Wow, if we had weather every day like today, it would be much easier to be in a good mood every day.  Sunny, warm but not too hot, and low humidity.  I took Tyler for a nice long walk in the stroller and he just loved it. 

3 Months Old

Happy birthday to my wonderful baby boy Tyler who is three months old today.  Yesterday at the doctor's we weighed 12 pounds 10 ounces (45%) and measured 25 1/4 inches long (90%).  I am not too worried about growth curves, and thankfully neither is my doctor.  Tyler is long and lean like his dad and is growing quickly and will soon fill out. 

From Tyler William

Yesterday Tyler had is first round of vaccines. We got them all--DTaP, Polio, HIB, Pn.  My normally mellow baby has been fussy and crying a lot and not sleeping well.  

Sleep.

Sleep.  Sleep.  Sleep.  Amount and quality.  Day or night.  Babies and adults.  This is my new reading topic of interest.  I am currently reading "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Marc Weissbluth, and have cued up other sleep books.  I am fascinated by this subject not only because I don't get much of it, but it has always been an issue for me, and I want the best for Tyler as a baby, child, and adult. 

I am only a few chapters into Weisbluth, but he says that a lot of childhood behavior problems stem from parents bad sleep habits on their children.  "My research has shown that when infants who are easy at five months of age develop into crabbier, more difficult three-year-old children...I think that parents' helping or hindering regular sleep patterns caused these shifts to occur."  Tyler has definitely been a mellow baby so far, but lately has needed regular naps to prevent fussiness. 

My new goal with my baby care has been to be more aware of Tyler's sleep cues and make sure he gets his naps.  No rigid schedule, but protect his sleep time, especially during the day when it is tempting to run errands and socialize.  This means shorter outings and making sure he is back in his crib before he gets crabby and hard to fall asleep.  A big sacrifice but well worth it so far.

My return to blogging.

My Blog Fernweh started out as a way to tell friends and family my ski injury story and recovery and grew into my travel blog.  Some ordinary life stuff too, but mostly travel was my interesting thing to talk about.  Now that we have Tyler, I was thinking of starting a new blog, but what the heck, lets just continue with this blog, and call it the Schultz Life Blog.  Nothing amazing or profound here, just a way to keep up with our life, if you are interested.

April 9, 2011 my life changed forever.  Tyler was born at 8:06 pm, 8 pounds, 12 ounces.  I have most of my birth story type up, thanks to my mom, but I have not decided if I am going to publish it.

For now I will just update with Tyler's progress and work backwards as I think of things.  On July 1st at 12 weeks old, he weighed 12 lbs, 2 oz.  This is about the 50-percentile, and our doctor is happy with our progress (this is significant, a story I will share later).  He seems long and slim to me (like his dad) with some nice rolls around his thighs.

We spend our day in a constant eat-play-nap cycle, with each stage of various lengths depending on the time of day and where we are (home or on the go).  I am still breastfeeding which has it's advantages and challenges.

Tyler's personality is very easy-going for the most part.  As long as I read his cues and get him to take a nap before he gets cranky, there is minimal crying.  He plays in his crib looking at the mobile, on the play mat, in his swing, bouncy seat, or his favorite, looking at mom and dad.  I lay him on his tummy for a few minutes every day but he does not seem to like it much.

Washington Pictures

Tom and I spent 10 wonderful days in Washington.  We visited North Cascades NP, Mount Rainier NP, Olympic NP and Seattle.  All camping except Seattle where we stayed with an old friend of Tom's.

I was inspired to visit the area after watching the PBS series The National Parks: America's Best Idea.  The mountains and rain forests of the area reminded me of New Zealand.  Tom and I planned the trip ourselves, and this was our first big solo trip since Maine in 2007.  All others since then have been with OASC.  We definitely enjoy traveling with friends, but this time it was nice, like a second honeymoon.  And it allowed flexibility in our schedule.

I will write more about details of the trip as I think of them.  For now, I hope you enjoy the photo album.

The Evergreen State

Daylily and Wine Festival

Saturday Tom and I went to the Daylily and Wine Festival in Fishersville, VA at the Viette Farm.  I am a big fan of Andre's radio show "In the Garden" and I was excited when our friends invited us to go the the festival with them.  It was a great day of wine tasting, bbq, and climbing in a new Outback (not mine :).  The highlight was listening to Andre speak and walking through his private gardens.  Check out my photo album!  Enjoy.

Daylily Festival

 From a sign in a backpacker's lodge in Tauranga, NZ.

We wander for distraction but we travel for fulfillment.
Don't follow you dreams, chase them.
Destiny is not a matter of chance but of choice.
If your ship does not come in, swim out to it.
A good traveler has no plans, and is not intent on arriving.

Believe yesterday is history,
Tomorrow is a mystery,
Today is a gift,
That's why it's called the present.

Explore
Dream
Discover...