Tyler 8 month update

Tyler is a little over 8 month old!! And that little tinker is getting into lots of mischief for sure.

Here are some updates:

1. Still underweight. Though he has been eating like crazy for the last few weeks, I was completely dumbstruck when the doctor said he lost another 0.5 oz after 2 weeks. Oh well, more food for him, i guess!!!

2. He's got teeth! He got his first tooth around June 10 and the 2nd one a few weeks later(I can't remember).

3. Started his swim class this month. I added a blog specially for it back in June just to boost my June entries. If you didn't see it, go check it out!

4. He is MOBILE!!! Started crawling around Father's Day after he'd been showed up by Mateo. I swear, after Mateo left, he thought about it and managed to do a little gimpy crawl! He crawls with one knee and one foot.

This is what he usually looks like when he crawls. All determined to get at something at all times.

5. Within days of crawling, he stands up along ANYTHING and starts walking(very unstable looking) along it. Alan gave him a diaper box to play with and he thought it was the greatest thing on earth! He pulls himself up, pushes that box like a walker and then scare the crap out of us by letting go!!!

Ooh.. cool.. i can walk with this..

Mom.. want to see something even cooler?

Whoo!! NO HANDS!!!

6. Clapping. Tyler seems to be more advanced than the East Germans in this category. Clapping before 8 months must be unheard of!!!

Now we just need him to clap when we want him to. Just to show off!

7. Still not much sign of his hair though we think it's a little bit improved. Here's a close up shot of his hair.

Our little one deep in thought!

For once, a quiet weekend(for me at least)

This weekend was relatively quiet for me. Didn't really do much apart from driving all the way to Aurora for South Indian food. Hmm.. dosa.. my favorite!!!

Then Sabrina and I drove up to Longmont to pick up my Maid-of-honor dress. It's quite pretty but i may have been a little ambitious about my post-natal weight loss!!

Then that night, we went to see a comedy show by Russell Peters. It was quite good but iIthink we hyped it a little too much that it felt just slight disappointing. Oooh.. and we had our first real baby sitter! She works in Tyler's class, so i was quite comfortable about leaving him with her as she knows his moods well. Apparently they played for a while, ate, and then went to bed - IN HIS OWN BED!!! Hmm.. i think my son is playing me for sure!!!

The next morning, Alan and Steffen got up early for a 5K race up in Lyons. Alan finished in 124th place out of 529 in a respectable 23:54 mins, Steffen finished 162th in 25:16. After that, they met up with Damith and Sabrina for a 7.6 mile hike at Walker Ranch. Tyler and I stayed home and relaxed while i tried to do some work.

Alan came home demanding steak and so I grilled some on the deck. We had Steffen over as well

Welcoming Daniel Owen!

We have a new nephew! Another one for the Mills family!!

Weight : 10 lbs 1.5oz.
Date : 26 June 12:26 pm


He's cutey!!

I would tell you more, but that's all i know for now. Just like my new nephew, promises for more pictures never quite came true!

Bear Peak kicked my a**

We woke up bright and early(OK, maybe not so bright, but definitely early!!) for a hike up to Bear Peak. Alan informed us that it was going to be a little tougher and a little further than our 1-3 miler hikes. So, we were mentally prepared(we thought).


At the start of the hike..

The full MLC gang and Uyen were there. We went up via the Bear Peak West Ridge trail. It was much longer than I thought because when i was told it was a 7 mile hike, i assumed it to be 3.5 miles up and 3.5 miles down. But apparently not and we know now NOT to assume. However, it was a beautiful trail with meandering paths dotted by spring flowers. Climbing was also gradual till the final piece, which was a little scrambly and steep. All in all, although tough, it was a nice hike up.


A family photo..


Tyler checking out what Daddy is doing


Scrambling rocks

All of us were pretty glad when we finally got to the top and enjoyed a 360 deg view of Boulder.

Can you see us at the bottom in the background?


This is what we're doing down there..

From talking to different hikers that day, we also learned that our way down via Fern Canyon was going to be steep and slippery. But nothing prepared us for the hike down to the middle of the earth!!!! Holy crap! We must have said "this surely is the end of the downhill part" like a billion times but we were cheated a billion and one time! At the end, i was complete broken - mentally and physically. Could barely make it back to the car. Quite the sad picture..


The start of journey to the middle of the earth!

And once again i am completely blown away by Alan's ability to bear weight. He had Tyler on his back the entire time and blew past us by miles. No problemo, amigo! Sometimes i think he is maybe the reincarnation of a mule. Definitely stubborn like one! ha!ha! (i'm so dead when he reads this)


Here is the profile of our climb up and down. The gps died half way during our descent coz we took too long!!

Anyways, apart from Steffen and Uyen, the rest of us headed over to Addy's house for a little bit of pool party. She was serving hot dogs. I wanted something more rewarding than hot dogs and gladly ran out of there when my friend Ken called me to have dinner at The Med in Boulder with our friend Eileen who is visiting from Spore!!

Saturday activities

On Saturday, as I spent the last few hours with the Andrews before they left, Alan and Steffen went for a fast paced hike in Boulder. It was great for them as they didn't have to stop every 10 minutes to wait for me to catch my breaths and whine.


For once, no matching outfit..

They were done within a couple of hours and got home before lunch. After 1-2 hrs rest, we were off to Boulder for a International Festival which turned out to be rather sad, so we ended up in Cheesecake Factory for food.

Then we went to the Chandrasekara's abode for a quick nap/rest before we headed for a little bit of Shakespeare experience. We attended an outdoor Shakespeare play in CU. They were showing Macbeth.

It was a little heavy for me and combined with a whole day of running around, i, of course, fell asleep!! :) What??! You try to stay awake!

Anyways, everybody seemed to enjoy it and we hurried home for a long deserved sleep and hoping to catch as many winks before we had to get up for the next days hike.

A few days with the Andrews

As promised, the Andrews came back to our house on Thursday night!! Unfortunately, I was completely swamped at work to be able to take time off Friday to spend the day with them. :(

They decided to go to Boulder to try tubing down Boulder Creek again, something i introduced to them a few years ago. From the pictures they took, looks like they are definitely braver than me!!!


Michelle holding on to the tube through the rapids.


Eric rode down the rapids with a smile..

They came back with various war wounds to prove their bravery. After a quick unload from the van, we started preparation for our Mexican feast. Everybody chipped in a little help and soon dinner was on the table.


Everybody managed to fit onto a table

It turned out that it was Britta's birthday the next day. Since they were going to be on the road the whole day, they decided to celebrate it that night.


Britta and her ice-cream cake


Their best Michigan face..

And of course, we had to have some group pics.

It's not often i get to see them and it was definitely a treat to be able to spend time with them. I just wished i had more time to spare!

Father's Day continues..

After the hike at Red Rocks, we headed over to Buffalo Bill's Grave at Lookout Mountain. The origin of the mountain was, planes used to fly around the area and when they got a little too close to the hill, they used to shout "Look OUT, Mountain!!!". hehehe.. not really, that was Alan's version of history.

Anyways, we headed home after that and on the way home, more details of my guests' arrival were ironed out. I had exactly half an hour after i get home to do a little bit of tidying up and shower before I was going to pick up Eric and his girlfriend(more details later). I also made some super last minute plans for a quick BBQ party for my guests.

So, at about 4 pm, when we got home from shopping for the party, we arrived home and found that the rest of the gang had arrived. So, in total, 10 of them!!! Who are these people?? They are the Andrews family. My american family from Michigan!!!

From left: Nathan, Amy(gf), Danae, Kirsten, Eric, Karen, Britta, Ken, Lisa and Michelle

A little bit of history. I met them when i was in MSU. While i was there for 2 years, they put up with me and welcomed me into their family(they are saints!!). I got invited over for all kinds of family functions and fun stuff. We've kept in touch since I left MI and they've visited me a couple of times and it's always so fun when they visit. Makes the house so much more alive!

This is what they looked like when I met them.. Karen, Nathan, Danae, Michelle, Ken, Lisa and Eric(pre Kirsten and Britta days)

And man, do they make the phrase "many hands make light work" come true. Within a short time, my party was on, burgers were being cooked, salad made, corn boiled, table set, all the works. We had a nice meal on the deck from all that and cut the Father's Day cake at the end.

An instant party..

Do you know how hard it is to get 3 guys to smile at the same time?

Since they were going up to the mountains that evening, they left shortly after dinner(not before they cleaned up too!!) and promised to be back in a few days.

Alan's first Father's Day

Father's Day for Alan started with a refreshing early run with Steffen(why people do this, i don't understand!!), which sorta put a damper in his plans to have breakfast in bed. Unless it's normal for people to wake up, go for a run, take a shower and get back in bed for breakfast? Sounds a little strange to me, but the concept of breakfast in bed is something i never caught on.

Anyways, I made his favorite bacon rolls and while he in the shower, I prepped Tyler up for his presentation of the card he made the day before(read previous blog) which was "cleverly" disguised in a diaper(Tyler's idea). He gave it to Alan who was quite pleased with the card. Just to remain in Alan's good books, i also presented my card and added chocolate for extra points.


Gotcha daddy!!


Tyler feeling pleased with his card... :)

Then we went down for a quick breakfast before we had to leave to go meet the MLC gang for a hike at Red Rocks.


At breakfast Not-in-bed

We did a little short hike around the Red Rocks Amphitheater and while i peaked out at the amphitheater, the rest of the gang did a bonus hike to the top of the amphitheater. And while we were there, my phone rang and once again, i've forgotten another guest who is coming to town!!!


Our goofy shot of the day..


A nice shot of the rocks.. and us

To be continued...

Preparation for Father's Day

Since it's Alan's first Father's Day, Tyler and I decided we should do something more hands-on and sentimental. We shared this idea with Mateo and Veronica and they thought it was a good idea too and decided to join in. But we had to do this without Alan suspecting.

So, although there was plans for fun things on Saturday like helping Addy move and going to Colorado Springs for sight-seeing and Women's Volleyball game, I had to wimp out of it by coming up with some lame excuses. :)

Turned out staying at home was also good as it gave me some chance to catch up with some chores around the house and of course when Veronica and Mateo arrived, that was when the fun began.

They boys wanted to do something for their daddies. They tried:


Building something cool.. but it turned to be a little more complicated..


Baking a cake, but that too was little tough..


So they made cards with help from their talented mommies.. hehehe :)

And as a special treat, I also baked a 2-layer chocolate cake. Just to let him know that he's been a awesome daddy!

My only good picture of the cake..

Crazy week

Last week proved to be a crazy stressful week for me. I was pulled into a meeting and was told that my division has been sold to Western Digital. All of us were shocked beyond words. Then the madness of last minute meetings, signing of papers, insurance started. By the end of the week, just when we thought we got the hang of it, I was blown away by another awful news. My awesome manager told us he was getting another job. As he was really the pillar in our group, that news really devastated us. With him gone, this whole work situation is going to get a little bit more interesting to say the least.

Then Tyler had a doctor's appointment that delivered some news of possibilities of asthma or some viral infections and had to go for an x-ray. Will write more when i know more.

So, by Friday evening, my nerves were wrecked and just craved a little bit of quiet time and to talk things thru with somebody. So i was secretly pleased that our baby-sitter arrangement fell through for Friday. I volunteered to stay and babysit Tyler while Alan and the rest of the gang went for a play and dinner in Denver. I turned to Armen for a listening ear and some comfort soup to sooth my nerves. It worked. By the end of the night, i felt so much better and was ready to take on my new changes..

The rest of the gang also had a great night out and were pleased with the play. I saw pictures from that night and there were lots of kissing going on. Not sure what that was all about...


The calm before the kissing frenzy..

Tyler goes swimming

To make his son a super athlete like himself, Alan registered Tyler for some baby swimming lessons at the local Rec Center. It's cute to see so many babies in the pool and some of them looked quite relax.


Tyler and Daddy at the pool

Tyler.. he's too curious looking around all the time to just relax and float!


Refuses to just lay down flat.. hehe..


Going around the lazy pool..


Finally a smile when playing at the side of the pool!!!

MIA..

It's nearly June and I haven't had a single blog. So, i thought I'd put in a "Coming Soon" blog for the fans!!! ha!

Tyler and I have been sick for about a week. However, as usual, he seems to handle being ill much better than me. We've also been doing quite the crazy schedules the last few weeks like, picnicking, doing a 10K run, jetting off to San Diego to see Terry and Carine and camping at Rocky Mountain National Park. All coming in the next few blogs. Amazing how much there is to catch up when you lose a week!

Here's a picture of Tyler for now:


Tyler and his newest toys

San Diego Adventures.. not really..

My friends Terry and Carine were having a baby shower this weekend. I had promised to be there. And being one who doesn't like going back on my word, I decided to fly to San Diego with Tyler on my own, despite being sick!! (i thought I was getting better!!). My brain obviously wasn't working.


Tyler on the plane again.. another state down!

Anyways, we didn't really do very much because i wasn't feeling too well. Terry and Carine had taken quite a liking to Tyler and enjoyed playing with him. Tyler also volunteered to be used as practice baby for Terry to practice changing diapers on. I was quite impressed with his techniques. I think he's ready!


Terry showing his diaper changing skills and even dressed Tyler up!


Oh, did I mention a shopping detour on the way to the shower?

We attended their Baby Shower on Saturday and it was nice. Tyler was quite the hit at the party and I had a relaxing time watching what's going on as there were many people who were carrying Tyler for me, though i'm not so sure about what kind of influences he was getting! :)


Tyler sharing a Corona with Jorge..


Tyler flirting with the ladies..


Tyler "helping out" with pressies..

The weekend flew by and it was time to go home and by then i had completely lost my voice and occasionally when i got it back, i sounded like a transvestite with missing syllables. On the plane ride, when the air steward asked me what i wanted to drink:
I said : "Tomato juice, please".
He said : "Diet coke?"
I said : "?????? no!!!!"

Terry took A LOT of picture of Tyler. Here is a link to them:

http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=8AcMXLRmzZtGbu

Anyways, thanks to Terry and Carine for taking care of me while i was sick and can't wait to see their upcoming bundle of joy!