the move

This was a long, long day. What started at 8:30 a.m. wasn't complete until nearly 7:30 p.m. And we only moved four miles!

Tyler played with Oma while the movers shifted from room to room at the Loring house. Then as nap time neared Tyler, Oma and Alex headed to the new Cape Ann house while I stayed behind. We worried how Tyler would adjust to the new environment, which was probably wasted energy. He saw the new house as a large new playground. New rooms to explore and new hiding places to find. It was Daisy who seemed unnerved by the new sights and sounds.

bye bye loring

Tyler's last day at his first home...bye bye.

long sentence

Tyler has started to enunciate his words much better lately. Recently butterfly has gone from "buh" to "buttafly." Then this morning truck changed from "kuh" to "truck." He's also said "I see it! I see it!" often, but this morning it was expanded to "I see a car!" I'm a proud mama!

big hugs

While Alex has been out of town for work, Tyler and I have had a lot of opportunities to hang out alone. Last night we watched Go Diego Go while cuddled up on the bed. Tyler took a break from the show to climb up to me and give me a big hug around my neck. He squeezed tightly and even patted my back. Then just as abruptly as it started, he was finished and went back to watching his show. He did this three or four more times throughout the night. I'm no dummy; I soaked it in and loved every second of it! Will he still do this when he's 15?

21 months

As Tyler is approaching 2 (OMG!), his vocabulary is on the verge of a huge boom. He picks up new signs, words and sounds in minutes (if that). He's very interested in the sounds that vehicles and animals make. He also likes to mimic the goofy noises that mommy makes.

His best loves (other than mommy and daddy of course) are pandas, transportation vehicles, dogs and dinosaurs. He's also expressing his affection clearly with hugs for Daisy and if she is not nearby, he calls for her.

He also loves to run and dance. He will totally rock out in his carseat (arms up and everything) and loves to dance in the kitchen to the iPOD music with mommy and daddy. He's also starting to pay attention to musical instruments too.

crazy panda love

Knowing how much Tyler loves panda bears, Oma mailed him a card that pictured two pandas cuddling. Tyler opened the card last night and proceeded to hug and kiss it by putting the card up to his cheek. Then first thing this morning he saw the panda card again and hugged it over and over.

rocker

What is so fascinating about rocks? Only Tyler and other young boys seem to know! He likes to hold them, throw them, point them out and now talk about them, "ROCK!"

laugh out loud

Tyler is a big giggler! You'll remember that he was dubbed TYLER THE SMILER by his daycare buddies. But even I was amazed when he started laugh hysterically while watching an episode of Backyardigans. The characters were playing pranks on each other and Tyler though it was fabulous. This makes me nervous for what is in store for us in the future!

CT2004

One of Tyler's favorite books is his truck book. There are 9 million versions of trucks, more than I'd ever care to know! But Alex has started telling Tyler what each truck does. Now he can ask Tyler, "Which truck plows the snow?" Tyler points to the snow plow. "Which truck delivers the mail?" He points to the mail truck. "Which truck puts out fires at the airport?" Amazingly he can distinguish the airport fire truck from a normal fire truck. "Where is the CT2004?" And Tyler points to the cement mixing truck (Dane Cook anyone?). He knows them all and it is a little scary! :)

happy 2nd birthday ayla

We went back to SP, "the park," and had a blast at Ayla's pool party. While we had some good times in the pool splashing (notice Daddy caught that move in the last photo), Tyler's favorite activity by far was riding around on all the mini cars. No surprise what this kid wants for his birthday! We're happy that Kristen and family are back in town for good.

soccer man

Tyler loves to kick a ball around with Mommy and Daddy. We took his O-ball out with us while walking Daisy and he was REALLY good at the soccer moves. Do they have little leagues for kids this young?

daddy everything

MaMa was Tyler's first word. He's been saying Mommy for quite some time. So why now has he started calling me Daddy? If I point to a picture of our family and ask him to point to Mommy, he points right at me. Then turns around not much later and giggles with his arms out for me and says "Daddy!" I think he's a joker and gets secret enjoyment out of teasing me. It is crazy scary how similar his personality is to mine.

cracker

I tought Tyler the sign for cracker. He picked it up in about one minute. It just gets easier and easier.

play asleep

You've seen where an owner can point to the ground and say "play dead," and the dog rolls over and looks lifeless. Neat trick. Well, in joking around with Tyler we found that we can point to the ground and say "go to sleep" and he jumps to the floor, closes his eyes and starts to make snoring noises. Then he peeks one eye open to see if you are finding it as hilarious as he is. It is too cute!

day-zee

Tyler added the zee sound to the end of Daisy's name and now likes to call to her. If he doesn't see her he'll look around and call out, "dayyy-zeee!" He's so gentle with her now and loves to give her pats on the back. Daisy even rolled over to let him rub her belly which is a bold new vote of trust on her part. She's finally decided this little guy isn't so bad after all.

airplane gazing

After dinner this evening we sat out on the deck and watched the planes passing overhead every so often. It was such a breezy and mild day. Such a nice break from the heat and humidity we've been baking in lately. Tyler really enjoyed bouncing along the patio furniture and pointing out the awesome planes. "I seeee it!"

choo choo

Tyler is working on learning the difference between a car and a train. He sees four wheels and thinks it should be a car. So we've been practicing the noises. He has had the zoom, zoom sound for cars and now he's added the chuga, chuga, choo, choo sound for a train.

kisses on lips

If you ask for a kiss Tyler usually just leans his head in to touch your head. Now he seems to have picked up the lip to lip action. Although we still need to work on his mouth being closed. Yuk!

mine

This is Tyler's newest word. "Mine!" Thankfully he says it softly and not with too much attitude YET!

please...raisins

Tyler has learned some new signs. Please is one. He still isn't sure why he needs to add this one since he's already got "more" down, but he'll happily add it to the mix if it gets him more food. Only trouble is that he resembles Seinfeld's Elaine Benes dancing sometimes. It's funny to watch.

Alex and I spent some time online looking up more signs since Tyler's only limitation seems to be our limited sign vocabulary. So I shared a new one (raisins) with Miss Deb this morning, one that I had not shown Tyler yet. Miss Deb and the other kids at daycare think it is so cool that Tyler can communicate with sign language. By the time he got home that evening he knew it.

I want...

Today after picking Tyler up from daycare I used the promise of chalk to lure him away from playing driver in the front seat of the car (this endeavor would be endless if left up to him). By the time we got to the house he seemed to forget about the promise and the devilish side of me did contemplate not reminding him since it was 90+ degrees outside. But I thought better of it and broke out the sidewalk chalk. I held open the bag and asked Tyler what color he wanted. He ran over saying, "I want blue!" We had a great time coloring the entire walkway. His slightly younger neighbor Madeline even came over to join in the fun.

Tyler picked a flower (really a weed) and gave it to me. I asked if he could pick one for Madeline and he eagerly did so. When he saw what a big deal we made about it, he promptly ran back over and over again to deliver more flowers to Maddie. He knows how to woo them already! :)

Later that evening he wanted to hug Daddy, who was cooking in the kitchen. He ran up with his arms extended and said, "I want Dah!" I'm enjoying the "I wants" while they are still so sweet.

boo car

Blue is still pronounced "boo," but it's his favorite color. Any and everything that is blue gets pointed out!

justin time

Tyler loves his cousin, Justin!!

please needs work

Tyler definitely knows how to ask for MORE! He is also big on his manners; he says "thank you" constantly. But now we're working on teaching him please. He's not quite sure how please and gimme are different. And when doing the sign it comes out looking more like a conga line dance move.

beach time

Deanna, my mom's cousin, and husband, Paul, drove from St. Louis to Maryland for a summer visit. We really enjoyed seeing them and Tyler found a captive audience in them as well. After a day of catching up and going to dinner we wound down at Round Bay Beach. We couldn't have asked for better company or a more beautiful summer evening.

new shoes

normal day

A normal day at the Campbell household: Tyler running, Tyler tossing toys, Tyler running, Tyler running and Tyler laughing! And somewhere in there he checks out what happens when he tosses the balls down the stairs.

dinosaur

Tyler has shown interest lately in dinosaurs. He has a book with some wonderful illustrations of them. And he also has some dinosaur pajamas that he points to and says "di!"

wiper

I'm not sure where he gets it, but Tyler likes to snuggle with a baby wipe. I have to limit him to one, otherwise he'd have dozens pulled out.

20 months

Our little boy is learning new things daily. He's a little sponge copying our words, noises and mannerisms. And he brings us such joy everyday!

boat world

My older brother, Brian, designed and built his own boat. We celebrated his accomplishment at the launch party for Problem Child 2. Highlights for Tyler: checking out Brian's new boat, running all over the marina, and pointing out nearly every boat with "Bow, Bow!"

fencing anyone?

Tyler was hanging out in the kitchen going through the cabinets as all inquisitive young kids do. He found this new toy and entertained himself by shrieking each time he put the "mask" to his face.

i see it!

Tyler points everything out now with "I SEE IT!" It is such a high pitch squeel but it is so cute. And he usually says it several times in a row with such enthusiasm. He also points out planes when he hears them roar overhead with "I HEAR IT!"

panda love

I think it is getting serious. :)

b-words

For some reason Tyler has recently picked up several b-words. Banana (now ba, along with the sign), balloon (boon), butterfly (buh), bus (also buh), box, and blue (boo).

zoo mania

We took the opportunity to join up with Alex's college friend Nikki and her family at the National Zoo while they were in town. Tyler had a ball running around with Laurence, nearly 5, and James, who is less then 3 weeks older than Tyler.

Tyler praticed his animal noises and added two new ones (moo for cow and oo-ooh for the gorilla) but used his lion roar the best and most often. During this trip Tyler fell in L-O-V-E with the panda bears (just as Mommy did as a kid). He latched onto a panda in the gift shop, cuddled for a few minutes and then was fast asleep! All the action wore him out. But now he has his panda as a memento of his adventure.

happy 4th

The Campbell family headed to Atholton Park, which is very near our new home. We watched the small parade, but it couldn't have been more spectacular for Tyler. The charge was led by several emergency vehicles including two fire engines, which made his day. And the candy thrown from the boats, tractors, cars, wagons and scooters wasn't that bad either. The girls seated next to us shared some of their acquired lollipops with Tyler. He's already a hit with the ladies.

jokester

Boy does this boy love to joke around! He knows he's not to go up the stairs alone so he kneels at the bottom and half lifts his leg as though he's going up and then waits for our reaction and giggles uncontrollably! And then he repeats this over and over again. Or he finds a winter hat and pops it on his head in the summer. Oh the hilarity!

anniversary dinner

For our fourth wedding anniversary we celebrated (two days late) with our traditional dinner at Ruth's Chris. Following the anniversary gift guidelines we were supposed to give each other a gift of fruit and flowers. Great minds think alike! We ended up with two edible arrangements. Yummy!

Jamie and Phil came to babysit Tyler during our evening out. I'm not sure who had more fun. They took Tyler to the park, built block towers and even gave him a bath. The best babysitters will be awesome parents!

oodles of noodles

After a long-standing ban on any pasta while at home(on Tyler's part), he's now found a love for mac&cheese!

rock n' roll

In Tyler's room I have a collection of Boyd's bears and a few of them sit on a miniature decorative rocking chair. On this day Tyler pulled the bears off and decided to take a seat himelf!

animal rights activist

My stuffed animals have the right to stay on the ground!

executive

Don't call me, I'll call you. Tyler is all about technology and he likes to test things out in Daddy's home office. We can't keep him away from remotes, phones, cells, hands-free headsets, blackjacks, computers, and fax machines.

new home

Tyler's new home in Columbia come August 15!

over the ledge

The house search has been so stressful on Mommy (i've had trouble eating and sleeping--our offer on a house in Ellicott City was topped) that Tyler pokes some fun at her by clinging to the ledge between the dining room and living room. Could he be implying she's over the edge? :)

no wah!

Tyler came home from daycare saying, "No wah, no wah!" I couldn't figure out what he was saying but he didn't seem like he'd stop any time soon. I called his daycare person, Deb, and asked what it was because I knew he learned it there. Finally after lots of thinking, we figured it out! Deb says after each cool story from a child at daycare, "No way!"

backpack

Tyler's newest words: backpack and bobos. Both from Dora and Diego. Those silly bobo monkeys! He also used the word "nana" rather than sign language for a banana, but hasn't kept using the word. He still uses half words and half signs but between the two we are able to communicate with minimal frustration.

house sold

Bittersweet news: Tyler's first home has been sold! Now starts the scramble to find a new one! Here Tyler, at the Long&Foster realty office, makes some calls.

big boy seat

Tyler loves to act like a big boy. Here he sits at the big table eating his snack.