the hicks family: 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!