The Magic of Words

When Tyler was born he was tongue-tied. I was told in the hospital that he may have trouble breastfeeding and may have trouble when he begins speaking. This has always been a little concern in the back of my mind but hoped that he would grow out of it and not have any issues. Well, I think we are in the clear. He is just picking up sooo many words and using them appropriately. Today, while we were on a walk, he pointed to a bird and said "brr, brr". He is using Ma and Da very often now. It is soo endearing to hear and we've both waited a long time to hear it from him.


In the last few days here are some of his new words:

cat
towel
Emma (mma)
cheese (ees)
balls - grapes, raisins and Trix

He will repeat, or try to repeat, every word I ask him to. Sometimes I don't really understand them all, but I can hear him trying. He is really into words that start with m and b.

In addition, he really just understands everything we say. A few nights ago Collin mentioned that it was time to go for a w-a-l-k, meaning go for a walk with Mongo. Not wanting to say much more so we wouldn't excited them both, Tyler heard us, ran to the leash and brought it to us. The smart kiddo he is totally knew what time it was and what it meant to "go for a w-a-l-k."

What an exciting time in his life! It's so much fun to watch and so amazing to actually understand what it is he is trying to tell me.

Balls, Balls, Balls

Tyler really loves all things ball-shaped. He really enjoys blueberries and red seedless grapes. The grapes don't surprise me since I probably went through a five pound tub of them every week I was pregnant. We've been working on more words every day. For the past two days he has been walking to the fridge and saying balls. I finally figured out what he wants - grapes. So now, in our house, grapes are no longer grapes, they are balls. Tyler likes to eat his balls. That sounds horrible! I guess that's what happens when you have a ball crazy boy!

He really is growing fast

Last night Collin posted his first blog and he mentioned just how much Tyler has grown. Since I am with him all day, every day I don't see it as much I think. Last night about midnight he woke up really upset and sweaty. It has been REALLY hot here (yesterday was 112) so the house just never really cooled off. After cuddling for a few minutes I decided to bring him into our room since it was cooler than his. He cuddled right up to Daddy and slept peacefully the rest of the night (a real first for him as he is not used to sleeping in our bed and it usually ends in crying for both of us when I do try to bring him in). As I was walking down to our room I noticed how heavy he felt and how big he felt in my arms. I never remember him feeling this heavy, this long, this big before. As Collin said, our little boy is growing up. How can it be??? Why is it so fast? I hope that all my blogging is helping us remember each stage of this precious time we have with him. He is such a joy to us and we feel so blessed.

Camp Manuka

From the time I was 7 years old I attended camp at Camp Manuka up in Nevada City. It was always one week long and happened during the week of my birthday. It was a highlight of my summer every year. I just loved it! I couldn't wait for camp each summer. Emily and Katie each went one year but it wasn't for them. I was fortunate enough to not only go as a camper, but as a L.I.T. (Leader in Training) and a camp counselor before the camp closed in 1994. This past spring I got a letter that they were holding a camp reunion/centennial celebration of Camp Fire Boys and Girls up at the old camp site. I was beyond thrilled. I could just picture myself sleeping on the camp platforms, singing camp songs and swimming in the lake.

I asked Collin to go with me as I wanted to share the magical camp site with him. He agreed so we headed up to Nevada City (north of my parents in Roseville) early Friday morning. We arrived at my parents in time for lunch before heading up. When we pulled up to the camp memories came flooding back. We checked in and were told we were staying at a different camp site (first bummer of the day). The new camp site was next door and similar just not the exact same. We got settled and then went down to the main lodge.Walking up to the lodge one of my dearest friends came running down to greet me with one of the best hugs ever! Hoot (Lydia, the camp director and my Camp Fire leader for years) was the first person I saw when I arrived. What a great greeting!!!

The Lodge

Hoot - she hasn't changed a bit!

I soon discovered that camp did not change. Everything else was pretty much the same. I was thrilled by this fact. After 16 years of course things will change. How nice to find that they hadn't though. Here are some pictures of my favorite places at camp.

Lake Vera from the dock.

The dock from the water

Canoes

Elephant Rock - they wouldn't let us swim there - big, big bummer!

The platform - we used to be able to pull ourselves up. Not so much anymore! Ha ha!

Turtle Rock - it used to be under water more in past years. We did get to swim out here though! It was a great swim. Just like I remember it being...I love swimming in this lake!

The camp fire ring. Ducky and I built quite a fire here our last year! 

The back side of the lodge!

The dining room is exactly the same! I remember sitting at these tables and singing songs at the end of meals.

The bell - it rang to wake us up, to announce meals, everything. It was as much a part of camp life as the people.

One of the sleeping platforms. I LOVED sleeping out on the platform looking up into the night sky. It is amazing to sleep under the stars. I'm thrilled I got to share this experience with Collin and Tyler (who slept in my sleeping bag with me).

There was no meal service for Friday night so we picked up some sandwiches at the grocery store before heading into camp and ate them lakeside after we got settled. It was so peaceful. My friend Carrie (aka Pandi) joined us with her daughter Hannah. It was great to catch up. Later that evening we had some get-to-know you games scheduled followed by a camp fire. Tyler was very good - he lasted about 45 minutes into the camp fire before he was ready for bed.

We headed back before the s'mores to our platform. No one else was staying with us that night which was kind of nice. We got Tyler out of his clothes and before we could put his pjs on he took off running. When I caught him he started screaming. I tried quieting him down as I wrestled to get him dressed thinking he might be chilly. When he wouldn't calm down we decided to go get the car. We were probably going to need to sleep there tonight so we didn't keep everyone awake. While Collin went to get the car I figured out that he had a sliver in his foot. Of course - 30 seconds running on the wood platform results in a splinter. Collin quickly got back with the car and about 20 minutes later the sliver was out and he was fast asleep in my arms. We were able to transfer him to the port-a-crib where he slept soundly for about 2 hours. When he woke up I brought him into my sleeping bag with me for the rest of the night.

On Saturday morning, Tyler woke up very congested and just not himself although he did sleep from about 10-6. We took showers, had breakfast and then wandered around the camp, playing on the meadow, meeting up with old friends, and enjoying the outdoors. It was great to see my old camp counselor (Sunny D), my former camp leaders (Hoot and Muffins) and my friends Ducky and Pandi. We spent some time looking through pictures and telling stories. It was a great, great trip down memory lane.

The Gang - Muffins, Hoot, Ducky, Squiggles, Pandi and Sunny D

 Meanwhile, Tyler enjoyed playing with Anya, Ducky's almost 3 year old daughter. The two of them were very cute playing ball, sharing food and following each other around the meadow and the camp fire ring.

What kind of trouble can we get into now??

Muffins and Hoot

In the afternoon, Collin took Tyler for a drive so he could nap. I enjoyed some peaceful time walking around, taking pictures and just hanging out. When they woke up I took Tyler into the lake. It was a little chilly, but we had some fun. Then I got to go for a lake swim out to Turtle Rock with Sunny D. It was great to be swimming through that seaweed and reaching that rock. I may be out of shape but I could still swim heads up with the best of them. =)

We dressed for dinner and then decided it was time to get Tyler home to a real house. By this point he was running a fever and just not feeling well. I wish we could have stayed for the Grand Camp Fire and the s'mores - I was at camp and never had s'mores! - but getting him better was more important. He helped me with our flag ceremony as we took the flag down and then we hit the road.

We did it wrong, but we were really out of practice.

It was about an hours drive to Roseville and my parents. They were out for the evening. We put Tyler to bed and then we fell asleep shortly there after. All in all, the weekend wasn't everything I was hoping it would be but it was fun to see everyone, to allow Collin to see where some of my most favorite memories are from my childhood and to reconnect. We are working hard to plan a reunion of just people from our camp in 2012. I'm on the search committee - looking for old campers. It'll be a little tricky since I really only know camp names but I'm hoping luck is on our side and we can pull this off. I'd love to take Tyler and Collin back up there when Tyler isn't sick and can sing our old silly camp songs!

Daddy's Turn

Ok, so my lovely wife is definitely the blogger of the family, but Dads have to get in now and again too. Mommys can't have all the fun.

It is amazing to me how fast Tyler is acquiring language. It is amazing to watch, but a little scary too; my little boy is already growing up too quickly. It makes me realize that I truly do need to appreciate every day with my family because it goes by all too fast. I am enjoying each and every stage with Tyler, I just wish I had more time to enjoy each stage. I love my son and I am so proud of him already, I can't wait to see what he does and what he becomes.

Another Day at Noah's Ark

Last Thursday we spent another day at the Noah's Ark exhibit at the Skirball Center. This time we went with six other moms and kids. We had so much fun. I took more pictures of the exhibit as well as pictures of the kiddos. Here are some of the highlights!

Ready for the museum - loving my new stroller!

]The flamingos - do you see the neck is made of spools of thread while the wings are part of a bow. The box is a pink purse. The feathers on the wings are black combs.

An alligator made of a violin case and an old tire. 

The elephant and the zebras. The elephants trunk is made of bamboo steamers. The ear is a car mat.

The zebras - their bodies make the best noises when they spin!

Tyler is looking up into the elephant's belly.

Look at those alligator teeth! Yikes!

The host greeted Tyler with a koala puppet! He loved getting the koala kisses!

More kisses!

Charlotte and Tyler riding the camel

The eagles were watching over us!

Spider monkeys climbing the ark!

A porcupine made of noodles! Too cute!!!

More animals watching over the ark and the kiddos!

Tyler and Hudson cleaning the floor of the ark.

Tyler and Keaton posing on the walruses again!

Tyler and Charlotte playing with the food. Charlotte's mom watching on.

We are training him well! Mop, mop, mop!!!

Maybe we can bring more of our families and friends with us the next time we go!

Woof, Woof

We've been working on animal sounds for quite a while now but Tyler doesn't seem very interested. One day a few weeks ago I thought we got "moo" down but it hasn't happened since. This morning, Tyler pulled out his Baby's First Sounds book and opened to the picture of the dog and said "woof, woof." It caught my attention and I asked him what sound a dog makes? He said again, "woof, woof." All morning long he has been saying it as we point to a variety of different pictures and Mongo - "woof, woof, woof." We have our first animal sound and how appropriate it that it is the sound of a dog!

Allergies, Allergies

Since introducing Tyler to milk and other solid foods we have noticed that his tummy doesn't always like what we feed him. We have slowly been eliminating different foods and still couldn't quite figure out what was going on. Two weeks ago I took him to have a full food allergy panel and a celiac disease screening. Today we got the results. The good news is he doesn't have celiac disease. The bad news is he does have an allergy to wheat and oats. Luckily it is not a severe allergy and hopefully he will grow out of it soon. In the meantime I'm madly doing research about wheat free and oat free foods/diets. I'm going to have to be that mean mom that takes away the cookies, garlic bread and little donuts he loves so much. Yikes!!! I'd better find some alternatives quickly.

Double Stroller Update

So I finally chose and purchased a double stroller. In the end I went with a new stroller by Baby Jogger called the City Select. It can be used (and is originally sold) as a single stroller but you can purchase a second seat and turn it into a double. It was way out of my original budget but once I found it (thanks to my friend Kim for telling me about it - Collin thanks you too! ) I couldn't get anything else. The second seat arrived last week so I put it together and on Wednesday I took both boys to Topanga mall to try it out. It was AWESOME!!! It was soo awesome both boys fell asleep while I shopped with friends. How great it that?!?

I'm so happy with it. Tyler doesn't fight getting into the stroller and doesn't mind being in it either. I think we definitely made the right decision! Here are the boys relaxing in their new ride!

One of the positions - facing each other

There are a total of 16 different positions for using it as a double if you use the car seat or second seat. It's just a great stroller with so many options. They really enjoyed looking at each other but also didn't mind when they both faced out. We can now have so many more adventures with this new ride for the boys!

This next picture was taken later that same day when the boys were riding in the car. Their new thing is to hold hands as we drive. I was able to stick my camera over them and get a cute picture. What great friends!

Visiting Noah's Ark

Entering the Ark!
Last week I took Tyler and Keaton to visit the Noah's Ark exhibit at the Skirball Cultural Center. This exhibit is 6,000 sq. feet and completely interactive. The animals inside the exhibit were all sculptures made of everyday items. They had two pink flamingos made of purses, fly swatters, and combs. It was all so fun. There was so much to see and do. I can only imagine how much fun Tyler will have as we continue to visit this exhibit in the months and years to come. Next time maybe we'll be able to visit other parts of the center. Here are some photos of the exhibit itself.

Keaton checking out the zebras. Their bellies spun and made fun sounds.
The feet of the elephant were drums. You can see Miranda, one of the other little girls who went with us, banging on the drums.
Keaton was checking out the animals in the ark.
Tyler helping build the ark.
Working together.
The animals came two by two.
Keaton, Tyler and Miranda going for more.
Checking out the outside!
Keaton and Tyler posing with the walruses.
"Enough pictures, it's time to play!"
Heading to the play kitchen.
Keaton making himself at home.
Riding the camel.
Keaton making the coyotes howl.

The day is over. I didn't have my double stroller yet so originally I had one in the Ergo and then I decided to try them both in the stroller. They were absolutely adorable sitting together in the stroller. There was no fighting, grabbing, pinching, or anything. It was awesome! They were also both exhausted and passed out on the way home in the car.

It was a great day at the exhibit. Thursdays are always free there and I'm so thankful I was able to get tickets so we could go. We are scheduled to go back this Thursday with a handful of other moms and kids. It will be fun to see how the boys react to seeing it again. I'll try to take more pictures of all of the cool sculptural animals and post them later this week.