18 Months!

We've had a fun Fall so far! We visited a pumpkin patch and for Halloween, Tyler dressed up as a monster, although he didn't really like wearing his costume. Tyler has overcome RSV this season already as well as many colds. We think some of the colds were due to teething, as he has all of his teeth in except his 2 year molars. Tyler is definitely becoming independent and he makes up his mind quickly! He is beginning to throw tantrums, but they usually don't last long. He is still a mama's boy and still gets upset anytime I have to leave him. He is also my shadow in the house. He continues to love cleaning, playing outside, taking baths, watching nursery rhymes on tv, dancing, and keeping busy playing with all of his toys. He can identify his body parts, make animal sounds, and is in the process of learning his colors. His vocabulary is expanding on a daily basis and he continues to nap 2 times a day. He is finally taking milk from s sippy cup all day long (Hooray!) but still on a bottle at night. He is off the binki (Another hooray!) and still continues to be a picky eater. He weighed 19.0 at his 18 month appointment, which is still in the 0 percentile. One nice thing, however, is that he can usually tell us or point to what he wants to eat or when he wants a drink. This has definitely been a fun age and we look forward to watching Tyler grow and develop every day!

15 Months!

We are enjoying our summer very much with Tyler and are amazed at how much he is progressing, well except with his weight gain! He weighs 17 pounds, 8 ounces, which is in the zero percentile for toddlers his age. His height is 29", which is in the 5th percentile. The doctor reassured us that he's so small due to genetics, since Jim and I were small when we were younger. He's developing normally- he has about 8-10 words in his vocabulary, he points to about 10 body parts, and he seems to understand whatever Jim and I tell him to do or get. He also has 11 teeth already. He enjoys picking tiny crumbs off the floor and throwing them in the garbage, he's a great helper when I clean the house and loves swiffering, he plays with his tool bench, throws and kicks balls, sorts his shapes in the shape sorter bucket, and rides his truck. I've implemented the "naughty spot" when he ignores our "no's" but I have found that he loves that spot and often times sits and plays on it when he's not in trouble. So I may need to think of a different way to discipline! Tyler continues to be a picky eater, but the things he does eat are pretty healthy- cheese, yogurt, oatmeal, peas, raisins, raisin bread, watermelon, grapes, peaches, ice cream, and mac n' cheese. We haven't been able to get him to eat any meats, but we'll keep trying! He still takes 3 bottles a day and will only drink water from his sippy cup, but by 18 months we will need to take away the bottle.

13 1/2 Months!

I'm so happy that school is out for the summer! It's going to be so much fun watching Tlyer grow and develop these next couple of months. I am happy to say that Tyler has been eating and sleeping very well. He's been going to bed around 8:00pm and sleeps in anywhere between 8:30-9:30am, sometimes even later. I don't mind that at all! Tyler is finally eating better. He loves breakfast foods- french toast sticks and raisin bread are his favorites. He also loves macaroni and cheese, yogurt, and american cheese. I wish he would eat more fruits and vegetables, but we're working on that! He pretty much will not eat his baby food jars anymore and is on "real" food now, which amazes me. We're still working on the sippy cup. Tyler will only drink water from it but will not take his milk from a cup. I see another challenge in our near future! He loves drinking out of my water bottles or sipping out of my cup, so we might have to skip the sippy cup altogether and teach him how to use a cup...we'll see!
Tyler and I are going to be taking mom and tot swim lessons together throught the park district. We do lots of playing all day long and take a couple stroller or wagon walks a day. Tyler is very vocal and uses his hands while "having conversations" with whoever will listen to him, but he's really not saying any words yet besides mama and dada. He definitely understands what we ask of him or tell him to do. He can point to certain body parts and follow demands, such as jump, clap, give high five, go get Blue, look outside, etc. He is walking all over the place and goes up and down the stairs! Tyler's favorite book is "Barnyard Dance" and he will try to dance when I read it and "bow to the horse and cow". It's really cute! Each month keeps getting better and better and we just love watching Tyler grow!

Almost walking!

Tyler had a great first birthday party. He now has lots of toys to stay busy with and a whole new summer wardrobe! It wasn't surprising that he really didn't want any birthday cake or cookie cake. When we gave him his own birthday cake on his actual birthday, he grabbed it in his hands and threw it on the floor. We made the decision to get a cookie cake from Mrs. Field's Cookies for his birthday party because we already know he loves cookies, but he must not have been hungry when it was cake time because he only had a couple bites of that. Oh well!
We've tried lots of new foods with Tyler to get him to gain weight. Although most are spit out, we have found that Tyler likes cinnamon raison toast, american cheese, and ice cream. He also has his 8th tooth coming in on the bottom, so we're hoping that his lack of eating lately is due to teething. Tyler is on his way to walking! He's taking about 5 steps at a time now and becoming more daring and confident. He let's go of furniture and walks, or darts, towards us. He thinks it's really funny. I can't wait until school is over for the summer so I'll get to spend lots of time with Tyler!

One Year!

Wow! We can't believe a year has gone by already. Tyler had his 12 month check-up today. Our little peanut is still very little. He only weighed in at 16.0 pounds and 28 inches. Our doctor is finally a bit concerned about his weight and we are beginning a food intervention to help him eat some foods that are high in calories to help Tyler put on some pounds. Hopefully, Tyler will respond and actually like and eat the foods. We're basically going to give him 3 cooked eggs a week (I'm not sure how that's going to go), lots of dairy such as cheese sticks, cottage cheese, yogurt, and whole milk, cooked vegetables with butter and cheese, and my favorite- ice cream every night before bed. The doctor also wants us to give him cut up meats. So we'll see how this all goes. So far he likes the ice cream! Because of his weight, we have not moved up car seats yet and cannot switch him to face forward. We are waiting anxiously to make this change because Tyler hasn't been a fan of the car!
Tyler continues to be very, very active. He does not sit still for more than 2 seconds and he's definitely not the type of baby that will sit on your lap. Although he's not walking yet, he is taking steps between furniture and standing on his own. He does walk to push his big truck. Luckily, he sleeps around 14 hours total a night and still takes 2 naps a day.
We're moving into our new house on April 29th and will hopefully be able to post new pictures and videos of Tyler sometime after we're moved in.

11 months

It's hard to believe that Tyler is almost one year old! It's been so fun watching him change and grow. He is weighing in at 16 pounds now and has 7 teeth that have broken through his gums. He continues to be a picky eater, especially during teething times. He's been going on about 2 weeks now of not wanting any solid foods, just bottles and yogurt. That's been tough, but it's pretty much expected by now. We go through this every time he teethes.
Tyler is getting pretty speedy with his crawling and cruising along all furniture. He lets go and stands by himself for a few seconds too. No first steps yet, but I'm sure it won't be long before he'll be walking.
Tyler has been very playful with his toys and with Blue too. He loves thowing a ball and crawling after it repeatedly. He also enjoys "talking" on his play phone. He holds it up to his ear and babbles...he must see mom on the phone all the time! He loves pushing his toy train car around(see the video below). He's learned how to wave "hello", give 5, and hold up his pointer finger to show "one". We just love him so much!!!

10 Months!

Tyler is feeling better and back on track now that he's no longer sick with RSV! All of a sudden, he's taking bigger bottles now and eating more food. He's even going in his high chair without a battle, which is a nice change. For awhile there, we were battling the high chair, diaper changes, and the car seat...all are getting better now! His favorite foods lately are yobaby yogurt and teddy grahams. He has 4 teeth now and enjoys trying any kind of new food we try giving him. Although he's not at 15 pounds yet and catching back up after loosing a few ounces while he was sick, we're hoping he'll gain some more weight with his new appetite.
Tyler continues to be very active. He's beginning to let go of furniture while standing and testing out his balance. He loves throwing his toys to the ground, banging things, and climbing. Typical boy! He's learned how to "Give me 5" and loves peek-a-boo. He is at such a fun and charming age right now, I can't wait to see what he'll do next!

Being sick is no fun!

For the past week, Tyler has been sick. What started as a runny nose has turned into RSV, a respiratory infection. It is NO fun. Tyler has been all congested with a terrible powerful cough. I think he's starting to show signs of improvement though. Jim and I have been taking turns staying home from work to take care of him.
I've enjoyed being home with him more though! He is now cruising along the furniture and climbing on anything and everything. I'm sure he'll be walking in no time! He also learned how to clap this week. It's so cute!
On top of taking care of Tyler, we also bought a new home in Plainfield. We're very excited and have 90 days to sell our house now. This will be very convienent when Tyler goes to school. He'll be able to come with me to work before and after school. We're only one minute away.

9 Months

Tyler weighed in at 14 pounds 10 ounces at his 9 month doctor's appointment, which we were happy about. At least he's gaining weight now! His top 2 teeth are starting to come in, which will give him a total of 4 teeth to help him eat some more solids. His favorite foods lately are cheerios and Gerber puffs. He'll eat those things anytime. We're still working on sippy cup skills and holding his own bottle. He doesn't seem to get the concept of the sippy cup yet and he gets very upset if I make him hold his own bottle.

Tyler amazed us with his new tricks this week. He loves to play Peek-A-Boo. As soon as he crawls out of sight, all I have to say is "Where is Tyler" and he crawls back and pokes his head around the corner. He also is making associations with animal noises, which completely surprised me. So far, he recognizes "tweet tweet" and reaches up for the bird in his jumperoo when I make the sound and he'll reach for his duckie in the bathtub when I make the quacking noise. Tyler's favorite toy is his animal train. But really, he's not so into toys yet. He'd rather crawl towards remotes, cords, and blinds and the different textures around the house like carpeting and furniture. He's also starting to pull up on things, so we really can't let him out of sight!

Long over due

I've enjoyed reading our friend's sites that they have set up for their babies, kids, or families. I thought it was about time I learned how to create one so that I can share updates and photos of Tyler.
Tyler is 8 1/2 months old now. He has finally passed the 14 pound mark, weighing in at 14.7. As many of you know, I have been very concerned about his lack of weight gain and not wanting to eat much, however the doctor's have convinced me that he's healthy and growing!
Tyler has been lots of fun! He's now crawling all over the place. He loves playing with all of his toys. He's very interactive and alert-doesn't miss a thing! He loves to mimic sounds that you make.
We've started feeding Tyler some more solid type foods, such as Gerber puff cereals, teething biscuits, toast and small pieces of fruits. He also loves yo baby yogurt.
After going through some teething and croup, Tyler is finally back to sleeping through the night. He goes to bed around 6:30pm, we feed him before we go to bed, and then he's good until 7:30ish. He usually goes back to sleep after that until 9:30. So overall, he sleeps for 15 hours! He also takes 2-3 naps during the day.
Well check back soon for more to come!