Much Happier Boy

Well, we had to change Tyler's formula. His gas problem got to the point that he couldn't rest and was constantly screaming because his stomach hurt. He had always had a little problem, but it got much worse as his formula intake increased. He is now on a formula that has less lactose and partially broken down proteins. He wasn't having full blown allergic reactions, so we decided to go this route instead of putting him on a soy based or hypoallergenic formula. What I didn't expect is how quickly he would benefit him. Within 24 hours, he is a different baby. Before it got bad he was a happy baby, but this is even better. Because he is now not constantly battling pain, he is more alert when awake. He is now smiling more and just generally much more happy and fun to be around. Well, there is only so much fun you can have with a three week old, but it is definitely better than listening to him scream and know that he is in constant pain. He is lso taking in his surroundings more. It is nice to see him so happy again.

More Sledding Fun

We didn't realize how much use our hill would get when it comes to sledding. The twins brought their sleds with them today, and many runs down the hill were made. They not only got Ted going down them but they also Leo riding with them. Not that Leo needs much encouragement to sled down the hill. They were out for quite a while. It was a lot of fun watching them. I think the best part was listening to Bridget laugh as she was sledding. Everyone seemed to have a lot of fun. They also wore out their Uncle Leo as he is now sleeping on the couch. After the sledding fun was over, everyone came inside and played Wii including the kids who did a very good job boxing. It was a very good time.

Tyler and the Twins

Today, Tyler met Timmy and Bridget. Oh, and they brought their parents with them. As you can see in the pictures, they all got along real well. Timmy was especiall interested in his new cousin, Baby Tyler. He held him real well, and did a great job putting Tyler's pacifier in his mouth when it fell out. He also was constantly checking on the baby to make sure he was okay. It was the first thing he did when he came back in from sledding. It was really nice seeing them all together. It was a very fun day having them here.

Happy Boy

Ashlea got a picture of Tyler smiling. He is beginning to do this a lot. He has always done it in his sleep like this picture, but he is now doing it more when he looks at you. This is the only picture we have of him smiling at this point, but he does look cute when he does it. On another front, Leo came in second in his snowshoe race that he did today. He won a headlamp and a gift certificate. He also got a free lift ticket for the place the race was held, but didn't ski all that long due to it being crowded and there was a lot of ice on the slopes. The conditions were awful and since he didn't pay for it, he left early.

Apple/Tree

We didn't get real good pictures of Jason and Tyler. It has been widely suggested that Tyler strongly resmebles Jason. Leo first thought when he saw Tyler was that he was the spitting image of Jason. He does look quite a bit like Jason when Jason was the same age. Let's just hope that he doesn't end up looking like this when he gets older.

Tyler Meets Uncle Jason and Aunt Ashlea

My sister-in-law called yesterday to say that their church had flooded and wanted to know if they could come here to see Tyler. Of course, we told her that they could come here and see him. Tyler was awake for most of their visit, so that was nice. He didn't crash until early afternoon today. We had to explain to him that he wasn't to listen to anything the Uncle Jason tried to teach him. He was telling him that he needed to say to Nana "Woman get me some food." This is the type of thing my brother thinks is important to teach him. Jason also made a video in which he tells Tyler that women belong in the kitchen and they need to wait on their men. I will be sure to let him watch that many times. Overall, it was a nice visit. They also brought their dog Zoie. Wrangler enjoyed having her here to play. They ran around quite a bit. The cats, on the other hand were not very happy to have her here. They seemed very relieved to have Zoie go home.

More Pics of Tyler

Here are some pictures taken with the Nikon of Tyler. They are in backwards order on here going from the dates of 1/8/09 to 1/18/09. You can see some of the changes in him since he has been home. Leo is out snowshoeing somewhere right now. Ty is sleeping. He should be out for another two hours and then it will be time to eat again. He also watched some of the Steelers game last night and actually seemed interested in what was going on. I think he just liked looking at the lights on television. The deer have been coming most of the day. We are down to just five that come, but that is really enough to feed this time of year. Leo got some nice shots of them yesterday in the snow. I will have to get him to post them on his site.

Pics of Tyler Awake

We don't have too many pictures of the little man awake. After all, he is a baby and they tend to sleep quite a bit. Last night, he was awake for a bit. Leo took some pictures of him. He was looking for the most part at one of the cats that was sitting on top of the couch. These give some idea of some of his expressions.

First Doctor Visit

Today, Tyle went to the doctor's. He is now 19.5 inches long. He is also back up to his birth weight. The doctor was impressed with his grip and how long and strong he can hold his neck up when on his stomach. Overall, he got a good report and was deemed healthy. He goes back in six weeks for his next appointment. He wasn't impressed with his trip outside. He screamed almost the whole time he was there and the whole car ride home. He then stayed awake for a couple of hours after we got home. He was back to his normal self this evening.

Getting Into a Routine

Yesterday, Tyler was extremely cranky. I think that was a combination of him eating from the bottles that bother his stomach and being out of a routine. With people being here over the past couple days, there was no way to establish a routine for him. Yesterday, he hardly slept at all during the day. I don't think he knew whether or not he should be awake or asleep, eating or not, or just hanging out. During the night, I got him back on the schedule he had been on since he was home and he was the happy baby he normally is. So far during the day, he is back to himself. I think it is just that he is on his three hour periods of time that he likes. It is fine by me to live the day in three hour increments if it means a happy child. In the picture, you can see he is hugging his pacifier. We couldn't wrestle it away from him, so I just took of picture instead.

New Friends

I figure that I should start writing about Tyler being home. After all, this blog was started about becoming and being a family. As you can tell by the picture, Wrangler has no problem with Tyler. Although, we are careful to make sure he doesn't accidentally jump on him. Satin just started acknowledging him really today. So far, there have been no real problems. He only is cranky if he is hungry or needs changed. He is basically sleeping through the night. He does get up to eat but is usually back to sleep in minutes. the same if he needs to be changed. Right now we have everything set up in the living room. I can't sleep in the bed with someone in it until the staples come out, so I have been covering hte night duty. I get a little sleep here and there when Tyler is sleeping. The only problem is that cats are up most of the night running around which keeps me awake. Leo gets up early to take over and then I go to bed. By the end of this week, we are going to move him into the bedroom which will makes some things easier. He is on a pretty good schedule. He eats every three hours. We have to watch how much he eats. He would eat a ton if we let him do so. Right now he is eating close to two ounces at a time. I have discovered that Playtex drop in bottles are the best invention. Keeps him eating slower without the gas and spitting up. He has been much happier since we started using them. He only seems to like soothie pacifiers. I think that is because they use them while doing hte circumsicion and he has bonded with that pacifier. He loves sitting in his Boppy pillow. He is a very expressive and active kid. He is always moving his arms and legs and has many facial expressions he uses. I have been really impressed how he already has picked up using his hands to hold he pacifier in place. The past two days he also has been putting them around the bottle when he eats. He also has one heck of a grip. With his long fingers, that has pitcher written all over it. We will try to get more pictures. We haven't taken that many of him to be honest. I really don't need a ton of pictures of him sleeping. Once he is awake more and does more interesting things, I am sre that both of us will be taking many pictures.

Kids

This weekend Ammy and Grampy came to see Tyler for the first time. Luckily, they got here yesterday before the snowstorm started. We didn't get as much snow as they originally said we were but we got enough for some youngsters to go out and have fun. Leo had cut out a trail with his kayak. I didn't go outside with them, but didn't have to when I could sit on the couch with Tyler and watch through the window. You didn't have to turn on a television. Of course, I did have the football game playing while they were outside. It was definitely something to see. I also think that our neighbor now knows that Leo comes by it naturally as John drove past while this was taking place.

We're Home

We came home from the hospital this morning. This is Tyler lying in his pack and play. The pets don't seem to mind his arrival. They just look at him and that is about it. We have discovered that Tyler can sleep through barking dogs. Satin seemed to be real happy that I am now home. She gave me a nice greeting. Wrangler seemed more interested in his new brother. Leo hasn't been feeding the deer while we have had this ordeal. We'll see how long it is before they realize that I am home. I am obviously on restrictions for a bit and not allowed to do much of anything. Tyler and I both have appointments the end of next week. Leo went down to fill my prescriptions and Stephen Uncle Leo also bought guitar hero while out, so you are now all set the next time you come up here. You can fight you uncle for the Wii time.

New Year's Day

Well, we spent most of our day at the ER vet clinic with Satin. She woke up. She went to the bathroom and then came inside and vomited. Nothing there to get to alarmed about since our pets are known to do this on occassion. The part that became troubling is that she realy couldn't walk and wouldn't eat anything including people food that was offered to her. She just laid down and moaned. We debated on taking her but she was getting worse as the day was going on, and we decided that she couldn't wait. Of course, she rebounded once there. She was like taking the car to the mechanic. Of course, most of that was adrenaline related. It turns out she is going to live. Her bladder infection appears to have returned. The other problem is that her arthritis is getting worse, and the meds she was on isn't working really for her. The problem with them is that she is at a weight that is between safe dosages for her liver. This doctor changed to a new medication that seems to be working great. She got an injection while there and was walking the best that she has in a long time. We got the oral medication of that drug and some antibiotics for her bladder and were on our way. By the time we got home, she was pretty much back to normal. We also did bloodwork while there and that is the best it has been, so she is doing well otherwise. The place we took her to was very nice. It is an hour away, but all ER facitlities are that distance or more. For it being an emergency clinic, the prices were actually better than what we pay at the regular vet clinic. We also got to travel to an area we haven't been to and found that the ara also has many specialty stores and things like that. I guess it turned out to be a productive trip.