Overnight Getaway

 For a while now we have talked about taking Tyke to the zoo.  We had hoped to go in the spring time, before I was way pregnant and miserable but life got too busy and we kept putting it off.  As summer winded down and cherry season ended I told Chad that we needed a little weekend getaway BAD!  He agreed!  And so, I booked us a room in Salt Lake (which is kind of lame considering it's only an hours drive away) and we took Friday off from work.  We were loaded and gone by 10 a.m.  Tyke napped the entire drive which was probably a good thing.  He was well rested and ready to run once we got to the zoo.  We arrived just before noon and checked out all of the animals.  We only missed one building in our adventure but that's OK.  Tyke loved the zoo!

The leopard wanted him for lunch (it was eery how he looked at Tyke and none of the other kids, he seriously wanted to grab him!), and the gorilla freaked Tyke out.  He was sitting right at the window watching the kids and being so calm.  Tyke eventually warmed up and waved at him.  We finished off our zoo experience with a little train ride that was the highlight of Tyke's day!  As soon as our ride was over the rain started up and we left for our hotel.  Our timing couldn't have been better!

We stayed at the Little America.  Our room wasn't all that great but it did the job.  It rained so hard the rest of the day and night.  We enjoyed relaxing and napping with the sliding door open so we could enjoy the cool breeze and rain storm.  Around 5:30 p.m. we decided to go and find some dinner.  We ate at Tucanos at the Gateway.  Tyke has never ate better than he did that night.  He ate and ate and ate and tried so many different things (no chicken hearts for him though, nice try Daddy!) but he really chowed down on pasta in Alfredo sauce, mashed potatoes, and watermelon.  He even ate a little bit of meat that was brought by our table.  Chad and I were done eating long before Tyke was.  We sat at our table an extra twenty to thirty minutes while he finished up his meal.  We were both impressed!

The next morning we wasted no time getting out of Salt Lake.  We stopped at a Village Inn for breakfast, and once again Tyke pigged out on his meal.  Afterwards we headed to Riverton to the Holman Family Reunion.  We bought tickets for the Ruby's Raffle and Tyke won big!  He won treats galore, a coloring book and crayons, a mini basketball, Nemo go-fish cards, and a Mickey Mouse story book!  After the raffle was over it was time to get serious and win some money.  A tarp was layed out with a big pile of sawdust on it.  Underneath all of that sawdust was candy and $100 in quarters!  Tyke killed it and walked away with two small bags full of candy and quarters ($23.50 to be exact!).  

After the reunion we worked our way home stopping at a few places to shop and doing some grocery shopping as well.  It was a much needed little vacay but we were so glad to be back home!

Salamander!

Chad was mowing the lawn tonight and somehow managed to see a salamander struggling in the grass.  He was within inches of running it over.  He came in the house and got us to come and see.  Tyke was pretty excited about it until I put it in his hand and then he started to freak out a little bit.  I was afraid he was going to squish it like a bug (because he likes squishing bugs) but he was fairly gentle with it.  We put the salamander in a cup of water and sat it where he could do what he wanted.  When we checked on him later he was gone.  

Millers Flat

We were able to squeeze another camping trip in before summer ends.  Chris and Danielle invited us to camp with them up Fairview canyon in Millers Flat.  We had a great time and and ate some really yummy food (as always!).  We were able to get a little bit of fishing in even though we never caught anything (we've had no luck at all all summer with the fishing).  Tyke had a blast having his own fishing pole to play in the water with.  He thought it was fun to try and play swords with me and my pole.  He had so much playing his little heart out the entire weekend.  He played in the dirt, played with the remote control car, and got really brave/adventurous with riding his bike.  He made motorcycle sounds while driving through every hole he could find.  We had a great time and we're glad we were able to go!  We'll probably only get one more trip in this year before the baby arrives, summer is winding down and so is this Momma!

19 Months Old

Our little guy is 19 months old now!  He is getting quite the little personality and has turned into a sassy little toddler overnight, I swear!  He's still a sweetheart but he definitely has a naughty, sassy side.

Tyke does really well at entertaining himself.  He loves to play with his toys and he loves it even more when he has friends to play with.  He plays well with others for the most part but he's starting to turn into a little bully.  If someone else has what he wants he will go after it and fight for it.  We're trying our hardest to teach him to share and take turns but it's hard when he has so much competition and they bully him here and there too.  Tyke loves playing with his trucks, tractors, farm animals and trains.  He is so obsessed with trains lately!  He also spends a lot of time riding his Strider bike around the house and yard.  He loves that things and he is getting more and more brave at how he rides it.  He loves making motorcycle noises (which I'm guessing he learned from playing motorcycle games on his Daddy's phone) and "revving" the engine before plowing into the couches or cupboards.  He hits them so hard his back tire pops off the ground a good six inches or so!  He then backs up and does it again, repeatedly.  It's quite entertaining to watch but he is almost a little too wild for this Momma to handle watching!  He's wild and gets goofy while riding and will eventually "crash" his bike and fall off, very dramatically.  He lays his bike down, sits down on it, says "ohhh" and then tips back and rolls across the floor until he's done "falling off".  It's so funny to watch!  Tyke is definitely a little character!

Tyke has started to hold my hand a lot lately.  He will climb up on the couch, or wherever I'm sitting, and grab my hand, intertwine his fingers in mine, and sit and hold my hand.  He'll keep looking up at me and smiling.  The other night he even came over to me while I was cooking dinner and grabbed my hand and held it while leaning his head against my leg for a hug.  It totally melts this Momma's heart!!!  I can't get enough of it!

Our little guy KNOWS how to get our attention.  He will repeat "mom" or "dad" a hundred times if he has too!  He will stay stuck on repeat, no matter how many times we say "what?" until we look him in the eye and say "what" at the same time.  Sometimes he will even pat our shoulders at the same time.  Smart little stinker!  He's constantly calling out for us to watch him do a new trick or to point out something of interest to him.  He's captain obvious when it comes to a lot of things but it's adorable and we love that he thinks his little world is important enough to share with us.  I'll bet we hear our names call a few hundred times a day!  It never gets old for him, but for us, well... Seriously though, we love it!

Tyke's vocabulary continues to grow.  He tries his hardest to repeat things when we ask him too, most of the time with success.  There are a few things he says and does that we have no idea where he learned them but I'm sure it's from hanging out with all of his cousins.  A few new words/phrases are: "ba" (bath), "bed" (for night night time the "d" is silent when he says it), "fla" (flag, he gets so excited every time he sees the American flag), "pee" (when he has to go potty), "moo-eee" (when he wants us to play a movie in the car, which is every time we go for a ride, no matter how short or long), "dar-ee" (sorry, which he says instantly when we say "ow"), "Dare-O" (Darian), "ugh-ta" (when he insists on us taking something he's offering), "hop-hop" (for chocolate milk because of the bunny on the container.  He even tries to jump but never quite gets his feet off the ground).  "MINE!" is a favorite, he says it with attitude and he hides the item behind his back with a little scowl on his face. "Daaaaa-Ah! (Dad, when he's in trouble, which is often), and my least favorite new word is "Eva!" (Ever=whatever)  He says it with such sass when we get after him for hitting or kicking, etc.  We tell him "No Tyke, that's not nice!" and he swats his hands at us while saying "Eva!"  It's so hard not to laugh sometimes but oh my is it irritating.  He's a stubborn little thing when it comes to disciplining him and we're at a loss with what to do?  He either laughs at us or gives us the "Eva!" attitude.  

Roni-man understands commands and usually listens really well and does them too.  He almost always questions us before diving into his "chores" with a simple: "Yeah?!"  He says it with a smile on his face and in his voice.  Once we reply "yeah" he gets right to work!  When we tell him it's time for dinner he tries to take off his shirt and then tries to climb his high chair.  He still needs lots of help with that.  When we tell him to grab his sippy cup from the other room he runs right to it and brings it right back to us.  He helps me fold laundry by handing me one piece at a time out of the laundry basket, he usually goes too fast for me to keep up and he lets me know it!  He helps make the beds by handing us pillows and/or trying to lift the blankets up to us.  He helps pick up his toys.  He uses his pool noodle horse (a silly little toy we bought at the Pioneer Day celebration and he loves it!) to flip on all of the lights in the house and the ceiling fans.  He is really proud about that task that he can do!  If the fan is already on he gets upset with us because that's his job now!  He can fold his arms (it surprised us the first time he did this because we had never taught him to fold his arms before, not sure who taught him?).  Tyke will turn on the surround sound and bring us the remote control to turn on the TV so he can watch his cartoons.  He thinks he's such a big boy and has to help with nearly everything that we do!  He's always at his Daddy's heels following him around and being his shadow.  We love it!

Tyke has been going pee in the potty for a week now and he does great.  He still has his wet diapers, and he doesn't potty train while at the sitters, but at home he definitely lets us know when he needs to go and if he wants to or not.  He'll come up to us and say, "mom/dad, pee!" and grab himself.  We'll ask if he needs to go and he'll either run to the bathroom and let us help him go or he'll very sternly tell us "no!"  For the most part though, he goes and he does great at it!  He knows the routine and when he's done will dump his potty into the toilet, flush it and then we wash his hands.  He's so smart!!  Other bathroom duties he's good at is getting his bath ready, he loves to check the water temp for us, and brushing his teeth.  The boy LOVES to brush his teeth and we sometimes use it as bribery to get him to do things.

Tyke is growing up so fast!  He is tall and skinny and when he stands next to me his little head is right at my hips.  I have no idea how this happened so fast?!  He's tall enough now that he barely clears the counters in the kitchen so we need to start blocking them so he won't bonk his head when wildly running past.  Tyke is slowly moving into 24 month clothing now, mainly in the jammies department.  He wears 18-24 month jeans and most are floods on him.  He's just so tall!  His t-shirts are starting to get snug which means it's time for this mommy to do some shopping!  Tyke's shoe size is between a 6 and 7 now.  And he's still in size 4 diapers.  He still only has twelve teeth for now.  I sometimes think I can see new ones coming to the surface but he doesn't let me get a good enough look to know for sure.

We sure love our little guy and are having a blast watching him grow and learn each and every day!

30 Weeks

Like last pregnancy, I had to take a picture of myself to document my growing belly.  I'm miserable!  My hips ache, my back aches and my stomach is stretched to the max.  I'm defniitely bigger this round.  Most of my maternity clothes are too tight but I'm too stubborn to go buy more.  Only ten weeks left til our little guy makes his big debut!  I can't wait, we can't wait!

Ultrasound #4

Today we had our fourth and final ultrasound for Baby Long!  Today was a checkup to make sure that our baby boy's cysts on his brain have gone away, and hooray they have!  We felt so relieved to hear and see the good news!  It was so great getting to see our baby boy one last time before he makes his debut.  We're so thankful that we were able to see his healthy little self!

Training Days

I'm not sure who's training who?  Tyke has been amazing with everything so far as he develops and learns and grows.  He weaned himself of his binkie at 9 months old, the bottle at 17 months old, and now he is wanting to potty train, on his own!

Tyke has been showing signs the past few weeks that he doesn't like being in a dirty or wet diaper.  Almost immediately after filling his britches he will come to us and grab his diaper and say, "Mom, pee!" in a sad, distressed little voice, like get it off!  Lately he always lets us know when it's time to be changed!  We have discussed this new adventure and decided that since Tyke is only 18+ months old we won't be pushing the potty training thing anytime soon.  But, because he shows some signs of wanting to we also decided that we won't hold him back either, that we'd buy Tyke a potty chair and let him play with it and get used to the idea so he won't be scared of the chair when the time does come to train.

Saturday we finally bought Tyke a potty chair.  We bought one that is plain with no cartoon characters, the seat comes off so it can be placed on a regular toilet, and it also triples as a step stool.  We figured it would be the best for our little guy.  When we got home we let Tyke play with it and inspect it.  We had a busy Saturday night with the derby so we didn't let Tyke actually try out his new chair.  On Sunday we did and boy were we surprised.  Before Tyke's bath I sat him on the chair so he could try it out.  He was a little hesitant but sat and smiled at me.  I ran some water in the sink and that got things going.  Tyke was super excited, and a bit confused, to have peed in his new chair.  I showed him how we clean it out, I let him flush the toilet, we washed our hands and then went out to the living room to tell Daddy the good news!  Throughout the day Tyke kept running into the bathroom, throwing up the lid, grabbing at his diaper and yelling, "pee!"  We'd cooperate and he'd go pee almost every time!  Five times to be exact!  Twice for me and three times for Daddy!  He still had his wet diapers here and there but for the most part he stayed dried.  We're really not pushing him to be potty trained so quickly, we're just going with the flow.  We're amazed at our little BIG guy!  I still can't believe that at 18+ months old we can now say that he's gone potty in the potty chair.  What a kid!

Demolition Derby!

Our little family of three made it to our annual tradition of going to the Juab Demolition Derby!  This year marked five years for us!  (Five years ago, at the derby, was mine and Chad's first date.  A blind date to be exact!)  We were worried how Tyke would react to the big show because he hates loud noises (remember, he freaked out at the monster truck show at Painter's...)  Earlier in the day on our shopping trip we had bought Tyke his very own pair of ear covers at Sportsman's Warehouse.  He thought they were pretty awesome until he had to wear them and then he wanted nothing to do with them.  Luckily though he cooperated pretty well and we only made him wear them during each heat.  We were lucky enough to get tickets by Aunt Stephanie and her crew.  Tyke had a blast tormenting Callie Jo into sharing her churro with him.  He also enjoyed a slice of pizza for dinner.  Eventually Tyke had had enough of sitting with his Mommy and Daddy and had to climb down a row to sit between Callie Jo and her friend.  To say our little guy is a ladies man, aka flirt, is an understatement!  He was so nice to share his treats with Callie's friend.  It was pretty funny to watch him interact with someone we don't know.  Around 10 p.m. we decided to call it a night and left the derby early.  Tyke was getting restless, Chad was exhausted, and my back was killing me!  All in all it was a great night and we're so glad we were able to go to the derby and keep our little tradition going.  We can't wait until next year!

On The Mend

This croup that Tyke caught has really knocked him down.  Friday he had a good day but once night time hit he started fevering again.  I gave him some Motrin, turned the humidifier on and we went to bed.  He had a fairly peaceful, restful night.  Saturday we up woke and did a few things around the house.  Tyke played fine and acted fine.  Around 2 p.m. we loaded up in the truck and headed up Ephraim canyon looking for firewood.  Tyke's nose started running like crazy and he sneezed a lot and coughed a lot.  We figured it was a good thing, a sign that this illness was working it's way out!  Saturday night seemed normal too, but come early Sunday morning, around 1:30 a.m. we all got woken up to Tyke coughing so hard and really struggling to breathe again.  We were worried about him and tried everything at home we could think of before finally throwing in the towel and heading out to the emergency room again.  

We arrived at the emergency room around 2:30 a.m. and they were busy!  We figured we'd have to wait a while before it would be our turn.  Tyke just layed on my chest with the most miserable look on his little face.  He was wheezing and coughing and we felt bad that there was nothing we could do but hold our little guy.  A nice nurse came out to look him over and said he sounded terrible and looked pale.  She took us right back and ordered a breathing treatment for Tyke and informed the on call doctor (Dr. Oveson) what was going on.  Tyke did fairly well with his breathing treatment, considering he cried most of the time again.  His Daddy held him the entire time and that seemed to help a little bit.  Our poor little guy!  Luckily he only needed the breathing treatment and no shots or x-rays this time.  Dr. Oveson spent quite a bit of time with us explaining things and reassuring us that Tyke was on the mend.  He sent us home around 3:30 a.m. with enough medicine to give Tyke two breathing treatments as needed, and four doses (two a day) of steroid through the nebulizer.  As we were leaving the E.R. Tyke, with a sad little face, waved at all of the doctors and nurses and said "thank you."  They all got a kick out of that!  

Sunday morning we woke up around 8 a.m. to Tyke sounding terrible again.  We gave him another breathing treatment and a treatment of steroid and I called up to his pediatricians office to see if there was anything else we could do for our little guy.  There of course wasn't, but I went ahead and made an appointment for Monday morning with Dr. Fullmer to follow up.  Tyke did fairly well the rest of the day and come Monday morning he was sounding pretty good!  Still a little wheezy but his cough was sounding more normal and less barky.  

Our appointment was for 9:20 a.m. in Payson.  We met with Dr. Fullmer and he checked Tyke out.  He definitely still had the croup but his lungs were clear and his ears looked good.  Dr. Fullmer suggested giving Tyke another dose of steroids and luckily this one was oral.  Chad gave it to Tyke and he took it pretty well.  Dr. Fullmer told us this steroid would last for two days and then we should be good to go.  We were also told to NOT give Tyke anymore medicine or treatments during those two days.  

Today Tyke is doing great.  He still has a yucky nose and bad cough but the bark is gone and he just looks like he feels so much better!  We're so glad our little guy is feeling better!

Cherries

On the 29th, after Tyke's well check appointment, we took Daddy to his second job, cherries.  Having Tyke's appointment so late worked out perfectly because we didn't miss any work and we got to go watch the big cherry shaking machines!  Tyke was having a blast pointing out all of the tractors to me.  We had to wait about twenty minutes before we finally could see the cherry shaker that Daddy was working on.  Tyke climbed right on with him and thought he was pretty cool getting to drive and push buttons.  When it was time to leave Tyke didn't want to go!  

It's been a long couple of weeks with Chad working two jobs but we're so thankful he's such a hard worker for our family!  Cherry season 2014 is almost over and we're so ready for it to be done!  We miss our Dadda!

Sick Boy

Tuesday night after Tyke's 18 month well check and working with Daddy at the cherry farm our little guy started running a fever.  He acted fine on the drive home but refused any food, he only wanted his milk.  When we got home he felt really warm to me so I took his temperature and it was just above 99°.  I gave him a bath and a dose of Motrin and he went right to bed.  I figured his fever was just a side effect from his immunizations, though he's never had one before after getting his shots.  I was able to text with Heather Jo and get her advice.  I kept an eye on Tyke and his fever continued to go up.  At around midnight he was measuring around 101°.  Chad got home after 1 a.m. and we, in our sleep, took turns checking on our little guy.  At around 3 a.m. Tyke's fever had hit 103°!  We gave him another dose of Motrin and his fever started to come down.

Wednesday morning he was still fevering around 100° and he was starting to have a slight cough that at times sounded like the dreadful barking cough.  Chad decided to take the day off from work and just hang out with our little guy.  Tyke acted fine and played great all day though you could see in his eyes he just didn't feel good.  His fever lingered between 99° and 100° all day.  We had dinner and Tyke didn't really care too much to eat.  He hadn't eaten or drank very much all day long.  Chad left for work (the cherries job) around 6:30 p.m. that night.  Tyke and I hung out on the couch, he was extra snuggly.  His breathing started to sound a little congested, like he needed to clear his throat, and his barking cough was starting to get worse.  I got him bathed and ready for bed and we layed down to watch cartoons.  He fell asleep quickly but had a hard time getting comfortable.  The only position he would lay in was on his stomach, curled up in a ball.

Tyke was drooling a lot, coughing a lot, and breathing pretty hard and fast at this point.  I text Chad a video so he could see and hear how our little guy sounded.  He told me to call my mom or one of my sisters to see what they thought.  I was able to get a hold of Stephanie and she told me that Tyke sounded like he had croup (she had gone through the same ordeal only a week before with Bowdee).  She suggested we go sit in the bathroom with a hot shower running so that Tyke could breathe in the steam.  Tyke was whiny and miserable at this point.  We sat in the bathroom for fifteen minutes, I almost melted and poor Tyke still sounded terrible.  I got him and myself dressed and said a little prayer before we loaded up and headed out to the emergency room (trip #3 for our little guy this year!).  My poor little Tyke was really struggling at this point and wheezing bad.  I couldn't believe how fast and hard this illness struck him!

I called Grandma Cheryl on the way out to the hospital and she came and met us there.  It was just after 10:30 p.m. when we got Tyke checked in and his vitals taken.  He of course cried the entire time, anything to do with doctors is a bad deal for him.  We were lucky enough to have Dr. Rosenbeck for our ER doctor (we LOVE him!)  and he was quick to come in and assess Tyke.  It didn't take long for him to diagnose Tyke with croup.  He ordered a  breathing treatment, chest x-rays, and a shot of steroids to help Tyke out.  Tyke did well with the breathing treatment even though he cried the entire time.  The respiratory therapist said that it was probably a good thing he was crying so hard because he was really inhaling the vapors hard.  It took less than five minutes for the treatment to be over with.  I got Tyke calmed down and almost to sleep just in time to be taken back for x-rays.  He started freaking out again and to make things even worse I couldn't stay with him because of my pregnancy so he was all on his own.  It was heartbreaking for both of us but I knew he was in good hands.  Dr. Rosenbeck waited in the hallway with me for a few minutes which was nice.  After getting my little Tyke back in my arms it was time for the dreaded shot.  My poor guy, after the immunization the night before I had promised him he wouldn't need another shot for a while, boy am I a liar!  They poked him in his right leg (his immunization had been done in his left) and it took forever to get him calmed down.

Tyke scrame and scrame and neither me or Grandma Cheryl could comfort him.  The nurse finally came in and told us we could walk around the hospital if we wanted, if it would help, and so we did.  We walked down to the fish tank and that did the trick.  We got Tyke calmed down but he refused to close his tired eyes.  I'm sure that in his mind he didn't trust us to go to sleep because every time he tried he got picked on again.  I had him almost asleep when his Daddy came walking down the hall.  Seeing his Daddy is just what our little guy needed.  He perked right up and yelled, "DAD!" and jumped into his arms.  He snuggled Chad and wasn't tired anymore.  His breathing sounded almost normal and he didn't cough very much after that.  Tyke didn't require anymore treatments but we had to hang out at the hospital and be monitored for a while to make sure things were OK.  Eventually Tyke reached for me and snuggled into my shoulder and fell asleep.  Grandma Cheryl went home and shortly after that we got the OK to go home too.  It was 2 a.m. when we finally left the hospital.  As soon as we walked outside Tyke woke up because Life Flight was there and preparing to take off.  We stayed and watched the helicopter leave before heading home for bed.  Of course by then Tyke was wide awake and wanting to run around.  Luckily he fell right to sleep as soon as we climbed into bed.  He slept really well but there was no sleeping in.

Thursday I stayed home from work and Tyke and I took it easy for the day.  Tyke's fever was completely gone.  We were able to take a really long, much needed nap.  Tyke's appetite was back and he ate really well.  As nighttime set in his cough started coming back and the more he coughed the more it started to sounds like the barking cough.  His breathing still sounded fine.  We called it a night and went to bed and ran the humidifier all night long.  Because of all of Tyke's napping he refused to fall asleep until close to midnight.

Today Tyke still has his moments of sounding wheezy and the barking cough but for the most part he is doing great!  His Daddy gave him a vapor bath, rubbed some vicks on him, and ran the humidifier all morning.  Here's hoping our little guy won't have any more trouble from this croup!