Such a big boy! Hard to believe 8 mths have flown by already. He is more active everyday and smiles constantly. It is getting difficult to keep him on the changing table. He flips himself over and tries to crawl off as soon as I put him on it. It is still his “happy place” and he laughs the whole time while I’m trying to hold him down.  He is showing us that he is really going to be a handful. He is showing his hyper side and his loud side. So he may look like mommy, but he is all daddy! He cannot sit still. He wants to stand most of the time and when he does, with our assistance of course, he rocks back and forth like he is dancing. Everything he does makes us look at each other and smile. We’ve also noticed that he seems to be more ticklish as he gets older. So cute to hear him laugh! He still has a great appetite and we tried yogurt for the first time today. I just gave him a couple ounces to see how he reacts. So far so good with dairy. We got the tree up last week, and he loves to stare at the lights. I took some cute photos of him with his ornaments, but of course he puts them in his mouth by the time I take the pic. We also took him to get his photo taken with Santa Saturday. So cute! He didn’t cry, he just kept turning around to look at him and grab his beard. He has been so good on all the shopping excursions mommy has taken him on. He gets compliments everywhere we go, especially on his big blue eyes. Strangers also comment how good he is. No public tantrums so far, so we are good to go on restaurants still. So he is perfect, healthy, and happy at 8 mths, and we are more in love with him everyday.

Baby’s 1^st Thanksgiving was a great time with the family. We spent the day at Kaki’s and I cooked the meal. Tyler had his own turkey a la baby food. We were actually a little late getting started b/c my little alarm clock slept in, I had to wake him up at 7:30! I do love his schedule on the weekends! And what a trooper he was this weekend…with all the shopping mommy dragged him on. He never fussed. I just carried him in the stores and he would reach at everything we came close to, and whatever I picked up he tried to shove in his mouth. He definitely liked the view from my arms better than from the stroller. When I’d put him I it he would twist around and hold his arms up at me. He has the sweetest face ever! So of course I pick him up. Oh-at Thanksgiving, while I was cooking Kaki was holding him and when I came near him he reached for me. That was the first time, and it was something so small, but for a mom it was a big moment. I guess when I’m with him I don’t really let him go much so he doesn’t get the opportunity to miss me much. Pops even came in town and got to spend some time with Lil B. He has the best grandparents a kid could wish for.

 So we had a great Holiday week/weekend with both of us off of work. Our little family of three has a lot to be thankful for, as usual. We are thankful for each other and all the people in our lives that love and support us so much. The word “thanks” just isn’t enough to express our gratitude for our little blessing. There is something that he isn’t thankful for though…teeth. He broke another bottom tooth Saturday, and he was not the usual happy baby. He would start to laugh and play and then just cry when he remembered the pain. The teething drops helped a little, but just keeping a toy or book in his mouth to chomp on worked best. And the adventures in teething begin.

Lil B has teeth! And want to know when? So do we! He was gnawing on my hand last week and I thought I felt something sharp, but when I tried to look his tongue was in the way and I didn’t feel like aggravating him. Then he went to the dr later in the week, and he asked if we knew that he had 2 bottom teeth and another one coming in on the top. I guess they came in after his 6 mth check up. So I’m going to say that he got his 1^st tooth at 7 mths old. That is the avg anyway. I’m so happy that teething hasn’t caused him any discomfort so far, but I’ve hear that the first few aren’t a precedent for the remainder. He is still eating really well. Some of the food is gross to me, like the spinach and potatoes, but he hasn’t turned anything down yet. He also is still eating twice as much as he needs to, but if he wants it he gets it. He’s so happy and good tempered, so I’m not going to deprive him of what makes him the most happy—food! He gets so serious when it’s meal time. He puts both of his hands out flat on the highchair tray as if he’s bracing himself for the excitement. Then he “talks” the whole time. I think that he’s either telling us that it is good or speed it up. That’s all that’s new with our perfect prince.  He’s just scooting around, holding himself up to stand on us and the couch, drooling and teething. And he’s getting more hair, and it is a lot darker than I expected it to be. So fun to watch him grow!

Getting harder to update with my busy boy! He is rolling, flipping everywhere and sitting up pretty good by himself. He is trying hard to crawl, but we don’t have carpet and he can’t really get a grip. If I put my hands behind his feet he launches, literally, off of them. He is so ready to be mobile! We started Gymboree this month, as soon as he turned 6 mths. He LOVED it. He was so excited to see the other babies and play. He even pulled himself into a tunnel to get this ball that he was wanting to eat. It will be fun to watch him develop some new skills in these classes. We go every Saturday for some mommy & me time. He can also go to their gym with Kaki during the week or when I’m home, which is a lot :), so it is just something extra to do to keep him learning. He is still baby-talking up a storm and I am in great anticipation to see what his first word is. I think a form of “love” b/c he hears that word the most from all of us. Kaki is still enjoying him too much to bring him to mother’s (grandmother’s) day out. He has now been a whopping 3 times for 2 hrs each. It is awesome how much he is doted on! Her maid speaks only Spanish to him so maybe that will pay off too! Speaking of loved ones, we took our 2^nd trip to BR this weekend. Everyone loved to watch him sit and play and “talk”. He is such a sweet boy. The dr. said that this is the age when babies begin to not like strangers or anyone but mom and dad for a bit, but we haven’t seen that yet. He smiles at everyone! His 6 mth vaccines went well, didn’t cry but a minute, again. He is tougher than mommy! He is in the 75% in height and weight. We are just so crazy about our big beautiful boy! We just can’t even picture him as that tiny little guy in the NICU. I took him to get more pictures made on his 6 mth bday, and a few with the two of us. I love them, he was really animated in these b/c I timed it better with his nap. He is still sleeping through the night, going to bed a little earlier (b/t 6-7) and waking up a little ealier (5 instead of 6). So I don’t get the joy of waking him up anymore, he is waiting for me! He doesn’t fuss though, he is very patient…and perfect. But I guess he doesn’t have a need for impatience since I’m always there to pick him up as soon as he makes a peep. Oh-and the food is going great! He sits in the high chair now and has lunch and dinner. He is a little too hungry for breakfast to not be a bottle yet. He opens his mouth like a little bird, so cute. I was surprised that he really loves green beans, and not so much pears. Bananas and sweet potatoes are still the winners I think. I have a lot more to try, and it is really fun to watch his reactions. The only bad one so far has been sweet peas. He has also shown a partiality for one organic brand over the other. He gets apple juice during the day and we are working with the sippy cup. It is just so much fun being a mom!! And Bryce is still in heaven with his little boy, oh the plans he has for them!

6 months of pure bliss has flown by. I am so happy that working has not interfered with raising him and watching him learn and grow. We are truly blessed to have such a fortunate situation and loving family. I really wish I could put into words how it feels to hold & kiss him every day. I love his big gummy smile when he sees me, his left dimple, his giggle when I kiss his belly, his hand holding my pinky while I hold the bottle, his lips stretching out when he is pulling something to his mouth, the way his face squenches up when he is about to fuss, how he is soothed instantly when I sing, how he rubs his eyes when tired, his flips, kicks and giggles when on the changing table aka his happy place, his sly smile looking up at me when rapped in his bath towel, his head on my shoulder while napping or relaxing, his bright eyes when singing itsy bitsy spider,  his utter excitement when we play, and his calm reflective nature when we go outside, I could go on forever. But the point is-I love love love being his mommy!

Today Tyler and I went to Dewberry Farms with Pops and Janet (in town for the wkd)  It is such a neat place! Stephanie told us about it, and I think will definitely go back for play dates as soon as Lil B is a little bigger.  He can’t really “play” with the animals and rides that are there just yet.  However, he posed for some very cute pumpkin pics! That was the reason for going, a fall photo shoot in the pumpkin patch. Poor kid. He hadn’t napped all day so he wasn’t that animated, but he wasn’t fussy at all and let me prop him up against pumpkin after pumpkin. We walked around the farm and showed him sunflowers and of course, he wanted to eat the baby pumpkin we gave him to hold. Too dirty, couldn’t let him get it in his mouth, so that was a battle. Note to self: next time bring the stoller. Boy is getting heavy! After we left the farm, we went to the Rainforest Café since we were already out in Katy. He seemed to really like the fish in the big tanks they have. I thought the noise might scare him a little or annoy him since he still hadn’t had a nap. I was wrong, he was a perfect angel as usual. I have been warned that this good behavior in public does not last forever; not looking forward to that phase.  The last stop was Babies R Us on the way back home, b/c it seems like I have to go there once a week for something, nonsense.  So was there a nap in his near future? Nope. So after being up since 7:30 and out on adventures since 11, by 4:30 there was still no sign of fussiness, but the eyes were looking heavy. So I put him down about 5 and he was fighting the nap. This was the first time he had stayed up this long. I just left him in his crib, and after talking to himself and rolling around a while, we finally heard silence.  Very long day for both of us, but would never trade a minute of it. I am so enjoying watching him discover new things . Speaking of, he has finally accepted organic rice cereal. I give him 6 ozs of formula at his night feeding, then some cereal-maybe 2 tbls-then another 2 ozs of formula. Piggo! He normally only has 8ozs of formula. The next food we are trying is organic pears. He had them tonight for the first time and seemed to really like them. Same routine as the cereal, but he ate half the jar of pears. Piggo! We will try something new every 2 days.

So in earlier news, our sweet prince was super sick recently. He had whooping cough (no idea from where) and it was a long road to recovery. I noticed him coughing a little after the hurricane, but didn’t hear any congestion and he had no fever. So I didn’t feel concerned, until the Sunday afterwards when I awoke to him coughing at 2:30am. I ran into his room and he couldn’t breath. I popped him on the back and he was ok. I turned on the humidifier and slept on his floor that night. I called the nurse the next day and told her he had red eyes, congestion and a cough, but still no fever. She said to use the humidifier and the nose suction thing and check back, but a cough could last up to 3 wks this time of year. So long story short-by Wednesday I wanted to Dr to see him and that is when the cough was diagnosed and poor baby was put on a 5 day anti biotic and an inhaler. I feel stongly against anti biotics b/c they are over-used these days and for other reasons, but for this is was crucial. The Dr said that if we catch it in the first week, which we did, that it is the only time frame that we have to turn this condition around. Otherwise he would have to spend up to 6 wks in the hospital.  Our baby is so strong. He was very good, not that it mattered, during that long week. He didn’t eat much, so he was introduced to organic apple juice to keep him hydrated. I slept on the floor until he was only coughing once or twice a day, and not while he slept anymore. That would be 9 nights. Very frightening having him so sick, again. I only went to work a couple of days so that I could hold him all day. He slept a lot! We are constantly reminded of how fortunate and blessed we are to have him in our lives. Another heart breaking experience for us all.

So today Pops shipped some LSU gear for the lil guy, and in turn Kaki took us shopping for UT gear. Poor kid, he lives in a house divided haha!  Looks like Pops is winning so far....

This boy! I don’t know where to start, so let me start with the simple news first. Our sweet boy rolls over now from his back to his tummy, which means he no longer wakes himself up J.  He loves to roll around all over his play mats and quilts, and anything else so we have to keep a watchful eye (hand) on him now wherever he is.  He will even sleep on his side now. He still wakes up at 4am like clockwork, but puts himself back to sleep after about 15 minutes and doesn’t wake up until about 7, or when I wake him up at 6 during the week…when I go.  He is also so loud now. He has our vocal cords! He has been making different noises that sound like the vowel sounds for the past 2 wks and he is pretty loud. Fortunately he doesn’t cry that much or loud. He is still good to go in public places, yay! We take him out with us to lunch and dinner all the time and he gets so much attention and is happy and quite pretty much the whole time.  He smiles at just about everyone, unless it is nap time, so that cute little dimple attracts a lot of praise! He is really trying to stand lately too. His little chunky legs are strong! He keeps trying to sit up and tries real hard on his own when I pull him up. It is cute how his fat belly wrinkles up when he tries.  He still loves his jumper and is now into the animals on his latest Baby Einstein dvd. I can’t wait to pick out a cute little manimal Halloween costume! He is also into being sang to. It has always put him to sleep when I sing while holding him, but now he likes some upbeat stuff like Itsy Bitsy Spider and Patti Cake. So cute!! Oh and at 5mths, he is 80% in weight and height. He gained 2.5lbs in one month. Biggon!

Obviously, we made it through baby’s 1^st hurricane. (note the current underwater theme, haha) Ike didn’t bother Lil B one bit. I stayed home Thursday and got things around the house ready, getting supplies and putting important mementos in safe places. We hung out at home all day Friday and put him down at his usual 9pm bedtime, but in the pack n play next to our bed. We wanted him close during the storm, and his room has pine trees above it. We stayed up waiting for it to hit, and at about 1am we thought we were hearing the worst of it. We got in bed and he was stirring around so I let him sleep on my chest like I did when he was itty bitty. It makes him so calm, probably feels safe. I dozed off here and there, but couldn’t stop watching the neighbors tree slam against the wind and rain, and against one of our bedroom windows. When it would hit especially loud, I would jump and my heart would start pounding. This would make Tyler start stirring around again. I bet my heartbeat sounded like a bass drum on his ear! But even that seemed to sooth him. It was easier than I thought it would be to stay calm. I guess b/c the drive is so strong to not alarm him in order keep him safe and happy. Can’t keep him safe if in a panic, which is usually my style haha. By 4am I was sure again that that was the worst of it. I was right this time, but that is when the power went out. I had only put him in a diaper to sleep b/c I knew that he would get hot on me and that the AC would go out at some point. This was the theme of the weekend: naked baby! He woke up around 6 still on my chest, and ready for breakfast. Stayed right on schedule all weekend.I kept baby powder in his fat creases so he would be comfy, and he was happy all weekend. Thankfully baby toys work on batteries! I didn’t put clothes on him till we got power back on Monday afternoon. We had a generator running the fridge and fans so it never got above 77 in our home, until a bit on Sunday when I had to turn it off a while to conserve our gas. Besides a lot of clean up, we were ok. Again, feeling overwhelmingly blessed with a healthy happy baby and a sturdy roof over our head.  I didn’t return to work until Wednesday, so baby boy got super spoiled with mommy time. At one point someone else was holding him Sunday and he started to cry when I walked though the room. I think he felt ignored by me and got his feelings hurt, he was fine as soon as I doubled back and grabbed him. I don’t want him to be a mama’s boy, but I can’t say that it makes me sad J When it was ok for him to finally go back to his room Monday afternoon-he slept for 3 hrs! He normally doesn’t nap that long in the afternoon. And then he slept till 7am, I had to wake him up! Like the rest of us, he must love being in his own bed…except his is organic and better than mine. As it should be.  Hopefully this will give him a glimpse into his first hurricane party one day. I am going to keep an article in his baby book so that he knows how truly fortunate we were during this time that is so devastating for so many.

Tyler had his 4 month check up & vaccines on Friday (8-8). He did so well with the shots (4)and again had no side effects from the vaccines. Relief! He now weighs in at 15 lbs - 60% & is 26" long - 80%. So he is stretching out. He isn't so compact, his fat has places to go now, haha! His dr always says that it is hard to believe he was 7 wks early, b/c noone would guess looking at our healthy boy. I brought him to get more pictures made on 8-7. The photoshoot was about 30 min with 2 outfit changes. Then it took another 45 to wait for the pics to be printed and framed. The point is, he never fussed once. Not even a many breakdown. Such a good baby. He is always smiling and giggling. I'm so glad that he is so happy! That makes me feel like we're doing something right. He is only fussy when his teeth hurt, which seems to be in the early evening. Baby boy just crams his fists in his mouth or whatever toy he has in his hands. If he is holding my hand, he chews on my fingers too. Oh-and the the drool, good ness. I have the homeopathic teething tablets that dissolve in his mouth. They sort of work. Besides the teething, we just play at night and then he eats at 9 and still sleeps till 6. He wakes himself up at some point (usually around 4:30) b/c he is ticked off that he rolled on his back....b/c he can't roll back to his tummy yet. He does NOT like his new trick. I just roll him back over and give him his passi back and is back to sleep immediatly. So to sum it up, Bryce Tyler is a healthy, happy, funny, chubby, easy, teething, & sleeping through the night kind of baby right now.