What an EdVenture!!

Today Michael had to work, so Tyler and I were going to have the whole day together!  I stumbled across a little program that Bank of America offers to their customers; the first weekend of every month Bank of America customers get free admission to participating museums. Here is the link: Museums On Us Program  In Columbia, the children's museum, EdVenture is included in this program.  We woke up, had some Cheerios and off we went.  The majority of the museum was for kids that are a little older, but they also had a younger section for Tyler to enjoy.

We hung out there for a little while, then headed to the Butterfly Exhibit.  It was so neat to see him watching them fly around and we saw all different kinds of butterflies.  This reminds me of the trips that we took with my grandparents to Calloway Gardens and I am so excited to do things like this with my son. 

After the butterflies, we went back to play a little more, and decided to call it a day since I knew that he was going to crash the second we got in the car...and he did.  Once we came home, he slept for almost two hours.  Hmmm...maybe we'll check this place out the first of every month!

Tyler hit another milestone this week- Michael and I were sitting on the couch one evening while Tyler was playing with his toys, and all of a sudden he crawls over to the couch reaches up for the cushion and pulls himself up!  Of course we didn't catch it on camera, but this afternoon, he did it again...and this time I was prepared.  Check it out!

On the move!

Things I Love

As mysterious as this title is, I'm going to fill you in on some of the things that I love about Tyler.  Other than him working on a third tooth coming in and a fever followed by crankiness, it's been a relatively calm week.  I am completely fine with this and will take it anytime! 

Having a baby has brought a whole new joy to our lives and I wanted to share some of the things that I love about this little guy.

- I love it when... I hear Tyler and Michael laughing together.  It really is the best sound ever!
- I love it when... I can hear Tyler's hands hitting the floor as he is crawling around trying to find me.
- I love it when... I come to pick him up from school and he gives me a huge smile as he is crawling towards me.
- I love it when... He drinks his bottle in our bed in the morning and lets out a big sigh after he finishes.
- I love it when... He entertains himself by playing with his toys for an extended period of time.
- I love it when... I say mama, mama, mama, and he looks at me for a second and says dadadadadadada!
- I will love it when... He says mama as much as he says dada.
- I love it when... He pets Dakota on the paw or snout and smiles.
- I love it when... He giggles if I tickle his feet.
- I love it when... Dakota gives him a kiss on the cheek.
- I love it when... Michael changes his diaper and it's a dirty one- haha.
- I love it when... I see a trail of drool behind him as he crawls around.
- I love it when... he falls asleep with his "lovie" over his eyes (just like his mommy).
- I love it when... he is asleep on Michael's shoulder.
And finally, I love it when someone says hi to him and he smiles, turns his head away, squeezes me and buries his head in my chest.  The absolute best!

Check out my droooooooool...

Just relaxing and drinking my bottle in my jean diapers

On another note, when we were in Atlanta last week, Tyler was finally introduced to his Great Great Aunts, Picky Pic and Helen and his Great Uncle, Mark, along with some other relatives.  It was unfortunate the reason we were all together, but it was so great to see everyone!  Also, Tyler is a wonderful distraction to the stresses in life.  He really can bring a smile to your face regardless of the situation.  The sheer innocence of a child is just another reason why I love my little man!

Tyler and his Great Great Aunt Picky Pic

Tyler and his Great Grandmother Moonie

Tribute to G-Dad

It's been a crazy weekend for the Clelands- I can't believe I haven't posted in over a week!  I received the dreaded call on Friday that my Grandfather, G-Dad as we call him, had passed away in his sleep.  We had been preparing ourselves for this day, but it still hits you like a ton of bricks when it comes.  I don't want this to be a sad post, but yet a happy one reminiscing on the wonderful times that we had with him.

G-dad really lived up to being a "grand" father- always in a good mood and one of the most caring, hardworking and creative people I know.  When we were younger, we would wake up to him cooking us pancakes that spelled out our names (I will definitely be doing this for Tyler) and would always have an arts and crafts project ready for us when we came to visit overnight.  He was also the one who measured our heights on the inside of the hall closet, and we would always stand as straight as possible to give us a little boost, well at least I did!  He made this outstanding bread fondue that we insisted on him bringing to every family get together- did I mention that he also handmade the bread?  He was a fantastic cook and had perfected the art of cooking meat on the grill and smoker.  And we also used to go bowling with him and he would teach us little tricks to improving our game; who better than someone who has bowled a perfect game?  I can hear him now, "follow through on the release and make sure to bring that thumb all the way to your ear." 

I am so fortunate to have such a wonderful grandfather in my life and luckily I inherited a few things from him too, such as my frugalness, devotion to my family and my beautiful little dimple in my chin.  I can't tell you how excited I was to see that Tyler has the same dimple in his chin too :)  I wish that Tyler would have been able to grow up with G-dad, but now I get to tell him stories and show him all of the things that he made- wooden desk clocks, stained glass table lamps, knives, unbelievable grandfather clocks, the list goes on. 
I also have a special bond with G-dad; our birthdays are two days apart (and many years, haha) so we always celebrated together.  Now I suppose I need to celebrate for the two of us? A task that I will gladly accept! 

Classic G-Dad

Moonie & G-Dad's Wedding Day- 10/11/46- 64 years of wedded bliss!

G-dad, I can see you now, playing a round of golf during the day and relaxing at night in your wingback chair, legs crossed, doing a crossword puzzle while checking up on the days changes in the stock market.  Cheers to you for a wonderful 89 years of life and showing us what being a son, husband, brother, father, "grand" father and Great grandfather should encompass!  Moonie (my grandmother) is in good hands and we'll try not to let her shop too much or eat too many sweets.  Love You!

Pops & Rocky

This past weekend Pops and Rocky (my parents) came to visit for a night on their way to the beach.  It was Pops' 60th Birthday, so we did a little celebrating, and Tyler did some showing off of his own.  He crawled all over the house and on Sunday he decided to let us see a new addition: a second tooth on his bottom gum!  Two teeth in one week- talk about excited parents and grandparents.  Here is one of our favorite videos of him on the move:

Sunday morning we were heading out for a stroll on the Riverwalk when we realized that the entire ant population of Columbia wanted to check out every nook and cranny of Pops and Rocky's car.  Happy Birthday Pops- NOT!  I had honestly never seen that many ants in one area, I still feel like they are crawling on me.  So, we took a detour and stopped by the car wash to vacuum out this new little colony.  Twenty minutes and thousands of ants later, we were on our way.  After the walk we had worked up quite an appetite, so off to brunch we went.  DiPratos was on our list of places to eat, and it was delicious!

So not only does Tyler have two teeth now, he is also venturing into the world of finger foods.  For a few months now he has been picking up pieces of food on his own to eat.  I would say that 80% of it ends up in his lap or stuck to various places such as his chin, hand or ear.  Lately when I take him out of the highchair, I only find one or two pieces, so he is definitely catching on.  On Friday we decided to really take him into the big boy world and gave him some chicken.  I was curious how it would go after reading that many kids don't really like the texture (and I didn't want to puree meat- yuck)!  Well, like a true Cleland/Ingraham- he gobbled it up without skipping a beat.  He even showed me how much he loved it!

This Friday is Tyler's nine month birthday- we still can't believe how much has changed in nine months and are so proud and amazed at him growing up to become our little boy.  His check up is Monday and we are excited to see how much he has grown and what is in store for the final three months of his first year.  Is there a pause button anywhere on this kid?

Let Me See That Pearly White!

That's right- I said Pearly White...Tyler's FIRST tooth is finally coming through- YAY!!!  Only took him 8 1/2 months, but I'm fine with that after the night we had.  I noticed on Tuesday when I picked him up from school that he was being unusually fussy.  It continued on throughout the evening; I couldn't put him down for a second or else he would scream.  He is normally a very good baby, doesn't cry or fuss much and definitely doesn't scream unless something is really bothering him.  Of course it was one of the few nights that Michael doesn't get home until 9:30, so fixing dinner was a very tough task with him on my hip.  I also noticed that he was drooling much more than normal, and the poor thing had diaper rash which he rarely has as well.  All the signs were pointing to it, but I didn't feel anything in his mouth. 

I picked him up from school yesterday and came home to a totally different son.  He was smiling and laughing and playing with his toys; he seemed even happier than normal.  I was amazed and relieved at the same time.  So, Michael checked his mouth and sure enough, there was a rigid little tooth barely poking out of the gum!  It is his bottom right front tooth.  We can't really see it yet, but we can definitely feel it and I can't stop imagining how much cuter he will be with one tooth.  I was able to snap a few shots of our little monster to document this big day! 

Trying to show off his invisible tooth

Happy Baby!

So, I'm hoping with every tooth all we have to deal with is one night...but how many teeth do babies get?  As long as they don't come in back to back it shouldn't be to hard to deal with, right?  Now the things that are running through my mind:  is he going to be gnawing on the nice crib furniture that we bought for him, or am i going to catch him chewing on the door frame?  I just keep telling myself to get used to it- kids are walking disaster zones. 

And this brings me to a website that I stumbled across to prepare me for what's to come.  It's called 'Stuff' My Kids Ruined.  Click Here to check out the site.  I know that every parent could tell stories for days about this topic, but some of these are pretty bad.  Numerous broken iPads/computers, ruined tv screens, and lots of flour/milk/peanut butter on the floor.  This one below really made me laugh out loud (not to mention that this baby is huge!!)

                                                 Lil Hulk

This is the caption that was written for the photo:  While in my bedroom putting away laundry, my kids became eerily quiet. I went out to the living room to find my son’s head completely green and my daughter holding food coloring bottles. I of course panicked and starting calling family and friends to help me figure out how to get him clean. I got many laughs while telling the story. After scrubbing for an hour, he did come clean…..and now the food coloring is out of their reach!

Note to self:  Keep all food dye, kool-aid packets, or anything that will stain skin on the very top shelf!

Oh, and if you were wondering, we have self-diagnosed Michael with a mild case of Mono.  (I can hear some of you gasping at the thought of not going to the doctor).  Our nurse friend agreed, and since it is viral the doctors aren't going to prescribe anything.  He is taking a break from exercising and getting more sleep, and mainly staying sanitized and germ free around Tyler.  Luckily I've already had it, so I won't get it again, and babies will have an even milder case of it if caught.  And Tyler is on antibiotics right now for an ear infection.  Gotta keep thing interesting.

Cheers to Tyler for another big step in growing up!!!

Home Away From Home

It's not very often that Michael and I both have a weekend off together to spend with Tyler, but this was one of those weekends.  Our trip to Atlanta was postponed, and Michael was feeling very beach deprived (especially after he saw how much fun Tyler and I had at the Isle of Palms last Sunday).  So, we called our friends Sarah & Andy, who also just had a baby in June, and invited ourselves down for a weekend of sand and sun!  We arrived late Friday night and since Andy's mom was in town visiting, she offered to watch Tyler and Whitney while the new parents could have a night out on the town.  I don't think she will ever realize how grateful we were for this opportunity (thank you again, Julie)!  It has been quite some time since we had an adult night, and boy did we take advantage!  An amazing night of drinks, laughter, dancing and late night pizza- so much fun that I didn't care about going to bed at 4:30am, knowing that I would be in my mommy role two hours later.  Sure enough, 6:30am Tyler is ready to start the day.  Being overly ambitious, he had his bottle and off we went for a morning jog around the neighborhood.  No one believes me that we did this, but I can't just sit around the house with an antsy child and wait for these sleepy heads to wake up.

The Whites and Clelands out on the town



Finally after loading up (which takes forever) we were off to the beach.  Baby Whitney didn't want to mess up her hair, so she stayed behind this time.  Here is a picture of us ready to go.  If you've seen the show "Yes, Dear," that pretty much sums us up.

It was a perfect day- overcast but still ridiculously hot.  The water was cool and the breeze was just enough to keep us from heat exhaustion, lol.  So, of course I had to get some shots of Daddy and Tyler since it was their first time on the beach together.

The fam together for the first time at the beach!  Many more to come.

Gotta protect those eyes in style.

My favorite picture :)

Loving the sand

Later that day we were able to meet up with Aunt Tiffany and Kevin (Michael's sister and her boyfriend) to do a little shopping. Since we worked up an appetite, can you guess what we did next?  Margaritas and Mexican!!!  We wanted to make sure that La Hacienda still had the best margaritas, and they are still at the top of the list.  You can't beat a delicious large margarita after a hot day for $2.99...and believe it or not we only had one.

All in all we had a wonderful and memorable time in Myrtle Beach.  We haven't been able to visit as much as we would like, but hopefully we can change that!  Both of my boys were worn out- Michael took a nap and Tyler slept the whole way home after a busy weekend of playing with Baby Whitney, visiting family and relaxing by the ocean.  Oh, and here's a little foreshadowing for our next post...we think that Michael may have Mono.  Stay tuned!

Beach Bound!!

This past Sunday we were invited down to the Isle of Palms to spend the day with Will (my younger brother), his girlfriend Kathleen, and her family.  Michael had to work (naturally the one Sunday he had to work in July) so Tyler and I put our swimmies on and scooted down to Charleston for the day.  It's been quite some time since we've been to the beach, and did I mention this would be Tyler's first visit?  The only thing we were missing was Michael :(.  We arrived around 11:30am and met the fam, and their two dogs.  Tyler did a little showing off by crawling around and giggling, but we were on a mission- to hit the beach! 

Tyler looked like an old pro at the beach- playing and digging in the sand, crawling around, and splashing away in the water.  All of those showers and baths had paid off- he loved it!  I was so proud of him- he didn't fuss once and entertained himself the entire time.  It's official; we have another beach bum in the family.  I also caught a glimpse of what Tyler will look like all grown up and with a beard.  These pictures say it all:

The bearded baby

This was before he realized that the sand was much more fun to play with!

Mommy and Tyler

Uncle Will and Tyler

Thank you for inviting us down- we had such a wonderful time!

Since the beach just wasn't enough excitement for Tyler, he thought that a full body rash would do the trick.  I noticed some bumps on his legs and tummy after we were at the beach, but didn't think it much of it.  He has pretty sensitive skin, with the eczema and all, so I took him to school on Monday.  But when I dropped him off Tuesday, they weren't having it.  Off to the doctor we went, again.  Just as I had suspected, the doctor said it was probably another eczema breakout, and it should go away.  Michael and I often joke that we went into the wrong profession.  Maybe in my second life.  So, I took a picture of the rash- it looks bad but he isn't bothered by it at all.  Oh, and he has another small ear infection.  Another day in the life of Tyler.