s growing up too fast as it is! I still can’t believe that he’ll be one in a matter of weeks. Feels like just yesterday I was on the couch on bedrest, watching TLC’s Baby Story. It’s crazy how being a parent affects time.
He’s also picked up some adorable new tricks. His newest is putting “phones” to his ear and saying something that’s really close to “Hello”. I put the word phones in quotes because, well, most anything can be a phone to him – remote controls, many of his toys, doesn’t really matter. But it’s absolutely adorable, and we love watching him “talk” to whoever is on the other line. He will often give us the phone to talk to the person. His fascination with balls has been revived as well. He loves to sit and throw the ball with you. And he’s gotten VERY good at it! On the flip side, he’s just as good at catching too. He still loves to read his books, and will let us get through a few pages of a book with him before he decides that he could read it faster himself and loses interest.
He has favorite new snacks, the #1 being Yoplait Kids yogurt smoothies. He loves to one-hand that sippy cup and will just down the thing as quickly as possible. He also has become a fan of Quaker Rice Cakes, thanks to Madison. He likes to shove them in his mouth and cruise around with it sticking halfway out of his mouth. Travis laughed when he saw the pictures of this. He said that the rice cake made him look like he had fake Redneck Bubba teeth or something. You decide.
He’s now fully transitioned into the Beginning Walker room at school, and seems to be doing better. I think that he really does have more fun in there. There’s more to do, and kids more his size and age to play with. We’ll start transitioning him to whole milk within the next few weeks, if I’m lucky. I do plan to continue to nurse him in the morning and at night (if he wants), but hope to be able to make the daytime switch to whole milk around his first birthday. I’ll be honest. After 9+ months of pumping 4 times a day, 5 days a week (and once a day on weekends), I’m ready to retire. I wouldn’t trade my decision to breastfeed Tyler for anything in the world, but I think that I am growing more and more annoyed at the pump simply because I do see the light at the end of the tunnel. Now, let’s keep our fingers crossed that he transitions well to this. 
We’re also planning on switching him to sippy cups only at the same time. Right now, he takes 3 bottles at daycare each day, and has a sippy of juice/water throughout the day. The goal in the Beginning Walker room is to help wean from the bottle at one year. Lots of change coming for our little man, but we know he’ll do fine! (Or so we hope!)More busy times ahead. This Sunday, Aunt Jenn & Uncle Brian are coming over to watch Tyler so that Travis & I can finally get out to eat on our own! We’re going to The Melting Pot for my birthday dinner, which we were supposed to do last year, but bedrest didn’t allow it. Then we have our friend Evan’s 1st birthday party the next weekend, followed by two weekends of parties for Tyler! Gonna be busy!!!
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