Hope He's Not Scarred For Life....

So, this happened to Tyler yesterday...

Here's to hoping he's not scarred for life!

However, he did enjoy pretty much every other moment we spent at Bass Pro...including this, test driving boat seats, in case he becomes a fisherman later in life. (Please ignore his bedhead on the left...I tried, extremely hard-but just short of glue, to get it to not stick out) 

Quotable

Music Monday

Green River Ordinance- Learning

"I can be the one you run to, for the rest of your life

I'm still learning how to love you. 

You are the only one who's worth the fight."

Throwback Thursday

November 18, 2013

Quotable

Tyler- 16 Months

Tyler- 16 Months

New Skills-
Running! Tyler is a full-fledged running machine these days. He can't get anywhere fast enough which also, of course, means he runs into objects (like our recliner chair that has been in the exact same position for his entire life) and face plants sometimes too. For the most part, it doesn't phase him but sometimes a short little whiny cry escapes before he realizes it's not actually life threatening.

This leads into his next new skill- climbing! He tries to climb onto or into pretty much everything, sometimes with success, sometimes with total failure and sometimes without much result at all. He reaches on tip toes and pulls his knee up as high as it can go but can't get up to the couch or previously mentioned chair yet. He did, just the other day, grab onto the back of one of our kitchen chairs and pull his body parallel with the seat in a superman type pose. It was crazy. He LOVES sitting on adult sized chairs/couches but hasn't fully grasped sitting (as opposed to standing) so it usually ends in a fit of frustration.

Old Favorites-
Legos- Tyler still loves them. We still hide them in the closet most of the time because when they're out they are pretty much the only thing he'll play with.

Books- but now he'll sit still long enough to read them!


New/Old Favorite-
Kitchen spoons and plastic bowls are both a new skill and an old favorite at the same time. He, sometime recently, figured out he loved these items and since that day, is either holding one of the items in his hand or standing at the kitchen counter pointing to the utensil holder whining that he wants one!

Other news-
Tyler is preparing for his week long Thanksgiving-vacation with grandparents! Kevin and I are off to the Dominican Republic for a week while Tyler holds down the fort in Iowa, he has to stay to help keep both sets of his grandparents in line. I'm sure Tyler will hold up just fine....me, on the other hand, may be a different story! I've never been away from him for more than a few days so a week will be interesting. I am sure the sun, sand and ocean waves will help though!

And one more, just for good measure-

Music Mondays

Jason Mraz- I Won't Give Up 

Quotable

Quotable

Tyler- 15 Months

Tyler's 15 month birthday came and went- here's the latest ( a few weeks late)

• Words! Tyler started "talking" recently- his most favorite thing to say is "uh-oh", he also says "Da-y" (daddy without the second D sound). "Mom" is coming along but no where near as clear and consistent as "Da-y". He spends a good portion of the day talking to himself in the language only he understands, I would LOVE to know what he thinks he's saying but it's total gibberish to us. I love hearing the little tone and inflection and different sounds he makes, even though I can't understand it...I am sure he thinks he's speaking English. 

• We said good bye to baby food entirely and so far, there isn't much he won't eat. We also haven't gotten to the toddler refusing to eat stage so he's tipping the scales these days at 25 pounds. 
• Body parts- He knows ears, nose, mouth, toes and belly...eyes are hit or miss. He loves his belly and pulls his shirt up multiple times a day to get a peek. 
• We are starting to see his adventurous side as he is more and more confident with walking. He even picks it up to a little (wobbly) run sometimes. Recently, he has been caught standing on the seat of his bike while holding the handlebars...it is either the start of his unicycle career or super dangerous. I have tried, unsuccessfully, to get a photo. 
• Kitchen cabinets- sometime in the last few weeks, he figured out the cabinets and drawers in the kitchen contain items that he needs to play with. We promptly made a run to the nearest baby store yesterday to solve this minor problem-o. 
• Teeth- He's got 4 on the top, 2 on the bottom AND 2 bottom molars- one completely broken through and the other partly through. 

Quotable

Quotable

Music Mondays

Way back in the spring of 2010, I made a decision to resign from my coaching job and seek out the next step for my life- although at the time I didn't know what that was. So with the in-between time, I went to Uganda as a summer coach with the organization called Soccer Without Borders. (You can read all about that adventure in my first blog--- Fill Me Up, Send Me Out)

I wore this song out on the very first day of the adventure- my initial travel into Uganda. I was all at once excited, uncertain and totally clueless about what I would find there. Over the ensuing 2.5 months, I consistently fell back into this song during all of my unsure moments as it reminded me that no matter what, I was in good hands.

And yes, once again, the lyrics make the song worth listening to.

Quotable

“God takes us where we did not intend to go to produce in us that which we could not produce on our own. It’s called uncomfortable grace.”-Paul Tripp

Quotable

Book Review- Love And Respect

This is a book review. But it's really not just a book review. It's really a whole lot more than that...
But first, here's the book:

I'm not even done reading it yet but I feel so strongly I'm going to "review" (aka discuss) it now and probably again later too. 

Basically, the bottom line is that I can't believe I (or anyone else for that matter) is allowed to get married prior to reading this book. It's premise is earth shattering (and life changing?!). First off- it is biblically based which I didn't know when I first picked it up but quickly learned. It is entirely centered on God's written word. 

The idea is that when God discusses marriage in the bible, one of the most common and well-known verses is Ephesians 5:33- which more or less says- husbands should love their wives and wives should respect their husbands. It is of utmost important to note that it doesn't say husbands should love their wives and wives should love their husbands. And thus, the mind-boggling has begun. Men and women are different. AND, God made it that way. Purposefully. But He didn't stop there, he also expects that we will read these words, understand them and act according to them- for His sake, not even for the sake of the husband or wife! 

I could go so many ways with this post but for now I'll stop there (at the tip of the iceberg!). I first heard about this book years ago when spending some quality time with some of our good friends. I just visited them again a few weeks ago when the book was brought up (in passing) again. Soccer season has been taking it's toll on our family- like it usually does- and I thought you know, maybe if I read that book it will help Kevin and I. This is SOOOOOOOOO the understatement of the year/century/eternity. 

So the point is, I encourage you, if you're bored or have nothing to read, or if you're wondering why sometimes being married feels like the super-most-hard thing you've ever even thought of doing...maybe it would be worth taking this book for a test run. I didn't know that I didn't know, until this book opened my eyes. And now I know a little more, and feel armed and ready to learn a whole lot more about what God intends for marriage to be- and more importantly, what God intends for husbands and wives to be. 

Throwback Thursday

Quotable

Tyler- 14 Months

How long am I supposed to refer to Tyler's age in months?! It doesn't seem fair to say he's 1 because he's so much different now than he was way back in July...and it'd be cheating to say he's 1 and a half so I still use "x number of months."

Anyway, 14 months came and went fast. His new and latest development is a back molar tooth that we didn't know he was working on until I was playing around with him the other day and saw it pretty much completely broken through! So far, he's taken teething pretty much in stride, thank god for that little victory.

Here are some of our recent adventures- a walk with Mom and wearing our colors for the Iowa-Iowa St game (I have been known to say that Tyler had a 9 month head start of cyclone in his blood!).

Quotable

Music Mondays

Just another one of those random artists that I love. 

Peter Bradley Adams....The Longer I Run

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLTbFaoZuVQ

Quotable

Hindsight is Always 20/20

Things I wish I would've known...

- I would not feel sad about not being pregnant anymore. Some of the stuff I read during pregnancy talked about the potential for the new mom to feel some sad emotions because the baby was no longer inside. I liked being pregnant but I did not feel sad that I wasn't anymore, holding Tyler in my arms was definitely enough. I worried (and wondered) if I would be able to handle the challenging emotions of post-partum. I did. But I cried and had a hard time sometimes too. And in the end, both the good times and the hard times of the very beginning of Tyler's life helped mold the mother I am today. (Because sometimes, the days are still hard. And sometimes I cry.)

-Pregnancy is preparation. Our lives- and especially mine- literally changed the instant that the little test said pregnant. All of a sudden, it really wasn't about me and what I wanted to do anymore. It's like a slow, gradual, 9 month build up to the ultimate life change...new baby on the "outside." Pregnancy taught me that I couldn't just eat, drink, or do exactly what I wanted. Having a toddler (he's a toddler and not a baby?!?!) means that I still can't eat, drink or do exactly what I want...because, as an example, lunch sometimes happens at 2pm (and sometimes it happens in the form of chips and salsa straight out of the container while standing at the kitchen counter) and sometimes, actually, it doesn't happen. You get the idea.

-Sleep isn't that important. You know what's funny, I can't really exactly remember how hard those first few months were. Actually, it's not funny...it's more like survival of the fittest and other evolution-type science words. If I could remember, exactly, I don't know that round 2 would be a consideration. But anyway, the point is lack of sleep isn't even something I think about anymore. Maybe that's because Tyler goes to bed at 7pm and wakes up between 630-730am. Maybe I should just take a moment to count this blessing, however big or small it may be.

- Trust my body. I REALLY wish I would've been able to do this more. I read a lot during pregnancy about all the changes and how and why because it genuinely interested me. (And I found out there was a legitimate reason for all that heartburn...)
Throughout the pregnancy, I thought (or worried) a lot about whether I'd be able to deliver the baby...I didn't know. I mean, obviously, I could've looked around and I would've seen millions upon millions of women who have done it so odds were likely that I would as well but I didn't know. And not knowing didn't make me feel confident. As it turns out, I could do it.
Throughout the first few weeks of breastfeeding, I thought (and worried) a lot about whether Tyler was getting what he needed and especially if I was doing it right. Tyler completely weaned 1 month ago at the ripe old age of 13 months. Apparently, he was getting what he needed and I was doing it right. I wish I would've trusted the system and the process and not spent so much time wondering (and worrying). The human body (and especially a mother's body?!) is truly built as one awe-inspiring machine, capable of so much more than I was giving it credit for.


Recently, I have caught myself in car ride or quiet end of the night moments thinking about some of these things which is what prompted this post. I could probably go one step further and say that thinking back on these things feels like both a conclusion to Tyler's pregnancy/delivery/babyhood and a stepping off point for....whatever is next! No, we are not currently expecting another baby but, honestly, we talk more frequently now about how we hope Tyler will have a brother or sister some day and that maybe that some day will be soon...-ish...(how's that for suspense?)

Tyler- 13 Months

Tyler started walking on August 7th and hasn't looking back since. He gets sturdier every day and I still catch myself in awe that this is little baby Tyler! Along with walking, he is apparently getting taller because he now ends up with things in his hands that used to be just out of reach.

Some days he's a jabber jaw and some days he's not, and while he's not really saying many words- I think "da" and "up" are both part of his repertoire. Also, sometime in the last few weeks he learned how to point. I don't remember the date but I remember the scenario...Kevin walked in the door from work, Tyler pointed at him with definite purpose, Kevin said "when did he learn how to point", I said "today, I guess, since yesterday he didn't". Change happens fast around here!

Tyler got his first box of legos for his 1st birthday and they are a definite hit. He has learned how to put them together and take them apart, put them all away in the box and then dump the box out again, carry them one by one and hand them off to whoever is around like he's Santa Claus delivering gifts. On the positive side, he only loved putting them in the bathroom garbage can for 1 day so none have been gifted to the garbage man (I think)!

When it comes to eating, he's got a mind of his own. He loves cottage cheese, apple sauce, cheerios, avocado, banana, spaghetti and meat sauce, burritos, meatloaf, lasagna, and pretty much anything else we can come up with. He loves all of these things until he decides he doesn't- at any given moment on bite 2 or bite 25 and then it's actually impressive how strong-willed he remains in protest. Wonder where he got that from?! He started using a sippy cup recently, another one of those things where I was gone for one day and when I returned Kevin said "oh he drinks out of his cup now". WHAT?! I'd been trying for weeks and then Kevin swoops in and he just does it....ahhhhh it's true, dads rule and moms drool (in some situations).


Some stats worth recording-
Weight: 23 lbs and change
Diaper Size 4
Clothes Size- 18 months
Sleep- Bedtime- 7pm, Wake up-  around 630am

Music Monday- Anniversary Edition

August 11, 2012- the day we said "I Do"

Music Monday....August 11, 2014- our 2nd anniversary, so this one goes out to Kevin. 

A reminder of that first year we dated by talking on the phone from Iowa to Kentucky, sometimes passing the phone time by listening to songs because there wasn't always something to say. 

"a soft place to land and a good feelin' knowin'"

Music Mondays- Birthday Edition (so not a Monday)

"I think I'll take a moment to celebrate my age. An ending of an era, and the turning of a page.

Now it's time to focus in on where I go from here. Lord have mercy on my next 30 years..."

Music Monday

This one is in honor of July 18, 2009

The day Kevin and I met at our friends wedding. 

5 years ago...and here we are. 

Confessions of a Nursing Mom

So, I fed Tyler a bottle today. The second bottle I've ever fed him. The first one I ever fed him was just a few short days ago. And yes, he's just a few days away from being 11 months old. I am starting the process of weaning and reducing my milk supply so I took advantage of a particularly busy time with work to drop the first feeding of his day. So when he needs to eat around 1pm, a bottle it is.

I have lots of thoughts, but to sum them all up in one short sentence...this is awesome and sad at the same time. Awesome because I don't have to pump in the middle of the day anymore when I'm away from T and going 6 full hours without checking into that lame black bag is totally glorious. It's actually kind of interesting that this one small change, because I'm still pumping at 10am, 4pm and 7pm when I'm away from him, already feels like I'm getting some freedom back.

Being a new mom (especially for the first time) brings so many immediate changes- the biggest is a "restructuring" of time. AKA a LOT of time now belongs to the baby, not the mom. So when I say I get a little freedom back, I mean I get about 20 minutes that used to be devoted to Tyler (in a round-about way through the pump) that can now be devoted to whatever it is I need. Usually, more work or lunch at work. Either way, it feels good.

(Above portion originally written on June 4th)

Fast forward to July 29

Tyler is now a full-on whole-milk-drinking 1 year old. From the time I originally started writing this post to now, we have weaned from most nursing sessions and incorporated whole milk (in bottles, because he doesn't love sippy cups) into his routine 3 times a day. He still nurses when he wakes up and when he goes to bed which works for  both of us. I am amazed at how much different I feel- and how much less nursing affects me on an hourly basis. Now I literally just feed him twice and don't think about it at any other given time during the day. It's freeing (just like I said it was when I first started the process).

A friend told me that while I might miss nursing and the quality time spent with Tyler, I would find other replacements for that time with "older baby" type things. Totally right on. Now, usually around the same times every day, Tyler crawls into the kitchen sits down on the floor and looks at us with those eyes that say "can I have some milk, please?" because he's really not a talker yet. When he wants a bottle of milk, this is what he does...without fail, every time, like clock work. In the last few days, he has even added hitting the kitchen door to his repertoire of "signs."

Another thing I've caught him doing- pretty much every bottle I give him, at some point while drinking it, he stops, takes the bottle out of his mouth, twists and wiggles his body all around until he ends up sitting on my lap in somewhat of the opposite direction he was just facing, then puts the bottle back in and continues on. I can only imagine this is him "switching sides" mid-nursing as he's been so used to doing for the past however many days it's been.

In all the lead-up to weaning, I had a lot of ideas in my head of how it would go. So far, it's been far easier than I imagined it would be. However, we did just recently determine that it'd be fine for me to keep nursing him at wake-up and bed-time for however much longer it goes so I guess we aren't 100% done with the process yet...

Either way, I've spent some time thinking back to those first 6 weeks of nursing- which I don't know if I gave any airtime (blog time) to in the thick of it- and I'm so glad (and proud) we made it to 1 year! I have said, and will always say, that delivering Tyler was the easy part compared to breastfeeding Tyler during those first 6/7 weeks...and delivering Tyler wasn't easy, my friends.

2014- the year of "intentional"

Here's the thing about January...it's so fresh. And new. And exciting.

Here's the thing about end-of-July...it's so real.

Back in January, I posted about the one-word year...read that here

I was just reading back through old blogs, and sadly enough, to be honest, I kind of forgot about that. And by "kind of" I mean, I did. After all, it's July. That was January.

But there are other cliches too, "better late than never" and "no better time than the present" come to mind. Along with, "if not now, then when? if not you, then who?"

And so, my mid-year (past mid-year but that's just a minor detail) resolution remains the same as my start-of-year P.O.A. Be intentional. In all things. In all moments. At all times.

Certainly challenging, the next best way to change the world or at least, my own small corner of the world.

We Went Camping!

We took Tyler camping for the first time 2 weekends ago. We ventured out to Jester Park, our local (20 minutes from home) campground which we love- the site of our engagement and many other great nights- add our first "family" camping trip and this place definitely goes down in the Hockemeyer Family history book.

We didn't camp at all last year...due to Tyler's pending arrival, we weren't sure going into labor in a tent was ideal. Then once he arrived, we weren't sure having a newborn in a tent was ideal either. Hence we have been super excited to get him in a tent since the weather got nice enough and the calendar's stars aligned.

We weren't sure how he would do...so we planned accordingly, as many new parents do. We hemmed and hawed about going. We (or I) overthought it. Then, we went. Prepared of course...2 cars in case one of us had to abandon camp in the middle of the night (yay only being 20 minutes from home), 2 beers per person (instead of the usual amount we'd take camping) again...we assumed we'd be driving home at 2am.

You can't see him, but Tyler is asleep in there!

So, here's the story...Tyler got tired at his regular bedtime, so we put him to bed at 7pm. In broad daylight. In an insanely (overly?) crowded campground. And he slept until 6:30am when he awoke babbling and smiling at us from across the tent.

The list of things that didn't phase him is actually quite impressive:
- crying/screaming kids- who can blame them? who wants to go to bed when there's a campfire and smores
- next campsite over (10 yards from our tent?!)- cars starting with headlights beaming repeatedly into our tent
- Kevin and I getting in and zipping up about 3 layers of tent before shuffling around to get into our sleeping positions about 2 feet from his bed.
- dog barking really really really loud for a really really really long time at 3am. To which people in the campground were literally yelling at each other back and forth from tents far, far away



Basically, Tyler was the champ that he always is. We were over-prepared and over-thought it. Here's to many, many, many more nights of Hockemeyer family camping!

The view of Saylorville from our campsite

Tyler and I checking out the morning view after his first night in a tent

Tyler's a...Toddler, Temper Tantrums and All!

2 nights ago, Kevin and I were giving Tyler a bath- Kevin the bath part, me waiting nearby for the dry part...our regular bathtime routine. 

Tyler decided it'd be a good idea to try to stand up and move towards the faucet. Kevin decided this wasn't a good idea and asked Tyler to sit down and not stand up. Tyler sat down...and then to display his true unhappiness went to temper tantrum mode by folding his body in half and putting his forehead on the ground. However, what he didn't comprehend ahead of time was that he was sitting in a bathtub. So he proceeded to put his face down directly into the water and boy was that a shock! He sat back up immediately, sputtering and looking at us like WHAT?! just happened to me?!

Today, this move repeated itself when I put his empty bottle in the sink instead of keeping it within his reach...this time on the tile kitchen floor. And yes, he came up crying in pain with a big red spot on the middle of his forehead! 

Let the games begin...

Music Mondays

It's a new song from O.A.R. that Kevin found and sent to me, because he was so sure I'd love it. I obviously love it. 

Tyler- 12 months aka 1 year?!

This doesn't seem possible, but alas, it is...the 12 months old post!

I now fully understand the meaning of "time flying". I also fully understand the point that many parents have made to us along the way in saying "each stage is better than the last." We have LOVED the last 11 months. And we LOVE the current month too. We didn't think it could get any better than snuggly, sleepy newborn Tyler, then laughing and smiling Tyler showed up. But then rolling over Tyler arrived. And shortly thereafter, sitting up and army crawling Tyler graced us with his presence. Next came real crawling and babbling Tyler.

And now? Now we have babbling turning into words, crawling turning into stair climbing, standing turning into almost walking, peek-a-boo playing, vrooom vrooom car sound making, baby Tyler turning into little boy Tyler!

You know what's funny? On Tyler's birthday, I wanted to share a beer with Kevin after dinner to celebrate. We made it to a year! And NOW, now we know EVERYTHING there is to know about taking care of a baby. We are set.

But first, before that beer, I thought I better get cleaned up after the day so I took a shower. Land of best-place-to-think. And you know what I thought? I thought, wow...Tyler isn't a baby anymore. And the real kicker, Kevin and I have NO IDEA how to take care of a 1 year old little boy. And then it dawned on me. We aren't set.

Not even a little bit. Not even at all. But we drank our celebratory beer. And I imagine, with every birthday that comes and goes, we'll drink a celebratory something-or-other and step into the great unknown.

Remember this....4 days old

And the latest...

Hockemeyer Family Summer Vacation, 1st Edition

Last week, we had our first family summer vacation. Kevin took the week off work, taking advantage of the holiday 3 day weekend to kick off our week of fun.

We spent our 4th of July hanging around West Des Moines but ventured out to a local park/trail to take our jogging stroller for a spin. On Saturday, we kicked it into high gear preparing for our stay at my family's lake house in Fremont, Nebraska. We had meals planned and were determined to do as much prep work on Saturday so that while on vacation we could literally be on vacation, while still keeping ourselves and little Tyler alive and kicking with sustenance throughout the day.

Does anyone else notice that Tyler is looking at the camera! Photography skills, honed. 

Sunday we packed up our car and headed out to Fremont- a 2.5 hour drive with a stop on the way through "town" at the only place to stop in town...Walmart! We had planned to stop for some liquid refreshments, what we hadn't planned was that 10 minutes out of West Des Moines I was already making a Walmart list for the things we realized we forgot. And this was only after leaving the house once, getting about .5 miles from home and realizing we forgot the propane camping grill we intended to bring (to continue the theme of vacation, not work like the lake's charcoal grill would require). Public service announcement number 1- due to city ordinanace, we were not allowed to purchase our liquid refreshments until precisely 12:00pm- therefore we wasted a good 15 minutes of time wandering around the Fremont Walmart- PSA, don't make this mistake with a hungry-needing-a-new-diaper-11 month old who is beginning to learn the fine art of protest.

We were greeted at the lake house by the last remaining survivors of the Gerken Family 4th of July celebration. As is customary, we unpacked our belongings, put on our swimsuits and got out to the beach without skipping a beat. And so it began.

We proceeded to have a great lake vacation. Time stood still- lack of cell phone service and wi-fi was glorious- pretty much everything went according to plan. Tyler showed his "enthusiasm" for being on vacation by waking up between 5 and 530am every morning. This was not part of the plan. This should never be the part of any vacation plan. Unfortunately, we tried to reason with him on multiple occasions but he didn't budge. We took naps. Every day? Yes.


The trip- in photos- because there's too much to say.

First time on the sand

First time in the lake! All was well before he started dipping his face in to drink...

Tyler was actually very happy that our friends Rachael & Adam  joined our party for a day along with Aiden and Ellie. 

Loving watermelon

His shirt says it all! 

A better contraption for lake swimming. No drinking possible...

Loving the water

Looking cool

Tyler and I, all smiles on our last night

Kevin and Tyler

Family selfie, take 500. Sorry T.

And on our last day, while packing the car, Tyler was again practicing his protesting abilities. He obviously didn't want to leave. We loved every minute. 

Tyler- 11 Months

Tyler has been 11 months old for a couple of weeks now so it's about time to document his current ups and downs (literally!).

He loves:
-stairs and we basically trust him 90% of the time to go all the way up and all the way down on his own. He knows when he gets to the top to turn his body around and go feet first. Sometimes it takes him a few tries to get his legs over the edge, he looks like he's pulling into a parallel parking spot. Here's a video- and please note, no babies (or Tyler's) were harmed in the making of this video although it looks a bit precarious for a moment or two!

-doors. He's learned how to swing them open and closed and really does not appreciate when we shut them enough to latch and not allow him to continue playing.

-knowing what he wants. He's started this high pitched, dare I say annoying, whine/cry when his parents are messing up his world. It is amazing when it is instantaneously stopped with the mention of whatever he actually wants....for example, I'll say, Tyler do you want milk? and immediately whine/cry/rant done and smile. Or Tyler do you want to eat? and immediately he crawls to his high chair. I know this has been said before but he comprehends so much more than he can say (which is nothing, at this point).

- books. Tyler has loved books for a long time so this isn't new. He still can be easily entertained by one board book for at least 10 minutes, throw 2 or 3 on the floor near him or within his reach on the table or chair and he's golden. He turns pages, flips the book, opens flaps, finds different textures on certain books, etc. We have basically watched his small motor skill develop through page turning- now he turns one at a time- when he first started he would get half the book at once.


-swimming! He went in a small baby pool for the first time this past weekend and he loved it. Never mind the freezing water or the big kids splashing and jumping around him or the sprays of water that ended up all over his face- he pretty much smiled the whole time. Credit to Kevin who doesn't take it easy on Tyler at bath time- getting water in his face is such a common occurrence it appears to not even phase him.

-sleep! Tyler's bed time is anywhere from 6-7pm. He wakes up between 6-7am. He takes a morning nap from 8-10am and an afternoon nap from 12-2pm. These days it's pretty much like clockwork and we love him for it.

-holding on. He's not so interested in standing or walking on his own yet but he gets where he wants to go while holding on to anything sturdy enough to hold him up. He sometimes lets go and accidentally takes tiny steps but for the most part, he's rock solid with holding on and doesn't appear to be interested in other methods yet.

-after all of our (my?!) agony over his eating habits, he is definitely coming into his own. Puffs are one of his all time favorites, they turn his frown upside down immediately upon hearing the container rattling out of the pantry. He also eats toast on his own a lot of mornings. The only thing I can really remember him turning down recently is broccoli on it's own, he eats it when it's in combination with other things but didn't enjoy the broccoli "soup" he had the other night. He plows through pretty much any jar or pouch combination we have including one with beets and blueberries, that actually tasted like beets!

-his new car seats..now that he's not a little guy anymore, we graduated him to the next seat this past weekend. Here's his serious face, first time, mom what are you doing to me look...

Our weekend

This was the real first weekend of the summer for us, meaning that the spring soccer season is over now. It was an eventful spring culminating in a road trip to Dayton Ohio with 4 of our girls teams who won State Cup and earned the right to represent the state at Regionals.  Tyler made the trek so Grandma and Grandpa took one for the team and came too!

This weekend, which included a friends wedding shower, a family get together and another friend's daughter's bday party, was action packed in the best way ever. And included enough quiet moments at home to balance us out.

We seized the moment of Tyler's afternoon nap to retire the newborn bucket seat and break out the "big boy" car seat. I snapped this photo once he woke up...and yes, he was crawling away as if to say I'm too big for that thing Mom!

Maybe someday we will break it back out if Tyler is meant to be an older brother, but for now we are just amazed at how Tyler has turned into a little boy right before our eyes and loving all these mini milestones!

The Day I Braided My Hair

So, this morning I braided my hair.

This may seem insignificant. It is not. It is literally the first time in my entire life that I have braided my hair and intended to wear it like that for the day. 

I've lived almost 30 whole years without doing this. I have always gotten hung up on this fact...not the 30 thing, not the braid thing, but the doing new things thing. In fact, for much of my adult "post-college" life I have continued to do things the way I have mostly always done them for the simple fact that I've always wondered what kind of reaction the small re-inventions would get. For example- why are you braiding your hair? You've never braided your hair. 

During my senior year of high school, I only wore jeans on Wednesdays. On all the other days, I wore some variation of soccer/athletic clothing. This carried over to college, where by default most days while running from morning workout to 8am class, I wore sweats the majority of the time. It turns out, I like wearing jeans. 

During high school, I never wore v-neck shirts. I thought it was too revealing. It turns out, I like wearing them AND for more than just the ease of nursing Tyler in public settings. 

Since I got contacts way back in middle school, I have never worn glasses. I just got my first pair of real glasses a few weeks ago...disregard the fact they are pink and black, that's a whole other story for another day... and it turns out, I really like wearing them.

Last summer, I wore tank tops for the first time. Seriously. In all previous summers and occasions, I was self conscious about wearing them. Then I was pregnant and caught up in the wave of needing maternity clothes so I bought some. And wore then. And it turned out, I really liked wearing them. 

It turns out, for the last hour I've had my hair braided, I really like it. Probably factoring in is the reality that I seriously don't think I've had my hair cut since Tyler was born but it feels cooler, more organized and in much less disarray (my hair, that is). 

I have considered multiple times- even going so far as to mention it to Kevin one day a few months ago- that I might need (no, actually WANT) to do some clothes shopping. But not without significant purpose or change in mind. Right now, most of the shirts I own were found on the nearest sale or clearance rack and most of the pants I own are at least one size too big (thanks to the glories of nursing and chasing Tyler around, I'm a lot lighter on my feet than I was before I got pregnant). 

The point is, there are a lot of changes- most appearance based- that I've kicked around inside my head for a long time. Or at least, on and off for the last however many years. Only never pulling the trigger or making small changes because I've been worried about what people would think or if they'd wonder why I was doing "xyz-new thing". So, my friends, after all this honesty...it appears my next 30 years might look different than my first 30 years!

The Adventures of Tyler, part 1

So, this happened today when I went to get Tyler from his nap. Who knows how he accomplished this. Can't wait to see what he comes up with next. 

Tyler- 10 Months Old

Yes, Tyler has been 10  months old for almost a month now...sometimes life happens and blogging doesn't.

Tyler's first trip to the Des Moines Zoo on Memorial Day with Dad, Uncle Jeff & Aunt Renae & Makenna

There are so many times when I look at him these days and say to myself, or out loud to him or Kevin, "you don't even look like a baby any more, you look like a little boy!" He's got a great mop of blond curly hair- thanks to his Dad. He's sits up on his knees and stands up on his tiptoes to reach high places. He climbs up the stairs like they aren't even there and also knows to go down on his belly (although I don't fully trust him on this one yet).

Still holdin' on tight to Dad

Our latest breakthrough in the eating department is picking up and putting food into his own mouth. Last week, I got the baby puffs out....because it was suggested that now would be a good time to try them...I set them on his high chair tray and he immediately reached to pick one up and when he actually got it in hand, he commenced to playing with it- waving it in the air- slamming it down onto the tray- etc without coming close to putting it in his mouth. A few days went by, we kept trying, he kept playing. Eventually it dawned on me that I should show him how to put it in his own mouth. He grabbed it in his hand I grabbed his arm and shoved it toward his mouth, he got it in his mouth and crunched down on it and the rest is history. In hindsight, he thought they were toys until I showed him it was food. How is he supposed to know?! So fun to watch him learn and investigate every new thing he sees.

He dislikes grass. So much so that when he sits in it, he holds one leg up at a time to get it out of the grass and holds his hands and arms just above so they don't touch it. Note to self- take a picture. It's pretty hilarious.

He loves walking while holding onto toys. He has even figured out that when he runs into a roadblock, he should walk around to the other side of the toy and start pushing it back the direction he came from.

Another favorite right now- he knows how to give "kisses". If you're holding him and say kiss, he'll lean in and open his mouth. So cute.

He still loves turning book pages, one of his favorites for the last 5 months. He also loves electrical cords...which is not so cute.

Bath time has turned into a full on water assault, everything and everyone within a 5 foot radius of the tub gets a bath. He loves every minute of it and could care less when he splashes himself in the eyes/mouth/face/etc.

All in all, time flies and we're having fun.

Tyler and Makenna playing together

Wordless Wednesday

Adventures with Dad

Music Mondays

Last week's Music Monday was another Jason Gray favorite- actually the first Jason Gray song I knew. Here's another car-rockin' out-gem. 

Love these lyrics- 

"God put a million, million doors in the world...for his love to walk through...one of those doors is you."

With Every Act of Love- Jason Gray

Music Mondays

There's only 1 way to listen to this song...

On BLAST- on the interstate- cruising at 70mph- while belting out the lyrics. Also, preferably alone (so as to save other's ears & sanity)

Jason Gray- Remind Me Who I Am 

Tyler- 9 months

Tyler- 9 months old 

• Likes
• Peas! A total victory
• Reading books- but mostly just turning pages
• Walking while holding on to furniture, especially when Dad chases him!
• Paper- playing with it, tearing it, crinkling it, etc etc etc
• Holding his own bottle 
• Standing at laundry baskets or open drawers or suitcases and pulling every article of neatly folded clothing out to throw on the floor. 
• Saying "ba ba ba" and even a little "da da da" every now and then. 
• Crawling on hands and knees is new within the last week- he had been a sole army crawler even pulling himself up to standing from there. Now real crawling has entered the picture. 
• Hair- especially Mom's long (easily pull-able) hair. He also pulls on his own at times, which by the way, is getting curly and fuzzy and really growing in. (note to self- find pictures of Kevin as a young boy. Tyler has his hair, no doubt)
• Dislikes
• Having said paper taken away from him after he demolishes it into small pieces
• Diaper changes aka wrestling matches. The little punk wins sometimes. 
• Closed doors. He now knows there is something behind the door, he knows how to swing open and closed doors that aren't latched shut so if we close a door he immediately lets out a protest cry for a second before he gets distracted by the next entertainment piece. 
• Details
• Weight- 20 lbs, 9 oz
• Height- 29.25 inches
• Head size- off the chart (on the high end). Which explains why 12 month hats fit him/are almost too small?! Hope that slows down a bit before his next check-up! 
• Tooth Count- 2- one on top right middle, one on bottom right middle
• Sleep- Bed time is more like 730pm these days. Wake up time is (on good days) around 7am plus once in the middle of the night. 2 naps a day is pretty typical and always at least an hour if not 2. Glorious. 
• Also notable- he doesn't cry tears. When we told our Dr. at his checkup, he looked at us for a few seconds and literally said "I don't know, let's see what happens between now and 1 year." By the way, he DOES cry just not tears.