Ty the Tank is Growing Up ~ Discovering Dad - Learning what it means to be a good dad

Tuesday, May 6, 2008

Ty the Tank is Growing Up

It's hard to believe that two years ago Ty the Tank came barreling into this world. He was actually due at the end of May, but things were getting cramped in there (mama is petite) and he wanted out!

And so, on May 7, 2006, Ty 'The Tank' Alexander was born.

Ty had a hard time adjusting to the outside, so he had to stay in the NICU for a few days until he got things sorted out. This made me and Lori both nervous and sad. Every parent wants their child to be healthy, and it's hard seeing a bunch of newborns hooked up to machines and wires. The worst part was not being able to really snuggle with him, since he had to stay under a heat lamp most of the time. I guess he just needed to cook a little longer because after a few days he was fine.

By the time he was 6-months-old, he went from a peanut to a pumpkin:

Like his big sister Chani, he learned to do things very quickly. He sat up, crawled, talked and walked way ahead of schedule. As you can see, he didn't have a problem with eating either. Every check-up at the doctor's office brought us news that he was in the 98+ percentile for both height and weight. Maybe he will be a future linebacker (like his daddy)!

His first birthday party was a lot of fun!

Once he started walking and talking, things got interesting. We had to start watching what we said A LOT more. One of Ty's favorite expressions was, unfortunately, "Ahh, shhitt!" And, he was known to occasionally drop the f-bomb at the worst times, like when the blue-haired ladies made over him at Wal-Mart. Luckily, Lori and I broke ourselves of our potty mouths (in front of him anyway), and he quickly moved on to more appropriate words, like 'dog' and 'baby' and 'mugga' - milk.

At 18 months, he turned into a little dragon:

In the last 6 months, Ty has grown from a 'baby' to a 'toddler,' and he is still a little tank. He is built like a rock, and he loves to wrestle. He is one of the funniest kids I know. I love that he is a little prankster who likes to play jokes on you. He laughs A LOT, and his enthusiasm is contagious. On the other hand, he likes to bang his head on things when he doesn't get his way. He's a smart kid, but this just seems dumb (even though the doctor told us that it's normal). He throws fits. He makes messes on purpose. He defies. And, in spite of his rock solid body, he has become one of the pickiest eaters I know. It is a wonderful dichotomy!

Basically, Ty is becoming a little man.