6 MONTHS!

Time has really flown now... I haven't updated since Tyler was 2 months old!

He has made quite a lot of progress since then. He's gone from the serious little fella I brought home from the hospital to a little boy full of personality. He giggles and laughs, he gives me big smiles, he is learning to hug, he has favorite things...

He's been eating solid foods for a couple months now. We started on rice cereal but it clogged him up so we switched to oatmeal. He's also explored the wonderful worlds of fruits and veggies and now eats pretty much whatever I feed him. He loves fruits in his mesh feeder. And he is starting to hold his bottle by himself, and practice holding his sippy cup. I'm so proud! He's even growing teeth... he has 2 that sprouted up on the bottom last month, and boy those things are sharp. Just like little fangs! He's also a drool factory haha. AAAAND... he can now sit up by himself and roll over in both directions. He likes rolling across the living room floor and checking things out. :o)

I'm so proud of him, at his 6 month checkup he weighed in at 20 lbs and is 27 inches tall... so he doubled his birth weight and then some! He's a big boy. Our little beefcake. Every day is so much fun with him now that he's learning new stuff every day and exploring his world more and more. He's also sleeping through the night finally... Mommy likes that very much! (He still wakes up around 6 or 7, but that's okay... he's getting about 12 hours straight of sleep, and that's great!)

We'll be taking our first family plane ride down to Tyler's Grammy & Poppop's house this Saturday for Christmas. We're staying for about 2 weeks which should be a lot of fun! I know Tyler misses his grandparents a lot, and he'll have a good time getting spoiled by them. I can't wait to see my parents either. It's fun celebrating all the holidays with a newbie now haha!

For anyone curious on how the cloth diapering thing went... we switched over from the gDiapers to pocket-style cloth diapers (Coolababy brand is one example). And I absolutely love cloth diapering. I can talk diapers all day long if you want! It's gotten easier with the experience and I've done so much research and learned a lot about them. And I'm very glad that I'll be able to use them on any of Tyler's future siblings and save even more money! Did I mention I love cloth diapering??

I'm posting a few recent photos of Tyler for updating purposes... I'll have to update his blog more often. He's growing so fast I can't believe it's already been 6 months! I love this little guy with all my heart and he's my little ray of sunshine in every single day!

Tyler at our family Christmas photo shoot... check out those fangs!

Big boy practicing holding his own bottle

Tyler at about 4 months with his Uncle Lee

5 1/2 months... he used to be so tiny in this chair, now he takes up the whole thing!

Chillin' and nappin' before Mommy woke me up for the day!

Almost 2 months old!

Time is flying by with Mr. Tyler! He will be 2 months old on Tuesday, and it's just amazing to see how much he's grown! He has his 2 month well baby checkup on Tuesday also so I can't wait to see exactly how much weight he's gained and how many inches he's added to his future tall self! Last night we were out to eat and there was a little baby girl at the table behind us... she must have been maybe a few weeks old only because she was so tiny, and then I looked from her to Tyler and she made Tyler look like a moose! It kinda made me shocked to see just how much he has truly grown. Last week I was sorting through his laundry and had to separate out his newborn size clothes because he is just too big to fit in them anymore... it made me sad, I remember when he was small enough to just fit in the crook of my arm but now his feet dangle halfway across my lap... what's going on here??

He has been such a good baby though. The transition of going back to work wasn't so hard... I ended up getting a bunch of his photos printed out and plastered them all over my cubicle at work so I look at him all day long and think of him, and his babysitter is fantastic and I think Tyler really likes it at her house. She took him and her daughter on a little field trip last week at the community center; they were having a kid's indoor beach party and Tyler got a lot of attention while they were there. But can you blame him... he's so cute! :o)

It's awesome to watch him develop more every day... this morning when he woke up I was tickling him and for the first time he was smiling and kind of cooing at me... usually he just looks at me like I'm crazy when I try to tickle him, and he will give me smiles but only at random throughout the day. I can't wait until he smiles more and actually laughs, but I'll take the wide-eyed baby stares for now too, they're just as cute!

I've been experimenting with cloth diapers on him for the past week... I ordered some gDiapers online which are kind of a hybrid between cloth and disposable. They have a liner that goes inside the cloth outer pant and when you change baby, you can either flush the liner, compost it, or throw it away and they break down faster than a regular disposable diaper so they're better for the environment. You can also use cloth as an insert instead of the flushable g-liner which is what I'm practicing with doing... the first time I used one I realized I am VERY unprepared because I hadn't bought a diaper pail yet and don't have enough cloth inserts, and it just so happened that Tyler left me a #2 in his diaper so I was frantically trying to figure out what to do with that mess. However, with the advice of some other moms I know, I have it all figured out and am going to give it my best shot. Surprisingly, cloth diapering isn't that difficult... and I am the type of person who would prefer convenience over cost effectiveness when it comes to diapers, but honestly anyone can do it. People think that it would be so hard to rinse the diapers and wash them but it's no different than changing your own underwear except with maybe a couple extra steps thrown in. I'm going to keep working at it and hopefully we will be completely finished with disposables in another week or 2 while we transition!

Here are a few new pictures of Tyler and a video clip of him with hiccups... I forgot to rotate the photos before I uploaded them so you may have to turn your head sideways to view. :oP

This is my BLAHH face!
Pretending to be crabby (wearing my orange gDiaper!)

Listening to Mommy's iPod in the carseat

Me and my hiccups!!!

Tyler's rough morning

It's been a little while since I updated... if anyone has a Facebook, there are a couple of short video clips I posted on there of Tyler (I think I may be able to post them here as well but I'll have to spend some time tinkering and figuring it out) but if you get a chance, check them out! Just look me up. :o)

Tyler had a rough morning today... I had my 6 week postpartum checkup today (holy cow it's already been 6 weeks) and before we left, I was changing his diaper on the living room floor and he peed all over the blanket I had him laid on. So of course that also required a change of clothes before we left. THEN right as I pulled into the parking lot at the clinic, he spit up all down the front of himself in the car seat, so that required some thorough wiping down before we went inside (I didn't happen to bring a change of clothes with me). My appointment was great, and the midwife said I am all good to go on exercising and resuming normal activities again, I'm healthy as can be. Yay!

So after the appointment Tyler and I returned home and I set him in his swing for a little bit while I got some things done around the house, and he had an explosive diaper. Lovely. So as I was changing that mess, once again he peed all over the living room carpet. You'd think I would have learned my lesson at this point, but I didn't. So the poor little guy spent the morning covered in all kinds of bodily fluid excrecions, and I decided he needed a good bath. Fortunately, Tyler is starting to enjoy bath times now which is great! He used to hate them but now he will sit contentedly while I prop him up and soap him down... what a good little guy!

He also took his first "dip in the pool" today... I set up the little inflatable wading pool I bought months ago when I was still pregnant (thinking I'd sit in it when I got too hot, but I never got around to setting it up) and I took Tyler outside and just dipped his feet in the water... he wasn't thrilled at first but he started to take to the water okay. I don't think he's ready to fully get in there even with someone holding him just yet, but for now we can stick his little feet in there when it gets too hot.

He is doing very well and I will be heading back to work on Monday... it's going to be hard to not be able to spend all day with him anymore but he will be getting excellent care. The daycare provider I found for him is wonderful and she's a super nice person, keeps a very neat and clean house, and is pursuing her master's degree in early childhood education. I feel at ease leaving him with her while I go to work, knowing he will be treated well and looked after by a great childcare provider.

And here is Tyler this morning in his swing after he had his bath... he's getting chunky, and I love him to pieces!

Tyler is 1 Month Old!

Today Tyler is officially one month old! Time flies... even though some of those days seemed to just drag with learning everything there is to know about taking care of a newborn... and I'm still learning and making mistakes, but that comes with the job!

Jon is finally home from all of his training which is great. It will be nice to have him around all the time and Tyler will finally get to spend quality time with his Daddy and get to know him better. I told Jon he is now a real father because he's been peed on and puked on... the true badges of parenthood. He's doing great though, in a way he reminds me of myself the first couple weeks I was alone with Tyler and would freak out at his first cries, or wonder why he did certain things. I tried to take a nap yesterday and I didn't even get to because after about 20 minutes Jon came in with a crying Tyler who needed to be changed... then another 15 minutes later Tyler was crying again and Jon wasn't sure what to do (he needed to be fed) so finally I just got up to help him out. I wonder what was harder... Jon's combat training, or learning how to be a new Daddy?? :oP

We had a good weekend though. I enjoyed spending time with the boys and Tyler is getting more of a personality every day which is so fun to watch. He's a great little guy!

I'm 1 month old... and still taking lots of naps!

I look just like my Daddy in this picture

Anyone need napping advice? Just ask me!

A week alone with Tyler

Whoever coined the phrase "It takes a village to raise a child" wasn't kidding. It's not an easy job being a single parent (temporarily until Jon gets back on Friday, anyway). I'm trying to type this with one hand while I hold Tyler who is not easily consoled it seems. He's just having a sort of grouchy afternoon. I thought he would be okay taking a nap as I got this all set up, but he started crying so I had to pick him up and hold him.

Yes, I will be so glad when Jon is home! It will be nice to have a few minutes to myself and not have to worry about how Tyler is doing even if he's a foot away from me and fast asleep. I worry about him a lot!

The past week has been crazy. It's a learning experience every day with him, from figuring out all of his different cries, to feeding him, to trying to get through the nights (he's been pretty good in that department but I'd like more than 2 hours of sleep at a time...) and sponge baths, and going out in the car... but I love all of it. I love him! It's the one thing in my life I couldn't really study for, like a test in school or trying to work out and lose weight to join the Navy. It's true challenge! And you can never be selfish with a baby. He comes first... no matter how badly I have to pee, how hungry or tired I may get, Tyler is the priority.

In the meantime, here are a few more pictures I took with my phone (I barely have time to get the camera ready but hopefully soon!) He's doing great. He's wonderful!

Naptime with Boots the Monkey
I'm cute and I know it!

The napping is good!

Handsome boy :o)

Laying with mommy

TYLER IS HOME!!!

Tyler finally got to come home yesterday! It's the best thing in the world!!!

I have a few spare minutes since he's taking a nap to write really quick, but I probably won't be online for the next few days or so, at least until I figure out some kind of routine. But always expect the unexpected, right?

It's so good to have him here. It's weird adjusting, but I'm so glad to have my boy here with us and just to be able to spend as much time with him as possible. I'm trying to figure out everything, from feeding to changing to giving him a bath (he had his first sponge bath today... I don't think he had been washed at all since he was born, so now he smells lovely and is fresh n' clean!) But I'm doing everything one step at a time. Jon will be back in 2 weeks from his training and then it will be nice to have that extra parent here for help, and so I can take an occasional break. :o)

Yesterday he spent some quality time hanging out on the couch while Daddy played Xbox, and I took a few pictures... I'll be taking plenty more now that he's home, and I'll probably post them over the weekend. For now, here's my little cutie!

YESSSSSS!!!

I got the greatest news in the world today... Tyler is coming home!!! This Saturday!!!

I called the NICU early this morning just to check on him and ask if I could bring in his car seat (he has to do a "car seat challenge", since he was a preemie he needs to sit in the car seat for a half hour and maintain stable vitals so he can be discharged) and the girl I spoke to said to wait, but he was doing great on his feedings and they were thinking of taking out his feeding tube today. So when I went in, the nurse was just finishing a feeding on him and she said she was going to take out his tube when he was all done... and now it's finally out!

He also got his frenulum snipped... the frenulum is that little piece of skin/membrane that holds your tongue to the bottom of your mouth, and they had said that could have been keeping him from eating properly since he was "tongue-tied", aka his frenulum was more attached than the average. He wasn't too thrilled about that but he only cried for a couple minutes and then it was over. They numbed him up before they did it so I *hope* it didn't hurt him too much. We also did more breastfeeding today with the lactation consultant, and Tyler is getting better at it... he stayed on for about 10 minutes this time without freaking out so we're making lots of progress!

I'm so happy though. Tomorrow night I'll be having a "sleepover" at the hospital with him and then we'll be coming home Saturday morning... and then life can really begin :o) I am blessed to have such an amazing son... and for great friends and family who stuck with us and hoped and prayed for Tyler's big improvements! Thank you everyone!

It's going to be such a long wait til he gets home... I can feel the hours dragging already...!