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.

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!