Crying It Out Worked, Straw-Drinking & Salmon

14 Months & 3 Weeks

Last Friday was a good day for us on the sleeping front.  Tyson went right to sleep for his AM nap with only 2 minutes of crying!  I was cautiously optimistic that the crying it out had worked and was not a fluke, but it remained to be seen...  After a couple of errands, we spent the majority of the day packing for the weekend at the Edwards' house.  When Heath got home, we booked it over there.  When we got there, Sonia and I were getting supper ready and Keith was playing with Ty.  Keith was (for whatever reason) pointing at Tyson – but was pointing back and forth at him really fast - and Tyson started copying him.  It was so cute!  So at dinner, Ty started doing that fast pointing thing and was pointing right at the pitcher of juice!  We were wondering if it meant that he wanted it... so we moved the juice to a different spot on the table, and sure enough, he changed direction and continued to point at the juice!  I guess he got his "point" across!!!  (=  We had burritos that night and Ty ate a whole bean burrito and loved it!  Yes!  I was worried about the "crying it out" being at the Edwards in a different room and not in his crib... but my worries were unfounded when he cried for less than 30 seconds and went right to sleep! (=

Ty while we were packing to go to Edwards

On Sabbath, we went to Saco church - since they were having an open house for Sonia's school.  The classroom is beautiful and it was nice to see the kids and everyone Sonia talks about!  We stayed for potluck and Ty ate well again.  He loved the mashed potatoes and baked beans the most.  I can remember when Ty would immediately spit out mashed potatoes, so maybe we are making some progress on the eating front (except for fruit).  We hung around the school until after sundown and then we headed to some stores.  The boys went to Cabelas, while Sonia & I went to Goodwill.  A good time was had by all in our respective stores!  After shopping, we went to Macaroni Grill with Joel.  Ty had a bunch of "firsts" while we were there.  #1) We ordered Tyson his own meal for the first time.  He had macaroni & cheese and loved it. #2)  He ate salmon for the first time.  I was completely against this, but next thing you know, Heath has some salmon on his fork headed for Ty's mouth and Ty's mouth was wide open!  He seemed to like it, after a initial terrible face! (=  #3)  He got milk that came with his meal, which came in a cup with a straw and he actually used the straw!  He had never used a straw before!!!!  Very exciting.  What wasn't exciting was that Tyson would NOT go to sleep in the car for the entire 45 minute ride home, despite not having a long nap for the day (he had had 2 little cat naps in the car).  But by the time we got back to the Edwards', he went right to sleep - again with no crying!  It was at 11:30 PM that I started the Patriots game and was thrilled when they kicked Tebow's butt again!

On Sunday AM, bright and early at 4 AM, Tyson woke up screaming.  He wasn't gassy, but he appeared pretty uncomfortable.  We couldn't figure it out.  Well, we were stupid.  When Heath got up with Ty at about 7 AM, Ty headed straight for his sippy cup and drank the entire cupful of water.  The poor guy was thirsty!  After eating all that salty mac n' cheese, he was thirsty!  The thought didn't even cross my mind!  Now anytime Ty makes a peep during the middle of the night, he is getting some water! (=  At about 11 AM, we headed home to work on some projects.  Well, projects for Heath... and Ty and I headed to the grocery store and the pharmacies for some deals.  We were gone for 2 hours and 45 minutes and Tyson slept for the ENTIRE time in his car seat.  I had to finally wake him up because I was so afraid that he wasn't going to sleep at bedtime.  But again, I had nothing to worry about when he went right down to sleep without a peep and slept all night long.  On Sunday night, Heath & I watched a movie called "One Day" with Anne Hathaway that we both enjoyed.  We have been watching movies only on the weekends now - a far cry from life before Tyson!

On Monday, Tyson played hard with his toys in the AM and then went down for his AM nap again without one cry.  He slept for 1 hour and 45 minutes.  I was in heaven.  The "crying it out" seemed to work like a charm and seems SO worth it, now that he is going right down to sleep.   It didn't feel like it at all last week - but now it does!  I don't know if I have officially mentioned it or not, but Ty has been taking 1 nap a day now - but it averages about 1 hour and 20 minutes (from 12:30 PM to around 2 PM).  It is awesome and I'm so excited about it, let's just hope it continues!  When Ty woke up, Noni & Poppy had come by for a visit.  They went up to his room, where he was standing in his crib, waiting to be picked up, and he saw them and broke out in the biggest smiles you have ever seen.  And then he got really excited and started jumping in his crib!  He was so so so cute!  They didn't stay long, since Ty had to eat and then we had to hit the town doing errands.  He was whiney again in the fabric store again – what is it with that place and him?  But the cutest thing happened.  We were running out of a store, waiting in a crosswalk, when a car stopped for us.  I waved at the car to thank them for letting us cross, and Tyson waved at them too and flashed them his million dollar smile!  So cute!  I didn't look back, but I'm sure the lady was smiling!

Slowly but surely he is getting more interested in books!

On Tuesday, it was laundry day all day.  Good times.  Ty & I were going to run more errands, but we didn't since Shannon & Finley came over in the afternoon.  I watched Finley from 4:30 PM until 7:00 PM so Shannon & Sean could go meet with a potential lender for their mortgage.  I don't know what got into her, but I am not exaggerating when I say that Finley screamed inconsolably the entire time Shannon was gone.  OK, she gave me two 5 minute reprieves, when I laid her down on her blanket and did "naked baby" with her.  She loves it when she has all her clothes off.  So she would stop crying for 5 minutes, but then she would start up again and was louder than ever!  I was at my wits end. I tried everything under the sun.  I tried walking around with her, josling her, "naked baby", swaddling her, going into a dark room and trying to get her to fall asleep (she seemed very tired), tried her in the bouncer, in a sling, and I changed her diaper 3 times... nothing worked at all.  Shannon had fed her right before she left, so there was no way she was hungry yet.  I fed her right before Shannon got home and she still was crying. I couldn't get anything done.  I couldn't start supper, I couldn't continue the laundry... nothing.  Unfortunately, this had to be the night that Heath didn't get home until 7 PM - so it's not like I had any help.  Ty was great, until the last 10 minutes and then he started crying because HE was hungry.  Not a great scene.  Poor Fin.  I told Heath that if our second baby is colicky like that, we would have to get take-out a lot.  So I got our lasagna put in the oven finally and we ate late.  Shannon & Sean stayed for supper too.  I did notice while I was trying to console Fin that Ty was sneezing a lot.  I was worried that he was getting sick again.  In the middle of the night, it was confirmed when he woke up, stuffed up and couldn't breathe.  He cried a lot and was restless - finally I gave him Tylenol and he went to sleep.  Of course it was the night before I worked.  It always is.

During laundry day, he figured out how to flush the toilet.  Oh my.

This was his response when I told him to get away from the toilet!!!

On Wednesday I worked and Ty had a good day, but definitely was sick again.  Coughing a bunch and had a wicked runny nose.  Why does he get sick every month?  It's not like he goes to day care!!!!  I decided to forgo the dumpster after work since it was 19 degrees out, and there was only 1 coupon insert in the past Sunday's paper.  I'll hit it up next week no matter what.

On Thursday, we stayed at home in the AM and played.  Tyson has started playing with the puppies a lot now.  It is so cute!  He goes right to them, giggles, and then abruptly turns and books it out of the room.  He totally expects them to follow him!  And Reeses will, most of the time - and she tracks him down and licks him to death!  But now the thing that he is doing is, sitting down in front of the dogs, and then throwing himself straight back to the ground, hitting his head on the carpet.  He hits hard and it makes a loud sound and he thinks it's hilarious!!!!  I keep telling him that he is going to get a concussion, but he doesn't care!!! (=  In the afternoon, Ty and I went to some stores locally and then we headed down to Concord.  We had to go to a few more stores and then we went to the OG.  Adam was with us and we met my parents.  I had some OG coupons left that were ready to expire and I was happy to share them!  We headed right home afterwards, which was good – since it started to snow early.  We were expecting it to start at midnight.  Poor Adam had to drive home in it and he ended up going off the road on his way home – but he was OK and was able to get out of the ditch.  Thank goodness.  Well, have a good week!

Playing with the puppies

I caught him watching the Golden Globes

Crying "Mama", Crying It Out #2 & Movie Listening

14 months & 2 weeks

Didn't take a lot of pictures again this week... sorry!  Last Friday Ty and I did a full cleaning of the house, which was desperately needed again.  Ty had a blast following the vacuum around, like usual.  I’m so glad that he isn’t scared of it!  But he loves it so much that it is a problem when I do the stairs.  I can’t vacuum with the gates closed – and Ty won’t stay off the stairs… so it’s a problem.  I decided to bring him upstairs and put him in his room with his toys with the door shut – JUST while I did the stairs.  I did that and when I turned off the vacuum – I had one of my proudest moments as a mother.  Unfortunately, it was at the expense of my son, but when the vacuum turned off… Tyson was wailing.  But he was crying, “Mama, Mama, Mama, Mama!!!!”  He was crying for me! (=  It was great! (=  Well, at least it was nice to know that he wanted me.  The poor thing.  On Friday night, the Frosts came over and we had chili and cornbread.  Ty has been fine with beans, but my chili had a bit too many, I guess.  It’s too bad because he ate it like it was going out of style!    But he was up crying for a good portion of the night with gas and I got 4 hours of sleep before work.  Great way to start the weekend.

On Sabbath I worked and Heath & Ty went to Conway church.  Sonia was preaching and then they went over to the Edwards’ house in the afternoon.  Whenever I work, I always tell Heath if he is going to be over his parents not to rush home – I am good for nothing when I get home after a 12 hour shift.  Well, unfortunately in this case, I screwed myself.  I had lost my house key earlier in the week and forgot to tell Heath to leave our basement door unlocked.  So I was calling to check in on the boys and I remembered the key situation … and my heart dropped.  Heath was just starting to feed Ty supper (that is a 1 hour ordeal) and the Edwards are about 1 hour and 15 minutes away from us.  So I went to Goodwill for about an hour and then over to Taco Bell.  To Heath’s credit, he killed himself to leave and didn’t even eat himself.  What a guy!  I rewarded him by bringing him some Taco Bell home.  I don’t know what exactly Ty ate at the Edwards’ (and Heath couldn’t remember) but he was up crying again until 2 AM – so I only got 3 hours of sleep on Saturday night.  7 hours of sleep for 2 days is just not enough.   

On Sunday I worked again and Heath & Ty did some projects around the house.  They also went over to his grandmother’s house first thing in the AM to drain pipes and went out to breakfast with the Edwards.  After work, I headed to the pharmacies and my highlights were the big Chex Mix bags for $0.63 each (I got 4 bags), a free Thermacare wrap, and free floss.  Ty gave us a break and slept the entire night.  Man, that was some major needed z’s for us.  We were so thankful.

On Monday, I had decided that we had to do “Crying It Out Take 2.”  I had been stupid, lazy, and giving Ty mixed messages.  I had been rocking him for 5 minutes and then putting him down to sleep.  Well, he got really efficient at going right to sleep within that 5 minutes of time… so he would already be asleep when I laid him down.  He wasn’t learning how to fall asleep on his own at all – which was really starting to bite us in the butt during the middle of the night.  But also, I think I was confusing Ty.  Because the rare times that he didn’t fall asleep in the 5 minutes of rocking, I would make him cry it out… but he wouldn’t get it – since he never had to do it.  So for his nap on Monday, we started it out.  Ty cried for 1 hour and 15 minutes.  Crazy, just crazy.  Of course I was consoling him in 15 minutes, then 30 minute increments.  It was terrible.  He did sleep for 1 hour and 40 minutes afterwards – but it was such a long time that he was crying – it killed me.  It also killed me when we were running errands in the afternoon and Ty had a major melt-down in the fabric store – which made it very difficult to concentrate on picking fabrics out.  Everything I gave him to keep him occupied ended up getting chucked on the floor over and over again, including his binky.  After we escaped that fun time, we got home, made supper, and Ty loved the Frito casserole that I made so much!  So that was good.  The craziest thing happened while we were eating supper.  We were watching a movie and had moved Ty in his highchair to the family room – but facing us and not the TV.  One of the characters on the movie said, “See you later.  Bye.”  And Tyson starting waving “bye-bye.”  Heath & I just looked at each other.  We couldn’t believe it!  So if Tyson was able to understand that without even seeing it…it makes you stop and think and realize that EVERYTHING is seeping in.  It made us think of the type of language that he could have learned that night…Unreal.  Ty cried for an hour at bedtime and then went to sleep.  I really don’t enjoy this at all.

Coming home from the grocery store - he was very excited about the bread, of course!

That bugger wants to watch the TV so bad! )=

On Tuesday AM, we started off the day on a frustrating note when I tried yet another fruit with Ty and he refused again.  I got honeydew melon and mashed it up – I didn’t even try to get him to eat it in pieces – and he immediately spit it out.  How does this make any sense?  It’s sweet!!!!  On the “crying it out” front, I didn’t see too much improvement on Day 2, at least for his nap – he cried for 1 hour and 10 minutes, but he did sleep for 2 hours, so that part of it was awesome!  In the afternoon, Shannon & Finley came over and hung out and then we drove over to see their  house that they are buying.  They are under contract with the bank (it is a foreclosure), so as long as the inspection and financing goes through – they will close in February!   I am super excited, since it’s only about 9 miles away, and takes about 15 minutes to get there!  It’s a very nice 4 bedroom, 2.5 bath colonial – and when everything is finalized I’ll put some pictures up on here so everyone can see!  Dinnertime was a success and Ty ate oatmeal patties (Nanny’s recipe) and mashed potatoes like a champ.  I was so happy about that.  I was also kind of thrilled when bedtime only consisted of 40 minutes of crying, then he laid right down and went to sleep!  Getting better!

This is Ty grinning at Auntie Shannon - he was very happy to see her when he woke up from his nap!

Happy because he's NOT eating fruit

Because he throws so much food on the floor when he doesn't like it - the puppies are always right at his feet!  

On Wednesday, I worked and Ty had a great day all around.  My mom was concerned about the “crying it out” and didn’t think that she could take his crying – and I definitely didn’t want to confuse him by having my Mom rock him to sleep – so I told her that she should drive somewhere during his nap time, so he would fall asleep in the car seat.  So that’s what she did.  The awesome thing was that Ty only cried for 5 minutes for Heath at bedtime and went right to sleep.  I just about cried with joy when I heard that, but I couldn’t help but wonder if it was different with Daddy vs. Mommy.  One funny thing did happen to me at the dumpster that night.  First of all, it was 31 degrees out – so it almost felt warm compared to last week.  But anyways, I was climbing out of the dumpster – trying to reach my stepstool – when somehow I hit my panic alarm button on my car keys that was in my jacket pocket!!!  Of course I am always trying to be so slick and stealthy when I get out of the dumpster, so I don’t bring attention to myself… so much for that!  Well, I was mid-way out of the dumpster and I pretty much threw myself down… ripped off my gloves, fiddled with my the zipper on my jacket pocket (which is difficult), to get my car keys and stop the wicked loud alarm!!!!  I was laughing so hard because I couldn’t believe that happened.  I was trying to high-tail it out of there, when a car drove by and slowed down.  I was freaking out!  There is a school right across the ballfield  - and I wondered if there was a night watchman there who noticed the ruckus.  Thank goodness the car was only turning into the neighborhood that is directly across from the dumpster.   Another close call.  I’ve got to do something different with the keys, obviously. 

On Thursday, I became emotionally drained with Tyson.  He cried for a record 1 hour and 40 minutes for his nap.  Wasn’t it supposed to get better?  I mean, I know that he is a stubborn kid, but really….  He slept for 1 hour and 45 minutes, so when he woke up… he was having lunch at about 4 PM!!!!  We got about 6 inches of snow that day – so Ty and I had a snow day at home and didn’t venture out.   Until Heath got home.  Then we headed to Concord – did some errands and went to the OG.  For some reason, Ty refused to eat pasta off Heath & my plate, which he has loved before.  This kid makes you scratch your head sometimes.  We went to Target after the OG and got a bunch of things – they were having a great sale, 70% a lot of things!  Thanks for the heads-up Corey & Camille! (=  We got home very late and Ty didn’t get to bed until nearly 11 PM, but at least he went right to sleep without any crying! 

At the OG - grinning at the people behind us!  He's such a social butterfly!

Have a great week!  Here's some random pics...

Tearing apart the diaper bag

Working hard to get his yogurt melt bag open - he can do it!

Look what he did - put two pitchers together - what a smarty! (=

Copsey Christmas, Vomiting & Pointing

14 Months & 1 Week

Last Friday was a rough day for me.  Heath had the day off - which was great (that's not why it was rough)!  I wanted to get up to my parent's house early since we were going up for our "Copsey Christmas."  But my hopes and dreams of getting there early were dashed in about a million times in a million ways.  Heath had to run up to his grandmother's house quickly first thing in the morning.  The "quick" trip turned into 3 hours.  Don't ask.  Anyways, while Heath was gone Ty and I packed up like busy bees.  Unfortunately, then my dad called and said that he had left his Iphone at the Fairway and would pick it up on the way to Conway.  So that would mean about 40 minutes out of the way, but it was better than my Dad driving from Conway to pick it up.  So Heath got home and we packed in the car and took off at about 1:30 PM.  Ty was way overdue for a nap, but I was hoping that he would sleep the entire way.  Those hopes were dashed again, when after picking up my Dad's phone, Heath decided that we had to stop at Burger King.  We hadn't eaten all day (except Ty) so it was actually a necessary stop, but I wanted to keep going.  We were pulling into the drive-thru but there were 3 cars there... so Heath decided to go inside.  Unfortunately, when he stopped the car and went inside Tyson woke up.  It was almost time for him to eat and he started screaming non-stop.  I am not exaggerating when I say that Heath was in Burger King for 17 minutes (I timed him).  I kept seeing people come in and out and then I seriously, honestly, got worried.  Tyson would not calm down and I grabbed him in his car seat and went in to Burger King.  I'm not lying when I thought that Heath must have fallen and hit his head, lying on the floor waiting for an ambulance... but when I went through the door - he was messing around with a milkshake cover and stuffing fries in his mouth.  I lost my mind.  Not kidding.  I yelled across the room, "Heath!  What are you doing?  You have been in here for 20 minutes!  Tyson is having a melt-down!"  Yes, I had a melt-down of my own in the middle of the Burger King.  Heath was embarrassed, of course, and I should have been, but I was too mad.  So now we were even more late getting to my parents, now Tyson was awake screaming, and now he needed to eat.  So we started driving and I couldn't just get into the back seat to feed Tyson in the car seat, since we were packed to ceiling with presents/stuff.  So Heath fed Tyson piece-by-piece of vege-burger, bread, and fries by reaching his arm back while driving.  Crazy.   Unfortunately, the delays of getting to my parents continued when we hit major bumper-to-bumper traffic.  Then we had to stop at Heath's grandmother's new apartment to drop off a tire for a trailer that they were going to need.  I'm glad we stopped, since I got to see Amanda & Levi for a few minutes.  Then we finally rolled into my parent’s driveway at about 5:30 PM.  A 4 hour trek, when it is only takes 1 hour and 10 minutes normally.  Wow.  So we had our “Christmas” dinner on Friday night and had a feast.  The whole clan was there, as well as Uncle Kevin & Aunt Sherrie.  I was so excited because Ty ate mashed potatoes, squash, turnip, Alpine chicken casserole, and whole peas!!!  He did fantastic.  Before bed, I was heating Ty’s bottle up and I accidentally boiled the milk a little bit.  Heath tried it and it didn’t taste curdled, so we gave it to Ty.  I wished I hadn’t when he was up vomiting every 30 minutes from 3AM to 6 AM.  I felt so guilty and so bad for him – this was the first time he has ever vomited.  But what a guy, he would be miserable vomiting and then he would finish and smile at Heath & I.  Poor baby.  

Bode at our Christmas get-together

Finley getting some bumbo time too

Ty was eating some apple pie here!  You can understand why he's so happy!

Devin loves his little guy!

On Sabbath, I gave Ty a trial of some water and toast for breakfast.  He kept it down without any  problem, so we headed to church.  I wasn’t going to bring Ty if he was still vomiting every 30 minutes.  But we appeared to be in the clear.  Ty fell asleep on the way to church and slept through half of the service.  Then he woke up and became obsessed with one of the little girls sitting behind us.  He would hang over the edge of the pew and they would hold hands.  They kept doing it, it was so cute!  For lunch Ty kept some oatmeal and veges down with still no vomiting.  Yes!  After sundown, we had our official Christmas!  It took about 3.5 hours, and we were all pooped after it, but a good time was had by all!  Ty loved opening the gifts again, and wasn’t cranky until the very end when he was hungry!  No vomiting for the rest for the night, but he had a wicked hard time going to sleep.  

It's Christmas time!

Tyson standing on a box to get near his Daddy!

Devin flew in licorice ice-cream for my dad.  Shannon & I almost killed him for that.  Best Xmas present ever.

Shannon modeling the hat we gave her

I think I was trying to figure out who gave me the present

Ty was happy with a musical book that he got

Mia getting ready to open up a present

On Sunday, Sean had made us a great breakfast but Ty wouldn’t eat any eggs, potatoes, or even toast.  That was clue # 1, but I didn’t get it yet.  I just thought he was being his normal picky self.  But clue # 2, was that Ty started having horrible, watery diarrhea.  He had 2 blow-outs and was going every hour on the hour.  At lunch, I tried to feed his squash that he had had on Friday night (that he had loved) but he refused.  I tried to get him to have a taste first and he freaked out and ended up vomiting.  He seriously is a drama queen sometimes.  So we packed everything up at my parent’s and then went to Christmas Tree Shop, made a quick stop at Heath’s grandmother’s apartment in Conway – and then we headed south towards our home.  We had decided to go out to eat with the Edwards on the way home.  Half way there, Ty vomited in his car seat.  So finally I realized that Ty actually had a virus.  I thought that it had been the boiled milk, but I guess not.  We had made a reservation and everything – the Edwards were on their way (a 40 minute drive for them) – so we couldn’t cancel.  I had changed Tyson’s shirt before we had left, since he had gotten some puke on the sleeve from his squash incident.  Well, after this episode, we had to change him back into the “puke on the sleeve” shirt because it was the better of the two evils.  He was so subdued at the restaurant – it was obvious that he was not feeling well.  He acted really thirsty, so we did a challenge and just gave him a few sips of water.  Within 10 minutes, he projectile vomited on Adam.  Poor guy.  We got home and Ty would not relax and go to sleep.  He screamed for 2 hours.  We tried everything – he probably was thirsty.  We caved and gave him an ounce of Pedialyte and, thank goodness, he kept it down.  And I think it calmed him down enough to go to sleep.  He finally went to sleep lying on the floor with me.  I thought the storm was over, but it was just starting.  At midnight, Heath started throwing up about every 45 minutes.  In the 12 years we have been together, I have never seen Heath vomit.  Wish the streak could have continued.    

On Monday, Tyson was on the mend and was a happy, happy boy all day.  I kept away from the dairy with him and was able to take Pedialyte well and also had some real solid food!  Heath was not so lucky.  He was only on liquids – no more vomiting for him (after the entire night of being sick) but he felt just terrible.  Ty had been so happy, that I didn’t feel bad going to the grocery store and the pharmacies and left Ty with Heath.  Well, that was a big mistake.  I still had 2 stops to go when Heath called and said that Tyson was crying non-stop and Heath’s head was killing him.  So I headed back.  Back to the war zone.  I spent until 2 AM unpacking all of our bags and presents from Christmas. 

I wasn't joking when I said "war zone"

On Tuesday, there was no more vomiting from either boy – which was great!  I kept anticipating getting the virus, but I lucked out – thank goodness!   Forget luck.  I got the flu shot.  Heath didn’t.  And my mom and Adam ended up getting the virus too, and neither one of them got a flu shot.  Heath stayed home from work, since he wasn’t on solids yet.  Ty was doing great with light food, and I was still keeping it dairy-free.  I puttered around the house and did laundry all day.  Tyson started doing a new thing on Tuesday.  He started pointing at everything!  He’s so cute!  Then I headed back to the two pharmacies that I couldn’t get to the day before.  This time I didn’t take any chances and I took Tyson.  Another big mistake.  I went into the last pharmacy without his binky.  We have only been using it for bedtime/naps and he is such a happy kid that he doesn’t ever need it.  But he had another horrific melt-down in the middle of Rite Aid.  So much that I had to leave immediately.  I was trying to figure out a complicated transaction involving Loreal make-up, but I couldn’t have Tyson screaming his head off – so I gave up and left.  Frustrating.  I will be bringing the binky into stores from now on.  Just in case.  The night ended well with Ty and Heath both feeling great and eating normal food!      

Sucking down a popsicle

Both boys were feeling better

On Wednesday, I didn’t work because Dad was having a bilateral hernia surgery.  Ty and I got to the hospital to wait with Mom at about 11 AM.  Ty couldn’t go into the recovery room, so Mom & I took 15 minute shifts back and forth.  Dad’s surgery went great, but he had trouble with nausea afterwards, which wasn’t a big surprise to him or me.  We both have weak stomachs.  I have to say that Ty was fantastic in the waiting room.  We were there for 4 ½ hours and he just played non-stop and was very good.  He continued his pointing thing – but was calling everything “Da-da.”  He would point at the clock and say, “Da-da” and then point at the door and say, “Da-da.”  It was so cute – but I told him that he was diminishing the meaning of Daddy and it would hurt Heath!  When is this kid going to start talking?  We had lunch in the cafeteria and he just grinned and grinned and flirted with all the workers.  He was a rock star again.  He got tired and fell asleep in the waiting room and we set him in his car seat.  Of course that was just when Dad was going to be discharged.  I couldn’t move Ty to strap him in properly, so I stayed there until Ty woke up and my parents went back to the Fairway.  Ty slept a good hour, so that was good.  We went back to the Fairway and hung out for awhile longer.  Dad was feeling much better from the nausea, so that was a positive sign.  Heath was going to try to come by and see my dad, but it was getting really late – so I told him just to go home.  We were going out to eat that night and I didn’t want Ty going to bed any later than he had to.  We headed to the Mexican restaurant and I was so excited when Tyson ate off our plates so well!  He couldn’t seem to get enough!  At bedtime Ty didn’t go to sleep after 5 minutes of rocking, so I made him do 15 minutes of crying-it-out.  We hadn’t done it in awhile since Ty was sick and I feel terrible making him cry when he already feels sick.  So Tyson seemed to be a bit more hysterical with his crying and after his 15 minutes, I went in to console him.  The poor guy had gotten so worked up that he had throw up and there was puke everywhere.  The worst of it was on his hands/arms and he had obviously rubbed his face because his entire face was covered!  I felt like the worst mother in the whole world. 

Waiting in the waiting room at the hospital

Asleep in his car seat at the hospital

Ty playing around in Noni & Poppy's kitchen - he was psyched a drawer of food was well within his reach!

I forgot to say that Ty ate some fruit!  He loved dates!

He wasn't thrilled when Heath put a sombrero on him at the Mexican restaurant

On Thursday I worked and my Mom picked up Ty and brought him back to the Fairway to be with my Dad.  I got the official report that Ty was an angel.  Unfortunately, he wasn’t an angel for Heath.  He wouldn’t go to sleep for over an hour.  I had a crazy shift at work and wasn’t able to get any supper – so I had popcorn for supper at 1 AM when I got home.  Oh yeah, I did go to the dumpster after work, but that is getting to be a bit of a pain in the winter.  It was 23 degrees out and I could only stand about 15 minutes out there because my hands were freezing!  And that was with 2 sets of gloves on!  But I’ll keep it up as long as I can!

Have a great week!

Hiding Toys, 2nd Christmas & "Bubba"

14 Months

Late post again… last week it was because of Christmas shopping, this time it was because of Christmas itself!  I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned one of Tyson’s newest things that he has been doing, but it is putting toys in the weirdest places you can imagine.  I just opened the drawer underneath the stove to get out a cookie sheet and found a yellow car and green ball of Ty’s!  Then I had picked up an empty water bottle case and found 3 of Ty’s animal figurines inside.  Heath was going to put on his shoes and Ty had stuffed one of his big nerf balls in Heath’s shoes!  It is just so funny – you never know where you are going to find something next!

These are the surprises we find all the time!

2 Fridays ago was 12/23 and Heath had the day off.-  He wrapped all of the Edwards' presents and Ty had a ball unwrapping wrapping paper off the rolls and playing/ripping it! We were trying to go over to the Edwards' early, but we had to wait until 5:00 PM when the last presents arrived by UPS.  What a pain!  We got there in time for supper and Sonia had made delicious shepard's pie and Ty devoured it!  I was so psyched that he tried something new!  Ty went off to bed in his pack n' play without any problems, but of course ended up in bed with us at about 3 AM.  Whenever we go anywhere - he always ends up in bed with us by 3 or 4 AM, since I can't let him cry it out at someone else's house - so why exactly do we bother packing it every time?  Is it a waste?

Loving the wrapping paper

On Sabbath, it was Christmas Eve.  Unfortunately, I had to work 11a-11p.  But it was my one winter holiday requirement, so what can you do?  I was kind of excited, thinking that if it was slow at work, then maybe I could get sent home early... but then I realized that I was in charge and everyone would be whining at me to go home early.  Bummer.  Ty had a good Christmas Eve... he went to church in Conway, then had a relaxing afternoon... but wouldn't nap all day long.  He went right to sleep for Grammy & Daddy and slept the entire night without waking up... so I guess it was good that we brought the pack n' play!  I got back to the Edwards' at 1:00 AM and everyone (minus Ty) was still awake!  We talked until nearly 2 AM and then I had the bright idea of starting the Patriots game that I had taped.  I pretty much slept through the whole thing... but woke up at the end when they won and got to bed a little after 4 AM.  Merry Christmas!

On Christmas Day, we had a nice breakfast that Sonia had made.  Ty was a good boy and ate eggs, tofu, and sweet rolls.  Unfortunately, he still isn't loving the vege sausage, but we keep on trying!  We opened presents after breakfast and Ty was so cute!  There was a big difference between Ty opening his presents for his birthday just 2 months ago and opening presents now!  He really "got it" and ripped off the wrapping paper and opened the boxes!  The problem was that Ty was due for his nap while we were still opening presents.  He really started zoning out, and actually grabbed his binky and put it in his mouth while we were still opening presents, but he did get a second wind when he got his favorite present.  He got a big orange car from Adam and he was in love the second he saw it.  He knew exactly what to do - he opened the door and climbed right in!  He got a couple of remote control cars and he was first a bit scared of them - but then he warmed right up!  After opening presents, Ty took a great 1.5 hour nap and then we had a bunch of the extended Edwards' family over.  We had a really nice time.  But Ty had a melt-down during dinner and I removed him from the table and took him in the other room until he calmed down.  What do you do?  Heath & I showed everyone how to play the game Mafia and they loved it!  It was a ton a fun.

Opening stockings during Christmas breakfast

Really has the "opening presents" thing down

Scared of the remote control car (at first)

Opening more presents...doesn't he look mad here?  Or just very focused?

He found his binky!

Very excited to get his car!

Also excited to get the trampoline we gave him

Edwards family get together

On Monday (day after Christmas), we just had a relaxing day at the Edwards.  Ty played hard with his toys and really entertained himself.  For lunch, I tried to get Ty to eat fruit again.  Why do I keep doing this to myself?  I tried oranges and grapes with zero success yet again.  Heath took over and tried to hide pieces of grapes in his baby food, but he sucked all the pureed fruit off of the grapes and then spit out all the grape pieces!  He is crazy!  After playing so hard, Ty fell asleep in my arms within 2 minutes (I timed it).  What a cutie!

Playing with his car

Reading with Grammy

Spitting grapes out

On Tuesday, Heath left early to do some work at his grandmother's house and Ty & I puttered around the Edwards' house in the AM and packed up.  While I was brushing my teeth, Ty was messing around in the bathroom.  I looked down and he had torn about 4 pieces of toilet paper and pushed them into a hole in the wood in the cabinet!  It was a really small hole - he really has to have some mad skills to do that!   We headed home in the afternoon and rushed to a few local stores while I finished up my Xmas shopping for my family & Heath.  Ty was such a trooper shopping and gave everyone big, big smiles wherever we went.  We went out to Chili's for supper and Ty ate pretty well off our plates.  We got home and it was nice to be home after being gone for almost 4 days.

Toilet paper in the hole

Ty put 3 crayons in Heath's drink glass at Chili's!

On Wednesday Ty was really happy boy and he had 2 big 2 hour naps for Noni. Bizarre.  He had a bit of a bad eating day and refused to eat his favorite soup that I had made.  Why does he do this?  I had worked but I didn't go to the dumpster since there had been no coupons in the past Sunday paper, so there wasn't any point.  I had to run to a few stores to find a rice cooker for my mother for Christmas (us Copseys were celebrating on New Years)... and I was having a horrible time finding the one that I wanted to get for her.  I ran to Target to check and it was 9:55 when I got in there.  I thought they closed at 11 PM, but it was at 10 PM.  I was walking down towards the rice cookers when they made the announcement that the store was closed and that everyone needed to go to the cash registers to check out.  Now I didn't know this, but they actually have people that round up "stray" customers.  I got cut off by a teeny-bopper with an attitude that told me that I had to "head to the registers" - that I couldn't go to the rice cookers.  I told her, "I just have to grab one rice cooker and that's all."  She wouldn't let me.  But then I noticed a bunch of people down towards the rice cooker area, so I walked away from her and then I made a beeline right for the rice cookers.  They didn't have what I wanted and so I headed towards the exit.  That's when I noticed the teeny-bopper from hell talking with a security guard and they were looking at me.  So I kept walking, pretended that I didn't see them, and walked out of the store.  Man, I almost got in real trouble at Target!  What was I thinking?

On Thursday, I had to work again (since I had Christmas off).  2 days in a row during the week away from my buddy?  Not cool.  Grammy & Auntie Amanda babysat (Amanda & Levi came for a quick work-related visit from Nebraska).  Sonia said that Tyson reached for his bottle and said, "Bubba" plain as day - it hasn't been repeated yet, but we're waiting!  While I was slaving away at work, the Edwards' got together and went to the OG in Concord with Amanda & Levi.  Lucky ducks.

That's all folks... I'll be posting another blog shortly, to get caught up!  (Hopefully!)