Blog Slacker

This year's blog book is going to be the shortest one yet. I can never seem to get enough time on the computer to blog. It looks like I have become a once a month blogger. Better than nothing, I guess!

The boys are both doing great. They are at great ages and so much fun to be around, for the most part :)

Zach is a busy three year old who has TONS of questions. He says the funniest things and is always asking WHY. We are having fun doing summertime things like going to the pool, playing outside and meeting up with friends at playgrounds, the zoo or the farm. School is over for the summer but Zach is going to a friend's house once a week for a little camp with his friends and teacher from school. Other than that, it's all mommy all the time. He is a Mama's boy for sure! Zach is so much fun to be around and is always making us laugh.

Tyler is 9 months old which I think is a fun age. He is starting to move around but is not yet crawling. He loves going to the pool and splashing in the water. Tyler likes to be around other people. I think he gets bored with just me when we are at home. He is still a high maintenance little guy. He has been since day one :) He likes to be where the action is. If I leave him in a room by himself, he usually cries. Tyler is happiest when Zach is playing with him. He loves his big brother and I think the love is mutual. He claps his hands and has a lot to say. Pretty soon we are going to have two chatty kids on our hands. At least they will be able to talk to each other.

We recently visited NY where we saw a lot of my family. Both boys were such great travelers. We all stayed in a hotel room and survived. The boys actually slept great. We all shared a king sized bed :) Mimi and Grumpa were in the room right next to us. My family was SO happy to get to see the boys. Tyler got to meet his GREAT grandparents for the first time. Such lucky little boys!!

Out and About

We've been keeping busy lately. Zach loves going special places and Tyler is at a great age where he just hangs out in his stroller no matter where we are. Both boys love being out and about. We've gone to the zoo a few times, the playground and we also visited the Boston Aquarium. Zach loved being in the city. He enjoyed looking at all of the big buildings. He also loves going on the highway, through tunnels and over bridges. Every time we get into the car, he asks: "Are we going on the highway?" We have to take him on the train soon. He'll LOVE that!



In the big city...Waiting to go into the aquarium...

Both boys checking out the penguins...

At the zoo with Quan...Climbing a tree...At the zoo with Mimi...Getting soaked in a fountain...With Mama at the zoo...SO happy...

LOVE

Painting is Fun!

Painting with a little truck... Artist... Cool tracks...Beautiful artwork...

More Peas Please!

Getting started...

Ready to eat... Yummy... All gone... Zach loves peas, too...

6 months and 5 days

Today, Tyler is the exact same age (6 months and 5 days) that Zachary was when we met him in Vietnam. To honor this day, Tyler is wearing the same outfit Zach wore on that special day :)

A Little About Tyler Cole

Tyler turned 6 months old yesterday. What a big boy! In four short days, Tyler will be the same age that Zachary was when we picked him up in Vietnam. Tyler is doing very well these days. Since the day he turned 5 months old, he has been a different baby. He is happy most of the time. Full of smiles, laughs and many different sounds. He doesn't seem as strong as Zachary was at this age but I think that is because he was held for the first 5 months of his life. We had to do something to keep him happy :0) Tyler is just starting to sit on his own, although he usually falls forward. He has never been a big fan of being on his tummy, so he only gets short tummy times throughout the day. He does love to play with his toys. And he puts everything in his mouth! He rolls over from his back to his belly but not from his belly to his back yet. Tyler's most favorite person in the world is his big brother! Tyler can watch Zachary run around and play all day. He smiles and laughs at Zach all the time. He also pulls Zach in close to him and tries to eat various parts of his face. Of course, Zach enjoys every second of it! Tyler has never been a great sleeper, although he is getting much better. He spent the first 5 and a half months of his life sleeping either in the bouncy seat or the swing in our bedroom. Now, he is in his room in the crib and I am working on sleep training him. He sleeps flat on his back and barely moves for hours. He will do 6 to 7 hours, eat, then 3 or 4 more hours. MUCH better than the every two hours he was doing! And he takes two 2 to 3 hour naps each day. His sleep seems to change a lot so hopefully this nap schedule will stick around for a while! Tyler probably weighs close to 16 pounds. He's not huge, which I like because neither is Zachary. He fits in 6-12 month clothes and is now wearing hand me downs from his big brother. It is so cute seeing Tyler in some of Zachary's old clothes! Tyler it still breastfeeding. He does get one bottle of hypoallergenic formula before bed at night. Mostly because he is so sensitive to what I eat and if he has too much gas, it wakes him up. We also recently started solids. I made him quinoa cereal which he really likes and it is super healthy for him. He has also tried avocado and sweet potato. I am adding a new food every three days or so. I am going to try to make all of his baby food. He has such a sensitive stomach, so I think it will be better for him. I make a bunch and freeze it in ice cube trays. It works out well. It's so much healthier, less processed and less expensive. Zach usually tries it all, too :)

Well, that's our little man in a nutshell. Here are some recent shots...

Sitting up...Hanging with Zach...With Mommy, wearing a hand me down outfit...Playing in the crib with Zach...

Daddy's first time feeding Tyler...Cute, avocado face baby...