An Old Friend, Lip Blowing, and Attempting A Sit-Up

Week 17

This blog will be a bit shorter than usual.  Don't breathe a sigh of relief!  (=  It's not because I am getting lazy, I really love writing about Ty!  It's funny, when I did the blog about the cousin cottages - it was exciting in the beginning, but then it felt like homework to me.  It was something I HAD to do every week, so I was worried that I would feel the same way about this blog.  However, it is the complete opposite.  I could write and write about Tyson and not get tired of it!  Anyways, it will be a shorter entry because I worked a lot this week.  I worked last Thursday, Sabbath, Sunday, and Tuesday.  Four days out of 6.  It felt like I was back working full-time!  This past week was the last week of our current schedule.  I had to pick up shifts on random days to get my two 12 hour shifts in every week.  Next week I will start my every Wednesday 9a-9p.  It will be nice to get into that routine.  I like routines, have you noticed?   

One thing I do want to mention, that is long overdue, happened in November.  But last Friday, Tyson and I had to take the puppies to the vet.  They needed their yearly physical and shots.  I never wrote about this at the time, because I was overwhelmed summing up Tyson's first 6 weeks, and I figured that it was not really about Tyson anyway.  However, I need to write about it.  On 11/3/10, I had to put my cat, Spooky to sleep.  It was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do.  I dealt with my family pet, Chelsea, being put to sleep, but that was different.  It happened while my parents were on the road in Michigan - and I did not have to make the decision and be there.  I had Spooky for nearly 11 years.  He was my baby, before my puppies came, and before my actual baby, Tyson.  He was the best cat, and I'm not just saying that.  He had been a stray at my in-laws that I had befriended.  He saw living in one of their old cars and he was completely wild and would hiss at you whenever you got near him.  He was neutered, so he had to have belonged to someone once upon a time, but for at least 2 years that we know of, he lived outside.  He eventually wamed up to me and a long story short, I ended up taking him home to my parent's house (Heath and I weren't married yet).  My parents did not want a cat, so I told them that I would keep him in the basement (a step up from living in a car) but did not even last 1 day.  Because they fell in love with him too.  He turned into the most loving cat, he would follow me around like a dog wherever I went.  When I got home from work, he would be right there at the door to greet me.  One of his nicknames was "Purring Machine" because he was just that!  But his health just started declining in the past 5 years.  He was diagnosed diabetic 3 years ago and yes, I gave him insulin shots twice a day.  I always said that I would never be an owner who would give their animal insulin, that it was ridiculous.  But when my baby was diagnosed, there was no question that I would spend the $30 a month to keep him alive.  Spoky developed chronic renal failure, a heart murmur, and arthritis in the last year.  But even though he had slowed down, he still was eating, drinking, peeing, pooping, and purring up a storm  But then in the beginning of October, Spooky went blind overnight.  One day he was fine, the next day, he was walking into walls.  I took him to the vet and she told me that the blindness alone was not a reason to put him down because animals adapt so well.  So we decided to take some time and see how he would do.  And I was so proud of him, he would find his food, water, litter box, and his favvorite spot on the couch.  He had the best excuse ever to have an accident but he never did.  It took him awhile to get around but he would always make it to his desired destination.  But sometimes, he would get lost and just roam around the house, crying.  That broke my heart and it was so difficult to see.  That alone nearly made my decision for me, but his weight loss was the final objective piece of data that I needed to officially decide to do it.  He had been losing weight rapidly (even before he went blind) and the vet did not know why.  She speculated that he had cancer growing somewhere.  So when he had almost lost a full pound in 2 weeks, he was just failing too much.  My mom came and watched Tyson so Heath and I could go alone with Spooky.  It was so hard, but it was peaceful.  I did feel relief after it was over, because Spooky had been suffering with his blindness.  And I had been struggling so much with making the decision.  At the time, Tyson was only 2 weeks old and I got so caught up with early motherhood, that I really didn't deal with Spooky's being gone.  I find that lately, it has been bothering me more now than it did back then.  I know it takes time, but he was my first child.  I know I don't have to say anymore to the pet lovers out there.  Anyway, I am specifically bringing this up because I was hoping and praing that I would not have to go into the same room with the dogs on Friday that I said goodbye to Spooky in.  They have 4 exam rooms and wouldn't you know, it had to be the room we were put in.  It was rough, and I kept reliving those moments.  But I was so busy dealing with two anxious, shaking, crying dogs that I didn't have much time to dwell on it.  Thank goodness Tyson was an angel.  Anyway, I completely believe that I will see Spooky again in heaven.  Jesus loves us too much to keep our beloved pets away.

 Spooky on his favorite spot on the couch (which is my spot, he always loved to sit with me)

My last picture of Spooky, taken "that" morning before we left for the vet

OK, so Sabbath I worked and Tyson and Heath had a daddy/son day at home. Tyson did the most unreal thing Saturday night.  He was sitting on my knees, facing me, when I blew my lips (making a noise).  And then Tyson imitated me and did it himself!  I could not believe what I was seeing.  I did it again and he did it back to me again.  I did it 4 different times and each time he imitated me.  Heath did not believe me, but then it saw it himself.  For days, he would do it himself continually.  It was like he had discovered something new and was just obsessed with it.  I am telling you, he is an obsessive kid!  He would have the binky in his mouth and try to blow his lips and of course, the binky would fall out!  He did it nonstop.  But now, for the past 2 days, he has not done it at all and is not imitating me either.  What in the world?  Heath thinks it is because one of the times Tyson had imitated Heath with the lip thing, Heath yelled "Yeah, good boy!" loudly and it had scared him!  Ty jumped and started to cry.  They say that babies remember things that like - so maybe he associates the lip thing with being scared now.  I'm not sure.

OK funniest picture ever.  For all of you that didn't believe Tyson was teething... (=

J.K.!  This was right after he did the lip thing and his saliva was just perfectly placed!

Sunday I worked again and Tyson went to Grammy's house and was on his best behavior, I am told.  On Monday, I had the day off and so did Heath!  It was great to have Heath home during the week, I love that.  I think Tyson loved it too, because he only slept for 1 hour during his AM nap (which normally lasts 2-2.5 hours).  It's like he knew Daddy was home and he wanted to play!  As I have said before his naps have been so awful that I just about died when he awoke after only an hour.  But he wasn't too cranky during the rest of the day, which was weird.  So we got some errands done, went to Pizza Hut lunch buffet, Lowe's, and got passport photos for Tyson and myself (mine expires in April).  He really did not sleep during any of these errands, which was crazy.  He was awake from 10AM until 5PM.  I put him down for his nap and he slept for his usual 45 minutes.  He awoke screaming and appeared still so tired. I decided that he was going to sleep longer whether he wanted to or not.  I did the 5 minute, 10 minute, 15 minute cry fests with consoling in between.  He was miserable!  He was screaming at the top of his lungs.  I started reading message boards about how to make your kids naps last longer, and I read some suggestions.  But one mother stated "Don't let your kids cry it out because my son burst a blood vessel in his eye."  That freaked me out because Tyson would totally be the kid to do that!  He screams like someone is cutting off his arm.  Anyway, fighting with him for 45 minutes, I went back into his room.  Even as I went up the stairs, he was screaming bloody murder, but when he saw me, he stopped and broke into the biggest grin you have ever seen.  This was with his sob-racked breathing.  Why seeing me this time changed anything, I don't know.  That made me cry.  I picked him up and he just melted in my arms.  And then he was just fine - still tired but no longer crying.

 He's fine whenever he is in Mommy's arms...

Or in Daddy's arms!

I worked Tuesday 11a-11p, so I have nothing to report on the Ty front here.  So let's move on to Wednesday.  I worked on laundry and I'm happy to report that I am back to doing laundry every other week.  When Ty was first born, I was doing laundry about every 2-3 days.   But now he has enough clothes and not as many blowouts, so we are back to our usual routine.  Laundry day is a big deal, though.  There are many loads and I usually don't get to fold it all until the next day.  Anyway, Shannon came over in the morning to watch The Bachelor - which we both love.  Then Heath was coming home right at 3PM so we could go get Tyson a passport.  First, we had to get Ty's birth certificate and then we had to both appear at the post office to get his passport.  I researched every piece of paper, where the offices were located, the times they closed - and told Heath what time to be at home so we could get it all done.  Our first stop was at the state office of vital records for Ty's birth certificate.  We ran into the office and was greeted with an empty lobby, closed windows, and a sign that said, "8:30-3:30."  It was 3:35.  Unbelievable.  I had checked on-line and they did not have any "hour tabs", so I had clicked on "contact us" and it stated "vital records" then another column with the phone number, and then 8:30-4:30.  Well, we found out that the 4:30 was for phone services only.  I had a bit of a meltdown.  There is nothing more frustrating when you work so hard to get everything in order, you do everything right, and confusing information on a website screwed our whole day up.  Obviously this meant that we could not get Tyson's passport and Heath got off of work hours early for nothing.  The lady manning the window came out and was unhappy and unhelpful.  She acted like she was doing us this huge favor by taking my application and check.  She wouldn't process the certificate then for us, but would put it in the mail and we will get it this Friday.  That still means Heath has to get off work early again to get his passport.  So that put a damper on things.  But we passed the time by going to TJ Maxx, Dick's, Walmart, and Target.  Ty had to stop for a meal in the car at the Target parking lot and proceeded to throw up on me.  Fun times.  We topped off the evening with the Olive Garden.  Ty slept for the beginning of the meal and then woke up but wasn't cranky at all.  He just stood on Heath's lap, looking at everyone and everything in sight.  He had enough on the way home, though, but who could blame him after 6 hours of shopping.  The loud radio at volume 24 did the trick, though!

 I love how he folds his hands!  He looks so deep in thought!

Thursday was another busy day.  Ty slept 2.5 hours in the AM - which was lovely!  Then we ran to the grocery store and he slept through half of that.  Then Poppy came over for a visit in the afternoon and that was fun.  Tyson really grinned at him when he came through the door.  It was like he truly recognized him!  Then Heath, Adam, Tyson and I headed down to Burlington, MA for a night out with Grammy, Paula, Kirsten, and Ryan.  Sonia has had the week off due to February vacation and she had called to ask Tyson and I to go down to Mass with her and Paula for lunch and shopping.  Well, it turned into dinner and then the boys could go with us too.  We went to the Cheesecake Factory and, man, I love that place.  I never get to go, so this was a treat.  I couldn't believe that we were going to Mass on a "school night" (aka work night)!  Tyson did great!  He was due to eat while we were waiting for our table, so I bit the bullet and nursed him in public with a blanket covering me.  It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and I didn't notice any dirty looks or perverted stares.  But of course I was a bit focused in on Ty.  I'm actually writing the blog driving back from Mass.  I thought that I wouldn't get car sick if it was dark, on the highway.  But that is not really the case.  I am just using my wireless keyboard and not looking at my Ipad at all.  I guess we'll see how good my typing is when I go to proof-read it!  According to the GPS, we are supposed to get home by 11:27PM, but at least Ty has slept most of the way home! 

Poppy time!

Adam, Kirsten, and Paula 

Ryan and Grammy

Not a great picture of any of us - but what can you do?

Do you see the discoloration on the front of Ty's overalls?  He sucked on it all night!

One quick thing that Tyson has been doing this week is trying to sit up!  When he is sitting in his swing, being propped up in the bed, or sitting in his boppy - he keeps trying to pull himself up.  It is so cute and he uses so much concentration!  He is well on his way, he'll get there before we know it!  I don't know what will happen when he actually does it, since he does not have any balance at all!

 I think I can...I think I can...

Getting closer!

Of course this ended up much longer than I expected.  What can I say?  I love my guy.  Have a great week!

 Still loves to have his diaper changed!

Does he look like he is getting chubby?

Look at all the drool on his shirt - I could wipe up his drool every minute all day long!

"Reeses, I love you!"

I never get tired of seeing that open-mouthed smile!

Ice-Fishing, V-Day, and a Pregnancy...

Week 16 was another busy week for us.  I didn't stay in the house for a full day last week.  Can you believe it?  I missed it, to be completely frank.  But we got a lot of things done at least!

Friday started week 16 off with me working 11a-11p.  My mother admitted for the first time that Tyson was cranky for her on Friday.  I could not believe what I was hearing!  I thought that Tyson puts his halo on every time for my mother!  So I got home at about 12:30 am and did not fall asleep until almost 2 am.  Because of that fact, Tyson and I stayed home all day and did not go to church on Sabbath.  I was nauseous for some reason and felt exhausted.  Ty helped me out, though, and slept until 8:15 am.  I actually woke him up because he had been sleeping 10 hours and I was worried about him.  See, Heath had his big fishing derby last weekend on Lake Winnipesaukee and Heath had left the house at 4 AM.  I had gotten up when he left because the dogs started going crazy in their crate.  When I got up, I smelled fumes strongly in the house.  I opened the basement door and the smell was even worse.  I had no idea what was going on - I was worried about carbon monoxide poisoning (forgetting that it is odorless).  I called Heath and got him on his cell phone (amazing, since he has terrible service with his work cell phone) and he figured that it was because he had his diesel truck running in our driveway and had the basement door opened while he was loading his fishing supplies.  Thank goodness he had an explanation.  But when Ty did not wake up at his usual time of 7-7:30, it made me nervous!  He was fine, of course, and I regretted waking him up afterward, since he was fussy all of Sabbath.  Heath came home from the derby Saturday night and was happy to see us.  He kept asking Tyson, "Why did I wait so long to have you?"  That statement makes me crazy, since it was Heath that kept dragging his heels in the kids department.  I swear it makes me want to strangle him every time he says it!

Sun coming up over Winnipesaukee Sabbath morning

The ice-fishing spot

Because of the cranky day on Sabbath, I did NOT want to stay at home all day with him on Sunday.  I had been debating whether to take Tyson out onto the lake for the derby or not.  I kept telling Heath that it was too cold and that he could go next year.  But I couldn't deal with his fussing anymore and I knew that Heath would be psyched for his son to experience one of his favorite past-times.  So we headed out, went to a couple of stores, and then went to the "beach."  Heath and Devin met us on snowmobiles and proceeded to take us out 1 mile to where they were fishing.  (First time we have seen Dev since Christmas - ridiculous, since we live SO far away).  So Tyson had his first ride on a snowmobile and he was not scared at all.  Heath put him in his jacket and zipped it up.  That was for a couple of reasons.  First and foremost, it was for the warmth (and to prevent against windburn) but also because there were game wardens everywhere and I'm sure it is illegal to have an infant on a snowmobile.  I mean, it's not like we had a helmet to throw on him!  So we got to the ice house and that was our home for the next 2 hours.  I ate lunch and then Tyson "had lunch" inside the ice house too.  Then, of course, after Tyson ate, I had to change his diaper in the ice house.  What an adventure!  For all of you that might be worried, the ice house was so hot with the heater going!  I had to take off my jacket and Ty's snowsuit.  Tyson definitely got Heath's warm blood.  Just riding in the car going to the lake, he had a onesie and a sweatshirt on and he was sweating when I took him out of his car seat.  If I would have put his snowsuit on when we left the house, he could have had a febrile seizure on the way there!  He is definitely a hot guy!  So we had fun visiting Daddy, Grampy, Uncle Devin, Uncle Adam, Cousin Joel, Heath's Uncle Danny, and Cousin 'little" Danny.  But after 2 hours in an ice-house, it was time to go!  Ty and I hit up the Etc. Thrift Store in Meredith on the way home, but Ty proceeded to have his first melt-down of the day.  I still managed to get a couple cute things for Tyson, so that was fun.

 Chillin' in the ice-house with Daddy

Ty looking at something in the distance...

Sitting with Mommy while she eats her lunch

Zipped up and ready to ride!  But still sneaking a peek!

If you thought Sunday was an eventful day, Monday (Valentine's Day) was even more so!  First of all, Tyson and I started our weekly appointments by taking our Honda to have the oil changed and tires rotated.  We always go to VIP and Tyson got to share in that fun time!  I ended up having to change his diaper there, and I was relieved to see that VIP had bathrooms.  Unfortunately, the bathroom did not have a changing table, so that was a bust.  I mean, isn't that a federal law or something?  Well, it should be.  Thank goodness, it had clean, laminate wood flooring, because I had to change him on the floor.  Usually every time I go to VIP, it takes about an hour to do the oil change and tire rotation, but it had to be the time that I took Tyson that it took an hour and a half.  He did pretty well, but had a slight melt-down half-way through because he was getting tired.  I had taken him out of his car seat and showed him all the cars and tires and he seemed fascinated.  Those big blue eyes got huge!  After VIP, we had to go to Walmart for a few necessities.  I really needed to go to the grocery store, but there wasn't enough time because Tyson needed to eat.  Stupid VIP cost me my grocery store run!

Monday afternoon Heath found out some information about our China trip.  We are going to Sanya, which is an island off the coast of the most southern part of China on the South China Sea.  It is tropical and the average temperature in May is 80 degrees.  There is positives and negatives to this.  The negative is that we definitely will not be seeing the Great Wall - it is about the farthest away you can get and still be in China!  Also I am concerned that we won't even be able to see much culture, like the rice paddy's etc, since we will be at a touristy resort area.  The positives are obviously that it is free, it will be warm, beautiful area, and drum roll please... we are staying at the Ritz-Carlton Resort.  I can't even believe it.  I seriously don't know if we have attire nice enough to stay at the Ritz-Carlton.  I think we will feel like the Beverly Hillbillies! (=  But I can not wait to go.  I'm just trying to get everything together to get Tyson a passport (unfortunately mine expires in April too).  Supposedly Vutek gets our visas for us, but we really need to check on that!

Sanya, China

Ritz-Carlton in Sanya

Monday evening was a blast.  For Valentine's Day, Heath and I went out for the first time without Tyson.  My mom offered to baby-sit for us and we jumped at the chance.  We have gone out to eat a billion times with Ty, so I really wanted to go to a movie.  So we went to see "Just Go With It" with Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler.  We did not have high hopes for this movie, but I'm telling you we were pleasantly surprised.  The trailer does not do it justice, I must say. It makes it look pretty stupid.  It was actually very funny and a sweet movie.  Maybe being out just the two of us had something to do with it, who knows.  Then after the movie, we went to Uno's for a late night dinner.  We keep mentioning how weird it was to be there without Tyson, and we talked about Tyson for a lot of the meal.  How could you not?  He truly is the apple of our eye.  Heath was very sweet and gave me a card from Ty and even had Ty sign his  own name (with Heath's help of course - our son is not that brilliant).  It made me cry.  It was a very thoughtful gesture that I was not expecting.

Ty and I dressed in our reds for V-Day

Tuesday was another big day.  Didn't I warn you about this week?  My mom, Shannon, Ty and I went out to lunch, the grocery store, and to Goodwill.  The best part of this day was at Chili's - when Shannon called family members on speaker phone and told them that she is PREGNANT!!!!!!!  Major shock to Shannon and Sean but there it is.  There will be a baby born October 11 to the Frosts.  They were not trying to get pregnant yet, but what are you going to do?  I am over the moon and am praying that they have a boy, so Tyson can have a boy cousin close to his age.  However, I will laugh if it is a girl, since Sean wants a boy so badly!  Poor Shannon has been wicked nauseated and looks like death warmed over.  It will get better and better and, boy, is it worth it!  One of the funniest response came from Nanny.  I don't think it was a good idea to have her on speaker phone - it is so hard to hear!  Shannon said, "Nanny, I"m pregnant.  It was an accident."  And Nanny screamed, "What?  You were in an accident?!!" It was so cute!  Overall, everyone seemed shocked but excited.

I can't believe she is going to have one of her own!  

(Notice how much hair Ty has really lost!)

Tuesday night, Heath hung up Tyson's jumper (the thing that hangs in the doorway), since he reached the 4 month age requirement.  He really got the hang of it and was pushing with his legs.  He is really holding his head up so well.  He was exhausted when we put him in the jumper, though.  We didn't keep him in it too long.  But it is nice to have another "station", if you will, for another activity for Ty.  He usually will only last in his swing, on his playmat, in his bouncer, or reading books for about 10-15 minutes at a time.  And then he needs to change what he is doing.  He is so curious, but he gets bored so easily.  I'm not sure what this means for later on in life.  I am kind of scared.

Tired in his new jumper

The ol' tried and true playmat!

One funny thing that happened on Tuesday night into Wednesday morning involved hanging pictures up in Ty's room.  I had been bugging Heath for forever to hang up some pictures in the nursery.  Why is it that every guy hates to hang up pictures?  I hear that this is a trend.  Anyway, I have 3 pictures from the nursery collection and they came with a ribbon to hang up on the wall.  How the ribbon is attached to the picture is very cheesy and not very secure.  Heath was disgusted with that and with hanging up the pictures in general.  He said, "If one of these pictures fall down and hits Tyson in the head..."  I don't think he finished the threat!  I'm not kidding, less than 1 minute later, one of the pictures fell off of the wall and hit the back of the changing table.  I couldn't help but laugh and laugh.  (Tyson is not in danger)  One of the ribbons had broken and so Heath proceeded to do a quick fix and hung it up again.  On Wednesday morning when I went into the nursery to get Ty in the morning, not one but ALL of the pictures were on the ground!  I have now glued the ribbons and reinforced them with tape, but still the original one that broke is on the ground again.  I have to do it again!

He loves looking at the pictures now!  It's another one of his obsessions!

Wednesday brought the second trip of the week to VIP.  I had to get the Outback's oil and tires done too.  I was dreading going there again with Ty, but it was perfect.  He was sleeping soundly and Shannon was over visiting and she offered to watch Ty while I went to VIP.  Good practice for her!  I was excited.  I brought a few tabloid magazines and looked forward to just sitting there in the waiting room reading them.  Of course when I wanted the extra time, the car was done in the usual hour time!  One really cute thing that Tyson started doing is "talking" to me regularly after nursing.  He lays in the crook of my arm, looks up at me with his big eyes, and just coos and coos.  He totally sounds like he is having an actual conversation with me!  I like to think he is saying, "Thank you, Mom, for the great meal!"

"Talking" to Mommy

Thursday, I worked 9a-9p and Ty had his day with Noni.  I have to rant right now about Ty's napping.  First of all, I was dumbfounded to hear that Ty slept 3 hours in the morning for my mother.  Are you kidding me?  He only sleeps 2 hours for me!  3 hours???  Then, he took a 2 hour nap for her in the afternoon.  For me, he has been only taking about a 45 minute nap at about 1:30pm  and again around 6:00 pm.  I would be psyched if the nap would last even 1 hour!  Well, on Wednesday, he never took a nap at 6:00pm - he just would not sleep.  I had to make supper and Heath was not home yet, so I did not have it in me to put him down and deal with him screaming his head off.  So on Wednesday he was awake from 2:45pm until his bedtime at 9:45pm.  7 hours!  Not good.  He was miserable and super cranky because he was overtired.  So what do I do?  Even if he does not appear tired, or won't go to sleep, do I force him to try to take a nap?  He does SO much better if he sleeps, but it is exhausting fighting with him.  And most of the time he wins - like with the 1.5 hour battle one afternoon.  I just don't know what to do.

One of his tired times, but still refusing to sleep!!!!

On that note of motherly uncertainty, I will close for the week!  Have a good one!

Seriously, can his mouth open any wider?

My cute, naked boy

It looks like he has a secret or something!

 

He looks so blonde here!

And so bald here!

Even more bald!  Seriously, like an old man!

Busy Week of Bumbos and Balding...

Week 15 was a pretty busy week.  I was not the stay-at-home cat that I normally am.  I think I need to start taking Ty out more and more on errands.  I know my mother thinks that I stay in way too much, but Ty and I have fun playing house together!  We have a good routine going, so it is hard for me to let go sometimes and do something out of the norm.  I have discovered that I am severely obsessive compulsive.  I always knew that I was a little bit OCD, but having Tyson has taken it to a new level.  I think it is because I can not control what Tyson does.  He wakes up when he wants, he sleeps when he wants, and plays when he wants.  I can't force him to do a thing!  So I think that I become more obsessed and controlling about the things that I CAN control - which #1 is the neatness of my home.  Like right now, for example, I have Heath's video games neatly stacked beside a bookshelf in my family room (I can't fit them in the bookshelf unfortunately) and one game is crooked and just about ready to fall off of the stack.  I am fighting the urge right now to go and fix it.  Seriously, what is wrong with me?  I have a real problem.  But I guess I could have worse problems, right?

I really make daily lists!

I think I should give you an update on Tyson's nursing dilemma.  Well, last Friday was the worst off all the days.  I was so "obsessed" (there's that word again) with making sure that he was getting a "full" nursing session (30 minutes) that it took me 2 hours to get that done.  And, of course, that was with me fighting with Ty most of the time.  Let me just tell you, that took all of the fun out of nursing.  I was starting to dread every time Tyson needed to eat.  But after doing some more research on Google, I think I know what is going on.  I think Ty really has gotten more efficient at nursing and his time to nurse has been whittled down to about half of what it used to be.  He will nurse for about 7 minutes on the left side and about 10 minutes on the right side - when it used to be about 15 minutes each side.  (The right is definitely his favorite)  The entire time he is nursing, he is getting a ton of milk.  For all of you, past and present who nursed their kids, he doing "suck, swallow, suck swallow" continually, so I know he is really is getting a lot.  I have just given up on fighting with him to take more.  After he appears done, I burp him and then offer each side again and sometimes he takes it for 1-2 more minutes and sometimes he is just done.  I have been watching his output and he is supposed to be having 3 "good poops" a day and he normally has about 5, so I think he is getting enough.  The thing that was throwing me for a loop was the first morning feeding of the day.  He would do his regular nursing time of 30 minutes total and I couldn't figure out why.  But I think it is because he has gone 9 hours without eating and his tank is on "dead E."  My milk supply is still there but I am pumping before I go to bed, just to make sure it doesn't dwindle.  So Tyson and I are both happier that I'm done forcing the issue.

Nursing Tyson and Reeses wants in on the action!

Last Friday, I noticed that Ty is becoming more deliberate with his movements, especially with his hands.  I mean, I know that I have mentioned that he is grabbing things and sucking on his fists, but this was different.  Last Friday, I was lying down on the floor with Tyson while he was on his playmat.  It was the cutest thing.  He had his right hand (unfortunately) in a fist and brought it back behind his head, took aim, and hit one of the bugs on his playmat.  He did that a few times over and over.  He really was aiming and trying to make his fist hit the bug.  The cute thing was some of the times, he missed, but then some of the times it made contact!  It was so cool to see the wheels turning in his head and his concentration!

Look at him hugging Mr. Elephant so hard!  And trying to suck his sweatshirt (=

Last Sabbath I had to work.  I seriously do not remember if it was busy or not.  I guess that is what happens when you become a mom.  The things that were really important to you at one time just do not matter anymore.  Work is work.  And it usually is busy.  I know that it was terrible driving on Saturday night and Sunday morning due to freezing rain.  What did I tell you about the days I work?  It is always bad weather!!!!  But something did happen to me last Sabbath at work that gave me chills.  I saw my friend, Denise, for the first time since I had been back to work.  Denise is the ultrasound tech that discovered that I had low amniotic fluid.  She found the low fluid and 9 days later, I had Tyson because of it.  When I saw Denise, I told her how I would always be grateful to her for finding the low fluid and that I felt she saved Tyson's life.  What she said next just shocked me.  She said that she had just came from the "Mom's Place" (the OB unit) and had just done an ultrasound of a fetal demise that was 37 weeks old and they thought that the baby died because of low amniotic fluid that they did not know about.  I could not believe it.  That could have been me.  That could have been Tyson.  I had Tyson 36 weeks 6 days - just about 37 weeks.  If Denise had not tried to do a 3D ultrasound for Heath and I, we would have never known about the fluid.  The whole thing was unreal to me.  All I can say is that I am so thankful to God that Tyson was spared.  I will be thankful for my whole life!

I can not imagine my life without him

Sunday brought another 12 hour shift at CMC.  Tyson got to spend the day with Grammy and Great Grammy (Norma) while Daddy went ice-fishing.  I am happy to report that Heath did much better in the kitchen last weekend!  I think writing the blog about it might have helped him along!  I was excited for two reasons to rush home on Sunday night.  #1 was, of course, seeing Tyson.  #2 was watching the Superbowl, which I had started recording.  Well, #1 turned out to be a bust because he was very overtired and screamed for a couple of hours when I got home.  What a nice homecoming present for me!  I was super tired myself from the weekend, so I did not have much patience in me, I'm afraid to say.  Tyson headed to bed and after a bit of fussing got some much needed sleep.  That is when I turned to #2.  I was psyched when the Steelers lost.  I know Corey mentioned it in her blog but I felt the exact same way she did.  If Roethlisberger would have gotten 3 rings and put himself in "Brady's class", it would have driven me crazy.  He is not in Brady's league at all. He shouldn't even try.  Don't get me started on what happened in the off-season, I'm just strictly talking about football here.  Anyway, due to my tiredness, I slept through a lot of the 3rd quarter, I'm afraid.  I don't think the commercials were all that, but I did get a laugh out of Christina Aguilera botching the anthem.

  He calms down when I put both hands on his face - look at him grabbing my arm!

Monday is my grocery shopping day.  I usually go after supper when Heath can watch Tyson.  I really don't do it totally for convenience, but I'm always afraid that I will not be able to fit all the groceries in the cart with Tyson taking up the majority of the cart in his car seat.  But I decided to brave it because I wanted to go to a couple of the outlet stores for Tyson, since I had a gift card.  Ty did great!  He fussed in the beginning, then pooped his pants, took a nap, and woke up just in time for the grocery store.  It is fun to watch him with his wide eyes taking everything in.  I really do need to keep taking him.  I think it is a good learning experience!

Learning how to use the Ipad

Monday night Tyson got a "Bumbo."  One of Heath's co-workers gave it to him, because his son was done using it.  This was great because they are about $50 at Walmart.  It is the cutest thing ever. It is an infant chair made in South Africa.  I had never heard of it until Uncle Kevin and Aunt Sherrie showed me pictures of cousin Zasha in her purple one.  Well, Tyson got a blue one and it is so cool.  It holds him up so he is sitting up on his own.  He looks like a little man!  It is really good for his neck development, but I'm only keeping him in it for a couple of minutes at a time.  He does the bobble-head thing and I don't want to be accused of shaken-baby-syndrome because he has shaken his brain around too much in the chair!  Monday night Mom and Dad stopped by to see Tyson for a few minutes.  Earlier in the day I had come across some pictures when Tyson was about 4 weeks old.  I finally realized what my mom has been telling me.  Tyson is going bald.  He is losing his hair.  I was in denial but I came to terms with it, when I saw all of his luscious locks at 1 month old.  Where has it all gone?  We were joking with my dad that now they look more alike than ever with the matching hairlines!

Loving his new Bumbo

Matching hairlines with Poppy!

Tuesday was quite the day.  First of all, Tyson and I headed down with my mother to her Aunt Estelle's funeral.  Tyson's first trip to Massachusetts!  It took us about 3 hours and Tyson slept the whole way there with no problem.  In fact he slept most of the day.  He woke up for the funeral, just in time to be a bit restless on Noni's lap. But he did well and did not make a peep.  Then we had to drive about 10 minutes to Aunt Estelle's house where the reception would be.  He fell back asleep for the 10 minute drive.  I kept him sleeping in his car seat by the fireplace while I got some food.  It was craziest thing ever.  Everyone was talking about how much Tyson looked like my cousin Tiffany's son, Sam.  Sam was born 2 weeks before Tyson and they do look alike!  My cousin, Janet, was not sure if Sam was there, but she really wanted to see both babies together.  Well, I was standing by a chair (in viewing distance of Tyson) when Janet went over to Tyson and said, "Alison, Sam IS here!  Doesn't he look like Tyson?"  I started laughing and laughing and had to tell Janet that she was actually looking at Tyson!  Sam was not there but I did see a picture of him and they do look alike.  Sam has redder hair, but otherwise, they have the same big blue eyes and a similar nose and mouth!  It would have been cute to see them together.  Well, Mom woke Tyson up to "show him off" and I was concerned that he would not sleep in the car on the way back!  I did not have anything to worry about and he did sleep all the way home.  We (Kelly, Steve, Aunt Sherrie, Mom, & I) stopped at Mimi's grave on the way home.  We knew that the cemetery would not be plowed out but when was I going to be that close again?  We put boots on and trudged to her grave.  We kept sinking in the snow and Aunt Sherrie fell over and couldn't get up!  At least it lightened the mood.  I can't believe that it has almost been a year.  Unbelievable.  I miss her very much and wish she could have met Tyson.

One of my favorite pictures of Mimi

Something happened when we were driving back from MA on Tuesday afternoon.  I called Heath to check in and he said, "We need to discuss something at home."  He sounded cryptic, so I fished for what it possibly could be.  And then he couldn't take it anymore and just came out with it.  In May, Heath, Tyson, and I are going to China!!!!!!  Over the summer, Heath had won Employee of the Quarter at Vutek.  It came with a cash bonus and also put Heath's name in for an all-expense paid conference to China for the entire family.  I was super excited with that possibility but then I completely forgot about it.  But Heath was told on Tuesday that he was chosen.  It wasn't even that we got our names picked out of a hat - the general manager decided who was going to win it!  So we don't know any details at all yet about it, human resources is supposed to be giving Heath the info soon.  Well, when Heath told me about it on the phone, I proceeded to hyperventilate and got lightheaded.  Not a great thing when you are driving precious cargo!  That has never happened to me before.  I had to get off the phone to concentrate on my breathing and to avoid getting into an accident!  I am over the moon excited.  I have always wanted to go to Asia and would never have ever gone because of the money.  Heath had said that maybe we would not go anywhere this spring, but I had been secretly looking at cheap cruises to try to entice him - but now that is no longer necessary!  I'm not only getting out of NH but getting out of the country!  It will be a trip of a lifetime but too bad Tyson will not remember it!

I hope we get to see it!

Wednesday was a busy day.  My main goal for the day was to change out all of Tyson's clothes.  I put away all of his newborn clothes (sad) and put his 0-3 months and 3-6 month clothes in his closet and drawers.  I just figured out that Ty fits some of the 3 month clothing.  Like Carters does not have 0-3 months, only newborn and then 3 months.  That was quite a job!  But it is all organized and I look forward to dressing him each day because I love putting outfits together!  Thursday was his first day in overalls.  He looked adorable.  I was determined that Heath would get home from work and see him in his overalls (Heath loves them), but of course he had a blow out in his first pair of overalls.  He made it with his second pair, though!

Newborn pants that had to go - look at the junk in the trunk!

Pic taken by Daddy - he didn't notice that Ty lost a sock!

Wednesday at 12:55 pm came the birth of the latest cousin, Acadia Belle!  Shawn & Camille had their baby girl and all went well.  I am so bummed that it happened now because Heath is all tied up in his annual fishing derby with his family this weekend.  So now we can't go up to Bangor for 2 more weeks because I work next weekend.  I can't wait to see her!  She looks beautiful from the pictures that we have seen.  Here is a pirated picture from Shawn's Facebook page! (=

Wednesday night we went to CMC to see Heath's grandmother, Norma, who had a cardiac cath and a stent placed.  She got through it with flying colors and looked great!  We spent some time visiting and then went to our favorite mexican restaurant with Sonia, Adam, and Paula.  Tyson was a perfect angel but showed us his devil side on the ride home.  In a rare instance, Ty screamed the entire trip home.  Adam was riding in back with him and tried everything possible and Ty still screamed non-stop.  He started cooing and smiling as soon as we took him out of his car seat when we got home, so what do you think that was about?  Unreal.  Even playing the radio at volume 24 did nothing to silence his screams. 

Thursday proved to be another busy day with me trying to give the house a thorough cleaning in between Ty duty.  It got done and there is nothing like a clean house!  Shannon came over in the morning and we took a break during lunchtime to meet my mother at the Diner.  Good eating ensued and we found out that Tyson loves Jeopardy!  Tyson started fussing at the end of the meal and, for some reason, Mom started singing the Jeopardy song to Tyson and he started laughing and cooing.  Mom would stop and Ty would start crying again, then she would start Jeopardy again and he was all grins.  It was so cute.

Self-portrait by Shan

Getting Jeopardy sung to him!

That's about all for now!  There is a video game that is calling me to move it and I must give in!

 Looking a bit tired...

I know his eyes are closed, but doesn't he look so happy?

Loving his mobile

He really looks bald here!!!!

Looking at something he likes!

Sorting laundry with mom