Cheap Thrills

Tyler loves to shadow me as I move about the house and he especially likes to hang out in the kitchen while I cook dinner. Often I can keep him occupied with a few simple items. The more noise the objects make the better. Tyler even used the empty Diet Dr. Pepper box as a drum.

Laundry Helper

I'll have to remind Tyler how much fun laundry is when he's a teenager!

Curtain Peek-a-boo

Intriguing Cabinets

You can lock the cabinets, but you can 't stop me from having fun!

Back from Texas

We just got back from a great week-long trip to Texas. I will try and get photos from the trip up later this week after I whittle down the gazillion shots taken. Below is Tyler celebrating after a successful first trip to the dentist for his first routine check-up the day before we left on our trip. He actually let the dentist look in his mouth briefly and was very curious about all the dentist's tools. Tyler especially liked the tool that shoots water and air and let the dentist squirt both into his mouth for fun. The hygienist even made a fun balloon out of an exam glove (the fingers form a mohawk on top of a head) that kept Tyler quite entertained.

My Laundry Helper

My little drooler creates laundry faster than I can wash it!

Happy Mother's Day!

Tyler helped make this sweet card at daycare. I had a wonderful Mother's Day! We had a family picnic at Washington Park and played on the playground. Afterwards Tyler fell asleep within minutes of getting in the car.

It's hard to believe that last Mother's Day Tyler was really tiny and slept in a sling while we were out to dinner to celebrate.

Tyler just got a new bouncy ball and as you can tell by the big smile on his face he loves it! He really enjoys passing the ball back and forth.

Shape Sorter

Tyler figured out the circle on his shape sorter... well, sort of. He doesn't always immediately go for the circle opening. He still tries to put in the square sometimes too. Once he gets the circle in once though, he puts it, opens the top, retrieves the circle, and then repeats. Tyler hasn't figured out the other shapes and is definitely most baffled by the star. Tyler did figure out that his long skinny wood blocks fit inside the circle and the square openings and so he likes to put those inside too!

Fun in Every Room of the House

When Tyler manages to weasel his way into our master bathroom, he goes straight for the base of the toilet and pulls the cover off the bolt on the left side. After putting the wastebasket up high and removing the toilet paper roll a few days ago I let him bang the bolt cover on the lid of the toilet. Who knew bathrooms were so much fun?

At the Ballpark

Our spring/summer softball league started up a week ago. Since our team is playing Sunday doubleheaders, Michael and I are both able to play. One of us watches Tyler while the other one plays the first game and then we switch. Tyler has fun at the ballpark and loves to explore. Last night he was quite excited he could pick a softball up off the ground and carry it. And yes, we forgot his shoes. Now that Tyler is walking we are still getting in the habit of putting shoes on him every time we leave the house.

First Trip to the Pool

We introduced Tyler to the swimming pool yesterday during Bebe's 6th birthday party. We didn't take the camera for fear of getting water in it. Even though Tyler loves playing in the bathtub, he was definitely not fond of the pool. He didn't cry or beg to get out, but he clung on to either Michael or I for dear life even though we were only in about a foot and a half of water. The experience was probably overwhelming for many reasons- the obvious vast body of water, it was loud because it was in indoor pool, there were lots of people, a really big slide, and a big contraption that shoots out water. Tyler did seem to warm up a little by the end and didn't even realize a few times that he was standing in the pool by himself without holding on to Mom or Dad. Most of all Tyler liked playing with a beach ball and we helped him play catch with it.

The Zoo

Tyler hasn't been to the zoo since December until a few days ago. He was definitely more interested this time, but he was mostly excited that there were so many other kids and that he got to roam free out of his stroller.

Let me out of this stroller so I can explore!

Jack with the meerkat

Not sure if Tyler even saw the African wild dogs (Jack's favorite) because he was too busy walking everywhere.


Viola and Jack trying to outrun a cheetah!

The new lion exhibit is pretty cool.

Even though I set Tyler down right by the window where the big orangutan was sitting, Tyler was much more interested in all the free space for walking.

Too cool to pose like a bear.

Tyler and Viola chillin' in their rides.

Latest Developments & Stages

• A few days ago Tyler figured out how to stand up by pushing off the ground instead of using furniture, the wall, or anything else he can find to pull up on.
• On Friday Tyler figured out how to sit down on his truck and to move it around using his legs. Previously we would put him on the seat and pull or push him around the house.
• Tyler is fascinated by the cup holders on his high chair and stroller. For a good portion of meals he continually puts his sippy cup in the cup holder and then takes it out. This is a little tricky for him because it's hard for him to completely reach with his opposite hand.
• Yesterday Tyler figured out how to open the dishwasher. We're going to have to figure out how to lock it or just be very vigilant in keeping him away from it unsupervised.
• Lately Tyler likes to put his hand in front of his mouth and push it against his lips while babbling to make fun noises.
• Tyler has been showing a lot of interest in throwing his bouncy ball or soccer ball. For a while he has been able to throw a ball about a foot away from him or to roll one a little bit. He likes to put his bouncy ball or soccer ball on our bedroom windowsill and roll it back and forth.