Daddy's Proudest Moment

So this happened a few weeks ago, but I cant believe I forgot to write about it. It's one of the memories of Tyler's childhood I hope to always remember with a smile. And I can't believe I don't have a picture!

We were all upstairs cleaning up and hanging out. Tyler goes downstairs and we hear the t.v. turn on. We figure out its a football game so we decide its ok for him to keep it on, thinking that he is playing and its on as background noise. A few minutes later Justin looks downstairs. Tyler is sitting on the couch, with his hand on his diaper, and an empty glass in his hand. Every few seconds or so he would take a "sip" from the glass.

Tyler looks up at Justin and says "watching football". We all go downstairs to watch the game with Tyler. He sits and watches for a good ten minutes - which is the longest he has ever sat I think. At one point he said he needed more water in his glass. He gets up off the couch walks upstairs and comes back downstairs with his glass still empty of course. He climbs back on the couch, takes another sip and says "mmm good water" and continues to watch the game.

Daddy couldn't be prouder.

One last Christmas Present

It was a week late, but the boys finally got their big Christmas present. Luckily they are still at an age where they don't seem to notice these things. On Saturday before all the family came Justin started putting the boys play kitchen together. When the nephews got here they finished it up for us. Tyler was so excited! At one point Justin had it turned upside down to screw in the bottom. Tyler grabbed a play spoon and started mixing away at the bottom of the kitchen proudly stating "stirrin eggs".

As soon as he wakes up in the morning he immediately goes and starts cooking. Yesterday morning he ate "ies an izza" (fries and pizza) for his breakfast. That is before I made him eat his real breakfast. I love to see his imagination come out. We were at some friends house and he deiced to start handing out cake to everyone to eat - so he pretty much handed us little bits of air, but it was so cute. Steve, a good friend of ours, asked for some pizza. Tyler walks into their kitchen makes some pizza and brings it back out for Steve. So much fun to watch and I love hearing what his little mind is thinking.

Back to Normal

Whew! It has been a crazy week and a half. With the trip to Montrose, my brother coming over, having friends over and this past weekend, the boys haven't had a day with just mommy and daddy. On Saturday afternoon Justin's parents, his brother and sister-in-law, and their three kids (all boys of course) were here. We let the boys play some, had some pizza, and then went to the zoo. Every year our zoo has the "Electric Safari" - they have Christmas lights all over the zoo and you get to see the animals at night. A lot of the animals are sleeping and it was very cold, but we still had fun. The best part of feeding the giraffes. They were inside the giraffe house and they got so close to everyone. At one point one giraffe bent down over my nephew to the point where you couldn't even see his face- I am not sure what he thought about it. Tyler and Carter always love feeding the giraffes and this time was no exception.

We went back to their hotel and I mistakenly let Tyler see the swimming pool. He had a major tantrum and screamed the whole way home because he couldn't go swimming. When we put him in the car in the morning to go back over to the hotel, he immediately asked to go in the water. This time he was allowed and had a great time. Both of the boys love the water, and Tyler even got a little daring towards the end jumping into the "cool". We all went out for lunch and then said our goodbyes. It was great to see them all again, but it was nice last night to have a "normal" night (even tho we went to see some friends, that is more normal for our kiddos).

Happy Birthday Baby!

To my wonderful husband....

On your birthday I wanted to say thanks for all you do for us. Thank you for being such a great daddy to our boys. I know they will be great husbands and fathers because they are seeing your example of how to be one. Thank you for working your butt off at two jobs so I can be home with the boys. I know I don't' express it enough, but I appreciate the sacrifices you make for our family on a daily basis. Thank you for honoring me as your wife. You are my rock. Happy birthday baby - I love you!

Another Christmas

Last night we had my brother, sister-in-law, and nephew (B.J., Abbi, and Toby) over for dinner and to open gifts from my side of the family. The boys played very well for the most part, although there were some sharing battles. But really what can you expect from 2 two year olds? Once we reminded them they had to share, they did great. The biggest tantrum of the night came from Tyler. He opened up a present from Oma and Opa- a grocery cart. I mistakenly opened the box, thinking that it was already assembled. Nope it was in 4 pieces and needs to be screwed together. Tyler couldn't get over that he couldn't play with it right then and there. We put him in his room to have his tantrum and quickly assembled it. We probably should have just made him wait, but it was "Christmas" after all. When he came back down and saw it was put together life was good again.

Carter and Tyler were more into opening the gifts this time than on Tuesday. Carter is very meticulous when opening. He rips off tiny pieces one at a time. Tyler just rips and rips until he can see a tiny piece of the present and then goes to grab another present. Now I just have to find places for all their new stuff.

White Christmas

On Monday the rest of the family arrived. Which meant we had 8 adults and 8 children in the house. It was very busy and at times noisy, but also very fun. Monday consisted of doing last minute errands, and going to Christmas Eve service. I am not sure what got into a Tyler. When I went to get him from the nursery his bottom lip was quivering and as soon as I picked him up he burst into tears. The ladies running the nursery told me he had done great, he would fuss a little bit here and there but he played really well and was even helping pick up the toys when I got there. I am assuming it was because of his foot. That morning we was kinda limping everywhere. He had a small red spot on his big toe and would grimace if you touched it. The next morning he was fine.

Christmas morning we woke up to a beautiful White Christmas. It snowed the majority of the morning and was absolutely gorgeous. Before we went out to see the rest of the family we read the story of Jesus' birth together as a family. This is a tradition we started with Tyler's first Christmas and wanted to continue even tho we weren't at home.

When we got to the living room we showed the boys their stockings. They were more interested in what their cousins got from Santa tho (a train table and a Smart Cycle). Once everyone was in the room the boys got to open up their stockings and their presents. Tyler was a little bit more interested in opening this year than he was last year, but I think they were both a little overwhelmed.

The rest of the morning they played with their toys and played outside some in the snow. When they woke up from their naps however, trouble started. Tyler was very cranky and was getting frustrated very easily. If I told him no to something he would just cry and cry. The only thing that helped was cuddling with Grandma. I really think it was that he was around so many new people and so much stuff was constantly going on. He gets overwhelmed so easily. You can tell when he is nervous/anxious/etc. because his hands will be in his mouth and he will be looking for anything to chew on. Pretty mush the rest of the trip Tyler has something in his mouth.

The boys loved being around the family, even if at times it was a little to much for Tyler. He loved giving each one hugs every night before bed and saying thanks for them in his prayers. Carter loved being tickled and having even more boys to follow around. It was so great to see them playing all together and making memories.

Wednesday we got up, ate breakfast, played some, Tyler got frustrated more, ate lunch and hit the road for home. The boys once again did very well in the car. Carter got a little cranky toward the end, but for the most part it was an uneventful ride home. We were all very happy to be home. However I know the boys loved spending time with Grandpa and Grandma and all their cousins. We will get to see some of them some more this weekend, so I think these two days off are a perfect break for Tyler.

Off we go...

Well we made it. The boys and I left Friday afternoon at 2:00 to pick up Justin and be on the road to Montrose. Because of snow, accidents, and a really slow semi that didn't know to turn off on a mountain road when there are a line of cars behind you, we arrived in Montrose at 12:00 am Saturday. What is usually a 4 1/2 hour drive took us 10 hours. The boys did amazing well!

When we got out of the car the boys were everywhere - running all over Grandma and Grandpa's house. They were so excited to see the Christmas tree and all the other decorations. Tyler's favorite was the choo-choo train of course. I was a little worried about them going back to sleep, but they went down just as easily as usually and even slept in a little on Saturday.

On Saturday Tyler and Carter had a lot of fun just playing. Tyler found a new love - Mack the semi truck from the movie cars. He played for 3 hours straight, just putting cars into Mack and taking them out. Carter found a new favorite spot. A little table for the kids to eat on - Carter thought is would be the perfect place to sit or stand.

Sunday morning we drove to Gunnison to see our nephew in the Christmas program at their church. He did a great job and it was very fun to watch. The boys, as usual, did great in the nursery. We then went over to Justin's brothers house were all the boys played together. Tyler immediately found a toy Mater and was in heaven. He started having an occasional tantrum here or there, but for the most part all the boys played great together and we were having a great time.

Merry Christmas!

We will be packing up and heading for Montrose tomorrow night to be with Justin's family. I am sure I will have many stories to share as the boys will be playing with many of their cousins. I am not sure if I will have a chance to jump on and update or not, so if not I wanted to wish everyone a wonderful Christmas. I hope you all enjoy the time you get together remembering what this season is really about. God Bless!

Brotherly Love

Its official, my boys have their first best friends - each other. This morning I went into their bedroom and they were giggling back and forth at each other. Carter ran to the other side of his crib, and Tyler did the same. Tyler started jumping so Carter tried to start jumping. Tyler started spinning so Carter had to join in. They did this together each in their own cribs across the room from each other. It was so fun to watch.

Tyler is always making sure Carter has whatever he has. He is always saying "Carter too?" Yesterday Carter was having a tantrum and didn't want his water. Tyler comes up to me and says "milk" and goes to the fridge. I am assuming he wants his milk to drink, but because it was so close to dinner I reminded him that he can have his water until dinner. Well he decided to open the fridge and grab his milk cup only to hand it to his brother. After that wonderful display of love I couldn't take it away from Carter.

The boys adore each other. Carter has recently moved up to the toddler room in the nursery - the same room as Tyler. They don't play with each other the whole time, but they will run up to each other and give hugs throughout the day. At lunch Tyler will yell across the eating area "hi Carter" like he forgot he was there and so excited to see his brother.

They have their first best friends and I hope they will never have a different one.

*this picture is a little old, but the camera is already packed so it works.

Big Boy

Recently I have been receiving many comments on how Carter no longer looks like a baby, but more like a boy. Yes he still has a baby look to him, but its going away. I have talked before about how Carter is acting more like a toddler, but to me he is still my baby.

When Tyler was this age, he initiated doing many "chores" around the house. He would help us feed the dog, help me clean the kitchen, help with the laundry, throw trash away, etc. Because Tyler is here and does all these things, Carter really hasn't. However I am not sure if its because Tyler does these things for him, or if its because I don't think Carter is capable of doing them yet. I don't see Carter as a 14 month old. To me he is still maybe 9 months or so, learning to cruise around the furniture.

Justin and I have decided to see how "capable" Carter really is. He threw trash away for us the other day and he was so proud of himself, much like Tyler was the first time. Both of them helped me with the laundry today, and Carter now sits at the table with us with his own plate, instead of his tray. What a big boy.

We're Cooking

What a fun Sunday! Justin and I had talked for awhile about making some goodies for the firefighters, but when I read this blog I knew we had to do it. Tyler helped me bake Christmas cookies and then we also made some fudge. Tyler loved rolling out the dough, patting the flour, and pushing on the cookie cutters. I just know he will love his Christmas present this year (a play kitchen). When the cookies were done cooling both boys helped decorate them. I think Carter ate more of the sprinkles than anything and Tyler really only wanted to eat the cookies not decorate them, but they still had fun.

After a quick lunch we were off to the firehouse. We dropped off the goodies and they offered to take us around the station. When we first saw the truck Tyler was a little nervous, but warmed up fairly quickly. He eventually even sat in the big red truck! Carter just happily ran around the station.The firefighter giving us the tour was very nice and told us to come back anytime with the camera. She also told us what stations had the ladder trucks since most kids love those trucks the best. They gave the boys stickers and we were on our way. When Tyler woke up from his nap he wanted to go back to the fire truck!

Updates and other ramblings...

Just some updates on Tyler. He had speech on Tuesday morning. His therapist thinks that he can now go to once a month for "maintenance" work, instead of therapy every two weeks. She is pretty confident that he is now at age level. While I see everyday how much better Tyler is doing, it still somewhat worries me. If he is talking about something out of context, its hard for me to understand what he is saying. This is happening more and more lately as he will tell me things that happened earlier in the day. It usually takes me a good time to finally figure it out. Other times I never truly understand what he is saying.

The therapist also asked me if I wanted Tyler to see a child psychologist. This totally put me back. Tyler is already showing signs of being a perfectionist. He is very much a Type A personality. I have no idea where he gets this from. Anyway, say he is building Legos and they topple over. Tyler gets beside himself. The first few times he will be ok about it. He will scream NO, fuss a little and then build it up again. However if it keeps falling over he will get beside himself. Have a total meltdown, where there really isn't much I an do to help him. I try to intervene before this happens and ask him if I can help. But this doesn't always work. Because of these meltdowns, the therapist wants a psychologist to work with Tyler on how to deal with these things. I thought this was normal two year old behavior? She says this behavior should be getting better and with Tyler it seems to be about the same, if not getting worse.

I have decided that I am not going to worry about it. If I get a call for him to see a child psychologist one day then we will go to the appointment. However I will not go and seek one out myself. I guess we will see how worried the therapist is about Tyler. If she really think its that big of a deal she will call our service coordinator to set it up for us. Gotta love the wait and see game.

Tyler also bit in the nursery yesterday! I couldn't believe it since he had been doing so well. The director, as usual, was very nice about it. I isolated Tyler for a little bit, made sure I sat at his table for lunch so it wouldn't happen again, and then he was allowed to play again. I am not quite sure why he bit the kid either. It was during circle time that I was leading. The kids were suppose to be singing songs with me. This doesn't interest Tyler so he was climbing on a foam structure we have with another child. I am not sure if there was pushing involved or what, but he bit him on the back. Luckily the kid's mom was very nice about it. Her response was "good, now he knows what it feels like when he bites his brother". Man I love it when other moms understand! I just hope this doesn't become a daily thing again.

Justin decided to put all the ornaments up. So the bottom two feet of our tree has zero ornaments. However this has still not worked. Carter now just reaches up and takes off the ornaments he can reach. Do we make it so half the tree has ornaments and the other half doesn't?

Here fishy fishy

Yesterday after naps the boys and I got into the car and drove up to Denver to pick up Justin. Justin was having a staff Christmas party so a few coworkers came out to say hi to the boys. Of course Tyler got all shy and would hardly look at them. As soon as the car door was shut he once again started talking up a storm. We went out to dinner with some friends, and for the most part the boys behaved pretty well. After dinner we headed off for the aquarium!

The boys loved the aquarium. Carter was giggling with delight as we went thru it. Tyler was very nervous at first, as he usually is in new places. He didn't even want to get out of his stroller at first. Eventually he also warmed up tho and loved looking at each tank. At the very end, we got to touch and feed some sting rays. Tyler put his hand in the water, but wouldn't touch them. I was feeding one of them and the sting ray pretty much jumped out of the water. Tyler screamed immediately. It was quite humorous. Everyone around us burst into laughter I think its because they all wanted to scream too. The boys had a great time and behaved so well! I was quite impressed as we didn't get to the aquarium til 7 and left at 9 - way past bedtime. I can't decide which pictures I like best, so my apologies in advance.

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Oh Christmas tree

We decorated the Christmas tree on Sunday. Tyler really did not want to hang any ornaments on the tree, but he did bring the ornaments to us. He was so excited when we turned off the lights and turned on the Christmas tree lights. Every time he sees it now (which is a few dozen times a day as its in the front living room) he has to say "issmas tee". I tried to get a picture of both of them in front of the tree, but like usual it didn't work out.I would think by now the boys would be used to the tree. But no. Carter will not stay away from it. He has already broken two ornaments and I have taken at least 15 other ornaments from his hands. Justin says we should just move all the ornaments up, but I am thinking that it will wear off soon - the wanting to touch the tree that is. We didn't have this problem with Tyler so I am at a loss of what to do. Any ideas?

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow

It finally snowed enough for the boys to play in the snow. We got them all bundled up in their snow gear and took them out. I was hoping we would be able to make a snowman, as Tyler loves snowmen, but the snow was too dry. I guess we will have to wait for a spring snow for that.

Carter was unsure of the snow. Part of the time he liked it and other times he was crying his head off. Tyler on the other hand loves playing in it. He ran around and fell down in the snow, threw the snow in the air, and I helped him make a snow angel. He also rode his bike and his car in the snow and Carter went down his slide.

I love seeing this time of year thru Tyler's eyes. He is in awe of everything. A couple of weeks ago we drove around looking at Christmas lights. Now every time we are in the car Tyler wants to see more lights. We also went and picked out a Christmas tree today. Tyler didn't even want to get in the car, because he wanted to stay with our tree. Justin is bringing the tree in right now so that the boys can help us decorate it when they wake up from their naps.

On a potty training note. Tyler was getting stressed by it and not even wanting to sit on his potty seat. So he is back in diapers. I will continue to bring him to the potty and have the nursery as well, but I think I will hold off on really training him for a few more months.

Potty Training

I have been debating for about a month now if I should start potty training Tyler or not. I am not working much this month, so it would be a good time to do it as I can stay home and work on it with him. Well we went to Walmart today and got him some big boy pants. He is so proud of them! I put them on him and took him to the potty every 15 minutes or so. So far he has yet to go in the potty, but he hasn't had an accident either. Before his nap I put his diaper back on and he wasn't happy about that. I assured him that we would put his underwear back on as soon as he woke up. I will keep you posted.

Love you too

I think Justin and my hearts just melted. First a little background. Tyler has a speech delay, we all know this. Becuase of this he didn't say mommy until close to 20 months old. He actually had about 20 words before he said mommy, including Carter. When he first said mommy I immediately teared up. It was the most precious thing I have ever heard...until tonight (and just as a fyi - Carters first word was mama, so at least I had one that said it before doggy). Tyler is also a little parrot so if I ask him to tell me he loves me, he always does, but I always have to prompt him first.

Tonight I had to work so it was Justin's job to put the boys to bed. When I got home I hear Tyler saying "mommy home". I go up to his room to find him wide awake with his pants off (his new favorite thing to do). I put his pants back on, give him hugs and tell him good night. About 5 minutes later he is crying and I tell Justin to go get him, as usually that is who he wants when he wakes up crying.

Next thing I know Tyler is walking down the stairs and Justin says he wanted me. Well after singing a few songs and Hana licking his feet making him giggle with delight I finally understand that he wants me to sing the prayer song. So we sing the song and say our prayers and he is on his way upstairs off to bed. I guess Justin forgot to say them tonight and Tyler can be very particular about his routines. Justin lays him down and rubs his back and says "love you Tyler". Tyler responds "love you too". Melt Melt Melt. Hopefully I will hear this soon too.

*Justin came and told me all this with tears in his eyes, making it even that more precious. My boys sure do have a wonderful father.

ABC's, 123's, trees, and please

So because of Tyler's speech delay he is also behind in things like counting, singing ABC's, etc. Well lately he is, in Justin's words "doing so well".

He will now try to sing the ABC's with me! I will start singing and stop and he will add in the letter. He usually gets S, Z, P and C. Also we have the Leap Frog Letters . I highly recommend them. He will grab a letter and tell me what it is. He knows T and O with 100% accuracy. About 50-75% of the time he gets C, D, S, Z, and G. Yesterday he also came up to me holding the B and said "B ba". Oh the teacher in me gets so excited to see this!!

Its the same with counting. Counting used to be "two, two, two". Now he can count to 3, sometimes 4 with no help. As I count on he can add in 6, 8 and 10. I guess him learning how to be patient is paying off (when we tell him he has to be patient we make him clasp his hands and count).

Tyler is also not the best veggie eater. At best he will eat green beans once in a while and corn sometimes. This kid doesn't even like sweet potato fries! Anyway the last few time I have made them he has gobbled up his "trees" or broccoli. Maybe we are turning a corner?

Justin and I are trying to make our boys grow up learning that there are other people in the world besides them. They need to be respectful and loving of others at all times. This goes along with teaching them manners. We have been working on please and thank you with Tyler for who knows how long. Please was actually one of the very first signs he learned. Well, he is now saying it without prompting. During lunch he heard a trash truck go by. He looks at me and says" see tash tuck peas". He wanted to go see the trash truck. Usually when he is eating I don't let him get down until he is done. But because he asked so nicely I let him go see it. He came back after waving bye to the truck and finished up his trees. A mother couldn't be prouder!

Here comes Santa Claus

We brought the boys to see Santa today. I really had no idea to what to expect. While neither of them freaked out, they weren't happy either. Tyler sat on Santa's lap afraid to even move. I don't think he was scared, more anxious of why he was sitting on this big couch thing with this big guy with white stuff on his face who had him arm around him. Carter kept looking at Santa like he wanted to pull on his bread at any moment. Justin and I were hoping that he really would as it would make a great picture, but alas he did not. I don't have the picture the mall took on my computer, but this is the one I took with my own camera. Unfortunately you really can't see their expressions.