Healthy Boy

I took Tyler to the pediatrician Monday for a well child check-up (for a change!). Here are his numbers--he weighs 26 pounds, 13 ounces (80th percentile) and is 32 inches tall (75th percentile). I was getting worried about him getting recurrent ear infections since he was on antibiotics for something like 31 out of 40 days. So the pediatrician agreed that Tyler should go see an ear nose and throat specialist . I waited to schedule that appointment until after his check-up to see if his ears were looking good. The pediatrician said his ears looked healthy but recommended we keep the ENT appointment just because he could run tests that the pediatrician couldn't do. So Tyler went to the ENT on Tuesday. That doctor agreed that Tyler's ears looked healthy and his adenoids were of normal size. Just to be sure, he wanted to run a test called a tympanogram to measure the degree of fluid within the middle ear. That test came back normal. So Tyler got a clean bill of health at both appointments! We are on our third consecutive healthy weekend for family fun time. That's almost a record--the longest he's ever gone without getting sick was 4 weeks and that was back in June. We are hoping he can keep this trend going.



I had ordered Tyler custom wall letters to go with his bedding way back in November. They FINALLY came Wednesday and we are very happy with how they look. Remember this is what his "Sports Fan" bedding looks like.


The wall letters match pretty well.

His wall with pictures of him and his Daddy in their football and baseball outfits on each side of the wall letters.

Happy 15-Month Birthday Tyler!

Happy 15-month birthday to you
Happy 15-month birthday to you
Happy 15-month birthday dear Tyler
Happy 15-month birthday to you!

Many more birthdays to you
Many more birthdays to you
Many more birthdays dear Tyler
Many more birthdays to you!

I haven't done a monthly update since Tyler's 1st birthday and SOO much has changed since then. I figured since he'll be going for his 15-month well-child checkup tomorrow, it would be an appropriate time for an update.

Last time I updated, Tyler was just starting to walk on his own. Now the kid is practically running! It's amazing how much his motor skills have come along these last couple months. He can now stack blocks and rings, nest cups, put big legos together and occasionally (maybe accidently) put the right pieces in a peg puzzle. His language skills have come a long way too. It's amazing how much he understands. He is following basic commands such as go get your shoes out of the closet. This is really nice because we can tell him to pick things up or put things away and he can actually do it! He is starting to use more words now--we have really seen a big improvement in his language skills since he's been going to the babysitters. He probably has about 10 words or so that he uses consistently and we know what he is saying.

For his birthday we decided to take Tyler to the Children's Discovery Museum in Normal. It's close to home and kids under 2 get in free so we couldn't beat the price. Tyler had so much fun playing and learning which was of course priceless!
Tyler and Mommy getting ready to head out

First stop--the water table!!

Tyler had fun getting his hands wet but he mostly just watched the big kids play.

Next stop--the Toddlers jungle gym. This was the first time Tyler really climbed steps and he handled it like a pro!

Crossing the bridge and taking a moment to soak it all in

Tyler got kind of stuck in this foam tire but he thought it was hilarious

My absolute favorite picture from the journey....Tyler climbing through a tunnel of mirrors while Daddy looks on

Tyler climbing up a wall. The kid REALLY likes to climb!

There was this cool grocery store set-up with lots of produce to promote a healthy lifestyle. Tyler went straight for the bananas--no surprise there!!

Once we got up to the 3rd floor, we kind of stopped taking pictures but this was the last thing Tyler did before heading home....playing with these cool magnetic blocks.

A Late Christmas

Our traditional Christmas celebration wasn't so this year due to Tyler's illness and Christmas hospitalization. So the celebrating spanned over the week following Christmas. We received Great Grandma and Grandpa Ellsworth's gifts in the mail on December 29th. They planned on driving east from Wyoming for the holiday but with all the illnesses (Great Grandpa was also feeling under the weather ) and with the inclement weather, they decided not to make the trip. We didn't have to wait to open their presents so here a picture of Tyler tearing in.

He got really good at this

He got a super warm Columbia fleece zipper up hoodie and he loved it! (Could really tell he was feeling better by this point).

Grandma Breclaw stayed with Tyler all that week so we could keep him out of day care and get him back to 100% healthy. She did a great job taking care of him and I think he really enjoyed getting to know his Grandma that week. I know she was pretty tired and ready to be home so we drove to Manteno on New Years Day and celebrated our Christmas with the Breclaws.

Tyler and his Daddy getting ready to open presents

Again, he got pretty good at doing this all on his own

Holding on tight to his Thomas the Tank Engine while watching the others' open their gifts

The celebration went on to Saturday, January 2 when we drove from Manteno to Morris for the Ellsworth Christmas celebration. Great Grandma Burnett joined Grandma and Grandpa Ellsworth for lunch. She bought Tyler this cool riding horse because she said his Great Uncle Terry really loved his when he was a kid. As you can see, Tyler really liked it too!

I'm so happy to say that Tyler has remained healthy (and back to happy) so far in 2010. I know it's only been a week but we are very optimistic that this will last now that Tyler is going to an in-home child care.