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.

Inflatable Fun

Pump It Up, Jr.

Teresa and I checked out open play at Pump It Up, Jr. on Friday and the kids had a blast! There are tons of inflatable slides, some bouncy play areas, and an obstacle course. Click on album above for more photos.

Trucks

As I have previously mentioned, Tyler LOVES trucks. I recently scored a dump truck (with blocks for dumping) and Little People school bus for a steal at a consignment sale. Tyler loves pushing these two trucks around and playing with them.

Today at daycare Tyler and his buddy Marcus both pretended to be trucks and apparently they even beeped when they went in reverse. Wish I could have seen it!

First Parent-Teacher Conference

We had our first parent-teacher conference at daycare today. It was great to hear how our amazing little boy has been developing particularly over the summer. Some things were consistent with what we see at home while others were surprises. Some highlights:

• Tyler was quite shy for a while and played by himself but now he loves to play with the other kids.
• Tyler and his buddy Joshua both love trucks and when Joshua arrives at school Tyler immediately gives him one of the trucks so they can both push them around the classroom.
• Tyler likes to line cars up in a line. If anyone moves them out of the line he gets upset and puts the cars back in a line. (I think there is nothing wrong with a little order! Gee- I wonder where he gets this from.)
• Tyler does not like to get messy. (He definitely gets this from Michael!) He is hesistant to participate in messy activities like finger painting but often joins in after he sees how much fun all the other kids are having. He will paste pieces of paper together only if his teacher applies the glue!
• Apart from the messy parts, Tyler really likes art projects.
• Tyler loves circle time when Ms. Clarybell reads to the kids and they sing songs and dance. He often says "Yay!" about the books and songs and likes to do all the hand movements that go with the songs.
• Apparently Tyler is a rule enforcer. When he sees other kids doing things they are not supposed to he will say, "No! Nooooo!". Tyler also says "No! Nooooo!" when Ms. Clarybell says "Tyler" and gives him a look that he is not supposed to be doing something.
• It turns out Tyler has not been using a pacifier during his naps at daycare for several months now. That was definitely news to us because he still uses a pacifier during naps at home and at bedtime. We have been debating when to wean him off the pacifier and it sounds like the time is here.

Balls! Balls! Bonanza!

Tyler and I have been taking a Balls! Balls! Bonanza! class at the community center. I use the term "class" loosely because it is very unstructured and pretty much just a half hour of time for toddlers to run around the gym and play. Today was class #4 (out of 5 total classes). Every week there are wiffle balls and bats (with cones for tees), basketballs with a mini hoop, and little soccer balls with a mini goal. Sometimes the kids race and sing songs. Half an hour is just long enough for Tyler to get warmed up. He is usually bummed that we have to give up the gym for whatever class they hold after ours.

What was that?

Tonight Michael and Tyler ran laps through the house as they often do. As Michael passed me he playfully smacked my behind. We were both quite surprised when Tyler followed suit by smacking my behind on his way past and then he giggled about it. What a reminder that those little eyes are always watching what is going on!

Jack's 6th Birthday

Jack's 6th Birthday

Click on photo for entire album. Although too little to bowl Tyler had fun watching all the big kids bowl at Jack's birthday party. Tyler discovered that it is pretty cool to push bowling balls around on the circular storage racks.

Gym Class

Here is Tyler climbing the "mountain" of mats during gym class this morning. Lately during gym class Tyler likes to run up and down the cheese-wedge shaped mat and walk on the balance beam (while holding my hand of course!). Like most of the other kids his favorite part of class is towards the end when they play with the bouncy balls and Teacher Adam blows bubbles for them to catch.

Shoe Hauler

At the Park with Christopher

Christopher and Tyler decided to explore the landscaping after they were done playing on the playground and running through the grassy field. Boys will be boys!

Texting and Playing...

Not really... but I can see why the youth of today are always on their phones. They are drawn to them from an early age! Tyler was happily playing with his cars on the counter until he saw Daddy's phone nearby and just had to play with that too.

Thing 1 and Thing 2's Birthday Party

Tyler had a grand old time at Devin and Dane's 2nd birthday party on Sunday. Cherie really outdid herself on the fun Dr. Seuss theme as you can see from her photo collage above and all the other photos of the event on the Prochaska Archives.

Shoes

Have I mentioned that Tyler LOVES shoes? When he is not traipsing around the house in Michael's shoes or my shoes Tyler wants to have his shoes on. This weekend Tyler actually put Michael's sandals in Tyler's armoire as if they were his shoes! In the morning Tyler often wants us to put his sneakers on him while he is still in his pajamas. Later when we get him dressed he gets upset when we take his shoes off so we can take off his pajama bottoms and put on pants and socks. If only Tyler were this excited about wearing jackets when it is cold out!

Bear-y Sweet

Nodding "Yes"

Tyler has started nodding his head up and down when he wants to let us know "yes". This is a refreshing change from shaking his head "no" and saying "no".

Choo Choo

Tonight I told Tyler that I got to ride the train downtown today to go to and from a meeting. Tyler's reply was "Choo choo!", which is a first. We recently checked out two train books from the library and Tyler really liked them.

Giddyup

New Words

Tyler has added some new words/sounds to his repertoire lately:

• ball
• PawPaw (in reference to my Dad. I call both my grandfathers PawPaw)
• maow (when asked what a cat says)
• hoo hoo (when asked what a monkey says)

Tyler has been trying to repeat words. Today I asked him to say "cheese" when I was taking a picture and he said "chee".

I don't need a jacket Mommy!

It has been cooler in the mornings lately. Whenever I try to put a jacket on Tyler before we leave the house he pulls his arms away and shakes his head no. If he is wearing long sleeves he defiantly pushes the sleeves up past his elbows. That really makes me want to laugh because he is stubborn just like his Mommy!

Jump!

Stuffed Animal Heaven

Mr. Mischief

Lately we have repeatedly asked Tyler not to climb on the coffee table, stand in the wooden rocking chair, or stand and run on the sofa. As you can see we are not having much luck! And Tyler is loving the defiance and smiles or laughs at us (see last photo) when we reprimand him.

Roloff Farms Pumpkin Patch

Roloff Farms

Tyler and Calvin had a good time exploring the Roloff Farms Pumpkin Patch on Friday. It is the farm run my the Roloff family of "Little People Big World" fame. I have not seen the TV show but many people on the wagon tour we took were quite excited that Jeremy Roloff drove our tractor and while on the tour we passed by Matt Roloff. Click on the photo above for entire album.

The Fridge

Now that Tyler can reach the ice and water dispensers on the fridge, Michael and I finally have a reason to use the "lock" feature to turn them on and off. Those geniuses at Kenmore know what they are doing!

Dancing and Brushing

Tyler is more inclined to brush his teeth when there is music whether it is the radio or us singing to him. Of course he dances to the music and it makes it hard to tell if he is doing some good quality brushing!

Shoes make the outfit...

When we wouldn't put Tyler's shoes on before we put his clothes on yesterday he escaped to the living room and slipped on Michael's sandals.

Future Astronaut?

Cars

My friend Elaine passed along this cool Cars-themed spiral race track. Tyler has been playing with it almost non-stop since we brought it home on Thursday and loves watching the cars race to the bottom.

Sandbox

Yesterday Tyler and I checked out a cool park with a huge sand pit and lots of Tonka trucks. Tyler was leary of the sand and did not want to walk on it even with his shoes on. He sat on the side for a good 20 minutes watching all the other kids play.

Tyler's love of trucks eventually won out and so he slowly ventured out to play with the trucks and the sand. He even tossed sand over his head.

Tyler eventually went to check out the hole the big kids were digging. He even took some of the sand from their large dump truck and added it to their sand pile. Then Tyler got too close to the hole and slid in. He wasn't hurt, just scared.

After that Tyler decided to play with kids his own age.

Eating Applesauce

When Tyler had trouble using his spoon to dig out the rest of his cranberry raspberry applesauce he decided to dump the rest of it on his tray and play with it instead!

Visiting Daddy in the Hospital

Thursday and Friday were pretty eventful! Michael had a little bit of stomach pain Wednesday night and by the time he woke up Thursday morning he had major stomach pain. By Thursday afternoon Michael had his appendix removed! Luckily he was only in the early stages of appendicitis and his appendix did not rupture. Surgery went well and the doctors expect Michael to make a full recovery. What are the odds that both Michael and I would have our appendices removed? (Mine was removed back in 2004.) What does that mean for Tyler's odds?

Tyler has been a trooper through it all. On Thursday my friend Elaine picked him up from daycare and he gladly went home with her although he did cry some when she strapped him into one of her girls' old car seats. Bebe (age 6) and Clara (age 4) had fun entertaining Tyler until I picked him up later that evening and they pretended that he was their little brother. ; )

On Friday Tyler and I spent most of the day at the hospital visiting Michael. Tyler was not sure what to think when he saw his Daddy in a hospital bed and initially clung on to me in my arms. But he eventually warmed up and explored as much as we would let him. Tyler definitely brought smiles to a lot of the other patients in the post-surgery wing. Michael was released late Friday afternoon and has been recovering at home. He is definitely pretty sore from the surgery. The hardest part is that Tyler does not understand why Daddy can't pick him up for the next few weeks and why Daddy isn't running around the house with him.