Changes, Changes ...

I have received feedback from my loyal followers to combine 2 weeks in Ty's life together, so that I am writing about the current week that just happened.  Since I have been posting the blog almost every Thursday or Friday, it will work.  In the beginning, I was just leaving it open in case I would write it earlier in the week.  So here goes the 2 week recap... hope it isn't too long!

Tyson's 12th week was a big one!  Many, many things happened!  First of all, I took it as a sign that the mattress for Ty's crib came in on Friday morning.  I made the executive decision that Tyson would move into his own room and sleep in his brand new crib on his 3 month birthday.  I say I made the executive decision because Heath was resistant to this.  Heath kept saying, "I don't know if this is necessary."  Then he said, "I like him in our room."  I totally agree, it was actually very traumatic to move him into his own room.  But I did not want to wait too long.  I have heard horror stories of children not being able to sleep in a room by themselves because they were kept in their parent's room too long.  I did not want that to happen.  So we gave it a go!  I cried when I left him in his crib, but amazingly, he did not!  He had been sleeping so well, that I hated to rock the boat, but it did not make any difference to him at all.  He slept 9 hours in his new bed, like nothing had changed.  I have to say that it was an adjustment for Heath & I (Ty could have cared less).  He is just across the hall, and I sleep with the monitor at my head, but it just is not the same!  Oh, my little boy is growing up!

Look at how small he looks in his big crib!

Tyson's "home" for his first 11 weeks

The changing table on top of my dresser that is no longer there )=

Just a quick side note, I agonized about which shipping I should pick when I ordered the mattress from Amazon.  I could get free shipping but it would take 5-8 business days.  I could have gotten it in 2-3 business days, but it would have cost $10 for shipping.  I really wanted it sooner than later, but I opted to be cheap and got the free shipping.  I ordered it on Wednesday night at about 11 pm and it came less than 2 days later!  Man, am I glad that I did the free shipping!

One new thing that Tyson did on that Friday was actually grab onto one of the "bugs" that hang from his play mat.  He would bat at them occasionally, but this time he hit the bug and held onto it.  He held onto it so long that I was able to get a picture to capture the moment!  Tyson has been grabbing at things more lately, especially this last week (13).  Mr. Elephant is definitely his favorite right now because he is soft and his middle is made up of celephane-like material and it crinkles when he touches it.  He loves it!  This week he was sitting on his boppy on the guest bed and had Mr. Elephant in his lap.  Well, he had started fussing and Mr. Elephant had fallen away from where he could touch him.  I gave him Mr. Elephant and he grabbed onto him and chucked him onto the floor.  He did it so purposefully!  It was so funny.  He was telling me that he was getting hungry and Mr. Elephant was not going to do anything about that!

"The" official grabbing moment!

Holding onto a few more toys...

Look at him holding his binky in... I wish he would do that more often!

Sabbath of week 12, Adam and Grammy came over for church in Concord and lunch.  Tyson did not make it through church but Grammy was happy to take him into the mother's room.  Heath, Adam, and Joel (Heath's cousin) went ice-fishing in the afternoon while Grammy had some time with Tyson.  We went out to eat that night at Uno's and had about the worst service ever.  On a high note, Tyson did well at dinner.  Tyson had a great night sleep and slept a record of 10 hours that night!  Wow!

Waking up after the "big sleep" (what I call going to bed at night)

Sunday of week 12 is a day that I would like to forget.  The Patriots lost to the Jets.  I did not see that one coming.  I really thought that this was their year to go back to the Superbowl, but alas, it was not meant to be.  At least the Jets lost in the next round.  I can't stand them.  Well, for the big game, Tyson and I headed over to Noni & Poppy's townhouse ("The Fairway").  I had him dressed in Patriots gear and wouldn't you know it, he pooped through it before the game even started!  I swear, anytime I put him in any type of cute outfit that is not pajamas, he has a blow out in record time!  It's like it is a game for him.  Tyson is definitely winning with that game.  Well, winning is what the Patriots did NOT do, but we had a nice time with Aunt Sherrie, Uncle Kevin, Noni, Poppy, Shannon and Sean.  I guess there is always next year. 

Decked out in Pats gear, all for nothing!

Doesn't he look like he is posing?

After coming back from the disappointing game, it was time to reintroduce Tyson to bottles.  He had not had a bottle since week ?3.  I would be going back to work in 2 days and we wanted to make sure that he would take a bottle for my mother.  He took it with no problem at all.  He looks so cute drinking a bottle!  His eyes get all wide and he sucks it down so fast.  We had to keep giving him breaks because he was drinking so fast.  The breaks still did not prevent him from burping and spitting up - probably because the milk comes so much faster than the boob.

Taking his first bottle in about 9 weeks like a pro

On Monday morning of week 12, Tyson was so cute!  He woke up happy in his new crib, totally obsessed with his mobile.  It is made up of trucks and he just loves it.  He wakes up grinning up at it.  Sometimes he straight out laughs at it.  And it is not even moving!  He looks so adorable in his crib - he looks tiny in that big thing!  I'm glad he was so happy on Monday, because I sure wasn't.  It was the day before I had to go back to work and I was miserable.  I seriously cried all day.  I just could not imagine leaving him.  I just thought of all the moments that I was going to miss.  It was super hard.

Grinning up at his mobile

So Tuesday, 1/18/11, was the day that I reentered the work force.  It was steady enough that I was preoccupied so I could not miss Tyson too much, but not crazy that I was losing my mind.    I was able to pump 3 times during work (the every 4 hours that I am feeding him now) and I would call and check in everytime I was pumping.  I think my mom thought that I was "checking up" on her, but I seriously just wanted to know what Tyson was doing at that exact moment!  Of course, Ty was an angel for my mother and did not cry once.  I am thankful for that, but why does he save all the bad behavior for me?  At least he cried for Heath once he relieved my mother from her duties!  At least it is just not me!  But I could not wait to get home to see Ty.  He was asleep in his swing when I got home.  I let him sleep for about 15 minutes while I ate supper and then I could not take it any longer - I had to pick him up!  My greatest fear turned into reality on the first day that I went back to work.  I do not want to miss any milestones, but I did already.  Tyson sucked his thumb for the first time while I was working.  My mother tried to catch it on camera, but Ty is very quick and it is not a great shot.  He really hasn't gone back to the thumb since, so maybe he didn't like it!

Basking in Noni's arms

The first thumb-sucking moment that I missed! )=

He had taken 4 bottles while I was gone the first day, but then nursed before bedtime with no problem.  I was relieved.  I was so worried about him rejecting the breast after taking the bottles.  But it seems to be OK so far.  He did reject the left breast completely for 2 feedings on Wednesday, for some weird reason, which nearly gave me a heart attack but that seems to have passed.  There was plenty of milk there, so I don't know if I got lotion or something on it and he didn't like the smell or taste... it was bizarre.

Lying on my legs after nursing

Thursday of week 12 brought our weekly Concord run for errands and the OG.  Tyson was cranky and Heath had to hold him throughout the whole meal.  Heath said, "maybe our time going out-to-eat is over."  But I refuse, it is seriously my most favorite thing to do!

OK, week 12 is over and now I can officially say, "this week".  Week 13 has begun!  Last Friday started week 13 off on a bad note.  Ty cried most of the day and refused to take any afternoon naps.  He only slept for two 30 minutes naps, despite being exhausted.  He would fall alseep in my arms but the minute I would put him down in his crib, he would scream.  I knew that he was tired so I decided that he was going to take a nap and that was it.  I let him cry for 5 minutes and then I would return and console him.  Then I would leave and he would cry for another 5 minutes and I would return etc.  I really thought that he would get it and go to sleep.  Are you kidding me?  The kid has a steel will.  I did that for an hour and 20 minutes.  Finally, Tyson won the battle and I gave up.  I was so mentally drained after that episode that at his next nap-time, I had him take his nap in the swing (which I have been trying not to do).  Unfortunately, he only slept 30 mintues again and woke himself up (it was not even the dog's fault this time).  I was at my wit's end.  Of course, he was even fussier than normal that night because he had not slept all day!  Because of that, I felt almost relieved to go to work the next day after all the screaming he had done.  Almost.  I said, almost. 

How could I ever want to leave this guy?

Sabbath I was at work and it was my second shift back.  On my second shift they put me back in charge all weekend.  It was super busy but we got through it.  I missed Ty desperately, even despite the bad day on Friday.  I was telling someone  how it is crazy how much they can emotionally drain you, but yet, all you want to do is still be with them!  Tyson had a good weekend with Daddy, however the house suffered immensely.  Below are the before and after pictures.  It is astounding truly.

 Before...

After...

Monday I spent the majority of the day picking up after Heath's weekend home with Ty.  I will not be looking forward to those Mondays!  Tyson took an hour and 45 minute nap in the afternoon for me - which was heavenly after the horrible nap-taking on Friday.  He truly is so erratic with the naps.  Monday night, Heath and I set back up the kitchen furniture.  I have a kitchen again!  We are getting closer and closer to being nearly done with the mess.  What a relief.  Ty cried for a good portion of this time.  We had him in the bouncer and then the swing.  I was constantly putting the binky back in after he would spit it out.  He just wanted to be held!  As soon as we were done, we picked him up and he stopped crying immediately.  Oh my.  But then, he slept another 10 hours that night.  How can I complain about anything?

A happier time in the bouncer

Wednesday I worked 9a-9p, which I thought that I was going to hate, but I actually enjoyed the shift.  That will be my regular shift every Wednesday on the next schedule.  Again, Tyson was perfect for my mother and even took a 2 hour nap in the afternoon in his crib!  Yeah!  Wednesday was an exciting day because, not only was it Corey's birthday, but she also found out that she is having a boy!  I am so excited!  Tyson will have a boy cousin that is close in age to him!  Corey has 2 girls already, so this perfect!

Thursday (today) was a pretty good day for Tyson.  He took about an hour & 15 minute nap this afternoon.  Shannon came over to visit before we headed to Concord to the OG.  Shannon & Sean did join us this week.  Tyson was a tad fussy during the meal, but I held him and he did fine.  He just is not sleeping anymore when we go out to eat!  In fact, he was awake from 3:30 until he went to bed at 10:30 and he was not too bad at all.  I don't want to jinx myself, but the last few days have been the best that he has been in weeks.  I don't want to read too much into that, but we'll keep our fingers crossed.

Happy time with Auntie Shannon

OK, I am officially caught up.  That was extensive.  Until next time, here are some more random shots of Ty.

 He really reacts now when we do funny faces in the mirror

Look at those chubby cheeks!

Smiling up at some more bugs

Tyson can't wait for the Sox to start either!

Enjoying the sling with Mommy

Enjoying the bouncer while Mom was cooking

"I just have so much fun on my play mat!"

"Mommy please pick me up"

The closed-lip smiles are so cute

Tantrums, Hands, and Snow...

Week 11 was a pretty good week overall.  I'm sure you have all been tired of me saying that Tyson had a bad week.  So Heath and I came to the conclusion this week that we just have a cranky, colicky, high-maintenance child.  Therefore, we are used to him crying a lot - that is just him.  Since you know what to expect, the crying does not seem so horrible anymore (when anyone else probably would be horrified).  Sometimes it is his "teeth" hurting him, sometimes he has GI upset, but other times, he just wants to be held.  Heath thinks that he is spoiled.  Heath did a test the other night.  Tyson was happy as pie in Heath's arms, walking around, and then Heath went to put him down on his playmat - and on the way down, before Tyson was even on the mat, he started crying.  Just knowing that he would be on the mat by himself was more than he could handle!  And then when he was completely on the mat and alone, he threw a temper tantrum!  He is getting pretty crazy with his temper tantrums.  He has a fit every time I switch sides and burp him while nursing.  He thinks that he is done eating and he just goes berserk.  It is actually amusing, he turns bright red in the face, stands straight up on his feet, and does the holding his breath while screaming thing.  Can you imagine a 3 month old throwing tantrums?  What is he going to be like at 3 years old?  Oh my!  So what do you do with a child like this?  Heath thinks we need to let him cry it out more.  I guess we do, but it is really hard to hear him cry like that!  I think I need to do some more research on Google!

One big thing that happened on Friday, the first day of his 11th week, was that Tyson found his hands.  He was sitting next to me on the couch on his boppy, when he just put his fist in his mouth.  I was like, did this just happen?  He had never done this before.  I actually had my camera there with me and managed to get a picture of the event right when it happened!  For the rest of the week, Ty was desperately trying to suck his thumb.  He would have his thumb out and just could not get the angle right.  I wanted to help him along, because he was just struggling to get it in, but Heath did not want me to.  He said, "I can take the binky away but I can't take the thumb away."  He is right, I must admit.  Poor Ty, he is so cute, he will be sucking the side of his thumb but just can't quite make it!  He did suck on a couple of fingers on Tuesday, but not the elusive thumb!  At first, he seemed to be using mostly his left hand to try to suck his thumb, but then he has been using his right a lot, too.  I am hoping that he will be left-handed, but we will have to see.  But since he has found his hands, he has his hands in his mouth all the time!  It makes it hard to get pictures of his full face now!

"The" moment that he found his hands!

Trying hard to suck his thumb!

"Maybe it will work better if I try both of them at once!"

On Sabbath, we went to Concord Church with Shannon and Sean.  This week Tyson slept through the service again, so I did not need to visit the mother's room (Concord has one).  Shannon and Sean came over for lunch and got some Ty Time.  Then they headed out for a date night at the movies and we decided to go back to Burlington Coat Factory to see if there were any deals left. It was pretty much cleaned out but we did get some clothes for Tyson and Heath.  I managed a sweater for $3.00 for myself!  The best buys were the fancy, church outfits that we found for Ty.  They were $7.50 each!  They are super cute!  I can't wait for him to fit into them!  One of the things that we really needed to get on Saturday night was a crib mattress for Tyson.  We went to Babies 'R Us and thought that we could find one.  Well, we had decided that we wanted a foam mattress for Ty and unfortunately Babies 'R Us had only one and it was terrible.  So we struck out.  We decided we would order one on-line.  Since we had been at Burlington Coat Factory and then were planning to go to our favorite mexican restaurant, I knew that I would need to feed Tyson.  While we were at Babies 'R Us, I saw a sign for a "Mother's Room."  So I decided to give it a go.  It was great!  It had a couch, a glider, and a changing table.  It was the perfect place to nurse and I was so thankful that I did not have to nurse him in the cold car!  It made me think that major stores out there, like Walmart, Target, etc. should have a room for breastfeeding mothers.  I know it is probably asking a lot, but it is a nice thought.  In a perfect world.  I just don't think I have it in me to nurse in public.

Zoning out getting ready to go to church!

Auntie Shannon having Ty time

 More Burlington Coat Factory deals

Ty's naps changed this week.  The only nap that is predictable is the first AM nap.  He eats first thing in the morning (between 6:45 and 7:30) and then goes right back to sleep for about 2 hours.  This week he would only nap for the last 45 minutes to 1 hour before his next meal, but sometimes he wouldn't sleep at all!  Gone are the days of his long afternoon nap of 2 to 2.5 hours.  I miss that nap time!  That is when I would get something accomplished!  But things might keep changing.  His naps overall have been pretty erratic.  After only having 1 afternoon nap of 30 minutes on Monday, I was desperate on Tuesday.  I usually have Tyson get sleepy, either in his bouncer, his swing, or my arms and then I put him down in his pack 'n play to sleep.  Well, on Tuesday afternoon, he was fully asleep in his swing and I decided that I was not going to move him.  Well, wouldn't you know that it had to be the time when my friends, the Jehovah's Witnesses, came to my door!  The dogs went crazy barking, of course, and woke Ty up.  They came in for awhile, but thank goodness I was able to get him back to sleep (with the help of the binky).  I had not seen them for about a month, so it just had to be the day that it was essential that Tyson got an afternoon nap! 

Getting sleepy in his bouncer with Mr. Elephant, look at how tired his eyes are!

Wednesday brought our biggest snow storm to date.  We got a whopping 18 inches!  It was a pretty good storm.  I had to keep shoveling off the front step and a patch for my poor little puppies to go take care of business.  Of course, one of the times that they were dying to go out, Tyson was ready to eat.  So I had whiny dogs that were crying and Tyson was crying because he was hungry.  And it was not an easy task of just opening the door for the dogs to run out and then back.  I had to put on my boots, my jacket, and mittens to shovel and then let them out.  Poor Tyson had to wait about 10 minutes.  But he survived!  Wednesday night, we got the nursery all set up (except for the pictures on the wall).  I was so excited, but it was not finished because we still needed the mattress.  So I did some research and ordered a "Sealy Soybean" foam mattress that night.  It was great because I had looked at that specific mattress a few days before and when I went to order it from Amazon, it had gone on sale and we saved $20! 

Just missing the pictures on the wall!

The dresser does not match the crib/changing table - which bugs us a bit! But it was a great deal!

 We aren't using bumper pads due to suffocation risk, but they are so cute I had to do something with them!

Thursday ended week 11 on a good note.  Tyson had an abnormally happy morning and was content to spend some time by himself in his swing while I finished cleaning the house (I had started while he was napping in the AM).  To get anything done, you have to be intelligent about it and make every second count.  I used to do a thorough cleaning every other week before Tyson was born.  Now with Tyson 11 weeks old, I had done a full cleaning only 2 times.  That is pretty disgusting.  I'm going to try to do better with this.  Thursday night, my parents and us went over to Sean & Shannon's house for the first time for supper.  It is super cute.  It is a log cabin in the middle of nowhere in New Hampshire.  It is so cozy and adorable.  They cooked homemade eggplant parmesan, lasagna, and chocolate chip cookies.  It was fantastic.  It was great to get together.  Tyson did pretty well and slept in Noni's arms for a good portion of the visit.  Tyson got to try out his new snowsuit that he got from Grampy for the first time.  He looks so incredibly cute in it!  And I especially love it because I know that he is definitely warm in it.

Shelby, Shannon & Sean

Sleeping peacefully in Noni's arms

Initially happy in his new snowsuit...

Then he got a little tired

I think that is about all the highlights from week 11.  Stay tuned for week 12, because some major things happen!

Didn't I tell you that he is waking up so happy?

 He does the funniest stretches when he wakes up!

Helping Mommy do the laundry

He loves getting his diaper changed now - he gets so excited!

He loves getting a bath -he coos and kicks in the water!

Isn't he just precious?