Look who's talking!

Yes! It's Tyler! He is saying so much now, and I know he can understand much more. Tyler is so smart and sensitive, so I know that he knows what he's doing when he starts a tantrum or throws a little fit. But, I also know what will set him off and that he's going through a clingy/separation anxiety phase right now. Just in the past week or so, he went from running away from me and straight to a toy when I dropped him off at daycare to crying and not wanting me to leave when I dropped him off. Secretly, I am so thrilled that Tyler wants to be near me, but it just makes it that much harder to leave him in the mornings at daycare. I still remember this morning, looking at Tyler standing on the other side of the baby gate while he wailed as I left :( I was told he was just fine a few minutes later, when breakfast was served, but that was the last glimpse of Tyler I remembered as I went through my day. Of course, I'm always greeted with his fabulous smile and giggles as he runs toward me when I come to pick him up at the end of the day :)

I think that most of Tyler's frustration stems from the fact that he can't communicate everything he wants or needs. He can say so many things, though! I love hearing his voice say real words, I almost can't wait until he can talk even more, though it means that he's definitely growing up!

Things Tyler can say:

Mama
Daddy
uh-oh
Oh no!
Oh wow!
whoa
no way
Whee! (especially when we're driving down a hill or going around a sharp turn)
1, 2, 3! (sounds like "wah, do, wee!")
hi (sounds like "aye")
bye (also sounds like "aye")
e-i-e-i-o
quack quack (sounds like "kwoh kwoh")
arf arf (sounds like "ah ah", very high pitched!)
ooh ooh ah ah (supposedly like a monkey, but it sounds like "ah ah", also very high pitched)
vroom vroom (sounds like "bvoom bvoom")

Things Tyler understands:

more please
put on your shoes (he goes to his shoes and sits down and tries to put them on!)
breakfast
lunch
dinner
wash your hands
bathtime
juice
bottle
naptime
night-night time
nose (he points to our nose)
belly (Tyler points to his belly or looks at it)
close the door
bring that (to mommy or daddy)
let's go outside (he goes to his shoes and tries to put them on)

Tyler waves hello and goodbye to anyone! I caught him waving to a trucker on the road one day. Unfortunately, the trucker didn't see him and return his wave, but Tyler kept on trying anyway :) When he hears a car or motorcycle engine, Tyler says "vroom vroom!" and looks around for the noisemaker. Tyler loves airplanes, too. When we see them outside, he waves to them and says "aye!" If he's inside and hears an airplane, he points to a window and says "oh!"

The best thing is that Tyler likes to give hugs and kisses now! I can ask Tyler for a kis, and if I put my face next to his, he'll kiss me and say "mwah!" He also blows kisses to anyone, also adding the "mwah" sound :)

Mike and I like to think that we had a hand in helping Tyler learn the words he knows and understands. I'm ecstatic that he's so interested in books. We buy him books all the time (got a bunch at an awesome yard sale this past weekend!) and he loves looking through all his different books. If one of us is sitting in the living room, Tyler will usually bring over a book and plop in our lap to look through it. We have a whole shelf of books for Tyler in the living room, so he'll just get up and grab another one and bring it to us until all the books are scattered around us and the shelf is empty! I think that's my favorite activity to do with Tyler...besides blowing bubbles and watching him catch them :)

Catching up

So, it's June already, and Tyler is 16 months old! I have been feeling nostalgic and sentimental lately, so I've been looking through old photos and videos of Tyler. I recently put together a photobook at www.kodakgallery.com for Mike's grandfather. He's never met Tyler, and you will see that the book begins when Tyler is about 4 or 5 months old and ends in May. That's because I'm the worst mother ever and the last time I sent pictures of Tyler to Mike's grandfather was probably for Father's Day last year. I get so accustomed to everyone having email and internet access that sometimes I forget to send hard copies of pictures to people who don't have email. Anyway, I hope that I made up for it because the book is really nice, bound and professional-looking :) We had it shipped to our house first so that we could see it and also write a card to include with it. Mike is certain his grandfather will like it!

I'm lucky that I have a free evening to write this, because I was supposed to be playing volleyball tonight. We got a sitter, the first non-family member, scheduled to come and watch Tyler while Mike and I played volleyball tonight. After she was about 20 minutes late, I called her and found out she was in a car accident this evening! NOT on her way to our house (I would have felt terrible), but she hurt her back and her car is out of commission. She even offered to try to get a ride and come to our house, but I told her that she should just stay home and rest. So, Mike went off to play volleyball and I stayed home with Tyler. I secretly didn't want to leave him yet, so I didn't really mind staying home. I did some yoga and dancing in my living room to make up for missing out on volleyball :)