Ace of Cakes

Can I just say how much I rock at making cakes? I had so much fun making Tyler's birthday cakes this year! Since our house is so small, we had to have 2 birthday parties for Tyler, so we could invite everyone we wanted to invite. Granted, looking back, two birthday parties for a 2-year-old seems excessive, we all had a good time and got to spend time with some friends and family we hadn't seen in a while. Next year will be very low key!

Anyway, since we had two parties, I had to make two cakes. The first party theme was trains, so I made a train cake:






I had so much fun! I would love to try and figure out how to make different things with cake :) I used 2 boxes of cake mix and baked a large 9x13 sheet cake with one and 4 small loaf cakes with the other (chocolate and yellow, respectively). I let the cakes cool and then froze them overnight. They were really easy to cut/carve when they were frozen. The smokestack is made up of 4 or 5 Oreo cookies that I stuck together with buttercream icing and then iced all over.
For my next trick...er, party, we had a racecar theme for Tyler. So, I made a Lightning McQueen cake! I just bought a Lightning McQueen cake pan, so that was easy. Decorating it was hard. Well, I should say that mixing all the 18 different colors of icing was difficult! It took me longer to mix the icing and attempt to get the right colors. Anyway, in the end I think it came out well:

Is it too late to switch my career from engineering to pastries??

Conversations with a two-year-old

Driving to daycare in the morning, I intended to ask Tyler if he wanted to see his friends at Miss Bonnie's house:

Me: Tyler, do you want to see...

Tyler: Tanta!!

Me: Santa?

Tyler: Okay!
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Although Tyler knows all the letters, we're trying to teach him that words are made up of letters, and therefore each word begins with a certain letter. So we'll say, "Daddy's name begins with D, Daddy'sletter is D," and so forth. So, Tyler and I were talking (again, in the car on the way to daycare), when I asked him: "What's Daddy's letter?"

Tyler: D!

Me: What's Mommy's letter?

Tyler: M!

Me: What's Dylan's letter? (Dylan is his friend at daycare)

Tyler: (silence)

Me: Tyler, Dylan's name begins with D, just like Daddy.

Tyler: No, Daddy D! Daddy D!

Me: Can you share Daddy's "D" with Dylan?

Tyler: NO! Daddy D!

Me: All right.

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We passed the windmill bank on the way to work this morning and Tyler pointed to it, saying "A owse!" (A house!)

Me: That looks like a house, doesn't it? It's actually a windmill, just like Toby's windmill in your train show.

Tyler: Toby owse!

Me: (laughing) Yes, Toby's house.

Tyler: Weh Toby go?

Me: Toby's at our house, too.

Tyler: At Ty owse?

Me: Yes.

Tyler: At Daddy owse? At Mommy owse?

Me: Yes. We all live in the same house.

Tyler: Okay.

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When Tyler sees Nemo (the fish from the Disney movie "Finding Nemo") he exclaims,"Meemo!"
We thought it was cute, so we let him say it that way without correcting him for a day or so.
Finally, we told him, "Tyler, it's Nemo. Neh-neh-Nemo."
Tyler: Ne-ne-na-Meemo!!

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Mike has been trying to teach Tyler (of course) how to say, "boobies."

Mike: Tyler, say "boo"

Tyler: Boo!

Mike: Say "bees"

Tyler: Bees!

Mike: Boobies!

Tyler: Doobies!!

Tyler is 2!

Dear Tyler,

Happy second birthday to our favorite little guy! You are an amazing little boy, not a baby anymore, but a full-blown little boy! You run, jump, hop, tackle, hug, kiss, pat, grab and climb all over the place nowadays. You're a bundle of energy, always rearranging whatever furniture you can (right now just chairs, stools, and small tables), sometimes to climb on top of to reach something, but mostly to play with. Your imagination is coming through: you arrange chairs one in front of another and then board your "train"; you feed your Pat Pat Rocket that Daddy gave you for your birthday some milk because you think he's thirsty; you catch invisible bubbles in the air and eat them, or offer them to us so we can eat them...it's so engrossing watching you play!

You talk so much now, too! You can communicate with us and tell us how you feel and what you want so easily...it's hard to remember the time you couldn't talk, not that it was so long ago. I love hearing your voice each time you say a new word. Your vocabulary seems to grow every day (today you just learned "apple tree"). Daddy and I are so proud that you already know and recognize all the letters of the alphabet (in upper and lower case!), and many of the numbers from 1 - 10. You also know your colors and basic shapes! We brag about you all the time...What will there be left to teach you in pre-school?


You remember things that you did during the day and often tell me about them during our drive home after I pick you up from day care. You know the names of all the children you play with and you obviously have ones that you consider your friends, because we hear you say their names more often. You are obsessed with cars and trains, and even more currently, the Pat Pat Rocket toy from The Little Einsteins show. As we drive in the car, you make "vaROOOM" sounds every time we pass another car going in the opposite direction, making your "varoom" louder as the car approaches and softer after we pass (you're 2 and you understand the Doppler effect?). Every red car is a Ferrari to you, though :) You love playing with your train sets and looking at pictures of trains. When we can, we take you to see model trains or real trains, and you thoroughly enjoy that!

You are quick to apologize if you think you hurt someone, always by patting their head and saying, "Tahwee (sorry)." If someone looks sad, you will put your hand on them and ask if they're okay ("Okay, Mommy?"). And you have recently began hugging and kissing on your own. I especially love when you hug me around my legs and squeeze as tight as you can!

You're starting to show some leadership qualities, always asking (rather, telling) Mommy or Daddy to follow you, read you a book, copy you, or play with you. We gladly oblige whenever we can, but on the occasions we aren't able to play, you can easily amuse yourself for a short time.

You are in a big-boy bed now, which you can easily climb in and out of, and you do. Sometimes you will get up 5 or 6 times after we have put you to bed, but I think it's only because you want to be carried back and tucked in again by Mommy or Daddy. We also gladly oblige, because it's another chance to hug and kiss you before you go to sleep. You usually send us off with, "Night night, of you (love you)." Then, some time around 3 or 4 in the morning, you wake up and climb into Mommy & Daddy's bed, where you proceed to toss and turn until you get comfortable. The other morning, I woke up to find you and Daddy like this:

Tyler, you are growing up to be a sweet, stubborn, and funny little boy. I can't believe it's only been 2 years, but then again, I can't believe you're already 2 years old. Daddy and I love you so very much and are excited to see how much you will grow and learn in the next year!

All my love,

Mommy

Merry Christmas!

We have countless blessings to be thankful for and hope that everyone was able to take time out from the hustle and bustle of the season to be able to appreciate what this holiday is really about. Merry Christmas!!

Our Christmas was a busy one, chock full of family and friends, though! Mike, Tyler and I celebrated a private Christmas at home on the 22nd, enjoying a fire, cinnamon rolls, and hot chocolate while we opened presents. Our big gift to Tyler was a train table that Mike built and a wooden train set. He loved it instantly and I was so proud of Mike for building it!

Maymont Park

Before Thanksgiving, we took Tyler to see the beautiful fall colors at a local park. He had a wonderful time, and posed nicely for all our family photos!

Happy Thanksgiving...

Yikes, the last holiday I wrote about was Halloween, and time just flies after that. Before we know it, it's going to be 2008! One of my New Year's resolutions is to simplify, simplify, simplify.

Ahhh, New Year's resolutions. We make them every year, but how many of us keep them in mind throughout the year? Mike and I have made a joint resolution to go to church more often. Well, to just go to church, period. That would be a good start! I would like to finally take my P.E. license exam, and get a handle on our credit cards. But enough about that mess...on to fun times and photos!

The morning after my last post, my sister (Chark) gave birth to two beautiful girls. She named them Sabrina and Olivia. They are gorgeous and my sister looked amazing when I visited her in the hospital that evening.

My sister already has an 18-month old daughter, Hannah, who is wonderful and so smart, but still a handful. Now the twins are almost 8 weeks old, and Chark is just gliding along (or so it seems, to me. I, on the other hand, would probably be crying my eyes out and calling my mom every day for help!).

Exactly 2 weeks later, my cousin, Mary Jeanne, had her baby boy. It was a surprise, she and her husband didn't find out the sex of the baby before his birth. They named him Niccolo, and he has grown very fast! We saw him when he was about a month old and he looked like he was 3 months old! My cousin already has a daughter who turned 2 in August.

Shortly after my two newest nieces were born, Mike, Tyler and I drove up to Maryland to visit his sister and her family. We had a great time, but I was almost instantly overcome by my allergies (they have a dog). I totally forgot to take any allergy medicine, but figured I would be fine, since we were only staying there one night. Well, I suffered through the weekend, and the following week came down with a cold. My breathing worsened over that week until I couldn't take a deep breath. I finally woke up with a start on Sunday morning, around 3am, which I suppose was because I couldn't breathe. I ended up in the emergency room, where they diagnosed me with an upper respiratory viral infection and where I received 3 nebulizer treatments, a Prednizone prescription, and an Albuterol prescription. I saw my doctor the next day and he gave me another inhaler prescription. Two weeks later, I was still coughing and wheezing a bit, so we decided that I should be quarantined until I was definitely healed up. Thus, we spent Thanksgiving with just each other (Mike, Tyler, and myself). Although I missed my family and wanted to see my sister and the twins again, it was nice to focus on my own family during a holiday. I made a turkey breast, rice with mushrooms and peas, mashed potatoes with gravy, and green beans with bacon! It was pretty yummy if I do say so myself ;)

21 Months

Dear Tyler,
Last week, you turned 21 months old. I'm saying it in months because it makes you sound younger. To think that you'll be 2 years old in just 3 months is truly amazing, because you have learned so much in the short time your Daddy and I have been blessed to have you in our lives so far.

On Wednesday, we celebrated Halloween and took you around the neighborhood to Trick or Treat. You were dressed as a dragon, the cutest and most polite dragon in the neighborhood! You said "please" and "thank you" to all our neighbors, and they were delighted to give you a piece of candy. Many of them tried to help you out and put the candy straight into your bucket, but you'd rather take it in your hand and put it in the bucket yourself. We spoiled you for the night, letting you have 2 lollipops and a piece of chocolate. You don't normally eat any candy at all, so this was a treat to you (and maybe a sugar shock!). The sugar made you dance and run around the living room for a while :)

Last weekend, your Lolo and Lola visited. You had so much fun with them that you didn't want them to leave. You actually wanted them to take you along, but Mommy and Daddy would miss you too much, so you stayed with us. They helped encourage you to try out your "big boy" bed (we converted your crib to a toddler bed). You can now climb in and out of it all by yourself, and you love having books and toy cars in the bed with you. You always hug your stuffed dinosaur as you fall asleep every night.
You amaze me every day, my sweet boy. You are learning new words so fast, and pronouncing them so well! You can say "L's" very well, and love to point out all the traffic lights to Mommy as we drive to day care every morning ("A light! A light!"). Tyler, you also have started to recognize letters and numbers. You can spot an "o" in the words in older children's books and you recognize "9" easily, too.
Mommy loves reading books to you at night, we often read 3 or 4 books. I mostly let you decide which ones to read, and when you have to make that decision, you kneel in front of your bookshelf and put your hand to your chin and say "Hmmm". I think you got it from watching "Curious George" :)
Tyler, you have been calling your daddy "Daddy" for a while now, but only recently have you graduated from calling your mommy "Mama" to calling me "Mommy". Now, when we're home together, I can't hear "Mommy" enough! (Not that you don't try to say it often enough!)
You can easily play on your own, but you love having either Mommy or Daddy play with you...always asking us to follow you or play a certain game with you.
You are much taller now than you were a year ago, it seems you've grown a foot, but we just don't think that can be. But you can easily reach the countertop, hold more than one toy in each hand, and you can get by eating a meal without a booster seat (if need be).
You are a sweet, but stubborn little guy...it always takes coaxing from us to get you to switch activities or take a break from one to change your diaper. But you usually find a way to have fun doing your new activity and then you don't want to go back to doing what you were doing before! :)
Your daddy is very proud that you are so interested in cars, trucks, planes, and trains. Everything that goes "Vrroooom!" interests you, and your favorite movie has been "Cars" for a long time. Mommy and Daddy will splurge and spoil you with Cars toys, blankets, and books!
We love you so much, Tyler! You are our little man and you make everything we do worthwhile!
Love with all our hearts,
Mommy and Daddy

Hilton Head Island Wedding

Last weekend, Mike and I packed up our car and took Tyler down to my girlfriend's wedding. From Richmond, it should have been about 7 and a half hours. It took us 10 hours. Here's what happened on our way down:

10:00 am - We have the car packed and are pulling out of our driveway (after diligent planning, and packing the night before, we are able to leave at exactly the time we wanted to leave!)

10:30 am - Mike (who is driving) hears Tyler make a weird noise. I turn around just in time to watch Tyler projectile vomit his milk and Cheerios all over the travel tray, his book, and the center console of the car.

10:32 am - Mike pulls the car into a Sheetz parking lot (we were headed there to grab breakfast, anyway) and we proceed to do some damage control. It's about 55 degrees outside so, as I'm cleaning Tyler up and taking his wet vomity clothes off, all he keeps saying is,"It code! It code!"

11:15 am - We've cleaned up, gotten breakfast, and are back on the road.

12:00 pm - Mike suggests I pick up his Nintendo DS and play Zelda, just to try it out.

12:30 pm - I am now addicted to Zelda on the DS and continue to play on and off for the remainder of the drive.

1:00 pm - Tyler falls asleep (time for his afternoon nap, anyway)

2:30 pm - We start seeing billboard signs for South of the Border. I mention to Mike that it looks like an interesting place to stop and stretch our legs, and let Tyler run around a little.

3:00 pm - We arrive at SOB, and it doesn't take long for us to get freaked out. But we keep thinking that each store/building holds something new or interesting. They don't. We buy Tyler a set of maracas and us some fireworks.

4:00 pm - Back in the car to look for somewhere to eat lunch. We drive about 10 miles down the highway and stop at a gas station with a Subway.

4:40 pm - Now it's my turn to drive, and we're in South Carolina. I drove the rest of the way and stopped once for coffee. Tyler watches Cars on the portable DVD player.

8:30 pm - We arrive at our hotel!!

It was such a long drive for a short visit, but it was still better than flying, because we could take everything we wanted to with us. With flying time and layovers, we probably would have taken the same amount of time to get there, too (and spent more money).

Anyway, the wedding was beautiful. My girlfriend was gorgeous and much more relaxed than I would have been. I found that I was exhausted the whole weekend, though, and didn't have any energy to stay up much past 10:00 pm during the whole trip. I was glad that I got to see my friends, that Mike and I were able to bring Tyler along.

Here is Sara, in her gorgeous wedding dress:

My friends and I, in front of the wedding hall:

Here we all are, in Sara's dressing room:

And again, after the ceremony: Mike with Tyler (Mike had some pretzels in his pocket):

Tyler:

Civility and Empathy

It's finally happened, folks! Drumroll please...our son has learned to say "please" and "thank you"!!! Most often with coaxing, i.e.,"What do you say?" or "What's the magic word?" for when we want Tyler to say "please", and we still have to say "Say 'thank you'." But, sometimes he'll say "please" all on his own, instead of reaching his hand out and whining/grunting. It's so wonderful to hear (he actually says "peez") and we totally cave anytime he asks us for something and says please. I don't care, it's music to my ears :)

We've also taught Tyler to say "sorry" when he hurts someone. It's gotten to the point where all either one of us has to do is say, "Ow!" or "That hurt!" and, if he thinks he was the cause of our pain, Tyler will pat whoever he hurt on the head and say,"Tah-wee". On a rare occasion, he has kissed the boo-boo himself! Just this weekend, he started asking if I was okay. He kept asking, "Okay?" until I answered him that I was okay. What a sweet kid I've got!

I'm Sorry

Tyler and I have lots of fun little rituals we do during the day. He's so adorable and I know these are moments I need to remember, because they'll be gone before I know it!

After dinner (or other meals on the weekends) Tyler likes to listen to a couple of songs from Dog Train and stand on my lap and dance! We listen to "Wave Bye Bye" and "Rock to Sleep" and he presses his forehead to mine. He's usually giggling or laughing and bopping around while I hold him (so he doesn't fall!) and hug him. It's 5 straight minutes of Mommy & Tyler snuggling time!

Bathtime is one of Tyler's favorite activities :) He plays with his Hot Wheels cars and usually wants me to make a tunnel with my hands on the bathtub side so he can push his cars through. Tyler also calls "Daddeee!" every 30 seconds if Mike isn't in the bathroom with us. Even when he knows that Mike isn't home, Tyler still calls out "Daddee!", just in case. After Tyler's bath, he gets really excited when he's all clean and wrapped up in a towel. We usually look in the bathroom mirror, while I'm holding a towel-clad Tyler, and make faces and wave. It's an easy transition to get him dried off and dressed for bed.

Last night, after we got Tyler in his pjs and I was carrying him, he smacked me in the face with both hands! He was trying to play with me, but got carried away with his own excitement. I firmly told him,"You do NOT hit Mommy." I put him down immediately and walked away. Tyler got upset, but came after me, half crying, "Maamaa!!" So, I knelt down and said to him, "I do not like it when you hit me. Can you say you're sorry?"

Although he couldn't say it, Tyler nodded and reached up and patted my head. Then he kissed me on the cheek. I gave him a ginormous hug and many kisses :) He's getting it! He's learning how his actions can affect other people, in good and bad ways.

Tyler is such a good boy, I can see that he just wants to help. He "helped" me put the groceries away on Sunday, he knows the things he should't play with and (usually) gives them to Mike or me if he finds something (like a screwdriver, a pen, etc.) He's such an awesome little guy!!

Too cute for his own good

Mike, Tyler and I were in Target this afternoon, when Mike said something to me and I responded,"I know," in a sort of reluctant tone. Tyler immediately repeated what I said,"I know." Mike and I both laughed, so Tyler said it again,"I know." Then, Mike said to Tyler,"Tyler, you're so cute!" To which Tyler responded,"I know."

To the dump, to the dump, to the dump, dump, dump!

We've been recycling for a few months and it's been kind of a pain. Mostly because nobody offers curbside pick-up for recyclables in our area, even for a fee! So, we always amass bags and bags of papers and glass/plastic/aluminum containers until we feel like we have enough to make a trek out to the landfill worthwhile. Today was that day. Our regular containers were overflowing and we had papers and junk mail piled up in the corner of our living room. Mike bagged everything up and loaded it all into the car (along with several bags of items for donation to Goodwill). We also loaded Tyler into the car and off we went to Goodwill. Once we got there, we had to do a little rearranging to get the donation items out and then put all the recyclables back in. Then, we were off to the dump. We got to a busy intersection near our destination, and when Mike accelerated and turned onto the next road, we heard glass shifting in the back of the Jeep. I looked back and saw the liftgate fly open and a few bags of recyclables fly out onto the road! Mike pulled over and went out into the intersection to collect the three bags that had flown out. As he picked up one of the trash bags of containers, it tore open in the middle of the intersection...scattering broken glass in the road! I pulled the Jeep around to get back to Mike and put on the hazards. He had gotten most of the glass pieces picked up by then, and we re-loaded the Jeep with the fragile bags. We successfully made it to the dump and finished our recycling trip. And I heard not ONE peep of complaint from Mike! Nothing like, "THIS is why I don't like recycling!" or "Why are we going through all this trouble?" Nothing! Actually, he said, "You know, that stuff couldn't have fallen out of our car at a better spot," meaning the location was ideal for us to be able to go back and pick everything up. He even mentioned that the bag of glass didn't break until he was out of the main intersection and close to the median, so there wasn't broken glass scattered in the main roadway, just near the median. He is such a trooper! AND, we're still recycling! :)

How did this happen?

Where did all the time go? When did my little helpless baby become a rambunctious, stubborn, loveable little boy? When when when? I'm looking at pictures of him from the past couple of months, and he totally looks like a little boy and not a baby. Of course he's not a baby, I KNOW that, but does he really have to grow up so fast? I hope that writing about the times that he's little will help me remember them (not to mention the thousands of pictures I am sure to have by the time he has grown out of toddlerhood and entered kidhood). I want to remember this time because everything is a first for all of us.



Just a few days ago was Tyler's 19-month birthday. I don't even know if I can write down all the things he does now...that he didn't do or say last month! For starters, he likes to climb up on the couch in the living room, stand up on it, and walk off of it! Granted, Tyler's not more than a foot and a half off the ground, but he can't even be 3 feet tall, so that's quite a step! That would be like me stepping off something over 2 1/2 feet tall, and I would definitely have to jump off that. ANYWAY, so yeah, he's climbing things and thinks he's indestructible. He's saying more words, too ("bubbles", "circle", "hello" when he hears a phone ring, "yellow", "mine" - not my favorite word that he's learned, more animal noises, people's names), he can recognize people in pictures, and he likes singing the alphabet with us!


So, the thing that I am most excited and verklempt about is that Tyler said (albeit with some prompting) "Love you" for the first time last week!! It sounded like "of yo", but he said it. We say it to him all the time, but I don't know if he has connected that it means we unconditionally, with all our hearts, would-jump-off-a-cliff-to-save-his-life-LOVE him, but maybe? I'm sure that's what he meant when he said "of yo".

Guilt

Lately, I've been feeling a gnawing anxiety. I'm anxious and worried about the time I'm away from Tyler. I miss him and stare at his pictures all day at work, and wonder what he's doing or what he's learning at day care...and our schedules are so jam-packed right now, I feel like we're just bouncing around from one thing to another every day. I have almost an hour commute to work, which includes dropping Tyler off at day care, near my office. Then, 9 hours at work, and another hour commute back home. So, our days usually go like this:

6:00 - Wake up, go for a jog

6:30 - 7:15 - Shower, pack lunches, get Tyler up and dressed

7:15 - 8:15 - Drive to daycare, drop off Tyler, drive to work

8:30 - 5:00 - Work

5:10 - 6:00 - Pick up Tyler from daycare, drive home

6:00 - 6:45 - make dinner

6:45 - 7:30 - dinner (this mostly takes a while because of Tyler)

7:30 - 8:00 - give Tyler a bath, read bedtime stories

8:00 - Tyler's bedtime

8:00 - 8:30 - clean up, shower, etc.

8:30 - 11:00 - study

11:30 - bedtime

Some evenings, Mike has class, or we both have volleyball...so either he or both of us are getting home late. Sometimes we'll take Tyler with us, and other times we drop him off with our sister-in-law for the evening. As you can see, there's also not much together time for me and Mike. Most of our time home in the evening is spent feeding Tyler and getting him ready for bed. An 8:00pm bedtime may seem a little late to some people, but that's really the earliest we can get Tyler in bed. He has a little playtime with Daddy while I'm fixing dinner, but after dinner he takes a bath, then it's off to bed.

Anyway, my anxiety with this whole situation is that Tyler won't know that I'M his Mommy. Yesterday I spent all of 3 hours with him (which included 2 hours worth of a commute to and from daycare/work), since I had a volleyball game and dropped him off with my sister-in-law for most of the evening. While that time in the car is becoming more of quality time now that Tyler can talk more, it's still not the same as playing with him and teaching him things. Ty spends over 9 hours a day at day care, what if he thinks that's really his home and all I do is bring him there and take him away periodically? Will this little man ever know how much I love him and miss him right now?

All gone!

I think the last time I got a haircut was sometime during the middle of my pregnancy with Tyler. Since then, I haven't even gotten a trim! Moved by my cousin, Angela, who had gorgeous long hair and cut it off to donate to Locks of Love, I decided to grow my hair out to donate, as well.


Locks of Love requires at least 10 inches of hair for each donation, so I started measuring my hair several months ago. This week, I measured it and had well over 12 inches to cut off and still have enough hair for a decent style. Soooo....tonight, I did it!!

As a reminder, here is a picture of me with long hair:

This picture is about a couple of months old, so my hair was actually a little longer when I got it cut.

And now for the "after" picture....drumroll, please:

















I discovered that I didn't have many pictures of me with my hair down, anyway (which is why that first picture is almost 2 months old!). My morning routine consisted of a shower and a quick towel dry of my hair, then I put it up in a clip for the rest of the day. I might wear my hair down once or twice a week. Anyway, I really LOVE my new haircut, and so does Mike (which is pretty important to me, since he's the one who has to look at me the most!). I proudly sent my hair to Locks of Love just this afternoon!

Egads!

You are kidding me that another month has gone by already! I can't believe it's August already and summer's half over.

Okay, what have we done this past month? Well, the first weekend in July, we went to visit my sister-in-law (Mike's sister) and celebrated two of our nieces' birthdays. It was a jam-packed, fun-filled weekend! Laurel invited us ALL to crash her pad and check out the new digs, so we did! Including her husband, Kyle's family, there were 35 of us ransacking their house. That was 15 kids and 20 adults! It was a crazy and hectic weekend, but also really fun and what I believed to be a glimpse of the future. Tyler got to play with so many of his cousins. I loved watching as Tyler and all of his cousins ran around the yard, played in the water, played inside together, ate together, slept together...it made realize that we would need a bigger house! No, just kidding...well, while we would need a bigger house if we ever wanted to hold a shindig like that, the weekend made me realize how important family really is. Tyler is fortunate to have so many cousins living within 2 hours from him, so I hope he'll always know what it's like to be near family. I watched him gleefully run around the house, chased by one of his older cousins, and I just adored the looks on both of their faces. Tyler couldn't have been happier and Cameron was grinning knowing that he was the reason Ty was so excitedly laughing. Us adults also had some fun! We got to see the new Transformers movie (LOVED IT, by the way) and the guys played on the Slip-n-Slide. Yes, they are grown men, and yes, they modified it so there was a longer "slide" to slip on, and no, the rest of the kids didn't get to play on it once all the "uncles" got a hold of the Slip-n-Slide. Here's a picture of Mike, showing the two vinyl tablecloths that they attached at the beginning of the Slip-n-Slide:














Here is Mike, halfway down the real Slip-n-Slide, with both tablecloths stuck underneath him.














I'm just poking fun by making it seem like the tablecloths didn't work. The guys eventually figured out a way to anchor down the table clothes and sprinkle a hose on them, and the extended Slip-n-Slide was a big hit :)

Anyway, we all had fun hanging out and relaxing. It was a good weekend. We have a TON of pictures from that weekend, which I eventually hope to organize, but check them out for now in my unorganized version here.

What else is new? Oh yeah, Tyler has been learning more words! He's just spouting them out like a water fountain. My baby is so smart! Here are the new words he now says:
hello (allo)
Lolo (lowlow)
Lola (nalah)
no!
three (twee)

all done (ahh doe)
where'd it go? (wheh go?)
want yummy! (wa nummy!)
daddy
mommy


Tyler knows what lots of animals say:
lion/tiger: roar! (rrraaah!)
bird: cheep cheep (tee tee)
owl: hoo hoo
cat: meow (raow)
horse: neigh (aay)
train: choo choo (tee tee)

Well, I'm sure there's more, but it's late and I can barely stay awake. Maybe I'll think of more tomorrow! Good night!

Not an English Major, but...

I seem to have grown up to become a stickler for proper spelling, grammar, and word usage. I don't know why...I'm a civil engineer, for goodness sake!


I saw Steve Carell on with Conan O'Brien and he had a list of words that annoyed him and that he thought people should stop saying. That prompted me to start making a list of words/phrases that I found annoying, too :) Here are some of those annoyances:

-Liberry (Really...people say "liberry" instead of "library"! It's laziness not to pronounce words correctly!)
-Unravel (this has become a word in the dictionary, but really "to ravel" means to come undone)
-Debone (same thing as unravel, "to bone" is to remove the bones)
-Irregardless (this isn't even a real word!)
-Nucular (the incorrect pronunciation of "nuclear", again due to laziness!)

I'm sure I have more, I'll be sure to post them as I remember. Feel free to add any of your little annoyances!

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 :)

No!

We staved it off for as long as we could, but Tyler has started to say "no." Well, he doesn't really say it as much as he yells it. I don't know if he got it from us or from somewhere else, but he's definitely saying "no." It seems to me that he knows what it means, too. Tyler doesn't say it very often, but he uses it in context, so that's what makes me think he knows the meaning of the word. I love hearing his real actual voice saying a real word, but I just don't like that it's "no." :)

We also gave Tyler his 3rd haircut, May 6, 2007. We kept putting it off, trying to decide whether to bring him to a barber or just do it ourselves. I finally felt bad that his hair was so long and in his eyes all the time, so we just did at home :) It took a whole day, between naps and such. But we did it. Don't get me wrong, it's not a wonderful haircut, but luckily Tyler likes the "messy" look :)

I went to a college girlfriend's wedding the weekend of Mother's Day. It was a fun, long weekend. Just us girls hanging out and talking, eating, and drinking :) We all live so far apart, none of us live in the same state, so these visits together are occasional and much-anticipated. Mike and Tyler managed on their own for 4 days! I was very impressed with Mike and he made sure that I never got worried. I think he enjoyed the time alone with Tyler, but he said he was glad to have me back. I loved seeing my two guys standing in the airport waiting for me to get off my plane! That was late on Mother's Day evening, and probably the best gift I could have asked for. It was really hard being away from the two people who are the center of my life, but it was so great to be able to see my best friends and hang out with them for those few days.