fun attitude

For a few weeks Tyler has been quick to cry or whine and super clingy which is uncharacteristic of him. The change was so dramatic that my daycare provider noticed and discussed it with me. We attributed it to the upheaval of a kitchen remodel and the family stress he absorbed due to the passing of his grampy. And then again it crossed my mind that this was "the terrible twos!" But I'm thankful to say that our little boy has regained his fabulous attitude and has been beamingly happy this week. The difference is remarkable!

big jump

On Tyler's 2nd birthday his buddy and he pretended to jump down a step over and over. They would swing their arms and look like a jump was immenant, but ultimately just stepped down. This evening, Tyler took a big leap off of the fireplace: a real jump!

good sharer

Tyler and I split a rice krispies treat for dessert. You would think I would have to fight for each bite, but he systematically offered me a bite and said, "Your turn!" after each bite of his own. What a gentleman!

growth spurt

It seems like overnight Tyler has outgrown everything! Tyler has a couple pairs of size 7.5 shoes that just don't fit anymore. One day they seemed fine and the next I was cramming them on him. I finally broke down and let him wear his size 9 shoes that I figured he'd use in the fall! His pants are approaching highwater status despite having room to spare in the waist. And we can tell he's shot up what seems like an inch recently, so much so that others are noticing too.

unka hugh

Uncle Hugh has been staying with us for the past two weeks working on our kitchen. Tyler has taken a interest in all the tools Hugh uses and exactly what Hugh is doing. This morning at breakfast he must have called to him dozens of times, "Unka Hugh, Unka Hugh (at this point you must acknowledge Tyler or he continues forever), What ya doing?" "What's that?" "Unka Hugh, what's this?" Uncle Hugh must have been very thankful that Tyler was soon off to daycare.

Donalds

While our kitchen has been in the midst of the remodeling process (check out photos on Alex's blog: www.travelsofalex.blogspot.com), we've been eating out nearly every night. This night I planned to eat leftovers but Tyler had other ideas. As I strapped him in his carseat after picking him up from daycare, unprompted he blurted out "I want to go to Donalds!" This was the first time he had selected a restaurant so I was a bit stunned and answered with, "You want to eat at McDonalds?" Without hesitation he said, "Yes! And I want chicken and fries and chocolate milk." I couldn't say no to that although he changed his mind and selected apples rather than fries. Then he talked to Daddy on the cell on our way to McDonalds and was so proud of himself he repeated his entire order to Daddy and then continued chatting about the roads, bridges, tunnels (under the bridges) and trucks that he saw along the way.

look mom! I'm drivin'!

Tyler's favorite pastime: sitting in the driver's seat pretending to cruise down the road!

swirl find

Tyler and I love to look through his books that have items shown at the left and then we have to find the item in a complicated scene at right. While Tyler searches for the item, he has started to swirl his pointer finger around in an exaggerated circle above the page until he spots the item. Then his finger swoops down and lands on the item.

classmate

The buzz in Washington was all about where Malia and Sasha were going to go to school. The young girls in the area wanted to be classmates with the first family siblings. But Tyler is one up on all of them. When Uncle Hugh asked who went to daycare with him, Tyler responded with a few kids' names and then listed, "Obama."

happy

Tyler and I sat in my bed this morning avoiding the start of a new day. At one point Tyler started clapping his hands together saying, "Happy, happy, happy!" I asked if Tyler was happy and he immediately responded, "No, Grampy is happy." Eerie.

bye bye grampy

Tyler's Grampy lost his battle with pancreatic cancer today. Thankfully Tyler is blissfully unaware of the loss. He keeps looking at Mommy and saying, "K Mommy?" because he knows something is wrong. I tell him that it is ok and that I'm just very sad. He responds with, "Why cuz?" I tell him that Grampy went to Heaven and Mommy is very sad because she will miss him very much. Tyler gives me kisses to make me feel better.

yes sir

Tyler has begun to respond to us sometimes with a "yes sir!" Since we didn't teach him this we found it particularly amusing. Turns out Ms. Debbie responds to them in that manner and Tyler has just picked it up.

daddy at a distance

Alex headed to Illinois and then PA for business trips this week. That meant Tyler and Mommy were on their own to care for Daisy. Alex called to check in on us.

During Tyler's conversation with Alex, I put the cell phone on speaker. Tyler told Alex about some good news and Alex said how great the news was and then added, "High five!" To my amusement Tyler, holding the phone in one hand, used his other hand to slap a high five on the face of the phone.

Then as his talk with Daddy continued he put the phone on the floor. He began to sort through his basket of toys while talking. When he found his toy phone that has dead batteries, he told Alex how it was broken. Alex asked what was broken. Tyler said his phone was broken, then as if Alex could peer through the receiver Tyler held the toy up to the cell phone and said, "See!"