I am blessed with a wonderful baby.

I am blessed with a baby who sleeps through the night.

I am blessed with a baby who wakes every morning at 6 a.m.

That last one I am struggling with a bit. At least he is consistent.

I am not a morning person. Most babies are morning creatures. My preferred sleep time is midnight to 8. Now I try to be asleep by 10 pm and try to convince hubby to come to bed early too. If I am really tired Tom will get up with Tyler after I feed him and I go back to sleep.

Nine Months

Tyler turned 9 months old a few weeks ago, and I am just now getting around to his update! He has a doctor visit tomorrow so I will give you the official stats then, but he is about 18 pounds and about 29 inches long. His growth has slowed considerably compared to his first 6 months, but this is normal. Instead of going through outfits every month, he wears them for 2 or 3 months now. He also seems to shoot up in length and then fill out, and then repeat. Currently he is filling out more and not growing in length as much.

Tyler still breastfeeds about 4 times a day. The morning and night feedings are the only 'full' feedings, the other two, before each nap, are 'half' feedings. For about a month now we have really increased the solid foods. Some of the fresh and home made food he eats include avocados, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, yogurt, pears, and bananas. I also feed him some commercially prepared foods including puffs (kind of like cheerios), instant oatmeal, and jarred combination meals that have a nice variety (beef, poultry, beans, fruits, veggies). Tyler will eat everything I give him, but definitely shows a preference for the sweet fruits, which I try to 'dilute' with pumped milk and oatmeal.

I used to pump every night before I went to bed but I stopped this about 2 weeks ago because I was not getting much and I don't wake engorged any more. I now go to bed no later than 10 pm, earlier if I can because Tyler wakes at 6 am or earlier every morning. But I cannot complain too much about this early wake up time because he goes to bed at 6-7 pm and does not wake until 6 am. And considering he has been sleeping 10-12 hours at night, I consider myself pretty lucky in the sleep department.

Tyler started belly-crawling at 8 months old. Since then he has gotten a little faster but he does not crawl on all fours. Sometimes he gets up on his hands and knees and rocks like he is trying to figure it out. When he first started crawling on his belly he really dragged on his stomach and his little pants slid off his little butt. Cute at first but it got annoying, so now I dress him in one-piece outfits.

Merry Christmas from the Schultz Family

I hope this Christmas "card" finds you well.  Things have been pretty busy here!  The year 2011 has been a memorable one for us. Here is a quick recap. 

This morning Tyler said "Mama" to me when I came in his room.  And then he blew a big raspberry at me. 

On another note, his naps have been pretty short or non-existent ever since he started crawling.  And this has made night sleep hard for us too, with him waking up crying every hour or so from 7pm to midnight. 

Yup. He's mobile.

Tyler started crawling.  Well, he's not really crawling, he is dragging himself with his arms.  He's slow and gets tired out quickly but it's a start.  And he only goes after something he knows he's not allowed to have, like my laptop. We've got one room babyproofed, but we have a lot more work to do around the rest of the house!

Happy 8 months, Tyler!

See my youtube page

Wave Hi!

Tyler just learned how to wave "hello" and he has been sitting up without propping on this hands for about a week.

From Tyler 6-9 Months

Tyler 6-9 Months

(Almost) 8 Month Update

Wow! Tyler is almost 8 months old.  He is a joy and I feel like this is a really fun age.  He is always happy and sleep problems are minimal.  And no, he is not crawling yet, which seems the be the most common question I get right now.  But he can sit without using his hands to prop himself at least for a few seconds before toppling over. While playing he enjoys laying on his stomach and can scoot around and reach for toys.  And when he sees something he really wants he can roll towards it.  So he seems pretty content with his physical abilities.  I don't think he will be crawling by Christmas but I have been told that things can change quickly.