trick or treat!

The Campbell family started off the Halloween celebration by attending the annual Capitol College Halloween luncheon. Tyler had a blast running up and down the LONG hallways several times without a break. Mom joined him and got her workout for the day.

Tyler refused to wear his fireman hat for more than 30 seconds. This didn't bode well for the evening festivities! As we left Capitol he fell and split his lip open. It immediately swelled up and bled, but he took the injury probably better than Mommy did. It hurts so badly when our babies hurt.

That evening we hit the sidewalks of Cape Ann. Would he wear his fireman hat? No! So Mommy and Daddy took turns putting it on and then told him it was his turn. The darn trick worked! He put it on and never took it off again! He was a little shy at first as we visited houses, but he managed a soft "Tri-r-treat," and a zealous, "Thank you," after seeing the treats. He quickly got with the plan when he saw the rewards and got to taste a bunch too!

hey buddy

We joined the Howes family for a playdate (Tyler and Simon are just a month and a half apart) and dinner. And go figure, Tyler gravitated to all of Simon's car toys. At one point toward the end of the evening Tyler filled his arms with as many of Simon's cars as he could and then announced, "Bye Bye!" What, we don't get to keep all of these? :)

leaving no leaf unturned

Tyler and I spent much of the morning raking up leaves and then...jumping in them! "So fun!" he said.

dinner date

While Alex was out of town for the week, Tyler and I enjoyed some dates with our buddies. This night Kristen and Ayla joined us for dinner at Red Robin. The kids were cute as they shared their food and hugged goodnight. Awww. But just never quite enough time for the mommies to chat in between the arm taps and "mommy, mommy, mommy's!"

car transporter

Tyler can identify a crazy number of vehicles. Which truck is the CT2004? Which one is the combine harvester? His love of cars is bordering on an obsession. He also needs to have many handy at nearly all times. In fact, he runs out of hands to hold them all and resorts to clutching them under his chin.

Why the sad face? He can't hold all of his cars at once.

Happy times again as he hams it up with a "CHEESE!"

big box

Our new bedroom dresser arrived and it came already assembled in one huge box. Tyler loved his new fort!

pinpointing emotions

Tyler has never had trouble expressing his feelings or moods, but now he's often describing them. If he hears a baby crying he'll say, "she sad," in a compassionate voice. He will also happily declare, "So fun!" when he's having a good time.

playground fun

One of our favorite things about our new house is all the nearby playgrounds. We take full advantage of this community resource. Weeee!

joy care

Tyler had a ball playing with Aunt Joy all weekend. They ended up on a very long walk when she let the not-quite-two-year-old guide her through the maze of bike trails behind our house; they never did make it to the park. But they did manage a trip to Target where they encountered a frightening dinosaur. FYI: Tyler loves dinosaurs as long as they are friendly!

parents getaway

Dylan masked by a beer, how apropos?

My should-have-been-my-cousin, Lea, and the dashing Rob McFall tied the knot at a weekend wedding in Richmond. We were thrilled to be able to attend along with my mom and brother, Dylan. (Shout out to Aunt Joy for staying at our home and caring for Tyler and Daisy.)

We headed down on Friday and got my mom there just in time to attend the rehearsal dinner. She was the matchmaker of this great couple so Lea and Rob paid special tribute to her for bringing them together. Meanwhile Dylan, Alex and I went out and enjoyed some family bonding time. After a weekend together Alex said he never realized how similar Dylan and I are (good thing?)

The wedding was spectacular and it was punctuated with fun-filled debauchery with some of my dearest old friends as well as some hilarious dance moves. It was such a pleasure to share in the couple's special day, hang out with my family, old friends and even some new great friends.

drool man

During Kate's stay Tyler did not stop putting her toys in his mouth. It was so puzzling to me why he kept noshing on her stuff. And then a few times a waterfall of drool surprised us. It finally dawned on me -- he's teething! His second set of molars are working their way in.

a day at the farm

Our second annual pumpkin picking expedition at the Triadelphia Lake View Farm was a blast. We took a tractor ride up to the corn maze and pumpkin patch. We also played and got to pet the resident bunny in addition to viewing the farm animals. And Tyler got to sit in the driver's seat of the large wooden tractor, aka Tyler's Mecca.

23 months

Just one month shy of his 2-year mark, Tyler is full of personality! He is still consistant in his love for all things with wheels. We talk about cars, trucks and buses daily! On this particular day we spent hours and hours exploring Port Discovery in Baltimore. Kate's favorite activity had to be the gum-making workshop. Tyler's was the water works room and the train, of course! At the end of the day everyone was whipped from all the fun.

park happy

We love when the Trickeys come into town. My cousin Diana and her two oldest daughters came to visit when Tyler was two weeks old. Diana came this time with her youngest, Kate. Cousins Tyler and Kate loved playing nonstop.

We kicked off the visit with a trip to the park near our house. Tyler insisted on going on the big swings like the big kids. He followed Kate down the high slide. And then the most amusing was when Tyler chased a pair of squirrels across the park.

We joined Oma and Uncle Dylan in Severna Park for dinner. Tyler really got a big kick out of running around the building with Uncle Dylan after dinner. He was excited to point out the lion toy sitting on the bed of the mattress store. Roar!!

tyler-in-the-box

too many cars

Tyler carries his cars everywhere he goes. So what does he do when he has five or six that he wants to transport? He gathers them in his hands and stuffs at least one under his chin. He hords them like a a squirrel with nuts preparing for winter.

daddy is mama

Tyler called Alex, "Mama," tonight. hehe payback.

facial features

Tyler loves to point to Mommy's or Daddy's nose and then says "Nose!" Ears, eyes, etc. Just watch out when he points to your eyes! Oh, and he is big into pointing out his own toes too.

hi oma

While digging deep in his basket of toys that live in our master bedroom, Tyler spotted my old cell phone (a Tyler toy). He picked it up and then pretended to have an entire conversation (99% of which I could not understand). I asked him who he was talking to and he responded into the phone "Hi Oma, hi Oma."

moon in the sky

Tyler and I were on the floor in the family room playing when all of a sudden he jumped up and pointed outside. "Moon, Moon," he pointed out. In the sky was a beautiful half moon. I said, "The moon is in the sky." He repeated it several times, "moon in sky, moon in sky!"