6 month well-baby visit

Tyler's new cups- which he loves to bang and knock over!

New sippy cup- water only for now. Tyler just likes to chew on the nipple!

New wooden slider toy. He loves to play with the bobbles, even though he can't quite figure out the point yet!


But.... the best toy of all is still dad's books (because they're forbidden)!! Screw the fancy stuff- give him some paper to rip and crinkle and he'll be happy for hours :)

The rough surf at Atlantic Beach from Hurricaine Bill. No swimming for us at this point! But the weather is supposed to improve- we're enjoying the beginning of our week at the beach!

Tyler had his six month well baby visit on Friday (at 6 1/2 months)! We got the much-awaited "stats" on Tyler's growth:

Weight- 18 pounds, 7 ounces (75%)

Height- 27 1/2 inches (75%)

We have confirmed-- he is HEAVY!! Mom is exhausted these days carrying him around! But he is happy and healthy, and the pediatrician assured us he is right on track developmentally. He can now sit upright unassisted, and can stand with help. He can't go from laying to sitting by himself yet, but I suspect we're not too far away. He can also turn 360 degrees on the floor (quickly!) but I doubt will be doing a true crawl for quite a few more weeks. I have been wrong on timing issues before, so I'll let you know if we get surprised by some quick changes! Stay tuned...

Congrats to Barbie and Jason

Yeah!!!! "Aunt" Barbie and "uncle" Jason are having a little girl, due January 17th. We are so excited for them, and hope that Winston and Tyler can be best buddies with the newest Warren. We are excited for her upcoming arrival!

Weekend in Nags Head

Tyler and I left Wednesday evening for a long weekend in Nags Head. We joined Kristin, Chip, Winston, Barbie and Jason who'd been there from the beginning of the week. Unfortunately dad had to stay behind in Richmond to work at the hospital. We missed him!!!

Tyler continues to do well and make strides in his growth. He's eating all kinds of food now- prunes, pears, sweet potatoes, bananas, green beans, applesauce (still to try- squash and peas). He's a great eater and loves most everything- but he still turns his nose up at the green beans :) We can't blame him!! He's working on sitting up for longer periods of time, but still falls after awhile. If he falls backwards and conks his head he'll cry briefly but doesn't seem too upset (I try to be around to minimize this!!). Standing and bouncing continues to be his favorite!!

Tyler has his six month well-baby check up this Friday. I'm so excited to see how long he is and how much he weighs. It's been a long time since our last update!! We also have lots of questions for the pediatrician regarding his food. Will we begin a few solids (puffs or cheerios) or a sippy cup and juice soon?? Details to follow!!


This did not last very long!! He does well if you hold a hand and give him support, but he can't survive long on his feet by himself. Shortly after this picture he fell to his bottom!

Doing better with sitting.

Being the little boy that he is and getting dirty in the sand. He loves the texture and would eat sand all day long if I let him!

Tyler LOVED Winston's exersaucer. Unfortunately, I realized too late that Winston was sick and this toy had his germs ALL over it. So after this long play session Tyler stared longingly at it all weekend long. He was jealous of all the fun Winston was having. Not surprisingly, Tyler was thrilled when we got home and he played in his own for 20 minutes :)

Tyler and Winston playing together (before Tyler was banished from the exersaucer).

This was on Saturday after Winston had left to spend time with his grandmother June. I was trying to work on Tyler's "independent play time" per request of Joyce. I do feel sorry for daycare (and myself sometimes). Tyler most certainly does not do well left to his own devices. He much prefers constant attention and love and playtime, which is exhausting!!! Despite all my efforts over the past months he seems to be a bit on the spoiled side- he cries and screams if left by himself. I have no idea how we'll move past this- hopefully it's a stage he'll grow out of soon!!

Tyler and Winston together at the beach on Thursday. Winston is way ahead of Tyler with sitting up and playing with toys. Tyler will catch up soon enough :)

On Sunday morning we left the house with all moms friends and went to visit the Peat family for a few hours before leaving the beach. Grandma JayCee thrilled Tyler with many "new" toys (saved from Alex). We now have a pillow to help Tyler while he's still in his wobbly sitting phase. The balloon was a favorite- it makes a crinkly noise!! We wish we could've spent more time with them- it had been a LONG time since they'd seen Tyler (Mother's Day?). He's changed so much!

We're greatful to be home again with daddy. Tyler lit up with joy at seeing him. It took forever to get home- traffic was aweful. We made it safely. One more work week until vacation with dad!!

Tyler's new jumperoo. He's still not quite sure how to work it, or if he likes it. He much prefers the exersaucer!

Tyler and sweet potatoes

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FINALLY working on sitting up!!! Not quite upright, but working on it :)

Tyler with Steven and Elizabeth Seitz. We enjoyed a visit last night- they drove all the way down from DC (their vacation spot, but live in Wisconsin) to spend an afternoon with our family. Thanks guys- we enjoyed seeing you and love that you finally met Tyler!

Thanks to grammy Linda for keeping Tyler for three days while mom and dad vacationed in Miami. It was the longest we had left Tyler, and although we had a great time we were excited to get home to our little boy!

6 month birthday!!!!

Tyler is 6 months old today!!! Our little baby is growing up so fast :)

Pictures to come!

New Baby Pool

We had some late afternoon fun in the back yard today-- we purchased a new baby pool! Tyler (and mom & dad) had lots of fun. It was the perfect afternoon temperature in the shade of the tree- a nice way to spend a rare weekend at home.

Tyler's doing much better at standing, with some help still

(now if we could only get him to sit unassisted- which seems a ways off still)

He's working on the balance and core strength... we're slowly getting there

We thought the raft would help him sit up (which it did) but then he couldn't reach the water!

Playing with his toys, and trying not to do a nose-dive into the water!

His feet are the best toy of all!

Loving dad :)

Practicing his kicks for the back stroke...

...and putting in some work on the freestyle breathing technique

I wish I could read his thoughts :)

Note his signiture one eye lift when he's got something on his mind!!

Laughing and playing with dad

not so sure about laying in the water this way... he was nervous!

Stealing dad's beer-- starting too young!!!

Warming up with dad at the end of a big new adventure

Tyler and Joyce

Tyler just LOVES Joyce, and we do too!! Joyce is Tyler's primary caretaker at daycare, and we couldn't be more thrilled to have such a loving, experienced, knowledgeable woman taking care of him. We don't have to worry each day, because we know her 24 years of excellent work at VCU has Tyler in great hands. We will miss her when it's time to move up to a new room (but thankfully we have 6 long months before we have to worry about that)!!

I woke Tyler from an early morning nap to snap this photo- you can tell he's not into the smiling thing at this moment :)

Sunday morning on the porch with dad (finally showing a little meat on his bones).

He's putting on the weight, partially due to all the new foods he's enjoying. Joyce feeds him rice cereal mixed with formula and bananas every morning around 7:45am. At home, we're introducing all types of new foods for dinner. Tyler has enjoyed bananas, green beans, and applesauce. Up next... sweet potatoes?? (next is dad's choice-- we have carrots, sweet potatoes, prunes, pears, and peas to go for "stage one" gerber baby foods). We'll keep you updated...

Tyler's Weekend

Tyler had a busy weekend trying to keep up with mom. This was the first weekend in a very long time that we were home the entire time!! We went all kinds of places- Costco, the car wash, the mall, the grocery, the ABC store (that one was tricky with Tyler... too many heavy things to hold!). And some places we went twice (the grocery, of course)! I think we wore each other out. We also went on our first long walk outside in a long time, which reminded us why we had quit. Tyler was sweaty from head to toe when we got home- I felt very guilty!! Bath time quickly thereafter...

Tyler is getting so big that it is becoming difficult for me to carry him any distance in his car seat- I'm not strong enough, and it really hurts the crook of my arm now :P Oh well- soon I will be complaining that he has outgrown his car seat and I have to carry him everywhere (or use the stroller more). This will be before we know it, I'm afraid! I highly doubt he'll make it to one year old in the current seat. The weight limit is 22 pounds, so once we surpass this we will have to get a convertible seat (a large seat that is rear facing up to 30 pounds and then switches to front facing, but is stationary in the car- no more removable seats). I'm not entirely sure how much he weighs now, but he's getting BIG... long and solid in the torso... and a little chubby in the cheeks :) Still our cute little boy, but no more chicken legs in this household!

We don't have another official weigh-in (6 month well-baby visit) until August 21st. We'll keep you posted.

Tyler's new favorite (and cheap) chew toy: the renewal fliers out of magazines. He LOVES to chew on them until they're a messy pulp. We took this one away and he threw a FIT. We're going to stop this before it becomes too much fun. We'll find fiber sources in other ways, thank you very much.

We spent many hours Sunday scrubbing the mold and mildew off the side of the house. It may not look very impressive, but the before picture was a wall full of green and grey slime that took a LONG time to scrub off. Mom is EXHAUSTED. Tyler spent most of the time in the tent watching us (with a fan- it was very hot).

Sorry I've gotten so bad at taking Tyler pictures- will try to do better asap.

New Sleeping Arrangements...

Last night we put Tyler to sleep in a sleep sack instead of his swaddle... and would you believe he slept through the entire night?!?! We were very happy (especially mom, who can't sleep through Tyler's wakeful periods at night). I got my first un-interrupted night of sleep in as long as I can remember!! We are going to try to make this permanent (tonight is only night two...). We'll keep you informed.

Tyler had another big milestone tonight-- he ate green beans for dinner!! Although he made an adorable "eewww... what is this?" face with every bite, he continued to open his mouth and swallow the next bite. Maybe it's just a new flavor profile at the moment but he'll be an adventuresome eater like his parents? Afterall, he did eat a full meal of the icky green beans, despite the contorted facial expressions. (Mom felt sorry for him- they smelled aweful). But we've got to get in all our essential vitamins and have a well-rounded diet :P

Maybe some yummy applesauce next to counter the green stuff...

Tyler's New Highchair

Sorry I've been so deficient in posting photos- we've had a lot going on around here :)

We just purchased Tyler a new "highchair"-- one that attaches to a normal chair. It is so much smaller than a traditional highchair and fits in our little house very well. He loved it- and strangely, it helped with his meal time. He was so preoccupied with kicking his feet under the tray that he didn't try to put his hands in his mouth while eating. This was a much calmer, easier, cleaner meal than in days past. He gobbled up his oatmeal and banana cereal, continued to eat all the remaining bananas (refridgerator cold), and then drank two ounces of milk!!! He's eating and drinking lots at daycare as well- growing into quite the little boy :)

Grandma Linda's Visit

Grandma Linda came for a much overdue visit this past weekend. We had a wonderful time seeing her, and she was an awesome babysitter Friday evening while mom and dad had a night away for their 5th Anniversary. Unfortunately our weekend together was cut short when we had to return to Greenville for Great-Grandma Jackie's visitation. Thanks to Linda for being understanding about the situation- we hope to see you again soon :)

Tyler's big smile

Admiring Grandma Linda

Linda blowing our her birthday candles- a slightly delayed celebration :)

(you turned thirty-nine again?? your secret is safe with us!)

Linda and Tyler, while mom and dad made dinner

Dad and Grandma Linda, just before we had to leave for Greenville

Helping dad study the physics of radiology-- so fun!!

Great Grandma Jackie

Great grandma Jackie passed Friday morning, July 10th. We are greatful for the times we shared with her and will always treasure the memory of her first meeting Tyler. She loved him dearly and we will miss her deeply.

Great Grandma Jackie

We love you so very much. We hope you feel better soon- our thoughts and prayers are with you now and always. This picture was taken when Tyler and great-grandma first met- back on March 21, 2009.