Tyler's 6 Month Birthday

This past month has been my favorite so far. However, I am sure that I will be saying that many more times :). I finally feel like it is safe to say our little man is HAPPY! He loves to laugh, smile, squirm, and is quite the observer. As his mommy, it makes me so happy to see him so happy. We love you so much Tyler!

I have always heard how beautiful the Arboretum is during fall and I finally had a reason to head out to see the pumpkin display. We met up with Poppa, Tanner, Kali, and my mom who drove in from Temple to surprise us! 

 They love their Grammy! 

Hey, at least we got Tanner to smile! :) I have to stand close by because once Tanner is done taking pictures he just gets up and walk off and someone has to be there to catch Tyler. 

After the arboretum we headed to meet up with Uncle Grant. My dad was at a medical conference at the Galleria so we did a little shopping!

Uncle Grant also tried to put some bows on this kid...we will burn those pictures. 

Tyler also got to spend the day camping with Mimi and Pops! Brian has this awesome hammock that he likes to bring any time we are going to be outdoors. We first took it on our trip to Oklahoma with my family so of course we had to bring it with us on this trip. Plus, Tyler took a nap in it...hallelujah! We might have to hang this thing up in the backyard and use it on those days Tyler isn't a fan of his nap. 

Tyler loves his Mimi!

Swinging with daddy!

 Peek-a-boo

Mimi and Pops

Nap time in the hammock

One of the biggest things that happened during this past month was that Tyler had to get fitted for a DOC Band. We had noticed that the back of his head seemed pretty flat and this kid NEVER wanted to be on his tummy. He loves being on his back. I did the tummy time and held him most of the time but we still were worried about it. The doctor sent us to Cranial Technologies where Tyler had 3D pictures taken of his head and based on their (and our doctor's) recommendation we went ahead and got him fitted. He will have to wear the band for 8-10 weeks and we go every week for them to track his progress. He has had it on for 2 weeks and I can already see a big difference. I think he is still pretty cute :).

The first few nights he had the band were rough because he woke up about every 2 hours. After that he was good to go and doesnt seem to even notice it. We are allowed to take it off for up to an hour a day so we usually take it off for pictures. We are planning on decorating it with his name and A&M stickers but those are still in the mail. I will post a pic once we get them. 

(Notice who is sitting up in the picture above! He can sit up by himself for a few seconds and then usually dives forward or backwards while reaching for a toy.)

This year we spent Thanksgiving with the Pattillo side of the family. We started the day off (Brian and I) by taking Tyler to his first Turkey Trot. He enjoyed himself and slept most of the time. 

After we finished we headed over to Brian's parents house for a wonderful Thanksgiving feast! The highlight this year was 3 SMU students that are from China that joined us for their first ever American Thanksgiving. It was fun getting to know them! We had to grab a few shots of Tyler on his first Thanksgiving. I love how his hair is starting to grow on top. So cute!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Height: 26 3/4 in (74%)

Weight: 15 lb 2 oz (15%) 
Head: 43.7 cm (50%)

Food: Still breastfeeding every 3-4 hours (6:30, 10:30, 1:30, 4:30, 7:30) We are slowly adding food into his daily routine. He usually likes it on his first bite but that is about it. We will keep working on it.

Sleep: Naps are going much better and usually last about an hour (3 naps a day).  His bedtime is usually 7:30pm and he usually wakes up around 6:00am.

Clothes: 6 months It is still difficult buying pants for this long and skinny guy!
Likes: reaching for mommies phone, standing up, being tickled, looking upside down, sitting up, trying to blow spit bubbles
Dislikes: Playing alone (it's getting better) This list is getting smaller...wohoo!

Favorite Mommy Moment: He is starting to reach for me when I go to pick him up.

Tyler's 5 Month Birthday

This month Tyler experienced many "firsts".

First taste of "real" food. 

First "O'Neal" camping trip. 

Some people have questioned me describing this trip as "camping" but this is the way we roll. Warm bed, hot tub, fire pit, Aggie football...that is my kind of camping!

First Fighting Texas Aggie tailgate..WHOOP!

First time in the exersaucer/jumperoo!

First 5K run. It was 40 degrees outside and he was such a trooper. He was happy until about mile 2 when he realized mommy was running too slow and he was ready to go home. :)

First Halloween Fall Festival! 

I just had to include this picture because it is just too darn cute! This has been such a happy month for this little guy. 

Food: Still breastfeeding every 3 hours (7:30, 10:30, 1:30, 4:30, 7:30) We are slowly adding food into his daily routine. We have done cereal for the past 2 weeks around 6:00pm and will start veggies soon! 

Sleep: Naps are a little tricky but he is still doing great at night. He takes a 30-45 minute nap after each feeding (3 times a day). He goes down around 7:30 and doesn't usually (key word being "usually") wake up until 6:30am. 
Clothes: He usually fits into size 6 months but sometimes they are a little big. It is really hard to buy clothes for babies because every brand fits differently and my little guy has long legs but a really little waist. Lots of shopping and returning for mommy. 
Likes: To be held, being around lots of people, standing up, sucking on his feet, exersaucer, peek-a-boo, looking upside down, watching Praise Baby :)
Dislikes: Being left alone, napping  

Favorite Mommy Moment: I love that he is such a happy baby right now and it is so fun to see him laugh!

Aggieland

This past weekend we took Tyler down to Aggieland for the A&M vs. LSU game. We drove to Temple on Friday night and tried to get in a good nights sleep before waking up and heading to College Station at 7am on Saturday morning. Tyler was a trooper and slept the whole way there. I was very excited since I didn't know how his naps would go at the actual tailgate. Charles and Jordie joined us in Temple Friday night and Travis and some of his friends met us in College Station. It was so fun to be in College Station during a game. They were estimating that around 50,000 people would be tailgating at the game. It was crazy and we loved every minute of it! 

This is a view of Spence Park where we were tailgating.

The guys

The gals

Tyler was a hit and got lots of attention. 

We were so excited Tyler got to meet Brooke. He had just woke up from a little cat nap which is why he looks so out of it. He was very happy to meet Brooke :).

Mommies need naps sometimes too. 

 Tyler and I spend some quality time in Rudder Tower during the game. I needed somewhere semi-private to feed him since he isn't so keen on being covered up when nursing and it was nice and cool. This is his new favorite thing to do...suck on his bottom lip. He looks sad but I promise he is very happy!

Even though we didn't win the game we had a great time with our friends. We look forward to many more games in the future! Gig 'em!