For those that are REALLY interested in Ty's blog...

I've actually gone back and posted the pictures that I've taken over the last month (back to about Thanksgiving). If you're one of those folks who just can't get enough of Ty's blog (I think there are 4 of us out there and two of them live in my house), you might want to go back and look at the archives for November and December to see the updates. Otherwise, I'll try to update more often. Things got so crazy in the month of December with the ending of school, the Christmas parties and outings like the Lion King and the General Jackson showboat, and the 12 handbell performances. I think January should be a much calmer month!

Napping = Tatting

Ty has become a great napper, so Mama has had a chance to practice her tatting. After 3 attempts at beginning this project (one of which became a slightly flawed snowlflake ornament on our tree) I actually completed this! I started it yesterday morning, and finished it tonight. It didn't take me nearly as long as I had imagined it might. (I am still not sure what to use something like this for, but it is pretty cool to say that I made this!) Now, I am ready to learn how to use "two shuttles" so that I can make the more complicated patterns. I think I can do all of the "one shuttle" patterns in the book, so I've got to go back to Great Grandma R's for another lesson!

Merry Christmas one more time at Great Grandma R's

Ty was very overwhelmed with all of the gifts - particularly the paper! I think he could have gotten tissue paper and boxes and been perfectly content. He'll enjoy the contents eventually!

Merry Christmas at our house!

It was fun to have Grammie, Poppie, and Aunt Melissa at our house for Christmas! Ty says, "Thanks for coming, and thanks for all my presents!"

Merry Christmas at Great Grandpa T's

Playing Peekaboo on Christmas Eve

One of Ty's favorite things to do these days is to put something (stuffed animal, dish towel, blanket, pants, etc...) over his face and wait until you say, "Where is Ty?" before he takes it off. If you wait too long, then he starts wiggling and making little noises as if he's saying, "hey, we're playing here - what about me - aren't you wondering where I am?"

Another clothing change

Ty has been through 3 sets of clothes this afternoon since we got home from seeing Santa. (Lots of laundry to do now - including the cover of the carseat. Yuck!). Mama finally gave up and let him be naked for a while! He seems to be perfectly content with that!

Thanks, Stephanie!

Stephanie gave Ty these Christmas p.j.s with his name on them. They're so adorable that I just needed to take his picture in them in front of the tree. This, of course, seemed to be a license for Ty to try to take things off of the tree. We do let him play with this little jingle bell, so that seems to satisfy his curiosity. I just can't figure out why someone would make these adorable p.j.s and then write "not suitable for sleepwear" in the tag. I understand that babies shouldn't sleep with buttons on their clothes, but why would someone actually make baby clothes with buttons on them anyway? What was wrong with snaps? Oh well! They certainly LOOK cute!!!

Seeing Santa

We met Jackson and Stephanie this morning at the mall to go see Santa, and the boys did great! Neither one of them was super excited about seing the big bearded man in the red suit, but neither of them screamed immediately, either. Santa's little elf did get a pretty good picture of Ty before he realized that it really was past his nap time and he was in a stranger's arms.

He's learned to splash in the tub!

What fun!

Bumper Problems

When I went to wake Ty up from his nap this afternoon, I realized what he'd been doing before he fell asleep. It hasn't been a problem (until today) that the straps to hold the bumpers in place were a bit too short for our crib. We've had to go purchase some more velcro to hold them in place, but I bet Ty felt like he'd really accomplished something when he got himself in this position to sleep!

It is sooooooo cold today!

Our weather is quite weird around here. One day it is below freezing, but the next day may have a high in the 70s. Today is a cold day, so Ty is trying out this hand-me-down snowsuit. It's way too short for him, and he's really slippery in it. He can't move much at all, so Daddy does a great impression of Ty with his paci in the snowsuit!

The booster seat

We've been pretty happy with the choice to have the booster seat rather than a big high chair. Ty particularly likes the straps on the seat!

Check out the thighs on this baby! This is why the 12 month jammies (one piece sleepers with feet and a zipper) won't zip up! We've had to go witht the two piece jammies that make him look like a big boy. So sad!

7 months old

I can't believe that Ty has been here for 7 months! We are enjoying having him in our house so much, and I can't really remember what it was like without him here.

Ty decided to roll from his back to his tummy this weekend. I was pretty sure that he was strong enough to do this long ago, but he never really had the urge to roll over. Finally, I found something he wanted badly enough that he would actually reach and roll over to get it. (Until this point, nothing else had been that important to him.) Ty loves beads and necklaces, so I encouraged him to roll over by dangling Grandma T's red beads just out of his reach. In no time at all (as if he'd been doing it all his life), he simply rolled over and has been doing it all weekend.

We ate dinner at Great Grandpa T's as usual tonight, and Ty seemed to be back to his normal eating after a week or so of the "I'm sick" appetite. This makes Mama very happy because it means that Ty is feeling better! He goes back for the other half of his flu shot on Thursday this week, so he'll probably get checked out again to make sure he really is getting well. Ty seemed to enjoy looking at Great Grandpa's Christmas tree tonight, but he sure didn't enjoy touching it. (I suppose he really is his Mama's baby if he's reacting strangely to weird textures.) We don't have a tree up at our house yet because there was a bit of a disagreement among the Mama and the Daddy. See, Mama said that we should put the tree up on the weekend after Thanksgiving because that was going to be the only weekend for a while when she didn't have a ton of handbell performances; however, Daddy said that he didn't want the tree up so early so that we didn't rush Christmas. Now, he thinks he's being funny by making comments about us not having our Christmas decorations up. Well, guess what we'll be doing one night this week!!??! We have two Christmas parties this weekend as well as handbell and choir Christmas performances, and we need to have our house in the Christmas mood to really get the full effect of the beginning of the holiday season!

Baby Dedication at Church

Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and he will make straight your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

Rolling Over

Ty decided that he could roll from his back to his tummy today. He just needed to have something that he wanted badly enough - that turned out to be Grandma's red beads. After the first success, he rolls as though he's been doing this all of his life. It looks way too easy for him!

First Ear Infection (not First Tooth as previously stated)

I suppose Mama is just crazy. I know we felt and saw a tooth coming in on Tuesday night, but tonight there's nothing. We did go to the doctor today (Mama just couldn't handle another night of being awake coughing from 3-4:30 in the morning after going to see The Lion King last night and getting home late) and she was super nice to squeeze us in (instead of having us see the other doctor with whom we'd made an appointment). She was less than happy with Ty's left ear, though, and has put him on meds for 10 days to help him get over it. He should be feeling better by Saturday. This evening he actually ate everything I offered him, so I think he's already feeling a bit better. We're praying for good sleep tonight, though!

He's REALLY mad

Buddies

I have printed books of Ty's first months at Shutterfly for the grandma's for Christmas, and as I was doing that I realized I didn't have any pics of Ty and Patches together. She was so patient as I interrupted her nap to sit him next to her on the coucn in the sunroom, and he totally loved placing his hand on her fur to claim her as his own kitty cat. He still lights up every time she walks in the room.

Clap Clap!

Ty has learned to clap this week, and he thinks it is great fun! He still gets super excited when he sees Patches, so he claps for her (and anything else he finds amusing). We played for a bit between a big spit up and a bath tonight, and Ty thought it was fun to be almost naked!

Deedle deedle dumplin Ty's my son.....

One shoe off and one shoe on....

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a great time visiting with family on Thanksgiving. Ty was a little bit overwhelmed by the large number of people in his house. The weather was super nice, so Great Grandpa T and Annabelle took Ty for a stroller ride while the rest of us ate our turkey lunch. We have some funny pictures of everyone sleeping after the lunch, too! Ty particularly enjoyed taking his late afternoon nap while being passed around from Grandma to Grammie to Mama.

Can you find the baby?

Ty feels like he's hiding in his bed among all of the giraffes in these jammies.

No peas, please.

As of last Friday, I would have said that Ty would eat anything! He ate peas with no complaints on Thursday night; however, on Saturday night he decided that "what goes down must come up". We were at Great Grandma R's house, and he turned up his nose at peas for the first time ever! Then, last night, he was eating carrots at church and only ate half of them. When he gets something he doesn't like in his mouth, he gags himself to make me feel really sorry for him as though he's going to get sick from eating his veggies. Tonight, I thought I'd be sneaky by giving him a small bit of peas with sweet potatoes (which he ate on Sunday night with no complaints), and he played the same game with the sweet potatoes and peas. I finally got about half of them down him, but he had no interest in eating the rest. He still eats his breakfast (oatmeal and a fruit) with no complaints, but he doesn't have any desire to eat the vegetables in the evenings. Daddy thinks maybe his tastebuds are just now getting sophisticated enough to tell the difference. Regardless, my sweet little "good eater" has all of a sudden become a challenge!

New tricks

• Ty has learned to put himself to sleep at night! I guess he's been doing this for about a month pretty well. When it is bedtime (he rubs his eyes to indicate that time is near), I rock him for a very little bit, and then I put him in the bed with the sound machine and his mobile turned on. He's usually asleep by the time the mobile quits singing, but the sound machine stays on all night long so that he isn't awakened by the barking dogs outside, our alarms in the morning, etc...
• Ty eats like a pro! With the exception of squash (got a little rash with that - don't know if it's related, but the doc said, "goodbye squash" - we'll try again when he's older), he's thought all cereal, fruits, and veggies were yummy. He makes a "mmmmmm" sound when he takes a bite. It's adorable! We decided not to get a high chair since space in the kitchen is a bit limited, so we have a booster seat attached to one of our kitchen chairs. I am really glad that we made this decision. It's easy to use (and the booster is portable and can travel with us easily), it was really cheap, and we're not tripping over the highchair!
• Ty graduated to big carseats. At one point we thought he was over the limit (bad estimates from the scales at Great Grandpa T's house - he's really not over the limit yet) for the infant seat, so we bought two convertible carseats. This was a chore because Mama has strict limitations on fabric choices. We can't do anything fuzzy (like corduroy or velour), so there were only 3 to choose from. We decided not to get the 3-in-1 since they have a height limit of 52 inches and our state says he must be in a booster until he's 57 inches. It was a big decision, but I think we're ok with the ones we've got. The worst part about it all, though, is that if he falls asleep in the car he must be woken up to go inside. Aargh.
• Ty has learned how to play "boo". He pulls a blanket up over his face until I say, "where is Ty?" Then, he pulls the blanket down and grins and giggles when I say "boo - there he is!" THIS IS TOO FUN!!!
• Ty has discovered that Patches and Chloe are great fun! Patches can be a bit of a distraction when she wants her breakfast at the same time as Ty gets his. He leans over the edge of the booster to try to get a glimpse of her, and he lights up every time he sees her. He loves to pet the animals, and so far they've been GREAT around him. Patches will even come close enough for him to touch her every once in a while, and she's very patient when he grabs her fur. (Not bad for a snobby cat who doesn't like strangers at all. I guess it's taken her 6 months to realize that he wasn't going anywhere and she better get on his good side so that maybe he'll share his milk with her one day.)
• Ty's vocabulary currently consists of "dadadadadada", "mmmmmmm", and all sorts of squealy vowel sounds. Occasionally we get a "ba" and a "na ... naa". None of this has any special meaning yet, though.

Ty has two different smiles...

and he's learning to use them for the camera!


Mama found some photo editing software on the computer and played for a bit this afternoon. What fun!

6 month appointment

Ty's Stats:

Weight: 21 lbs (95th percentile)
Height: 29 inches (95th percentile)
Head Circumference: 42.5 cm (75th percentile)

Doc said he was average for a 15 month old. Oh well! He's strong and healthy, and that's what we like to hear. His "report card" was good. The only thing he's not doing is "rolling over both ways". He goes from his front to his back, and from his back to his side, but not from his back to his front yet. Oh well. He's sitting up really well, and when the doc held him up to see how he was standing, she said, "oh my - I think he's going to be an early walker".

Happy Halloween

We went to the Fall Fest Halloween Party at church this evening, and Ty loved seeing all of the kids dressed in their costumes. He particularly liked Hannah's ladybug antenna and wings - they were much more interesting than looking at the camera to have a picture made. We went to Grandma and Grandpa T's house, and Ty was their only Trick-or-Treater all night long!

A beautiful Sunday afternoon....

We spent some time in the backyard today after church and took some really cute pictures of Ty. Chloe decided that she needed to be photographed, too, so that we had documentation that she was trying to be a lion for Halloween (and for as long after that until her fur grows back). Evidently, when you have a baby and neglect to brush your collie for a summer the groomers decide to give the dog's fur a fresh start. So, Chloe is sporting the 'lion cut' for the winter. What a stupid time of year to shave off all of a dog's fur! Mama feels very badly that Chloe is half naked, but it is nice that we'll be able to have Chloe inside a lot more this winter! She was hysterical about trying to get in the pictures - at first from the side and later right smack dab in the middle.

Ty is working so hard on sitting up. It's a good thing that Mama is usually close by when he topples, though!

Bowling Green Again

We had a good time meeting for lunch in Bowling Green again. At least it didn't rain the whole way this time. We even made it back in time for Daddy to watch his football game this evening!

Johnny Jump Up!

WHAT FUN!!! Daddy and Ty had such a good time playing in the doorway. I just realized this week that there is a weight limit on this thing (which we're probably about to hit), so we decided that we should pull it out and play before Ty got too big for it. He LOVED it!

The orange corruption....

Do you think we can convince Ty that the T on Daddy's hat is really for Ty and just happens to be orange? Or is it inevitable that he'll figure out that there's a connection between Daddy's orange shirt, his hat, and the football game on the T.V.? Could we ever make him believe that Black and Gold are good colors outside of football season?

Pumpkins

Ty went to the pumpkin patch today to get some pumpkins, and I realized that although it was his first time to see pumpkins it was also his first time to sit in the grass. He's just recently started sitting up well enough to even consider putting him in the grass, but it has been quite rainy and cool this week so we haven't played outside yet. Except for the sun shining in his eyes, Ty thought this was pretty fun!

Rubber Bands?

Great Grandma R says that we should quit putting rubber bands around Ty's wrists and thighs. She's worried that the indentions might be permanent. I, however, love the little rolls of baby fat!

Sweetly sleeping....

Ty was actually taking a nap in his bed at home. Wow!! He's been sleeping well in his bed at night for a long time now (except when he wakes up coughing and needs a snuggle and a paci to go back to sleep), but he has never been a good napper. As of today, he's taken 3 naps in his bed on the weekend. Until this point, he's napped in the bouncy seat or car seat on the run (if he's napped at all) for Mama. I guess he's decided that Mama is boring enough that he can spare a few minutes for a nap and not miss anything.

Sitting Up

Ty is working hard at sitting up by himself. He's still a little wobbly (particularly when he gets tired), but he's not far from mastering it!

We had a good time with Julie and Peggy this weekend, and we're sorry that Julie got sick and couldn't hang out with us anymore. We'll see you again soon.

A new cousin!

Carrie and Jason welcomed little Timothy Burns into the family yesterday! Ty is looking forward to meeting his new little cousin some day. (Ty and Timothy had the exact same weight and length at birth. Weird!)

Happy Birthday Uncle WIll

We tried to call you today. I got your text message, but I can't reply back. Hope you had a good one.

Happy Birthday Uncle Russell

I have decided that I never want to be a single mom. Daddy has been on a golf trip this weekend, and it has been quite a chore to be by myself!

Last night we realized how beneficial it might be for my parents to have a spare key to our house. I had left the house key in the diaper bag becuase my mom was picking up Ty today since I had a second day of parent conference and might not have been able to leave on time. That worked beautifully - until we tried to go shopping for supplies to make centerpieces for a luncheon on Saturday. When we got back to "pick up something" before going to meet Russell and Grandpa T for a birthday dinner, I realized that I never put the house key back on my keychain. I also realized that all of our windows and doors were actually locked. (I went around the house taking the screens off of the windows to see if any of them might have been unlocked. I was met at the window in the den with our "guard cat". Hehehe. Patches was determined to figure out who was messing with all of her windows. I am not sure what she would have done if it had not been me!)

Finally, Uncle Russell and Grandpa T showed up with plan A and plan B. Plan A was to use the Kroger plus card to open the locked door (it worked -that's scary - we'll be using the dead bolt from now on), and plan B was to take the door off of the hinges or something like that. It was so late that we just ordered pizza and saved Russell's steak for the next night.

So Happy!