Sick Days and Santa Claus

Tyler sure has had a rough couple of weeks. He had just gotten over strep throat and was off antibiotics for only two days when last week Friday (December 18th) he developed a nasty cough and fever. Saturday evening we decided to take him to our hospital's Prompt Care because we noticed his chest was heaving when he was breathing. We found out at that time he had another ear infection in his left, which was causing the high fever (it got to 105 degrees at one point). They also did an influenza test and chest x-rays. The influenza test was negative but the Prompt Care doctor said it looked like he pneumonia. That doctor wanted to admit him to the hospital at that point however Tyler's pedetrician was on-call and decided it was not needed since he was getting enough oxygen on room air. So Tyler got sent home on antibiotics and breathing treatments. We took him back to his doctor on Monday and the doctor said he doubted he had pneumonia but something more like a viral respiratory infection. His left ear was starting to look better so we kept up with the antibiotics and breathing treatments. He was still playful and had a good appetite so he didn't seem too sick at that point. However, over the next two days, we noticed Tyler was becoming more lethargic and less playful. Wednesday afternoon, he woke up from a nap with a coughing fit that lasted over 10 minutes. He was having trouble catching his breath so we rushed him to the doctor's office. They found at that point that he was low on oxygen (about 85%) so he was directly admitted to the hospital. Right away they put him on oxygen then re-tested for influenza, RSV, took more chest x-rays and blood work. All the tests came back negative but his white blood cell count indicated he had a nasty viral infection. Also, the ear infection he had in his left ear cleared up but he now has an ear infection in his right ear. So he was placed on some different antibiotics and steriods to help open up his lungs. We spent the two nights there trying to wean Tyler off of oxygen. He needed it overnight both nights but the doctor today said all he needed to be able to do to go home is take a 30-minute nap without oxygen. He was able to do that so he came home tonight, on Christmas--the best gift we could have asked for! Santa luckily heard that Tyler was away from home and was able to find him at the hospital. Here are some pictures from the day....
Tyler and Mommy on Christmas morning

Opening his first present

A cool spinner that lights up--one of the first smiles we had seen all day

We had been reporting to Santa the week before Christmas that Tyler wasn't feeling well so Santa promised to work extra hard in his workshop to make him another special gift for Christmas. It was this phone so that Tyler could call Santa anytime throughout the year.

"Hello Santa."

Opening another gift--a xylophone

Once we got home, Tyler had one more present under the tree from Mommy and Daddy. We could tell he was feeling a little better because he was much more smiley and having fun ripping the paper.

Turns out the box was more fun to climb on than what was in the box (a Little People race car set).

First Haircut!

We realized after seeing some of the pictures we took of Tyler's crazy hair it might be the time for his first haircut. So we took him to Cookie Cutters not really sure how he would handle it. He was all smiles the whole time. He got to sit in this car with a steering wheel and horn and he got to watch Thomas & Friends. He let the girl wet his hair and didn't really cry at all. Towards the end he was definitely done with just sitting still but overall, it was a HUGE success. And I love his big boy hair!

Watching Thomas & Friends, all ready to go

"It's just like bath time!"

Starting to wiggle

All finished

When we got home I tried to style it a little. Then I had to take every picture of every angle.

From the top

From the side

From the front

This has been Tyler's new thing lately--he'll be busy playing and then he'll just decide he's tired and fall asleep right there on the floor! (Check it out--Tyler just got a new pair of shoes yesterday!)

Lettin' Loose

We had a pretty rough November and early December starting with Tyler getting an ear infection on November 17th (his 13-month birthday). I then got strep throat on November 20th with Tyler following suit on December 4th. Now that we are all feeling better (for the most part), we decided to let loose and let Tyler's hair curl wherever it wanted. Here are a couple of pics....
(The pictures on the blog are smaller so it hard to see. I think you can click on the pictures for a full-size version--and a better view of his wild 'do).

Showing off the curl on top

Showing off the curl on the sides

About ready for bedtime

We have really struggled with all of Tyler's illnesses so we decided that as of January 4th, he will no longer be in a day care facility. Our babysitter Trina provides child care in her home and we're sending Tyler there. We are pretty excited about some of the changes. The difference in price is obviously a plus but it will be so much better as far as his health is concerned. We really like that her daily routine matches what Tyler is used to. He'll be around 3 kids older than him, two of them are about 2 years old and the other one is a couple months older than Tyler. I am sure they will be good models (and give him a couple bad habits too). He has only been in the Infant Room at day care so we think this will help him develop a little bit more. We can't wait to get him started there!

Happy Thanksgiving 2009

We took our traditional trip to Great Grandma Burnett's in Joliet for Thanksgiving on Thursday. It was a little quieter this year since Uncle Terry and Aunt Michelle weren't there (they went to Las Vegas for the holiday) but we still enjoyed good company and of course good food. Tyler really enjoyed his first Thanksgiving feast--turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, broccoli rice casserole and pumpkin pie for dessert. Thanks to Great Grandma Burnett for hosting such a nice meal!

Tyler and his Great Grandma

Lounging with his Daddy

Showing off this cool Thanksgiving turkey (hand print) artwork he made

We kept the tradition going this year by writing what Tyler is thankful for in his "Thanks for Thanksgiving" book. This year, Tyler is thankful for his family and his happiness.


When the party was over, Tyler headed home with Grandma and Grandpa Ellsworth for a few days. This gave us a chance to put up the Christmas tree and all the decorations (okay when I say us I mean Mike). We also wanted to do a little Black Friday shopping. The main thing we wanted to get was a hexagon play yard that Toys R Us had on sale at midnight. So around 11:15, Mike and I headed over to join the crowd and got what we needed.

Here's a picture of our tree this year. The play yard is quite cumbersome and takes up a good part of the living room but at least it will help keep curious hands away!

On Saturday, we picked Tyler up from his Grandma and Grandpa Ellsworth's and then headed to his Grandma and Grandpa Breclaw's for a visit. Here are some cute pictures from my Dad's 65th birthday celebration!

Tyler with his Grandma and Grandpa (and Boyd)

Tyler and Grandpa


When we got home, we wanted to get pictures of Tyler's first reaction to the Christmas tree. He looked kind of puzzled when he first saw it but then he thought it was pretty cool. And just as we expected, he wanted to explore all the new stuff in his play area!

It didn't take long for him to get his hands on this snow globe!

Happy Halloween!

I kind of consider this to be Tyler’s first Halloween since he was just getting home from the Children’s Hospital last year at this time. So we wanted this year to be special. The fun started yesterday with a parade and party at Tyler’s day care. This was the debut for Tyler’s costume—he was a pirate! ARR!

We carved our pumpkin this afternoon. I chose a design that had very few cuts so we could try to maintain Tyler’s attention throughout the process but he was done by the time we gutted the thing. So I basically carved the pumpkin by myself. It was still very fun though! Then we put Tyler’s Pirate Pumpkin Head together.

We headed out for trick-or-treating while it was still light (and somewhat warm) out. I don’t know if it was because people were out with their own kids or they just didn’t have candy but we weren’t very lucky. We stopped at about 10 houses and only 3 answered. Tyler still had fun showing off his costume and towards the end he was babbling something like “Trick or Treat”!

And know what every one's been waiting for.....
The 2 buccaneers posing for the camera

Tyler saying "AARRR"

Tyler and Mommy getting ready to go Trick-or-Treating

Loaded up in his wagon, ready to go

Examining his "loot"

Eating one of his chocolate bars--YUM!

An Autumn Day at the Park

We headed over to Miller Park today to enjoy this beautiful fall weather. We really enjoyed the vibrant autumn colors and the crisp breeze while we walked around. It was a perfect photo opp. Check these out….
From green to yellow to orange to red all in one tree--so pretty

Enjoying the breeze in his wagon

Exploring a pile of leaves

Standing tall on a hill (what good balance!)

Happy One-Year Birthday Tyler!

Happy one-year birthday to you

Happy one-year birthday to you

Happy one-year birthday dear Tyler

Happy one-year birthday to you!

Many more birthdays to you

Many more birthdays to you

Many more birthdays dear Tyler

Many more birthdays to you!

Tyler turned ONE on October 17th! Yay! We took Tyler to the doctor today for his one-year checkup and was amazed to find out he is such a big boy!! He now weighs 24 pounds, placing him in the 70th percentile and is 31 1/2 inches long for the 90th percentile. Quite the change from the 10th percentile where he was on the day of his birth. The doctor said he is looking healthy and developmentally right on track. Updates for this month: Tyler took his first steps and is starting to walk around a little. He has taken about 10 steps at a time at the most. He has 3 (almost 4) teeth now, his two bottom middle teeth and almost both canines on top. Makes for kind of goofy pictures! He is now saying "mo mo" for more and "uu" for up. However John and Sue insist that he said "banana" while he stayed with them! He's pretty much been completely done with puree foods this whole month and now is starting to drink whole milk in place of formula. No more bottles and no more formula! There really isn't much that makes him feel like a baby anymore....he's a big boy now!

Our good friends Jason and Shannon got married on Tyler's birthday (those pictures to follow) so we celebrated on October 18th. John and Sue were nice enough to host his party since he was staying with him for the weekend. Tyler has a bit of a cold right now so he wasn't all smiles all day but he was pretty happy overall. Here is a plethora of pictures from the day.......

Tyler with his Daddy

Hearing us sing "Happy Birthday"

Digging into the Bears cake Grandma Ellsworth made

His chocolate goatee

After the damage

Ripping through wrapping paper

And bows!

His big gift from Mommy and Daddy....

....it's a wagon!!

Chillin' in his new ride!

Tired after a long day of partying (probably how he'll look after celebrating his birthday 20 years from now)!

And Tyler's favorite present--a 30 year-old tugboat that toots....it was his daddy's!