1st Birthday Celebration!!!

Here are a few pictures from Syler's birthday party! Enjoy!!!

Checking out his presents.

Enjoying his new ride.

Opening presents with Mommy and Daddy.

Tuckered out from opening so many presents.

Yummy!!! Birthday cake!

Some special visitors came to surprise Mommy and me!!!!

Enjoying the bounce house!

Cute puppy!! I like you!!

Chillin....

Happy 1st Birthday!

Dear Syler,

Happy 1st birthday!!!! One year ago today you came into my life and turn my world upside down (in a good way that is). This day has come faster than I have expected or wanted. You are no longer my little baby, but my little man. When I look back through the year, I am reminded of all the things you have taught me. But, the one thing that really stands out and I am constantly reminded of every time I look at your beautiful blue eyes, is that there is a love out there like no other. I felt this love for you the minute I laid eyes on you when you were born. This is a love only a parent can feel and understand.

It has been an absolute joy and an adventure to watch you grow and learn. To go from a little premie baby weighing only 5 pounds 15 ounces to a little walking giant is amazing and wonderful. I will be honest, I do miss the days where you would just fall asleep on my chest as a little baby, but I am definitely looking forward to watching you grow, learn, and experience life.

I have loved every minute, every second of this past year. I have loved watching your relationship with daddy grow, and the look daddy gets in his eyes when he looks at you. I have loved walking into your room every morning being greeted with a smile. I have loved, oh gosh, there are so many memories and things that I loved about this past year, that I cannot list in this letter.

My love for you grows every day and I am incredibly blessed to be your mother. I don't know what the next year or the next 20 years has in store for you, for us, but I simply can't wait to find out.

Lastly, I will promise you this. I will love you unconditionally, keep you safe, watch over you, and take care of you until the day that I no longer on this earth.

I love you with all my heart, soul and being. Happy birthday my little monkey.

Love always,
Mommy

11 months old!!!!

I have to start out by saying that this past month just FLEW by. Syler has grown so much, developmentally and physically, this month. It’s just crazy. What is my little man up to these days.

Well, these past two weeks I have been on vacation, so Syler, Miguel and I have taken a lot of day trips, not vacationy day trips, more like trip to get things on our to-do-list. Oh, and we had taken a trip to visit the soon-to-be parents (The Carders) for lunch. In addition to these day trips, Syler and I have gone to a local lake and dairy farm. He absolutely loved the lake and enjoyed watching the cows at the dairy farm. He also enjoyed the non-vacationy day trips as well.

This past month had also brought along Syler’s first real illness. Syler was very sick over a few days with his temperature hitting a high of 104.4 and a call to the pediatrician at 3:30 in the morning. We ended up taking him to the doctors and was told he was fighting a virus, possible had strep throat, and was in the early stages of dehydration. If Syler didn’t give us one or two wet diapers by the time 7 o-clock came on the day we took him to the doctors, we were going to be taking a trip to the ER. Miguel and I were never so happy to change a wet diaper. After about 4 or 5 days, Syler was back to his normal self.

~ Likes~
• Mr. Bear (obviously)
• Dogs- mainly dogs that will tolerate hair pulling , gentle hitting and climbing. Syler especially liked Spencer. Spencer is a chocolate lab (dinosaur). Syler recently officially met (met to where he actually cared about this LARGE creature walking around) Spencer and just couldn’t get enough of him. I didn’t have my camera this time, but I will get pictures the next time they spend time together. Now don’t get me wrong, Syler loves Max, but Max is still too scared to let Syler play on him.
• Wires, paper, plastic and anything else that he is not allowed to play with.
• Yogurt: He can’t get enough of it.
• Mimicking: He loves to mimic what others do.
• Playing with other kids. Which tells me I need to get him involved in some type of social group.
• Water: No matter if it is his bath, the lake or his pool, he LOVES playing in the water.



~ Dislikes~
• Laying down- This kid hates it, which makes diaper changes very difficult. We are constantly searching for things for Syler to play with to occupy him while having his diaper changed.
• Having his faced cleaned/washed- He continues to hate this, but now he fights back a little bit. He know that when the bib comes off, its time to clean his face. At this point he will start to whine, block his face with his hands and pushed your hands away even before you make contact with him.
• Hanging out in his pack-n-play or crib for that matter.
• Having his hair washed. The instant I put my hands on his head to wash his hair, he is trying to remove them.
• Shoes: Syler hates to wear them. He tries to take them off. When he tries to walk in them he looks like a cat walking with tape on it’s feet. Or he will stick his butt out and refuse to walk.




~ New~
• Walking: Syler has improved so much in this area. He is still a little too unstable to walk by himself, but he has gotten adventurous and brave. There will be times where he will just let go of your hands and attempt to walk on his own. He may get one or two steps in before he plops onto his butt. Miguel and I practice with him all the time. We will sit, facing each other, a few feet apart and let him walk between us. Syler has taken up to 8 steps while walking from me to Miguel.
• Crawling: Its not actually crawling. Syler does more of the army crawl, which is super cute.
• Clapping- So cute. Syler will clap when he gets excited or his you say “YAY!!!!!”
• Waving- This is Syler’s new favorite thing to do. He waves hello and goodbye, and loves to wave at anybody, which a lot of recipients find adorable.
• Sitting up on his own- Syler has finally figured out how to sit up.
• I believe that Syler has officially made the association between mama and dada. I believe that he knows I am mama and Miguel is dada.
• Talking- We are hearing a lot of different sounds coming from Syler’s mouth. Lately, he has been making this sound like he is a monsters. It is too funny.
• TEETH- We finally have teeth. Syler has an incisor coming in on the bottom and one on the top. He is constantly touching them with his tongue and or finger. It’s cute because some times, I think, he takes my finger and rubs the tooth with it just to be like “Look mama, I got teeth!” Also, I must say that so far (knock on wood) this teething process hasn’t been that bad. I just pray it stays that way.


Moment of the month: I love watching how excited Syler gets when his Dada comes home from work. He can barely contain himself.

NICU Reunion 6/5/10

The Barroso family attended the NICU Reunion this past Saturday, and it was quite fun. We got to see some of the nurses and doctors that helped take such great care of Syler while he was in the NICU/CCN. They were all so happy to see him and so excited to see how far he has come.

Just driving to the hospital, parking in the parking lot, and walking into the building, brought back so many feelings, emotions, and memories; feelings, emotions and memories that we will someday share with Syler. There are not enough thank you’s we can say to the staff to show them just how much we appreciate everything they did for Syler.

Syler and Sam. They were CCN mates.

Syler enjoying a bottle during the presentation and raffle.

Daddy and Syler.

The Bullett Family (Aimee, Brendan, and Sam). There son was in the NICU/CCN for almost 2 months.

Sam... So CUTE!!!!!!!

Trip to the farm!

Last weekend, Syler and I went to Adams to visit my dad for his birthday. Ever since Syler has been born, my dad has been anxiously waiting to take Syler to the farm to show him the animals. Here are a couple picks from Syler and Dziadziu’s farm adventure.

Feeding the chickens.

Looking at the cows.

Dziadziu telling Syler that the next time he comes to visit, he will get to ride the tractor.

Dziadziu & Syler

Being Syler's 1st trip to the farm and really his first time seeing animals other than Max and the cats, he really didn't know what to make of everything.

10 months old!!!!

10 months old!

This month has FLOWN by! I can’t believe that I am already writing Syler’s 10 month old update. I feel as though I just wrote his 9 month yesterday. So my little munchkin is 10 months old!!!!!!!!!! A lot has happened this month in the sense that he has grown so much; developmentally and physically.

What are Syler’s likes right now at 10 months? Well I’ll tell ya.
- Watching daddy mow the lawn. He loves it and gets excited when I first bring him outside to watch. Once he is outside, he just stares at Miguel walking back and forth across the lawn. And, every once and a while he will get this burst of excitement and he will scream and dance.
- Cars, trucks and wheels. (or pretty much anything on wheels) Syler loves to watch cars drive by. He has this fascination with wheels. If I put his umbrella stroller next to the wheel of my car and put him in the stroller, he immediately starts to touch it and examine it. When I move him away he stares at it. He will also stare at the wheels on his umbrella stroller. As he is being pushed, he will just lean over and stare at them. He tries to touch them, but can reach.
- Sitting. If it is not nap/bed time, Syler wants to be on the move.
- Speaking of being on the move, Syler is like a nascar driver when it comes to him being in his walker. Miguel and I wear sandal around the house because it HURTS when Syler runs our toes over with his walker.
- Trying to play with Max, or should I say, chase Max while Syler is in his walker. Max on the other hand does not like this very much and runs away.
- Tummy time!!!! Finally!!!!!!!! Syler will stay on his stomach for extended periods of time now, which is wonderful. In addition, he has started to army crawl.
- Toys, Toys, Toys or anything that he can put in his mouth, shake or bang with his hands.
- Exploring! Syler is constantly exploring and looking for new and interesting things. He especially likes the frig and dishwasher. Once we open the door, he flies towards it and grabs onto a shelf before we have the opportunity to close the door. Oh, and the dishwasher. His fascination with this makes the duty of doing dishes very difficult because he is always trying to do anything from eat the door to pulling dishes out.
- Reading. I have always said that Syler enjoys books and reading, but now when he is read to, he actually sits attentively and listens. He looks at the book, watches my mouth move while I read and grabs and studies the pages. Sometimes he tries to eat the books too ☺
- I mentioned this in my last post and it is still the same. Talking and screaming. More often than not, there is some kind of noise coming out of Syler’s mouth. The noises range from mama and dada to, which is a new sound, chirping or a short, high-pitched scream. He sounds like a little baby bird.
- Pulling hair. Syler absolutely loves this, and I absolute don’t like this… Since Miguel doesn’t have any hair, Syler likes to bang on his bald head.
- Sticking tongue in food. This is a recently new thing. When Syler is getting close to being done eating, he will, first, press his lips again the spoon, then, stick his tongue in the food. Once he has done that, he will eat the food.
- Playing pee-a-boo. SO cute! He enjoys pulling his blanket over his face then pulling it off waiting for me to say pee-a-boo!! He smiles every time.
- Max. I think Max and Syler’s love for each other is growing… Max allows Syler to touch him more and Syler lets Max lick him more. Max also tries to get Syler to play with him when Syler is walking around.



Dislikes:
- Same as last post. Syler HATES, simply hates, having his face cleaned after eating. As soon as I take off the bib, he starts to cry, hide his face and try his hardest to avoid the process all together.
- When we say no or take something away from him that he wants to play with but can’t.



New:
- Walking… Even though he is too unstable to walk on his own, he will gladly walk while holding your hands. It is quite funny because sometimes his feet don’t move as fast as the rest of his body and he will topple over.
- I mentioned this earlier, but army crawling. Syler has all the motions/movements to crawl; he just needs to put them all together. But for now what he does is this. Once he is placed on his stomach, he will walk his feet up as high as he can, which causes him to stick his butt high in the air. At this point, he will army crawl his arms out until he is flat on his stomach again. He will repeat this until he has reached his destination or got the object he want.
- Mimicking. Syler will mimic noises and facial expression you make at him. It’s quite cute!
- We are hearing all sorts of new 2 syllable, 2 letter words.
- Protesting/tamtruming… If Miguel or I take something away from him that he is not suppose to have or prevent him from getting into something he is not suppose to, he will scream, cry, protest, tamtrum
- Make the association with mama and dada. I think he is starting to associate me with mama and Miguel with dada…
- Oh, and still no teeth.
- I am starting to plan Syler’s 1st birthday party.. HOLY COW!!!! ALREADY!!!!!!

Moment of the month:
There is not a day that goes by that Syler doesn’t make me smile. I LOVE that! ☺

9 months old!!!!!!!!

I waited to do this post because Syler had his 9 month Child Wellness visit today. Well, his visit went great! He is weighing in at 20 lbs, which puts him in the 50%-ile. Syler is measuring 29 inches long, which puts him in the 75%-ile. His head circumference is also normal. Syler didn't receive any shots today, but Syler did have his blood drawn, which he did not like. He did cry through the process and gave the phlebotomist a look of death a few times, but he did a good job otherwise. The doctor is very happy with his development and health.

So, on May 2nd Syler turned 9 months old!!!!! I can’t believe that in 3 months we will be throwing his 1st birthday bash!!!! It has been pretty amazing month because he is constantly changing, developing, and learning.

*Likes*
~ Sitting. This child hates to lay down, especially to have his diaper changed. We have to give him a toy of some sort to keep him occupied while we change his diaper. I think that if he had his choice, he would sleep sitting up.
~ Mr. Bear (safari teddy bear) or as Auntie Melissa likes to call him, Me Bear. I know I have written about him in other blogs, but he still is a constant toy for him. He goes everywhere with Mr. Bear and falls asleep with Mr. Bear’s paw in his mouth. There has been 2 separate occasions when Miguel and I have almost lost him. Both times we were at a mall and both times we were able to retrace our steps and find him. But, if by chance we do lose Mr. Bear, Miguel and I have purchased 4 more bears. So, we should be good until about age 5.
~ His walker!!! This kid flies around the house as if he is in a nascar race. There are even times he will get a running start, pick up his feet then just soars the rest of the way. Oh, and don’t get in his way because you just may loose a toe or get smashed in the ankle. He also gets really frustrated if he gets stuck, but he will continuously adjust the walker until he is able to get through.
~ Panting like a dog, which is something he learned from Max. Syler will stick his arms straight out, open his mouth really wide, scrunch his nose, furrow his brow and just pant, hard. This is something we will have to get on video because it is quite funny.
~ This isn’t a like. This is a LOVE. Syler absolutely LOVES his dada. He always wants to be with him and stares at his all the time.
~ I can’t stay this is a complete 100% like, but Syler doesn’t seem to mind being on his tummy and doing tummy time. We have been pushing more tummy time to work on crawling. Crawling hasn’t come yet, but he does a really good job pushing up and even sometimes pushes himself backwards.
~ Toys!! Syler loves playing with his toys. He had this one toy ball that dings every time you hit it. So, Syler repeatedly bangs the ball against his chest to hear it ding. I also think this is his way of seeing if the ball will make the same noise every time he hits it against his chest.
~ Talking and screaming!!! There are times where Syler will just look at you and give this high-pitched scream. We are also hearing a lot of new sounds.



*Dislikes*
~ Syler continues to HATE having his face and nose cleaned. He starts to whine, cringe and turn his head as soon as he seems you coming with a towel.

*New*
~ No teeth yet!
~ We have officially switched Syler to formula. He didn’t like Similac or Enfamil, but he does like the generic kind from Walmart.
~ We have begun swimming classes. We are 2 weeks in and Syler loves it. He is the youngest in his class and may not get the songs we sing, but enjoys being in the water.
~ You may see Syler in a commercial or in a magazine. Syler has been accepted into a modeling agency located in Boston. A special ed. Supervisor of mine suggested that we submit some pictures. So, I did the research, we sent some pictures with a ‘resume`’ and waited to see what would happen. We sent in his pictures with the attitude of if it happens it happens, if not, no big deal. So, we were a little surprised when we received a letter saying he was accepted. Now we wait and see.
~ While Syler is in his walker, he likes to pick the whole thing up.
~We have also practiced walking. We will stand him up, hold his hands and he will just start walking.
~ Eating more solids and feeding himself. It is so cute when he tries to feed himself. He will pick up a puff, shove his whole hand in his mouth, but when he pulls out his hand, the puff is still stuck to his hand or it falls out of his mouth. Its kind of funny.
~ Facial expressions. The amount of facial expression Syler has developed has just exploded over this past month.

* *Moment of the month**
I absolutely LOVE walking into Syler’s room first thing in the morning and being greeted with such a happy smiling face. No matter what, it happens every morning, and it just melts my heart!