Tucker is 14 months

Happy 14 month birthday Tucker!

Tucker is my
Totally sweet
Unique
Cute
Knowing
Energetic
Really really loveable
little baby boy.

He now has 3 1/2 teeth, long curly hair, little to no separation anxiety at day care, a major love for the outdoors, a clear ability to say Daddy which he seems to say for both mommy and daddy, a growing interest in books, a new bed in the room he now shares with his big brother, a new favorite game where he loves to stack blocks and books, a desire to climb on anything and everything, a serious love for going fast down big slides and jumping on trampolines and in bounce houses and going for rides on tricycles, an ability to understand his parents when they ask him to go get his shoes and his jacket or to run to his mommy or big brother for a big hug, an understanding that when the garage door opens after school he can run very fast to the door with his arms open and greet his Daddy, and luckily for his parents, a personality full of love and happiness and a fondness for cuddle time.

Tucker we love you so much.

Tucker's 1st Birthday Party

To celebrate Tucker's 1st year milestone, we had a sledding birthday party!

We went to a great sledding park in Tahoe and set up base camp at the bottom of the beginner sledding slopes. We had a small table for snacks, a couple of blankets, about five or six chairs, and lots of sleds! It was pretty much perfect. The weather cooperated and the crowds stayed away until mid-afternoon, at which point the kids were content to climb up and down on a big snow mound and play king of the hill in an open snow field situated right behind our chairs. It was low-maintenance, but very fun, and somehow even the muffin and juice celebration worked out smoothly and maybe more importantly, mess-free!

Tucker absolutely LOVED sledding and all the kids were in heaven playing in the snow together. We had a blast and I'm pretty sure we'll have the same party for the next few years!

A few of the many pictures and one video!

Kris, Tucker, & the Galvins chilling @ base camp - situated next to a small card table, behind 2 blankets, just across a walking path at the bottom of the sledding slopes and a big snow mountain, and in front of a big snow field

sleeping baby Evin

More muffins please!

Tucker's 1st Year Doctor Appoitment

On Monday, I took Tucker to his first year doctor check up. Overall, he is doing very well. He developed a cough on Sunday, but the doctor confirmed it was just a cough and nothing to be worried about. It was a typical check-up appointment, with a general health scan, measurements, and shots. He did cry for a quick second when he received his shots, but it was very short and he was quickly comforted. Tucker is growing according to his normal curve, but just like last time, the Doc was surprised by his weight; he expects Tucker to weight more than he does every time he sees him.

Unfortunately, Tucker became very sick on Tuesday. We are not sure if he caught a random fly bug or if he had a reaction to the shot, but he ended up with a terrible stomach bug which wiped him out and caused him quite a bit of pain and discomfort. We were very grateful that it didn't last much longer than 24 hours and that by Wednesday afternoon he was nearly back to his normal self.

Stats:

Height: 29 inches - 30% percentile (Owen 29.5 - 40% - hard to imagine how the 1/2 inch difference makes for a 10% difference, eh!)

Weight: 21lbs 2 oz -30% (Owen 19lbs 8.2 oz 8%)

Head circumference: 18.5inches 75% (Owen 18.03 inches - 33%)

On a side note, Tucker has been experiencing separation anxiety at day-care. Over the last month it has been pretty bad, with more days than I care to admit where I know he cried an awful amount at school. It started to improve last week, when he transitioned into the toddler room full time. I think the fact that there are more things to climb on and the fact that he actually goes outside daily and can play (walk around and climb on equipment, etc) makes a big difference. Every day it seems to be getting a little better, but it has been rough on him and on me! I have stopped going to day-care at lunch now that he's in the bigger room and on the toddler schedule (I miss it!). He can eat lunch at the table with his pals and now nap on the cot. He's still learning how to fall asleep on the cot with gentle pats from his teachers, but he seems to be getting the hang of it. I hate that he's had so much anxiety, but I have to say, that I'm impressed with the level of care he has received and I feel much better about his last few days. The doctor reassured me that the behavior is "normal" and not cause to worry about anything serious.

Owen & Tucker playing in the bus at school this week. There is no anxiety on the bus!

Tucker's 1st day of school- report out

He did wonderfully! He napped well, ate well, and played well with his pals and new toys. All the babies in the class are siblings of Owen's schoolmates, so he's well aquainted with the other munchkins and made himself right at home with his new teachers. Nursing during lunch went smoothly and it gave me a chance to talk with his teachers and answer a few of their questions. The room is comfortable and the babies are all happy and thriving, so I feel at ease.

Owen also had a great day at school; he had a much easier drop off today compared with his most recent drop offs so now I'm much more optimistic he'll be back to his normal - "see ya later" goodbye very soon.

such a relief!

1st Day of "school" for Tucker

My little baby starts "school" today. I decided to distract myself by snapping up some photos of the boys before the big day. Owen, in his "greatest big brother" shirt - so proud to be a big help to Tucker and Tucker all grown up. Last night he even surprised us with his first real crawl!

1st Appointments

Monday we took Tucker to his first doctor's appoitment and Tuesday we had an appointment with the lactation consultant. Both appoitments were great and very reassuring.

What we learned:
Tucker is healthy! He regained his birth weight after only 5 days.
Tucker is dealing with some gas issues which is normal, but painful.
To deal with the gas, we were shown a number of holds and specific massage techniques to help soothe the babe.
Tucker is getting 3oz of breastmilk per feeding and is latching on like a champ.
For every oz of breastmilk, babies will usually sleep 1 hour (we can now expect Tucker to sleep 3 hours straight which is about his average and if I can stratch out the feedings to be a bit longer, he may sleep longer during the night).
Tucker is great- but we already knew that!

Life is good. Owen continues to be very helpful and sweet, we're figuring out sleep patterns, and so far, Tucker is just a doll. We are happy and just love our boys. We even have a couple more days with Kris at home before he goes back to work!