Kyler -- Week 40 (8/18/12-8/24/12)

We started out this week with a great activity: going to John Ball Zoo! Kyler had a great time looking at all of the animals, meeting some new friends, and basically just getting to look around at all kinds of new things. I think he liked it a lot, but I know that when he is a little older, he is going to LOVE going to the zoo. Later in the week, we also did something that is a fun, west Michigan thing--the Hudsonville Community Fair. Kyler again loved seeing all the animals, hearing all the great noises, and just getting to spend a lot of time with other family members. Grandpa put him up on his shoulders for part of the evening, and Kyler had the biggest grin on his face. I think he liked being so tall! Unfortunately, we failed as parents and forgot the camera for that great experience. Maybe next year!

Sarah and Andrew stopped by to see the house on Sunday, and we had a great time hearing how they were doing with preparations for their little one. Kyler loved to play with them and will adore playing with their new baby too. We also went to visit Ryan at Calvin and got to see Josh and Karyn (some friends from Ann Arbor) for dinner. Kyler had a great time exploring their house and seeing just what his parents would let him get away with. We tried two new foods: wheat in the form of teething biscuits (SOOOOO SUPER MESSY!) and mango. Kyler also turned 9 months this week and had his first Michigan doctors appointment. He did great, especially since Aunt Sue was the great nurse that took care of him. Kyler continues to grow, coming in at 22 lbs 12 oz and 30 inches long. The pediatrician said Ky looked great and that he would not be surprised if Ky was walking soon.

Kyler petting the goat...but Ryan seems even more excited!

Looking at the cows, but Kyler was distracted by the sheep

Looking at the birds...so much fun looking around at everything!

"Wait--this isn't what they are for?"

Having fun digging in his changing table bins

Pushing his car... Vroom!

"What? Mommy, you spill food too!"

Oh, the camera...and check out that Nazi gold (as Ryan calls it)! The joys of colds...

"I love my puppy!"

Daddy is home!

Helping Grandpa put up shelves in his room... Yeah, power tools!

Kyler -- Week 39 (8/11/12-8/17/12)

Another week of firsts for the family, including our first morning in the new house! Ryan picked up some donuts as a special way to celebrate our morning, but in the mean time, Kyler found out that following Mommy into the fridge is a great adventure. Now, any time the fridge is open, Kyler seems to think that he needs to explore what is in there -- even climbing up into it! Kyler has his own cupboard of plastic tubs, which he often scatters all over the house. We took a trip to Costco to pick up a few things, and now that Kyler has become so vocal with all his squealing, Ryan has no problem finding us in the massive warehouse.

We started visiting different churches in the area, and we finally reached the point when we needed to put Kyler in the nursery--at least if we actually want to be able to pay attention during the service. I think that I had a harder time doing this than Kyler did (even shedding a few tears), but Kyler just saw other kids and new toys to play with. We dropped him off, and he did not even give us a glance back before he was crawling over to the new toys. When we came back to pick him up, he seemed very happy. Hopefully Mommy has an easier time putting him in nursery in the weeks to come. It just makes me realize how blessed I am to be able to spend my days home with him and how thankful we are that Ryan can support us. Later that Sunday afternoon, we got to go celebrate our triplet friends on their first birthday!

Ryan took his last day off from Calvin before he started heading in every single day. We enjoyed going to the farmers market in Hudsonville and enjoying a nice walk as a family. Grandpa and Grandma rode their bikes over to visit, and then later in the week, they brought Great Grandma over for dinner. Ryan started getting a cold and sore throat earlier in the week, and near the end of the week, Kyler and I were starting to feel under the weather, too. When Kyler is sick, he barely sleeps, and all he wants to do is cuddle with his Mommy (which I don't mind at all). When we were snuggling one morning, Kyler gave me his first kiss--or what seemed like a kiss. He will put his mouth, completely open, on your mouth and just hold it there. A little silly, but the thought was so sweet!

The piano man

Pushing his dino toy everywhere!

On a rainy day, he thought that he would help me fold laundry...

...or just push the basket around.

Trying to get a picture with the bear, but...

...Kyler wanted to get up close...

...and closer to the camera--I guess we will now have to snap pictures quickly before he wants to "help"

"Mommy, there is nothing good to eat in here."

Kyler -- Week 38 (8/4/12-8/10/12)

This week involved a lot of moving, unpacking, and mischief. Saturday was a busy day of moving into the house, which also brought out the favorite toy of the moment, the Stride-to-Ride Dino! He loves to push it around on his knees, but gets a little frustrated when he falls or gets stuck. Kyler also found another "new toy" -- the carbon monoxide detector. I thought letting him push the button and having that shrill noise go off would deter him from pushing it again, but to my surprise, he thought it was great. We had to put a baby gate up just to keep him from pushing the button non-stop and having us all lose our hearing.

We celebrated Grandpa's birthday, and all Kyler seemed to want do was play with candles or pull on KayLynn's hair--oh, what a boy! Kyler found out how much fun playing in Duncan's dog bowls can be, and we had many large puddles and wet bottoms to prove it. He also got into the new cupboards as we unpacked, tried to climb a ladder while drapes were being hung, and learned he can push the slider open if it is unlocked. Kyler also thought that this would be the time to start standing up in his crib and chewing on it. I definitely think that he is a challenge now that he is getting into everything, but it is still fun to see him exploring and learning new things.

We did have a great time with visitors coming to see the new house,  and we even took them swimming. Kellie, Ben, Julie, and Levi all had fun swimming and jumping in the water while Kyler napped. Next year he will be able to join in the watery fellowship. Kyler has found Great Grandpa's tractors at Grandma and Grandpa's house and has loved pushing them around while making noises. (How do kids know how to do this? No one ever taught him that!) He tried cottage cheese and millet this week as his new foods, and we moved into the house on a rainy Friday. Kyler's room was the first one done and even has a great paint job!

"What do you mean I have cottage cheese on my face?"

Vroom...

Playing with Great Grandpa's tractors

I think Great Grandpa would have loved that he plays with these

"I found a new place to hide, Mommy!"

The new dino toy--a soon to be favorite

"I'm riding on my friendly dinosaur..."

Helping Grandpa put together the storage shelves--I hope he takes after his Grandpa in handiness

Holding the ladder for Grandma--what a good helper :)

Our New Home

So after being married for seven years and renting the entire time, it has been wonderful to finally own our first home. As mentioned before (in Kyler -- Week 37), we closed on our home August 3rd and began the week-long task of moving in and "Kyler-proofing." We finally stayed over night in our home a week later. There have been many projects completed already, but many more that we are going to get to in the near future. It still does not seem real to us, but we feel truly blessed to be in a house where we can raise Kyler!

Checking out the house for the 2nd time with our family and our realtor Bob

The back of the house

The front of the house

The Bebej family is home!

Kyler -- Week 37 (7/28/12-8/3/12)

This turned out to be another busy week, but with big excitement at the end of the week--finally getting the keys to our new house! Kyler tried some great summer fruits, starting with peaches and then watermelon. He likes to feed himself, even if that means he wears more of it than is going into his mouth. We had a lot of fun enjoying the weather outside, with Kyler exploring the grass while we washed cars. He was not sure of what to think of it, but then got the courage to crawl across it and taste a few blades of grass.

With all this outdoor activity and feeding himself, Kyler has had to get his hair washed a lot more than he used to. He hates to have water run in his eyes, which seems to be the only time he does not like water. We figured out that the best way to wash his hair is a two-part process of washing the back of his hair while he is sitting up and then draining almost all of the water and have him lay down in the tub so that we can wash the front. He was not so sure about laying down in the water, but we kept the water level so low that even his ears were out of the water, and we were able to make sure the water stayed out of his face.

Kyler and Duncan are becoming even better buddies. Kyler now is pulling up on everything, but his favorite thing to pull up on or chase is Duncan. One day while I was getting dressed, I heard Duncan barking and I found Kyler playing with his dog toys and Duncan holding his "Flippy Flopper" frisbee out for Kyler to get. Oh, a boy and his dog--what fun they will have in the years ahead! Kyler has been getting into everything, and we had to use the large Costco bear as a barricade to keep him from trying to go down the stairs. Now we just need to get moved into the new home and put up some gates!

Riding the new toy Mommy got him at a garage sale

He loves to get into things and push things around

See the mess in the background? Hurricane Kyler in full force. 

"What's up? I'm eating my watermelon!"

Classic Kyler grin

Clearly very animated--and a great tooth shot! Angry gums soon produced more teeth, too.

Kyler -- Week 36 (7/21/12-7/27/12)

We had a lot of firsts this week, including adding breakfast to Kyler's meal plan. We started out the week at Lori's family's cottage. Kyler had a great time playing in their kiddie pool, but also going into the lake. He was not sure what to think of the sand at first, keeping one of his feet off the sand at all times. He did not love his first boat ride at the beginning because the life jacket was in his face, but after I figured out how to pull it down, he was all smiles. Kyler had a great time hanging out with his cousin KayLynn and playing with all kinds of different toys. He had a great time on the swing and played in the exersaucer (which he could not figure out why it did not bounce like his jumperoo).


Kyler also had a great time trying lots of new foods, including his first finger food--puffs! He loves puffs and has started to get the hang of how to get them into his mouth. Kyler also got to try another new food--potatoes. He has found lots of new things to play with, including laundry baskets, and has mastered going up the one stair in Grandma and Grandpa's living room. Kyler has also found that watching Grandpa's fish tank is a lot of fun, but he keeps trying to touch the fish through the glass.

Kyler visited lots of new places this week. We went to the Hudsonville farmers market for the first time and got a lot of fresh produce for baby food. We went to visit our new house and show Kyler what his new room would look like, but before we could leave, Kyler spit up all over the new carpet. I guess he wanted to leave his mark in the new home. We also had a great friend invite us to visit Sandy Pines, where my family used to spend lots of summer days swimming, boating, and spending time family and friends. It was bittersweet to be there; it was great to take Kyler to visit a place that is so dear to my childhood, yet sad to know that he will not have the same experiences there. But whatever Kyler's summers hold, I sure they will include lots of fun, family, and love.

Hanging out with Grandma at the cottage 

"There is a big lake to play in, but I still love being in the pool!"

Not sure about the boat ride or the life jacket...

...but now he loves it!

Such a serious little man in the morning...

Thinking hard about something

Hanging out at the lake with his family, with his sail boat in the floating hipp

"I get into my food, Mommy!"

"What--do you think that I should get out of the pool?"

"Silly Mommy--I just blow bubbles"

Big smile!

Duncan just hanging out in the grass while Kyler continues to splash in the pool

"After 4 large poops, Mommy is taking a big risk letting me skinny dip now!"

Kyler -- Week 35 (7/14/12-7/20/12)

So it has been a long time since we have worked on this blog, and as tempted as I am to just give you an overview of what has happened the past couple of months, I see this blog as a bit of a "baby book" for Kyler and do not want to shorten what is a big part of his exploring days. A lot has happened to us recently--and, really, since before Kyler has been born--and I have been writing a journal about what Kyler has done or experienced every single day of his life. So I am always able to go back and see what has happened during a given time frame, even when I get behind on my blog.

For Kyler's 35th week of life, we were busy with travels yet again. We returned from Ann Arbor on Saturday and discovered that while in the car, if you turn on classical music, it calms Kyler and will eventually put him to sleep. When we returned to west Michigan, he again loved being in the pool just as much as ever, even seeming to have a renewed interest in splashing and kicking the water coming out of the jets. Sunday we went to a new church, but had to take the "old" car seat along to give him a place to sleep during church. He was pretty fussy, but fell asleep right at the beginning of the sermon. I don't think it said anything about the pastor.

Monday brought Ryan's and my 7th anniversary, which we spent going to Costco and hanging around with repairmen fixing my parents' hot water heater. While at Costco, Kyler got a new friend: Cade A. Bear (a.k.a. Bear A. Cade), which has helped to block him from trying to get to stairs. Kyler had fun hanging out with Grandpa and Grandma while we went out for our anniversary to San Chez Tapas Bistro, but he did not want to go to sleep for them. He got to hang out late into the night and laugh as Grandpa and Grandma played "volleyball" in the living room. Guess he thought that was pretty funny.

The rest of the week brought new foods (asparagus and egg yolk), and we found a new friend in his window well that set the monitor off all night long--a trapped little bunny (see the video below). We also started to dislike the jumperoo because of it meant confinement. With the water heater broken for much of the week, we spent a lot of time giving Kyler baths in the kiddie pool outside. On Friday morning, we headed out to Lori's family's cottage and played by the beach. KayLynn and Kyler had so much fun playing together. It will be fun to see what they are like in a couple of years. 

Cousins playing in the kiddie pool with adorable hats

KayLynn is such a loving little lady!

In the pool with Grandpa--happy as a clam

Just looking cute in the pool--a place he has spent a lot of time this summer

"I love my fish toy, but I see you taking my picture, Mommy!"

A thoughtful picture...I think there were butterflies he was watching

Just another happy boy picture :)

Playing in the water, looking for toys

Rolling with his "homey" Cade A. Bear