Kyler -- June 2013

Kyler had some fun events this month, including his baptism, 18-month checkup, first time watching Daddy play softball, and finding out that he is going to have a little brother. We decided to wait to have Kyler baptized until we felt that we had found a church home. In Bourbonnais, we were still settling in when Kyler was born and hadn't yet decided on a church. Then, once we started to settle down, we were not sure we would be staying in Illinois due to the job opening at Calvin. We moved back to west Michigan last July, where the prospect of "shopping" for a church is daunting due to the number of churches in the area. It took a while for us to find our new church home (Fairway CRC), and then it took even longer for our membership to officially transfer (from Ann Arbor CRC). So this June, we finally baptized a fairly squirmy 18-month-old in front of our friends, family, and new church family. Kyler did very well, and we are truly blessed to have him in our lives. After the baptism, we had a nice family cookout to celebrate, and Kyler and KayLynn had fun playing with all the outdoor toys.

Kyler's 18-month appointment went really well. He is going to be a very tall boy, already measuring almost 3 feet tall (35.25 inches)--the height of some 3-year-olds, according to the pediatrician. He was pretty upset being cooped up in the examination room though and continued to cry the entire appointment until we left the building. I guess he does not like to be confined... Kyler also got his second haircut, and this time we just held him still through all the crying and flailing limbs so that it would just finish quicker. We headed out to watch Daddy's softball game one night, but spent most of it playing on the playground. At a local strawberry farm, Kyler had a great time meeting a little bunny; he squealed with delight anytime it touched him!

During our first month of summer, Kyler already accumulated more time in the water than some people do in their lifetimes! Kyler loves his kiddie pool, but does not think about the shoes he is wearing. So we bought a pair of water shoes and some sandals that he can wear outside and in the pool since they dry so quickly. Part of the fun of the kiddie pool involves throwing rocks (from the landscaping) into the water and making large splashes. I am never surprised to see him reaching into the water to take out rocks from a previous play time, but one morning I was surprised--more like stunned--to see him lift up a dead chipmunk by its tail! That was quickly removed, and the pool was promptly emptied! Kyler also had a lot of fun playing by and in Grandpa and Grandma's pool. He loves to throw things into the pool, and before long, he became brave enough to jump into our arms off the side--typically with his trademark lifted leg. Later in the month, Kyler even started to jump off the diving board into our arms. We have a brave little boy on our hands when it comes to water!

Family photo after his baptism

Grammy and Papa came up for the baptism

Kyler pushing KayLynn on his cart--the poor little kid gets so red when it is warm out!

Action shot in the kiddie pool

Everyone loves to play in the cupboards, right?

"Super" cute shades

Laughing on the bench at Grandpa and Grandma's

Superboy! Had a great time at the Summer Stroll for Epilepsy

The blue balloon dog!

He loved it so much, but it did not last very long

Helping Mommy water the lettuce

Sitting with Daddy on the hammock

A daily task for this little boy: lining up his cars

Whatever it was...he sure liked it!

Jumping into the pool... "Catch me, Grandma!"

One stylish dude!

Just looking cute...but never underestimate him!

Eating at the table like a big boy!

Family picture at the pool

We might have a sugar problem...

Kyler -- Week 34 (7/7/12-7/13/12)

We had a lot of fun catching up with so many friends this week! We started out on Saturday visiting Ryan's college friends and former Be Nicholas Bé bandmates. Kyler also thought that this would be the time to start a new milestone--CRAWLING! He had been rocking back and forth on all fours for quite a while, but when Mommy put down her cell phone, it was just too much of a temptation, and he had to go forward! Of course, nothing on the ground is safe any longer. Along with crawling, church is becoming something that may be changing very soon. We never really found a home church in Bourbonnais, and now that we are looking in west Michigan, Kyler is getting to the point where we might have to try putting him in nursery soon. Church on Sunday at Mars Hill with the family was busy, with Kyler going from person to person and then getting really loud hiccups during the message. This caused me to take Kyler to what I deemed, "Baby Road" on the far side of church, where a lot of people were walking with their kids. Kyler also got to show off his splashing and love of water to his Daddy; he will even voluntarily put his face in the water without crying. We saw the return of our wonderful little sleeper this week, and Kyler started to copy his Dad's fake laugh, which sounds a little bit like a funny cough. One morning after Kyler woke up early, he snuggled in bed with Daddy and took a nice nap curled up in Ryan's arms. Ryan decided this was the perfect morning to head in to Calvin a little late. I don't blame him a bit.

On Wednesday, we headed out to the east side of Michigan to visit our old stomping grounds, where Kyler could meet so many of our dear friends. We stayed at our friend Melissa's house on Wednesday night, enjoying a dinner out to Red Robin together. On Thursday, Ryan began two days of work at the University of Michigan Museum of Paleontology, while I took Kyler to the University of Michigan Department of Anesthesiology to see many of my wonderful former coworkers. I really miss my old job and the wonderful people I got to know there, but being a mom is a better job than almost anything I can think of. I truly feel very blessed to be able to stay home with Kyler and spend my days teaching and loving him. After a wonderful visit with great  friends, I had to bring Kyler to one of the Ann Arbor places we miss the most--the Cupcake Station. Oh, so many cupcakes, so little time...

We spent Thrusday and Friday night at Paul and Kellie's house. Kyler was able to hang out with his superfriend Ben, who was really great at having a little boy invade his space. Friday brought more friends (Laura, Simon, and Amos) to meet and play with Kyler. We went out to Chili's for lunch to celebrate Kellie's birthday. Kyler was clearly starving before his lunch, so he chomped on the menu for a while. The highlight of Kyler's week (at least according to Ryan) would be visiting our old softball team and watching them in action. We miss so many people from Ann Arbor, but we are thankful that Kyler got to finally meet them.

"This is the biggest tubby ever, Mommy!"

"Watch, Daddy, I can kick and splash!"

"I get so excited that I get water in my eyes..."

"...a lot! I love to splash!"

"I am so hungry, Mommy--where is my lunch?"

Superfriends!

"Okay, I know that Batman doesn't fly, but I'm cute enough to pull it off, right?"

Kyler -- Week 32 (6/23/12-6/29/12)

So this week, after about 11 months of living in Bourbonnais, we left Illinois to return to Michigan. We started off the week with having Uncle Bob and Aunt Dawn come to visit us for the day. We had a great time seeing them and ate a great dinner at Jimmy Jo's BBQ. The next day, Uncle Charlie and Aunt Britani came by to see us on their way back to Evansville. Kyler showed off by rolling all over and getting up onto his knees. We took them out to our favorite place for breakfast in Bourbonnais: French Toast. Kyler slept through much of the meal, but it was great to visit and enjoy awesome food. On the way home, we ended up stuck behind the Bourbonnais Friendship Festival parade, which seemingly blocked every single one of our routes home. We all started having little meltdowns in the car, but eventually we made it home.

The last few days we were in Bourbonnais, we discovered something new for Kyler: Baby First TV. For those of you who have never watched this channel, it has tons of kids programs that are very short, so that it constantly changes for little ones. As much as Kyler loved to see it, there were some shows that we thought were just so silly, and we could not help making fun of some of the characters. Kyler also ate carrots for the first time and really seemed to like them. At the end of the week, he started eating bananas, and other than the bananas causing a bit of a backup in Kyler's digestive system, he really seemed to like them.

Moving day was a really big day, but Kyler took it all in stride and worked on perfecting his ability to sit up on his own. We had a lot of fun watching him stare at everything around him from a sitting position. For nap time, we actually had to set up the pack and play in the bathroom because that was the only room that did not have items to be moved. Kyler seemed to like it, but it was so funny how cramped the room was, besides the fact that it was the bathroom! When we arrived in Michigan, it was too late to go in the pool, but Kyler had a little fussiness before going to sleep. Ryan ended up staying behind in Bourbonnais for two extra days so he could finish up the Anatomy & Physiology class that he was teaching at Olivet.

Thursday and Friday involved some adjustments to Michigan and living at Grandpa and Grandma's. Kyler did not move into his own room until Friday night, but the upstairs nursery was great until then. Kyler's biggest adjustment was definitely the pool. At first he did not know what to think of it, but soon he was splashing and smiling amidst all his floating toys. We even gave him a bath outside because of the warm weather. I think that Kyler has already become more of a water lover than his Daddy.

Hanging out with Uncle Bob and Aunt Dawn

Na, na, na, na, na, na, na, na...Batman!

Watching Baby First TV...as long as it was not "Harry the Bunny"... Mommy hated that show. 

Kyler was helping with stuffing the diapers... He loves to help with laundry

Trying to stay out of the movers' way

"Where did everything go?"

First day in the pool--he loves it!

Tubby time outside! Loving this too!

"Hey--put down the camera, and give me food!"

"Am I too young to jump off the diving board, Grandpa?"

"Well, maybe I will wait a few more years, but I love the water."

Kyler -- Week 31 (6/16/12-6/22/12)

So this was our last full week before our move up to Michigan. Kyler had a great time celebrating Daddy's first Father's Day. He loves his Daddy, and as you can see in the pictures, he wants to spend a lot of time with him, even if that means they watch sports or work on the computer. We also took a walk as a family through Perry Farm for what might be the last time. Later that night, Ryan was going through videos of Kyler's first week, and we were amazed at how much he has grown. Kyler was also very interested in seeing himself and was flapping his arms when he saw himself and heard his parents voices on the computer (see the video below).

Kyler had a lot of other new accomplishments this week, including turning 7 months old. He tried squash and yogurt, both of which he really liked. His 3rd top tooth started coming in, bringing his total of teeth up to 5 (3 on the top and 2 on the bottom). We went to Target and found little people superheroes, which Ryan did not need much convincing to get. Kyler has been skipping his morning nap and seems to be down to 2 naps a day now. Kyler loves music, and our little guy really loves a toy he got from Darin and Kim, which we like to call the "boom-pillar." It is a caterpillar that plays 5 different classical melodies. The sippy cup has also been brought out more often to work on trying to drink water, especially with the weather being so hot.

Lastly, we got to spend more time together as a family--unexpectedly. Ryan's office did not have AC for most of the week, so we got to share our daily activities with Daddy as he worked at home. It can be really distracting when you are trying to write lectures with a little boy laughing in the other room, but I don't think that Ryan minded it.

Our Little People Batman--Kyler looks very focused on his "Dark Knight"

Hanging out with his puppy and Daddy

Watching baseball with Daddy with his star blanket toy

"I am not sure this hat fits me, Daddy"

Daddy checking his email while Kyler watches YouTube videos

"I love when Mommy lets me play with the remote, but she takes the batteries out...or we end up with strange things on the DVR."

Trying to learn to crawl, but all he can do is go backwards and rock; "boom-pillar" is close at hand

Licking his yogurt bowl clean--yummy!

"Wow, this makes lots of fun noises when I bang it on things and throw it!"

Kyler -- Week 30 (6/9/12-6/15/12)

So moving is becoming more and more of a reality in our household. Grandpa and Grandma spent much of Saturday painting Kyler's room back to its boring off-white hue, while Ryan did the fun job of taping around the windows, door frames, and baseboards. Duncan, Kyler, and I went out on a walk to get some fresh air (in other words, away from the paint fumes) before the day got too hot. Kyler continues to be amazing in his jumperoo, and he enjoyed his sweet potatoes while Mommy started working on zucchini and squash for the next round of baby food. Grammy and Papa came by later to visit and had a great time playing and taking pictures with Kyler.

After an afternoon of hard work, Kyler went out to dinner with all six adults to Red Lobster, even if he couldn't enjoy the tasty biscuits. We were all really impressed with the fact that during our two hours in the restaurant, Kyler barely squirmed in his car seat and just enjoyed smiling at everyone around him. What a happy little kid! Grandma got to read to him at story time before bed, which he really seemed to like. The next morning, we had a nice long walk together before it got too hot. Grandpa got to push your stroller while Grandma, Duncan, Mommy, and Daddy followed. We were sad to see them leave on Sunday afternoon, but in less than three weeks, we will literally be living with them!

The other highlights of the week included lots of getting up on our hands and knees. Kyler wants to crawl so badly, but just cannot figure it out yet. He even pushes with his hands and "scoots" backwards, or rocks back and forth on all fours, but we might be in for a lot of change once he can crawl! Kyler can also sit up on his own really well, but only for short periods of time. He has also started eating zucchini and squash, which I was able to make in my Baby Bullet that I got for Mother's Day. Packing has been going well, but the moving day is coming very soon!

Photo op with Grammy and Papa

Mr. Blue Eyes

"I am king of the jumperoo!"

"I love Daddy's teeth..."

"...and his face..."

"...and how much we look a like."

"Working out my abs"

"I am coming to get you, Mommy! Just wait until I can crawl!"