Gymboree Music Class

Since I have Keaton with me during the week we now go to Gymboree at night. The good part of this is that Collin gets to join us! This particular day I was working in San Juan Capistrano so Grandpa Jerry came to watch Tyler. He decided to stay for music class and loved interacting with Tyler. Here are some pictures of the class!

Music with my friends Emma and Keaton!

Bells, bells, bells

After music class we still get to play on the Gymboree equipment. Tyler loved showing off!

Emma and Tyler

Some tunnel crawling!

 We love going to Gymboree every week. I'm so thankful that they have such great programs for the kids and that there is a time that still works for us. I hope that Tyler gets some musicality since neither one of his parents has any! 

Mommy's Little Helper

I may be bias but I believe that Tyler is a very intelligent little boy. He is so observant and picks things up without explanation or direct teaching. It just amazes me time and time again. One of the ways he loves to help is in the kitchen. I was baking and the oven timer went off. Tyler ran to the cabinet, grabbed oven mitts, put both of them on and then tried to help me with the oven. He is so cute!

LA County Fair

We are fair people. We love going to the fair, shopping and buying all of the "must have" useless products and trying the newest deep-fried food. This year our fall calendar was quickly filling up but we knew we needed to make it to the fair. We were able to go the last day it was open. 

The first thing we did was head to the giant slide. It had only been a week since we were in the Bahamas and Tyler hadn't gotten over his new love of slides. When we saw this slide we thought it would be perfect for him. Boy was it ever!

Look at that face! He loved it!!!

As soon as he finished sliding with one person he was running back for the stairs to go again. He went five times and would have probably never tired of it if we had not run out of tickets.

After the slide we went to Grandma Judy's favorite thing - the animals. Tyler enjoyed petting the animals and looking at all of them.

Daddy enjoyed feeding the goats too! Grandma Judy learned a very valuable lesson that day. You don't wear white shorts to the fair or to feed the animals!

After all of the sliding and animal feeding and then the shopping, Tyler was exhausted. He finally fell asleep in his stroller and that is how he finished his day at the fair!

Fight On!

We had our friends over to watch the USC vs. Washington game. Kim went to SC too so it is always fun to watch the game with fellow alumni. Here are some pictures of our two cutie pies all dressed for the occassion!

Cheerleader and Quarterback

Sharing the sand toys

Playing with the bubble machine

Soaking wet, so we're heading upstairs to watch the game

Kim is also the one who gave us the amazing bubble machine that blows a gazillion bubbles per minute. Tyler still loves his bubbles!

It was a pretty good game to watch even though SC lost in the last minute 32-31. I keep telling Collin we have to have years like this so we can enjoy the winning years even more. He doesn't agree at all!

A Beautiful Sunset

We met our friends for dinner one night at a local restaurant. As I was pulling Tyler out of the car, I noticed lots of people standing in the parking lot taking pictures. I turned to see a beautiful sun setting. I was able to grab my camera and take a few pictures myself. It was just spectacular!

Atlantis

Collin's parents have a timeshare at Atlantis in the Bahamas. It is always the third week in September. When I was teaching I wasn't able to take the time off to go and then when Tyler was just an infant, it didn't work either. We decided that this would possibly be the one and only year that I wouldn't be working and we could go. So, we packed up the suitcases and headed to Paradise Island!

We used our miles and booked flights from Los Angeles to Philadelphia and then on to Nassau. United ended up canceling our first leg of our flight and after a long phone battle, we finally found a flight. So on Saturday afternoon, Sept. 18, we headed to Philadelphia. The plane was EXTREMELY empty - maybe about 30 people or so on the flight. It was absolutely crazy how empty it was! We ended up having rows to ourselves. Tyler did not fall asleep on the way to the airport like we'd hoped so I thought maybe he'd sleep on the plane. Ha ha on Mommy - no sleeping for Tyler. The first three and a half hours were fine and then he just melted down. Luckily we had a lot of space to ourselves so that we didn't bother everyone on the plane. We got to Philly and checked into our hotel room at the Marriott at the airport. In the end, having a 12 hour layover over night ended up being the best thing for all of us. We got a good night's sleep and were ready for our flight the next morning.

First plane ride - before the meltdown

Our flight to Nassau was not crowded either so we had an extra seat between the two of us. Tyler slept for about half of the flight and was just a happy camper the other half. We were so fortunate.

Second plane ride - little sleeping angel

 We hopped into a taxi and made it to Atlantis. It was great to be there. The weather was perfect, warm but not too humid. That first day we met up with Collin's parents, toured Harborside (the timeshare area) and the entire Atlantis resort. We grabbed a little lunch and then headed to the pool!

Sleepy eyes at lunch, but still happy!

More slide!!!

The rest of the week we spent time at the different pools, playing in the water, floating down the river rapids, riding waterslides and just relaxing in the sun. Tyler LOVED the pools and more importantly, LOVED the waterslides! He was in heaven every single day!

And some random pictures from the week...

Hanging with Grandpa Jerry

Pool time with Daddy and Grandma

Running away with my ring

Collin, his parents, and Tyler

Our family

Daddy and Tyler

Tyler and Grandma Judy

Tyler on his throne

Who's driving that ice cream truck?

Playing the drums

It was a wonderful week. It was a little too short, but we all had a great time! I hope we get to go back some day!

Getting Cozy

Tyler got a gift card to Toy's R Us for his birthday. Since he is soo spoiled and already had so many toys we saved it until he was ready for something new. I decided he was ready for the Cozy Coupe. It is a cute little red and yellow car that we can either push him in or he can walk his little feet around to "drive" it himself. Collin put it together for him on Saturday. He found it when we had the babysitter come. I'm told that it was a hit all afternoon and evening.

This is how I roll!

Sooo excited about my new car!

Today he had so much fun putting his cup in the backseat, showing Keaton how to use it and then letting Mongo chase him into the corner. The only problem with this little Cozy Coupe is that Tyler only knows how to go backwards so he gets stuck often. It's hilarious as he jumps inside it with joy and giggles as Mongo tries to get him. I've tried to get it on video today but wasn't fast enough!

By the end of the day Keaton and Tyler decided it was no fun to be in the coupe alone - it is called the Cozy Coupe for a reason...they got cozy!

Make way for me and my milk Keaton!

Little too much milk!

I'm coming in again!

Nice and cozy  in the Coupe!

Happy 18 Months!

Today Tyler turns 18 months. 18 months! How is it possible that I have an 18 month old? That he has been a part of our lives for a year and a half? 539 days together! Sometimes it feels like it all just began yesterday and other times I cannot remember a time without him. We feel sooo blessed!

Dancing with his toys

Here are his newest stats from the doctor yesterday:
Height - 31.5 in -- 28th percentile
Weight - 22 lbs 14 ozs -- 13th percentile
Head - 19 in -- 63rd percentile

So big now I cannot get him in the entire frame in bed - I'm too short!

He is definitely growing and the doctor is very, very happy with his progress. In the last three months he has grown 1.5 inches, gained 2 lbs 5 ozs, and his head has grown half an inch. We are all so glad to see him gaining in all areas again.


Here are some of Tyler's newest things...

Blowing kisses
Walking backwards
Using a fork and spoon correctly (he's actually been doing this for a while but forgot to mark it down)
Throwing balls overhand
Reading books front to back
Putting toys away after taking them out (yeah!!!)
Helps with laundry
Puts his dirty clothes in the laundry hamper
Puts garbage in the garbage can
Dunks his face in the water
Kicks when under water
Holds his breath under water
Jumps into the pool from the side without holding someone's hand
Washes his belly and arms in the shower
Washes his hands in the sink
Puts on Mommy and Daddy's shoes and walks around
Flaps his arms when you ask "What does a birdie do?" and says fly, fly while doing it! 

He is obsessed with putting lids on anything that requires one
He loves throwing objects in the pool - his little pool and Grandma and Grandpa's pool (balls, clothes, toys, anything)
Dunking the basketball (again, something he has done for quite a while but forgot to mark it down)
Following directions
Pointing to things he wants
Cuddling in bed in the mornings with his milk and Mommy
Taking showers - still his most favorite thing ever!
Dancing and having others dance with him
Brushing his teeth and giggling while we brush them too
Puts his arms up in the air when you say "Touchdown"

He has also just discovered the television. It keeps his attention for a minute or two. He is learning about the characters on Sesame Street right now and loves Martha from Martha Speaks on PBS kids.

This month we also discovered he had an allergy to wheat and oats. It is something we hope he will grow out of, but in the meantime we need to limit his exposure to these things. Before we identified his wheat and oat allergy, he loved have mini donuts in the morning. He loved the chocolate and the powdered donuts.

One in!

I think I can fit another!

Say cheese!

I got my donuts! I'm ready to go!

Do you see that donut in his mouth. It almost fits in!

Tyler's speech has really taken off. He now tries to repeat many, many words we say. Here are the new words he is using independently. It's soo cool!
juice
yes
all done
moo
woof
dance
frog
thank you
shoes
fly
turtle (sometimes)
Keaton
bowl
baa (as in a sheep says baa)

He is understanding everything we say so we are quickly realizing that we have to be extra careful when we talk about things. We don't want him getting too excited about something!

Here is a video of him sharing some of his words with us! They don't have ending sounds yet, but will someday! 

We are also working on wearing our sunglasses. One day while waiting for a friend in the car, I put the glasses on him. He thought it was so funny to have them on. 

Mr. Cool

Just like Mom - holding my glasses in my mouth!

Soo much has happened this last month. It will be exciting to see all of the changes in the next month! We are traveling quite a bit so we will have lots of new adventures to share in his 19th month of life!

3 Generations

Collin's grandpa Elton had been in Michigan for most of the summer so we went to visit him a week ago. We went out do lunch and I forgot something in the car. Upon walking back to the door, this is what I saw.

Elton, Tyler and Collin

It is sooo awesome that Tyler has gotten a chance to spend time with Collin's grandparents. We are lucky his Grandpa is still here to watch Tyler grow.