Counting Down The Days.... & Ty's First Cold

After today, Lori will have 4 more days of work (she has Friday & Monday Off) and then she will officially change her title from Working Mom to Stay-At-Home Mom. She not only is excited but I am as well. It will be a welcomed change in all of our lives... especially for Ty, because now he will not have to get dressed every work day at 7 am in his snow suit.

Ty is doing well but he is currently experiencing his first ever cold. He is a little congested and coughing and sneezing quite a bit. The last few nights have been somewhat long because of his occasional coughing, sneezing and crying but overall he is getting through it pretty good. He is still laughing, playing and eating like normal, so I guess it is not too bad.

Speaking of eating, Ty is doing excellent on his cereal and is becoming quite a little bird when he realizes what is happening. Once he gets a spoon full the first time, he swallows quickly and opens right up like a little bird waiting for a worm from momma. I think we are a week or two away from trying some baby food for the first time!

This past weekend Ty got to experience his first Valentines Day and he sure did enjoy reading all of his cards. :-) Ty asked me to thank everyone for the Baby's First Valentines Cards and Gifts so Thank You!

Ty has still not rolled over on his own. Lori and I have thought a few times that he was going to, but he always seems to pull himself onto his back again. I think Lori is kinda hoping he holds off for another week so she has a better chance seeing him do it. :-)

I have been taking some videos of Ty with my hacked iPhone and am in the process of editing them. Once that is complete I hope to post a few on here for all to see. A few of them are quite comical!

Until next time, hope all is well and stays well!

4 Month Checkup & Mom's Resignation

Today was Ty's 4 month checkup and Dr. Colli was very happy with his progress. Ty now weighs in at 14 pounds 2 ounces and is measuring 24 1/4 inches long. He also received 3 shots, 2 in his leg and 1 orally. I was not there today, but Lori said he cried for about 15 seconds and as soon as she picked him up, he stopped! Tough little guy... because when it comes to needles, dad is a wuss!

This weekend he will get his second taste of Rice/Cereal and is now taking his bottle every 3 hours or so. In about 2 weeks we will try some baby food for the first time. Dr. Colli said we can try either Fruits or Veggies first. I think a nice finely chopped up steak, fresh from the grill would be better...

As you can see from the photo below, Ty is becoming stronger and picking his head up more frequently during tummy time. How can you NOT love that smile???


Ty is also becoming more attentive to toys and things that make sound. His hands are starting to grasp things easily and that really helps him play with his toys... and put things in his mouth. Anything from legs of stuffed animals, to his fingers, thumb and occasionally his burping cloth!



He is also so very close to rolling over. Ty like to move onto his side and is just just about to roll, but then uses a hand to stretch and pull himself onto his back again. He will get it soon and when he does, I am sure it will surprise him and of course anyone who is watching!

His sleep patterns have continued to be excellent. Although he now likes to awake at 5 AM. :-) And let me tell you... he is almost as reliable as an alarm clock! 4:58 AM or 5:02 AM... he is pretty close. And he never awakes crying. I know we have been pretty lucky with this and let me tell you, as a new dad, I thank my lucky stars, because that boy has some good lungs. If he woke up crying each morning, I know I would be investing in some good ear protection! A smile from your child does wonders to you as a parent... when he does it at 5 AM as he routinely does, it makes getting up that early, worth it!

Did I mention he is just a tad bit spoiled? No? Well he is... when mommy and daddy gets home in the evenings, he wants attention all the time and loves to be held. And mommy will be spoiling him more at the beginning of March when she will become a full time stay at home mom. This past Monday, Lori gave her one month notice to her boss and place of work for almost 10 years!

In this day, age and economy we realize this is a luxury and we are lucky enough that we can afford to do this. Lori really misses Ty and wants to do this. I am in a good position at work and have enough income to have the bills paid and food on the table. There will be times where money is tight and we will not be able to do something that we could before, like going to a sporting event or going out to eat with some friends... but in the end, those sacrifices will prove to be well worth it!!!

Creatures of Routine and Habit

A high school teacher of mine once said that humans are creatures of routine and habit. Humans would rather follow the same routine day after day then mix it up. For instance, even when assigned seating is not used in a class room, students tend to sit in the same seat day after day because of habit and routine.

Well the Smith Household is settling into a routine since Lori's return to work. We are all pretty much adjusted to the changes in life style of taking Ty to the baby sitters and picking him up in the evenings. We are adjusted to cramming most of our chores into weekends. We are adjusted to putting Ty to bed and using the hour to hour and a half for catching up on TV shows, paying bills or just relaxing.

For me, as dad, life has not changed too much. I was used to the routine in the evenings of coming home and getting all of Ty's things ready for bath time and bed time. The biggest change for me has been picking Ty up at night from his Aunt Patty and Uncle John's house or from my mom's. After a long day of work and office politics, the best thing is to see my little smile at daddy when picking him up from the sitters! :-)

Lori has adjusted well to juggling motherhood and work. Like I said before, sleep and relaxation has become more important to her when she has to get up and get herself ready at 5:30 AM. She gets to take Ty to the baby sitters in the mornings and she seems to be doing well. She said that if she had to do this after only six weeks off it would have been harder.

Ty has adjusted pretty well too. He really seems to enjoy Nan's and Aunt Patty and Uncle John's during the work day. In nearly three weeks, I believe he has only had one bad day of fussing and such. Otherwise, I believe he has been doing quite well. The only problem is, he likes his schedule a little too much and on the weekends and insists mommy and daddy get up around 7 AM. I think that is because 7 is the latest he sleeps through the work week before is taken to the sitters.

We hope this finds everyone doing well. We have some friends in Shippensburg that just got over the stomach flu that is going around, so hopefully no one is fighting that one right now.

We recently bought Ty a Bumbo chair and at this point, he only sits in it for about 5 to 10 minutes at a time, but I think he will like it soon! Of course, I could not get him to smile... but he is just so stinkin' cute! :-)

Mom is Back to Work

Lori returned to work this week so things have been a bit hectic around the Smith House.

We spent the weekend preparing baby sitter boxes with formula, diapers, bottles and other miscellanous stuff along with getting food prepared for the week and clothes ready to wear. Nan Smith is keeping Ty on Mondays and Lori's Aunt Patty is baby sitting Tuesday through Fridays.

We have to say that everything is going better than expected. Ty is doing well in the mornings and during the day with his baby sitters. Although evenings spent with Ty are extremely short because of his bed time around 7:30, we try to use every minute possible to entertain the little guy.

Lori is getting adjusted to her new sleeping schedule. No more sleeping in to 8 or 8:30... nope, it is 5:30 AM now. 5:30 AM comes awful early to those used to sleeping in the past 4 months! :-) I have to say she is doing well so far, but Friday is approaching and I am sure she will be beat!

To give her a bit of a break, I have taken over baby duty at night so she can at least stay in bed. She naturally awakes when Ty does, but I get up with him to change his diaper and feed him his bottle. I enjoy doing it and it is only 20 minutes. The problem for me is getting back to sleep. I tend to start thinking about work and daily tasks that need to be done...

So we are taking it day by day, but I am sure within a week or two, we will be pretty much adjusted and in a normal routine.

On a side note, the ice storm we had made for some beautiful scenery. I captured this picture, facing McConnellsburg, from the mountain top along Route 30 between Chambersburg and McConnellsburg on my iPhone. I travel past this place everyday and have never stopped by. Yesterday's show from Mother Nature was too hard to pass up! I wish I would have had my good camera because this picture does not give the scene justice.

We Are..... Penn State!

Let's Go State... Beat USC!

Happy New Year & Shout Outs

Lori, Ty and I just want to take a moment to wish all of our friends and family a Happy and Healthy New Year filled with Love and Goodwill.

We also wanted to give shout outs to a few of our friends who are enjoying exciting times in their lives.

To the Kipe family in South Carolina... you might be far away from us here in Pennsylvania, but you are never out of our thoughts. We wish you the best with your new born baby girl Abbi and her older sister Layna. Congrats!!! You have a beautiful family! We love you guys and can't wait to see you in the spring!

To the Bowersox Family... congrats on your big news of starting a family!!! We are soooo happy for you guys and wish you the best of luck when Baby Bowersox comes into the world sometime around July 4th! We love you and remember, if you ever need a helping hand, we are here for you!

And finally to the Penn State Football Team... GO STATE, BEAT USC!! :-)

Happy New Year to All!!!

A Joyful Christmas for the Smith Family

Christmas was bitter sweet for us this year, but overall very joyful. Bitter because of the recent loss of my father and the anniversary of Lori's father's death on Christmas day. Sweet because we were able to celebrate Christmas with many members of both of our families. Joyful because it was our first Christmas with our little guy.

Christmas Eve began on a good note with my mom deciding she was coming out for dinner and an overnight stay with us. She has been sick with ear and sinus infections, but after a visit with her doctor and him convincing her that she was not contagious, she decided to join us. Great News! We had our Christmas with her that evening since Christmas morning would be kinda crazy for us preparing to go to visit both side of Lori's family as we do each Christmas.

Ty made out excellent with clothes coming from Nan Smith. After the last few days, Ty pretty much has enough of clothes to last him through the winter thanks everyone including Nan.

Christmas morning arrived and we hustled to get food made for our visits and get Ty ready to go... I was always told that taking a child somewhere meant taking everything but the kitchen sink. I never believed it until Christmas morning. We were going to two places for pretty much 7 hours and it felt like we were packing for a weekend get away. As you can see, Ty was all dressed up for the occassion!


We went to Lori's Aunt Tracey's for a wonderful lunch and shared a few hours with that side of the family. Ty again made out well with a few toys and a gift card or two for more clothes/toys. Ty did very well and even took a much needed nap as you can see below. I love his cute little Santa bib.

Around 3, it was time to pack up and head to Lori's Grandparents for the rest of the day. There we exchanged gifts and had another delicious dinner. Ty again made out like a bandit with Toys galore and even a few more outfits for the coming months. Ty was a good boy until about the 6 o'clock hour when he became pretty fussy and was about ready to end his big day. We packed up the car and home we went. Ty took his bottle and was out like a light.

On Friday, I had to work... I know, Ho Hum... but Lori's mom was coming into town and Lori's brother was hosting more family members for lunch and our Christmas with her. Ty's big gift from Grandma Straley was the coolest toy and one everyone is at least aware about from news reports... Talking Elmo. Let's just say, dad has had more fun with it then Ty thus far! :-) That thing is so cute! I was able to skip out of work for a few hours to enjoy lunch with everyone.

So all in all our Christmas was joyful but busy. Ty did a great job going from place to place and has been quite a sleeper the past few nights. He is learning how to hold things and grab at his toys. He is becoming more responsive to people and loves to gabber. I have to say, when he smiles, his entire face lights up with joy, along with mommy and daddy's!

Lori and I just want to thank everyone for the Christmas gifts for Ty and to us. As you can see by the picture below, Ty will not need any new toys until he turns one!! :-)

Merry Christmas To All....

We just want to wish all of our family and friends a very Merry Christmas!

Compromise

Merriam-Webster defines Compromise as a settlement of differences by consent reached by mutual concessions.

Well that is exactly what my brother-in-law, Ryan, and I have done. We have come to a compromise on Sports Teams for Ty. :-) Although someday Ty will be able to make up his own mind, for now, he will be rooting for specific sports teams respectively chosen by Ryan and I!

Of course I have chosen the Redskins for Football... surprise! Ryan has chosen the Yankees for Baseball. Ho Hum... I do not quite agree with it... but it was a compromise! ;-) What can I say?

Below is a photo of Ty in his attire along with Ryan and I.

P.S. The Redskins Snow Suit, believe it or not, I wore as a child some 30 years ago. :-) My mom preserved it along with several other pieces of clothing from my childhood. How cool is that?

2 Month Checkup & Sleeping

Well today was Ty's 2 month checkup, the first one with shots and one Lori and I were somewhat dreading. To say that Ty did a good job is an understatement.

He smiled and cooed for both the doctor and nurse, which they both enjoyed! He weighed in at 12 pounds 2 ounces and is now 22 and 1/2 inches long. Everything checked out and he seems to be a healthy growing boy! Ty did cry during his shots but only for about three minutes and that was it... such a good boy!

Since we have brought Ty home he has been an excellent night sleeper. He does not get awake in the middle of the night screaming and only squawks a few times to wake mom or dad for a bottle. If we put him to bed around 8 he normally sleeps for at least 7 hours until for his first feeding of the night. He has awoke a few times around midnight and slept as long as 5 am. Normally he is awake around 3:30 and then again around 5:30/6 and then up for his normal 8 am feeding. I believe he sleeps so well at night because he is not much of a napper during the day.

As for everything else, well the Smith household is doing well. We are all decorated for Christmas and Ty seems to have an attraction for the lights on the tree. Now we just need Santa to stop by! :-)

Below is a new picture of Ty showing off his clothes gifted by daddy's company, Global Data Consultants. Isn't he just cute?? :-)