Overall update

Tyler turned 7 months on Dec. 7. He is very active and constantly on the move. He's discovered his daddy's electronics and speakers in the living room and is determined to try to taste them. For now, we've baby proofed them and just tell him no when he's around there. At this point, Tyler has no idea what 'no' means, but I imagine he'll figure it out soon enough... He doesn't technically "crawl", but can get where he wants to go. It's so fun to watch - he sees something, wants it, and then scoots or rolls to get to it. Some people call it crawling, but I don't know. He does get up on all fours and rocks a little, so I imagine it won't be long and he'll be off!

He now eats two meals a day - lunch & dinner. He's still eating baby food and is loving it. There has only been one food that he didn't like - carrots! But we tried them a week later and now he enjoys them. He's also a thumbsucker, and likes to enjoy his thumb in between bites. It can test your patience sometimes, but oh well.

He still does not have a set schedule but we're working on that. I would say he has a routine - everything just doesn't happen at the same time each day. He's a very laid back baby though, so it works out okay.

No teeth yet either. Rodney and I both got our first tooth around 5 months, so we thought maybe he would do the same. But here we are at 7 1/2 months and nothing yet. I don't mind though... He does seem to be getting close - there have been a few times when he's cried that it appeared to be out of pain in his gums. I put a little orajel on his gums and he calmed down, so either that's what it was or he just liked the taste.

I haven't weighed him in a while, so I'll have to post that later (he's napping now). He's still going to daycare 3 days a week and it's working out well. I treasure my two days home with him, but am happy to be back working and around adults...

He's truly a happy and sweet sweet baby (I'm not biased at all, am I?)! Rodney and I are very blessed to have Tyler in our lives. Both of our families have been extremely supportive and helpful. Rodney and I cannot thank all of you enough for all that you have done for us. We are very lucky to have such wonderful families!

Hlavinka Christmas

Every year we celebrate Christmas with my mom's side of the family the first Saturday in December. This year, we celebrated in Huntsville. Tyler did wonderful in the car both ways - it worked out well that those were his two naps for the day... Rodney & I enjoyed introducing him to members of the family that he hadn't yet met. We had a good time playing the White Elephant game as always.

The next day, I took off to Scottsdale, Arizona for 3 nights. It was my first time being away from Tyler for longer than 1 night. Rodney did a wonderful job playing 'Mr. Mom'. Tyler did great too - I would call and Rodney would put me on speaker phone and Rodney could tell Tyler was excited to hear my voice. We had training until around 6 each day and then things to do at night so it went surprisingly well for me too! I missed him tremondously but it was a nice break to go to sleep knowing I would be able to sleep the entire night through. Plus, it was fun hanging out with my co-workers.

My flight was due around 6:00 pm that Wednesday, but we were delayed around 2 hours. When I finally arrived in Houston around 8:00, I had to drive home IN THE SNOW! Who would've thought it would snow in Houston at the beginning of December. I passed some cars with a couple of inches of snow on them and noticed the grass around the airport wasn't green, it was white!! Anyway, Tyler was sleeping so I had to wait until the next morning to hold him. Boy, I've never seen him wake up that fast! Usually he peeks his eyes open and then closes them, rolls around, sucks his thumb, peeks out again and stretches for a little bit before he's actually 'awake'. But not this time - he saw me and was wide awake! It was so sweet!! It was great to be back home with my two boys!

Family picture

Tyler, Grandma, & Great Aunt Izzy

Trying to touch the tree...

Thanksgiving

We celebrated Thanksgiving with Rodney's side of the family this year. We headed down to Uncle Ralph & Aunt Vickie's bayhouse for some good ol' food and fun. Tyler had fun playing with and seeing his relatives. He discovered the newspaper, which he was thoroughly intrigued by. He wanted to grab it and put it into his mouth (as he does with everything these days...) He is also very interested in shiny cans and bottles, especially if they're cold. He likes to touch them and try to put them up to his mouth. That evening we headed to Van Vleck to stay with Granny & Papaw for a couple of nights. Bret & Michelle came over Friday night and we all put the Christmas tree up. It was lots of fun to hear stories about where their ornaments came from (various trips, etc).

Trying desperately to reach that diet coke

Little Indian

Tyler made us a Thanksgiving card at daycare - he is so thoughtful! He also brought a little Indian hat home with him. What fun times!

How priceless is this?!

Our little Indian

Weekend wrap-up

Tyler is quickly becoming more and more mobile. He isn't 'crawling' yet, but he can get where he wants to go by rolling and scooting around. He has gone straight for Daddy's electronics in the TV stand multiple times! The one thing that Daddy doesn't want Tyler to mess with is the most appealing to Tyler. We will soon have to do some serious baby-proofing. He is also able to sit up on his own for a little while, though is still working on his balance.

As for food, he's been eating only oatmeal for the last week or so. Today we tried carrots. Man, Tyler did NOT like that! The minute they touched his lips, he made a bad face and started crying!! Rodney had to actually take him out of the high chair to get him to calm down. After he settled down, we put him back in and gave him some oatmeal. We'll try again tomorrow, but if he's anything like his Daddy, he probably won't like them.

Yesterday was a very busy day. We met up and went to lunch with Granny & Papaw Hicks and Uncle Bret & Aunt Michelle. Then, the girls went to see A Christmas Carol while the guys took care of Tyler and watched football. The play was wonderful and we had a great time. The guys did great with Tyler - Rodney even fed him oatmeal while we were gone. Shortly after we got back home, we had to pack back up and head to Uncle Jake & Aunt Sara's house for dinner. Grandma & Pepaw Jochec were there and Tyler had yet another chance to check out the dogs. He is so intrigued by them.

Today we put our Christmas tree up. I know - it's not even Thanksgiving, but what's another week?! Tyler looked at it wide-eyed and wondered what the heck it was! It was so much fun - it's going to be a special Christmas this year with the little man.

Playing in his bed

Papaw & Granny Hicks

Aunt Michelle & Granny Hicks

Pepaw & Grandma Jochec

Wearing the santa hat from Granny & Papaw. Daddy

is holding the 'Tyler's 1st Christmas' ornament.

Practicing sitting up

Tyler's baby food experience

Tyler is doing really well with solids. He had oatmeal cereal the first three days and today we moved on to sweet potatoes! Those were a bit more messy, but Tyler ate the majority of a 2 1/2 oz jar. He would've probably eaten the whole thing, but I didn't want him to eat too much and then spit it all back later so we didn't quite finish the jar. I can only imagine how many burp cloths we will go thru now with solids - his spitting up will be much messier...

He had his 6 month appointment today. My mom came up last night to stay the night and go with us to the appointment today. After our ER experience a few weeks ago, I was more anxious about this appointment than usual. But Tyler did wonderful. He (naturally) cried during the shots, but as soon as I was able to pick him up, he calmed down. He weighed 17 lbs 12 oz (50%) and is 26 inches long (50%). Mom stayed for the afternoon and played with Tyler and hung out with us and then headed back home. Tyler hasn't run any fever yet, and I'm hoping he'll make it thru the night fever-free as well.

We took a couple of videos of the second solid food experience but unfortunatly they are also too large to post. So, we'll have to take a shorter clip to post for anyone that's interested... I need to find out if there's a way to somehow compress the files down to a smaller size so that I can post - I've got a really good one of him playing in his bed.

Mmmm

Trying to get everything off the spoon before

Daddy takes it out of Tyler's mouth.

Reaching for the spoon - I guess Daddy wasn't

feeding him fast enough...

Tyler's first meal

Tyler turned 6 months on Friday. Time has flown by so fast!! Yesterday morning, he had his first experience with 'solid' food. We gave him some baby oatmeal cereal. He did really good and was DEFINITELY ready for it. It was a little messy, but not too bad. I think next time Mommy and Daddy will have to give him a little more than today. But, they say in the beginning it's more about learning to eat rather than eating purely for nourishment. Here are some pictures we took before and after. We also videoed it but the file size was too large to upload. We will do a short video today so that we can post tonight or tomorrow. He was very interested in the food and tried to grab the spoon from me many times.

Trying out the highchair prior to eating

All done!

First time to meet Santa Claus

There was a Christmas Market at Second Baptist in Katy on Saturday. Granny & Papaw Hicks came to the house and Papaw went to look at backhoes and other equipment while Granny, Tyler, and I did some shopping. We went to the Christmas Market and checked out all of the crafts there. They had some really neat stuff! We got a few ornaments personalized for Tyler's first Christmas. Then, we met Santa! Tyler wasn't scared at all - he was mostly interested in pulling on Santa's beard! Here are a few pictures from our day.

Tyler and I at the craft show

Granny Hicks and Tyler in from the the gingerbread
house at the craft show

Yanking on to Santa's beard

First time to meet Santa Claus!

Playing with Granny and Papaw Hicks

In the process of rolling over (still LOVES sticking
out his tongue)

Trip to East Bernard

I headed to East Bernard mid-morning on Sunday with Tyler. We had lunch at Grandma and Pepaw's house and Tyler got to check out his new toy. It's a walker, but Tyler's not yet tall enough, so we just put a pillow under his feet so he could touch something. He had a good time checking it out. He also got a little closer to the cats than usual. We held him and watched the cats closely as we let him touch them. He was touching Purdy and decided to yank out a handful of hair. Purdy ran away and we had to take Tyler to the bathroom to wash his hand so that he didn't end up eating anything. Nowadays EVERYTHING goes into his mouth! We've even seen him a few time sucking on his big toe. Yes, he not only sucks his thumb, but has also found his big toe. Hopefully he'll break that habit soon! ;)

After his afternoon nap, we went over to Great Grandma & Popo Jochec's house. Tyler got to sit on a tractor with Popo and check out some moo cows. The minute he got on the tractor, he had both hands on the steering wheel, ready to drive!

Playing with his new toy

First time on a tractor (Pepaw Jochec & Great Popo Jochec)

Checking out the moo cows!

Grandma Jochec, Great Grandma Jochec, Great

Aunt Veronica, and Great Aunt Nancy with Tyler

Our little pumpkin

Tyler was a pumpkin for Halloween. We dressed him up for daycare in his little Halloween onesy, socks, bib, and hat. Friday evening we stayed at the house until about 7:15 and had a few trick or treaters. Apparently they come later than I thought - we saw more down the street as we were leaving to Jake & Sara's.

Tyler had taken a little catnap around 6:15, so he was able to stay up a little later than usual. We hung out at Jake & Sara's house for a couple of hours and then called it a night. Tyler was so interested in Dusty & Dixie. I got a shot (attached below) showing their curiosity about each other! We let them smell him, but tried to keep them from licking him. It's so hard to believe he will be 6 months old in a week... Where has the time gone?!

Ready to go to daycare

The most precious pumpkin I've ever seen

He loves sticking his tongue out

"What are those things?"

Rodney's 31st Birthday!

Sunday was Rodney's birthday. Tyler and I decided to take him to the fish store and get some new fish for the saltwater aquarium. We found three new ones and a new piece of coral. I've attached a couple of pictures from the day. After we got home, Tyler took a nap while Rodney put the fish in the aquarium and I straightened up the house. Grandma & Pepaw Jochec & Uncle Jake & Aunt Sara picked up lunch at Willie's Icehouse and brought it over to celebrate Rodney's birthday. We visited for a little bit and Tyler played with them and then we had a relaxing evening.

Reading the birthday card from Tyler

Tyler and Rodney at the fish store

First trip to College Station

We had a busy (but fun) weekend last weekend. We went to Jake & Sara's Friday night for some good ol' beef fajitas. Tyler enjoyed watching Dixie & Dusty (their lab & rat terrier), but the dogs really didn't know what to think. They wanted to play with him, but will have to wait until he gets big enough to play (and I'm sure at that point, they'll be running and hiding from him)!

Saturday morning we got up and packed up the car for Tyler's first trip to College Station. We arrived in CS a little after the game had started (can't seem to get anywhere on time these days) so we had to park at the very top of the parking garage. I'm sure we looked VERY out of place walking from the garage to the tailgate spot as I was pushing Tyler in the stroller and carrying 2 bags while Rodney had two chairs, Tyler's play pad, and his bouncer! We had Tyler all decked out in Aggie clothes, though! He was such a good boy out there, playing with everyone and not being bothered by noise and other kids playing around him. He did get a little fussy because he was sleepy, but I just put him in his stroller and pushed him around the parking lot for a little bit. He fell asleep and took a little catnap. After the game, we hung out for a little while and then headed back to Katy. As soon as we got home, we changed clothes and got back in the car to go to Jarrod's 30th birthday party! I got to see little Tessa - she's so tiny compared to our chunky monkey (granted Tessa is 3 months younger than Tyler). After about an hour, Tyler started getting sleepy so we called it a night and headed home.

What a weekend - we all slept like rocks Saturday night. By the way - Tyler has slept thru the night every night (except 2) for about the last 6 weeks. Watch, he'll be up all night tonight! ;) Grandma & Pepaw Jochec came over Sunday evening and watched Rodney carve his first pumpkin. It was a beautiful day so we all went outside and sat on a blanket. Tyler enjoyed it and felt the cool grass with his hands and feet for the first time. He didn't seem to be bothered by it but did have an unsure look on his face at first.

Katie was in town for a conference, so I headed to the Galleria with Tyler Monday afternoon. We shopped around until Katie's flight landed and she arrived at her hotel. I went and picked her up to have dinner at America's. The food was wonderful and it was great to see her and for Tyler to see her. After dinner, Tyler and I went back to her hotel to hang out a little longer. Despite it being close to Tyler's bedtime, he was in a good mood and smiled, laughed, and rolled over for his Aunt Katie.

Tyler has started reaching his arms out to go to another person. Rodney was holding him when I got home from work one day and he reached his little arms out like he wanted me to hold him. It was so sweet! He's still trying to learn to crawl and can scoot around a little. We also think he may be getting teeth sometime soon as he's starting to show some of the signs - time will tell! He's laughing more and more - not only when being tickled, but also when you make funny faces and sounds at him. He has brought so much joy into our lives!

He is going to be a pumpkin for Halloween! I can't wait to put his outfit on him - it's absolutely adorable.

Trying on his outfit for pictures

Photo in Aggieland

Hanging out with Daddy

Chillin' at the tailgate

Already popular with the ladies!

So tired from a busy day

Getting ready for Halloween

"What is that touching my toes?"

The Hicks family's first pumpkin

No, we didn't coordinate our clothes.

Hanging out with Aunt Katie

Five month birthday

This past month has been full of new and exciting moments. Tyler began laughing right around 4 months. We all had our first hurricane experience with Ike on September 13. Tyler did really well - I don't even know that he knew we had a hurricane. Aside from the fact that he slept in his pack and play in our bedroom, things weren't really too different for him. He definitely enjoyed the fact that Rodney got to stay home with him more since his office was closed for a few days.

Tyler surprised us the day after the hurricane when he rolled over from back to tummy for the first time! Rodney caught it out of the corner of his eye and sure enough he did it again (and again and again)!! Now it's hard to keep him on his back - he almost immediately rolls to his tummy. He's desperately trying to crawl, but is quickly frustrated by his own physical limitations. He can scoot a little and can rotate his body around to where he's facing a different direction than when we laid him down. He has learned how to pull his knees up under him, but does not yet have the strength to get that big belly up off the floor. Speaking of big belly, at his 4 month check up, he weighed 16 lbs 7 oz (90th percentile) and was 25 1/2 inches long (75th percentile). Depending on the brand, some 6-9 month outfits are a little snug!!

Tyler was baptized on September 21. He fussed a little at the beginning of the ceremony, but did okay for the majority of it. When Father Jack poured the water on his head, he wrinkled his eyebrows and had a look that said "What in the world is going on?". We enjoyed visiting with our families after the ceremony.

I went back to work on September 23 so Tyler had his first week at daycare. We had a little bit of a rough start (I guess as expected), but things seem to be getting better. The ladies call him "The Gerber Baby". He caught a cold that Thursday, so we've been fighting a stuffy nose and a cough for about 10 days. It seems to be on its way out though... Work for me has been good - though I miss him all day and wonder what he's doing, it's nice to have some time for myself and to interact with other adults.

Tyler found his feet about a week ago. He loves to grab them and try to pull them to his mouth. When he has socks on, he'll pull it off his foot and chew on his sock! He's still drooling tons, but no teeth have popped up.

His sleep schedule is wonderful! He generally goes to bed around 8:30 and will sleep until we wake him up (usually around 6:00 on days that I work).

We are so blessed to have such a wonderful & healthy baby!


The night that Ike rolled in

Fun times with Daddy after the hurricane

Enjoying the jumperoo - although he hasn't actually jumped yet

Tyler's baptism with Father Jack & Godparents Uncle Jake & Aunt Sara

Wearing his John Deere hat from 'Great' Aunt Susan

Tyler & Rodney downtown for the Race for the Cure

Playing with his feet

Rolling from back to tummy