Loud

Kyler has been quite chatty lately. And it is no longer quiet little coos. He knows that he can make noise now. Usually it is a series of "ahh" sounds. And sometimes it is him yelling "AHHH" or letting out a squeal. Whatever it is, it is a lot of fun. Especially when he repeats me and has sort of a conversation. His new favorite book is called "And the Cow Said Moo." And when I recite it (I have it memorized) he chimes right in.

He has also been loving his feet. He will sit and just look at them in amazement. I'm not sure he realizes that they are his and he is the one moving them. He grabs them and pulls them close, especially when getting his diaper changed. Today he was sucking on his foot, sock and all, while sitting in the Bumbo chair.

Doggies are Funny

Kyler has been laughing a lot lately and thinks the dogs are especially funny. You can't help but smile when you hear him giggle.

These days...

Kyler has been doing all kinds of fun things.

Like smiling.

And getting his rest for the big game the next day.

He is all set for fall football weather.

And really enjoyed the game this week.

He is liking tummy time more and more.

And is a happy boy when he can jump around.

Or swing around.

But sometimes he just wears himself out.

Giggles

What a treat... tonight I was playing around with Kyler and he started giggling at me. Not the fake cough laugh he usually does but a back of the throat giggle. He has been kind of a crabby baby over the last week and that's just what mama needed. Hopefully we can get it on camera one of these days.

Four Months

Here is what Kyler is up to at four months...

Vital Statistics:
Kyler weighs 13 lbs 12 oz and is in the 25th percentile for weight. He is 24.5 inches long (50th percentile), and his head circumference is 16 (10th-25th percentile).

Socially:
People have been telling us more and more about how much he looks like a little man. That his features are very grown up and they can tell what Kyler is going to look like when he is older. We also get many comments on how expressive he is for his age. He has a lot of facial expressions. And he is actually less afraid of strangers than he used to be. I think that has a lot to do with him being in daycare. They say he is an awesome baby at daycare, only crying when he is tired or hungry. He loves it there. Sometimes at home I think he is bored because there just isn't as much going on. He has become quite the daddy's boy. There are a lot of times now that I have to hand Kyler over to Brett because only he can calm him down.

Eating:
Kyler started trying some solid foods a couple of weeks ago. His favorites are bananas, applesauce, and peaches but I haven't found anything he doesn't like. He does a really good job eating from a spoon. He will open his mouth for the next bite when the spoon comes near. He is starting to figure out how to get food in his mesh bag into his mouth.

Moving:
He can roll over both directions but doesn't do it very often. He is always grabbing anything he can get his hands on and putting it right in his mouth. My poor hair is getting pulled all the time, and he has a really strong grip. He is getting better and better at supporting himself. And he is still our little mover and can be a handful when I am feeding or rocking him.

Talking:
He has started babbling a little more lately. When I read him a book that he likes, he will start talking along like he is reading too. He thinks it is funny to watch his mama or dad have an adult conversation with someone and also enjoys when I scold the dogs. Sometimes, especially with his dad, Kyler will get pretty loud when he is talking. Brett is able to get him to talk a lot easier than I can.

Sleeping:
Kyler will go to sleep on his own. Once he is getting tired I just give him a paci and something soft to hold and put him in his crib and he will fall asleep. When he wakes up he doesn't just cry for us to come get him. A lot of days we will hear him making happy little noises in his crib. And sometimes loud banging as he kicks his legs around. When we go check on him, he has a huge smile (even behind the paci) when we look down at him. The doctor told us today to start putting him down on his tummy since we only have a couple months to even out his head shape (it is pretty flat on the back).

Coming up:
We are still waiting to hear a really good belly laugh. And I think he will be able to sit on his own pretty soon. He does pretty good but usually ends up leaning way forward or sometimes falling to the side. When his legs get just a little longer he will be moving all over the place in the walker - he can go a couple of inches at a time right now.

Back to Front

Apparently our little guy can now roll from his back to his front. I knew he was getting close. He has been rolling all the way to one side and then kicking his legs up really hard and landing on his back again. Last night in the bathtub I think he would have went all the way over if I hadn't caught him to stop him from going face first in the water. This morning he woke up before I left for work. I fed him, changed him, and put him back to bed. We always put him on his "back to sleep." Brett called me a few hours later and said that while he was showering and getting ready for work he put the monitor in Kyler's room so he could hear as soon as he got upset. He could hear him making noises. He usually lies in his bed talking to himself or his mobile and then starts fussing when he is ready to get out of bed. When he started getting upset, Brett hurried up to go get Kyler out of bed. But when he got there Kyler was on his tummy way over toward the side of his crib, almost hitting the rails. He had rolled over to his tummy for the first time and he did not enjoy the predicament he found himself in!

Sunday

Sunday morning we drove back home from Manhattan. We stayed at Cole and Amanda's - thanks guys, you have no idea how nice it is to not have to worry about the dogs in addition to everything else! Oh, and Kyler slept for 9 straight hours there. We are staying at the Eilders' hotel more often! When we got home, Kyler was in a great mood after all that sleep. So much so that he was having quite the conversation with his ducky friend...



Once we were refueled and changed, we headed to Lawrence to a birthday party. Cameron was one of my best friends in high school and his little girl, Attie, turned one last week. She is a doll and was loving giving Ky kisses.

We drove back to Kansas City and headed straight to church. Not a great idea as Kyler was in quite a mood. But luckily the church we went to had a cry room so we weren't disturbing the entire congregation. On our way home from church we decided to stop at a nearby park since it was so nice out. We put Kyler in the swing and he was loving it! Just like last time, he cried when we had to leave but it was getting pretty dark out.

More Football Fun...

I feel like this is the last two posts rolled into one. We tried the whole football thing again. This time Kyler took a nap right before we went into the stadium. And we brought ear plugs. 

He was a little happier. But being in the middle of a loud crowd still got to him after a while. So we ended up spending some time watching the game from the concourse which was all good... until I got pooped on. Kyler started crying in our seats so I told Brett to stay put and I would take him up to the top of the stairs. As soon as we got up there and out of the crowd he was happy as can be, looking around and "talking." I texted Brett that he was really happy. And a second later I felt a little rumble. About a minute later I happened to look down and noticed the poo. It was all over my shirt and shorts. I sat down and called Brett, told him I needed him NOW. Since I only brought extra clothes for Kyler and not myself, I had to wash off my clothes in the bathroom and continue on my day. I made Brett buy me ice cream for what I had to go through. He didn't complain about the $4.50 spent on a couple of scoops. Overall the day was great, even if Kyler's digestive system was apparently in overdrive this weekend.

Brett even had to buy the "Lil Wildcat" his first K-State ball cap. It's a little big but still incredibly cute.

What goes in must come out...

I think you probably know what this post is about. And I will warn you that it is pretty darn gross. So please don't look at the bottom picture unless you think you can handle it. I wouldn't post about it if it weren't just absolutley ridiculous. So to fill some space at the top of the page for those who don't choose to scroll down, I'll tell you about the good (then we'll get to the bad and the ugly all at the same time).

Just before "the incident."

Brett has been traveling for work yesterday and today so I have been dropping off and picking up Kyler from daycare. And man do they go on and on about how good he is. And he really is. He normally only cries when he is hungry or tired. And when he has a bad spell it is almost always at night, when the daycare ladies aren't around. Anyway, he absolutely loves it there. I wish I liked it at work that much. But it definitely puts my mind at ease knowing that he is not crying all day while I have to leave him.

Chowing down on a banana at Dad's softball game.

We have also been letting Kyler try small amounts of solid foods (well, not really solids but that's what they call it). He's had rice cereal mixed with his milk, bananas, potato soup, and applesauce. He does really well eating it. He will even open his mouth wide for the next bite. And usually it all goes right down without making a mess. I got some of the little mesh bags that you can stick food in and let them get it all mushy and suck it out. It is messy but he really seems to like it.

Kyler in the jumper.

Kyler is also getting really good at grabbing his toys. Just a few weeks ago he couldn't really figure out how to work his hands and arms but now he is much better at spotting a toy he wants, grabbing it, and sticking it right in his mouth. We bring toys in the car now to help keep him entertained in the dreaded carseat. And he is really enjoying his jumper and walker as he gains more and more strength to keep himself upright.

"I want all the toys in my mouth at the same time!"

Okay, so here it is. The yucky yucky bad no no story and the picture to prove it. If you weren't sure if you were ready to have kids, this will surely change your mind. And if you're about to have a kid, consider yourself warned. And if your kid never did something like this, consider yourself lucky. Here goes...

I was sitting in the kitchen finishing my dinner while Kyler was playing in the walker. (Thank goodness we were in the kitchen and not on the carpet!) He was having fun with his toys and I got down to talk to him about it. A few minutes later he had a funny look on his face. I heard a rumble. And then a splat. And some splattering. And I knew exactly what had happened. Damn disposable diapers!!! The dogs wanted to investigate it (and I don't even want to know what else) so they were put outside immediately. Then off to the bathtub we went. Kyler was splashing the heck out of me and tried to pee on me. What in the world did I do to deserve this, child? After I got him dressed, I sent Brett the following text:

"There is currently what I can only describe as a puddle of baby poop on our kitchen floor... so ridiculous I even photographed it."

Picture #1: "Uh, mama, something yucky is on me."

What kind of sick freak are you, looking at a picture like this? Didn't I warn you? Are you obsessed with poo? What does the fact that I'm the one who took the picture and blogged about it have to do with anything? Let's just forget all about this and never speak of it again (at least until Kyler is old enough to know what "pay back is hell" means).

Picture #2: This is pretty gross, but this is the edited version. The drippy, sticky part I cut off from the top was too x-rated for the blog.

First Football Game

Saturday was Kyler's very first ever football game. The first of many I should add. His dad and mama are football fanatics so he will surely be toted around many football stadiums. We have season tickets to K-State games with a group of our friends so he will see at least a few more this season. The game we went to was K-State vs. UCLA. It was a packed house and it was also Harley day so there was a lot of noise. Kyler wasn't too thrilled with that.

Happy baby tailgating!

The day started for Kyler when we had to wake him up around 9:00 to get ready to go. He loves to sleep in! We got him changed and fed and buckled him in the car to head to Manhattan. He slept pretty much the entire two hours we were on the road. So by the time we got to the tailgate he was in a really good mood. Plus he loves being outside and it was a pretty nice day, although a little hotter than expected. After lunch and tailgating for a couple of hours it was time to head into the game. As we strolled to the stadium, Kyler fell asleep. It was a little noisy waiting to get into the stadium (we were right next to the line-up of Harleys) so Kyler was back up just in time for the game.

At the game.

We got to our seats right as the crowd was getting pumped up and loud. Some of our friends that don't get to see Kyler very often were saying hello. It was pretty hot with the sun beating right on us. Kyler was tired since his afternoon nap was only 15 minutes rather than an hour or two. The Harleys started around the stadium. Oh, and he was probably getting a little hungry by this time. Needless to say, he was not happy! He screamed for a while but eventually we got him to calm down. We took him out to feed him and that seemed to help quite a bit. Brett and I just had to help him realize that all the screaming fans were fun and excited, not scary. So he did well for maybe half of the game and then got really tired toward the end.

End of the game.

So we learned a couple of lessons. (1) Do better nap planning (i.e. have an hour or more nap right before the game). (2) Bring earplugs (we didn't think it was that loud but I guess we just never paid attention, becuase it was that loud!). We are planning on trying again this next game. The team we're playing isn't as exciting and there won't be Harleys so it shouldn't be quite as loud. And it is at night so it won't be as hot and we will have more time tailgating so hopefully Kyler will be able to nap for a while. If it is unsuccessful, we will be taking you all up on those babysitting offers we've been getting for the past year... beware!