Christmas Tree

We got our Christmas tree on Sunday. Tyler was disappointed that there weren't any snowmobiles at the nursery where we got our tree because one of the books we've been reading shows people on snowmobiles getting their trees. We spread the decorating out over 3 evenings because we kept bumping into dinnertime and bedtime.

Helping Daddy unravel the
lights and test them out.

Tyler is still excited that he got to put the star on top.

Putting on the first ornament, which
appropriately was a dump truck.

Tyler's Christmas Tree

This year we gave Tyler a small artificial tree to decorate and keep in his room. I have had this tree for years and actually used to keep it in my room during the holidays when I was growing up. And ever since college it has had a maroon Aggie theme until this year. Tyler picked out some blue garland with stars that he had me put on the tree. Then he finished decorating it with small ornamental balls.



Hard at work

So excited!

Relaxin'

Tyler has gotten pretty good at using the iPad. We haven't
downloaded many apps for him but he does love to play ABC Go.

Parade

Today was the perfect day (translation= no rain) for the Macy's parade in downtown Portland. Last year we watched the parade in the heart of the commercial section of downtown and it was crowded and hard to get a good spot. This year we staked out a spot near the end of the parade route in Old Town and were pleasantly surprised to find that it wasn't crowded at all and that we could watch the parade curbside.

Tyler is already watching the start of the parade, which was
about two blocks away when I took this photo.

Smiling at the giant cupcake float

Tyler liked all the parade vehicles.

There were lots of local middle school and high school
marching bands in the parade. Tyler particularly liked the drums.

The arrival of Santa ended the parade.

Tyler loved riding the light rail train after the parade.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ziggy Update

Tomorrow I will be 30 weeks pregnant, which means I am 3/4 of the way there. Woo hoo! Yesterday I had an ultrasound and Ziggy is looking great! Last pregnancy I went on bed rest at 29 weeks so I am now in uncharted territory. Of course the blood flow issues to the placenta that I had last time were really rare and are very unlikely to happen again. The pregnancy-induced carpal tunnel (both hands) that I experienced last pregnancy came back a few weeks ago. Thankfully it went away within a few weeks of giving birth last time.

Profile shot. Ziggy's left hand is up near her chin.

Face shot. Michael thinks Ziggy already has my chubby cheeks!

Ready, Set, Go!

Tyler has been fashioning his blankets into a starting line so that he and Daddy can get down like they are in the starting blocks before racing through the house.

Sid the Science Kid

Tyler loves to dance along to songs in Sid the Science Kid.

Model Train Show

The Columbia Gorge Model Railroad Club's annual train show is pretty neat! They model rail lines along a portion of the Columbia River and a portion of the Deschutes River. There is so much detail that you would have to spend hours there to see everything. We did find a few of the items on the scavenger hunt like Bigfoot and a policeman eating a donut.

The best view was from Daddy's shoulders.

Tyler loved all the train tunnels.

 

Houston/New Orleans Vacation

I can't believe it's already been a month since our vacation and I still haven't posted any photos! In my defense, work was super crazy up until a big deadline last Friday and between me, my dad, Sonia, and Megan there were over 1300 photos to sort through! If you click on the album below you can see the top 180 photos and below that I also posted a few videos. We spent our vacation visiting my family and split our time between Houston and New Orleans. We had a great time and Tyler still talks about all the fun he had. A few notable Tyler moments from the trip:

• On the plane ride to Texas: a) Tyler wanted to know if the plane was going to go upside down. b) Tyler said that when he hit the buttons on his arm rest that smoke came out of the plane (he is fascinated by exhaust fumes). c) When we hit a patch of turbulence Tyler said, "Wheeeeee! Bumpy!"
• When I asked Tyler to tell Aunt Megan and Uncle Brad about the thunderstorm in Houston he said, "Thunder was freaking out Tyler." (I confess that Tyler picked up the phrase "freaking out" from me!)
• When we landed in Portland and were taxiing to the terminal Tyler said, "I want to go back to Texas! I want to play with PawPaw!"

Houston-New Orleans Trip

At the playground, Tyler and my dad created a maneuver called the Chicken Jump that Tyler performed numerous times.

Playing with cousin Noah

One of the hungry gators in action during our swamp tour

Wheels, Wheels, Wheels

Tyler and Viola enjoyed checking out all the different sets of wheels at indoor play park.

Mr. Particular

Tyler is particular about many things. I'm not sure if this is a toddler thing, a trait he inherited from me, or both. For a long time now Tyler, Michael, and I have had a dance party while brushing our teeth before Tyler goes to bed. Tyler has turned it into follow-the-leader dancing around our bedroom. Each night he points at us and says, "Mommy- behind Tyler! Daddy- behind Mommy!" He sometimes repeats these instructions if he thinks we are falling out of line.

Polka Dots vs. Race Cars

I recently bought new pajamas. This morning Tyler asked me what was on my pajamas and I told him polka dots. Tyler told me that my pajamas should have race cars on them instead. I guess I should take my fashion consultant shopping with me more often.

Race Car Bed- Part 2

Sleeping like an angel last night

The race car bed is still a hit. Tyler stayed in his room all last night. He even slept in until 8 am this morning. When he got up, he turned on the light, opened his door, then ran and gave me a good morning hug. Staying in bed for naptime is a harder sell. Tyler came out of his room 3 times at naptime today. The third time I told him that if he didn't take a nap in the race car bed that I would put him in the crib. That did the trick.

Race Car Bed

Tyler checking out the frame before we put the mattress in.

So excited about his new big boy bed!

Checking out the "chunky tires" as Tyler calls them

Sliding down the front hood

Tyler graduated from the crib today! This is his first night in his big boy race car bed. He has been in bed for over an hour now and I haven't heard a peep out of him. We'll see how the night goes but I think Tyler is ready for a big boy bed and that this should be a smooth transition.

Soccer Class

Tyler had his first of six soccer classes today. The class was structured perfectly for toddlers. The kids learned how to dribble and trap the ball. Then they played a few fun games:

• Cone field: They dribbled back and forth through a huge field of cones and tried to avoid the cones.
• Tunnel tag: When they kicked their ball into another player's ball that person became "frozen" and had to hold their ball over their head with their legs spread. They then became "unfrozen" when you kicked a ball through their legs. Tyler liked freezing Daddy.
• Pac Man: They kicked their balls into cones and got to collect each cone they hit.

Unfortunately there was a very loud basketball game going on in the other half of the gym. About 5 minutes into the soccer class a very loud buzzer went off. Tyler was freaked out by the buzzer and so he insisted on holding Michael's hand or my hand for the rest of the class.

Mr. Helpful

Lately Tyler likes to get things off the shelf and put them in the cart when we are at Fred Meyer or Target. We often have to negotiate about the product or color of the box. He usually only puts things in the cart after I give him the thumbs up. However, when we were at Target yesterday Tyler put not one, but 3 boxes (with 3 tests each) of pregnancy tests in the cart when I wasn't looking. I had to laugh because I am about 6 months past needing those!

Monster Trucks

Tyler is really into monster trucks right now. Yesterday at the playground he told me the following while he was manning one of the steering wheels. Tyler said he was driving a box truck that was hauling a monster truck to the monster truck show. He also pointed to the tall posts on the play structure and told me that those were exhaust pipes for the box truck.

Recent Expressions

• "The moon is following us.": Tyler said this a number of times in the car the other evening.
• "I want my Mommy!": This is what Tyler calls out when we wakes up in the morning or from his nap. I'm not sure why he doesn't just call out, "Mommy!"
• "I want to click myself.": This was Tyler's way of telling us he wanted to fasten his seat belt.
• "I bonked myself.": This is what Tyler said when he bumped his head while getting clothes out of the dryer.
• "What's that?": We hear this numerous times each day as our curious little guy wants to know about everything.

Slippers

Tyler looks so grown up in his new slippers!

Although Tyler typically prefers to go barefoot in the house year-round, I bought him his own slippers in the hopes that he will stop taking my slippers off my feet.

Trick-or-Treating

We went trick-or-treating in Multnomah Village yesterday. It was fun to see all the kids dressed up. Tyler was a little scared of some of the costumes involving masks but definitely liked collecting treats.

Robert, Christopher, Sandie, Tyler,
Lourdes, Calvin, Michael, and Renee

Men at work

So hard to get 2-year olds to pose together for a photo!

Grrr... I'm a shark!

Lollipops were a hit.

Halloween Party

We went to a fun Halloween party/carnival on Sunday. Tyler loved the bouncy house and enjoyed playing many of the games.

It was hard to get a good photo of my
construction workers because the flash
just reflects off their vests!

Tyler and Christopher

Using a net to scoop up ducks

Fishing for Halloween treats

Tyler bounced and bounced and bounced

Tyler showing off the bat
he had painted on his hand