Daphne

Latest Daphne happenings:

• Waving: I saw Daphne wave for the first time today! She opened and closed her hand a few times at her teacher when we left daycare.
• Crawling: Daphne is getting better at crawling forward, especially when she wants something. And she loves going after whatever Tyler is playing with.
• Smooth Criminal: I had to stop Daphne from committing a federal offense this evening. I had her in my arms while checking the mail and she tried to open our neighbor's mailbox!
• So Squirmy: Daphne was sitting semi-still, while grabbing pages, for a few board books before bed. Now that she is more mobile she does not want to be read to. She literally tries to crawl off my lap! Hopefully she will settle down once she gets over all this initial mobility excitement!

Pink Discrimination

While reading the pink page in a book about colors:
Tyler: I don't like pigs.
Me: Why not?
Tyler: Because they are pink. I don't like pink!

On the Move

We have forward motion! Daphne has slowly been figuring out how to crawl forwards instead of always scooting backwards. Thankfully she is still pretty slow but she is definitely getting around and loving it. Daphne is so excited about all her new movement skills that she barely stays still. I have a hard time changing her diaper and getting her dressed because she squirms, reaches, and rolls. And as soon as she wakes up in the morning or after a nap she is up on all fours raring to go.

Mr. Soccer

I bought Tyler some secondhand cleats and shin guards this weekend. Even though the soccer program says at this age the kids only need sneakers, both Michael and Tyler are gung-ho on the soccer gear. Tyler insisted on wearing his cleats today to run errands (flu shots and grocery shopping). He claims the cleats give him better traction on the sidewalk. And Tyler wore his shin guards most of the day, including his nap!

Soccer

Tyler started an outdoor soccer class a week ago and he loves it. They learn skills and then at the end of class they scrimmage. The red jerseys are the Ketchup team and the yellow jerseys are the Mustard team. They don't keep score to keep it fun.

Blowing Raspberries

Daphne has been really vocal lately. She likes to babble, blow raspberries, and make all sorts of squealing noises.

Laundry Basket

I put Daphne in the laundry basket to see how she would react. Apparently she looked like she was having fun because Tyler wanted in on the action too. I blew raspberries to get Daphne to look at the camera, but Tyler started blowing raspberries too and so Daphne kept looking at Tyler. And then Daphne started blowing raspberries. If only doing laundry was always this much fun!

Tyler, the Good Listener????

Tyler's teacher awarded stickers for listening this week and Tyler won a prize for being the best listener. Michael and I were quite shocked because we feel like Tyler never listens to us! Example from dinner tonight:

Me: Tyler, try a bite of tomato or bell pepper or you will be seeing this same food for breakfast tomorrow.
Quiet pause.
Michael: Tyler, are you listening to your mother?
Tyler: What?
Michael: I don't know how you got that award at school!
Me: You're such a good listener at school. Why don't you listen to me?
Tyler: I just don't.

Looking at the list of kids we did realize that the girls (9) outnumber the boys (3) right now. There used to be more boys but I guess many of them left over the summer. This must be why Tyler has been talking a lot about boys vs. girls. When Tyler was in the 1-year old class it was all boys and one girl and I think his 2-year old class only had 2 girls. I don't think Tyler is wild about this gender shift.

Portraits

I had portraits of the kids taken a few weeks ago and am finally getting around to posting a few of my favorites. Through some miracle the photographer was able to get both kids looking at the camera and smiling at the same time!

No girl stuff!

Out of the blue this morning Tyler told me, "I still like sharks. I like all boy stuff. No girl stuff!"

Out and About

Tyler biked with Daddy and played in the fountain while
my dad, Daphne, and I shopped the Saturday Market.

Tyler the alien. When the balloon maker asked
to see Tyler's green card, Tyler offered him the
cash that Michael had given him for the balloon.
The crowd was quite amused!

Rare family photo- I guess Daphne and I
should have had on our Aggie gear.

PawPaw teaching Tyler how to tickle me under the chin

Socks are yummy!

Game Time

Gotta love an afternoon bottle and
my first Scrabble game with my PawPaw!

OMSI

PawPaw and Daphne are good buddies!

I've learned to bring a change of clothes. Tyler manages to get
soaking wet in this exhibit even while wearing an apron!

PawPaw worked on acclimating Daphne to local wildlife.

Must get one of those balls in my mouth!

Shooting balls into targets and at Mommy

There's a new crane operator at the Port.

My PawPaw is lots of fun!

The Zoo

Riding the Zoo Train through the zoo and Washington Park

Our little cub

Tyler got to spend 2 days with just his PawPaw while Michael and I were at work and Daphne was at daycare. They went to the zoo one day and Oaks Park amusement park another day. Tyler insisted that he knew how to get to the zoo train and led PawPaw on a wild goose chase through the zoo. And my dad is already plotting revenge because he had to ride the tilt-a-whirl twice at Oaks Park. He's lucky they only run the rides for 2 hours on their preschool mornings!

Hard at Work?

My dad and Michael spent Labor Day fixing our poorly-built patio that was crumbling down into our neighbor's yard. Tyler begged and begged to help so they set up a screen for him to sort rocks from the dirt. Then Tyler helped for about 5 minutes and decided he had worked enough!

Drift Creek Falls Hike

Michael and I took turns carrying
Daphne on our backs.
She slept about half the time.

Hiking buddies

Having fun on the suspension bridge

Drift Creek Falls

Tyler got tired on the hike back and hitched a ride with PawPaw

We took a family hike with my dad. This is probably the longest hike Tyler has done on foot. The hike was 3 miles round trip with a 490-foot elevation change. Tyler did really well and as expected got tired on the way back up.

At one point Michael, Daphne, and I caught up to Tyler and my dad after taking some photos. Tyler was very excited and said, "Mommy, come look!" He took my hand and led me a little ways off the trail. I assumed Tyler was going to show me some neat tree or an animal but he pointed at the ground and said, "Look!". I said, "That looks like water." and Tyler exclaimed, "That's where PawPaw peed!" We were all beside ourselves laughing. We let Tyler pee in the woods too and he thought that was pretty cool.

Newport Aquarium

Daphne with PawPaw

Heading into shark territory

Michael and Tyler in the sculpture garden

Exploring starfish, urchins, and anemones in the touch pool

Tyler liked chasing the fish around in circles at the circular tank

Exploring a faux beaver den

Lincoln City

Flying a kite. Tyler thought it was hilarious to
release the kite and watch Michael chase after it!

Keeping Daphne out of trouble. I'm sure she would
have tried to eat sand if we had let her sit in the sand.

Braving the cold waters of the D River where it meets the
Pacific. Tyler played in the water a while and we had to make
him come out to change into dry clothes and warm up.

Tyler didn't want to pose with his name this summer.

Daphne liked going for a walk on the beach.

Tyler loved splashing in all the water pools
left behind when the tide went out.

Daphne Developments

Daphne is almost crawling. She can get on all fours but
only manages to scoot backwards, which is still effective.

Working on standing with PawPaw

Is it possible to slow down time???? I swear that every time I blink Daphne is developing in some new way:

• Sitting: Daphne sits up on her own really well now. I don't even prop pillows or stuffed animals around her on the floor anymore. She topples over every now and then but usually because she tries to reach way too far for something.
• Grabbing: Speaking of reaching, Daphne grabs anything she can get her paws on. And after she gets a hold of whatever catches her attention she promptly puts it in her mouth for a nibble when possible. Some things she just grabs (like my dad's leg hair!).
• Mobility: We have to watch Daphne like a hawk now! About the only time she is still is when she is ready for a nap or bed. Daphne has been trying to crawl but only manages to scoot backwards when she is up on all fours. But between the backwards motion and rolling Daphne can cover quite a bit of ground. This means she is already getting into things she shouldn't be in. We're going to need to update our babyproofing and figure out a good way to keep Daphne out of Tyler's toys since a number of them have small parts that are choking hazards.
• Chow hound: Daphne has gotten really good at holding her own bottle when she is in a reclined position. She is also eating solid food 2 or 3 times a day now. So far Daphne has not refused any particular foods and we have gone through all the basic baby food vegetables and fruits. She can feed herself rice crackers and started grabbing the spoon a few days ago (she has quite a grip!).
• Drooling: There has been quite a bit of drool but nothing compared to when Tyler was a baby. Tyler still drools more than the average kid his age! Fortunately Daphne has started to spit up a lot less. Supposedly at this stage the muscles at the bottom of the esophagus are more developed and so we should be done with the spit up phase.

Overall Daphne is a pretty happy baby. It doesn't take much to get her smiling and she absolutely adores Tyler. She watches everything he does and the two of them seem to have bonded quite a bit now that Daphne can play more.

When I'm this many...

Tyler hit the 3-1/2 mark on August 24th. I forgot how big a deal it is when you are little to hit the halfway mark between birthdays. Tyler reminds us often that he is a big 3-1/2 year old now and that on his next birthday he will be this many (holds up 4 fingers). He also talks about all the things he will like or do when he is bigger. Bigger can vary (4, 5, 6, adult, etc.). For a while it was all about when he will be a big 6-year old. Tyler most frequently tells us that he will eat and like certain foods when he is bigger. Other times he is looking forward to doing things he is too young to do now- like play Scrabble with PawPaw or watch scary movies with Daddy.

Potty Victory!

Tyler finally won his potty-training prize!

10 accident-free days in a row at last! We started the calendar
back in May. There were only 3 green check marks in May,
1 in June, and 2 in July. It was very bleak!!!!

At long last Tyler is potty-trained. Yay!!!! We feel like we have been working at this potty-training thing forever! It doesn't help that Tyler is very stubborn and strong-willed. He would make progress for a while and then regress and flat out wanted to be in control of everything. For months he would pee in the potty just fine but would hardly ever poop in the potty. Peer pressure finally won out. At the end of July one of Tyler's friends at daycare turned 3 and moved up to the 3-year old classroom. However, his buddy was already potty-trained and Tyler's competitve nature kicked in. He came home and told me, "I'm sad because I don't get to wear big boy underwear." Of course I nicely told him there was an easy solution. We still ask Tyler frequently if he needs to go potty, but Tyler actually goes to the bathroom on his own accord often too (at home and while out and about).

According to my records, we have spent $2,150 on diapers/pull-ups for Tyler during the past 3-1/2 years!