Bye bye crib...

I moved Kyle's crib mattress to the floor this morning, in the exact spot where his crib usually sits. He got all excited and laid down on it while I moved some things around in his room. Kevin and I have been talking about starting to transition Kyle out of his crib. Well, I just put him down for his nap and he fussed for about 4 minutes, but now it's silent...I'll go check on him in 20 minutes or so and see where he finally fell asleep (or if he's playing!).

Kyle woke up with a runny nose this morning; I'm totally bummed about the possibility of him having a cold over the long weekend. Colds are rough on infants/toddlers and their parents because there aren't that many medications you can give to help relieve symptoms, the children don't blow their noses yet, and this all results in a week's worth of sleepless nights!

Yesterday I made an appt. for us to get pictures taken and took Kyle for a well overdue haircut. He had to sit in my lap this time (his first haircut was at 9 months and he sat in the seat by himself). The guy did a great job and now I can spike up the top with a little product if I want; it's too cute! I'll try to post a picture of his new 'do tonight.

Kyle has become more and more affectionate in his old age! He snuggles up to and lays on us all the time, especially when he's tired. Every morning we do a family hug when Kevin leaves for school and Kyle has started giving us kisses (He gives Kev a kiss goodbye, then Kevin kisses me, then Kyle looks at me, does the kissing noise and I give him a kiss too, even though I'm not leaving, lol).

Oh, how I hate the trash trucks! Aaarrrggghhh! They either come at 5 a.m. or between 11 and 1...right when Kyle is sleeping! There are like 5 big trash cans behind our complex and by the fifth dumpster, Kyle is usually awake...I'm crossing my fingers he stays asleep this time.

Well, Happy Thanksgiving to all of you! Enjoy your long weekend!

Kyle happily climbs in to his car seat...when it's not in the car!

A busy week

We just got back from Phoenix today, helping Anastasia out this week while her mom and husband were working! It was a lot of fun to see how Kyle interacted with Cameron and Taylor, in addition to what he learned from Cameron (who's 2 1/2 years old). I got a couple of cute pictures that I'll work on posting next week. Kyle finally slept through the night last night. It takes him awhile to get his sleeping groove down when we aren't at home.

Tonight Kyle let the water out of his bath, then laid down on his belly in the bathtub and started "swimming". It was too funny, but he didn't do it long enough for me to get a good picture, so hopefully he'll try it again another night this weekend!

I'm relieved to be home, at least for a couple of days! I need to get in touch with our old college friend Celeste, since she'll be in Phoenix with her new baby girl, Bethany, this week. I'd like to make a day trip to see her.

In other news, my AIMS tutoring wrapped up on Monday and I won't be teaching a reading class until next semester, so I'm once again "not working", but only briefly. That's about all I can muster for news tonight!

Toddler

This morning I went in to get Kyle up and he was laying on his pillow with George clutched in his hand, lying right there on the pillow with him. Kyle received a small Curious George stuffed animal, kind of like a beanie baby version, and he has become more and more attached to it over the weekend! I am sooo pleased that he may have found a lovey to comfort himself. He's been running to his crib in the middle of the day to grab George and last night that curious monkey accidentally took a swim in the bathtub, but he's all dried out now.

Kyle is everywhere and in everything lately; I'm almost certain he hit his head at least 4 times this weekend, in addition to running in to a young lady's handlebar at the bike swap on Saturday. Thankfully, he has slept through the night since Thursday, so I'm feeling just about human lately. Yesterday evening, while I was making dinner and Kevin was still out on a bike ride, Kyle started emptying out his cabinet; a very common thing for him to do. Although, lately he's been taking each item and placing it on our kitchen table, instead of the floor. Well, last night he ran out of room on the kitchen table, so he crawled in to the cabinet and emptied the rest of it out on our kitchen floor. It was too funny to see him sitting in that empty cabinet!

As Kyle continues in his toddlerhood, our house is increasingly messy, so we're implementing a "put away the toy you're playing with before you get another one out" policy. It's worked pretty well so far.

And, if you haven't heard, we are staying in Tucson for the holidays! After shuttling Kyle around last year and getting even less sleep than usual, we've decided to forego the holiday traveling and start some traditions of our own.

Kyle loved the monsoon weather this year! 

A trip to Phoenix

So, we're in Phoenix right now helping out Anastasia. It's been fun and makes me remember the days when we all lived nearby and played as kids. Kyle and Cameron are really starting to enjoy one another's company.

Today, Kyle did something new! Well, he does something new everyday, I just don't always remember to write about it. We've been going to a different storytime during the week and they do a rhyme that starts "Teddy bear, teddy bear, turn around...". I always turn Kyle around, and I thought "We should practice turning around", but we never did. Well, tonight, while we were waiting to be seated for dinner, Kyle starts turning around in circles, stops, looks at me and laughs, and then I clapped for him. I said "Kyle, do you know how to turn around?", and he turned around again. He was so pleased with himself.

All these women around me with kids that are Kyle's age are getting pregnant again! In one sense, I'm jealous because I'd like to get my pregnancies over with (read the archives if that doesn't make sense)! However, there is a part of me that is so thankful we aren't pregnant again yet. I feel like my body is just starting to recover from the last two years. Anyways, I get the benefit of holding all these sweet new babies after they're born later this year! Just this morning I popped Taylor, all of 8 weeks old, in Kyle's sling and enjoyed those moments of cuddling a tiny baby.

I'm tired, and Kyle will be up at 7 a.m.. Until another time...

P.S.-Yes, I copied The Tatums baby ticker idea...isn't it the cutest?

Goodnight

Tonight we got Kyle ready for bed a little early, then he stayed up reading books with me while Kevin went to band practice. About 7:40, Kyle hops off the couch, looks at me, and puts his hand to his ear (the go to bed sign). We don't use this often, so I ask him while signing "bed", "Time for bed?". He immediately switches to the "eat" sign, so I ask him "What do you want to eat?" and he signs "milk". So, we go and get him a cup of milk, he drinks half of it, pops his binky back in his mouth, hands me the milk cup, signs "bed" again, grabs my finger and pulls me down the hall to his bedroom. He knew exactly what he wanted.

A few notes

Wow, it has been way too long. Can I tell you how busy we all have been? And then Kyle and I got sick over the weekend, ugh. I'll try to give you a report on our October...

So Kyle is, of course, acting more grown up everyday. He uses more and more signs, although he still isn't terribly verbal. He's been waking up for an hour or two every night, we think it's to play. I've asked him a couple times when he wakes up if he needs a diaper change and he sometimes says "yesh". So I change his diaper and he usually goes right back to sleep. We're considering converting his crib to the toddler bed so he can hop out and do what he feels he needs to do, then go back to bed; his room door would stay closed or we would put up a gate across it. Any suggestions would be much appreciated!

Last night, I went in after he'd been fussing for about 20 minutes, gave him some teething tablets (he's got a full mouth of teeth now) and a little bit of milk, but left him in his crib while I did this. Boy, was he furious! I left him in there for another 40 minutes and he calmed down once, but then started up fussing again. By the time I went in to check on him, his pajamas were sopping wet from tears and snot, so I stripped him of his clothes, asked if he needed a diaper change (yesh), then I swaddled him in a blanket and laid him down to bed. He went right to sleep.

Lastly, our lease is coming up for renewal in December and we always consider various options when this happens. We could move to a larger unit in our complex (there weren't any available when we initially moved in), look for a different place to rent, or stay right where we are! I'm going to look at a townhouse today.

Here's to October ending and our lives going back to a little more normal!

Before I forget....

Kyle started combining signs the other night. At the end of his bath, Kyle signed more, then milk. Well, today Kyle and I had a little "sign conversation" after his nap. I signed baby and change while saying "Come here, baby Kyle needs a diaper change" and Kyle signed back baby and airplane. And so we went back and forth, until I think Kyle understood because he started laughing and turned it in to a game:

Me: "No baby Kyle, not an airplane, a diaper change!"

Kyle: Signs baby and airplane again while laughing.

Then he toddled over and sat down on the changing pad, a definite first!

Held accountable...

Kevin and I make a point to "say grace" before we eat. Well, Kyle now folds his hands and "prays" with us. If we for some reason start eating without praying, Kyle stops, folds his hands and looks at us like "Didn't you forget something?".

When I picked Kyle up from the nursery at church yesterday morning, one of the workers said Kyle was "sharing" his goldfish crackers with the other kids. I sent him in to the nursery with his snack cup and I guess he was pulling crackers out of his cup and putting them in the other kids mouths. They might have thought he was sharing, but really it's a game we play here at home "Can you feed mommy/daddy?". Cute nonetheless.

And for all my concerns about various ways Kevin and I should be teaching Kyle to be independent, I realized we're doing quite well with the little guy when I saw one of his 1 yr old plus friends still eating stage 2 baby food and an almost 2 year old friend who's mom isn't sure when she'll be weaned because nursing is how she goes to sleep....hmmm. I just keep my mouth shut unless asked for some advice; they aren't my kids!

Lastly, I'll leave you with the mother who's 14 month old daughter still uses her (now much too small) infant car seat and was just introduced to "other people" last week. The mom confessed to all of us at movers and shakers that her daughter had been premature and the doctor said to keep her isolated for the first 3 months...however, the mom just got used to it and never took her daughter out until now.

I'm pretty sure I would've gone insane if it had just been Kevin, Kyle, and me for the past 13 months...Here's to an interesting week and keeping my opinions to myself!

Lights out

Kyle's been sleeping on the little travel size pillow I put in his bed a couple weeks back. I checked on him last night and there he was, all curled up on his side, head on the pillow just like a big boy. It's amazing how much more grown up he looks sleeping with his head on a pillow.

P.S.-

If anyone talks to Becca in the near future, let her know that the blanket she and Jesse gave Kyle is his favorite...he takes all his naps and sleeps all night with it. I didn't put the blanket in his crib with him one time and he pulled it down during the night. I found him with his arm around it all snuggled when I got him up the next morning.

New teeth

Kyle has three new teeth, and they're all molars! No wonder the little guy has been waking up at night in misery...I expect the fourth matching molar to come within the month.

I finally found something to feed Kyle for lunch! He would eat leftovers from dinner for lunch (if we had any), but beyond that turned his nose up at any other usual lunch foods like sandwiches. So, we were at Costco the other day and I had him try a sample of those dinosaur chicken nuggets. Man did he like them; kept asking for more after the one was gone, so I went and got a box crossing my fingers that he would eat them for lunch on a pretty regular basis. Miracle of miracles, he eats 2 or 3 chicken nuggets for lunch everyday we've tried so far.

This past weekend Kyle and I stopped at the Stride Rite outlet on our way back to Tucson. I picked up the cutest little sneakers for this fall in a size 6. He does so well in the sandals by this same company!

And I'm officially a working woman: private tutoring on evenings and weekends and an independent contractor to teach speed reading one month out of every semester. I'm very excited to be working in the field of education again.

Here's to a relaxing weekend!

My celebrity haircut - John Mayer. 

Fun

So, I went to Phoenix to help out Anastasia this weekend, and Taylor looked good, but they were still waiting on the results from some tests the last I heard. Thank you for all your prayers!

In Kyle news....

Kevin asked Kyle if he wanted to do a somersault this evening. Kyle proceeded to bend his knees, put his hands on the floor, and lay his head down (trying to tuck it under). Kevin helped him tuck his head and flipped Kyle over, to which Kyle laughed and did the "more" sign. Kyle does somersaults at his tumble class occasionally, but we've never really done them at home much, so it was a surprise to see him respond to the question so appropriately!

Earlier today, Kyle was reaching for something dangerous while I was holding him on my hip and I said "No" in a stern tone. He looked at me quizzically, then retracted his hand and honked my nose. Hmmm...guess we don't use the word "no" very often!

And this morning, Kyle and I read three books over and over and over again...if you've been by The Tatums blog lately, you'll know Ellie has been doing this with her parents for awhile!

Taylor

Please pray for Taylor; he's in the hospital for what the doctors thought were seizures, but now aren't sure what's going on.

Taylor Andrew Adams
Born 9/8/06
7:30am
8lbs 2oz
19in long
14cm head
 

Sick

I know, it's been a good week since I posted, but we had a rough last week and sometimes I just don't want to write it down! So, Kyle was really cranky last week, but we figured it was just some side effects from his 1 year shots. On Wednesday night, about 3 a.m., Kyle woke up with a raging fever. We called our on call pediatrician and he said not to worry about it, that it was a common side effect for a shot Kyle had received (MMR). We gave Kyle some Motrin and put him to bed with us.

On Thursday, we kept Kyle medicated as he was still having quite a high fever. After our evening walk, as we were getting him ready for bed, I noticed that his skin was mottled and blotchy and his lips and hands were blue. We got Kyle out of the bath and he started making a weird grunting noise. I called the doctor again and she said to go to the ER immediately. We got there and waited close to two hours to see a doctor. Kyle played and stayed awake the entire time. He had a fever of 103.6, even with the Motrin when we got checked in and the resident who checked Kyle out was pretty much stumped as to why he was sick. Talk about disconcerting. They wanted a urine sample; we tried to get Kyle to pee in the sink, since he goes at home in his potty, but they ended up having to run a catheter to get the sample.

I stayed out of the room while they did this, because I tend to faint around medical procedures, but I fainted anyways after returning to the room and ended up on the gurney with oxygen over my face. We took Kyle to see his pediatrician on Friday evening and she said that it was probably a virus, but wasn't for sure; also, the urine culture came back negative. And so, finally, Kyle seems to be feeling better, but I'm going to be a raging mother if he gets sick like this again and everyone is still "stumped"; $135 later and no answers *sigh*.

Around this same time, Kyle has started taking 2-3 hour naps. Kevin and I are crossing our fingers that this will last for a little while!

Lately, if I don't have one of Kyle's sippy cups out for him, he goes to "his" cabinet with all his eating stuff in it, pulls out an empty sippy cup and starts sucking on it while looking at me intently "Hey mom! I'm thirsty!". I much prefer it to whining when he wants a drink. One fun mystery is that he uses the milk/nursing sign when he wants anything to drink, whether it be nursing, soy milk, water, or juice. Sometimes it takes a few guesses before we get it right and then he wants to switch what he's drinking with his water cup (if he doesn't have it already).

We picked up one of these last night and it's a wonderful little invention!

Every night, as part of Kyle's bedtime routine, we strip him of his clothes to get him ready for his bath. Well, lately, he likes to pick up his clothes and carry them around! We've started making a habit of him carrying his clothes to his closet, where the hamper lives, and throwing them in...it's so cool because it's a game for him and one less thing for us to pick up once he's in bed!

And lastly, Kyle has been making all sorts of noises and chatter as he tests out new sounds and tries to say words. It's just amazing!

Our little toddler...

This morning I brought Kyle in to our bed after he woke up and he started pulling on my nose. So we did the "Mommy's nose", "Daddy's nose", "Kyle's nose" game. And I added the eyes and mouth too. Well, Kyle's been at it all day; pinching my nose, then Kevin's when he got home from work and he gets all tickled when we ask "Where's (mommy's/daddy's/Kyle's) nose?". It's great fun...

Also, Kyle likes to initiate games of peek-a-boo, patty cake, and if you're happy and you know it (the hooray part is his favorite). It's just amazing how after his first birthday he magically turned in to a toddler and does all these new, wonderful things everyday! And he totally understands simple commands now. I love it! Kyle still uses sign language, but we haven't been introducing new signs to him lately. He babbles a lot, but definitely uses mama and dada to refer to me and Kevin. It also sounds like he uses the word "yes" a lot of the time.

Today we are officially weaned to nursing twice a day: morning and night. Hopefully by the time Kyle hits 13 months old, he'll be exclusively on soy milk and table food!

That's about it! All of our baby classes/groups started up again this week after a break during the month of August. We've been busy, but it's good to be out and about with the other moms and babies.

Potty training

So, we already put Kyle's training potty in our bathroom and he thinks it's a great little chair to sit on. When I change his diaper I take him in there, take off the dirty diaper, and sit him on the potty for a few minutes while I read him a book. Then we put on his new diaper. Well, tonight he peed in the training potty before his bath! I thought that was pretty cool.

Now, don't take this to mean we're trying to potty train him yet or anything. We haven't forced any training on him and the reason the potty is in there in the first place is so he won't play with the real toilet.

That said, I wouldn't be totally disappointed if we weren't using diapers by the time he hit his second birthday, but I'm not holding my breath, and neither should you!