First manly project!

We found out that our local Home Depot does a kids' workshop on the first Saturday of every month. It's completely free and kids get a new project to complete each time. So we took Tyler to his very first workshop this past weekend. He got his very own Home Depot apron, a pin for his apron (there's a different pin for each workshop that he will complete), and his to-be-completed project. This week's project was a wooden trinket box, built using only wood glue, so no nails or screws or anything else sharp. Tyler had a great job, and quickly took credit for all of his Daddy's hard work! And when he was finished, he even got a certificate for his hard work! We can't wait to take him to more workshops.

Cat toys that double as toddler toys

At the advice of our veterinarian, we bought a laser pointer to help encourage Beemer to be more active. It works, and he loves it. Tyler loves to watch him play with it too. He also loves to shine the laser for Beemer. But apparently, he also likes to try to squash the laser himself!!!! (sorry if it's a little dark....)

First haircut!!!

So after months of deliberation, Tyler had his first haircut this morning at the same salon I go to. We were hard pressed to want to get rid of those beautiful curls. It went pretty well, and we are sooo happy with the cut. We got there and Tyler wasn't sure about anything. We took him in and showed him what was going on, and he wasn't buying what we were selling. We introduced him to Katie, who would be cutting his hair. So finally we brought out the big guns - we set up the portable DVD player with a fresh Backyardigans DVD. Worked like a charm. He wasn't a fan of sitting alone, so he sat on my lap, and he really hated having the cape put on him. But again, once he saw his Backyardigan friends, he was cool.

Katie asked if we wanted a "little boy cut" or if we wanted to keep some of the curl. Well, damn, given the option, I want the curl!!! lol So she called it a "little boy shag". And the cutting began.
Tyler did awesome. As long as Tyrone & Austin were singing and dancing on the screen, he didn't care. She clipped away. And boy did she clip. We didn't realize just how long his hair had gotten until we watched her cut. lol I did keep some of the curls, and they are secure ina little envelope. But we love it. He looks so much older, at least to us. His hair is out of his face, which I know is a relief to him. And while he has the curls still, they aren't hearly as out of control as they were. LOVE IT!!!!

Here are a few pics from the day (OK, a lot):

Christmas fun

Christmas was so much fun this year. Not that Christmas wasn’t fun last year or anything, but it was just different this year. Tyler really got into everything this year and it was so fun to watch his excitement. We had Grandpa & Uncle Eddie arrive on Christmas Eve for dinner and we all opened our traditional present – an ornament. Tyler got a “Horton Hears a Who” ornament this year, for his love of Seuss. We dressed him in his new Christmas pj’s and off to bed he went, to get ready for a busy and fun day ahead.

First thing Christmas morning wasn’t so fun, as we found Tyler in his bed covered in poop. Poor thing seemed to have a bit of a tummy bug but he wasn’t going to let that slow him down. He was in a pretty good mood for a majority of the day, he just didn’t eat much. He went downstairs and took a look at the loot that Santa had brought the night before – a train table complete with tracks, trains, and all sorts of other accessories, Elmo legos, books, wooden puzzles, Little People galore, and so much more. He loved exploring everything, and really loved playing with his new train table. He especially loved ordering “DaPa” (aka Grandpa) to come in the playroom & play with him at the train table.

When it came time to open presents, Tyler was a pro. He quickly & easily ripped the paper off of each of his gifts, and would promptly hand it over to Uncle Eddie saying, “Open.” No box left unopened that morning. Toys everywhere. We started getting Tyler to help hand out gifts, but I think the excitement of the day got to him. We would ask him to take a gift to Uncle Eddie or Grandpa, & he would sit down in front of whoever was to receive the gift & proceed to open it for them. Oh well, he had a blast & that’s the point, right? He got lots of great gifts, including a Little People raceway from Eddie, a musical instrument set from MawMaw Ange & PawPaw Jim in Lynchburg. Our house definitely looks like a mini version of Toys R Us.

After breakfast, Grandpa & Eddie headed back to Lynchburg, and we got ready for Part Two of Christmas. After Tyler’s (short lived) nap, we headed to Louisa to visit with Travis’ parents & grandmother. There he got to open even more gifts & added to his toy count with a toddler-proof CD player & stuffed Curious George among other things. Thankfully, he got a little bit of his appetite back while we were there so it was a good thing that we came armed with lots of snacks! We had a good visit there and then headed back home to rewind.

Tyler was a bit confused, I think, the day after Christmas when there were no more new toys laid out for him. I had to have a chat with him about the fact that Santa only comes once a year and that new things weren’t going to just “appear” everyday. Not sure that he gets it yet, but he will. And after that chat, he was perfectly happy playing with his train table again. I have a feeling that will be a favorite toy for years to come! Even with the fact that Tyler wasn’t feeling 100% that day, we had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to so many more. I have a feeling that each year will become more and more magical as we see Christmas through Tyler’s eyes.

On a final note, a big heartfelt congratulations to our close friends Laura & Matt. They welcomed their first child, Mason Kencaid, to the world on December 30 at 8:34 am. He weighed 7 lbs. 7 oz. and both Mason & Laura are doing well. We absolutely can not wait for Mason & Tyler to grow up together and become playmates. Congratulations you guys! We love you!

Chri-mas 'ights, Mama. Chri-mas 'ights.

Well, folks, we are just shy of 3 days away from Christmas morning. And we are really looking forward to it this year. Tyler did well last Christmas, but this year he's really gotten the hang of unwrapping gifts (he had practice the other night), and he's been intrigued with all of the lights and trees and sounds of Christmas. He loves to announce (loudly) to us every time that we pass a house with lights on it. He yells, "'Ights, Mama! Chri-mas 'ights!!!! Man!" (That's "snowman" in Tyler speak.) I want to take him downtown to see the lights at the James Center sometime before the New Year, because I know he'll love it.

We put the tree up last weekend, and we are pleased to announce that Tyler has left it alone - for the most part. He attempted to help me decorate, but that was quickly suspended when he just started chucking ornaments onto/into the tree. I finished the decorating when he went to bed, so he awoke the next morning to a fully decorated tree to which he just stared at and said, "Oooh, 'ights." We even have fulyl wrapped presents under the tree, complete with bows. He has just recently started to notice them and slowly inches his way to the gifts to lightly touch them, but so far so good. As long as we can make it 60 more hours, we're golden.

We've gone a bit overboard on the gifts for Tyler - something I said that I just wouldn't do. But it's so hard not to pick up a little something here and there for your favorite little man. We had Tyler with us when we bought a lot of it too - I'm going to miss being able to do that in the future. We also had him with us when we bought our gifts for the Salvation Army Angel Tree, a tradition that has been in my family & Travis' family for years. We're happy to be able to share this with Tyler to show that Christmas isn't just about "gimme gimme gimme". Hmm, I wonder if Santa went as overboard as we did??? Guess we'll have to wait until Christmas morning to see.

Tyler has a party at daycare tomorrow that I'm going to go to. I'm excited to be able to spend the afternoon with him. We have Grandpa & Uncle Eddie coming to town on Christmas Eve and we'll have the traditional Christmas Eve dinner that my Mom started so many years ago. They'll be here with us on Christmas morning to see what Santa has brought, have some breakfast, then head back to Lynchburg. Then we will head out to Trav's grandmother's house in Louisa County. We were originally going to have Christmas at our house, but Trav's dad is having some tests run at UVA on the 26th and they will be spending Christmas night in Charlottesville, so this is the best way to see them. (Please keep Steve in your prayers.)

We wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year (in case we don't update here before then). Enjoy your time with your family and friends! Much love to those that we don't see often! (PS - Sorry about the one lone picture. We just got a new laptop yesterday, and I have not had time to move the files over. This is all I had to work with.)

Santa!

We took Tyler to see Santa over at Short Pump Town Center again this year. We didn't have high hopes for this visit this year, seeing as several of our friends with toddlers at the same age had some less-than-pleasant experiences. When we got there, there was a bit of a line, so Travis took Tyler to the play area while I stood in line. Travis took him over to Santa's exit to see the big guy in action and Tyler even waved to Santa and got a wave back! We started to think that we might not have such a bad visit after all! Next thing we knew, it was our turn. Tyler started to look a bit anxious, and once he got up close & personal with Saint Nick, he was suddenly VERY unsure about it all. But we brought Marcie the Bear with us, and Santa picked her up and hugged & kissed her. He talked to Tyler while we sat him in Santa's lap. Tyler fussed a little bit, but the photographer managed to get a brief smile from him with a quickie game of peek-a-boo. This picture was taken as the smile was fading, but hey, at least he's not screaming, right?

Our Thanksgiving

It’s hard to believe that the holidays are upon us! I feel like this year has just flown by. We certainly hope that everyone had a safe & wonderful Thanksgiving! We know that we did!

We had Thanksgiving lunch with Travis’ family – Gramme & Granddad Snead, Great-Grandma Smith, Aunt Jenn & Uncle Brian (and Aunt Jenn’s little peanut in her tummy – Tyler’s going to be a cousin in June!). It was a great meal and we had a nice time visiting. While Tyler napped, I perused the Black Friday ads and determined that Travis needed to get to Sears before 5:00 am the next day to get a front-loading, high efficiency washer & dryer pair that were on a BIG TIME sale. That was nice of me, wasn’t it?

Anyway, after we left Gramme & Granddad’s house, we made our annual trip to Wal-Mart. Before Tyler, it would be that we would only make a trip to Wal-Mart once a year, and that was on Thanksgiving Day. While I enjoy Wal-Mart’s prices and selection, I’ve never been a fan of the crowds, the parking, and so on. Thanksgiving Day is heaven in Wal-Mart. No one there, no lines, no fighting, no parking issues. It’s truly a lovely experience. But we’ve found ourselves shopping at Wal-Mart more often now, so we’ve had to just learn to deal with it. It was nice to have one calm shopping day there though. We were able to buy lots of gifts for our Salvation Army Angel, a tradition that Travis & I both grew up with and hope to continue with Tyler so that he can see that Christmas is also about helping others in need, not just about toys for him.

On Friday, we packed up and headed to Browns Summit, NC to visit Nana Scoggin. She had a full house there – Heath, Maureen, Kayla, & Bryan; Nathan, Donna, Jessi, & Becky; Harry, Jayne, & Harry Lee; Kevin, Debi, Kevin Jr., Mike, & Amy. It was so nice to see everyone. We hadn’t had the opportunity to see them in quite a while. Tyler had a great time playing with his cousins (well, my cousins, so I guess they’re his cousins once removed?). He has a blast riding in the golf cart, and visiting with the miniature horses across the street. I’m glad that we were able to get down there, and hope to make another trip sooner rather than later.

And I’ll leave you with this. Tyler has recently become attached to a stuffed teddy bear that I have. This bear was a gift that I gave to my friend Heidi in college when her best friend passed away. Years later, it shows up on my doorstep after Mom’s death. Heidi wanted to share him. Well, this bear has been in our bedroom for 2 years now, and Tyler never really noticed it. Until about a week and a half ago, when he picks it up, gives it a hug, and decides that this bear must go everywhere with him. I asked him what this bear’s name is and he replied “Marcie”. Marcie is the name of his daycare director (who also has a little girl in Tyler’s class). Marcie does everything with us, but we won’t let her leave the house (unless it’s an out of town visit). Marcie said she’s flattered that he’s named his bear after her, and I guess it just shows that he truly is well taken care of at daycare. And that’s extremely comforting.

Video post - GRACIE!!!!

For a while now, Tyler likes to call Gracie. All the time. And he likes to give her commands. "Gracie - EAT! Gracie - DOWN! Gracie - NO! Gracie - SIT!" But he also loves to pet her and give her lots of attention, and Gracie is very patient with him. VERY patient. (Yes, we do still have another cat, Beemer. But he's not nearly as patient as Gracie and he doesn't generally come around while Tyler is awake.) Anyway, here's Tyler sharing his milk with Gracie.

Happy Halloween!!!

When we tried his costumes on him before Halloween, Tyler had a fit. You would have thought that we were amputating something. So we feared that we would have to go to our "backup" costume. But something clicked tonight, and we were able to dress him in the costume bought by his MawMaw Ange. THANK YOU MawMaw Ange (and Wagner & Waylon too!). We took him to a few houses in our cul-de-sac, and it didn't take him long to figure out just what was going on. Once he figured out that people were giving him something, ANYTHING, for looking cute and saying "pleeeeeeease", he was all into it. (And as you can tell from a few of these pics, he was inspecting the "goods" in his pumpkin often tonight.) Happy Halloween all!

Fall is here!

And with fall comes changing leaves, pumpkins & Halloween, and cooler days. We took Tyler to Ashland Berry Farm this weekend to pick pumpkins. It’s not too far from our house and is a very popular place in the fall. We drove up so that we got there right as we opened, and boy, are we glad that we did! When we got there, there wasn’t a line or a long wait for a tractor ride to the pumpkin patch. We were able to hop right on and go. But when we came back, the line was really long and we probably would have had to wait 30 minutes or so. That wouldn’t have been fun, since yesterday was actually pretty chilly with a light breeze. Anyway, we got on the tractor and we think Tyler enjoyed himself. He sat perfectly still in my lap and just looked all around him as we rode.

We got to the patch and let Tyler run around and look at all the pumpkins. (And he can say “pumpkin” pretty clearly now too!) The crop looked really good and Tyler helped us pick out a couple of really good ones, and he carried around a very, very, very small pumpkin (that he ended up smashing when we got back home, but whatever). Ashland Berry Farm has an “all you can carry for $20” deal, so we loaded Travis up with the four decent-sized pumpkins to take advantage of that deal. And thankfully, the rain from the previous days had dried up for the most part, so it wasn’t too terribly muddy, but we definitely walked away with a much dirtier little boy than we came with! Poor thing lost his footing several times, through the vines and irrigation pipes.

We took the tractor back to the farm, and walked around a bit more. We went into one of the farm houses, which had lots of Halloween and Christmas decorations on display, and also had 2 pigs! They weren’t doing anything exciting, just sleeping, so I think that’s why Tyler wasn’t too terribly interested. But it was still neat to see them. All in all, we had a great time, even though it was a bit chilly. We look forward to being able to take him there each year.

Also this weekend, Travis started the dreaded chore of raking leaves. Our trees in the backyard have been dropping leaves for a few weeks now, and we’ve been waiting in agony for the big tree in our front yard to start dropping. Once that tree starts, it feels like it never ends. So Travis got to work on that, and Tyler thought that was the most fun ever. He loves running through the leaf piles and jumping in them. He liked to ride in the wheelbarrow as Travis made his trips to the back of the house with leaves. And he even got his own rake from Gramme and Granddad this weekend, which he simply calls “stick” (and sort of uses like a weapon – oops). But he had a great time “helping” in the yard, and even helped me pull up some of our old, dead pansies. There’s lots more “helping” to be done so hopefully his love of yardwork will stick around a while!

We made it!

Well, folks, we made it through our first child-free mini-vacation. Last week, Travis and I headed to Las Vegas for 4 nights and left Tyler with his Gramme and Granddad for the duration. We dropped Tyler off on Thursday night. We ate dinner with him, got him bathed and dressed for bed, and then came the worst moment of my life. Leaving my baby. Tyler shed many tears, but I think that I win for most hysterical breakdown. I was inconsolable. Even the thought that I was going to be in Vegas for a few days with great friends and no parental responsibilities didn't calm me down. I was leaving my baby. I cried most of the way down 295 on the way home. I wasn't sure that I wanted to go to Vegas anymore. But once we got home, got packed, and didn't get any frantic phone calls from the grandparents about what to do, I was able to sleep and be excited about the adventure ahead!

We left for Vegas on Friday morning, and this started Tyler's fun time with Gramme and Granddad. He got lots of outside play time in his log cabin that they have for him, visited with his Great-Grandma Smith, went shopping, played with his Aunt Jenn and wrestled with his Uncle Brian. We called and checked on him every day, though he rarely wanted to actually talk on the phone. We knew he heard us because he loves to hold a phone to his ear, but he rarely said much. I was starting to think that he didn't really miss us much at all!

Though he was confused when we got home and he was back in his own house, he warmed up quickly and he's back to being the clingy Mama's boy that he's always been. And I wouldn't have it any other way. He picked up lots of new words and sayings while we were gone. He says "Aw, man!" (which is hilarious) and "diaper" to name a few. And I swear that he got bigger and that his hair got longer in the 5 days we were gone. He uses a fork and spoon really well now. He walks down stair unassisted. It's amazing how much you miss in just those few days.

We did come back with gifts. We stopped by FAO Schwartz in Caesar's Palace, and bought Tyler a Brio train set, which he loves. I'm hoping to find him a wooden train table for Christmas (shhh, don't tell him!) so that he can have his track and trains out of the way and easily accessible! All in all, Travis & I had an amazing time with friends in the great city of Vegas and we all survived being apart from each other. I'm not ready to do that again anytime soon though. For now, I'm ready to just keep soaking up as much time and love from my little boy as possible.

We're off to Lynchburg next weekend to visit Grandpa Ed, Uncle Eddie, & Great-Nana Woody. We haven't been there since mid-August, so it will be great to spend some time with them.

And a final note: CONGRATULATIONS to our friends Marty & Meredith and their little girl, Elise. They welcome Lucas to their family this past week. CONGRATS!

Are you ready for some football?

Apparently, we are. Tyler has 2 new jerseys to wear this football season. A new Virginia Tech jersey from Uncle Eddie, and a new Tony Romo jersey from Gramme & Granddad Snead. It's really easy to pick his clothes out on the weekends now. Just have to know who's playing when.

And I've become a bit obsessed with Tyler's curls lately. I can't seem to take enough pictures of them! I guess I want to enjoy them for as long as we can. We know that the "first haircut" has to come....one day. But for now, we're keeping his sweet, blonde curls - until someone mistakes him for a girl. Then all bets are off!

Tyler has really taken a liking to stickers lately, and that's been helpful in establishing a reward system. We give him stickers when he's being good (i.e. this morning when we had to take him to LabCorp), and hope to be able to use stickers as a reward for potty training. Speaking of potty training, no, we are nowhere near ready for that yet, but we did go ahead and invest in a potty for Tyler. And he'll sit on it (while saying "sit, sit") but that's about. That's OK, we just want him to know that it's there for him, and to explore and get used to it.

We've got a busy end of the month around here. Travis and I leave for Las Vegas to meet up with some friends on the 26th. We get back on the 30th, and Tyler will be staying with Gramme & Granddad Snead for that time. Unfortunately, due to circumstances beyond our control, we weren't able to have more than one "test night" at their house, so here's hoping that we all do well! Trav has been away from Tyler when he travels on business, but this will be my first big outing without him. And while I'm nervous about that, I'm also excited to have some "play time" for Travis & I. So keep your fingers crossed for us all!!!

18 months old - and a language explosion!

No need to check the calendar behind me, it’s true. Tyler is really 18 months old! It’s so hard to believe how quickly time has passed since he’s been here. I thought back to this time last year, and all of the things that he was doing then – sitting up unassisted, just starting to use (or play with) a sippy cup, eating his first foods. And now look at him. We’ve got a certified walking, talking, climbing toddler. (And I’ll go ahead and cut you off now – no, that does not mean it’s time for us to have another one, but thanks anyway.) We took him to get professional pictures done, something that we hadn’t done since his birthday. What a big boy he’s becoming, right before our eyes. And, if we do say so ourselves, a very handsome boy at that.

According to every parenting book out there (which I don’t have time to read anymore), 18 months is a pretty big age. Lots of things start to happen. Toddlers generally start testing more limits (yep), talking more (absolutely), changing the way that they play to use more of their imagination (you betcha), and so on. The biggest development that we’ve noticed is the change in Tyler’s vocabulary. I swear he says a new word (or 2!) a day. Just yesterday, we were at the pediatrician’s office for his well visit (stats later) and he looked at Travis and pointed and said “book”. I asked when he started saying that because I had never heard it. Travis said it just happened a night or so ago during storytime. See? We can’t keep up with the new words! Some favorites: “No-no, Gracie. Not nice.” (I should add that Gracie is usually not doing anything wrong. He just follows her around the house wagging his finger at her, saying this.) “more” (followed by “milk” or “snack” usually), “shoes” (the kid loves shoes), “blocks”, “outside” which is followed by “hat” since he knows that he has to wear a hat to go outside. There’s a ton more, but I won’t bore you (further) with a comprehensive list. We get a couple of strings of words from time to time (see the Gracie comment above) and we heard “I got shoes” once. It’s so nice to be able to really communicate with him now though! We have fewer frustrations when it comes to what he wants. Notice I said fewer and not “no frustrations”. The doctor said to be prepared for even more words to come at a rapid pace as he nears his 2nd birthday.

And speaking of the doctor, all is well. Tyler weighs 26 lbs. 12 oz. (60th percentile), is 33.5 inches tall (80th percentile), and still has a whopper of a head, but that’s ok. Developmentally, he looks great and is doing all of the things (and more!) that a “normal” 18 month old should be doing. He’s even doing many of the things that she said that he should be doing at 24 months (i.e. pointing out body parts). At 18 months, the doctors have the parents complete a checklist which would potentially point out warning signs of autism. Thankfully, there are no warning signs where Tyler is concerned, not that we ever thought there would be. We do have to go for some bloodwork soon so that they can rule out anemia. Tyler’s past couple of finger pricks in the office have come back slightly lower than normal for his iron levels, so they want to figure out just how low his iron levels are and what might be causing it. So we’ll have that done next week sometime and once they get the results, we’ll talk to the doctor again and see what, if anything, needs to happen. It may be something like an iron supplement, or it may be nothing at all. We’ll just wait and see. But overall, it was another great appointment, and we don’t go back until he’s 2!