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?

it stinks

While changing Tyler he points down to either his diaper or rear end and proclaims, "It stinks!" His simple but blantantly obvious comment makes me giggle!

ear plugs

If Tyler thinks something is too loud or if he doesn't like what he hears, he simply pops his index fingers in his ears. It's too cute.

zerbertee becomes the zerbertor

What is a zerbert you ask? Urban dictionary defines it as creating a seal between a human mouth and flesh (commonly the stomach or arm) and then blowing, producing a fart-like sound. So Tyler always giggled when we would give his belly a zerbert. Well, now Tyler wants to try it himself! He lifted Alex's shirt to expose his belly and then dove in for an attempt. No luck the first time, so Mommy demonstrated. Second try: SUCCESS! Lots of giggles!

feeding daisy

Today, all on his own, Tyler picked up Daisy's dog food scoop and filled her bowl. Then he called for Daisy and announced, "FOOD!" Very proud of himself, he looked at me and yelled "I did it!"

deer are back

Tyler was so impressed with the deer who ventured into our backyard at dinner time. The deer love snacking on the fallen apples from our neighbors backyard and we love watching the four of them. I've included another picture at Katie's special request! :)

too many words to count

Tyler now repeats everything we say. I can't count all of his words because they pour out of him daily. The flood gates are open!

mommy

While mama was Tyler's first word, he's not used it in quite a while. He's started calling me Daddy as well. Alex's car is "Daddy's car" and my car is also "Daddy's!" I wasn't sure if he sees us as one parental unit or if he was trying to be funny (he does love his jokes). Either way, he's learned to call me Mommy if he wants my attention. He wanted me to hold his sippy cup of milk. His requests went unanswered until the magic word popped out, "Mommy!"

comedian

While playing with his Peter Rabbit bowl set, yet again, Tyler turned the plate upside down and placed it on top of his head declaring "hat!" Then he giggled at his own little joke. What a little funny bunny he is?

master playroom

Well it is supposed to be our master bedroom, but Tyler really enjoys playing in there as well. He has a bin of toys, window views and a walk-in closet that he uses as a fort. Who's that in my winter boots?

peeta wabbit

Tyler's great aunt gave him a dish set with Peter Rabbit on it. Tyler LOVES it! He bangs the plate and bowl together and points out "Peeta Wabbit!" Then he has his boy version of a tea party where he feeds his dog stuffed animals using the cup and bowl. He even tries to feed Daisy his imaginary food. She's not impressed.

lounging

The whole family is lounging before bed. We all had an active day: Mommy and Daddy ran around town planning their kitchen remodel while Tyler played with Oma nearly all day. We're inclined to use the cabinets below (vanilla bean glaze, now renamed canvas with cocoa).

got water

Where is the action on a Friday night? The Campbells' backyard! Mommy let Tyler play in the sprinkler while she watered the yard. So much excitement for a 21-month-old boy! Got to love our new laundry room with a door to the side of the house where we can remove sopping wet clothes and shoes!

noncooperative

Why do I have 19 blurry images of the same subject you ask? The answer is that little boys do not always like to cooperate. I taught Tyler how to do the UF Gator chomp and wanted to get a picture of him doing it with my UF hat on. Not going to happen!

belly button

This is the cutest new term Tyler uses. He just looked down while on the changing table, pointed and said "belly butin!" Tyler is as cute as a button!

new neighbors

We've met both sets of our neighbors and both are super nice. But neither was quite as exciting as the deer and her three babies who visited our back yard this evening. They came within 15 feet of our sliding glass door in the family room. At the same time, two bunnies hopped nearby. Our whole family had a great time observing the wildlife close up.

peanut butter

Tyler broke out these words for the first time ("peena budda") as he saw Daddy pulling the jar from the pantry. And has used it nonstop since!

day after

The day after the big move we got up very early and headed back to the old house to hand over the keys to the new owners. Tyler had a good time running around his old stomping ground.

And then it was time to head over to Grampy and Grandma Jeanne's house. It had been months since they had seen Tyler and they were itching to see him. And Tyler certainly didn't disappoint! He showed them his dance moves, his new vocabulary (used the word "turtle" for the first time) especially many full sentences now, and his great hide n' seek skills. And Grandma Jeanne was impressed that he gobbled up cantaloupe, pretzels and pickles (yummy combo right?).

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!