happy 1st birthday!!!

Wow, what a fun day?! Tyler's best buddies joined him for sweets and treats. Tyler really enjoyed his personal 6" cake (nearly all of it)! Cake, friends, and new toys, oh my!

going...

going...

going...

gone!

thank heaven for cake!

tech bug

Tyler loves everything technology: remotes, phones, laptops... He's got the tech bug, but he needs to watch out because bugs bite! This week while investigating the VCR, the door flap trapped his hand as he tried to remove it. Gotcha!

whistle

Tyler is really exploring the sounds that he can make. Recent additions: puffing his cheeks full, puckering up like a kiss but then blowing air out slowly, whistling by mistake while he is blowing and putting his fingers in his mouth. He has also been clicking for some time. Tyler also loves to do the indian cheer on the back of his hand and clap which elicits mommy and daddy to say "Yay," which he finds really funny.

moo no more

After a successful first day, Tyler will no longer take whole milk. Now he won't even consider a bottle and will only drink from his cup with a straw. Sneaky mom put the milk into his cup, but he's too smart for that. He only wants water from his cup!

happy birthday uncle dylan

Born just 25 years and 10 days before Tyler, we celebrated Uncle Dylan's birthday on Saturday with lunch and some playtime in the yard. (Tyler's new trick: puffing out his cheeks. Too cute!)

moo

For the past month or so I've continued to breastfeed but only twice per day. While Tyler is at daycare he drinks thawed breast milk that I'd frozen months ago. But this past week I finally ran out of frozen milk. Just a week shy of his one-year checkup when the doctor usually gives the green light to move to whole milk, what is a mom to do? I could try formula, which I used for a short time to supplement my milk when Tyler was a few weeks old. Tyler wouldn't even consider it this time! He was absolutely adamant. Yuk! I could increase my production of breast milk but that runs counter to my plan to wean him soon. So in consultation with the pediatrician, Tyler is now drinking whole milk. And loving it I might add. Problem solved.

monkey man

Who's the cutest monkey ever? That would be Tyler in disguise. He was treated to a party at Capitol and then a visit to Daddy's work, where he tore around the place with Daddy's help.





Is that a banana in your pocket?

roses

Tyler picked out his first bouquet of flowers for a lady -- Mommy! Daddy and Tyler were shopping and Tyler nearly jumped out of the cart to get to the flowers. When given a choice, this bouquet is the one he selected to bring home. Good taste! And look at that smile!!

one for me, one for you

Tyler is fascinated with seeing mommy and daddy's teeth. He likes to look at them, touch them and giggles like crazy when we play bite him. Today as we were eating lunch, he paused and then concentrated on my food going into my mouth. He had been munching on an apple wagon wheel and for the first time decided to offer me some of his food. I accepted his offer and took a little nibble on his apple wheel. Then he'd take a bite. Then offer it to me again. This continued until the wheel was completely gone. He seemed so proud to share his precious treat with me.

smooth sailing

Tyler is officially a sailor! Grampy took him for his first boat ride. Our destination: the Chesapeake Bay. Alex and I tagged along and brought Daniel and Meg Redmon as well as a thank you for their care of Tyler. We leisurely cruised out near the Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse. On our way back the wind picked up to 23 knots and had Harlech, the boat, heeled over quite a bit. So much so that Meg got her boots and pants wet up to her knees! Daniel's pants might have been wet for a different reason; he was at the helm as we charged back up the bay and imagined tipping us over. But he did an awesome job and we all had a fabulous time!!

chilly

It was time to break out the sweaters on this chilly, rainy October morning. This is my absolute favorite picture of Tyler and me so far!

big hat

Tyler has the most adorable blonde hair, which I hate to cover up. But he just looks "so darn cute" (as Gramps would say) with hats on. Though this one might be a little big.

parents rock

Before going to work, we captured some photos of the working parents just before walking out the door.

sway

Tyler LOVES music. He stands at his musical table and as it sings ABCs, Tyler sways from side to side. Next time won't you sing with me?

echo00OOO

New giggles from Tyler! What is causing them? The sound of his voice when it echos. He puts his mouth up to cups and even the payload of his dump truck and then sings into them and squeals at the funny sounds he makes.

look dad

Alex watched as Tyler played on the floor in the living room. Tyler picked up one of his books and tried to open it, but it was facing the wrong direction. Tyler rotated the book and tried again. Not quite there yet. He rotated it again and voila, the book opened properly. Then Tyler pointed to the page and started talking baby talk as if to explain to Daddy what was on the page. So cute!

to the zoo

What did we do to celebrate Granny and Gramps's visit? We went to The Maryland Zoo in Baltimore. We saw polar bears, giraffes, zebras, elephants, penguins, tigers, lions, cheetahs, chimpanzees, sitatungas and many many more.

sixth tooth

Chomp, chomp. I just noticed that Tyler's sixth tooth popped through the gum. He now has his bottom two center teeth and his top four center teeth. And they work really well! He actually destroyed his favorite monkey teething ring by chewing through the rubbery plastic!

pumpkin patch

With Halloween quickly approaching, we wanted to take Tyler to a pumpkin patch. The Campbell family, along with Granny and Gramps, ventured to the Triadelphia Lake View Farm in Glenelg. Boy did we pick the best place to go! We hopped onto a tractor for a hayride up to a corn maze (a maize maze?) and then continued on to the fields and fields of pumpkins and gourds. We selected a bunch and got to pick them right off the vines. After taking the hayride back, we visited the barnyard animals and played in a "sandbox" full of corn kernals rather than sand. We also picked up some freshly canned jars of apple butter and pumpkin butter. We can't wait to carve and display our pumpkins and gourds!

got to love family

Granny and Gramps flew into town from Florida to see the cutest baby ever. And while they were at it, they wanted to catch Alex's play. Only trouble is, when you have your parents and in-laws all going to the same event, who do you get to babysit so you can see the play too? Enter Uncle Dylan. He showed up with reinforcements (Jason Simms) and they took care of Tyler for the night. I guess it takes two 26-year-olds to handle one nearly 1-year-old. But they did a great job and my baby was happily sleeping when I got home. I'll overlook that they avoided changing his diaper before bed and it was at maximum capacity this morning. But no leaks. Go Pampers!

jump, jump

We really weren't planning to get Tyler a jumperoo since he is so close to walking, but it is hard to ignore a little boy who just keeps bopping up and down. When I'd hold him in my arms he'd try bouncing. And Meg told us how much he loved using Audrey Kate's. So we broke down and got him a Rainforest jumperoo. I think he likes it just a little bit!

11 months

Is it possible that I keep getting cuter each month?

linus

Tyler has started to want his extra soft blanket with him more and more. He likes to cuddle with it while he's still waking up and when he's getting ready to take a nap or sleep for the night. While holding his security blanket and sucking his thumb, Tyler really resembles Linus from the Peanuts!

standing tall

Tyler loves to be moving, moving, moving! And now he is venturing to stand on his own as well. He walks and stands all the time as long as he has one hand on a pant leg, arm of a chair, table, wall, etc. But this morning he let both hands go free and it only lasted a second and a half before he grabbed my pants again. Then this afternoon while Aunt Joy was visiting, Tyler was playing with her keys and let go of both of her hands. It lasted just three seconds and then he grabbed her hand again. He didn't realize that he did anything spectacular but Joy and I were thrilled at this landmark.

not enough hands

We recently purchased a toy dump truck for Tyler. The payload is full of oversized building blocks, which Tyler loves to dump out across the floor. He often keeps both hands full with a block in each, but here lies the dilemma. With a block in the left hand and a block in the right hand, how does he move the third block that sits at his feet. Well, when you are Tyler this is easy to solve. You bend down and try to grab the third block with you mouth!

learning musical table

Tyler's new favorite toy! While at the beach a few weeks ago, Tyler couldn't get enough of Simon's LeapFrog learning musical table, so it wasn't long before we acquired one as well. Anything that entertains them for that long is worth its weight in gold!

T-mobile

That's Daddy's new nickname for Tyler. He is non-stop! And he's lightning fast! I'm starting to get worried that Tyler will think his name is NoNo, because of how often I have to say it as he tests the boundaries.

happy birthday to lucas

We celebrated Lucas's (in hat below) first birthday at his legendary party today. Complete with moon bounce, balloons and very yummy cake. Tyler tried out the moon bounce while the older kids took a break for cake, but by far Tyler's favorite activity was playing with the race cars!

indian cheer

Do you remember pretending to be an American Indian when you were a kid? The noises you'd make? The cheer that would come out of your mouth as you tapped your hand against your mouth. Well, Alex has taught Tyler to make this noise. Except that Tyler doesn't use the palm of his hand, he uses the back of his wrist. But the noise comes out the same!

florida v. tennessee

Die hard Gators fans (the Campbells) and die hard Vols fans (the Redmons) met up last weekend to tailgate and watch the football game. Tyler and Audrey Kate, four months his junior, dressed accordingly. Go gators!! (I think Audrey Kate was stunned by Tennessee's big loss.)

teething update

Tyler's two lateral incisors are almost in. One is only covered by a thin layer of gum, so much so that it looks like it is already in. The other is getting closer. Teething hasn't affected Tyler's sleep habits at all, but he keeps two fingers hooked in his mouth during the daytime whenever he's not playing or getting into something.

hurtin'

Poor little buddy. He's had a low-grade fever for most of today. He's slept most of the day away and while he's awake he whimpers a lot. Same thing happened last Sunday and then I noticed a big tooth had popped through the gum. I won't be surprised if the same happens again.

fifth tooth

Tyler sprouted a new one! His left lateral incisor (just left of the center teeth) popped in within the past few days. I noticed the new tooth last night when I could actually get a good look in his mouth while he was sleeping in my lap.

10 months

Tyler's tenth month is marked by a huge increase in mobility. In just the past three days, he's begun crawl on all fours (rather than his usual military crawl), climb stairs, insist on walking most places (with assistance), and move very quickly!

Who's that pressed against the glass door?

fishy face

Was it seeing all those fish last week? Tyler just whipped out a new facial expression: a fishy face. He sucked in his cheeks and puckered those lips for the cutest look.

trouble

This is not how the swing was intended to be used!

Tyler is into EVERYTHING! He loves to use his two swings while kneeling or standing. He loves to climb into the bottom of his exersaucer and then spin himself around. He loves to seek and try to destroy anything electronic. Remotes, stereos, cell phones, laptops included!

wave

On our way out of town, we took the long route home so that we could experience the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. Lots of tunnel, lots of bridge and definitely lots of water.

On the Eastern shore, while stopped for a gas fill up, Daddy waved at Tyler and Tyler waved back! He had a look on his face like he still didn't understand the concept, but he followed Alex's lead anyhow.

love lea

On our last evening in town, we arranged a dinner with my cousin Lea and her fiancé Rob at the Lynnhaven Fish House. Despite Tyler being on his best behavior and adorably cute, I'm sure Lea and Rob have ultimately delayed their plans for children by several years!