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.

Grandma's Newest Trick

Last Monday I worked in Phoenix for a day and Grandma Judy was gracious enough to watch Tyler for me. They spent some time playing in the yard and Grandma taught him some new tricks. The first trick was how to carry water from the water table in one of his cups to different places in the yard. He now loves to water the plants, his truck, the ground - everything! Thanks Grandma for teaching him how to keep the yard all wet! Mongo better watch out, I think he may be next!

Doing Laundry

Tyler is at the helping stage. He enjoys cleaning things up and then taking them back out again. One of his newest tricks is to help with the laundry. Since the laundry room is downstairs now sometimes I just toss all of the dirty clothes over the banister and then pick them up and take them to the washer. Tyler now likes to bring me the clothes from the stairs to the washer and I can put them in the washer. It's so fun to watch him help. He just gets so excited and is sooo thorough! Here's a little video of him helping me with my darks!

I've Created a Monster

So a while back Tyler wouldn't eat. We were trying everything. We finally found something that worked - little chocolate donuts. He has now learned that they are kept in the refrigerator. So now his new thing is to walk to the fridge, bang on the door and say "doo, doo, doo" letting me know he wants a donut. So the good news is we have a new word. The bad news is we have a little chocolate donut monster!!! What a bad mother, huh!?!

17 months

Wow, where have the last 1 year, 5 months gone? Tyler is now 17 months old. That night we went to our first Level 4 Gymboree class. This class was much better for him because the other kids moved just as much as he did. The only bummer is that our Level 3 class was with his friends Keaton and Emma so it will be a little adjustment meeting new friends in this new class.

Here are a list of what he is doing at 17 months:

Favorite foods:
Tyson grilled chicken cubes
Black beans
Watermelon
Fruit cups
Chocolate donuts
Cinnamon cookies
Mini carrots
Grapes
Blueberries
Fusion juice
Milk

New words:
Mi- milk
Moe - Mongo
Mor - more
Ma - Mom
Da - Dad
Ba - book
Doe - donut
Bya - bye
Oh no - Oh no
Bla - block
Brr - bird

He still uses dog, ball, no, duck and ma all the time. Many of his words sound very similar but I can tell the difference. It's fun to watch and hear him say new things every day. He has also changed his babbling from tickle, tickle, tickle to more of a gurgle. I think it'll be any day now before we hear a great deal more words.

Other milestones:
Walks down stairs holding someones hand
Walks up stairs holding someones hand
Climbs onto the barstool
Uses a fork to pick up fruit and beans
Pulls out a colander to tell me he wants blueberries or grapes
Takes things out and puts them back away
Puts shapes in his shape sorters
Dunks the basketball (he's been doing this for a few months but I haven't shared it here yet)
Waters plants
Scoops sand into a bucket and can dump it out
Builds great things with his Mega Bloks
Rides his push toys by pushing backwards with his feet (he'll figure out how to go forward soon, I'm sure)
Finds objects in his book (points to ball, dog, cat, shoes and bear)
Signs bear
Rocks in his rocking chair
Pulling everything out of everywhere and leaving a mess all over our house! =)
Cuddling with blankets - he has two favorites - his Aden & Anais blankets and his fuzzy Swaddle Designs stroller blanket
Pulling toys around the house (his corn popper, his duck on a string, his phone on a string)
Zerberts - he loves to blow zerberts on anyone's skin - arms, tummies, legs, cheeks
Biting - he is definitely a biter but says "no" after since that is what we say. He now cuddles afterward since he knows it is wrong. Hopefully this little habit/milestone will go away soon
Putting coins in his play piggy bank
Walking on his tip toes
Leaning - he likes to lean as he is looking for something. It's sooo darn cute!

Body Parts He Can Point To:
belly button (lifts up his shirt - too cute)
feet
ears
eyes (sometimes his own, but usually just mine)
nose (again, sometimes his own, but usually just mine)
fingers (just learning to identify them - sometimes it works, other times it doesn't)


He is also really into reading books right now. Among his favorites at the current moment are:
Hop on Pop
Hands, Hands, Fingers, Thumbs
Brown Bear, Brown Bear
Baby Bear, Baby Bear
Goodnight, Gorilla
The Big Red Barn
Mr. Brown Can Moo, Can You?
My Little Miracle
Goodnight Moon
Guess How Much I Love You
I Love You
Snuggle Puppy
How Do I Love You?
The Foot Book

There are many other books he likes but these are the favorites right now. We could read them over, and over, and over, and over, and over again. Sometimes 10+ times in one sitting. I've become very good at memorizing and can "read" them anywhere which is sometimes a saving grace for a tired or sad little boo-boo!

Two weeks ago he also had an ear infection. This was his third ear infection. Poor little guy is such a trooper. It takes me a day or two to figure out what is wrong because even when he doesn't feel well he is still a happy little boy. After seeing the doctor we went to get a blood test to test for food allergies. Last week one of the results came back for celiac disease - an allergy to glutens - as unusual. We are awaiting news from a pediatric G.I. to determine the next steps. I'm hoping that he doesn't actually have this allergy but if he does we will figure it out. As long as he is healthy otherwise we are in good shape!

These last 17 months have been the most amazing! Tyler is such a joy to both Collin and me. He has brought us closer together as a couple and as a family. Every day there are new discoveries, new giggles and great times together. I'm so thankful for everything he has brought to us and feel so blessed to be a mom to such a wonderful baby boy!

San Diego

We headed to San Diego for the weekend as a family. We were going to see some friends and if there was time, head to Sea World with another friend. I picked Collin up early from work and we headed down south. It took us FOREVER to get there with all of the Friday afternoon traffic. When we finally arrived, we checked into the hotel. Tyler was so excited to just run around the room and play in the pillows. 

Playing in the pillows - trying to avoid his pjs.

Running to Daddy - save me from Mommy and pjs!!!

On Saturday we were able to meet up with our friends the Simcoxs and enjoyed some time at Sea World. 

Ready to go!

Daddy bought the Southern CA resident tickets which allows us to go back one more time before 2011. We'll have to plan another trip down there to see everything we didn't have time to see on this trip.

Daddy got us good tickets!

Mommy and Tyler at the Stingray tank.

The weather was perfect - not too hot or too cold. We were able to see a lot of shows but Tyler's favorites were the tide pool, the ducks, the stingrays, the Pet Show with lots of dogs and cats and the Shamu show. He loved those whales. 

Braving the FREEZING cold water to hold a starfish.

Trying to pet a stingray. Notice Daddy is NO where to be found. He has a BIG fear of stingrays.

Quack, quack, quack

Shamu showing off!

We love Shamu!

Watching so closely. You can tell he is concentrating because he is holding his ear.

Jumping whales!!!

He liked when they jumped!

The Simcox Family

I think someone is going to get wet - luckily it's not us!

More than anything though, Tyler loved the popcorn bucket. He's definitely our child since we both love popcorn. We filled the bucket twice throughout the day. He was thrilled to have this souvenir. The next day he carried it around the hotel room and took it to the beach. Nothing goes better with popcorn than sand.

Popcorn bucket - yum, yum, yum!

So on Sunday we headed back up north. We decided to stop at the beach in Capistrano with the kids. Emma hadn't been to the beach all summer so it was time.

Tyler was showing Daddy the dolphins he saw in the distance.

Sharing with Emma

Cute Simcox family photo

It was a great weekend that went too quickly. We had fun seeing friends and hanging out with the Simcox family. We cannot wait to go again!