Ty & Wes Time: Sleepovers, Colds, and Shots...

Tyson's 8th week started off with a bang. We got out of the house and headed to a Christmas party at a co-worker's of Heath's. All of Heath's work friends were dying to see Tyson - so of course we had to bring him and show him off. It was great to meet Heath's friends and put faces to the names that I always hear about. Tyson was definitely the star of the party and everyone wanted to hold him - which he loves. But unfortunately, Ty was still going through his growth spurt and I had to feed him during the party. I headed to one of the host's daughter's room to nurse him in private. As soon as I had sat down with Ty, I knew what would happen. I forgot to bring the burp cloth in with me. Tyson does not spit up that often, but wouldn't you know - he spit up during that feeding. I managed to catch it in my hand and then get to the bathroom without anyone being the wiser! I know, not a glamorous story - but it is the reality of motherhood!

Right after the party we headed to my parents to stay over for Friday night. While still at the party I got a phone call from my dad. Instead of saying, "What time will you be coming" - he asked, "What time is Tyson getting here?" Isn't it true? We are all chopped liver now! It is all about Tyson! Of course we wouldn't have it any other way! At my parent's house on Friday night, I noticed Ty was snorting a lot while nursing. I hoped that it was because of my parent's wood stove, but alas, that was not the case. On Saturday night, Ty developed his first cold. The first of many, I am sure. I had been dreading this. You hear horror stories of how miserable your kids are when they are sick. But Tyson made it through like a champ! Overall, he was happier than normal. I started to say, "What is wrong with you? What have you done with my son?" The poor guy, though. He was snorting, grunting, and he would whistle through his nose when he breathed! Then he developed a cough, too. His little cough was so sad. He never got a fever, though, thankfully. In true hysterical first-time mother form, I called the pediatrician with his symptoms. Calling a pediatrician for a cold would get me made fun of in my ER, but at least I did not bring him to the ER. That would have gotten me shot! In my defense, I was just concerned because he was only 8 weeks old and thought that maybe they would be more aggressive because of his age. But I was wrong! My pediatrician said that as long as Ty did not run a fever, or developed respiratory distress, then he was fine. I must say that I was impressed that my own pediatrician called me back on the weekend within 10 minutes! I was shocked and very appreciative. Well, Ty recovered after about 5 days but managed to pass the sickness on to me!

Ty happy despite his cold

After the Friday night sleepover at Noni and Poppy's house (my parents), Grammy and Grampy (Heath's parents) came over to our house for a sleepover on Saturday night. The grandparents just can't get enough of him! Well, we were all supposed to go Christmas shopping on Sunday together, but because of Tyson being sick, I opted to stay at home with him. My mother would laugh and said that I was happy about this arrangement and she would be half right. I have to admit that I am a wicked home body. I do not mind staying at home with Ty day after day. In fact, I would prefer it. It pleases me to know that I do not have to leave the house all day! I think secretly my mother and sister think something is wrong with me (ie. post-partum depression) but that is just me! However because we had planned this in advance, I was looking forward to leaving the house on Sunday and going out to eat! Going out to eat is my most favorite thing to do and I was bummed. But Heath and my in-laws brought soup and breadsticks back from Olive Garden for me. That was very thoughtful. The one good thing is that I hate Christmas shopping and Heath did the majority of it for me! Well, Ty and I had a fine day together watching football! (=

Watching the Pats together (but Ty was 2 weeks old here-look how he has grown!)

On the sleeping front, week 8 continued to be bad. The growth spurt finished around Monday (it lasted about a week) but Ty continued to wake up at 3 or 4 AM. I couldn't blame him for this. He had his first cold and would get all congested during the night. I know he was waking up because he couldn't breathe. I had to suction him with the bulb syringe. Man, does he hate that! He sees that thing coming a mile away and starts squirming like there is no tomorrow! He would breathe better after it but he would scream and scream. I wish there was a way to make it better, but it has not been invented yet!

One great thing that happened this week is we figured out what my work schedule would be like when I go back. I had asked to work part-time at 24 hours a week. I wanted to work two 12 hour shifts, so I would only have to be gone 2 days a week. My boss does not love 12 hour shifts so I was afraid they were going to make me work three 8 hour shifts. However, I was pleasantly surprised when my boss offered to have me work every other weekend 7am-7pm, and then work every Wednesday from 9am-9pm. That is the best case scenario that I could have ever come up with. Obviously Heath will be available to be with Tyson every other weekend, so I would just need my mother to watch Tyson on Wednesdays. I am psyched! Also, every other week (when I am not working the weekend), I will have a 6 day stretch off. That is almost a week off every other week! I am so excited about this schedule. However, I will be going back on 1/19 and it is starting to really freak me out. I'm not ready for this at all! I really don't want to leave Tyson. It is going to be so hard. It's so funny - I always said that I would not want to be a stay at home mom full-time but now I am not so sure! Well, we'll see how it goes...

Can't imagine having to leave this little guy anytime soon...

A couple of new things that Ty did during this week was he definitely saw himself in the mirror. I held him up to the mirror and his eyes got wide, he raised his eyebrows up, and just let out a huge grin. It was super cute! Heath and I were talking the other day about his smile. When he really lets it go, he has an ear-to-ear grin. It is almost like a Joker smile. We were trying to figure out where he gets that smile from, but it doesn't look like any of our family members. He is all his own! I just love it, there is nothing like it! Another thing he started doing was quivering his whole mouth when he gets excited. I wasn't sure if something was wrong with him when he did that, but he did it with the pediatrician and she told me it was from excitement. It is so cute!

The Joker smile

Speaking of the pediatrician, a big milestone this week was his 2 month appointment. First of all, I was so anxious to see what his weight would be. I had counted it out and he was supposed to be 8 pounds 8 ounces (if he was to gain an ounce a day). Drum roll please... Tyson is 9 pounds even! I was so excited. He is doing so well! Our pediatrician was very impressed. He has hit all of the marks that he is supposed to by this age. And to top it all off, he is on the growth chart! He had also grown an inch and is 21.5 inches! What a big boy! Then came the not so exciting part of the visit... the shots! I was dreading this. I thought that I was going to lose it and cry like a baby, but I stayed strong for my boy. I held his little face in my hands and talked him through it. He did so well! He took one oral immunization and then had to have 3 shots! 2 in his left leg and 1 in his right leg. I was worried that he would be inconsolable - but I was able to calm him right down afterwards. He even gave us some smiles when we put him in his car seat! He did sleep almost all afternoon but then got very unhappy during the evening time. I was trying to hold off giving him Tylenol because of one study that has shown decreased effectiveness in vaccines with Tylenol administration. Well, I held off as long as I could but he was just screaming and screaming and appeared in pain, so I had to give it to him. It did help but I had to give him a second dose before bed because he had relapsed with his screaming. But the next day, Ty was back to his normal self and it was fine. I just have to tell you the cutest thing. Heath was all worried about Ty getting his shots but couldn't be there because of work. Heath held Tyson that morning before he left for work and said, "If you need it, after your shots, I'll do skin to skin with you." Heath was of course dead serious and I just laughed and laughed.