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!