Foods

So last time I talked about food, I had said that we were trying the rice cereal. So, I don't think he likes it very much. About two weeks ago I started him on fruits and vegetables. I am slowly introducing one at a time because that is what I read you are supposed to do to make sure they do not have allergies. I started him on pears which he liked. He also likes sweet potatoes. He does not like peaches surprisingly. Instead of the rice cereal, I have given him oatmeal and he seems to like that much better. I also tried juice just in the past few days and he is getting used to the taste of that. I don't think I started and kept up with solids as much as they say I should be doing in the books so I am trying to be better at it now that I am home for the summer and can set more of a food schedule.

Discoveries

I love to see when Tyler discovers something new or I can see he is in deep thought. Two examples come to me when I say this. One event happened the other day. He got a boo-boo on his hand so I was putting a band-aid around his finger. It must have felt weird and restricted his finger movement a little because he just stared at it and moved his little fingers back and forth while looking at it. He must have been thinking "what it the world is this on my hand." I can only wonder what his actual thoughts were...

The other example was today. I was playing with him and he was holding onto my foot. I started to wiggle my toes. He looked at me wiggling them and then looked at his foot. He moved his toes a little and then moved on to the next thing, but it was so adorable to see him look at what I did and then try to do it himself. So amazing!

Newest Sounds

Over the past few days, Tyler has made some new sounds. It is always interesting to hear what he comes up with. Right now, he is doing strong grunting sounds. It was funny because we were at the pediatrician this week and the nurse and I were amused by listening to him. I think since he saw that we were smiling at it, he kept doing it. He is so smart! He is also making what I can only describe as a machine gun sound. Who knows where that comes from...it seems like all of the sudden he makes something up and realizes he is doing something new and then continues to make the sound. Sometimes he continues with it and other times, he does it for a while and then stops.

Tyler's Protest To The Carseat and Changing That Diaper

I think because Tyler is moving around more and exploring, he does not like to be restrained. I am really struggling with him to get him in his carseat and to get a new diaper on. When we go places and I know I am about to put him in his carseat, I have to prepare myself because I know he is going to squirm. He wiggles and whines, but once I have him strapped in and we are moving he is usually fine. It is just the initial getting him in. If he were not so heavy, I would continue to carry him in his carrier everywhere. We all know that that does not work once they get past a certain weight. Plus, he is about to grow out of his original carrier. It only carries up to 22 pounds and Tyler is now 20 lbs. 12 oz. We just bought a new car seat that we will start using pretty soon here and that one you cannot carry him around in.

Diaper changing is another fun adventure every time I have to change him. As soon as I take his old diaper off, he is off and running like the horses at the races. Once the gate opens, he is gone, crawling around naked. I get him back but then he just squirms and twists and makes it REAL easy to change his diaper.

I am wondering how long this "wiggle-worm" stage will last...

First Time Crawling

So far Tyler has been army crawling everywhere. He gets around fast that way. He has attempted to get on his hands and knees recently but only takes a few steps and then falls back down. Friday, I saw him actually get on his hands and knees and move around the bathroom. It was awesome to see him move more than the one/two steps. He was getting all over the place. I videotaped it and he crawled right to the camera and tried to grab it. One more things to try and put in his mouth. He still does the army crawl sometimes but then he will do the regular crawl as well. He does about 50/50 right now. I like watching him do both =).

Standing Up On Own

Not only did Tyler sit up all by himself this week, he stood up all on his own as well. As I had posted before, he was able to pull himself up and I had a hand/finger on him so that he did not fall. This past week, he has been holding on to whatever he can get his hands onto for support and pulling himself up to standing position without any help from me. He is even standing up and then moving aound the object he is holding onto. For example, the things that are about the right height are the footstools we have in our bedroom. He will pull up and then start walking around the footstool. Yesterday he also tried pulling himself up onto the footstool. Fortunately, he cannot do that yet, but Steve and I know we are in for it. He is showing us he is an adventurous one.

First Time Sitting Up

I picked Tyler up from Grandma's house on Monday. She was so excited to tell me that Tyler had sat up from army crawl position to sitting position. Before that, we had seen him support himself with his arm pushing on the floor, but he had not yet pushed himself all the way up to sitting position. While I was there to pick him up, he came up to me and I sort of saw him do it. After that day, I was intently watching him to see him do it completely and sure enough he did it! He was army crawling and then paused, turned to his side, and pushed up. Yeah! It was exciting to see him officially sit up. Once he does things like that, it is almost like he has been doing it all along.

Sleep is Good

There have been only three times in the past 3 1/2 months that Tyler has "slept through the night." The first two times were about three weeks ago. It was on a Friday and then a Tuesday I believe. Those nights he slept longer than recently normal. It was about 5-6 hours I think. I was hoping it would last and continue to get better, but it didn't. Then last night for the first time in a while, he slept for 8 1/2 hours and then ate a little and then slept another 3 hours. I was in shock. I could not believe I got a full night's sleep. I tried to think of all the factors that could have caused it. The only thing I really did differently is I had him shop with me ALL day and then we went on a walk afterwards. I guess I wore him out from the shopping...typical male. Regardless, I won't keep my hopes up that it will continue, but I can still pray that it will.

Pull Ups

Last Monday May 26th (Memorial Day), Tyler pulled himself up from sitting position to standing position by holding onto the edge of a foot rest. I only had one finger on him just in case he toppled over, but the first time he did it, he did not fall. He tried a couple of times after that and lost his balance, but for the most part he was able to do it all on his own. I knew my kid was strong, but THAT strong was beyond my belief...I was in amazement on how he did it all on his own. Even Steve mentions every now and then that he is sure that Tyler is going to give him a run for his money on who is stronger.

Tyler a few weeks later, pulling himself up all on his own