Watch Me Grow

It's been a busy winter...we're ready for spring!

2010-03-16T19:37:00.000-07:00

Tyler continues to be an energetic, talkative, and playful boy! I cannot believe he is soon turning 3. Tyler is so excited to be starting preschool in the fall. If it were up to him, he'd be going now! He amazes me with the things he says and what he picks up on. Tyler can spell 3 words- tyler, mom, and dad. He's working on spelling kylie's name too. He has memorized many of his books and loves when we read before naptime and bedtime. Lately Tyler has been waking up in the middle of the night and snuggling next to me, which is an aweful habit! Sometimes I march him back into his room, but other times I'm just too tired to deal with it. Hopefully we can break this habit soon.
Kylie is 9 months old. She weighs 16 pounds. She is officially on the loose and crawling and rolling all over the place. She has her 2 bottom teeth coming in. Kylie is very laid back, curious about everything, and always happy. She loves her brother and he can always make her laugh! In January Kylie had a pumonary function test performed. This told us that Kylie's lungs are very healthy right now. However, her dietian and pulmonolgist do not feel that she is gaining enough weight. People who are below the 25th percentile when comparing weight to height have worse lung function over time. 1 in 4 cfers end up with a feeding tube. Kylie is currently at the 10th percentile. We have been given 3 months to get her to really gain some weight or they will want to do a permament feeding tube. We are very upset over this and are doing what we can to put on some weight. Kylie is on high cal formula and we melt butter in her foods. We try to add as much fat as we can to every bite she takes. It's a lot of stress and pressure!
We are so fortunate to have our friends and family who have been supporting us with Kylie. I'm also so greatful to have found so many other moms and cfers out there who have helped me. We are working on a couple fundraisers right now. We are walking at the great stides walk in Naperville on May 22nd. To join our team or make a donation, please visit www.cff.org/great_strides/kerryeast.

More updates...

2009-10-01T13:57:00.000-07:00

Tyler is officially potty trained and out of diapers! It's been so nice and well worth the 2 weeks of hard work! We're so proud of him and can't believe what a big boy he is becoming! We have been having fun with a mommy and me Music and Movement class through the park district. We are also doing lots of storytimes at the library. We took an outing with some friends to Navy Pier and visited the Children's Museum and rode Thomas the Train!
Kylie is 4 months and weighing 11 pounds. We're happy with her weight gain so far and hope it continues to increase. Kylie's next appointment with her pulmonolgist will be a tough one. She's going to have a chest x-ray and blood draw as a base-line. She will also begin her daily nebulizer of Pulmozyme. This will help thin the mucus that is supposed to build up in her lungs. Kylie continues to be a happy, content baby who is such a bundle of joy! She's eating and sleeping well and loves to smile and babble. We feel so blessed to have her in our lives!

Update

2009-08-09T14:38:00.000-07:00

We have switched Kylie's doctor and hospital. We are now going to Children's Memorial Hospital and seeing the head Pulmonologist there. They have increased her enzymes to one capsule, her zantanc, and have suggested that we begin her chest percussion therapy once a day. She will begin nebulizers daily before the winter.
Kylie now weighs 9 pounds. She's sleeping at least one 6 hour stretch each night, which is nice! She continues to be a sweet, easy baby . She loves to be held and loves to cuddle.
Tyler is finally 23 pounds. He amazes us with how much he talks and how much he loves to learn. He's beginning to "read" books to me, he loves singing songs, and he's recently learned to locate a handful of states on his US map placemat.
We are looking forward to a stress free Wisconsin Dells trip in September.

Our sweet baby

2009-07-26T08:54:00.000-07:00

We have been given the devastating news at 4 weeks old that Kylie has Cystic Fibrosis. It was picked up on her infant screening. We have been coping as best as we can and are trying to learn as much as we can right now about this disease. Cystic fibrosis is an inherited chronic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system of about 30,000 children and adults in the United States. A defective gene and its protein product cause the body to produce unusually thick, sticky mucus that clogs the lungs and leads to life-threatening lung infections; and obstructs the pancreas and stops natural enzymes from helping the body break down and absorb food. The average life span of a person with CF is in the 30s, but we are fortunate to have caught this as an infant and have been told that the life span will continue to increase and she should live a full life. At this time, we are unsure of what Kylie's future will be. She has one very common gene mutation and one rare one, so it's difficult to predict how severe she will have the disease. So far, we know that her pancreas has tested as severe, meaning she would not be able to digest her food or keep fat in. To help her with this problem, she has been put on enzymes that she takes before every feeding. She will need to take enzymes for the rest of her life every time she eats. She is also on a liquid vitamin and an 1/8tsp. salt. each day. The main focus right now is to keep her gaining weight, which she has been doing wonderfully (she's over 8 pounds now!) and to keep her lungs clear. Eventually, we will start her on breathing treatments and chest therapies daily to clear her mucus from her lungs. For more information on CF, you can visit http://www.cff.org. We want to thank our family and friends for all the support you have given us so far! We'll keep you posted on Kylie's progess!

Potty training

2009-06-30T06:29:00.001-07:00

Although I decided to put a hold on potty training Tyler since Kylie came earlier than expected, he has been showing so much interest. He tells us when he has to do a poop, and we quickly rush him to the big "potty" and have had success numerous times in the past week. Tyler seems to be pooping on the toilet more than pottying, but last night was the first time he did both! I still have him in diapers, but am thinking I will try putting him in underwear and see what happens (although the smallest size they sell is 2T, which are still too big on him!) Tyler gets so excited when he goes and gets the biggest smile on his face. He is starting to see himself as a big boy and wants to please anyone who is willing to watch or listen (Tyler has made many phone calls to PaPa to tell him that he pooped). We are so proud of our little boy!

Kylie has arrived!

2009-06-13T18:38:00.000-07:00

Kylie arrived 4 weeks early and on my last day of school- June 3rd, weighing 5.12, 18 inches long. My contractions woke me up at about 4:30am, but I decided to go into work anyways since it was the last day. I didn't make it too long, however. I ended up leaving school in the morning, going to the doctor's office, and was sent back home since I wasn't dilated yet, even though my contractions were 4 minutes apart. I was told to come back at 4:00 to get rechecked, however, I couldn't make it that long. My contractions got worse and were 2 minutes apart. At about 1:00, we headed back to the doctor. I was checked again and this time was dilated to a 2 or 3. He sent me to the hospital, and from there I progressed quickly. Jim and the doctor almost missed the delivery. Once my water was broke, the doctor said he'd be back in 45 minutes to check me again. But 3 minutes later, she was ready to come out. The nurses had to page the doctor twice and my mom had to call Jim since he had gone down to eat dinner at the cafeteria. Kylie was born at 6:18pm. Kylie spent her hospital stay in the NICU to be monitored since she was preterm and had some elevated blood levels. Since arriving at home, Kylie has been such a perfect baby. She sleeps 3-4 hours between feedings and she seems to eat a lot. She barely cries, even when she's hungry. I wake up because I hear her sucking on her hand. She goes right back down to sleep and seems very content all day/night long. I am so greatful that she's such a good baby so far, especially since Tyler was so colicky and up every 2 hours for 3 months.
Tyler has adjusted well to his new sister. It was a little rough at first, but each day seems to get better. He loves her so much and wants to hold her and give her lots of kisses. He has been a great big brother so far! I look forward to being home with Tyler and Kylie all summer and fall. I will go back to work November 17th. Since Kylie came one month early, I actually have one extra month to spend with her, so I'm very excited about that!

Tyler is 2!

2009-05-31T10:28:00.000-07:00

Tyler turned 2 on April 23rd and we're getting ready for the summer and the arrival of the new baby! Tyler is full of personality. He talks all day long and doesn't stop. He's putting together up to 5 or 6 words in his sentences and pretty much communicates whatever it is he wants or needs. He continues to be a picky eater. We still can't get him to eat meat. He only weighed 21.5 pounds at his 2 year appointment. He's been sleeping in his big boy bed for a few months now and doing great. He takes a good 2 hour afternoon nap and sleeps 12-13 hours at night. We're going to try potty training in June before the baby comes, but we're not sure if Tyler will be ready or not. He likes sitting on his potty and he tells us when he has to poop, but he hasn't done anything on the potty yet. Unfortunately, the smallest underwear they sell are a bit big on Tyler too, so we'll see how this goes! We're really enjoying all the interacting and growth that Tyler has been making. He's at such a fun age right now and seems to be learning and absorbing everything so quickly. I'm really looking forward to being able to be home with Tyler and the baby all summer. I will be heading back to work mid November, so I'll have a nice extension onto the summer as well! We'll post more when he have some baby news!

It's a Girl!

2009-02-28T19:37:00.000-08:00

...or at least there's a 90% chance. We're very excited and feel so blessed that we will have one boy and one girl. It should be an interesting transition when the baby does come because Tyler cries anytime I hold someone else's baby. We are in the process of setting up Tyler's new airplane themed bedroom and are going to try to get him switched into his "big boy bed" before the baby comes. We're a bit nervous about doing this because he sleeps so well in his crib and hates having any kind of blanket on him. If it doesn't work out, we may be purchasing or borrowing another crib! He's still sleeping between 12- 13 hours a night and takes a decent nap in the late morning.

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T10:00:00.000-08:00

We can't believe Tyler is already 20 months old! He amazes us with how quickly he absorbs things. He knows almost all of his alphabet letters and lots of their sounds too. Tyler loves Sesame Street and especially Elmo. He had a great Christmas and got lots of kids cleaning toys from Santa. He LOVES to clean! Tyler also likes to color and read books. He continues to be a great sleeper at night and is down to one 2 hour nap a day. He also continues to be a very picky eater and is still very small for his age.
Jim and I are bringing in the new year with baby #2. We're very excited. Our due date is July 2nd and we will find out the sex of the baby in March, at 23 weeks along!

18 Months!

2008-11-02T14:46:00.000-08:00

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!

2008-07-24T14:14:00.001-07:00

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!

2008-06-07T19:07:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-05-15T18:37:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-04-24T16:25:00.000-07:00

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

2008-03-19T17:12:00.000-07:00

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!

2008-02-21T18:09:00.001-08:00

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!

2008-02-12T06:38:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-27T18:44:00.000-08:00

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

2008-01-13T09:28:00.000-08:00

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!