New Routine

After two tough weeks and some new discoveries Tyler has hammered out a new routine for himself. After we returned home from Florida Tyler started waking up from his naps very upset after only 45 minutes. I could tell he was still tired because he was VERY crabby and still rubbing his eyes; however I couldn't get him back to sleep. I tried letting him cry it out, rocking him, holding him and nothing seemed to work. Jim and I would watch him from the door and he would just squirm around in his crib. He also started waking up at all hours of the night in every different position imaginable. Needless to say, it was a rough time here for a few weeks. I just felt so bad that he was not getting the restful sleep he needed and in turn was not having good awake time.

I knew that soon he should start to transition to 2 long naps a day instead of 4 shorter naps but he seemed unable to sleep for longer than 45 minutes during the day and I couldn't figure out how to help make his naps longer. Then two things happened that helped us solve this problem. First, Jim and I tried putting Tyler to bed earlier at night, based on a book I had read on solving sleep problems. This worked great! Now, he was rarely fussy in the evenings (turns out he was just tired!) and he still slept through the night.

The second thing was all Tyler's doing. One night, after being asleep for the night for several hours, he started to cry. After 5 minutes he stopped and when Jim and I peeked in on him he was on his tummy! Apparently, this is the position he was trying to achieve during all those naps. Now, he naps on his side or his tummy and will sleep anywhere from one and a half to two and a half hours!! Occasionally, he'll roll over onto his back and wake himself up but if I turn him back over and pat his butt for a few minutes he's out again. Now he's back to his happy self during awake times and he's totally mastered the back to stomach roll. Yay!!

So now here's how his day (usually!) looks...

7am: wake up and eat

8:30 or 9:00: morning nap

between 10:00-11:00: wake up and eat

12:30 or 1:00: afternoon nap

between 2:00-3:00: wake up and eat

5:30ish: rice cereal and bath

6:00ish: milk and bed

Shhh...

Tyler's sleeping!! Look at all the ways Tyler sleeps...

BBQ

Last Saturday our friends Steve and Christa hosted a BBQ at their house for all our friends and all our kids. It was so much fun! There were 9 kids there ranging from five months to four and a half years. There were two kiddie pools set up outside plus a ton of other toys and activities for the wee ones. I think the best entertainment for the adults (besides the sangria) was watching all the kids interact. At one point, we decided to try and get all 9 kids on the couch for a group picture. Talk about chaos! Some were laughing, others were crying, some sat there oblivious to what was going on and one even decided to strip!
It's so amazing to watch all your friends becoming parents and it's great that we're all going through it together. Jim and I are lucky to have such wonderful and supportive friends. We're really looking forward to watching all our kids grow up together!

Rice Cereal

This week we started feeding Tyler some rice cereal with his bedtime meal. The first time he tried eating the cereal got more on his bib and outfit than actually in his mouth. The following times were much more successful. He's getting really good at swallowing and not pushing it out with his tongue. We still have some practicing to do but at least he's having fun!

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Summer Fun

Today our friends Christa and Anna came over for a visit. The four of us met our neighbor Meg and her two boys William and Vincent at the neighborhood park. It was a lot of fun but ultimately too hot for the babies so we came back home to cool off. Playing outside really took it out of everyone because all 4 kids took really long afternoon naps! We had fun catching up with everyone and hope we can do it again soon!

Little Anna always plays with her hair when she gets her bottle and it's so cute I just had to get a picture. She's such a doll!!

I Love Lucy

This Saturday the Kranz family (Jim's mom's family) had the first annual I Love Lucy golf tournament in honor of Jim's grandmother Lucille Kranz. The whole clan met for an afternoon of friendly competition on the golf course, then back to Jim's uncle's house for a BBQ. Tyler got to meet his great grandmother Lucy for the first time plus all his great aunts, uncles, and second cousins. Everyone commented on what a cute baby he was and how very large he is!

Since the day was so nice and hot we all jumped in the pool, including Tyler! The evening ended with the awards ceremony at which the Buffo family took 2nd place in the golf tournament. Tyler also came away with a sleeve of golf balls so he could start working on his game for future tournaments. All in all it was a very fun day and we were glad Tyler finally got to meet his Hastings, MN relatives.

Happy Father's Day!

On Sunday we celebrated Jim's first Father's Day by having his family over for a cookout. We could hardly believe that this time last year we shared with everyone that we were expecting little Tyler. What a difference a year makes! It has been the most amazing thing to watch Jim become a father. Every morning Tyler has the biggest smile when he sees Jim and has so much fun playing with his daddy. Tyler and I are both very blessed to have him in our lives. We love you Jim!!