Tilly Reveals....

.....herself. Yes, that's right folks, it's a girl! We had a sonogram last week and the technician told us that she is very certain that we are having a girl. We tried to get a 3D sonogram pic, but Tilly wouldn't cooperate. We did manage to get one cute pic of her sucking her thumb:

Some of you may be wondering where the belly pics are. Well, we're not going to do belly pics with Tilly. Honestly, I'm tired of being stared at, pawed at and in general, having my body be the topic of conversation on a regular basis. I think that the belly pics perpetuate the idea that my body is fodder for all of that, so we'll be skipping it this go-round.

Now, you might be thinking that I sound a little short about this. But what I think a lot of people forget is that even though Tilly is in there, it's still my body. When is it ever acceptable to stare at and comment on a person's physical appearance? Most would argue that such talk is impolite. So why is it different when a woman is pregnant? And why do people think it's ok to touch my belly? You didn't think it was ok to touch it when I wasn't pregnant, so why do you think it's acceptable now?

I do recognize that pregnancy is a joyous event and people just want to talk about it and be a part of it. And some pregnant women may enjoy sharing their body so openly. I however am not one of them. Suffice it to say Tilly's in there, I'm showing and we can leave it at that, thank you:)

Santa, Snow and Our Big Boy

What a week it's been for us. First, Santa visited daycare. Then, we had a blizzard hit. And finally, Tigger is growing up more and more each day!


Let's start with Santa. Santa visited day care last week. I took a quick break in between conference calls to head up there and grab a few pictures of Tigger with Santa. It's a good thing I did - the only pictures of him not screaming are the ones with him in my lap. I guess he still has a bit of stranger anxiety!

Papa Tigger had meetings and couldn't make it to day care to get in the picture. We were both bummed about that, but not enough to brave a trip to the mall for the real Santa!!

Over the weekend, we had quite the blizzard hit. We got almost two feet of snow!

We decided to bundle up Tigger to go play in the snow. It was quite the process....


He had so many layers on he couldn't get up!

Once we got outside, Tigger promptly decided he didn't like the snow.

He has such a sad face in this video! We're still not sure why he was so upset - he was definitely toasty warm! I guess it was a little new for him....





Luckily, by the next day he decided he did like the snow!

We spent the rest of the weekend indoors, where Tigger continued to make us laugh with his cuteness. He wanted to play with the box my new computer came in...




...and he wanted to feed himself yogurt




And finish off by brushing his teeth.


He's gotten so big! He can feed himself, say thank you (it sounds like 'A Goo') and give kisses. That last one is the most fun:)

I'll finish this post with some random pictures of Tigger at daycare. How cute is he sitting at the table like a big boy?

Christmas Trimmings and Celebrations

Well folks, Christmas is here! Papa Tigger and I got into the spirit and got a Christmas tree last week. Tigger came along and helped us pick one out. Actually, he mostly ran around the lot laughing, but we all had a good time.

We got home and started decorating. Tigger was a big help.

He even helped wrap presents....

With all our holiday decorations, we were ready for a party! Last night, we hosted a party for Papa Tigger's work crowd. At first, Tigger was a little intimidated by all the new people, but he warmed up and was running around with some of the other kids in attendance. He really had fun - so much that he wore himself out.

And don't worry grandparent police, this picture was taken around 6:45 pm - a good half hour before his bedtime. He was so tired that he fell asleep right away, as soon as we laid him down!

To end the post, I'll include a random picture I took a few nights ago. Papa Tigger put Tigger in a chair to let him finish his milk - you can really see how tall he's getting!

15 Month Checkup

Yesterday we took Tigger in for his 15 month checkup. He's still growing like a weed! His measurements were:

• Weight: 21 lb, 13 oz, which is the 10-25% percentile
• Height: 31 7/8 in., which is the 50-75% percentile
• Head circumference: 18 1/4 in., which is the 10-25% percentile

He continues to be tall and skinny like his daddy! He also got a couple of shots; he got a bit behind because we were spacing them out (we try to limit how many vaccinations he gets at one time - we limit it to two) and he was a little under the weather at his 12 month appointment and couldn't get any. He got two shots yesterday and will get two more at his 18 month checkup. He'll be pretty caught up then except for chicken pox, hepatitis and MMR.

I know that the medical field has made great advances, but we give our kids so many shots so early! I pulled out my immunization card (yup, still have it - thanks Mom!) and compared it to the AAP (American Association of Pediatrics) recommended scheduled and the difference is striking! The AAP wants kids now to get about 3-4 as many shots as Papa Tigger and I did. I'm all for advances in medical science, but that's so much! I also think some are unnecessary - Papa Tigger and I call the chicken pox vaccine a 'convenience' vaccine. And I'm not worried about hepatitis until we go to Southeast Asia. These vaccines are good - but why does a newborn infant need a hepatitis vaccine within hours of birth? Seriously!

Then there's the whole MMR debate. Papa Tigger is more comfortable with that one - we both got that as children. I'm a little on the fence. Measles is rarely fatal; the chances of fatality (1 in 1000) are actually the same as complications from the vaccine. Mumps is rarely serious unless contracted during adulthood and Rubella is never serious. Rubella is only serious to fetuses. Of course, we have one of those around. Since I got MMR as a child, I'm probably still immune to Rubella; we're going to confirm at next week's doctors appointment (I had blood work done recently).

So Papa Tigger and I have decided to skip the chicken pox vaccine, wait for international travel for hepatits and delay MMR (I'm thinking when he's two). He gets all the others, just a little more spaced out than the AAP schedule. For anyone really struggling with the vaccine issue, I highly recommend Dr. Sears' The Vaccine Book. It presents a reasonable, unbiased look at the vaccine issue; he explores each vaccine in detail and ends the book with a couple of alternative vaccine schedules (one of which we're basically following).

Sorry to get off on a vaccine tangent! One other notable update from the appointment - poor Tigger still has an ear infection! He had one a couple of weeks ago and we finished the antibiotics as directed, but I guess it didn't do the trick. Tigger hasn't been too fussy, but has had a few cranky days and nights lately. We attributed it to the day care room transition. Poor thing! We now have a much more powerful antibiotic and he seems to be doing better!

Big Boy

Tigger is growing up so fast! Now that he's finally walking, he's graduated to the next room at daycare. For the past year, he's been in the baby room. While the girls learned to walk and moved to the next room months ago, Tigger and a few other boys were content to hang out with the babies.

Well, now he's a walking pro so this week was his 'transition week' to the new room. It's a big change - not only is it a new room with new teachers, he sits at a table to eat (vs. high chair) and sleeps on a cot (vs. crib). Papa Tigger and I were a bit nervous for the transition, so today the daycare director sent us this picture of Tigger, happily sleeping on his new cot.


He handled the move like a champ (ok, there was some crying) and today he was happy, smiling and sleeping in his new room so he'll start there full time next week. He's growing up so fast!

And to end on an even cuter note, here is a quick video I got last night of Papa Tigger making Tigger laugh as we got him ready for bed. Tigger has the best laugh!