Kyler -- Week 26 (5/12/12-5/18/12)

Kyler and I spent this week in Jenison for the Fifth Third River Bank Run and to visit with lots of friends. Kyler stayed up super late the night before the race (which wasn't very fun for me since I had to get up so early), but then he slept in until almost 9am. During that time, we were downtown for the race. For the third year in a row, Ryan's parents came up to Grand Rapids with their friends Bob and Pam to take part in the festivities. Plus, this year my dad ran again too. That night, we all hung out at my parents' house, and Kyler had a lot of fun playing with both sets of grandparents and Bob and Pam. He had plenty of laughs and giggles for everyone and went right to sleep. Sunday was Mother's Day and Kyler gave mommy a great gift--the gift of a good night's sleep! Kyler got all decked out in sweet little khaki overalls with a button-down shirt. I wish that they made those button-down shirts like onesies because tucking them in constantly is a pain. New invention, anyone?

During church, Kyler loved to listen to the music, and after he woke up, it was fun to see him visit everyone in our row. What a great legacy to have him loved by family during church! We went to visit Great Grandma afterwards, and he had fun making her laugh. After our visit, we headed over the Uncle Matt, Aunt Lori, and cousin KayLynn's house for dinner. Kyler got to experience his first swing ride! I forgot to take a hat along on the trip, so Kyler borrowed KayLynn's. Even though it was a little big on him, it was still super cute! Ryan left that evening to head back to Bourbonnais since he had A&P summer classes at ONU to teach, but we had a great week enjoying long walks at the park and playing outside on blankets without him.

The highlights of the week included visiting some wonderful people we hadn't seen in a while. We went and visited my friend Jen and her triplet boys, who are very close in age to Kyler. They are such adorable kids, and it was an honor to have Kyler be their first play date! After a busy play date, we headed out to visit Grandpa at work. We got to meet all his co-workers and even went out to get some lunch. Cousin Sarah was home not feeling well and lived close by, so we visited her before heading out to pick up Grandma from work. It will be so nice when we live close by everyone and can spread all the love out during the week. Kyler loves to go and visit people!

Visiting Great Grandma on Mother's Day

This happy boy loves his zebrafly

His first swing outside! Check out his awesome hat -- the sun sombrero!

It might have been Mother's Day, but he loves his Daddy

"Yummy... Go blue!"

Cousins playing

Aunt Lori has that great zebra toy again!

Playing with my new buddy Caleb and our bug toys

Caleb and Joshua are going to be so much fun to play with when we move back! Matt was sleeping, but I think he will just add to all the trouble these boys might get into together.

"Mommy, these boys are fun!"

"I helped with the laundry, Mommy!"

"Aren't I the cutest baby ever?"

"It is a great day to read a book outside -- but I cannot forget my sunglasses"

Hanging out by the pool in his jumperoo!

Kyler -- Week 25 (5/5/12-5/11/12)

We started out the week with Ryan being at ONU most of Saturday for the senior biology breakfast and university commencement. Kyler has been having so much fun rolling over and over that he just does not want to nap. Even in his crib at 1:00am, he decided to spend the next 3 hours awake, rolling around, and snuggling with Mom. Kyler has always been a great sleeper, sleeping through the night (about 8:00pm to 7:00am) since around 2.5 months old, but it seems that has changed this week. It may be just a phase, but we have been spoiled before this. It seems that if he naps well during the day, going down for sleep at night is much easier.

This week was the start of a very busy couple of months. Ryan started teaching his summer classes, and with Kyler not sleeping well, I was feeling pretty run down. On Friday, we headed out to Michigan to run in the Fifth Third River Bank Run. Kyler was a little too young to be part of it this year, but we hope that next year we will be able to push him in a stroller. I tried to pack the car Friday morning, but I couldn't because Kyler decided to blow off his early morning nap--the "almost-sure-thing-30-minute-snooze." After running back and forth with him awake, it did eventually get packed. On the car ride up, Kyler also decided that he didn't want to nap much in the car. That night, he was up most of the night after Ryan and I tried over and over to get him to sleep. Grandma Wiersum helped around midnight, singing and rocking him while I was in the room. He finally went to bed close to 1:30am.

Matching super hero shirts -- guess whose idea this picture was?

"Here, Daddy--smell my feet!" So it begins...

"Seriously, Mommy--you are going to take another picture of me in the jumperoo?"

"I love being able to roll over! Look how strong I am!"

Kyler -- Week 24 (4/28/12-5/4/12)

There were some fun visits and major milestones this week! Grandpa and Grandma Wiersum came to visit Saturday morning to help with packing and had a great time watching Kyler show off his jumperoo skills. We enjoyed a nice walk and taking plenty of pictures. We even took a trip to Menards and found one of the now favorite toys--a pinwheel! Kyler loves it, but even though he wants to grab it so badly, it would be "Goodbye, pinwheel!" in the hands of our little man. Later that night, we attended the final Biophilic party for ONU. Kyler loves to visit with all the faculty and students, and he tends to be the center of any party he goes to. There are so many great students who love Kyler that we will miss when we move, but we hope to always stay in touch with them.

The major milestone this week was learning to roll over onto his tummy from his back on Monday! He was so good at it and could not stop practicing. It was fun to watch him work at it and perfect it as the day went on. He did get frustrated not being able to get back onto his back, but after lots of practice he mastered that on Wednesday. He is now a rolling machine and unfortunately does not stop when he should be going to sleep at night. All the rolling keeps him awake longer and makes getting him to sleep a big challenge because he gets so over tired. We have had a lot of nights where putting Kyler to bed has become a whole evening job that requires two people! It's just a phase though, and we know he is proud of what he can do--because we are too!

Sitting with Grandma and my turtle

Daddy flying me in the air--I love it!

All ready to head to the Biophilic party

I love ONU students!

Just hanging with college guys

The chicks dig me--especially because of my bear ears on the hood of my jacket!

Waking up with Grandma

Getting ready for church with my favorite wooden ring toy

Lounging around after a very social weekend

Daddy is so silly...

...but I love him so much!

Is this how you use a burp cloth, Mommy?

Kyler -- Week 23 (4/21/12-4/27/12)

So Kyler had visitors this Saturday! Grammy and Papa came to visit for the morning. We went out to French Toast for breakfast and enjoyed a really nice walk in the park. Kyler is such a smiley boy and loves having visitors. He has been having a great time hanging out in his new jumperoo as well, which he has been becoming more and more active in. He just loves to jump and jump and jump! Lately when Kyler and I are in the kitchen, we have been listening to classical music while he is in his swing. Ryan now gets "Für Elise" in his head (reminding him of when his sister Britani used to play the song on piano at warp speed), and Kyler just loves to listen to it. 

Unfortunately, Kyler has not been napping very much lately, which causes some crabby evenings and makes it more difficult for him to stay asleep at night. If he takes a good nap, he stays asleep through the night (sleep begets sleep), but when he has shorter naps, he usually wakes up screaming within an hour of going down, and we have to try and get him back to sleep. Later in the week, we headed out to visit our friend Jenny, whom we met during our days at Calvin. It was great to catch up and see her two little boys. 

One of the last times he can wear this 6 month shirt--he is just growing so quickly!

Hanging out with my shorts on, and getting ready for summer!

Not wanting to nap, even with dino-lovey

I love my jumperoo!

Just hanging out

Kyler -- Week 22 (4/14/12-4/20/12)

So now that Kyler is going to be 5 months old, we decided to try and add rice cereal to his diet. He was pretty excited about it and had lots of fun getting fairly messy. We tried cereal for four days in a row, but noticed that Kyler was starting to get crankier than usual and just refusing to nap--which made the crankiness increase even more! He seemed to be having a bit more gas, so we thought maybe we would stop the cereal for a while, and our happy boy returned to us--naps and all! I think that we are going to wait at least another month and then maybe try another cereal type or just try out some veggies.

We also traveled to Joliet and visited Great Grandpa Tony and Great Grandma Linda. He had so much fun seeing them and meeting their dog Duke. He is one loved little boy and enjoyed going out to lunch at Merichka's, even if it will be a few years before he try a poor boy and twice-baked potato. Later in the week, Kyler discovered two new things: blowing raspberries and sticking out his tongue. It has been a lot of fun watching him discover things he can do and trying to get him to do them for camera.

Sitting patiently while we get the food ready

First attempt at rice cereal...yes, some actually made it into his mouth

Home after a visit in Joliet

More food pictures...more in the mouth this time!

Well, maybe more on the bib...

"I have two teeth, Mommy!"

Lazy afternoon in the recliner with no pants...what a little man!

Doing yoga posses for Mommy

Kyler -- Week 21 (4/7/12-4/13/12)

Happy Easter, everyone! We seem to be having new things happen to us a lot lately. While traveling to Princeton for Easter, Kyler was getting extra "drooly" and crabby. I tried so many different toys and things for him to chew on, but my finger is still his favorite. :) While being chomped on, I discovered something...two teeth! Our little man has two bottom teeth sticking out of his gums! No wonder he was fussy. Kyler did well at Grammy and Papa's house, even sleeping through the night in the pack 'n' play. We went to church as a family, but Kyler had the hiccups so badly that I took him to the lobby and watched the service from there. Right when Kyler lost his hiccups, he started to jabber a ton, so we stayed out of the sanctuary, but still got to hear the message.

After arriving back in Bourbonnais, Kyler decided it was time to roll over from his back to his front for the first time. We think that he used the rings on his jungle gym to help pull him over, but it was still pretty exciting--and it has not happened since. Ryan had Monday off for Easter break so we had a great walk and some family time. Kyler continues to get better and better at tummy time, has discovered he loves to dance with Mommy, and thinks his stuffed turtle is the bomb!

Duncan is distracting Kyler from Easter pictures--they just love each other too much!

"Aw, Mommy, I just want to go play with my doggy!"

Notice all the drool! 

"Hello, everyone--aren't I cute?"

Hanging out with Mommy and my toys

Chillin' in the Bumbo seat for a photo shoot

Kyler -- Week 20 (3/31/12-4/6/12)

So our little guy is now in 9-month clothes, which meant a little shopping for a few more sleepers. While shopping, we picked up a few Dr. Seuss books since Kyler has been loving story time so much that we needed to add to our collection. Kyler has even started to reach out for the pages and will try to turn them or put them in his mouth every chance that he gets. His teething has been bothering him a little more this week and has caused some early mornings for us. I tried to snuggle in bed with him one morning after a 6am wake up, but all Kyler wanted to do was squeal and start the day. We really do not have a lot to complain about since he has been sleeping through the night since January.

We also added to our fun during the day by bringing out the exersaucer/jumper gym, which we have started to call the jumperoo. Kyler was not sure what to think about it at first, but now he bounces and turns in the toy with ease! We have to put a pillow under his feet because he is still just a little too short to reach the ground, but that does not seem to stop him! Kyler has also been trying to put everything--and I do mean EVERYTHING--into his mouth. He even pulled on his sleeper to suck on that while he was in his swing. On Friday, Ryan had the day off for Good Friday, which enabled us to take a family walk and have lunch. Kyler has been getting really good at holding onto his own bottle, which makes feeding time a little more adventurous.

Trying to fit the whole rattle into his mouth

Hanging out in the new toy--not sure what to think of it at first

Sitting up with his many giraffes

Tuckered out from gym time

Watching baseball with Daddy and Duncan, but it looks like daddy is taking a nap...

Yep, Daddy is sleeping and Kyler is watching the game

Kyler -- Week 19 (3/24/12-3/30/12)

Kyler had fun playing with different people this week. Aunt Dawn came over to play with Kyler while Ryan and I went out for a date. We went out to lunch at Ruby Tuesday and then got to see The Hunger Games together while Aunt Dawn and Kyler had fun playing and watching the Cubs game. Daddy was not too upset about it, and Kyler had a lot of fun! Later that week, we took a quick trip out to west Michigan so that Ryan could finalize his appointment in the biology department at Calvin with some quick meetings. While he was gone, Kyler and I stayed at Grandpa and Grandma's.

KayLynn came over Thursday morning to play, as well as Aunt Sharon and cousin Sarah. It was great to see so many family members. KayLynn just loves Kyler and wants to hug him every time she is close enough. Kyler loves to watch KayLynn and smiles when she does hug him. It is going to be so fun to see them play when they are a little older!

We ended this week with Kyler's 4-month appointment at the pediatrician. Kyler weighed 18 lbs 13 oz and was 27 inches long! He was talking and squealing for Dr. Oo, and the doctor just smiled while he examined Kyler, telling us that he is very strong. When Ryan asked if Kyler was doing well, he smiled and said, "Do you really need to ask?" It looks like our little man is growing big and strong! The dreaded shots were much better this time around, and there were only the typical screams right after they were administered. We did lots of snuggling and kept the medications coming, and he did great.

Working on our tummy time...and checking out the camera!

We are still loving bath time...

...and the cup we use!

I love my bath time!

Snuggling in the bath towel afterwards

Yummy....towel!