18 month Check Up

Tillman (bad boy) sticking out his tongue!
Playing at Battery Park

Tillman went for his 18 month check up on Friday to see Dr. Clifford.  All and all, Tillman got a great report, Dr. Clifford said he was glad to see that his height and weight were proportioned well (higher percentile in height than weight).  In his 5 minute observation of Tillman, he thought that his motor and language skills were right on target.  We did discuss his EARS!  Poor Tillman can't catch a break with his ears or get his vaccinations on time due to the ears.  We talked about language development with his ear constantly being infected, discussed if he doesn't get better after a round of steroids that we'd need to see Dr. White, ENT, again to check about taking out adenoids.

Waiting on his exam

Dr. Clifford feels that Tillman's inner-ear is inflamed.  If this is the case, then none of the ear drops are getting down to the source of the infection since there isn't a passage way (hints the smelly ear and no ear drainage).  He felt like steroids would reduce the inflammation and allow the drops to get to the source and allow the drainage release. Tillman goes back to Dr. Clifford in two weeks for a check up and hopefully his vaccination.  If it isn't better then, then off to the ENT we go.

Eating Gold Fish to pass the time

Currently Tillman is on an antibiotic (twice a day), a steroid, ear drops, nose spray and Zyrtec!  I feel like he needs one of those weekly pill boxes that has the days of the week on it.  Oy Vey!

Climbing...of course

Although Tillman has ear troubles, it doesn't slow him down one bit!  Yes, the "roids" make him a bit ornery, but he is as rambunctious as ever.  In fact, he has 4 bruises (one of the cheek and three on the legs) just from yesterday to prove he is not slowing down.  Tillman decided to climb on a chair and then on the chair arm.  He lost his balance, hit a plant stand with his face, and down on the carpet he went.  I think it scared him more than anything.  He wanted a hug from Nick and then me, and then he was on to the next "Evel Knievel" trick!

Snacking with Daddy

Tillman's Stats:

Weight: 22 lbs 6 ozs (9th percentile)

Height: 31 inches (15th percentile)

Head Circumference: 18 inches (6th percentile)

BMI: 16.4

More words from Tillman: book, dog, hot, no no, thank you, milk, more, momma, daddy, banana, truck, basket ball, ball, football, nose, push, and bye-bye. (For some of these, I know what he is saying, but still a little rusty. I'm sure I'm leaving something out.)

Attempting to get a Father Son photo...
at least one was looking at the camera!

18 months 3.12.12

Tillman in his 18 mo Puma jogging suit!

Our little boy turned 18 months/ a year and a half today!  As everyone says "boy, does the time fly," and yes, it DOES!  Mr. Independent is walking  running everywhere, climbing on everything and eating Cheerios!  His favorite past-time is standing in chairs (high chairs, kitchen chairs, couches, stools....you name it). It doesn't bother him that it is a "no no," because after all, all "no no's" are "uh oh's" to him!

Tillman at CiCi & JRS's house...
standing in the chair, of course

Tillman has added words to his vocabulary this month, but when he does a "no no," he always says "uh oh." A new word T has is "daw" (dog), he event makes a "woof woof" sound.  Funny thing is that all animals with 4 legs are dogs.  We where in the grocery store and he pointed to a picture of a pig and starting making his "woof woof" sound.  It was too complicated to try to explain at the time "that's a pig, Tillman...oink oink" because he was so sure of himself.

Tillman "spunk" wasn't damped by the RSV, ear infections, and fevers this month brought him.  He stayed a week out of school this month. At the doctor's he got a fun RSV swab (positive), throat culture (negative), breathing treatment (horrible for everyone around) and some ibuprofen. When we were leaving MUSC After Hours Care, the registration staff asked why Tillman was all red and "wet."  I told them he had been screaming and crying through a breathing treatment for the past 15 minutes.  His hair was soaked, his face was beet red, and he looked like he was ready for a nap.  Me? I was read for a drink and dinner...oh and some headache meds!

Tillman's treat after a breathing treatment at home

Nick and I really thought if we could just be religious with the breathing treatments at home over the next day, he would be good to go back to school. Well, RSV told us differently.  We ended up calling out the troops for HELP!  We traded off one day (I took morning and Nick took afternoon), the next day Tillman went to work with Nick and he and his dad watched Tillman, and then Cici came down and kept him Thursday and Friday.  By Friday, he still wasn't better, so we took him back to the doctor.  Seems like he got a sinus infection on top of the RSV, so we got an antibiotic. You'd think (if you have read this far) that he would be all better.  Well, we are going back to the doctor today. He finished up his meds yesterday, and is still a snot nose kid with a smelly ear.  According to Google, a smelly ear is a type of ear infection.  Tillman has had lots of ear infections, but I have to say that haven't stunk!  Well, now he has the smelly ear too!

Work day with Daddy and PapPaw

 He went back to school last Monday, and he was in a new class.  They sent us home with all of his sippy cups.  In this class, they drink from a cup without a lid, eat with no assistance, sit at a table to eat (not strapped in) and take naps on a mat (on the floor). This is a huge transition, and based on the number of clothes he has messed up at daycare, I'm glad they are helping him through the transition because drinking from a cup is serious business! The sleeping on the floor has also been rough.  Tillman generally takes a 1-1.5 hour nap each day, and on Friday his nap lasted 20 minutes!  He is certainly ready for "Nigh Nigh" when he gets home, but man, he needs his nap to function!  I'm sure he will get in the swing of this new class, but with every change is a little bit of growing pains.  The "growing pains" were evident when I took him into daycare, as soon as he saw his "new teacher" he crinkled his nose and began to pout! I'm sure he was thinking...."boot camp again?"

Tillman watching the water at the Battery

More to come this week, when he goes for his 18 month check up!

Christmas 2011

No family pic this year....
gifts started before daddy could get a shower.

I'm way behind on posting about Christmas 2011, but I'm (secretly) still listening to Christmas music, so I ok with it.  We spent Christmas with Nick's family.  We rotate sides of the family every year.  All of Nick's family gathered at Nick's sisters' house in Kentucky, which is about an 11 hour drive for us.  Nick's dad road with us, so at least we had company and an extra driver.  Tillman did very well considering the LONG drive, so we were impressed.  Thank goodness for McDonald's in-door playgrounds, gold fish and portable DVD players!
It was funny along the trip.  He didn't too much enjoy watching the DVD as he did playing with the player by pulling on the cord, closing it, and pushing all the buttons.  He did enjoy the music.  Tillman loves to dance and  shake to the beat.

Cranky T....this is around hour 5 of the drive home.

Tillman got to play with his older cousins and spent time with his Great-Grandmother, Mimi (Nick's mom), and his aunts and uncles (two of which he had met for the first time, Nick's Aunt Suzie and Uncle Bobby). Tillman really enjoyed playing with his older cousins Parker and Mason.  They chased him around the house, and Tillman loved it.  When going to bed each night and even for naps, he was worn out from all the excitement.

Tillman and Mason unwrapping gifts

Christmas morning was crazy.  There was barely a place to sit with all of the gifts around the living room.  In Nick's family, they go around the room and each person opens their gifts and everyone watches.  Tillman, being the youngest, went first.  He wasn't too interested in opening gifts after about two of them.  He was more interested in doing his "own thing," which consisted of eating his breakfast and walking the Swiffer mop around the house while everyone else opened gifts.  He was completely content, but wasn't into all the excitement around the tree.

We made it a very quick trip to KY.  We left Charleston on Friday and started our venture back home early Monday morning.  We were LOADED DOWN not so much with Christmas gifts but with hand-me-downs.  Tillman had a double Christmas, and Aunt Robyn and Uncle Brad had the chance to clean out toys and clothes their boys don't use anymore. We are so thankful that they held onto all of these items, it's a budget saver for us and Tillman just loves all the toys.  I think we have more toys at our house than the daycare.  Boy can a room get messy in a minute!

On the way back home, I pretty much sat Indian style because every inch of the Tahoe was full.  Tillman got a Power Wheels Jeep, basketball goal, lots of small toys, clothes, and we even came back with a kitchen table. Nick had to use his side mirrors for sure to get us home because there was no seeing out the back!

Tillman being silly with gold fish
crumbs on his face!

Oh yeah, we had melt downs too along the way.
This is what Tillman thinks of a 11 hour road trip!

Labor Day: Family Vaca to Cherry Grove

Check out Tillman's dirty face and clothes!
Cousin Colin teaching him how to play in the sand.

Last week we headed to Cherry Grove (North Myrtle Beach...near NC / SC state line) for a long weekend. Tillman slept the whole way to Myrtle Beach, which made for a wonderful car ride for all.  Once we arrived at the beach house, we were all well rested and ready to "play!" Shortly after arriving we hit the pool for a swim and went for a walk on the beach.  Tillman enjoyed the beach.

Tuckered out!

We took him on a early morning beach stroller ride, and that sent him right to sleep.  He took at least an hour nap.  He really enjoyed the sand.  Tillman was curious and tasted the sand, but once that was over, he really didn't eat the sand...just enjoyed playing in it, and of course LOVED splashing in the buckets of water that were brought up to build sand castles or really drip castles...CiCi's favorite.  Drip castles (for those unfamiliar) are when you get wet sand and drip it to form a drippy structure.  Not much effort and super easy!

 We also had extended family pictures taken (all 12 of us on my side of the family). We wore white tops and jeans (adults).  The boys wore white tops and plaid shorts.  The photographer had all sorts of props for the kids, so I think these photos will be really great.  We're all anxious to see how they turned out.  They were taken on Saturday at 6PM, and most of the men were over it by 6:50 since the Carolina game was coming on at 7PM.

At half time, we celebrated all the September birthdays.  In my family there are 3 birthdays that are during the Labor Day weekend, and then Tillman and my brother-in-law are later in the month.  We had Blue Bell ice cream and birthday cake.  All the birthday boys had a seat at the table with their gifts. 

Tillman's bed time is 7, so he missed all the festivities.  We're getting geared up for this Saturday to celebrate Tillman's first birthday!  On Monday, Tillman will be 1 year old...where has the time gone?

Memorial Day Weekend Trip

Memorial Day weekend, we ventured out on a little family trip to Greenville, SC.  We were looking for a get away from Charleston (we wanted to get away from tourists and be a tourist!).  Greenville had a lot of weekend activities, so enjoyed the upstate scene. It is a nice family oriented town with lots of outdoor activities!

We stayed at the Westin Poinsett - very nice hotel and in a great location.  I also ordered a crib for our room for Tillman.  Since this was a first time staying in a hotel, we didn't know what to expect or how Tillman would do.  We decided not to take the swing.  After all, he has grown out of it, and we need to transition.  Well, at 2AM on Saturday morning I wanted to re-think my decision about the swing.  Boy, did I want a swing then.  Tillman was wide awake, and we were doing everything we could to keep him quiet and back to sleep.  A jar of food and a 15 minute playtime later-he was back to sleep in the crib.

Several lessons learned from the first night:

-Never put Tillman in a crib without a bumper.  He loves to snuggle with it.  Nights two and three he had a make shift bumper made of towels, a rug, Nick's shorts, and blankets.

-Make sure the room temp is warm. Tillman loves to be cozy...almost hot (ugh, we had to share a room with him!).

-When Tillman is asleep, everyone might as well go to bed, because he will wake up if you are noisy.

-Putting him in the bed with us didn't help.  He didn't enjoy that (I thought every kid enjoyed sleeping with their parents?  Isn't that a treat?).

During the days we enjoyed Falls Park, the Greenville Zoo, downtown Greenville, a little shopping, etc!

For dinners we ordered take out.  Several places we ordered were not used to people requesting take out.  One of the restaurant, Larkin's on the River, was especially not used to it.  I think they thought Nick was nuts for doing it, but I think they would have thought we were more nuts if we brought Tillman in to eat (nothing like a fussy baby to ruin someone romantic dinner!).  We brought our food back to the room, and used the hotel bar for drinks.  We fine dined in our hotel room with plastic silverware while watching our sleeping baby in the crib!

Saturday and Monday we watched a cycling race.  We didn't realized what a BIG DEAL this USA Cycling Pro Championships race was, but soon realized that it is the real deal!  This was a type cycling event that riders who race in Lance Armstrong style races attend!  We watched the time trials as well as the start of the race on Memorial Day. 

Here are a few pictures from our trip!

Time Trial Awards Ceremony

Tillman enjoying a paci (aka chew toy) at the zoo

The family at the zoo

Falls Park on the bridge

Breakfast at the hotel

Waiting for the race to begin

And they're off....

Easter 2011

We had a long weekend for Easter.  Tillman's daycare was closed Good Friday, so we hung around the house and packed for our trip to Lexington.  We drove to Lexington (my home town) early Saturday morning, so that Tillman could attend the St. Peter's Easter Egg Hunt!  I went to this hunt as a child every year.  At the time (back in my day), it was hosted by the senior group.  I can remember getting a bag of candy, getting to choose which dyed egg I wanted to take home, and of course, hunting eggs on the church grounds!

Now-a-days it is hosted by the young adult group.  They had everything from coloring to the Easter Bunny visiting the kids.  I got to see everyone I used to go to church with and their children (we used to be "the children"). We had a lot of fun, and it certainly brought back a lot of memories from my childhood (I sure do miss Lexington!).  Although Tillman didn't get to meet the Easter Bunny (sorry kid, the line was too long!), he was pretty "tuckered out" regardless.  We spent the rest of Saturday relaxing and lounging at my parents' house.

Sunday, Easter, we headed to the Sunrise Service.  It started at 6:30 AM!  It was a rush to get there, but we made it!  The service started outside and then we processed in.  Tillman did real well!  After service, we ate breakfast at church, and then headed back to my parents house for another egg hunt.
Tillman's first Easter went pretty well! 

Hunt Reflections:
Next year, I hope he will be more "in to" the egg hunting.  I might have to set up a few egg hunts at the house for practice rounds, so he can learn the ropes!  When carrying him out to his hunt location, my heart was pounding (my competitiveness was coming out).  In my head I was strategizing.  At the same time, I'm thinking to myself  "Meredith, he's a baby...he's not going to hunt." 

As Nick and I discussed, my competitiveness comes out because I want to see him/Tillman succeed and do well.  Yes, it is only an egg hunt, but you should see the parents out there...its RUTHLESS!  There is one thing that we are going to TRY to do different from those ruthless parents, we're going to teach Tillman how to hunt on his own (with a little guidance of course).  Tillman will be far more successful if he learns to do it on his own.  If he get 5 eggs and the other child who has 3 adults helping gets 30, then I know and will be proud that he did it HIMSELF!  I'll slip him a 5 (dollar bill) when we get to the car (the usual prize for the most eggs)!  In this situation it is JUST an egg hunt, but I think that parents get so competitive and want their child to "win," but sometimes can loose sight of the child being independent and learning to succeed on their own.  Is it worth getting excited for your child if you wrote their A+ paper or hunted all the eggs yourself?
Funny the philosophical parenting topics that come out of a simple egg hunt!

Road Trip-Ohio Bound

Check out my moves now that I have a clean diaper and am fed!



 On the night of December 16th, we left our house for "Christmas Vacation."   The first leg of the trip would take us to Lexington, SC for the night.  We stopped in at my parents house (JRS & Cici) to drop off 1/2 the car load of Christmas gifts, shave two hours off our drive, and to get a good night's rest before traveling to Nick's mom's house (Mimi) in Dayton, OH (9 hr drive from Lexington).

Tillman making a high pitched squelling sound

We got on the road at 5:30AM to head to Ohio.  Tillman does really well in the AM and is generally a little "sleepy head."  We've learned from our other road trip to VA it is best to get on the road as soon as possible.

Tillman kickin' it in the SMKW's parking lot

Nick was hoping he'd make it to the Smokey Mountain Knife Works exit...this is in TN (exit 407 off I-40-Kodak, TN...in case you're curious)!  I had my doubts, and really thought we'd have a hungry boy on our hands before we got there.  Tillman granted Nick's wish and lasted until we got to SMKW.  Nick is a Case Knife collector and enjoys stopping in to SMKW to see what is new.  Tillman and I hung out in the car.  We fed, did a diaper change, and got Tillman some out of the car seat time!  As you can tell by the photos, he was loving being out of the seat and enjoyed kicking around.

Bubble Machine

 As expected, Tillman got cranky about an hour after we got back on the road.  He really wanted some attention!  We pulled off the interstate!  We did a little shuffling around of stuff, and Nick was offically our chauffeur!  Tillman summons me to the back seat for the remainder of the trip!

After that stop, we didn't stop the rest of the trip!  I over came my fear of feeding Tillman in the car seat...not completely...I still think it could be dangerous, but I try to be smart about it.  I've found that if he is really hungry, he doesn't mess around with the bottle and sucks it down!  If he is not totally hungry and using the bottle as a passifier, that is when he tends to choke on the milk (scairy when a child is bucked in the car seat, and the car is going 70 MPH plus!)

"Maybe if I smile at Momma, she'll let me drive?"

Nick and I were listening to his new book on tape, Decision Points by George W Bush, for the drive.  Whether you like "W" or not, I think it is a great book, and really helps one understand him and the tough decisions of The President.  I also really enjoyed that he was the voice of the book (authors aren't always the voice).

Nick is a huge book on tape fan (his lovely wife purchased him this book on tape...CD).  The thought of the word, "book," about puts me into a coma (not much of a reader beyond blogs), but this one kept me awake and interested!

We arrived in Dayton around 3:30pm.  Snow was on the ground (6 in or so). 

First Road Trip on Tillman's 2 month "Birthday"

Tillman at Danielle's rehearsal dinner with Brian, friend from grad school

On Tillman's two month "birthday" (11/12/10), we took a 9 hour drive to Virginia for a wedding.  As many of you read while I was pregnant, we were invited to my friend, Danielle's, wedding (remember this post and this one too?).  We have been anticipating the trip for awhile, and we were so glad we got to go.  Everything worked out great!

Last Friday, we left the house at 5:45AM to hit the road.  Tillman does wonderful in the morning, so we know the sooner we got on the road the better.  Our first stop was South of the Border.  Nick was so curious about the place, so we decided to make that our 9AM stop.  This place is a DUMP, but it had gas (before hitting the price hike of NC), bathroom (yuck...flies...nasty), and a parking lot (full of creepy people), so we could get out and feed Tillman. 

Tillman for the most part during the drive slept, which was probably best for everyone.  We made it to our destination (YaYa Katy's house) at 3:15PM.  It was pretty good timing!

Tillman in Nick's lap at the rehearsal.

He was supposed to wear this outfit home from the hospital...totally too big! :-)

My mom is part of a group we call the "YaYa's."  This group is made up of 4 girlfriends she has had since childhood.  One of the YaYa's, Katy, lived 5 minutes from where Danielle got married.  We put "two and two together" over the summer when my mom was visiting Katy with the other YaYa's.  (As you read in the first post about the wedding, we didn't know how we were going to go to the wedding with Tillman and find a babysitter.)  YaYa Katy and husband Gene babysat Tillman while they watch the Carolina Gamecocks beat the Florida Gators.   

Sleepy T right before dinner started

Tillman got a good report card from his sub-grandparents for the weekend!  Besides him drinking down all the milk we had for him in the frig, he was a good boy while we were at the wedding!  He was eating every two hours while we were gone!  Tillman must have been growing.  Katy and Gene also got to witness Tillman's love for his swing.  Yes, people we travel with it!  Nick had no issue with dismantling it at 5AM to take it with us on the trip.  We know that Tillman would have major separation anxiety (= crying, not sleeping, mommy and daddy needing to drink heavily to cope with Tillman, etc) without it!  Like I have said before, we can't live without the swing!

On Saturday, we ventured out to meet up with one of Nick's childhood friends, Brad, who lives in DC.  We went to Clyde's in Reston.  Tillman wore this cute number to lunch!

I know it probably appears that my child has a pig nose,

but I really need to work on the angle that I take photos...I swear he doesn't.

We ventured back to Charleston on Sunday around 9:30AM.  The road trip back was HARD.  Tillman was more cranky, so we had to stop more (we found the key is getting on the road as early as possible).  We ended up getting back to Charleston around 8:00PM.  This road trip was good practice for the holidays.  We have another road trip to Ohio planned, and that one is a few hours longer. I am sure "T man" will do just fine on that one too!

Tillman slept great on Sunday night.  I think he was just as worn out from the trip as were we.  He probably wore us all out with his hysteric crying from I-95 to home! (no, he wasn't hungry, just doesn't like the dark!)