"THERE NEVER HAS BEEN, NOR WILL THERE EVER BE, ANYTHING QUITE SO SPECIAL AS THE LOVE BETWEEN A MOTHER AND A SON." - AUTHOR UNKNOWN


Saturday, July 23, 2011

Picnics, Museum Repeat, Old Friends & Milestones

Week 38

Last Friday started Ty's 38th week.  We spent the majority of the day doing a full cleaning of the house.  It hadn't been done in 6 weeks (our norm now) and I couldn't stand it one more day.  I knew that I wouldn't be able to do it all in one day running after Ty all day - especially since I had to go to the grocery store in the middle of the day.  So knowing this, I had stayed up until 1:30 AM on Thursday night/Friday morning cleaning the mirrors, cleaning in the kitchen, and the lone bathroom that we have.  So all I had left to do was dusting and vacuuming and even that was a feat to get it done.  Ty was pretty good with the cleaning, but he didn't help dust like the last time!  After Heath was out of work, we all headed to the beach at Squam Lake for a picnic with Mom, Dad, Shannon & Sean.  We were all decked out in beach attire, but it turned cold.  That did not stop Sean, Heath & Ty, though.  Ty still loves the water like crazy!  We had a nice time together, despite the no-swimming for most of us.  Both Thursday and Friday nights turned out to be rough with Tyson, crying at 2:00 AM each night for about an hour and was very difficult to settle and get back to sleep.  We weren't sure what it was all about.

Very excited over the vacuum cleaner




Whoa!  Prego!

Last Sabbath I didn't have to work!  After much debate about what we were going to do, we settled on staying at home (for the first time in months) and going to Concord church.  We had a cool thing happen to us.  When we got to church, I had to change Ty's diaper immediately since he had pooped on the way the church (this happens EVERY single time we go anywhere).  We were the only people in the foyer when a lady came up to us (about our age) and just started talking to us.  She wanted to know when the service ended so she could talk to the "priest."  She said that she was an Evangelical Protestant and had been reading her Bible recently when she discovered the truth about the Sabbath on her own.  Because she refused to work Sabbath, she lost her job, and now spends Sabbaths witnessing about the Sabbath.  We told her to join us in church and then we would introduce her to the pastor.  So she did and we did!  Don't know what is going to come of it, but it was really awesome to see God working out there in the world!  His Coming is so near!  So after church, we went home, packed another picnic, put on our beach attire again, and went to my parent's townhouse.  They had invited us the day before and we jumped on it!  They live right on the Pemi River and we spent a few hours on a sandbar.  We did have to cross the river to get to the sandbar, and that proved a bit dauting, especially because I had brought my Ipad and was expecting a leisurely time without real swimming involved!  Well, we got everything ferried over (minus the Ipad) without anything getting too wet.  We had another great time.  Ty took a nap underneathe the umbrella and actually didn't swim this time!  Saturday night, we headed home and picked up some subs and a movie.  We got Ty to bed and were hoping for a better night than the last 2.  But that was not to be.  Ty had the worst time ever.  He screamed uncontrollably for 2 hours.  Nothing worked.  He did not feel feverish at all.  We rocked him, we swayed with him, we sang to him, and we both layed on the floor with him.  He acted like he was in pain.  He was arching his back and kicking his legs and just appeared that he was hurting.  So Heath & I both figured it HAD to be his teeth.  FINALLY. So we gave him Tylenol and rubbed teething gel on his gums and eventually he calmed down and went to sleep.

Home from church

Our own personal "oxen"






On Sunday, Keith & Sonia came to the house and we headed to breakfast at the diner.  Then we made our way back to the Boston Museum of Fire Arts.  When you pay admission, you get to come back for a free repeat visit within 10 days.  I asked Heath if he wanted to go and he said he did.  So the only day he could go would be Sunday.  We missed a canoe trip with Conway church, but it was over 90 degrees, so we were thankful that we were in the AC.  Ty did well again at the museum, but this time Daddy lugged him around for a good portion of the time.  The Baby Bjorn made an appearance too!  We were at the museum for about 4 hours and then we hit up Cheesecake Factory on the way home.  We did something a bit different and sat Ty between us in the booth while we ate.  It actually didn't work too bad!  Ty slept a bit better Sunday night, but we were freaked out because Ty started pulling at his ears (right worse than his left) while we were in Boston.  He had never done this before!  I know that you can have referred pain from teething, but I was getting concerned that he was getting an ear infection...

Checking out things with Daddy

Family photo in front of the specialty exhibit

Gotta love the Baby Bjorn!

On Monday, Ty and I packed up and headed to North Conway.  You would think on a weekday the traffic would be fine.  OH NO.  It took me 2 hours to get to my parent's house, instead of the usual 1 hour and 15-20 minutes.  Very frustrating.  What wasn't frustrating was that we (Mom, Ty & I) were going to see my childhood best friend, Jessie Fortin.  We hadn't seen each other in about 15 years.  It was so good to see her and to meet her husband, Brian.  They have been married for 2 years and they live in Ethiopia.  Her husband does international teaching and they have been in Ethiopia for almost 5 years.  Anyway, we initially met up for Thai food.  When we got there, we discovered that the Thai restaurant was not totally closed - they just didn't have a chef!  The chef was MIA and had called to say he would be another hour before he could come in!  Needless to say, we headed to Flat-Bread, which is an organic pizza house.  We had a great time talking and didn't want to leave!  We are going to try to meet up with them again when they come back to the States at Christmas.  Ty took to them like he had known them forever!  Still no sign of "stranger-danger!"  Ty & I had to rush home because I had decided to take Ty to the doctor's.  He was still tugging at his ears and he had even scratched the inside of his right ear from messing with it so much, so I just wanted to be sure he was OK.  Heath met us at home and we raced down to the pediatrician.  Ty got a clean bill of health - his ears were fine.  The distressing part was that the nurse practitioner did not think any teeth were coming through, either.  So was this all because Ty found his ears for the first time?  Probably.  After the doctor's visit, we went to Taco Bell and to a few stores.  Then we went home to hit the hay.  Ty was done after that long day.

Brian & Jessie with us

Monday night, Ty slept better again, so the bad stretch seemed to be over.  Thank goodness.  Tuesday, Ty and I ran to the pharmacies in the morning - but I'm not sure why we bothered.  There were hardly any deals to be had - but I did manage to get Pantene for $.98 again and bought Mucinex on-sale at Rite Aid for a future endeavor that I hope to be starting soon! (hint, hint)  While on our pharmacy run, it was right smack during Ty's AM naptime.  He usually will fall asleep in the car and will sleep for about 45 minutes.  He had slept for 15 minutes when we were at CVS.  2 old ladies came by to admire Ty and put their heads right into the carrier and said loudly, "Isn't he cute!"  Then they went on their merry way.  Well, their loud voices woke up Ty and he would NOT go back to sleep!  He wouldn't go back to sleep in the car when we headed out to our next stop either!  So 15 minutes is all he got!  Not good at all!  Well, I didn't have to deal with that fall-out because had to work from 3p-7p.  An easy 4 hour shift, that I did as a favor for a co-worker.  I don't know if it was because I never work Tuesdays, but it was torturous to leave Ty that afternoon.  Unfortunately, he didn't nap for my mother that afternoon either.  I'm not sure what was up with that.

Wednesday I had to work the entire day and I wasn't happy with that!  Ty ran errands with Noni and began saying, "Mama, Mama" while I was at work!  I guessed he missed me!  Then Wednesday night with Daddy, Ty pulled the cord to his fan in his room and the fan fell down on top of his back.  He was fine!  It's nice to know that he's as much of a rascal with Daddy as he is with me!

Thursday I heard that "Mama" for myself!  He seems to have replaced "Dada" with "Mama", which Heath is very distressed over!  Thursday morning, you would think that I would be staying home for 1 day this week, but NO WAY.  I killed myself to get out of the house to drive to Naples, Maine to see my friend, Amy, who was here visiting family.  She lives in Minnesota.  My goal was to leave the house at 10:00 AM.  That quickly became 10:15, then 10:30, the 10:45, and then I actually left at 11:00!!!!  Ty is so active, that it is so hard to get packed up and leave anywhere.  I am constantly running behind him and I can't get anything packed!  For example, my worst nightmare came true.  Until I get my gate for the hall upstairs, I have been leaving Ty in his bedroom with his toys with the door shut for a few minutes if I have to go to the bathroom.  So I've been worried that he will be right in front of the door when I open it, so I open it very gingerly.  Well, this time when I went to open the door, my nightmare had happened, but it was much worse!  Ty was not only in front of the door, but he was STANDING in front of the door, holding onto the door!  And not only that, but I couldn't reach him and if I bumped the door, he would fall straight back and hit his head on the fan!  I started to freak out a bit, since I couldn't get to my son!!!!  I prayed and prayed...and then I was able to ease the door open just enough that I was able to reach him and sit him down.  Then I pushed him with the door and got it open.  I was having a full-on panic attack, but would you think Ty was stressed out?  No way.  He leaned over to see me beyond the door, and burst into the biggest smile you've ever seen!  It was so cute!  But, oh my goodness...Once we finally got going, we headed to Naples.  We stopped on the way and dropped the dogs off with Sonia because we were staying at the Edwards house on Thursday night because Ty & I were going with Sonia to Portland on Friday for a procedure she was having.  Well, we got a bit lost going to the cabin Amy was staying at, and Amy couldn't give me exact directions (the address wasn't in the GPS) - so she came out to find me, but then I found the road on my own anyway.  I had to stop while I was lost because Ty was due to eat and having a melt-down.  So I climbed in the backseat and fed him, then worked on finding our way again.  We finally made it!  We had a great time swimming at the lake they were on with Amy & her two kids.  Amy couldn't get over how Ty stayed in the lake for about an hour and a half and he didn't want to get out!  He was all pruned up when we were done, but he loved it!  He is fearless too!  He had been playing in the sand and then just decided to start crawling to the water!  He kept leaning over in his floaty to splash the water and would almost tip it over because he would get so excited!  So we had a great visit and it's just a shame that they don't live closer.  Then Ty & I headed to the Edwards' house (he fell asleep before we had left Amy's driveway).  Heath carpooled with Adam and stayed the night with us.

Amy, Ty, Mya & Jude

Another "Mom brain" moment and forgot his hat!  A shirt works fine!

Ty had had enough!

Now technically, Friday is part of the 39th week...but I have to mention two points.  Two big milestones occurred on Friday.  First of all, Tyson is 9 months old now!!!!!  Oh my goodness!  I can't believe how big he is!  And then secondly, it was Heath & my 10 year anniversary!!!!  Heath had a huge bouquet of 36 red and pink roses with hydrangeas delivered to me at work for our anniversary.  It was the most beautiful arrangement I had ever seen.  My co-workers were taking pictures of the flowers because they were so spectacular.  Unfortunately, the picture does not do it justice at all!  What a great husband I have!  So romantic!

Gorgeous, gorgeous

What a week.  Now the blog will be on hiatus for about 3 weeks, because we will be in Nova Scotia.  We leave next Friday night/Saturday AM and there is not anyway that I can get a blog out before we leave.  So we will have much to report from our trip when we get back.  Not a day-by-day report, though, for sure!!!!!  In closing, here are some shots of a Ty/Poppy photo shoot!





Monday, July 18, 2011

Boat, Lake & Boston Trips, Pulling Up & Bullying

Week 37

Last Friday started week 37 out with a first for Ty.  My parents' boat got fixed and we took it out for the maiden voyage of the season on Lake Winnepausakee.  Heath got out of work a tad early and we met my parents at the dock in Meredith.  Barry & Gail Irrgang came, too, since they were spending the weekend with my parents.  It was great to spend time with them again.  It was like the good old days!  Well, this was going to be Ty's first boat trip.  It started out great when we got to the docks, he saw the water, and started squealing with delight.  He went nuts, laughing and jumping like crazy!  I got it on video, but I seriously can not get the videos to upload on here, so I'm just not sure what I am doing wrong!  Anyways, then Ty had to get into his lifejacket, which he didn't love at first.  But then he figured out that he could suck on the top of it and that kept him busy for awhile!  He liked when we first took off and was in the "no wake" zone, but when we really got moving and he was not so sure of the wind in his face!  But Daddy put a blanket in front of him and in no time, he was sound asleep!  We went to a spot to have supper and saw a ton of baby ducks that Ty loved.  Ty fell asleep on the way back too.  So I think overall the first boating trip was a success!

Not sure about this lifejacket thing!

Daddy blocking the wind

Dead to the world!

Supper on the beach

Sabbath I worked and Ty and Heath had a fun day of more firsts!  Ty got to have his first canoe ride!  I was bummed that I had to miss that one!  They went with a bunch of Heath's relatives.  They had a great time, but I was a bit concerned when I found out that Heath went alone in the canoe with Ty and both of the dogs!  But Heath said that Ty did great and stood up holding onto the edge for about 45 minutes straight!  That was not the only first of the day!  Ty has been saying, "Dada, daddy, dada" for awhile, but he did it twice on Sabbath when he was with Grammy and Heath would walk over to him!  I was a bit skeptical, but then he did it on Monday when Heath got home from work, so now I'm a believer too!

Ty wanted to make sure he went with Daddy!

Sunday I worked again and Heath and Ty had a very productive day at home!  I was so proud of Heath.  Before I went to work (at 5:45 AM), I kissed Heath good-bye (like I always do) and I whispered a couple of things that he could potentially work on while on Tyson duty.  I did not have high expectations but I was pleasantly surprised when I got home from work.  I found Heath in our screened-in porch, which he had cleared out, hanging a new ceiling fan that he just bought - with Tyson watching him while sitting in the fan box!  It was the cutest thing ever!  Heath also painted a piece of furniture for the porch, moved our wicker set out there, and cleaned out most of his backpacking supplies in the den.  What a great day!  I was so proud of him!  Sunday made it three days in a row for firsts for Ty!  While in the fan box, Ty held the edges of the box and pulled himself up for the first time!  But, of course, the standing alone didn't last too long and he proceeded to do a face plant on the floor!  Poor guy!  I think we are in for a bunch of bumps and bruises ahead.

Ty trying to escape the box

Ty spotting me through the screen door!  What a way to be welcomed home!

On Monday we had a day at the beach at Newfound Lake with 5 girls at work with their kids.  One of my co-workers' parents have a lake house there and we had a blast.  We had 12 kids total and Ty just loves kids - especially babies his own age.  He gets so excited that he does his squealing thing, but then he can get rough and handsy.  He grabbed one of the girl's bathing suit tops (Hazel, 14 months) and wouldn't let it go, and he fought over a pail with a kid twice his size (only 3 months older).  Oh my, it's going to be a fun time coming up with Ty!  But he's also a lover, not only a fighter.  Hazel was sitting in the sand, when Ty went into crawling mode and started rolling around and ended up sucking on her toes!  Ty had a great time in the water and  really loves it.  He is a true fish!  Monday night, Ty figured out that he can open the cabinets!  And not just one cabinet, but two at once!  Oh my word, he is truly into everything!

Newfound Lake

Ty holding hands with Lilyanna 

Trying to undress Hazel!!!!

"Give me that pail, Owen!"

Getting ready to go in!

Loving to splash the water!

Cool as a cucumber, right at home on the water!

Opening the cabinets for the first time!  You would think he would be tired after the beach...

Tuesday our busy week continued when Ty and I headed to Boston with Sonia & Amanda.  We first had lunch at Qudoba (my first visit) and then went to the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.  We had a late start, so we were only there for 2 hours.  It is a huge museum and you can spend all day there.  I had major mom brain that day.  I left for Boston without any money, credit cards, etc.  Then I went into the museum without the binky.  Major, major mistake.  Ty was good for awhile, but then he wanted out of his stroller.  Since he has been crawling, he just wants to be on the go at all times.  At first Sonia just carried him around, but even that became not good enough.  He wanted to walk himself (with Sonia, Amanda, or myself holding his hands)!  In one of the galleries, Ty saw another little boy (probably about 1 and a half) and started his squealing.  They went over to each other and the other boy kissed Ty!  It was so cute!  (Heath was not thrilled with this story) But then Ty became a little too rough and grabbed the boy's collar and scared him.  The boy started crying and Ty just was oblivious, of course.  He is a real bully.  After the museum, we met Heath at Maggiano's and had a delightful dinner.  Then we headed on home.  My mom brain continued when I forgot my Ipad and sunglasses in Sonia's car.  What is wrong with me?

Studying intently about the museum

Still happy in the stroller...

"I need to walk now!  Forget about my shoes!"

A happy moment with the little boy before Ty scared him

Exhausted after the museum

Wednesday I worked and Ty had his usual day with Noni.  Except Ty went to the beach at Squam Lake with Noni and Auntie Shannon!  Not usual at all!  They said that he had a great time again - the fish thing was not a one-time thing!

Thursday Ty and I were actually able to stay home!  We did some major overdue laundry and basically, I followed Ty around the house non-stop while he was determined to kill himself.  I can't get over him being so mobile!  I knew this day would come, but you are just never prepared for it!  Ty had about 4 near-death experiences.  And in each of these instances, I had just turned my back for about 5 seconds!  First of all, he had been happily playing with his basket of toys, when he crawled over to behind the TV and got a whole handful of wires (still obsessed with the wires).  Then he crawled to the recliner chair and tried desperately to pull the handle to open the recliner up.  He was mostly out of range, but not completely - can you imagine how bad that could be?  So after these two heart-stopping episodes, I decided that he would be safer in his walker in the kitchen with me.  I was loading the dishwasher, when I looked up and he had pushed himself over to the box fan (on the ground for the puppies) and tried to put his fingers in the fan (not near-death but severely disfiguring).  And then right after that one, he pushed himself over to my plant stand and got a hold of some of the leaves and was pulling the leaves.  The stand is not completely sturdy, so he was really close to pulling the large plant, pot, and the wooden stand falling on top of him.  I think there was one other episode, but I can't remember it.  I'm probably suppressing it!  After all of this, I seriously, just sat and played with him on the floor, not leaving his side for a second!  Baby-proofing is in full swing now!

Having fun with his toys before the suicide mission

Tearing apart his changing table

And that pretty much sums up our busy week!  Have a good one!