Happy Holidays!

Future Paleontologist?

Tyler and his buddy Joshua have been digging for dinosaur bones at daycare. They haven't found any yet but they have been digging for a few weeks now.

Play Park

Tricycle built for two: Calvin and Tyler

Girl time: Daphne and Lilith

Daphne is a busy girl!

Princess????

This morning Michael and the kids were talking to Michael's parents via Skype. Mrs. Hurtado called Daphne a little princess or something along those lines. Tyler said, "She's not a princess! She's a baby!"

Christmas in Dairyville

Exploring Storybook Lane at Alpenrose Dairy...

Calvin, Tyler, and Christopher

Daphne wasn't thrilled that the bunting had built-in gloves,
but she didn't complain about the comfy ride on Mommy's back.

Lilith

Anyone in need of a mini fireman?

Zoo Lights

FLASHBACK to Zoo Lights 2009

Daphne and Tyler all bundled up and ready to roll

Tyler LOVED the train! I asked him what his favorite part of
the ride was and he said the tunnel. He added "and the lights"
after I asked him if he liked any of the lights seen on the ride.

Excited about the field of lights depicting the animals of Africa

Boys vs. Girls

Before and after putting on lipstick yesterday Tyler said,
"Daddy is going to be so surprised!"
(note: Daddy doesn't even want me to keep these blackmail photos!)

Tyler hadn't said anything anti-girl in a while and last week even surprised me when I was scanning through the radio stations in the car and he made me stop on Carly Rae Jepson's "Call Me Maybe" and asked me to turn it up. Then a few nights ago Tyler didn't want me to read him "Mrs. Claus Takes a Vacation" because it's a book about a girl. But then yesterday he wanted to play with my eyelash curler and put lipstick on!

Nap Time

I think Tyler needs another pillow to prop up his head.

Underneath all the pillows and blankets, and Tyler for
that matter, Michael is napping soundly.

Expanding Her Kitchen Territory

Exciting discovery for Daphne- she can reach
stuff in the 3rd drawer up. (The 2nd drawer up
has a child safety latch on it.)

Mommy thinks I only need 1 drawer. Ha!

Animal Pile

Like her brother, Daphne loves to dive onto or roll around
in large piles of stuffed animals/pillows/blankets.

Push Truck

We hadn't pulled out the push truck in a while and when we did this weekend Daphne walked behind it for the first time and did pretty well.

Bubble Bath

I'm not sure who splashes most!

Bubble beard

Dear Santa

celery slide

Daphne loves playing with the big kids!

After meeting Santa

Viola and Tyler dancing

Tyler met Santa at the mall on Friday. He was pretty shy at first but then he warmed up. When Santa asked Tyler what he wants for Christmas he said he wants "a monster truck this big" and he held his hand up above his head. He also said that he wants a bulldozer that pushes sand.

Running Shoes

We were recently at the Nike Outlet, where Michael bought new running shoes. While Michael tried on shoes, Tyler, Daphne, and I looked at the kids shoes on sale since Tyler's current sneakers are almost too small. We found some spiffy black sneakers with white trim and design. Tyler calls them his running shoes and says that he wants to go running with Daddy. He wore his new shoes to daycare this week. Tyler's teacher told us that all morning every time a parent came in to drop off their kid(s), Tyler would hold out one of his feet and wait for the parent to comment. After they told him, "Nice shoes!" or "Awesome shoes!" Tyler would tell them "They're for running" in a very matter-of-fact tone.

Velcro that!

While I love the ease of velcro, it is no match for Daphne! I can't tell you how many times a day she pulls off her bib or her shoes. Daphne likes to take off her shoes and socks and then put them in her mouth.

Play Park

Captain Tyler and Captain Calvin navigating the seas
in their "boat". Tyler told me that they caught crabs and
fish for us to eat. If only Tyler really ate seafood!

Lilith, Lourdes, and Sandie

Christopher getting his basketball fill

Look out! There is a new sheriff in town!
And she's a sweetie...

What a Diva!

Diva or temperamental 3-1/2 year old? The two are probably synonymous! Tyler’s tantrums had seemed to get better but lately he has been temperamental again. He hasn’t really been wanting to nap (even though we think he needs it) so the last few days we haven’t pushed the issue. However, the last two days Tyler has had a meltdown around 4 pm. On Friday he fell asleep while getting a consoling hug from me and then yesterday he fell asleep while crying mid-tantrum on the floor.

Tantrum-induced nap

The diva showed his demanding side yesterday when we were getting family portraits taken. Tyler was sulking because Michael and I got to sit on stools (sized for adults) with the kids on our lap. Then when the photographer broke out a cute little bench for Tyler and Daphne to do a sibling pose, Tyler refused to sit on the bench and kept whining about how he wanted to sit on a stool. The photographer kindly obliged and Michael held Daphne next to Tyler; however, I think the photos would have turned out better on the bench!

The Wanderer

Lyrics from Dion song:

They call me the wanderer

Yeah, the wanderer

I roam around, around, around

 

Daphne has gotten increasingly more brazen about exploring the house. The other day she was playing happily in her room while I put away laundry. I left for a minute to go to the bathroom and when I came back she was gone. I didn't see her nearby in the hallway or my bedroom. That fast baby had crawled all the way down the hallway, through the kitchen, and to the living room where Michael and Tyler were!

Soccer

Tyler had his last soccer class of the season last weekend. The field has been wet the past few classes, but last week they finally played in the rain towards the end of class. The kids thought the rain was great!

Practicing taking shots on goal

Taking a turn as goalie for the mustard team

Covered in mud! The photo doesn't do
justice of the mud from the knees down,
all over the hands, and by his eye.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sleeping Beauty

If you look close you can see teeth coming in.
This is a welcome change to knocking them out!

Raise your hands if you are a sweetheart!

I don't know if Daphne is going through a growth spurt or what but she has been sleeping a ton lately. She is usually tuckered out by Thursday night because she doesn't sleep much at daycare anymore because little miss social butterfly doesn't want to miss all the action. However, this past Friday she napped for 7 hours! She did take an hour nap in the morning, which I woke her from for an outing, and later she slept 20 minutes or so at play park. Then she napped from 1:15 to 8:15. And she still went to bed at 10:15! I went in after she had been napping about 4 or 5 hours, left the door open with the hall light on, checked to make sure she was breathing, and even stroked her hair and rubbed her back and she didn't even stir. Since then she has taken 4-hour naps in the middle of the day! It must be nice to be a baby!

Fall Leaves

Daphne was amused to watch Michael and Tyler gathering leaves in the back yard. There are hand prints and drool marks all over our sliding doors. Tyler was very excited to be Daddy's big helper and Michael said that he actually was a big help. Tyler helped raked leaves into piles and used a pair of "rake hands" to put the leaves into yard debris bags.

Tackle Daddy

Lots of giggling ensues when Tyler and
Daphne decide to gang up on Michael!

Daphne Developments

Every time I blink Daphne seems to be doing something new:

• Babbling: Daphne has added consonants to her babbling repertoire. She frequently likes to say da-da-da. Michael is basking in the glow that Dada is her first word but I say it doesn't count until she specifically calls him Dada or refers to him as Dada.
• Waving: She has started opening and closing her hand in response when she is waved to.
• Speed Crawling: That baby sure is fast! When Daphne really wants to get somewhere or senses we are about to pick her up to distract her from something, she turns on the burners!
• Reaching: We often think that items are out of reach but Daphne manages to pull up and get to them one way or another. She is also able to bend down and pick items up off the floor while standing and holding onto something with one hand.
• Playing with the Big Kids: Daphne absolutely adores Tyler! He is starting to get frustrated that she is constantly getting into his toys but he also likes to play with her and make her giggle. When other big kids are at the house she wants to be in on the action too.
• Splashing: Daphne has started using her hands to splash water in the bathtub. Last night she started a splashing war with Tyler and kept giggling throughout.
• Trouble: Even though we are constantly moving Daphne away from the entertainment center, she will crawl over to it, pull herself up, open a cabinet, and look directly at us and smile. Little rascal!

Tyler's Art Work

Although a simple drawing, Tyler told us that the 4 green
vertical lines represent Mommy, Daddy, Tyler, & Daphne.
That makes this the first picture he has drawn of our family.

Tyler has been enjoying art projects at school for a while now. One day last week he brought home three drawings and told us that one was for his buddies Calvin and Christopher, one was for Daphne, and one was for us. What a sweetie!

Whoop!

Watching the Aggies beat No. 1 Alabama yesterday.  ; )