Tyler's First Buddy

While Adam and I were cleaning up and reorganizing the basement this week in our attempt to get the house organized for the new baby, Tyler discovered a Winnie the Pooh stuffed bear (one that I have had for years) sitting on the couch. All I can say is that it was love at first sight. Immediately, he grabbed "bear" and hasn't really left his side since.

In the last few days, bear has done everything that Tyler was done. He naps, sleeps, potties, eats, plays, dances, brushes his teeth, goes on errands with us (including church), and wears pj's, socks, and underwear. It is safe to say that Tyler has his first buddy. And we are thankful that bear is such a good influence on Tyler. When Tyler doesn't want to do things, if we ask bear to do them, Tyler will join in and help. Bear always gets the tasks done.

And at church yesterday, bear helped Tyler remain even quieter than normal. Tyler insisted that bear do everything that we do (sit, stand, kneel) at church. Those behind us got a kick out of watching him insist that bear kneel or that Adam hold bear too (since Adam holds Tyler when we all stand). And when we went on errands after church, bear was nice enough to guard the car and got a lot of "good job bear" from Tyler upon our return. Needless to say, it has been really fun for Adam and I to watch this relationship grow as this is Tyler's first attachment to anything. I wish that my writing could give justice to how cute this new friendship has become, but I am afraid that I am failing. So, here are a few pictures to see Tyler's first buddy.

Tyler and bear showing off their pajamas.

Both are tucked in and ready for bed.

Some videos from Christmas Time

I have some videos to share, and thought that it would be easiest to put them in one post. The first is from the evening after we first put up the Christmas tree. Tyler was LOVING the Christmas tree and all of the ornaments and lights. He is chattering up a storm and Adam/I tried to repeat what he was saying so that you could understand too, since we know that sometimes toddler speak is hard to understand if you are not around the toddler all of the time.

Christmas Tree Just got Put Up

Tyler Singing Row, Row, Row Your Boat. . .

Christmas Eve



Christmas Morning 2008

Christmas Day

Christmas day was great, though we did miss spending it with our families. Tyler slept in a little bit, and got the pleasure of waking Adam up (he LOVES to wake Adam up as he just loves when Adam is home). Once Tyler finally mastered waking Adam up (sometimes daddy's are just hard to wake up I guess), we all headed out to the living room where we discovered that Santa had come.



Tyler was really thrilled to find a new train set was all set up on his table that Adam had built him to play with. Tyler was speechless as he ran circles around it with the biggest grin on his face. He just kept touching all of the new trains that were on the table and didn't know where to start. Soon enough though he started driving the trains around, and pretty much spent the rest of the day playing trains.



The other really cool thing that Tyler discovered under the tree was his very own trumpet. Immediately, he claimed it as "Tyler's trumpet" and after Adam showed him how to play it began playing away. He was a little confused as to why his mouthpiece didn't come off, but that confusion quickly gave way to joy as he started playing. The highlight of the new trumpet came later that day when Adam pulled out his and they both were able to play together. Just watching Tyler's eyes light up as they played together was great. And anytime Adam stopped, Tyler would stop. Anytime Adam would play, Tyler would play. And of course, Tyler was very delighted when Adam told him that he could use one of Adam's trumpet cases for his trumpet. Since then, Tyler always makes sure that his trumpet gets put away in its appropriate spot, and seems to like the idea that Tyler and daddy have trumpets, but mommy does not. ;) He is definitely Adam's buddy.

Christmas Eve

Here are a couple of pictures from Christmas Eve. After a little discussion, Adam and I realized that we were adults now in the household (hard to believe I know) and that we could schedule things in whatever way best fit our schedule since we have a toddler this year and there are things like naps/bedtimes/etc. to think about. Ultimately, we decided that after breakfast we would get a few things done around the house/errands run and then we would open up family presents. This worked out great because Tyler was very into present opening this year, and he insisted on not only handing out the presents but also taking his time unwrapping. And of course when you get something unwrapped, you have to open it up and play with it before even considering moving on to something else. It ultimately took us well over two hours to open up presents and so Adam and I were happy that we didn't wait until after getting home from church to start the process. We wanted this to be a really fun experience for Tyler and didn't want him to be cranky/tired during the process.

So we got things opened and then spent the rest of the day playing with everything. Before long, the day was ending and it was time to get ready for church. Tyler did really well at church and LOVED listening to the holiday concert that the church did before Mass. Everyone around us told us how great he was being, and they seemed to get a kick out of him wanting to shake their hands when it was time to show a sign of peace. ;)

When we got home, Tyler melted (and once again were thankful that we structured the day how we did). So we fed him a quick snack and tried getting him ready for bed. He complied with getting his teeth brushed but when we asked him to go to his room to get some pajamas, he ran into the living room and melted. While Adam was brushing his teeth, I had picked up some of his new toys. It was the first absolutely devastated meltdown we had seen. So Adam came and picked him up off the floor (poor guy) and eventually he settled down enough to fall asleep.


Tyler taking after his mom and dad, and is surfing away.

Ready to fix a few things around the house for me. Unfortunately, Tyler LOVES to show the girls the drill (which really works) and so they have to keep an extra eye out for him now. ;)



Riding his train. He loves to drive the train all over the house, though his favorite part is probably putting some blocks (came with the toy) into the engine and watching them pop out into the other train car.

Waiting for mom and dad to get ready for church. He decided that he needed to rock in a rocking chair while he studied up on being a big brother.

Daddy and Tyler after church.

Mommy and Tyler after church.

Christmas Eve

We just wanted to wish everyone a great day, and post a few pictures that we took this morning. The first three are from our ultrasound this morning. We are just over 33 weeks and the doctor wanted to check the baby's size since I am huge. Turns out that the doctor guessed right. They said that he (they confirmed this for me) is measuring a couple of weeks ahead, and since he is proportional in his overall size and there is plenty of fluid they are guessing that we are just having another big baby (like Tyler was considered). They guessed that he currently weighs five pounds, nine ounces! The tech got some great shots of his face but he refused to hold still long enough to get them printed. It was fun to see him, granted he had his hands at his face most of the time (just like Tyler used to do).

Here, he is looking straight at us. He was moving around a ton, so the picture is a little blurry. But you can see his eyes, nose, and mouth here.

Here is a profile shot with his foot up by his face. He had his hand on the side of his Vace too. I guess that he didn't want any pictures taken today. ;)

Another profile shot.

I also wanted to include one picture of Tyler. He helped me make some puppy chow while Adam shoveled the driveway. Of course, he wanted to try his finished product so he has some chocolate on his face. . . granted it is not as bad as it probably should be for a toddler eating cereal coated with powder sugar, chocolate, and peanut butter. ;)

Cookies!

Tyler was pretty good last week letting me bake without trying to help. So today I decided that it would be fun to make some sugar cookies that he could help with and baking would of course help heat the house up a little (it has been a little cold today). He picked the cookies out at the store with Adam the other week (they are precut Christmas tree and snowmen cookies) and was very happy when he heard me ask him if he wanted to help bake some cookies. :) Of course, I didn't realize that he wouldn't understand that we would have to bake them first until we were putting them on the cookie sheet and he kept trying to eat them! ;) There were some tears as I told him no and that we had to wait to eat them, but eventually he gave in and helped me finish getting them all the cookie sheets and into the oven (okay, well he watched safely from his chair while I put the trays in the oven).

Being our son though, he lacks patience and just couldn't wait the eight minutes for a warm cookie. He kept looking up at me, and saying "cookie please mama" and was signing the "please" as he said the words. Tyler definitely knows how to get his way with me. ;) Hearing and watching him trying to get a cookie melted my heart, so I grabbed him a gingersnap cookie and made him a little glass of egg nog.

I told him to pick a seat at the table and he was very happy to go sit in daddy's seat (he loves doing anything like daddy these days), and kept telling me that "Tyler in daddy's chair" with the biggest grin on his face. While we sat at the table and he had his snack, I realized how much fun something as simple as eating a cookie can be for a child. He was telling me "yummy" on each bite and had the biggest smile the entire time as he sat there.

Definitely a BIG treat in his mind, and to mark the occasion, I took some pictures. This was the best picture that I got. I asked Tyler if his cookie was yummy, and he stopped to give me the biggest grin (and then promptly got out of daddy's chair to come see how the picture turned out on the camera...grin).

I just have to add this tidbit too for Uncle Mike and Aunt Elaine. Yesterday, while Tyler and I were doing our daily sit and look at the Christmas tree cuddle, Tyler was pointing out everything he saw on the tree (normally we ask him if he sees something and he says yes or no. . . but tonight he was naming everything himself). He told me that he saw the star, and I asked him if he saw anything else. Immediately, he jumped up out of my lap and in the loudest and most drawn out way said "ssshhhhooooeeessss" while signing shoes as the same time. ;) He was so thrilled to find his shoes (his first Christmas ornament is a pair of silver baby shoes), and managed to repeat this for Adam when Adam got home. Adam and I both just wished that we had it on videotape.

BUSTED!

I was busy scheduling a doctor's appointment on the phone when I realized that I heard the strangest noise coming from the living room. It wasn't chewing (like is normal when the girls are chewing on bones), but odd sucking sounds. Well, I walked in there and Tyler immediately started crying.

This is what I walked in to see.

And if you look closer. . .

Yep, Tyler had gotten a candy cane off of the tree and decided to help himself. Yikes. I took a picture of the candy cane, despite Tyler's protests as I was just amazed that he had sucked/chewed through the wrapper and was going to town. He was determined!

While I was at my doctor's appointment this morning, Adam stayed home with Tyler so that we wouldn't have to wake him up and drag him out into the cold. The doctor appointment went very well. The baby's heartrate was going strong in the 150's. My stats were just as good (especailly my blood pressure) and even despite me losing weight, the baby is now measuring 4-5 weeks ahead! So we get to go get a growth ultrasound soon to see how big he really is getting.

Adam was telling me when I got home that Tyler put on the Santa hat and then told Adam "pictures". So Adam took a few pictures of him by the tree with his hat on. I walked in to Tyler with his hat still on, so I think that he really likes it.

And then a picture of each of the girls that Adam took this morning.

One final comment is that Tyler proved this morning that he understands what television is and how the remote works. He grabbed a television remote, pointed it at the t.v., looked at Adam, and said "Hawks" this morning. When Adam told him no hawks were on, Tyler then asked for "choo-choos". ;) When that didn't work, he later tried to get Adam to show him "choo-choos" on the computer. I guess that he just understands more about technology than we thought that he did. :)

Two things about Tyler

I wanted to share (well, record so we don't forget) that Tyler has become obsessed with people's glasses. In the mornings, if he comes in to wake one of us up, he likes to grab our glasses for us and try to help us put them on. The cutest part though, besides wanting to help us or pointing them out, is that he calls them "nockers". Not sure how he got nockers out of glasses, but it is oh, so cute.

The other thing I wanted to share was about one of the sweetest moments yesterday and it about put me in tears. Tyler and I went downtown yesterday to eat lunch with Adam and then go up to his office to chat with Uncle Bruce. I was exhausted. Without thinking, I parked at our normal parking ramp (it is on the edge of downtown) thinking that it was the cheapest ramp and that since we weren't in a big hurry, Tyler and I could just take our time and walk it. Well, by the time I got to Adam's building I was wiped out and getting a lecture by my husband for not parking closer. ;)

So we went and had a nice leisurely lunch so I could rest and then went back to his office so I could rest some more. Tyler chatted (well, he was shy for about 90% of the visit) with Bruce and Adam until we had taken up enough of their time. Tyler and I set out on our journey (really it isn't THAT long of a walk, but with Tyler's little legs and my slowness, it was long) to the car. We got about 75% of the way there, and it was time to take a break.

Tyler saw some decorated Christmas trees that he wanted to talk about. So we sat at a little cookie shop and I treated him to a miniature cookie while I rested and we discussed the lights on the tree (he thinks that trees inside are "cool"). After we rested, we got into the car and headed back home.

On the way home, it hit me that I won't be getting my energy back anytime soon, so we headed out to pick up a present for Adam. It ended up taking all afternoon and by the time we got home it was almost supper time. I told Tyler that I was tired and was going to sit until daddy came home. I let the dogs out, turned the lights on the tree on, and went to get a big glass of water.

Tyler came walking into the kitchen and said "momma hand" and reached for my finger. He took my hand and led me to the spot in the living room where I always sit on the floor to read him books. I sat down and he grabbed a blanket off of the couch and brought it too me. He got it almost over my legs, and then said "momma lap" and sat down between my legs, with his head on my belly. I seriously, about started crying right then. It was just so sweet of him to sit with me and to get me a blanket so we could snuggle. So we snuggled until daddy got home, looking at the tree, and talking about everything on it.

Of course the snuggles were over once daddy got home as Tyler always has to tell daddy where to take his shoes off and where to hang his coat. He will drop anything that he is doing to make sure that his daddy gets everything in the right spots. ;) In fact, Tyler has become so focused on these two things that he actually forgets to go give Adam a big hug and a kiss when he walks in the door because he is focused on saying "shoes here" or "coat", so we have to help remind him a little. ;) And once those things are done then Tyler knows that he is going to get to play with daddy before dinner, and since daddy's games are a lot more fun (airplane, wrestling, jumping) than snuggling, playing usually wins out. ;) Regardless that I only got a few minutes of snuggling, the fact that my little boy would think about taking care of me after such a long day was just so sweet and worthwhile to blog so that I can remember that moment.

Tyler's two year photos

Since Tyler will be two in just a few weeks, we also wanted to get some pictures of him alone. Needless to say, the photographer took a TON of pictures and used a lot of different toys of bribes. Never got any really good smiles out of him, but I didn't think that at two he would be willing to smile on command.



Here are a few of the pictures that she took today.

This was about as much expression as we got out of him all morning. ;) It required Adam jumping behind the photographer, Tyler watching, and then Tyler jumping (since Tyler likes to copy Adam). This is him after his big jump.

Family Pictures

This morning we went and got some family pictures taken. Tyler was super shy and refused to smile while we were taking pictures. Once we were done though, he was chatting up a storm and being his normal happy self. Sigh. :) Here are a few that I liked and wanted to share with everyone.

As close to a smile as we could get.

Tyler is ready to be done at this point. I know that he is not smiling, but I do like the look on his face in this one. :)

Tyler the toddler

So I had my camera upstairs today because for the last two days, Tyler has insisted that he be Elmo, yet I never got a picture of him walking around as Elmo (his Halloween costume). Yesterday was by far the cutest, when he insisted by the end of the day that we call him Elmo instead of Tyler and he was really thrilled when we made him take his costume off (he was not happy about that) that we let Elmo sit in the highchair at the table with Tyler. Just one of those things that reminds us that he is a little kid, or quickly becoming one.


Today, we had yet another moment. I was cooking dinner at the stove and Tyler was playing at my feet. He has been at my side all day, so I thought nothing of it. He had a bus and some cars, and seemed content to just be driving them. As I was cooking, I realized that a really weird sound was coming from my feet. So I look down to discover that Tyler had emptied an ENTIRE baking soda package at my feet and was busy spreading it around.


The look on my face must have scared him to death because I was absolutely speechless. He promptly grabbed the towel off the stove and started wiping the baking soda around with it, saying "oops" over and over. Sigh. So I took a few pictures so I could post about this moment, and then got to work cleaning. Tyler did help me clean up the entire time, and for that I am appreciative. I guess that moping the floors is on the agenda for tomorrow. ;)


Here are a few pictures. Note that Tyler is not normally only in a shirt/sweater and underwear during the day, but we are potty training and he seems to do better when he is just in underwear. In fact, we are accident free today (including nap time) and he is super proud of keeping his underwear dry. Amazing what a marshmallow bribe will do for motivation. ;)

And as I look at these pictures, I can't believe that he was able to do as much "decorating" as he did before I noticed. He either moves really quickly, or I was way too focused on dinner. ;)

Ornaments and Shoes

Tyler saying "shoes" over and over as if he was talking to his Uncle Mike!




Well, we ended up going ahead and putting up the ornaments on the tree tonight. After some dinner and a little football watching, it was obvious that Tyler was up for it even though it was WAY past his bedtime. I have to post at least one picture tonight. This is because while we were watching football, Tyler found a headset and had to wear it. And when it was on, he would repeatedly say "shoes" into the microphone. Just thought that Uncle Mike might like to hear about it since he has been trying to teach Tyler to say "shoes" into the headset. :)


The ornament decorating turned out to be a great time for all of us. Tyler stationed himself at the ornament tub and dug through it handing us boxes and paper wrapped ornaments. He did a good job of making sure that we had the ornaments, whether he unwrapped/opened the box himself or just handed us what he found in the box as-is. We were pretty impressed at how well he was doing and wanted to be involved, and we even got him to hang a few ornaments himself.


Once all of the ornaments were up, we decided to open up the ones that we got each other this year. They were all really special, and Tyler was THRILLED to get a Thomas the Train ornament. We highly doubted after a few attempts to get him to hang the ornament on the tree that it would happen while he was awake. But, after watching us hang ours, he decided that he took could hang up Thomas. And sure enough he did without a fuss (reminding me how much he is growing up).


The highlight of our night though, with respect to things that Tyler does, was when it was time for Tyler to go to bed. He grabbed Adam's hand, and then walked Adam to me (I was sitting on the floor) and reached for mine. Then we all walked out of the living room as Tyler kept saying "bye bye Christmas Tree . . . love you" over and over as we walked down the hall. Just too cute!

Christmas Tree Day

We decided to go cut down a Christmas Tree today. We bundled up and headed out, all excited to go get the tree. This would be the first time that Tyler would get to be out in the snow and help cut down a tree. We got there about four in the afternoon and it only took us about five minutes to realize that we needed to work quickly to find one. The air was bitter today! I am not sure how warm it was when we were out and about, but as I type this at eight, it is 9 degrees outside. Yikes!

I can now understand the basic rule of Christmas Tree cutting: whomever stands out in the cold the longest, gets to pick the tree. :)

Overall, Tyler did great in the snow. He wasn't the biggest fan of it, and I don't blame him given how cold it was. He fell a lot, but most of the time would pick himself back up on his own and continue on our journey. And he only did a true face plant once, so Adam and I were grateful. Too much of that, and he would have been done a lot sooner. Thankfully, after a few falls we figured out that even though there wasn't a lot of snow, Tyler still needed his snowbibs. Once we got those on him, his mood changed and he wasn't so upset about falling down.

Ultimately, Adam outlasted both Tyler and I (with Tyler outlasting me as I wished that I had a coat that could zip up....grin). There was never a dispute . . . we just had a hard time finding the perfect tree. We were out there for an hour and at the point that Tyler and I were ready to head to the car for warmth, we found it. We took our pictures, headed for the car, and once Adam got the tree secured to the car, we headed off for hot cocoa (warm milk for Tyler) and some treats at a coffee shop before our hour long drive back home. Tyler was in much better spirits after some bread and warm milk, and before we knew it we were back home and the tree was still atop the car.

Tyler not exactly sure why we are going to go get a tree to put inside the house.


Not the best picture, but did want to include a baby picture since this is baby's first trip out to cut down a tree. Almost 31 weeks down!!

Tyler's first trip into the snow. We were glad that we had snowboots for him, and after our first field we got smart and put his snowbibs on him as well (as he did a lot of falling).

His first fall into the snow. He quickly got himself up and proclaimed how "yucky" the snow was. :) And continued to repeat "yucky" until he got up with Adam.

Adam looking back at Tyler's first fall into the snow. He was already off scouting trees for us.

Daddy and son with a tree that we thought might work . . . we later decided that it just wasn't right.

Headed off to find the right tree.

Tyler is COLD!

Mommy and Tyler with the tree that we ultimately decided was just right.

Adam starting to cut it down.

Almost done!

And finished! Adam is showing off his hard work.

And as we were leaving the tree farm, we got to see the Grinch. Tyler was a little more than shocked to see him walking around. :)

We managed to get the tree home safely, and after Adam worked on it a little more at home out in the freezing temperatures, we brought it inside. Tyler looked just as surprised as Ellie and Carlie were. He was eager to help his daddy get the tree lined up just right, and when he couldn't be under the tree helping he was kind enough to sit on Adam's back while Adam worked. ;) He was more impressed we think once Adam got the lights strung up on the tree. He is still working on that one. We figure that after the long day out in the cold that we will hang ornaments tomorrow, at which point Tyler will probably REALLY be intrigued with the newcomer in the house.

Santa Hats

While Tyler ate breakfast this morning, I slowly brought up some of the Christmas decorations that I have been eagerly waiting to get out. Tyler watched in fascination as I put them up and when he was done with his breakfast, he ran around yelling "snowman" and pointing out some of the snowmen. I found some hats while I was digging through things, and since I made him wear a hat last year, I thought that I would try again. He wasn't thrilled at first, but then Ellie came to investigate. I put a hat on her, and she sat still so I could take my pictures. That was all Tyler needed to become hat obsessed. He loved that Ellie had a hat on, so he put his on and I got a few pictures. Carlie got a pass on the mommy picture taking obsession today because she hurt one of her nails (the nail totally split open yesterday to expose her entire quick) and is in pain. So Carlie sat off to the side watching me try to pose Ellie and Tyler for pictures (of course neither listened).

Ellie posing....

Tyler with his hat looking at Ellie. He was not happy with his hat until I put one on Ellie.

Even when I had him sit, he still wasn't sure. But I got a picture of them both in their hats, so I am happy. :) Too bad they both seem to be looking at me like I am crazy. :)

Ellie's hat fell off, and like any good brother would do, Tyler decided to help Ellie put hers back on and Ellie sat there quietly to let him.

Pleased that he got it back on. He was laughing hysterically at the sight....too bad this was the best angle I could get (I am a little slow these days).

Still laughing at Ellie. ;)

And because I can't resist....here are two pictures I took of Tyler last December. Hard to believe he can grow this much in a year!