new names

So before the names Oma or Granny passed over Tyler's lips, Tyler has said Shane (Ms. Debbie's son) and Mr. Buck (our neighbor). As Mr. Buck walked back and forth mowing his lawn, Tyler watched from the sliding glass door of the family room. At each pass, Tyler would wave and say, "Hi 'ster buck."

family galore

Boy, did Tyler have a chance to shine! His grandparents from Florida came to visit. And while they were in town his local grandparents, Uncle Dylan and his girlfriend Christine all came to dinner together. Wow, and Tyler thought he had a captive audience with two adoring parents! He ate up all that attention.

clothes preferences

This morning I tried to put a sweater over Tyler's head and he popped it off just as fast. Trying again, I was stopped cold. He made it clear he was NOT wearing it. I choose my battles and a shirt is not going to be one that I waste my energy on! I selected a shirt with an airplane on the front; he approved!

leader of the pack

Ms. Debbie has told us that Tyler is a leader. As he runs around, the other kids follow him from room to room despite he being almost the youngest at daycare. Lookout world, Tyler is here!

hat on, hat off

Tyler likes to goof around with hats until the second Mama pulls out the camera. Little bugger!

patio play

One of Tyler's favorite rooms of the house is our outdoor patio. He loves to race his cars around the ledge and look out for animals and birds in the backyard.

morning person

Tyler is like his mama in that he's a morning person. He pops up and has a smile on his face each morning and is so happy to start the day. So I thought this picture was especially funny since he was a little slower to rise than usual and needed to stretch.

mama & tyler at play

the world's cutest gator fan

Doing the Gator chomp!

Exploring the backyard

rice cleanup

Tyler has fun with everything he does. We couldn't help ourselves from laughing at his rice cleanup techniques.

noggin knock

I got a call from daycare today. Hate those; I always panic for a split second. But this was the first time there was actually something wrong. Poor Tyler was playing and running away from Kingston when he tripped and clipped his head on the window sill. He was ok, but has a big bump and a raspberry streak. But it didn't slow him down for long. It's hard not to just jump in the car and give him a hug and kiss to fix his boo boo, but I knew he was in Ms. Debbie's comforting arms.

Fast forward to right now and Tyler is sitting and bouncing on Daddy's back like Alex is a horse. Yeah, he's fine!

fishy fun

Today Tyler and I hit the National Aquarium in Baltimore with friends - the Coles and Davolios. He had a great time watching the fish and turtles. But most memorably at Tyler's urging we ran down ALL of the oval ramps of the shark exhibit yelling "WEE!" He also enjoyed the dolphin show and can make great dolphin noises.

Hugs to Ayla

driving on the edge

Tyler loves to make good use of the windows next to our front door.

king of the hill

While Alex was away on business, Joy helped me pick up two new leather chairs for our family room from the store and carry them into the house. Later that night I assembled them while Tyler watched Dora the Explorer. Once I had put together the first chair I sat in it to test it out. He immediately wanted to get in. I lifted him up into my lap. No, no, no. He hopped down and then grabbed me by the shirt to pull me out. I stood up and he hopped in and marvelled at his new throne with the biggest smile.

cookie

Tyler doesn't get a lot of sweets at home so it was a special treat when he got to pick out an oversized chocolate chip cookie at the pizza shop. Aunt Joy was with us and we were picking up the pizza to go.

Once I handed him the cookie wrapped in Saran wrap, he smiled from ear to ear and stared at it. Then in the mouth it went. We explained he had to wait until after dinner. As we sat and waited for the pizza to be made, the anticipation of this cookie grew. I told him what the cookie was called and taught him the sign, which he picked up immediately. He kept poking at the cookie so I finally had to distract him with crayons and paper before I was able to sneak the cookie into my purse.

On the way home in the car, Tyler kept saying "teekie." Joy asked me if he was talking about the cookie and I assured her he didn't know the word yet and she agreed he wouldn't remember the cookie from much earlier. Then Joy turned around and as he repeats "teekie," he's doing the sign for cookie and please. Boy were we underestimating him! Once home he gulped down the pizza and then reveled in his big TEEKIE!

22 months

My God! He's almost two already. Where has the time gone. Each day Tyler is learning something new and sharing his fresh perspective on life. We try to soak it up! He brings such pure joy to us that we'll never be able to thank him enough. We just love to laugh together and that makes everything right.

squirrel

We see quite a lot of wildlife in our backyard. Tyler still is most impressed with the deer, but he likes the bunnies, groundhogs (I guess that is what they are) and squirrels too. We saw a squirrel dart in front of our car and he announced "SQUIRREL!" Luckily for the little critter, Tyler was there to protect him.

why do we even buy toys?

puzzle

Tyler has a wood puzzle board that has cars on it. Loves it! Half of each car comes out and it is his mission to put them back in the correct spots based on color and pattern. In the past he would get the pieces in but not match up the color properly or he'd sometimes struggle twisting the piece to go in. Tonight he was like a new man. He put all the pieces in correctly, no hesitation, no troubles at all. It is so interesting to see him develop skills so quickly.

sock talk

Again at the changing table, we're going through the morning routine of getting dressed. I have his fresh diaper on, shorts and a T-shirt. I pull out a pair of socks and hand one to Tyler while I start putting on the first one. He holds open the top of the sock talks into it and then peeks in to inspect. It was the cutest thing ever. I ask him if he's looking for fuzz bunnies and he gives me a puzzled look like how would bunnies get in my socks?