bear face

Joy took me out to dinner to celebrate my birthday. Tyler tagged along since Daddy was busy that particular night. Tyler does so well when we are out and about. He's so eager to test out his nearly-walking-legs and to explore so we wind up touring the restaurant. As fellow patrons seated behind us got ready to leave their little girl started to chat away. She asked what I thought was, "Why does he have a bear face?" as she pointed to Tyler. Then again later I heard the same thing, "Why does he have a bear face?" I had to ask Joy, does my baby look like a bear and I just don't see it. And then the girl asked me, "Is she your sister?" pointing at Joy. If you don't know Joy than this might not sound particularly funny (I'm white, Joy's black). But between that comment and the bear comment, Joy and I rolled with laughter!

molar update

Correction: both of Tyler's first molar teeth on the bottom are headed our way.

pathetic

Tyler has been drooling up a storm for the last week or two so I've been expecting his next two teeth on the bottom row to start poking through. To my amazement those teeth don't seem to be close to popping through but one of his back molar teeth does! He's also been trying to kick the last of his cold so he's been coughing and his nose has been running nonstop! Poor thing. I can tell he's hurting but he's such a trooper you wouldn't guess he's been going through so much all at one time.

totally spent

For my birthday the family chilled all day at home playing games (and I finally won the Trivia Pursuit game we started on Thanksgiving). That afternoon we spent an hour at the Sprint store in an unsuccessful atempt to upgrade our cell phones where Tyler had a ball cruising around the store and ate dinner out at Panera. When we got home, Tyler was so spent he fell asleep at 6:30 that evening and never got up until 8:30 the next morning. Happy Birthday Mommy!

simon time

Tyler spent Saturday evening playing with his pal Simon. Well, when I say play together I mean they played in solitaire next to each other. Getting a photo of the two of them near each other and both looking in the direction of the camera was nearly impossible!

dozer

Tyler rebounded enough from the fever that finally broke the previous day so that he could enjoy Thanksgiving. (And that also meant that my mom could join us as well, thankfully!) He still wasn't nearly 100%, but that didn't stop him from playing with Uncles Dylan and Brian. Tyler's favorite game was knocking down the block towers that Brian built, earning Tyler the nickname Bulldozer or Dozer.

sicko kiddo

Poor Tyler. He came home last night and went directly to sleep. When we woke him we realized that he had a fever and was quite miserable. Thankfully he was able to still sleep through the night. But he was still feeling bad this morning so I stayed home from work to care for my baby. He slept most of the morning clinging to me and his blanket. But by lunch time his fever broke and he finally started chatting, moving around and playing as usual.

old blue eyes

ok, he might not be OLD yet, but Tyler has heard thousands of times about how gorgeous his blue eyes are. His super long eyelashes only add to the impact. This recent photo was taken by Daniel Redmon. Thanks so much for capturing these young blue eyes and the cutie baby they belong to!

my model

We got 1-year photos taken. (photos to come)

more moo

We're still offering whole milk to Tyler and he's entertaining the idea somewhat. He'll drink it, but doesn't nearly gulp it down like he did the breastmilk. But he drinks a little more each day it seems.

pounce

Tyler loves to play and lately he's engaged fun time by pouncing forward like a cat!

first steps

Tyler took his first steps this morning!! Alex thought he was close last night when Tyler stood by himself and then pivoted around not bracing himself on anything. Then this morning just after Alex left for work, I was standing over Tyler bundling him up to go to daycare. I was standing behind him leaning over as he stood on his own. He put out his hand wanting me to take it and help him. Instead I told him he could do it and tapped the back of his knee. Then he took three steps, left, right, left, before kneeling down and playing with a toy. Hooray!

1-year checkup

At Tyler's checkup today he weighed in at 21 pounds, 1 ounce and measured 28.5 inches long. For the time being he's hovering around the 25 percentile. The doctor was pleased that he met the typical milestones for this time period including relational interactions and motor development. He was so brave when he got his three shots. He didn't even flinch for the first one, but the last one hurt a little and sniffled in mommy's arms for less than a minute before he started smiling at the nurse again.

blue

FYI: Blue icing equals blue poop 24 hours later.

happy 1st birthday!!!

Wow, what a fun day?! Tyler's best buddies joined him for sweets and treats. Tyler really enjoyed his personal 6" cake (nearly all of it)! Cake, friends, and new toys, oh my!

going...

going...

going...

gone!

thank heaven for cake!

tech bug

Tyler loves everything technology: remotes, phones, laptops... He's got the tech bug, but he needs to watch out because bugs bite! This week while investigating the VCR, the door flap trapped his hand as he tried to remove it. Gotcha!

whistle

Tyler is really exploring the sounds that he can make. Recent additions: puffing his cheeks full, puckering up like a kiss but then blowing air out slowly, whistling by mistake while he is blowing and putting his fingers in his mouth. He has also been clicking for some time. Tyler also loves to do the indian cheer on the back of his hand and clap which elicits mommy and daddy to say "Yay," which he finds really funny.

moo no more

After a successful first day, Tyler will no longer take whole milk. Now he won't even consider a bottle and will only drink from his cup with a straw. Sneaky mom put the milk into his cup, but he's too smart for that. He only wants water from his cup!

happy birthday uncle dylan

Born just 25 years and 10 days before Tyler, we celebrated Uncle Dylan's birthday on Saturday with lunch and some playtime in the yard. (Tyler's new trick: puffing out his cheeks. Too cute!)

moo

For the past month or so I've continued to breastfeed but only twice per day. While Tyler is at daycare he drinks thawed breast milk that I'd frozen months ago. But this past week I finally ran out of frozen milk. Just a week shy of his one-year checkup when the doctor usually gives the green light to move to whole milk, what is a mom to do? I could try formula, which I used for a short time to supplement my milk when Tyler was a few weeks old. Tyler wouldn't even consider it this time! He was absolutely adamant. Yuk! I could increase my production of breast milk but that runs counter to my plan to wean him soon. So in consultation with the pediatrician, Tyler is now drinking whole milk. And loving it I might add. Problem solved.