Mr. Mom

Anthony got to play "Mr. Mom" this week. While Anthony has helped take care of Tanner before, it was more like for a few hours here and there while I went to run errands...but never for an entire day. I had to work this week - and Anthony had the entire week off - so it only made sense for him to watch Tanner.

At first Anthony was worried he wouldn't know what to do with Tanner for an entire day and that he'd get bored being at home. So when I came home, I wasn't sure what I would see. But to everyone's amazement, I walked in and Tanner was lauging and giggling when Anthony was making these silly faces and sounds. He said they had a good time together and he really enjoyed it...but not enough that he wants to quit dental school and be a stay-at-home dad. Thanksgoodness!

But Anthony still hadn't showered by the time I came home... He said he figured there was no point if he's not going out anywhere - which is funny cause I've said the same thing before, but that was when Tanner was first born when I was still overwhelmed and sleep devrived. Anthony, on the other hand, didn't have a very good excuse cause Tanner pretty much slept over 4 hours - which is like a world record for him!

The best part about having Anthony at home - I can sleep in. All this week Tanner has been wide awake at 6:00 in the morning. So after I try everything to get him back to sleep, Anthony will take him and entertain him while I catch another hour or two of sleep. It's been so so nice. And as another added perk, he even had time leftover to do laundry and dishes. I could get use to this!

Twilight

I knew that if I didn't go see it with Chelsea on opening day, she would go without me. So after work and a wedding reception and before we left for College Station, I squeezed in a movie!

I won't spoil the movie for you, but the best part was when Edward called Bella a Spidermonkey! But overall, the book is still so much better. You can't capture half of the story line in the movie. And while the actor grew on me, Edward just wasn't the same as I'd pictured in my head. He's just not cute or perfect enough to be Edward. But I did like Bella in the movie.

I was suprised at how well spread it is. Everyone knows about it and is talking about it. When I was talking about all the girls at work about it on Friday, all of them knew about it, had read all the books, and even one of them had already gone to see it on Thursday night at 12:01 - she's totally die hard. I guess I'm just use to not having anything in common with my co-workers :)

I wasn't exposed until this summer. I was on bedrest before I had Tanner so my sister-in-law- Cheryl let me borrow the books so I would have something to do. But she did warn me that I would be hooked as she's read them over and over. So if you haven't already - go read the books!

Road Trip!

We took Tanner on his first road trip! Ok, so the trip was less than 3 hours away, but we've never taken Tanner any further than Denton and wasn't sure how he'd handle the road. We went to College Station to visit Anthony's sister Kristie, her husband Devin, and baby Madison.

We left early Saturday morning. Tanner woke us up at 6:30 and shortly after we were on the road. I was thinking he would sleep the entire time, but he had other ideas. He did sleep the first hour, but was in the back seat next to him to play with him. For a moment, he was getting anxious so we tried to pull over so I could feed him, but it was a little difficult being in the car where he had too many distractions - so he was no interested in eating. And he ended up falling asleep for the last 30 minutes of the ride. While Tanner slept ok in the car, he thought he had enough to last him the entire day cuz after that he didn't want anything to do with taking a nap. It's a little more difficult when he doesn't have his crib, but still.

We went on a quick tour on Downtown Byran to see the Christmas lights (although not nearly as impressive as SLC), ate ice cream at DQ (well - I should say all of us except for Anthony - his was dropped on the ground accidentally - but he attempted to resurect it), played Farkle in which Kristie creamed everyone, and decorated Christmas sugar cookies. Tanner seems like such a little baby compared to Madison - who is pretty much walking, eating solid foods, sleeping through the night, doing her little baby talk. Madison is about to turn 1 and it's just amazing how many things kids learn to do in their first year of life - and yet so many things to look forward the next year too. Tanner enjoyed watching Madison play with everything - lucky for me, he's still pretty immobile. When they got close to each other, a few times they would try to hug and kiss (or should I say slobber) on the other.

Our visit was short and sweet as we had to turn around the next day to come home. But we had fun and so it was worth every moment. Even though they're just a few hours away, we don't see them nearly enough. And Kristie is such a good mom - creative, fun, organized - you name it. And Devin is a great dad too. I guess now that I have Tanner, I just pay more attention to how parents interact with their kids and always looking for good ideas. As you can tell...I'm still learning.

But we had to leave Sunday night so I could get to work the next day. We left Sunday evening at 7:00 - and after 5 minutes - Tanner was asleep the entire way. Yeah! Overall, the best part about the weekend was just being able to relax and spend some good quality time together as a family. Tanner and Anthony - my two favorite men and I just can't get enough of them.

Looking back, I wish I would have gone to see the musical "Jekyll and Hyde" that Devin was a part of. When Kristie first asked, I didn't really want to have to leave Tanner with someone he didn't know. Bedtime can be pretty tricky - especially when he's not at his own house. And I had such a busy week that I wanted to spend as much time with him as possible. After seeing Devin getting ready for the show, doing his make-up, and seeing clips of the musical made me wish I could have gone to see it. If Devin is ever in another production again, we're totally there.

Thanks Kristie and Devin for the fun weekend!

One little finger...

Two littele fingers...

Three little fingers...

Four little fingers...

So far this is the number Tanner has managed to fit in his mouth all at one time. He still loves to play with them. Sucking his fingers isn't quite the right term - it's more like gnawing or chewing on them. Some days I've convinced that he most be teething, but that's prob at least a few months away...according to Anthony.

The shirt says it all!

This is the story of my life right now. Tanner seems just to wake up more and more every night - thereby severally limiting my precious beauty sleep each ninght. While he does always go back to sleep, he usually wakes up anywhere from 3-5 times a night. By 4 or 5 in the morning, I'm usually so tired that Anthony tries to pacify him w/ the pacifer, but the magic of the pacifier is slowly diminishing as Tanner holds out for more the real goods - more milk. So what ends up happening is both Anthony and I aren't getting any real sleep!

People keep saying that one day they'll just sleep through the night - but I wondering how much longer do I have to wait? And in the meantime, how many bad habits am I establishing that I'll just have to break later?

But as a positive note, sometimes I just love this time with him. He'll just fall asleep in my arms and I just have to hold him a few extra minutes - or sometimes longer. I've been known to fall asleep on the couch too. But I just love to stare at my baby in amazement and remember how precious he is.

PS - This is what I pray for every night.

Picture Day

Well, older kids always have picture day at school every year, but why can't younger kids too? Do you ever feel like your kids are so cute that you end of snapping tons of pics of them? Well - I do all the time - and hence the millions short of him in this outfit in one sitting. I love sweater vests - and who says they don't make cute little boy clothes? Now granted, you do have to look harder for them, but there's still plenty out there.

In just a minute, he makes tons of expressions, but my favorite are the open mouth smile with the tongue sticking out. This is the latest specialty from Tanner. He just loves to smile with his tongue.

4 Months!

I just LOVE this stage! Tanner is just so cute and adorable. I know I keep saying that, but it's true! And he knows it too...just look at these pics. He just loves the attention. I just hate to put him down and love spending every minute with him. I love to just sit and chat with him. He just basks in all the attention - smiling, squeling, and laughing in delight. When he gets really excited, he does this kinda bashful/shy laugh where he turns away and crunches up his body and smiles. One of these days I'll try to get it on camera.

He also is full of expressions, whether happy or sad. Right before he starts to cry, he sometimes has a frown on his face and he looks so sad - anyone couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

Fingers

Nothing has changed, Tanner is still obsessed with his fingers. Instead of being satisified with one of them, he's still trying to figure out how to get them all in his mouth. But they are his favorite toy and keep him plenty pre-occupied.

Bath time!

Tanner still loves his baths...and it might possible be the favoite part of the day. He just kicks and splashes all over the place. Mommy and Daddy are usually wet too once he is done with his bath. I think he's outgrown his infant bath tub, but he's so active I can't imagine trying to keep ahold of him any other way. He gets a nervous when there's water on his face and immediately tenses his entire body, but a second later he's back to splashing away.

When his bath is over, he knows it's bed time. He's not happy again he gets to eat and lay down in his bed. But it makes it so easy to lay him down at night...he practically puts himself to bed.

More Halloween Pics!

I just can't get enough of all these cute Halloween pics of Tanner! On Halloween night, we visted a few of our close neighbors. He was really tired so we only made it to a few of our friends house, but that was all I was wanting to do anyhow. We didn't really "trick or treat" cause I refused to take the candy - we all knew I would end up eating it. And the rest of the night we stayed at home and handed out candy to all the other little kids. We have lived in our house for almost 4 years and this was the first year we were actually at home on Halloween night.

The next night we went to a Halloween Party with some of Anthony's friends he grew up with. It was a costume party - and as a last minute spur of the moment idea - we decided to dress up as each other. I found a maternity outfit that fit him. He had several conditions - like no make up. And we couldn't find a wig, but I did find a bright pink head band that topped it off. And of course he stuffed his shirt with some socks just like any other 12 year old girl. He thought all the clothes were very revealing and showed each part of his body - but welcome to the world of being a girl. And overall, he pulled it off and looked very cute! Anthony refuses to let me post any pics. Tanner stayed at home with Aunt Katelynn. She's the baby of the family so I don't think she's ever babysat a little kids before, let alone a baby. She actually volunteered & did a great job with him - thanks Katie!

Rollover Beethoven! - Nov 1st

Tanner was exactly 4 months old when he mastered the art of rolling over. He was so cute!! When I placed him on his tummy, he immediately kept rolling over and smiling. He just kept doing it and doing it - like 6-7 times in a row. I thought for sure I would be able to get it on tape. And I did, but my camera ran out of memory and didn't save it. So you'll just have to settle for his sub-par performance. He still is so close - he rocks to one side and then the other. But at this point, he was just getting bored with it.

Big Boy Tanner! - Nov 3rd

Tanner had his 4-month check up today. And it just confirmed what I already knew - Tanner is just a big little boy!

So here's some statistics - just in case you're curious:

Weight - 17 lbs, 1 oz - 90th percentile
Height - 26.5 inches - 93rd percentile
Head - 42.2 cm - 50th percentile

I love his peditrician. She always makes be feel so much better about everything (I tend to worry too much).

Lately I've been obsessing about trying to get Tanner to sleep through the night. He really hasn't made any significant process, but usually goes anywhere from 5-7 hours between one feeding. But he usually goes to bed at between 7-8 so I'm usually still feeding him 2 times a night. And when I have to get up early for work, it's not fun. Last week was hard for me. Do you ever have those weeks when even the smallest of tasks seems daunting? For me, it's usually just a sign that I need more sleep. I was very thankful for the extra hour we all got with day lights saving.

But Dr Curtis reassured me that the average baby only sleeps 6-7 hours a night...and not the 10 like I keep hoping one day he'll just magically do. And I still can't seem to bring myself to let him cry it out yet, but she said oftentimes parents create a bigger headache for themselves as they don't follow through with it (i.e. they let their kids cry for 30 minutes but then finally give up and rescue them) - which only further reinforces the crying. I'm not quite ready to try this approach, but I've learned that you can never say never as a parent - desperation can easily change your percention.