Happy Thanksgiving!

It is very easy to think of reasons to be thankful this year! I have a wonderful husband, a beautiful and healthy baby boy, families that love us, and friends that are always there for us. And of course this year is even more special because it is Jake's first Thanksgiving. Typically, we have always spent Thanksgiving with my family in Mississippi. However, this year we started mentally thinking of all we would need to pack for Jake and ourselves and realized it just wasn't possible. I was still excited to spend the holiday here in Texas with Stephen's family...I am so blessed to have the most amazing in-laws, they have treated me like a member of their family from day one! We had a wonderful day; lots of food, family, and football...it can't get much better :-) Jake did SO good...he loves to be out and about, but he still won't nap or eat well away from home...so today I was anxious to see if would take a nap at Mimi's house, because if he didn't we might have to leave early. Well, I had nothing to be worried about, he went right to sleep in his pack-n-play in mimi's room. He only napped for 20 minutes, but it was enough to get him through the day. He took his bottle and ate his cereal like a pro...and would go to any family member that wanted to hold him. Just more signs that our little guy is getting so big!

Here are our pictures from the day:

He woke up in the best mood this morning! This beautiful face is the reason we are most thankful this year. We have been blessed with such a happy and healthy little boy.

Jake watching his first Macy's Thanksgiving Parade:

I think he liked it

Grandpa and Jake...he was checking out all the yummy food in the kitchen.

We told him he had to wait until next year for the good stuff!


Playing with Granna

Tummy time with Grandpa:

anybody see a family resemblance here? :-)

Mommy and Jakey

Daddy and Jakey, watching the Cowboys game:

Cowboys were winning, thus the big smiles from my boys!

Jake gets his thanksgiving dinner:

Just a bottle and cereal this year :-(

Happy boy after his nap!

Our family:

So then, just as you received Jesus Christ as Lord, continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

Colossians 2: 6-7

5 Months Old

Jake is 5 months old!! I know each month I say it, but I can't believe how fast time is flying by. Each month he changes more and more and learns more and more new things. One of the books I was reading says he should have doubled his birth weight by month 5, HA! let's try almost tripled with my big boy, but he has also grown over 7 inches since birth as well :-)

This month Jake has become a pro at rolling onto his tummy...he still has zero interest in then rolling back to his back :-) I really think it's not that he couldn't do it, he just loves being on his tummy and working on crawling that he could care less about rolling the other way. His legs are so strong, probably because he is in love with his jumparoo and spends so much time in it! He has really taken to solid foods, he loves his oatmeal and eats his cereal really well. His favorite thing now is to put his hands in his mouth while eating and try to help hold his spoon, it's really cute, but it makes such a mess! (Pictures of that coming soon) He loves to be on the go...daddy's games, the grocery store, walks, etc. He still doens't eat or nap well while we are out and about, but we are working on it. He nightime sleeping has gotten a lot better, he still wakes up for one feeding, usually around 3-4. However, he celebrated his 5 month birthday by sleeping through the night for the first time since he was 3 months old! I'm hoping we are close to going back to his normal sleeping through the night!!! He started sleeping through the night at 7 weeks, I never realized how lucky we were! His naps, however, are still super short :-( He takes 3 naps a day, each one about 45 minutes...sometimes only 30, but sometimes I get lucky and he sleeps for a whole hour! It definitely makes it harder for me to get a lot done during the day, but I'm adjusting. My favorite time of day with him is when he wakes up in the morning, and from each nap...the minute I stick my head over the side of the crib, his face lights up into a HUGE smile! When Jake smiles, those big blue eyes light up...you can tell his whole heart is smiling :-)

I have a new toy...I've seen several friends' blogs that have made video montage's so I decided to give it a try this month...I'm sure I will get better at it as we go, but here is my first attempt...looking back at the past month of Jake's life!

And here are pictures from this past week:

Jake says "I'm going to eat this duck for Thanksgiving dinner!"

cheesin'

love love love this face

okay, i finally got some good shots of "the bill cosby face"

He loves sucking in that bottem lip!

happy boy!

and here is yet another jumparoo video, sorry! he's just too darn cute when he gets going...in this one he is showing off his "mariah carey" impression, he screams when he gets excited and it is super high pitch!

We are very excited for month 6 and all the new things that are coming soon: Jake's first Christmas, learning to sit up, and learning to crawl!!!

Jumparoo King

Jake loves his jumparoo, it is by far his favorite toy! He goes and goes, sometimes for 45 minutes before he gets tired. His jumparoo allows him to turn in 360 degrees, and one night this week he spun himself to face the fireplace and jumped for 30 minutes while talking to the fireplace! I was laughing the whole time, he was having one serious conversation with that fireplace...maybe he was waiting for Santa! Over the past month he has really started paying more attention to the toys on the jumparoo and this week he discovered the spinning toys, especially the sun. (I'm posting video of that later.) His legs have also gotten very strong and more and more often he will "stand" in his jumparoo...he loves to do that and then pull his legs up and just hang there for a few seconds. It has been so fun watching him discover that his arms and legs are his and that he can move them to do all sorts of things. I feel like he does something new every day lately...he now rolls both ways from his back to tummy, but still has no interest in rolling from belly to back. He wants to crawl so badly, but still has no clue what he needs to do to make that happen. He rolls to his tummy and you can tell he knows there is more to do, but he gets frustrated because he can't figure it out. He has started pushing a little bit with his legs...but the past couple of nights he's actually been pushing himself backwards instead of forwards! I can just see it now...my baby will be the one to learn to crawl in reverse :-)

Here are some pictures from our playtime in the jumparoo today:

Big smiles!

almost got him sticking his tounge out

okay, this is his new face and it cracks us up! he makes it just before he smiles...we call it "the bill cosby face" because he purses his lips and shakes his head a little when he does it. i have been trying to get a picture for a while, but he does it at the most random times...this is the closest i've come...it's still not the face, full out. i have no idea where he learned it, but i love it!

here he is spinning his sun toy

and here you can see him showing off his jumping

this is another of his new favorite things, "beating up" daddy...you'll hear him laughing big time

Busy, Busy Week

Sorry that it's been so long since my last blog...it has been a long week in the Tyler house! Stephen had his last football games on Monday and Tuesday night, but then turned around and started basketball tryouts on Wednesday and Thursday, and as I type this he is at the Plano West playoff game...he's literally been home for only 2 hours that Jake has been awake this week! Needless to say I'm a pretty tired Mommy! I do LOVE being a coach's wife, but this year's football season was a definite adjustment since the addition of our little man! We had a few rough days, but we survived and I am so looking forward to next year's football season when I get to chase Jake all over the stadium during games :-)


Since I was a single mama most of this week, I didn't get to take as many pictures as normal. I'd planned on taking more, but Jake had a few fussy days this week on top of everything else! Here is what the Tyler's have been doing since our last blog: Stephen's team played in the city championship game on Tuesday night, after leading the entire game they fell behind in the last few minutes. It was a tough loss, but Jake and I were still very proud of Daddy! My plan was to get a family picture on the field since I don't have one of us at all from this football season, but we didn't get to.



On Wednesday, I finally got to take Jake back to Mesquite High School, where I'd worked the past 9 years. I had lots of fun showing him off to all the ladies in the offices and old co-workers. The main reason I went that day was because one of my former students was signing her commitment letter to play college softball. She asked me to come and I couldn't say no! As much as I love being a stay at home mom, my heart misses the impact I got to have on kids lives as a teacher. Here is a picture of Jake at his first 'signing day.'

Stephen during one of the few hours he was home this week...you can tell how excited Jake is to see his Daddy!

Jake has finally decided he likes his bumbo. He sits in it in the kitchen while I cook or make his bottles. A few days ago I decided to attach the tray that comes with it, that way I could put a toy on it for him to play with. Over the past few weeks, he has also developed a 'game' Stephen and I call "jake smash!" (like on the Incredible Hulk "hulk smash!") He waves both arms and up and down really fast and laughs. Well...on this morning I put the tray on the bumbo with a toy, went to the sink to put water in his bottle and heard a big crash....check out what Jake did!

what? you don't see a tray on the bumbo? that's because Jake decided it needed to be on the floor! Jake Smash!

...so I walked over and picked up the pieces and put the tray back on bumbo, put the toy back on it and once again started to make his bottle. When I walked over to Jake, this is what I saw...

...he knows he's busted, he knocked the tray off AGAIN!

He is awful proud of himself!

Jake is still doing really well eating his cereal. He now eats it every day and is up to about 2 tablespoons/feeding. He's getting better at using his tounge to swallow and can eat the cereal at more of a food consistency now, as opposed to liquid. He will hold his mouth open for the next bite, it's so cute! We will start oatmeal this weekend, can't wait to see how he likes it.

He knows he's about to get the good stuff!

that's some good stuff mommy! he will smile between bites a lot of the time, i love it!

And then last night, Stephen called me over to see this...yep, that's our little guy holding his own bottle!

Starting Cereal

On Sunday morning, our little man had a big milestone...his first "solid" food, rice cereal. We had been suspecting for a couple of weeks that Jake was ready for more than just formula. We both read up on starting solids and found key developmental milestones to look for: good head and neck control, ability to be a supported sitter, doubled birth weight, turns ahead away from bottle when full, "push out" reflex of tounge lessening, keen interest in what you are eating. Well, we could put a check next to each of those for Jake. His official 4 month doctor appointment was Monday, but I wanted Stephen to be able to share in this big moment so we decided to try just a little on Sunday morning. Jake didn't know quite what to make of it...he didn't react badly, but he wasn't gobbling up the cereal either. We had been getting him used to his high chair for about 2 weeks...I stole the idea from my friend Leanne...we started putting him in his chair at dinner time with us and he adapted really well. So, he was used to his chair, but the spoon was a whole new thing. He was pretty fascinated by it and kept wanting to hold it himself, I let him explore with it, but only without food on it. He "ate" maybe about a teaspoon altogether...I say "ate" because as you will see, I think more of it ended up on his face and bib, but he did swallow several bites of it.

At our 4 month checkup, our pediatrician confirmed that Jake was indeed ready for solids! She said with his size, his body is definitely ready for the next step both developmentally and for the increase in calories. She said we introduced the food very well and it sounded like Jake would have a great transition to solid foods. She wants us to stick to cereals and oatmeal this month, then introduce veggies in month 5 and fruits in month 6. I am so excited to see what Jake likes and dislikes...knowing him, I'm sure he will make his opinions known!!!


Here are pictures and video from Jake's first solid food feeding!

I gave him his first bite while Stephen took pictures

I love that his eyes are totally focused on the spoon...you can

tell he is thinking "what is that?"

not too sure about this mom!

"seriously, what is this?"

He wanted to help with his spoon

This stuff is pretty cool Mom

you can see it's starting to get all over his face

there's a good bite!

Stephen steps in to give a few bites

starting to get the hang of things

Now that's the sign of a good meal!

Here is the video!

Jake's First Halloween

We had a very ambitious day planned for Jake's first Halloween: pre-trick-or-treat party at our friends Chad and Heather's house, our niece's birthday party, a stop to trick or treat at the grandparents house, and then back home. Our day got off to a shaky start...Jake had a very restless night and after a night of very little sleep for me, he decided to start his day at 6:30 this morning! (an hour and a half earlier than usual) I knew our day depended on Jake sticking to his schedule and such an early start could make for a very crazy day! Thankfully, I got him back on track with his morning nap and we actually had an amazing day! Jake made it through all our activities like a trooper, and never fussed while posing for the many, many pictures of the day. We even were able to make an extra trick-or-treat stop on the way home. What made the day even more special, is that Stephen did not have to be up at the fieldhouse and we were able to make it a true family day for Jake's first Halloween, I was so happy!

Here is Jake, all ready for his first Halloween...what else could he be, but a football player!

Posing with the pumpkins...he wasn't too sure about them, but mommy insisted he take his picture with the pumpkins. :-)

Daddy and future linebacker

Our first stop of the day was a pre-trick-or-treat party at the McKinney famiy's house. They had a yummy spread of all sorts of fun Halloween themed food! It was so fun to get our boys all together for a group shot of them in their costumes...and it is always fun for their mommies and daddies to see each other too!

Me and Jake...I really thought he would hate his helmet, but he never minded it each time we put it on for pictures

The mommies and their boys!

Leanne and Carter, Heather and Tyler, Me and Jake

And then it was the daddies turn:

Jon and "monkey," Chad and "teddy bear," Stephen and "football player"

After some yummy hot dogs, chips and guac, cupcakes, cookies...and a diaper change, we headed off for our second stop of the day, our niece, Mia's 3rd birthday party. Thankfully, Jake took a quick nap as we drove. This was Jake's first birthday party! It was at a pre-school in Lucas and the theme was "a pony party."

Granna and Grandpa with Jake

(Stephen's Dad and Stepmom)

Granna took Jake for a "carriage" ride...he was more interested in looking at his shoes :-)

Family shot: again, he's more intersted in his shoes. Finally something he gets from his mommy!

Jake on his first pony ride...he wasn't too impressed. I think he thought it was just a big version of Daisy!

Then Daddy took Jake for a carriage ride...the little Shetland's name was "Giddyup" and she was dressed up as a pumpkin for Halloween, too cute!

Jake did really good at the party, we got to eat birthday cake and ice cream...he got to eat a bottle, so unfair for the poor guy! After leaving the party we wanted to stop by Stephen's mom's house so that Jake could see his other grandparents on Halloween.

Jake with Grandma and Grandpa

(Stephen's mom and stepdad)

We were getting close to bedtime, and Jake got a little fussy at Grandma and Grandpa's so we decided it was time to head home. He fell asleep almost as soon as we got in the car. I was really hoping we could stop by best friend's house on the way home. Auntie Seana and Uncle Jason live just 3 blocks over from us, so I kept my fingers crossed that he would wake up when we got closer to home, and he did! So we stopped by for Jake's first official "trick or treat!"

Here we are waiting for Auntie Seana to answer the door

Jake and Auntie Seana "trick or treat!"

and with Uncle Jason

Stephen decided he needed to try on Jake's helmet...oh my!

After trick-or-treating, we headed home and our little man passed out! I also wanted to post a few pictures from our trip to the Dallas Arboretum yesterday. My mommy group had been trying to get the arboretum all together, but the weather kept interupting our plans. Heather and I had a semi-spontaneous trip on Friday afternoon and had a fun time with our boys! Here are a few pictures.

me and my little man

Chillin' in the pumpkins

my first time carrying Jake in the baby bjorn

I got one great shot of Jake in his stroller, I love his "baby blues!"