Lil' Park Ranger

It was "Halloween in July" at daycare today and so Tyler wore this cute little park ranger outfit that was passed along from my friend Colette. I love the little squirrel patch on the shirt!

Teething

No wonder Tyler was so temperamental yesterday. He has two teeth on the bottom that just broke through the gums today. Tyler has been putting his hands in his mouth constantly to feel the new teeth coming in.

Mr. Conversationalist

At the grocery store this afternoon the cashier said "Hi!" to Tyler and he replied with "Hi!" This is the first time I have heard him use this appropriately in conversation.

Even though Tyler is only saying a few words, he is getting better at using his hands to communicate what he wants. In the past week when Tyler is hungry or thirsty he will either walk over to and point to the fridge or his high chair. We have also been working on some basic baby sign language (e.g. milk, more, sleepy). He has sorta been doing the sign for "all done" sometimes when he is done eating. That is our cue to take off his bib before Tyler takes it off himself and throws it on the floor.

It is pretty exciting that Tyler is beginning to communicate more.

Toddler Tantrum!

I recorded this video for posterity, so only watch it if you can handle loud screaming and crying. I also wanted to show that Tyler has his moments. Tyler threw this little dandy of a tantrum because I wouldn't let him grab items out of the kitchen trash. He kept opening the lid and trying to pull out the trash at the top. Since Tyler wouldn't obey my request to stop playing in the trash I took the trash bag out and disposed of it in our garage trash. That is why Tyler is holding onto the trash can.

Tyler is most prone to tantrums when he is tired, hungry, or not feeling his best. (Michael would probably say that he gets this from me! You definitely don't want to mess with me when I'm hungry or wake me up any earlier than I need to get up!) Tyler was fairly fussy this morning and I think it is because he is teething. His first molars on top are barely poking through the gums and he rubbed them with his finger quite a bit today.

Disc Golf

Disc golf is a great sport to play with a toddler! Tyler is perfectly content to hold onto a disc and run around in the park while we play.

Daddy's Sandals

Hat Selection

Why would Tyler possibly want to wear a hat picked out by Mommy and Daddy? It is much more fun to throw it on the ground and watch them pick it up and put it back on his head! What was that- did they lecture about sun protection or something? I'm sure they will remind again later!

After wearing a hat Tyler's hairstyle looks a little bit like teen sensation Justin Bieber!

What is this orange thing? (Cone left behind from soccer scrimmage)


Now this is a cool hat!

Hives

Just when I thought Tyler was out of the woods after all the medical drama the past month, he broke out into hives yesterday afternoon. We spent a few hours at the doctor's office last night. While we were there the hives spread! Tyler didn't seem bothered by them and was running around, playing in the exam room, and trying to open all the cabinets and drawers. Luckily a course of Benadryl (including a 2:30 am dose!) and steroids cleared the hives up overnight. The doctor said they rarely figure out what causes hives since there are so many possibilities.

While at the doctor's they said his ear infection is still not gone so Tyler is now on his 3rd course of antibiotics for his ear! We'll be going back in later this week to get it checked out again.

Mac & Cheese Overboard

Mr. Picky Eater (aka Tyler) was in fine form at dinner tonight. I made mac & cheese for him for the first time. I know he eats it at daycare but he wouldn't even try a bite. What kid (or adult for that matter) doesn't like mac & cheese? I decided to leave the bowl and spoon on his tray since we haven't given him a chance to try using a spoon in a while. As usual, Tyler just played with the spoon. Then Tyler decided to toss the entire bowl of mac & cheese onto the floor and then he tossed his bib off the other side.

Fountain Fun

Tyler is still leary of playing in water fountains. He is quite content to stand at a safe distance and watch all the other kids play. I tried to coax him in with me by holding his hand but he resisted. Tyler did let me carry him into the fountain but he never cracked a smile. Tyler's buddies Calvin and Christopher were fearless and quite enjoyed playing in the fountain. Tyler was much more in his element after I changed him into dry clothes and let him loose on the playground.

Grrrr

There is a tiger cub on the loose! Until recently Tyler had been staying away from our front dining/living room. Now Tyler loves to run all the way down the hallway, to the front door, and then behind the club chair. He likes to hide between the club chair and the front window until we come find him and then he giggles and giggles.

If you're happy and you know it clap your hands

Tyler has been clapping for a while now. We did just recently get him to do high fives though.

Our Little Ham

Tractor

Tyler enjoying my latest garage sale find, which was only $1!

First Favorite Book: "No, David!"

My friend Teresa, who is a children's librarian, recommended the book "No, David!" (by David Shannon) and so we checked it out from the library a few weeks ago. Tyler LOVES this book! I love it because I hope it's teaching Tyler to stay out of trouble- like how you shouldn't stand on a chair to reach a cookie jar on a high shelf or play baseball in the house. Of course it could also be planting ideas in his head of things to try! The book was due on Friday so I returned it. Every time we sat down to read since I returned the book Tyler looked around for it and whined when we didn't produce it. Since he loves the book so much I bought him a copy today. Tyler was so excited! We must have read the book to him at least 6 times today, sometimes twice in a row in one sitting because he kept requesting it. Even though it is not a board book, I am impressed with how well Tyler helps turn the pages without ripping or folding them.

Bibs are for Babies!

Tyler figured out that it is pretty easy to take his bib off since it is just attached with velcro. So now he likes to take off his bib and throw it on the floor. Tyler usually waits until he is done eating so at least for now we can still keep his clothes relatively "clean" while he is eating.

Soccer

Tyler works on his dribbling.

Little Hiker

We took a hike at Tryon Creek State Park today and although Tyler rode in the backpack carrier for most of the hike, we were quite impressed that he hiked along with us for a 10-minute stretch and even made it up a little hill.

Trying on Daddy's Hat

Funny how when I put Tyler's sun hat or ball cap on him he more often than not takes it off and throws it on the ground!

Soccer Player in the Making

Michael and all the recent World Cup soccer games have inspired Tyler to kick around his little soccer ball. Once he gets a little more oomph in his kick we are going to have to make this a permanent outside activity.

I thought cold and flu season was over!

Poor Tyler is under the weather again. He came down with a cold on Thursday and it has gotten progressively worse. The coughing was so bad this morning that Michael took him in to see the doctor. Apparently Tyler has what is termed as a "bronchial constriction". It's pretty similar to asthma, but is temporarily caused by a cold. So now the poor little guy is using an inhaler for the next week and is also on antibiotics and steroids. Apparently the ear infection he had a few weeks ago never fully went away and so we're going to keep a close eye on that too.

Security Breach

Tyler has cracked our low-tech back door security. We have been using a metal rod in our sliding glass door for years (it was left behind from the previous homeowners) and Tyler finally has the finger dexterity to fish it out of the track. He was quite pleased with himself and was enjoying twirling the rod around. I snapped a few photos and then took the rod away, which was met with tears. Luckily Tyler is easily distracted by other toys and so I made him forget about the rod pretty quickly.

More Words

Apparently Tyler has been saying "yay" and "wow" at daycare. We were not able to get him to repeat this after us this evening.

Independence Day

Independence Day

Click on photo for slideshow.

Video of Bebe (a.k.a. Sparkle Girl), who was just as entertaining as the fireworks.

Babble or Talking?

I can see why many kids don't really have a "first word". Tyler babbles quite a bit and it is hard to tell if he is actually forming words and relating them to items. He says "mama" and "dada" but not directed at us. It sounds like he has been saying "hi". And Tyler's new favorite term is "uh oh", which he declares after tossing his sippy cup from his high chair.

Dance, Dance, Dance

Looking for some new dance moves to try out? Tyler loves to dance and is all about the knee bends.

Cheater or Pure Genius?

Tyler figured out that it's much easier to get the shapes into the shape sorter by lifting up the main lid instead of fitting each shape into it's individual shape slot. He's already thinking like an engineer- there are often multiple solutions to a problem. The shape sorter had been buried in the toy bin for a while and when we broke it out earlier this week we were pleasantly surprised to see Tyler fit the star into the sorter.

Tyler has figured out how to stack the rings in order by size. There are no alternate solutions to this toy!

Mommy's Cabinet

Tyler loves to slide the doors on the hutch in the kitchen. He used to pull out all the cookbooks until we pushed them back farther inside the cabinet. Now they are harder to reach. I let him slide the doors but I always remind him that it is Mommy's cabinet and that he should leave everything inside alone. Sometimes, like in this picture, he will look up at me and smile knowing full well that I am watching him to make sure he stays out of trouble.

Bring on the Carbs

Tyler loves bread! He has loved it for a while, but now that he has become a pickier eater he has been wanting more and more bread. I snapped this video from dinner last night of Tyler whining for bread. He had already had two small slices of bread and there were plenty of other options on his tray- fish, rice, and veggies. We resorted to bribery and didn't give him any more bread until he tried the other food on his tray.

Apparently Mr. Picky Eater has no qualms about eating cat food. Yesterday at my friend Elaine's house I caught Tyler munching on cat food. It's a good thing Milton was outside because that is one cat you do not want to cross!