11 months old

I simply cannot believe that Tyler will be 11 months old on Sunday. Where has the time gone? His growth and progress amaze me every single day. So here we are, planning an Elmo themed birthday party and actually beginning the process of adopting a second time. Meanwhile, a year ago, we didn't even have a child. It's just amazing how fast life can change.

Tyler continues to be a very happy and laid back child. He's so content to hang out and play most of the day. He's a great sleeper - which we are very thankful for. At the moment, he's getting close to his first steps. He's cruising along all of our furniture and he's even starting to let go from time to time. He's talking non-stop in baby babble, but on occasion we hear a word or two. He's had mama and dada down for quite a while, but kitty is a new addition to his vocabulary. Once in a while I think I hear doggie too. My favorite part of this stage is how obvious it is that he loves his mommy and his daddy. His little hand will reach out for you the instant you enter a room. It just melts my heart!

As for our next adoption, we anticipate a long wait, but you just never know. I think it would be amazing for Tyler to have a sibling or two who are close to his age. So, we have filled out the mounds of paperwork and we now we are waiting for our fingerprint clearances to come back - after that - it's out of our hands. We simply wait and see what the future holds for us! I have to say, I'm much more excited than I thought I would be. I really thought that for the next year I wouldn't think about it all that much, but I am. Maybe it's just because the paperwork is so fresh in my mind, but I really think it's that I just can't wait to get my hands on another little baby! Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love everything about Tyler right now, but I also miss that itty bitty baby I was holding just 11 short months ago.

All I want for Christmas is Elmo Live Encore

After Tyler's finalization we headed out to the mall for a little visit with Santa. I was worried that Tyler would be scared of him and cry, but he didn't! We were the first ones there to greet Santa and there was no line behind us so we got to take a lot of pics. The hardest part was that they would only let you choose one for your photos for the photo cd :-( I had a tough time picking between this one and the one of him actually looking at the camera. In the end I decided it was pretty cute that he was looking up at Santa and so we picked this one. I think it will be somehow integrated into our Christmas cards this year. The tree goes up tomorrow - I can hardly wait!

Finalization - yay!

This morning we finalized Tyler's adoption! We waited a long 9 1/2 months for this day and I have to say, it was pretty anticlimactic. We arrived early, as our attorney had directed us to - you have to pass through metal detectors and the lines can be long. In our case, we didn't have to wait long. We were in the waiting area for Surrogate's Court at about 8:40 for our 9:00 appointment. We waited until nearly 9 when our attorney showed up. One of the Sheriff's who was working brought us back to the judge's chambers where we sat and talked about sports while the judge signed/initialed a multitude of paperwork. He explained the details of getting Tyler's amended birth certificate and social security number. We posed for a few pics and that was it. We were in our car and headed out by 9:15! What a great birthday present for Chris!

9 month check-up

Tyler had his 9 month check-up this morning. He weighs 22 pounds (75th percentile) and he's 29.5 inches (90th percentile). That's right where he was at 6 months. The doctor says he's doing great in every way. He's healthy and clearly happy - he spent the whole exam clapping and blowing raspberries at her. He got his last dose of Hep B and the 2nd part of the seasonal flu vaccine. They didn't have any H1N1, but she said that he should get it. There has already been one round of H1N1 flu in the area and they are anticipating a second round in January when the seasonal flu typically hits. She suggested we either take him to a clinic - yippee there were like a million people standing in line for hours at the one that was yesterday - or we keep checking the pediatrician's website as they will post when they have the vaccine in the office. She also recommends the vaccine for Chris and I, but we aren't in the category that's allowed to get it at this point. I think that's about it... we go back at 1 year!

Good Deals!

I've been surfing around online today checking out all of the great deals that are around. I don't know if any of you check out the same sites or not, but I thought I'd share what I've found -especially with Christmas coming! I really started at www.babycheapskate.com and went from there. I LOVE that site!

Several of the websites I visited point to www.coupons.com for some Hasbro toy coupons which can sometimes be added with other coupons at certain stores - like Target that has their own coupons that just came out this week. I'm going to check out some of these today - might make some nice Christmas presents :-)

http://earlymotherhood.blogspot.com/, which I linked to from babycheapskate, shares several great ideas:

* How to get 7 preschool games for basically less than $4 at Toys R Us (this deal subtracts off the $10 gift card that you earn so you really pay $14 plus mail in rebates but you get that $10 gift card for later). The webpage with the rebates includes many other great games that cost a little more - you can still get a great deal though http://www.hasbro.com/familygamenight/en_US/discover/upload/RevisedHasbroGameNightRebateForm.pdf

I also found freebies on this blog (thank you earlymotherhood!):

*I followed this link for free Mozart for Infants and Toddlers downloads http://www.munchkin.com/information_station/downloads.html.

*I followed this link to the leapfrong website to sign up for a free board book: http://earlymotherhood.blogspot.com/2009/10/free-leapfrog-abc-animal-orchestra.html

*This link will let you sign up for a free Geotrax train dvd at https://store.mattel.com/transition.aspx?TransitionID=155.

Happy shopping!

Halloween 2009

Tyler's first Halloween was a great success. We took him to Target for his 8 month pictures a couple of weeks early. The pictures came out great, but he refused to smile at all! Here are a couple of pictures of him in his costume.

We also had regular 8 month pictures taken. These also came out very cute, even without a smile. They asked us to sign a release so they can use his pictures to show to others :-) I mean, we know we have a SUPER cute kid, but it's nice to hear it from unbiased parties!

On the Sunday before Halloween we carved our pumpkins. Tyler really liked that part! After Daddy took the top off and scooped out most of the seeds, he let Tyler stick his hands in. Tyler LOVED it! He couldn't get enough of it! He had both hands all the way inside the pumpkin up to his armpits. He even pulled a little bit of pumkin guts out and had a taste - yummy!

On Halloween night we took Tyler out kind of early, around 6:30pm. We visited a few select neighbors that we new would appreciate seeing him in costume. It was a long walk for Daddy carrying his heavy little man. It's unbelievable how big he's gotten and how fast! Tyler loved Halloween! He enjoyed the entire trip out - he even liked his costume! I wonder what he'll be next year????

7 months

People always say how fast kids grow, but it's so amazing to see it happening right before your very own eyes! Tyler turned 7 months old a week ago today. I can't believe that we are closer to age 1 than we are to the day he was born. It's so unreal! I swear he gets cuter every day - not that I'm biased or anything :-) His latest development is trying to crawl - I say trying as he likes to lay on his tummy, lift his arms and legs off of the ground, and then move all 4 limbs like crazy. He looks like he's pretending to swim! Now if he can just get the opposite down (belly up - legs and arms on the ground), we're going to be in big trouble!