Zoo Lights

We took advantage of the break in the rain and the mild temperatures last night and checked out the Zoo Lights. We knew Tyler would enjoy it because he gets excited about all the Christmas lights he sees when we are out after dark.

Tyler posed with the bear but wouldn't give him a high five when I held him up to the bear paw. He was a little traumatized by the live Rudolph, which was actually a person in a furry outfit. He waved to Rudolph from a distance but cried when I tried to get closer.

We rode the zoo train. At first Tyler seemed a little overstimulated by all the lights and he was also hungry. But after a little snack he really started perking up by the end of the train ride and calling out "Choo choo!"

Family self-portrait on the train

The goat seemed amused that Tyler kept calling out "Baaaaaaaa." This was one of the few animals that is viewable at night while Zoo Lights is going on.

Cheese

Tyler has started saying "Cheese!" without any prompting when I break out the camera. This is great when I want a posed photo with a smile, but it definitely makes it harder to capture random shots of Tyler when he is absorbed in an activity and I don't want him to notice the camera.

Fire Trucks

We were at the Portland Saturday Market this morning and so we strolled by the fire station next to the market. Tyler could barely contain himself when he saw all the fire trucks in the station. Later we even saw a fire truck heading back into the station with its flashing lights on.

Clapping and Dancing

Here is our little ham performing in front of our mirrored closet doors.

Inflatable Fun with Calvin and Christopher

Tubes in Ears

Today Tyler had tubes put in his ears to help drain fluid better until his ears develop more. He has had a whopping 7 ear infections in 2010 (3 in the spring, 1 in the summer, and 3 this fall)! The poor little guy had to be put under local anesthetic but the good news is that the procedure went well (and quickly) and he didn't seem to be in any pain today.

Pre-surgery was traumatic though! Tyler did not understand why he wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything this morning. We showed up to check in at 7:30 and I kept distracting him in the lobby every time he started getting fussy about wanting food. Close to 8:30 he finally broke down in a full screaming/crying/flailing limbs tantrum. Of course that's when they called us in to prep for the procedure. Tyler would not be consoled and did not want to be held and continued the screaming and flailing in the prep room. In order to get Tyler to take some valium and Tylenol, the nurses swaddled him in a blanket to restrain his arms. I held the swaddle together in a quasi-hug while one nurse pushed his cheeks together and held his nose (to force him to swallow) and another nurse squirted the meds into his mouth. Tyler still managed to spit at least 1/3 of the medicine out but after about 5 minutes he fell asleep. (Did I mention that Tyler woke up at 5 am this morning? He normally wakes up around 6:30 or 7.) The combo of the meds, getting up early, and all the screaming finally knocked him out, which made the anesthesiologist's job easier. Luckily the nurses said the meds would make him forget all the trauma!

When Tyler woke up after surgery he happily wolfed down the apple juice and graham crackers the nurse gave him. He was so perky on the way to the car that you wouldn't have known he'd had minor surgery. He remained his normal playful little self the rest of the day. What a little trooper!

Santa Express

Tyler still isn't sure who this Santa character is but he knows his shirt has a train on it and he thinks that is pretty cool. Choo choo!

Hmm.. what's in this box?

This big box from Tia Ludy arrived on Monday. Tyler was quite excited to see the UPS truck parked outside our house. The driver even waved to Tyler before he left as we watched from the front door. Tyler smiled and waved back. Since then Tyler occasionally goes into the front room to inspect the box or to play drums on it. He will just have to wait until Christmas to find out!

Oesh

Tyler continues to love shoes, which he pronounces "oesh". Here he is stomping around the house in Michael's hiking boots on the wrong feet. For some reason Tyler likes my slippers (despite how smelly they are) and he will even grab my ankles and make me take them off so he can wear them.

Hug Police

This morning while Michael and I were hugging, Tyler (with a gleam in his eye) pointed his finger at us and said, "No. No. No." in a singsong voice. We said, "Yes. Yes. Yes."

Dear PawPaw

My dad sent me a text message this morning that said, "PawPaw got this Christmas request from Tyler: one 8'x8' sandbox with ladder to fort level with cookie bar with exterior, monkey bars, swing, and slide with adjacent above ground heated pool." Ha! My dad has been trying to convince me that all little boys need a sandbox in their backyard. Maybe in locations where it doesn't rain much!

Christmas Carols

Tyler is happy to rediscover his Christmas piano and songbook that Michael's sister Janina got him for Thanksgiving 2009. He loves pushing all the piano keys and looking at the pictures that go with each song.

The cell phones are all mine!

Despite the fact that I've been charging my old cell phone for Tyler to play with, he still wants to get a hold of whatever cell phone you are talking on. This morning Tyler threw such a tantrum while I was on the phone trying to make a doctor's appointment for him that I had to close myself into another room so I could actually hear the person on the other end of the line. When I'm talking to someone that Tyler knows I can usually appease him by turning on speaker phone.

More Sleep Eating

Apparently Tyler was more tired than we thought when we gave him lunch today. He started nodding off while eating and finally gave us the "all done" sign, which is pretty much the only sign he learned when we tried to teach him baby sign language months ago.

Are you ready for some football?

This morning Tyler climbed up onto the couch and with the remote in one hand and the Xbox controller in the other he looked at me and said, "Football!" The TV wasn't even on but that little smart guy knew there was some football to be watched today.

Parade

This morning we caught the Macy's parade in downtown Portland. Tyler loved it- particularly the balloons and any kind of vehicle (especially the fire truck).

Tyler was too mesmerized by the parade to turn around and pose for a picture.

Tyler, Jack, and Viola

We stopped in the mall for a snack and the kids were enchanted by the "snow" and the water fountain.

They could have watched that fountain all day!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Tyler helped make this cute turkey at daycare. Earlier this week I tried to get Tyler to make handprint turkeys using finger paint; however, Mr. I-Don't-Like-To-Get-Messy was very upset with me when I dipped his hand into the paint so I was only able to make one handprint turkey.

Skeleton

It was too warm at Halloween to break out the hand-me-down skeleton sweatsuit, but it is plenty cold to wear it now.

Jabberbox

Our little sponge keeps expanding his vocabulary and knowledge base. At night Tyler points at the sky, says "moon", and looks for the moon. He knows a few animal sounds: meow, woof, hoo hoo (for a monkey), moo, baa, and neigh. Tyler says "duck" but not quack yet and he loves saying "bird" and pointing at them in the sky or in his books. He has also started to repeat back some words and phrases even if he doesn't know what they mean. And out of the blue Tyler will say "Emma" several times. We are not sure if he has a little crush on his friend Emma from daycare or if she just has the easiest name to say out of all his classmates. Poor Emma is the only girl in of a class of six!

Watching Football

Tyler appears to be a natural when it comes to watching football.

So tired...

Yesterday at noon Tyler fell asleep in his high chair after part of a PB&J sandwich and one or two bites of banana. This is actually a welcome change because lately Tyler has been fighting his nap.

Cruising

We have not pulled out the Lil' Quad in a while but took it to the park this afternoon. We mostly stayed on the paved path; however, while Tyler has the hang of holding down the button he has not quite grasped the concept of steering it.

Stopped to check out a dog

Playground

Tyler, Calvin, Christopher, and Viola had their run of the playground this morning. Apparently only their moms were brave enough to visit a dewy playground while the weather is in the high 40s. But that's why their moms are so much fun, even when they try to convince their offspring that hats and gloves are a good idea.

Neatness is Awesome!

According to Tyler's daycare teacher he is one of the only toddlers who helps her clean up around the classroom. Maybe our little guy takes after me! I know my dad is groaning as he reads this. When Tyler was an infant he wrote him a song called Neatness is Overrated. Maybe Tyler thinks neatness is underrated... We shall see!

First Crush?

Apparently yesterday at daycare Tyler and Emma held hands and walked around the table together. And apparently this morning Tyler was on the lookout for Emma and even said "Emma" when she arrived. What a little sweetheart!

Yay for Waffles!

Okay, so it was minimal effort to heat up a frozen waffle... but I will take my applause where I can get it!

New Words- Part 2

I forgot some of the other new words Tyler has been saying- nose, teeth, up, milk, and blue. I should note that many of these words are up for interpretation (e.g. he doesn't say the k on milk). Tyler has been attempting to say yes (but sounds more like ice) when I ask him a question and ask him to tell me yes or no.

Did you say Skype?

The last two times I have asked Tyler if he wants to Skype with Nana and PawPaw he has smiled and headed right over to the laptop, which is not always located in the same place. You would think he already knows how to work the thing!

Where did that come from?

Despite our best efforts, Tyler likes to throw some of his sports balls up on the counter. Plus he likes to throw things in general. This morning I found these tennis balls on the kitchen counter. This weekend we were surprised when a crayon mysteriously plopped into a friend's pint of beer.

New Words

Tyler's vocabulary keeps expanding. The latest additions include ball, duck, bird, baby, and mine. I don't think Tyler even knows what mine means. He just keeps repeating it loudly over and over about nothing in particular.

Leggo My Eggo

Tyler loves waffles! Often we give him a waffle with syrup at breakfast along with yogurt. It has been hard for him to understand that the waffles start out frozen and need to be cooked even though I have let him touch the waffle while frozen. Three minutes in the toaster is an eternity to a hungry toddler. Yesterday at the grocery store Tyler started crying when I put a box of waffles in the cart without whipping one out for him to eat. Today he came across an ad in the paper for waffles and got really excited.

Don't Go Daddy!

I sure am glad Tyler is not awake when Michael leaves for work on Monday and Friday mornings. This morning Michael left to meet up with some friends to mountain bike and Tyler was very upset. He cried for a while and kept trying to get into the garage to follow Daddy. Of course last night at bedtime he wanted Mommy to put him to bed and wanted nothing to do with Daddy. Go figure! Funny little guy!

Clipping Coupons

Tyler sat at the counter and "helped" me clip coupons this morning. Essentially that means he played with the parts I was done with- crinkled the paper, tore it, or wadded it into a ball. Eventually Tyler threw all the paper on the ground.

I am not wearing that Mommy!

Tyler is starting to develop an opinion about what he wears. A few days ago he did not like it when I put overalls on him. I don't know if that means he is done with overalls or he just didn't like the brown corduroy ones I had picked out. Tyler also prefers his sneakers over his blue and gray shoes and does not care if I suggest the blue and gray shoes match his outfit better. Ultimately I know it is good for Tyler to develop his own style but I love picking out his little outfits! Plus, we have lots of hand-me-downs.

At the Playground with Calvin

You just have to love these nice dry autumn days we have been having in Portland lately!

Loves to Dance

Tyler knows our alarm clock/iPod dock plays music and so when he wants some tunes he usually points to it or more often that not starts pushing buttons. And yes Tyler asked me to put his sneakers on while he was still in his pajamas! After dancing a while Tyler rummaged through my closet to look for more shoes to put on. My favorite part of this video is that Tyler closed the closet door after he pulled out a pair shoes. He obviously gets this from me! ; )

Pacifier Free

Tyler has been pacifier free for a week now. Woo hoo! It has actually been easier to wean him than we thought. We had mostly been giving Tyler the pacifier for naps and bedtime. Tyler has already been sleeping with a blankie for a while so when we took away the pacifier we added two stuffed animals to his bed and he is already attached to Wendell the Whale. Tyler has been fussiest in the morning when waking up and post-nap but I am sure that will dissipate over time. But then again I'm rarely Ms. Sunshine when I wake up in the morning!

Chatterbox

Pants are Overrated

Sometimes it would be nice to know what goes on in Tyler's head. After one of his diaper changes today he refused to let me put his pants back on. By refused I mean he continually kicked his legs. Instead of deal with a tantrum I just left his pants off. Then Tyler wanted me to put his shoes on. I told him I would put his shoes on if he let me put his pants back on. That was met by Tyler vigorously shaking his head no. He tried putting his shoes on himself but when he couldn't get them on he opted to slip into my shoes instead. Silly boy!

Halloween

Halloween

We had a party for the little ghosts and goblins this afternoon. Tyler seemed to have a good time although he wasn't his normal chipper self since he wouldn't go down for a nap today. Luckily we had a dry Halloween (very un-Oregon not to rain on Halloween) and so the kids were able to play in the backyard. It is a good thing we had not planned on trick-or-treating because our tired little Superman was in bed by 6:15! He still doesn't really know what candy is but I have a feeling by next Halloween Tyler will be raring to go for some trick-or-treating. Click on photo above for entire album.

Happy Halloween!

Above is the official smiling Halloween card. Below are the outtakes from Tyler's original photo session and costume from a few weeks ago. For whatever reason Tyler did not like the dragon costume we got him. He even cried when I put the pants on and those aren't even scary! I calmed him down with a pacifier and then he howled when I put on the jacket. Fearing Tyler will never wear the dragon without crying I got him the Superman costume. He cried when we put the cape on but was quickly distracted when Michael and I distracted him and got him to chase us around the house.