Happy Birthday Tyler Tamene!

Tyler meets Jack and Morgan for the first time!

Tyler meets Grandma Josie and Pauly for the first time!

Tyler meets Pa Pa for the first time!

Jan meets Tyler for the first time!

Grandma Linda and Tyler meet for the first time!

Today, our little guy is one year old!! Happy birthday my sweet baby boy!

It's a day filled with mixed emotions and thoughts of Ethiopia. We have decided it is in the best interest of our family to not discuss Tyler's birth history publicly. It is HIS story to learn first and then for him to share if he wishes. We will begin to introduce his life story to him more and more as he gets older. We get a lot of questions about why he was relinquished and our basic and honest answer is his family loves him more than anything but was not in a position to care for his basic needs. Please keep your thoughts to Ethiopia today as we celebrate his day of birth.

I realize it has been a really long time since I blogged more than a simple picture. I hope to share more often!! Tyler is doing wonderfully! He is truly attaching and bonding very well. He has learned to snuggle and cuddle in to us...which is an amazing feeling! He babbles and screeches all the time! He says: Hi, Da Da, Uh-Oh, Up, Awwww, and mmmm for kisses. He loves to eat -- and is loving his stage 2 meals like apples and chicken, cereal and fruit, and veggies! He is learning to take small bits of table food but it will be a little more time for him to master. He likes puffed rice cereal and plain cheerios so we're moving in the right direction! I may try dry toast bits next...he loves to play...LOVES to play! He crawls around after Jack and Morgan with lightening speed! He's a belly crawler and it couldn't be cuter! He is learning to pull up to stand and walks, rather runs when you hold two hands. He can cruise the couch and is quite the dare-devil! He will just turn around and try to walk -- even though he flops to the ground!!

Happy birthday to Tyler, we love you!!!!!!

Video of Tyler Chomping on Some Puffed Rice...

Tyler has been eating very well these days! He has moved on to 3 jars of stage 2 foods a day and loves almost everything! He likes peas the best!! I tried some puffed rice cereal just to see where he was with his fine motor and he did quite well! His face is priceless...

Referral Photos :)

Since I couldn't share them back then, I want to share them now...these are the very first photos we saw of our little man. I stared at his little face wondering so much about him...it was hard to tell his actual size in these pics! He was 8.5 lbs here and 4 months old...

Here he is now, at 16 lbs and 8 months old :)

Another Trip to the Doctor...

Even though Tyler's fever was gone we ended up back at the Peds office yesterday! After picking up Morgan from preschool I noticed Tyler's spot on his arm was getting bigger and I could see a yellow liquid under the skin. I called the office and realized they were at lunch. I was going to give it until 1:30 and call again. At 1:29 the phone rang and it was our pediatrician! She was calling to check on Tyler. I told her my concerns about the state of his arm and she said we needed to come in and have it drained and sent for testing. She put me on the phone with scheduling and I said 3:30 would work perfectly for us! I called Jason and explained the situation...he was releived we were going to have it tested. Our main source of anxiety was how I would manage all 3 on my own for the first time at the doctor!

Planning a trip in the car with a busy preschooler, a non-amblitory 55 lb 7 year old, and a teeny baby takes some planning...and guts. I have to take them one at a time...Morgan goes first, and along with that first trip to the car I take my purse, the diaper bag, and Jack's mode of transportation. That day it was the convaid stroller, or as we call it here, the blue stroller. Morgan gets buckled in her carseat in the way back of the minivan. Meanwhile, inside the house, Tyler is in his crib and Jack is obsessively yelling, Ma ma, MA MA, MOMMY, GOOOO to CAR!!! Over and over....so next, I take Jack to the car. It feels like the longest walk ever! He is getting so big and long I have a really, really hard time carrying him down the steps and to the driver's side of the car. He gets buckled in and i head back to the house for Tyler. I make my final trip to the car and buckle him in his seat. Out of breath and sweating already i hop in and we make our way.

We get to the peds office and this time Jack has to come out first because i cant lift him while i am carrying Tyler or get to Morgan's seat. So out comes the stroller, i heave our big guy in and hang the diaper bag on the back of the stroller. Then i climb in to the back of the van and get Morgan. Then we go over to Tylers side and i have Morgan hold the door to the van as I get Tyler into the baby carrier I wear on my chest.

So we made it! I am feeling pretty good...proud of myself for doing it! It takes more maneuvering and strategy to get across the parking lot and in to the office. That door is awkward and HEAVY! I managed with only running over Morgan's foot once and get us signed in. I love the staff at our peds office. They are always so helpful and genuinely love to see the kids!! Jack had to stay in his stroller which can be a tantrum point for him but this time he was calm and listened to me very well. Morgan was such a big girl and also listened very well. It was so helpful that they were both such angels during the visit!

Jack and Morgan sat in the exam room and were making conversation with the nurse (our favorite one!!!) and then the dr. came in. She agreed that it was larger and ready to be lanced. I will spare the details but it sure did drain. She collected a sample and cleaned the wound and gave me instructions to use peroxide, saline wash, antibacterial ointments, gauze and bandages twice a day and to let it breathe overnight while he is sleeping. We will have the preliminary results on Saturday. And we watch it...it seems that some fluid is back this morning and i know that was one of her concerns so I will call if it gets worse.

On a great growing note, Tylernis over 15 lbs now. He came home just shy of 11 lbs. Seriously, this kid is a growing machine!! His growth curve isn't a curve, it's a straight line UP! I will have to post it somehow, it's amazing! On bonding growth news, he is really bonding with us. At the dr. the nurse held him while i washed my hands after the proceedure and he could not keep his eyes off of me. When I turned to take him from her, he stretched his arms out and nearly leaped from her arms into mine!! He snuggled in to my chest, and calmed down. Such a good feeling!

Sweet Baby Tyler Update!

Blood work and an antibiotic! If it gets worse, then she will take a sample from it to send to the lab.

The dr. is stumped because an injection site infection should have happened sooner (more like 2 weeks later, and not 6 weeks later). It's definitely infected! She said he may need IV antibiotics if his white cell count is super high...we should know more at the end of the day when his labs come back!! I hope that is NOT the case!! The hospital is the last place I want to be :(. I will keep you posted!!!! He is feverish and sleeping now, the poor kiddo!!!! My mother is going to get his meeds as soon as they are ready! Yay for grandma!!!!

Home two weeks...

So now that we're home two weeks we are settling in to a routine. Of course now Jack is out of school so that changes things a bit -- but hey what's life at our house without change ;)

Tyler is doing amazingly well. He is adjusting and happy. He has appropriate reactions to things -- cries when hungry or uncomfortable, looks to be held and gets our attention with smiles and coos. He loves Jack and Morgan and is really becoming attached to mommy and daddy too. He loves to play and is practicing blowing raspberries and trying so hard to make consonant sounds! He has certainly found his voice this week!

He is rolling both ways, and loves tummy time. Tummy time is a favorite for the entire family! He gets his head up high and can keep that position for a while before getting tired. He can sit propped with both hands and is gaining a lot of strength in his trunk! When he first came home he was quite floppy and although he had excellent head control, he prefered to rest against us almost always...now he squirms and kicks his legs, and reaches out to us or for toys. He has come a long way already!

He is eating very well and just last night we had a small realization. His BM's were still yucky, his belly still distended, and he was spitting up a lot too. We were waiting on his stool cultures last week and thankfully they came back A-OK! So no bacterial infections, parasites, etc., but then why were his BM's sooo yucky (mucousy, watery, etc.)? I remembered reading a long time ago that Ethiopian (and other African) children tend to be lactose intolerant. Jason made the suggestion that perhaps we try soy formula...so he ran to Wal-Mart and picked up Parents Choice Soy -- and we gave him his first all soy bottle this morning. By the 3rd bottle today his BM's were NORMAL, NO spitting up, and NO huge belly! So, I think we found our culprit! He was not tolerating his formula and tolerates Soy extremely well so far. We may never know if it was a true lactose intolerance or what exactly it was but for now we'll stick to Soy and after his first birthday we'll slowly introduce dairy (yogurt, cheese, etc.) and go from there.

We were looking at pictures from when I first walked through the door with Tyler and realized he looked so scared and confused for the first few days! He would retract his shoulders and scowl quite a bit -- and that has completely disappeared now that he's been with me for 3 weeks and home with the family for 2 weeks. Now Tyler is just so happy and content (even with weeks of tummy issues!!) and he is showing his trust in us and we are falling for him pretty hard too ;)

Big Boy!

Last week -- the day we got home -- I had to take Tyler to the doctor's office because of the diaper situation he had been having in Ethiopia (BMs that were nothing but water). It was determined that some cultures were needed and we were instructed to keep him hydrated and to call if he got worse. He got much better (still not 100% and still waiting on the cultures). A few days in to the week he started taking more and more of his formula...and fast forward to today and he's currently taking 7 bottles that are 7 ounces each. That's 49 ounces of formula in 24 hours!!

He had a well child visit today and we found out he gained ONE POUND in just ONE WEEK! I asked the pediatrician if she felt that was too much formula and she said "No way! He's catching up!!" so that's the final word! He can start solids once a day but she wants him to keep taking as much formula as possible. We are also starting his immunizations over again -- so today he had two injections (one in each leg) and we go back in 6 weeks for another weight check and more immunizations. In 3 months more bloodwork. She also looked at the tiny pimples he has on his face and scalp and wants us to leave them be for now. If they spread or get worse we are to call her.

So that's if for our littlest Wilhelm! I am SO READY for the weekend! We are taking it easy and just going to enjoy being a family of 5 ;) We most likely won't have any visitors -- we're still catching our breath over here!

Have a great weekend!