Beach baby! (pics below)

“You’ve literally been waiting your WHOLE LIFE for this beach trip!” This was Trav’s comment to Tyler just before we left for the beach. How true, how true. Ever since he was a little cluster of cells inside of me last summer, we have been talking about this “first beach trip with a baby”. And now it has come and gone. Man, that was fast. (I put the pics in separate posts below, because I didn't know when I would get around to writing this. Sorry!!!)

We headed to Emerald Isle with Grandpa Ed, Uncle Eddie, and a bunch of family friends (to include Jim & Angela, and Mark, Dina, & Erin). Let me add here that packing for a week-long beach trip with an infant is a full-time job. Tyler did really well in the car on the way there and on the way back. According to AAA, it should have been a 5 hour 15 minute trip. We were planning for a 7 hour trip, as we weren’t sure how things would go with Tyler. Well, we made it there in 6 hours and made it home in a little less than that. We only stopped to eat and to let me nurse him, and he pretty much slept the rest of the trip. He had a few fussy moments, but all in all it wasn’t bad. (Though for the record, I will say that the 13-minute screamfest that he had on the way home was pretty rough. OK, it was REALLY rough.)

But we got there in one piece and got settled. Tyler got gobs of attention from everyone, which he ate up. Mark & Dina’s 11-year-old daughter, Erin was with us as well, and she was a huge help throughout the week. And Tyler just loved playing with her. When she would come over to say good morning to him or start to play with him, his whole face would just light up. He particularly liked having her in the car with us. He’s not used to having company in the backseat with him, so this was pretty cool as far as he was concerned.

The afternoon that we got there, we lathered the Little One up with sunscreen, got his swim diaper on, swim trunks, hat, the whole nine yards. Got him down to the beach, put his feet in the water, and he screamed bloody murder. No sir, don't like the ocean. But he was a bit intrigued with the sand.

We headed to the NC Aquarium on Tuesday and were greeted with a sign that said that the AC in the building was broken. But even though it was a bit muggy in there, we had a great time and I think that Tyler really enjoyed it. I had him in the Baby Bjorn and carried him around that way for most of the visit. It was so fun to watch him follow the fish or turtles with his eyes and to watch his brain try to figure out just what in the world was going on around him. I can’t wait to take him back next year, and the year after that, and the year after that.

Other than the initial trek down to the beach on Day One, we loaded ourselves up and made it to the beach one day. Yep, one day. We had Tyler's beach tent, his bouncy seat, cooler for us, beach chairs, umbrellas, beach bags, and baby. Tyler wasn't digging the beach. I think it may have been too hot for him. We were there just over an hour and headed back up to the house. We found that Tyler enjoyed sitting on the lower-level deck in his bouncy seat, or sitting on the swing more than anything. He liked the breeze, the sound, and just being outside. So we spent a lot of time there just watching the ocean. It was very relaxing. We did take Tyler on some early morning walks on the beach, which he seemed to enjoy. I'm sure that next year he will be more receptive to the beach. And we'll be picking sand out of all sorts of crevices!!!! Fun fun!

Oh, and a milestone was reached at the beach - he rolled over on his own!!! He was napping on his tummy in his pack-n-play while I was laying on the bed reading. Well, I heard him start to wake up. Travis came in and we looked in on him and there he was, staring up at us. He looked pretty confused, especially when we both started cheering and clapping. But it was the first time that he did this on his own. He's rolled with assistance before, but we just didn't think that he's real interested in rolling over. Having said that, he hasn't rolled over since. Guess he was just testing us. He'll roll when he's ready, though we think he'll walk first! Haha!

We did hit one major snag while we were there - Tyler got yet another cold. And this one is a doozy. All that crap I read in the pregnancy and baby books that said that "breastfeeding babies get sick less, blah blah blah".....yeah, apparently it's not foolproof. We originally thought that he was getting congested due to the humidity in the beach house and what not, but once we got home and the coughing and congestion didn't clear up immediately, we knew he was sick. Travis took him to the pediatrician this past Monday and was told that it just needed to run its course. (Sidenote: Tyler now weighs 16 lbs. 5 oz. meaning that the little chunker gained 11 oz. in 3 short weeks!!!) Now I have a cold, and Travis got a little touch of it too. Ah, germs. But back to the cold at the beach, he handled it really well. He stopped sleeping through the night, but it was OK because he was a happy, fun baby during the day. He wasn't in pain, didn't have a fever, so I knew that he was fine.

We had a wonderful week overall and enjoyed spending so much time with Grandpa Ed & Eddie. Travis & I even got a little bit of a "vacation" here and there. Travis went and played golf with the guys one day, and I escaped with Dina & Erin to go shopping another day. I even found some time to re-read the 6th Harry Potter book, in anticipation of the final book being on my doorstep when we got home. (Note: If you are a Potter fan and haven't read #7 yet, GET TO IT! It's fantastic!!!!)

So we're back home, and trying to recover from our colds. I think that we're almost in the clear. We have a pretty free weekend coming up, but are busy next weekend with Aunt Jenn's wedding. After that though, we are smooth sailing for the rest of the summer! Our plans include joining the neighborhood pool and spending time there with Tyler. Don't worry.....we'll have pics.

More beach

Beach pics!

Oops, I'm a delinquent

Sorry all!!!! This week completely got away from us! We leave for the beach tomorrow, so we have been busy packing stuff up. You know, it's amazing how much you need to pack for a 16 pound child. Unreal. But anyway, we are headed to Emerald Isle, NC with Dad, Eddie, the Radicks, the Hamrics (Mark, Dina, & Erin), and more. It should be a great time. We're really looking forward to taking Tyler to the beach that Mom loved so much. We'll introduce him to the aquarium, the ocean, the sand, the shops, everything. As much as he loves the outdoors, this should be a big treat for him. And Travis keeps telling him that since he loves bathtime so much, that he's gonna love it - it's the biggest "tubby" in the world!!!!

On the 4th of July, we dressed Little Man up in his festive romper and headed over to our friends', the Furrs, house. Tyler did really well, considering he was tired and it was very hot and humid. He did take a little nap, but awoke and loved feeling the grass on his feet!

Other than that, we haven't been up to much. Getting ready for this beach trip has turned into a part-time job! So, be prepared. Once we get back, I'm sure we'll have lots of good stories and pictures for you!!!!

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!!!!!

Discoveries!

What a week our little guy had! He started with all sorts of new tricks and continued working on some old ones. He's gotten a lot better with his "standing", and prefers to stand instead of sitting on your lap. He doesn't tire of it quickly, which is amazing. I keep expecting him to just collapse after a few seconds, but he hangs in there for quite a while. And smiles the whole time! Travis swears he'll walk before he crawls!!! He's also started to notice his hands. And he's discovered that these hands can grab things. And once these hands grab things, he can put them in his mouth. So now we have to remind ourselves that if you don't want it in his mouth, don't put it in his line of fire. But it's so neat to watch him hold onto his toys now and it's so cute to watch him slobber all over them.

He had his first full week of sleeping in his crib in his own room. He has adjusted very well! He's sleeping longer and longer at night, and rarely needs comforting in the middle of the night. I think that Travis and I are learning to sleep without him in the room with us. It's actually been a big adjustment for me. We leave the monitor on at night, and it's been difficult for me to get used to the baby noises. I was getting used to them IN the room with us, but it's a different kind of sound coming through the monitor. I know I'll get used to it and each night gets a little easier. But the important thing is that Tyler has adjusted well and seems to like being in his own space.

One more "first" - just this morning, as I was getting ready for work and Travis was playing with Tyler, the biggie happened. Yep, he rolled over. He rolled from his tummy to his back. Granted, he had a little help from Daddy but that was just with arm positioning. The act of rolling was all Tyler. Travis propped him up a bit on his elbows and Tyler got some momentum and just rolled. He made it look so easy that we were sure he'd do it again. Alas, no. One show was all we got today. But we clapped and cheered for him and he lit up, so I think he knows that this is something really cool. I think before we know it, he's going to be rolling all over the place.

This weekend, we headed up to Fredericksburg for a few hours. Heidi, a friend of mine from college, had a "deck-warming" party at her house. Her beautiful 2-year-old daughter, Riley, loves babies and was excited to have Tyler at her house. She wanted to "hold" him, and she did so well with him. And Tyler was intrigued by her and the 2 other little girls that were there. They were Jackie & Nick's daughters (more college pals). I think Tyler liked to watch the girls because they were more his size and less intimidating. But he did very well in a new place with new people holding him and passing him around. He even took a nap in Riley's crib, which gives us hope that he will nap and sleep well "on the go".

We have Tyler's 4 month appointment this Friday. I can't wait to see how much he has grown. As I've mentioned before, we think that he's about 15 - 16 pounds. I hopped on our not-so-accurate bathroom scale with him the other day and got a reading of just under 16. We'll see!!!! He'll get more shots at this appointment too, but Travis will be with me again, and we planned the appointment for later in the afternoon, so we are hoping he'll do well and just sleep it off again. We'll be sure to let you know!

I know, I know, I know. I'm a slacker. I missed a week of blogging. I'm sorry. Hey, I mean it! It's definitely turning to summer around here though. The days are full of things to accomplish and time flies even faster than ever. So I apologize to those that needed their "Tyler fix" for last week. I hope that the plethora of pics in this post will help ease you out of withdrawal.

Our little boy is getting stronger and bigger with each passing day. Travis & I had discussed the need to remove the head rest and move the straps up on his car seat because he was looking a little strained. We made the move today. He looks like a big boy now in that carrier. He's not the little boy that we brought home from the hospital in March.

Tyler's new trick is "standing". He loves to stretch those legs out wherever he is and practice his new trick. His legs have gotten really strong and just when you think he's calming down, he'll kick those legs out with such force and lock his knees and just stand there while you hold him. And he gets this very proud look on his face. He'll be running around this house raising hell before we know it.

He also has started using a new toy - his exersaucer (compliments of his future girlfriend, Emma Bowler - Carol & Chris' daughter). I picked him up from daycare and Miss Brenda, one of the teachers, mentioned to me that they put him in a saucer for the first time earlier in the day. She said that he loved it! So I got excited and ran home to have Travis get our saucer out of the attic. We weren't thinking that he'd be ready for it so soon, but we are thrilled. And so is he. He has a blast in there, jumping around, twisting and turning, and looking at all the toys. He's starting to grab for things now (my hair and necklace included - ouch!) so it's really a treat to watch him.

Is he rolling over yet? Nope, not yet. But it's not for a lack of trying. This kid will play on his tummy, with that head held so high, and he'll kick and squirm and move all about. But no rolling. Travis works with him on it and Tyler has a good time playing, but just hasn't mastered the art yet. All in good time, all in good time. We're just happy that he seems to enjoy "tummy time" and has excellent head and neck control. He's come a long way in just a few short weeks.

Tyler has also started to notice the TV. On several occasions, we have noticed him staring at the tube, completely enthralled in whatever is on. And it doesn't matter what it is - Mommy's TiVoed Young and the Restless episodes, the evening news (with Charlie Gibson, of course), NASCAR races. He loves the colors and the movement. We were at Once Upon a Child today and bought him two Baby Einstein DVDs. We figure if he's going to be drawn to the TV, he might as well see something that is somewhat educational. I'm sure Trav & I will have the content of these DVDs memorized very soon.

As I write this, Tyler is sleeping in his crib for the first night. Ever. As I have mentioned before, we have let him nap in his crib, but he has continued to sleep in the bassinet of his pack-n-play in our room at night. As I was dicing onions for dinner tonight, Travis was upstairs with Tyler, getting him ready for bed. Travis comes downstairs and tells me that he has made an "executive decision". Tyler is sleeping in his own crib in his own room starting tonight. I start crying. I blame the onions. Travis knows that I'm lying. But I know it's best. Though I may not be ready for my little baby to start becoming a big boy, it's happening and I need to "cut the cord", you might say. Though I sleep poorly with Tyler in the room with us (because of all of his little baby noises), I have comfort knowing that he is right there at an arm's length from Travis. But he needs to learn to sleep in his own room. And Travis & I need to be able to watch TV at night before we go to sleep, and talk in bed about our days, and not have to worry about tripping over something and waking the babe. Yes, I know that this will be best for all. But it makes me sad because he's not a little baby anymore. We're hoping that this first night (and the nights to come) will go well. He has napped well in his crib up until now, and we have no reason to believe that he won't do well in there at night. Keep those fingers crossed for us.

One more thing that we've started in the past week or so is Baby Massage Time. At night, we have a bedtime ritual. Travis gives him his bath and then brings him to me in the nursery. Using a night time lotion, I gently massage the lotion into his arms, legs, and feet. And he just lights up! He could be the fussiest baby in the world, but as soon as that lotion hits his body, he just grins. I love this extra little time that I have with my son. It's a part of both of our nights now. After massage, I nurse him once more to "top him off", and Trav puts him to bed. And he's still sleeping well, only waking once in the middle of the night to nurse. I expect that this feeding may be eliminated soon, as he never eats for very long and goes back to sleep very quickly. I'm looking forward to having a longer stretch of sleep at night.....when and if it comes.

We've got a fairly busy summer ahead of us. We have our annual beach trip to Emerald Isle with my Dad, Eddie, and friends for a week in July. We're excited for Tyler's first beach vacation. He has so many cute beach outfits that I can't wait to dress him in. And I can't wait to just relax on the beach. I don't care if Tyler fusses all week, at least I'm at the beach. (Note: This does not mean that I want Tyler to fuss all week, so will the powers-that-be please note this?) Also, Trav's sister Jennifer, is getting married August 4th. I am the matron of honor, so we'll be busy with that as well. We also have Tyler's 4-month appointment at the end of this month. We can't wait to see how much our little man has grown since his last appointment in early May. We're "guesstimating" that he's about 15 - 16 pounds by now. We'll see how close we are soon. So much going on, and so little time.......

Oh and one final thing....HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to Travis, my Dad, Trav's Dad, and all the other Dads out there!!!

Busy week! Why is it that a 4-day workweek following a holiday seems so much longer than a typical 5-day workweek?

It appears that the bottle strike is over....for now. Tyler began taking his bottles again at daycare as if nothing had happened. And he's been chugging those bottles. I think we might be getting to a point where we need to increase his bottle intake. He's quite the growing boy!

We had dinner this week with Uncle Kevin, who was working at MCV for a couple of days. It was great to be able to spend some time with him. We also had dinner with Aunt Lala & Uncle J Dub (that's Laura & Matt to the rest of the world) for Laura's birthday. Tyler didn't stay up for much of these two visits. He gets pretty darned cranky if you try to keep him up past his 7:00 bedtime. And speaking of that, we have had two really amazing nights here. Friday night he went to bed at 7:30 and slept until 4:30!!!! I never thought that this would last, but last night he was in bed before 7:00 and slept until 5:30!!!! We were floored! Now the downside of this little feat is that it is Sunday (you know, the day of rest) and the 3 of us were up and about by 6:00. Oh well. I'd rather be up for the day at 5:30 after having an night of uninterrupted sleep then wake up in the middle of the night and have to go back to sleep (which I have a hard time doing after a feeding). We hope that this trend continues!

In more sleep news, we didn't move Tyler to his room this weekend. We realized that we had left our monitor's battery charger at Dad's house last weekend. And Tyler's room is in the back of the house. We weren't quite comfortable with having him sleep in there without the monitor. So Dad will be visiting this week (he's working up here for a few days) and we'll get the charger back then. We hope to try to move him into his room next weekend. But he did nap in his crib for the first time this weekend while we were doing chores upstairs. He napped well in there, for it being the first time. It gives us hope that the move will be an easy one.

Ceiling fans and Bumbos

I've really tried not to become a "baby stuff" mommy. I've tried not to get sucked into every little baby gadget or toy or item that is supposedly going to make our lives easier. Note: I said "try". In any event, I've heard nothing but great things about this thing called a Bumbo Seat. I'd heard so much about it that I got "Bumbo envy". But I didn't like the Bumbo pricetag. $40 for a foam chair! So I searched our local Once Upon a Child. Apparently, they are popular because all they had were NEW ones. Checked Ebay. You really can find anything there! Found one (slightly used) for half price. So I "won" it and it was delivered last week. We weren't sure how Tyler would like it, but we sat him in it and the "big boy feeling" washed over him and he just grinned! He loves sitting like a big boy and this way he gets to do it by himself! Good investment! (Still wouldn't have paid the $40 for it.....)

Daycare is going well. We bought Tyler a mobile that he can use on his crib there. He loves it! There were 2 days last week that I showed up to pick him up and he was laying in his crib, staring up at the mobile, just laughing and smiling and cooing. I asked the teachers, "Where's MY baby? My baby doesn't like to lay on his back and laugh and smile and coo." They claim something called "daycare rules". Interesting.......

In any event, as much as I still hate leaving him each morning and being away from him all day long, there have been a few positive changes that we have noticed. He's able to entertain himself for more than 5 mintues at a time, which has given us a little break. He also wants to nap in his crib (or bassinet), as opposed to napping in the same room that we are in. We noticed this for the first time at Grandpa Ed's this weekend. He started to melt down, which we knew meant that he needed a nap. So Travis laid him on his chest as we usually have to do in order to get him to sleep during the day. He still fussed. So we thought we'd experiment by placing him in the pack-n-play bassinet. Out like a light. We were impressed and amazed. The rest of the weekend's naps were spent this way as well. We aren't 100% sure that it's daycare's influence, or if it's a combination of that with the fact that he's getting older (& BIGGER) by the minute. Either way, we're happy about these changes. And very happy that he seems to be enjoying daycare.

Speaking of Grandpa Ed's, we had a great time this weekend. We had Mama Ange & Jim, Bridges & the boys, Great-Nana Woody, & Uncle Eddie over for lunch on Sunday. Tyler did a great job entertaining the crowd. And he was in a great mood for most of the day. He also met a new "friend" this weekend. The ceiling fan. He's checked out the fans in our house from time to time, but never seemed as amused by them until he saw Grandpa's. There's a fan in every room and he stared at them all and laughed. He laughed and smiled so much that the adults in the room usually had to look up too, just to make sure we weren't missing something. I don't think we were. But they sure made him happy!!!!

We did have one minor setback this weekend. While at Dad's, we had planned to give Tyler a bottle of expressed breastmilk, to make sure that he didn't fall into the old habit of "bottle strike". Well, I ended up giving the bottle to him, because Travis went fishing with Eddie on a much needed outing. Yeah, that didn't work. He screamed bloody murder again. For 20 minutes. I finally caved and nursed him instead. I thought maybe he was just tired and cranky and figured that this would be a one-time thing and he'd go back to be a happy "bottle baby" on Tuesday in daycare. Not the case. I picked him up this afternoon to hear, "We aren't sure why, but he acted like he didn't want his bottles this morning." *Sigh* I know why. He wanted to be nursed. We've got ourselves a "boob man". I guess I will never be able to give him a bottle......ever. I better get over my inhibitions about breastfeeding in public!!!! (Oh, and if you're concerned, he did end up taking his final bottle of the day, so hopefully the strike is over......)

We've got a short workweek this week and a big weekend ahead of us. We're hoping to transition Tyler into his own bedroom and his crib. Now that he is sleeping consistently until about 3:00 in the morning before wanting to nurse, we feel that it's time. My friend Meredith even made a good point - maybe we'll all sleep better this way. Right now, we're probably waking him up when we come to bed at night or get up to go to the bathroom. And he keeps me up some nights as he makes his sweet little baby noises. This may work out best for us all. Hope to be able to share that good news next week!

Week One - DONE!!!

Whew! Contrary to what I truly believed, we made it through the first week! I returned to work on Monday and there's really no other word to describe it other than "hell". Pure hell. Many tears were shed (mainly mine) and I counted down the minutes until I could leave and pick Tyler up from daycare each day. I was going to go with Travis on Day One to drop him off, but in the hours leading up to that final moment, I changed my mind. I decided that I couldn't do it. Travis was going to have to fly solo on this one. And it's probably for the best that I chickened out. Travis said that the drop off was kind of like taking off a bandaid. If I had been there, I would've dragged it out for hours, making sure that the teachers knew every little detail about him. (Instead, I sent a typed page of "Tyler-isms".) I only called the daycare once to check on him during the day. I was pretty proud of myself for that. I finally told my boss that I was leaving at 4:00, I couldn't take it anymore. I needed to be with my baby boy. I rushed to daycare, hitting every stoplight and getting behind every 145-year-old driver along the way. And once I got there, it was going to take an act of Congress to get that baby out of my arms. I was slightly reassured by the teachers as they told me what a good day he had. He had "tummy time" every day this week. He took his bottles like a champ. He was going to adjust and adapt just fine.....now Mommy had to do the same.

I was told a million times this week, "Welcome back, we missed you." Every time that was said to me, I honestly replied with, "Sorry, I can't say the same." Rude? Maybe. But it is the truth. Priorities have changed. Luckily, there was enough going on at work this week that made the days not seem so long. But the week still sucked. No other way to put it. Yes, I've heard that it will get easier. But for now, it hurts like hell when he leaves in the morning. And I feel like there is so much that we are missing. Our time with Tyler is so precious. And there's so little of it now. We get home after 5:00 and he's in bed by 7:00. That leaves very little awake time together. But we just make the most of the time that we do have. I treasure our nursing sessions so much more now and Travis has bath time with him. And the weekends are OURS. ALL OURS. Make the most of what you have.

To backtrack a bit, I enjoyed my first Mother's Day. I spent the day with my two favorite guys in the world. Travis & Tyler gave me a sweet card and a Willow Tree figurine called "Angel of Mine". It's a mother holding her newborn baby. Travis also made me a wonderful dinner that night. Filet mignon topped with hollandaise sauce and lump crab meat. It was a perfect day.

And we're about to hit a pretty big milestone around here.....12 weeks. It's so hard to believe that Tyler is almost 3 months old. Sometimes it feels like he just got here, and sometimes it's hard to remember what life was like without him. I fear that before we know it, he's going to be walking and talking and all that. The cliche term "they grow up so fast" is so true.

Tyler's still working on trying to roll over. He has it in his head that he WANTS to roll over, but hasn't quite figured out the logistics of the whole thing yet. His head and neck control gets better with each day and he "talks" to us a lot more. I swear that he's bigger every morning. He doesn't have another doctor's appointment until the end of June, but I can't wait to find out how much he's grown.

So that's really all that there is to report this week. I wish there was more, but honestly, a lot of the week was spent in a fog. I had one goal - get to my baby. We should have some interesting stuff next week! We're headed to Lynchburg for a long weekend visit!!! It's been a few weeks since we've traveled, so it will be interesting to see how it all goes!

One good week together

I'm not gonna cry, I'm not gonna cry. OK, that's out of the way. Tyler & I had a great week together. We had lunch with Travis on Monday. We've been able to meet him for lunch several times while I have been on leave. So we had to fit one more lunch in before D-Day. As usual, Tyler slept through lunch. It's a miracle, really. It seems that whenever we take him into a restaurant now (which isn't often), he sleeps right through the meal (which is nice). There are a few exceptions, but all in all he behaves.

On Tuesday, Tyler & I went over to the daycare. I wanted to meet with the director again and ask some questions and make sure that I had all of the paperwork that I needed to get him started on Monday. We hadn't been over there since November, so it was a good idea to get back over there and get reacquainted with everyone and everything. As I expected, I burst into tears the second that I walked in the door. I felt like a fool - I wasn't even there to drop him off!!!! But they reminded me that I wasn't the first parent to have that reaction, and I most certainly wasn't going to be the last. We took him into the infant room where he met the instructors. One of the girls, Renee, picked him up and played with him and talked to him. At first, he seemed a bit wary but warmed up very quickly. He even started to flirt a bit with a little girl in a crib nearby. Not even there and he's already causing trouble! I felt a little better after I left. Again, we are very happy with the decision that we made to go with this daycare and we have no concerns about it. We know that he will be in very capable hands and that he will undoubtedly handle this transition better than Travis or I. But it's still hard. I have spent the last 10 and a half weeks with my little boy and 9 months before that.....I'm not ready to give him up.

Moving on, Tyler had his professional portraits done on Wednesday at JC Penney. We never got any real smiles out of the session, but the pictures came out great anyway. I'm really pleased with them and can't wait to get them back. This is the outfit that he wore in some of the pictures. He looks like such a BIG BOY!!!!! Go figure...he smiled for me at home, in his carseat. What a professional-looking background - haha! But it was a special day for the pictures to be taken - it was his "10 week birthday". Wow, has it really been 10 weeks already???? I say it all the time, but time really does fly.

After the portraits, we had lunch again with Lori & Evan again. We put the boys in the pack-n-play again and watched them interact. I just kept watching them thinking how much that they had changed in just a few short weeks. Before we know it, Tyler & Evan are going to be tearing through our houses together. It all goes by so fast.

Other than our excursions, we've been working on sleeping at night around here. Tyler used to go to bed when we went to bed. It worked for all of us, and we didn't really notice any issues. But as he got a little older, I noticed that he seemed to be tired more often and he was fighting Travis at night to go to sleep. At the recommendation of our pediatrician, I started reading Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child. Though we aren't following the practices in the book very strictly, we have taken a few things from it and have seen a wonderful difference. We start Tyler's bedtime routine sometime between 6:00 and 7:00 each night (depending on his mood). Travis gives him a bath (which he now LOVES), gets him dressed for bed, then gives him a bottle of expressed milk. Yes folks, I just said BOTTLE. Tyler must have known that I was bad-mouthing him to people about his bottle-taking abilities because last Monday was the first time in over 2 weeks that he took a bottle with NO complaints! It was as if he had never stopped taking a bottle! We still aren't sure what caused the "bottle strike" around here, but all we do know is that it seems to be over....and boy are we happy!!! Anyway, after the bottle, it's off to dreamland for our little one. He usually falls right asleep (though as I write this, he is upstairs with Travis fighting sleep tonight....go figure) and will usually sleep until anywhere from 1:00 to 3:00, when he wakes to eat. Then it's back to sleep until 5:00 or 6:00. So we are really proud of him, and are expecting that he will start sleeping longer at night within the next few weeks. At that time, we will transition him into his room (you know, that nursery that we worked so hard on before he was born???) and his crib. We're hoping to have that accomplished within the next month.

So Tyler & Mommy's last week together was a success - and a fun one. I'm really going to miss being at home full time with my baby boy, but I know that he will be just fine at daycare. As if I didn't already do so, I will learn to cherish every waking moment that I have with him. And Travis will be there to help us all adjust to our new routine.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mommies out there!!!! I can't wait to spend my first Mother's Day with my 2 favorite men in the world.

The countdown is on.....

Yep, one week til Mommy has to go back to work. And boy, does the thought of it suck and make me cry like I've just had my own 2 month shots. I'm not ready to leave my little boy full-time in the care of strangers. I'm not ready to pump 3 times a day so that a stranger can give my baby boy a bottle. I'm not ready to have all of his "waking hours" spent at daycare, while we are left with very few "awake hours" and all of the "sleep hours". I'm just not ready. And neither is Travis. We have a feeling that Tyler will adapt better than we will. One week til we find out..... OK, I'll stop complaining about this now.

As previously mentioned, Tyler had his 2 month appointment this week. He's now up to a whopping 12 lbs. 9 oz and he is 23 inches long. This puts him in the 50th percentile for height and 75th for weight. The doc is very happy with his progress! She gave us some reassurance that we are doing the right things as far as sleeping at night and bottle feeding are concerned. (Not sure if I have mentioned this or not, but all of a sudden, he no longer wants to take a bottle and screams bloody murder each time that we give him one. But the doctor promises that the tide will turn.....yet again.) And he did very well with his shots. He had 4 shots in his little chunky legs and one oral vaccine given. As promised, Travis held him for the shots while I paced the exam room with my back turned to the table. Tyler wailed for a few moments but was quickly soothed. I, on the other hand.........But he did so well and sucked down that oral vaccine like it was candy. We all got a good laugh out of that. He didn't have any ill side effects from the vaccines. He just slept it off for the remainder of the day, only waking to eat. On the plus side, I got a lot done around the house that day! Luckily, he never developed a fever or anything like that. All in all, it wasn't as bad as I expected. And our son was quite the trooper. He got a "Perfect Exam" from his doctor and we don't go back until his 4 month appointment at the end of June. Ugh, more shots......

Developmentally, our little one is doing well and is right on track! He's already holding his head up really well! He loves to look around and we are amazed at his neck strength and control for his age. He's starting to look like he might roll over soon too. When we have "tummy time", he gets really excited and starts to kind of bob back and forth. It looks like the beginnings of a roll. He's also really vocal now and we love to "talk" to him about his day. He "oohs" and "ahhs" and coos. It's the most wonderful sound in the world! He'll stand up on those chunky legs of his when we stand him up on our knees. He'll hold his toy keys if you place them in his hand and he's starting to maybe reach for his toys on his toy bars. We just bought a bouncy seat this week and he loves it and just stares forever at those toys. (Note: We have a Baby Papasan chair too. He used to love that chair when he was a newborn. But it doesn't bounce and apparently, we didn't realize the importance of the bounce when we registered. So he has rejected the Papasan and embraced the cheap-o bouncy seat. Go figure.) Before we know it, he's going to be crawling and talking and driving (wait, I jumped a little on that one, huh?).

We've got a busy week coming up, as it is mine & Tyler's last week together before D-Day. We're having lunch with Travis one day, lunch with our friends Lori & Evan another, a meeting at the daycare, and portraits at JC Penney. I plan on cherishing every single moment that he & I have together..........