Chunker, Longer Naps, & a Loss of a Friend

Week 32 

OK, I am getting so sick of not being able to write the blog on Fridays, but it is just going to continue.  This coming Friday I have a class all day long, so I know that I'll never get the blog done that night! It's just frustrating writing about talking about the weekend and it was actually 2 weekends ago!

Friday (2 Fridays ago) was a day for the record books.  First of all, I checked my weight first thing in the morning for the first time in awhile.  I was pleasantly surprised that I was only 2 pounds over my pre-pregnancy weight!  I'm sure it has to do with the fact that Tyson is weaning himself from breast-feeding, but I couldn't help being thrilled.  I decided to try the pile of jeans that has been collecting dust.  I was psyched to find out that I could fit them!  Not that I am saying they are comfortable (since I don't think my hips are going back) but at least I could button and zip them, when it wasn't even close before!  One of the other firsts was that Tyson started bananas for the first time and seemed to love them.  But the big thing that happened was on Friday afternoon when Ty, Shannon & I went to the grocery store.  We were walking by a guy that was giving out wine samples (I resisted).  He said, "That's a cute baby."  I told him thank you and he said, "How old is he?"  I told him and he proceeded to say, "What a chunker!"  I just about died.  First from excitement...Tyson is now an official chunker in the eyes of the public! (Who are we kidding, he is still a tiny 7 month old)  But secondly, who tells someone that their kid is fat?  Well, as we got to talking I started to realize that I think he was a bit... how do I say this politically correct?  I don't think I need to say it, you get the picture!  The other thing that was major was that I decided that I couldn't have the infant seat and the walker in the kitchen together - it is just too crowded.  I decided to put away the infant seat.  Since he tries to flip it over and fall out of it anyways, it seemed like a good idea.  I brought it down to the basement and as I was setting it down I hit the button by accident and the music started playing.  I just started sobbing.  I remembered all the times that Tyson was in that infant seat, how he would fall asleep there, and how he would sit in it in the kitchen while I made supper.  I just can't believe that he is growing up so fast!  I want to freeze him in time and stay my baby forever!  Anyways, we had Shannon & Sean over for supper Friday night and had a nice visit.  I put Ty in a heavier sleep sack and he slept better on Friday night until 8 AM on Sabbath morning. 

 Ty getting his first taste of watermelon

My 2 boys passed out together

Sabbath we headed up to Conway and only made it again for the last 15 minutes of Sabbath school.  I don't care what time we get up or what we try to do, we can never make it to Conway's Sabbath school on time!  Someday, we will get there!  Something new happened during church with Tyson.  He went absolutely beserk.  He would not sit still for one second!  He was all over the place, touching everything, squirming all around... I could not wait for the "quiet bags" to arrive!  Our church has these bags they pass out to the kids with books/toys to keep them quiet during church.  And Tyson definitely needed that bag!  I know, I know... it's only going to get worse, but the difference in 2 weeks was astounding!  We went to my parents for lunch.  Shannon had to work, Devin was helping someone move, and Leigh and Mia were busy getting ready for Mia's dance recital... so it was just us, Mom & Dad, and Sean.  Heath got Ty sleepy in the afternoon by holding him in my parent's hammock.  Ty went right to sleep - it was so cute.  What was even cuter was that both dogs decided that they needed to join that situation and jumped on.  I guess that extra 13 pounds did it in, because it was the funniest thing.  I was taking a picture of how cute they were, when the little strings that hold the hammock up started to break one by one.  It was like a movie... ping, ping, ping - we didn't want Tyson to wake up but we didn't them all to land on the floor too!  I grabbed the dogs and Heath , holding Tyson, got up quickly, just before the whole thing fell in!  I can't believe Ty didn't wake up from us laughing so hard!  In fact, Ty took a nice hour and 20 minute nap and that was awesome!  After Ty woke up, we had strawberry shortcake and headed to Paradise Falls.  We thought it would be a nice thing to do on Sabbath afternoon.  Well, you can forget it!  This is why I don't go outside in May and June in New England.  The misquitos and black flies nearly killed us.  We did NOT stay long!  Heath, Sean, and Reeses went swimming in the arctic water.  Reeses was by accident - she fell in, poor baby.  Ty had a great time looking around, despite the bugs.  He actually did not get bit, which was a miracle.  He has had 2 bites already, just going from our car to our house!  OK, so we went to Friendly's on Saturday night to meet Devin, Leigh, and Mia (Shannon & Sean, of course, had to go to bed) and we had a good time.  Ty got a green balloon and was enthralled with it.  We all went back to Mom & Dad's and watched the Bruins lose again. I've got to stop watching the game at my parent's house.  Seriously.

 Passed out again in Daddy's arms!

Just before it all came tumbling down!

Our protection from the bugs worked!

Ty thought that Daddy was crazy to go swimming in the freezing water!

Saturday night/Sunday morning, Ty had a rough time.  He was up at 1, 2, and then cried nearly non-stop from 5a-7a, even while in bed with us!  What in the world?  He seemed to have a bit of gas, I became worried about constipation from the bananas he had been eating.  But that notion was dismissed by 1 pm, when he had had 3 huge poops, including a massive blow-out.  Heath went to Saco, Maine to help at his mother's school (they are building an addition), while Ty and I hung out at my parent's house.  Ty loved going on a walk with Noni and slept in her stroller for about 30 minutes, but of course as soon as she stopped, he woke up!  Devin & Leigh came over later in the afternoon and I ended up showing them a few videos of Tyson.  Leigh was holding Ty at the time and he thought that the videos of himself was the best thing he had ever seen!  He was grinning, and cooing, and laughing!  I'm sure watching videos on the computer is just as bad as watching the TV - but I turned a blind eye for awhile!  So Ty and I headed back home to meet Heath on Sunday night and Ty was good and slept the whole way home.

The "twins" on Sunday

Monday I decided that we would start feeding Tyson an actual breakfast.  Forget just nursing and the bottle.  Our pediatrician told me that Ty should be on 3 meals a day by 8 months - and that is in a couple of weeks.  So I decided to go for it.  I'm just giving him a small amount of oatmeal, fruit, and yogurt.  He took to it without any problems, so that was good.  Ty and I headed couponing right after breakfast and got a free battery-operated toothbrush, free mouthwash, $4 off our formula, and a Gillette Pro-Glide razor for $.89!  Ty slept 35 minutes in the stores and then took a 2 hour nap in his crib in the afternoon!  Yeah!  I think he is sleeping a bit longer in the afternoons now is because he is so active all the time!  He is running himself ragged.  Speaking of which, he will be moving all around in that walker sooner rather than later!  He figured out how to move the walker backwards on his very tippy toes and can actually move the sucker!

Every time I put him on his back in his boppy, he turns over and tries to crawl!

Very excited about a stuffed moose I brought out for him!

So this is where my notes end.  And that is because last Tuesday is the day that changed our family.  Shannon & Sean's dog, Shelby was hit and killed by a truck.  This happened under some sketchy circumstances, but I don't want to get into it, so I'll just say it was when she was in the care of their neighbor.  Shannon & Sean were naturally devastated.  Shelby was their baby.  As Shannon said, "Our whole world revolved around her."  Shelby was 16 months old, still a puppy.  She was such a good dog.  I just want to say some things that I will always remember and miss about Shelby.
1)  She had the most beautiful, soulful eyes
2)  She was wicked clumsy and was always running into everything
3)  She loved to lick you to death with her enormous tongue
4)  She was a real scaredy-cat, despite her big size - everything scared her
5)  I loved her "heart-shaped butt" - her coloring at her butt that looked just like a heart!
6)  She was super happy, go-lucky and always looked like she was smiling
I've never had a dog that I was close to and really love die tragically before, so this has been hard for me too.  I don't want to go on and on about it, since Shannon & Sean are the ones who are really mourning here, but I can't seem to stop crying.  For some reason, Tyson thought it was very funny to see me crying on Tuesday.  He had never seen me cry before - he must of thought that I was laughing.  Not even close.  Bottom line is Shelby was very loved and will be very missed.

Wednesday and Thursday I had a Trauma Nursing recertification class all day both days.  Fun, fun.  Noni watched Ty two days in a row and by Thursday, she said that she needed Friday to recoup! (=  We went out to the Outback with Mom, Dad, Shannon & Sean on Thursday night.  I was glad that we were able to convince Shannon & Sean to come out with us.  It is good to keep them occupied these days.  And that just about covers the sad week.   

Noni got Ty to go into the pool!