Crazy Man!

Kyler sometimes has so much energy it is unbelievable. He will get little spurts of energy throughout the day and often shortly after he eats.

Sometimes we put him in the jumper to let him get rid of some of this excess energy. He is a mad man! We have an extra wide doorway to our bedroom (it has double doors) so that's where we put him. Recently, he gets so crazy in the jumper that we have to line the doorframe with pillows because he has gotten so close to hitting his head.



The past two bath times have also been crazy. Kyler has taken splashing to a whole new level. I haven't been using our bath seat for a while since he has been sitting up very steadily on his own. The bath seat made it really hard to get his bottom clean. So now I have him sit up while I wash his hair and top part of his body and then lie down to clean the rest of him. And when I lay him down he goes nuts. He splashes with his legs so hard that water is flying everywhere. He even splashes with his hands and arms and gets water all over his face. I've never seen a baby that loves water as much as Kyler. I can't wait to get him to the pool this summer.

Operation No Paci: Day 5

We're still going strong with no paci. We are pretty sure Brett and I are the only ones that think it is time to get rid of this thing. Everyone is saying it won't hurt him to have it another year. But I don't think there's ever going to be a good time to "pull the plug." So we might as well just do it now so we don't have to worry about having a paci with us all the time or him waking up in the middle of the night because they fell on the floor. Plus, if there is one thing I can't stand it is a kid trying to talk with a paci in his or her mouth!

We decided to go cold turkey in getting rid of it. That way we avoid any confusion and it makes it more clear for all of us. That's basically what we did for the bottle and it worked out great. Although I must say the bottle was much easier to lose than this is.

We've had some pretty rough nap times and bed times over the past few days. The little guy just doesn't know how to soothe himself to sleep without it. He's had to cry himself to sleep a couple times and then sometimes he is apparently tired enough that he can go right to sleep after being calmed down. I'm anxious to see how his nap and bed times go today since he's not so worn out from Easter traveling. I was really hoping he could be paci-free at daycare tomorrow but that will only work if he can go to sleep on his own after just maybe 10 minutes or fussing/crying.

Probably the most frustrating thing was the drive to and from Wichita. Normally we would just give him the paci to keep him from fussing but we couldn't and had to listen to him fuss and whine for a long time. Poor Aunt Jessica was with us all weekend. I'm sure she got her baby fix for a bit!

Oh, and Kyler just had a few things to say:

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Update: Kyler did great today. Minimal crying each time I put him down. I just hope it keeps getting better and that the daycare will cooperate.


Update 4/29/11: Kyler is officially paci free. He still takes a little longer to fall asleep at nap time but if he's tired he will just rock with me for 10 or 15 minutes and he's out. He's also able to put himself back to sleep on his own if he wakes up during the night.

Operation No Paci: Day 1

As I mentioned in my last post, we are attempting to take away the paci before Kyler's first birthday. Last night was our first night without the pacifier. It took me probably over an hour to get Kyler to sleep but then he slept through the night without even a peep. He did a lot of what I would call "fake sucking" as he was getting more and more tired and was definitely squirming around a lot. We rocked, then I tried putting him in bed and kept making him lay down, then we stood, then read a book and rocked, and tried all of these things multiple times. Finally he was really tired and I bounced him in my arms for a few minutes and he finally went to sleep, and stayed asleep when I laid him in his bed.

Today at daycare I told them we were going to take away the paci. They said that during the day he fusses and looks around for it when it isn't nap time. So they are going to give it to him only when he naps for now until I have him able to go down easily without it. (With several other babies to care for, they obviously can't spend an hour trying to get my one kid down.) They called me at work saying Kyler had a fever so I had to pick him up early. Even with the fever, they were able to limit the use of the paci to nap time only.

I was able to put him down for a nap this afternoon without it as well. This time it took a little less time, around 40 minutes. We tried reading books then rocking, laying in bed, standing and bouncing, and finally a bit more rocking did the trick. He was gumming his fingers a little but at least not sucking on them - I don't want to create a thumb sucker by taking it away which is why I have waited until now. I put him in bed when he wasn't yet sound asleep and he didn't even fuss.

Since Kyler's fever was this afternoon he won't be able to go back to daycare tomorrow so hopefully by Tuesday when he does go back he will be completely free of that darn paci. It will definitely test our patience as we are driving to and from Wichita for Easter and it might be a long car ride. Hopefully Grandma and Grandpa won't mind hearing a baby fuss while I try to get him to sleep without a paci over the weekend. Sorry Grandma and Grandpa - I guess I picked a bad weekend!

11 Months

At eleven months, Kyler...

can crawl really fast. Sometimes too fast.

pulls up to anything and everything with ease.

can reach a lot of things on tables - he's tall. He's also figured out to put his toys on the tables and then sometimes use them to beat on the table with.

can eat pretty much anything. We avoid things that are hard to chew such as steak and tortilla chips as well as some of the obvious choking hazards (whole grapes and hotdogs). And he has seven teeth that are pretty much completely in. There are 3-5 more on their way.

is becoming more of a picky eater, especially when it comes to veggies. He's a lot like his dad when it comes to eating.

has recently learned to drink from a straw. But usually it is just sippy cups that he drinks from. He always tilts his head back much further than necessary.

is wearing mostly 18 months clothes and even some 24 months. He is about to grow out of his size 3 shoes and we just started him in the size 4 disposable diapers (he's been in large cloth diapers for some time now).

loves to test me. He grins when I yell at him and tries it again. It takes a lot to get him to understand he's in trouble for real.

is being weaned from the paci (we have attempted this before). It took an hour to get him down to sleep tonight. We'll see if I have enough will power to keep it up. I would like it to be gone by his birthday.

is obsessed with stacking his food. He will make little piles of things. Although impolite, it is pretty cute.

has a ton of energy and gets bursts of energy. He can't sit still being held or in the car at those times.

is also obsessed with doors (especially cabinet doors) and drawers. He opens and shuts them but rarely gets into them. Once in a while he smashes a finger or hand.

has mastered going up and down the stairs but hasn't figured out how to start going down backward on his own. He tries head first but that only works when there is just one step down.

makes lots of different sounds but not words. He seems to imitate inflection and sounds sometimes but nothing recognizable (besides dada and mama). He also likes to have us imitate the sounds he makes (mostly with the different "ah" sounds).

is a huge flirt! He will find a stranger anywhere we are and smile or laugh at them. He gets a lot of attention that way.

loves his dogs and they actually try to get attention from him and play with him. His favorite thing is to chase after them, trying to head butt them or take a toy if they have one.

is not really into watching TV. It used to keep him entertained for close to 20 minutes at a time but now he rarely has interest for more than a few minutes. We love that he can play and entertain himself and does not like TV much.

makes his mommy and daddy's days a little brighter. He can always cheer us up. :)

An Afternoon with Kyler

This morning I was sleeping in and heard Kyler laughing at who knows what - his door was shut so it wasn't the dogs or his daddy. But then it was quiet again for about 45 minutes so he must have gone back to sleep. I am a lucky mama, sleeping in until 9 on a weekday.

He's usually happy when he wakes up as long as he got enough sleep. If he's fussy, he needs to go back down. Today he was even happy after I took the paci away. Look at this scrunched up nose.

Getting up to say hi to mama... he's always so excited when we come in to get him. What a great way to start a day! (Or in this case, an afternoon.)

This is his new thing... putting his hands up. He thinks it's funny when we copy him doing this and making noises.

"Wanna see my mouth full of teeth?" He loves just hanging out over his crib rail, watching the doggies.

"Aaaahhhh hahaha those doggies are funny!"

Time to get out of bed now.

Looking outside with the doggies. Kyler is now chasing after the dogs. He just loves them and they don't think he's too bad either. For now they can run faster than he crawls. If he catches up to them, he likes to head-butt them. It's pretty hilarious. Today while I was sweeping Maggie wanted someone to play tug-of-war with her stuffed duck. Since I was busy she tried to entice Kyler to take it from her. He was having a blast trying to get it out of her mouth.

Then it was time to start playing tractors. He knows how to push the "E-I-E-I-O" button. He also knows what it means to "go find your tractors."

And here is something new he learned last week... climbing on the bottoms of the tables.

He likes to pound his toys on the tables, the hardwood floors, the walls, anything that makes noise. In fact, as I am typing this up he was looking for something to play with in the office. I gave him the tops to a couple of blank DVD packs (they look kind of like clear bowls) and put some baby-friendly office supplies inside. What does Ky do? Dumps them out and bangs them together like symbols. I hadn't thought of that. :)

And now I am going to have to start dusting the bottoms as well as the tops of the tables because of this little finger-print monster. And I thought the dogs were bad!

We have been having so much fun now that all the taxes are filed and I'm not so busy with work. It is going to be such a fun summer! And my boss even thanked me for the extra effort and told me I could equalize my time. I will hold him to it - I'll take all the time I can get with my little man this summer!

Birthday Plans

We have decided on a date for Kyler's 1st birthday party. It will be at our house on Saturday, May 14th. Some of our close family will probably be present throughout the day, with the festivities officially starting around 3 or 4. We will do cake, gifts, and a fun video we put together. Then we will grill out and have dinner and drinks and enjoy our friends and family throughout the evening. The theme will be Mr. Men and Little Miss... and I will be doing most of the decorations myself.

For Kyler's birthday (which falls on a Thursday this year), Brett and I are going to take him to Omaha to the zoo. Brett has never been there and it has been a while since I have been there myself, I know they have some new exhibits since then. We will spend the night there Thursday night and hopefully have a hotel with a pool that Kyler can enjoy. This way if the weather is bad Thursday we could do the zoo on Friday. That weekend we have a wedding and graduation in Seneca to attend so we will spend some time with Papa and Grandma.

Where oh where has my little baby gone?

Kyler can't quite "toddle" on his own but in my mind, he is a toddler now and not a baby. He is through with cuddling and wanting held. Now he just wants down to be on the go exploring things. We spent a lot of time outside today and Kyler watched from his walker as I mowed the lawn. He played in the grass in our front yard (the back has too many "land mines") and loved it. He didn't even try to put everything in his mouth this time.

There were a couple of funny moments. First, he crawled to the sidewalk and started pulling weeds that were growing up through the cracks and threw them aside. He was being a good helper. Then a little later I laid him on his back in the grass and instead of getting right back up he just laid there really still looking at the sky and enjoying the cool grass on his back. It reminded me to enjoy the little things. I wish I had taken my camera outside - it was such a nice day and he was looking pretty cute in his Royals shirt and shorts.

Ky has also been practicing standing/walking more. He pulls up to everything - doors, furniture, walls, you name it. And he can even use his little push toy on his own. He pulls himself up and pushes it around the basement all on his own. I can't believe how big he's getting. Next time we'll take video and post it so you can all see him.

The other cute thing that he started doing this weekend is really clapping his hands where they even make noise sometimes. He's been clapping for months but it was sort of an awkward clap. Now every time I lay him down to change his diaper, he is clapping. He's so stinkin' cute when he claps and then gives me his toothy smile because he's proud of himself!

Sorry - long post about silly little things. But these silly little things are the ones I want to remember when Kyler is all grown up. And ever since I got pregnant, my memory is terrible. So this serves as my memory... how sad is that?