Tyler at 9.5 Months

Wow, I cannot believe how much time has gone by since we last posted. We had Tyler's 9 month appointment a few weeks ago and everything looked great, he weight in at just over 21 lbs and 28 inches tall. He is unstoppable now - well, as unstoppable as you can be without actually walking. He's testing the limits on how far he can reach and move from one piece of furniture to another, and he's pretty steady standing still. He still needs to hold on lightly to something, but can bend down and pick up toys without losing his balance. So, we'll see how long it is until the first step! This summer has been busy but SO much fun. He has just grown up so much and everything he does is fascinating (to us anyway!).

Hope everyone is having a great summer!! --Tracie

Lucas Oil Stadium (...or Lucas Oilfield as Steve Likes to Call it)

Just thought we'd post some pics from our seats at the new Colts Stadium. We weren't sure about our new seats being in the End Zone, but after seeing them in person we are pretty happy. We're on the South end, which makes for a good view of the Indy Skyline, and its especially cool when they open it up, which we're hoping will happen a lot.

We can't wait for some great touchdowns on the "S" in the Indianapolis End Zone, and the other side we'll have to watch on the amazing big screens!

Keeping Up with a 7 month old

Steve and I cannot believe how time flies once you have kids. Wow. The last few weeks have flown by since we got back from Florida, but they've also been a lot of fun! Steve had his first Father's day, Tyler got to hang out with lots of friends at Ang's 30th b-day get together, and Holly and Carli have been in town.

Tyler is crawling around everywhere (literally, everywhere) and also pulling himself up to a sitting position whenever he wants. It makes for a lot of work following him around sometimes - but it also makes it so he can really entertain himself. If he wants a toy on the other side of the room, he just crawls over and gets it - and he usually crawls through the bottom of the exersaucer or over a few pillows for added entertainment.

Tyler's cousin Carli commented that after running around with friends and not seeing him for two days last week, he was already moving around more. I think she was right - it seems like he changes every day. Not to mention he's got 4 teeth on top now, with more ready to come in.

Tyler's grandma Sherry took him to get his pictures taken this week, so we will post a few of those soon!

Florida Vacation Part II

We had a great time on vacation in Satellite Beach, Florida. The flight was much better than we expected both ways - Tyler was awake but happy on the way down and sleeping on the way back. I guess if you prepare for a nightmare it improves your chances of being pleasantly surprised.

The kids had a wonderful time playing together, and it was so fun to watch them interact. They all loved the ocean and the pool. Best of all, all of the kids went to sleep between 8 and 9 PM and slept until about 7 AM the next day. You can't ask for much more with a 6 month old, 8 month old and 2.5 year old! So, all around it was a very relaxing and fun trip. Steve celebrated his 30th birthday while we were there, and Amber made a fabulous cake that we all enjoyed - including Jack for breakfast the following morning :)

Florida Vacation Part I: Shuttle Launch

The shuttle launch from our condo in Satellite Beach was pretty amazing. The pictures are from Steve and Doug's viewpoint, which was about 5 miles from the launch site across the ocean with no obstructions. Amber and I were in the condo with the kids, so we couldn't see quite as well, but it was still pretty amazing. Also cool was that we had access to the Nasa TV station, which showed the entire launch from the station as well as from a camera attached to one of the rockets. Very cool!

Ready for the Beach!

We had a great Memorial Day weekend, and now we're getting ready to pack up and head to the beach. Aside from the traveling, we're really looking forward to the trip!! We'll relax on the beach with Amber, Doug, Jack and Ryan and then visit Tyler's Uncle Jeff and Aunt Holly for a few days. I'm sure we'll have a lot of pictures once we're back.

Tyler had his 6 month checkup last week, and things were great. He weighed in at almost 19 pounds, and we were suprised to find out that is only 75th percentile. (Since 1/4 of babies are bigger than Tyler, maybe Steve needs to stop giving him a such hard time about his thighs!) I don't think our pediatrician really believed us when we told her he is trying to crawl, and then as soon as she put him on the table he rolled over and popped up into position! It was really funny.

A Few Other Milestones from the past few weeks:

• He's doing a great job sitting up by himself. Hopefully he'll enjoy hanging out under the tent while mom gets a little sun at the beach.
• He's started putting together syllables - so far "abba", "baba" and "mama" are the ones used the most. I think right now they are just random though - at least I hope so because he only says "mama" when he's crying!
• He's started on veggies twice a day and so far, has liked everything - especially peas for breakfast, yum!!

Tracie's First Mother's Day

Let's Get Movin'

Well, its been a while since I posted, and Tyler is trying harder every day to get mobile. He's finally rolling both ways, which is good for us because it means no more crying when he flips to his tummy and can't get back! Its good for him because its easier for him to get to all his toys now when he's on the floor. He's started to get into the crawl position very easily, but after one leg moves forward he usually falls flat. Sometimes he actually "hops" with his legs and gets a little movement, but thankfully he's not crawling yet! He's also tried swimming on land (see picture) still hasn't figured out that it isn't working very well.

Here Comes the Sun!

Well, the sun FINALLY came out in the Midwest and Spring is here at last. Here are a few pictures of us enjoying the day yesterday after Steve cut out from work :)

What Tyler has to look forward to...

Steve likes to joke that if Tyler has "Cannon" genes, he will end up later in life with the same haircut that he has now. Here is a picture of him and my dad watching sports on ESPN. He seems to be getting more hair on top so there is still hope for him!

In addition to getting more hair, we've had a really exciting few weeks with the little guy. He got his first tooth a few days before Easter, and now a second bottom tooth is coming in as well! He's also rolling over like crazy, and trying to propel himself forward with his legs. Unfortunately he can't flip over from his stomach to his back yet, so we have to do it for him when he gets frustrated. I'm sure he'll figure it out soon enough though and keep us on our toes.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Tyler turned 1/3 of a year on Saturday - here are just a few pics!

Ready for Spring

I thought I would post one of the latest shots of Tyler since its been a few weeks. Even though he was smiling, laughing and talking when we got the camera out...as soon as he sees it he gets his "what is that thing??" look and stops smiling. But, we still think he's pretty cute!!

We had a great weekend. Tyler was in a happy, talkative mood all weekend. Sunday it finally got into the 60's without rain and the family walked over to Starbucks for some Iced Lattes (Tyler abstained as he is still on the milk diet). He LOVES his stroller and we can't wait for Spring to get here and STAY!!

3 Months!

Wow, the weeks have flown by, and Tyler is now over three months old. Its so hard to believe. He is so happy now and fun to play with, and it seems like he changes every day. We've had a few "milestones" this week that we're pretty excited about...

The first thing that happened was about a week ago, when I walked in his room in the morning to find him 180 degrees from the position he started in that night...just as I was wondering how he had managed that, he lifted up his legs as high as he could and flipped onto his side, pivoting a little as he did that. He started smiling and repeating this motion until he was back to the way he had started! That has now turned into (a few times) actually flipping over onto his stomach. So, we really have to watch him now :)

I also got him to laugh his first real belly laugh this week. No one else has seen it but me, but hopefully in the coming weeks it will become a normal thing. There is just nothing like when a baby laughs that way!!

One on the way (for Matt and Melissa!)...

Tyler is SO EXCITED for his new (girl!) cousin coming this summer!

12 Weeks Tomorrow!

Wow, I cannot believe its been almost twelve weeks! It is amazing that Tyler is still so little, yet changed so much. Today's "milestone" is that he discovered his hands. Although he's been sucking his thumbs/fingers/entire fist for a few weeks now, tonight was the first time that he started staring at his hands and was pretty amazed by them.

Here are just a few of his favorite things heading into his third month of life:

1. Sucking his thumbs. Either one suffices, yesterday he even managed to get both in his mouth at the same time and was pretty excited about that!
2. When his dad gives him raspberries on his tummy.
3. Watching football (but NOT commercials!) with his Grandpa George.
4. Making his bouncy chair play music by kicking his feet.
5. Falling asleep on Grandma - his favorite place on Grandma Cathy is her shoulder, his favorite place on Grandma Sherry is on her lap in the rocking chair.
   

10 Week Milestones

Now that Tyler is 10 weeks old (wow, I can't believe its been that long since he was born!) I thought I would highlight some of the things that we're excited about:

1) He is sleeping 8-9 hours almost every night. This makes the whole family very happy!!

2) He is smiling all the time and almost laughing! We've figured out that if we stick our tongues out at him he'll do the same, and even try to imitate the sounds we make. Not sure if its a good thing to stick your tongue out at your kids, but it's definitely funny :)

3) He is sleeping without being swaddled. I thought I'd try it out because he loves to suck his thumb and had been getting increasingly frustrated when I would swaddle him and restrict his arms. So, we tried it, and it worked! Now when he wakes up in the morning he usually goes straight for the thumb instead of crying.

2 Month Checkup

We went in for Tyler's two month checkup today. He weighed in at almost 14 pounds and 24 inches exactly, which is 90 percentile for weight and 80 percentile for height.

The doctor said that he is doing great, and was really excited to hear that he's sleeping in his own crib and for 8-9 hours a night! (and we were excited to tell her that!) He had to get 4 shots, poor guy, but he did great. He even got to go visit his Grandma upstairs afterwards.

Not quite 2 months...

...but wearing a "6 month" Ralph Lauren outfit that he got from his Aunt Kelly. Remind me again why I keep worrying that he isn't eating enough?!?