The Thing About Grandpas...

I never met either of my grandfathers. Tyson never met his dad's dad, and was pretty young when his mom's dad died. So it has been especially touching to me to watch Tyler and Grandpa Keith together.

This last visit, Grandpa Keith arrived, and before he could even sit down, Tyler was approaching him, describing his Hot Wheels car collection. Grandpa Keith sat down in the rocking chair, and Tyler climbed into his lap, chattering away.

This didn't come overnight. That Grandpa Keith, he's strategic. For many months, each time he's come to visit, he's had a Hot Wheels car in his shirt pocket. When Tyler would decline to say hello or otherwise acknowledge Grandpa's presence, Grandpa would pull the toy car out of his pocket, and begin quietly play with it on the coffee table. Tyler would soon notice and approach Grandpa, wanting to see the car. Somehow, by the end of the visit, Grandpa would leave minus one car, while Tyler would have an addition to his collection.

It wasn't until this particular visit that I realized the full impact of this strategy. Grandpa and Tyler now have a common interest, something to talk about at every visit. Tyler is now interested in cars from the 60's and 70's, gets excited to see them on the road or in photos, and looks forward to seeing his Grandpa. I hope this bond continues and that Tyler and Terry have a wonderful relationship in the years ahead.

Farewell to Casita Feliz Daycare

Casita Feliz Works Wonders!

Before

After

Before Tyler came to Casita Feliz, he was unable to speak, walk, toilet himself…he wasn’t even capable of drinking milk out of a baby bottle.

Now, thanks to Casita Feliz, Tyler is able to walk, run, jump, speak in complete sentences, count to 12 or 20 (depending on the day), recognize 26 letters, wash dishes, bus tables, cook meals, and feed, clothe, and cleanse himself.

Thanks, Casita Feliz!

So many wonderful people helped him along the way.

Mrs. Maria, in a matter of hours, taught Tyler to drink milk from a baby bottle -something we’d been unable to do for months. She later coaxed him to take his first steps, dangling a spicy hot Cheetoh as a carrot.

Mrs. Liliana worked to fine tune Tyler’s walking skills, until he was able to walk so well that he was moved out of her nursery and into the toddler room. Devastated at the impact of her success, Mrs. Liliana still maintained a welcoming, comforting home for Tyler to return to when the Shark Tank was just too much, at times opening her door to discover Tyler asleep on the threshold – “He was trying to come home!”

Ms. Andrea taught Tyler the value of a warm, comfy lap and loving arms to help him face the start of each day in the toddler room.

Ms. Stephanie taught Tyler to recognize shapes and colors, to clean up after himself, and the joy of learning.

Ms. Monica taught Tyler to walk out of the building by himself, when he was absolutely convinced that, though he could walk all day, the only way out of the building was to be carried by a parental figure. (Ms. Monica also enabled Tyler’s parents, in that teaching moment, to remain steadfast in the face of a massive tantrum and ensuing standoff, so that Tyler learned that tantrums would not help him get his way.)

Miss Stephanie taught Tyler kindness and how to use communication skills to get through tough times.

Ms. Lupita taught Tyler to look forward to starting the day with a hug, a song, and a dance, usually to the tune of “We’re Going on a Bear Hunt.”

Mrs. Zelia taught Tyler to use the toilet – a noble and frustrating task. She also introduced him to iphone technology. Tyler is now capable of navigating the iphone to locate and use a variety of applications and play games, and to surf the web and find numerous videos of trains and some strange woman with manicured nails and a thumb ring endlessly opening Easter eggs with toys inside, describing the toys and showing them at every angle.

Ms. Andrea returned to teach Tyler confidence, the value of a schedule, and the satisfaction of success.

Ms. Pat taught Tyler the letters of the alphabet, to write his name, to count, and to love the letter, T – “like Tyler!”

Ms. Teresa taught Tyler to stand when he pees and to wipe his own a--!

Ms. Vanessa and Ms. Stacy taught Tyler the social nuances of making and keeping friends, to expand his vocabulary and musical repertoire, and to use logic and reasoning skills.

The rest of the staff helped Tyler in so many ways, we can’t even list them all, fostering a love of cooking and baking, a love of the outdoors, to jump, to sing so many delightful songs, etc, etc, etc.

Thank you all, for all that you have done, and the memories and love you have shared.

We will miss you!!!

San Diego Part IV

The next night we went to another brewpub. Tyson tried a flight, and I tried a porter.

 We were not impressed. We were so unimpressed that I don't even remember the name of it!

But we had the opportunity to check out Anne Marie's moves:

We spent our last full day in San Diego at Sea World. We'd taken Tyler there when he was one and a half years old, so it felt like it was his first time. He loves animals, and we were going to take him to the aquarium, but when he described the animals he wanted to see - sharks, dolphins, and whales, we realized we'd be better off at Sea World. 

We visited the freshwater aquarium, and spent a long time in the penguin exhibit. Tyler liked the sea lion/otter show (and we liked watching the sea lions disobey the trainers for the entire show, good for them!), he loved the show with the pilot whales, but of course, the orcas were his favorite.

After the show, we were able to get a closer look.

In the early evening, we decided to spend some time on the kiddie rides. Anne Marie and I had taken Tyler on his first roller coaster ride at the Pima County Fair, but Tyson was stuck working on a school project, and missed out. So he was especially excited to get to ride with Tyler this time. Tyler eagerly yet patiently waited for his turn to ride.

I think Tyson might have been even more excited than Tyler.

Grandma took Tyler on the eel ride, reinforcing the "arms up!" rule.

Tyler patiently waited all day for his opportunity to try cotton candy. Just look at the anticipation on his face!

Once he got it, though, he wasn't so sure that he liked it.

What an awesome day!

Saturday morning, we hit the beach one last time, then headed home.

What a wonderful vacation! Thanks Grandma Allaire!

San Diego Part III

Ah. Stone Brewery. We love this brewery, and have now celebrated Tyson's birthday there three years in a row. The food is fancier than what I'm used to, but delightful, they have great beer, and the scenery is amazing.

Checking out the koi pond...

Tyler tried out some fancy food, with a little motivation from Tyson.

A big birthday kiss!

We didn't get a chance to eat the ice cream cake on the day of Tyson's birthday - Tyler fell asleep! It was easy to extend the celebration into the next day.

We explored tide pools along the Ocean Beach Pier, finding crabs, anemones, small fish, and a couple of hermit crabs.

That evening, we checked out Coronado Brewing Company, located on Coronado Island.

I love the black and white version of their logo.

They grow their own hop vines up on the roof.

I loved the landscaping - not as cool as Stone, but impressive nonetheless.

This display makes it easy to love succulents.

Tyson and I each enjoyed a flight of beers - I loved that we were allowed to choose which beers we wanted to taste. (Tyson's beers were all hoppy, mine were all low on the hops/ IBU scale.) Mmm. That first beer on the left was especially yummy. Morena Mild.

Back at the cottage, Tyler helped Tyson "souffle" the candles on his cake.

Happy Birthday Tyson!!!

San Diego Part II

On Monday, we went to the Children's Museum. Some of you know how unhappy I am with the Tucson Children's Museum, having grown up going to the Children's Museum in DC. The San Diego Children's Museum is much more up my alley. So much to do! Shooting balls...

Making a clay sculpture...(an airplane!)

Playing on an indoor playground recycled from an old trash dumpster...

The museum had three floors.

Upstairs on the balcony, there are bubbles galore...

An oversized play house (The Rain House)...

And downstairs were more activities, all with a recycling theme.

Such focus!

Tyler was so helpful and fun on this trip.

Children and adults alike were fascinated by Tyson's construction skills.

Back on the ground level, Tyler was excited to paint.

This car gets painted a different color each day. I couldn't resist poking a hole as far as my finger could go to see all the layers of colors. Such a cool spongy feeling!

As Tyler cleaned up after painting, I noticed the similarity of his and Tyson's lower right legs...

On the way back from the museum, we stopped at Mission Brewery. We took a look around and loved it, but were unable to stay - we needed solid food instead of liquid calories, and despite our attempts to keep him awake, Tyler had fallen asleep.

Stay tuned for Part III!

San Diego 2013 Part I

This year for our annual vacation - a celebration of Tyson's birthday and the fact that he has a brief break between summer school and fall semester, we returned to San Diego, but this time stayed in a beach cottage instead of a hotel. I was excited to learn the beach cottage allows dogs, so we were able to take Vader on a once in a lifetime vacation.

We rented a van to fit three adults, a three year old, and a dog. We packed up the van, making a bed for Vader, and I coaxed him to climb up into the van. After multiple attempts, a running start, and finally making it into the van, I helped him settle in, feeling sorry for this poor geriatric dog. A few minutes later, I returned to the house to collect last minute items, while Anne Marie stayed with Tyler and Vader. I returned to the van, and she went back into the house. When she got back, Tyler suddenly asked, "Where's Vader?" Neither of us heard him leave, and had no idea how long he'd been gone. I sprinted down the block, and neighbors called out, "A dog ran that way!" One visibly pregnant woman actually apologized and said she tried to catch him but couldn't keep up. (Here I thought people would be annoyed by a loose dog, but instead they were compassionate. Go Northwest Tucson!) I caught sight of him, continued running for a while, then finally met up with him in the wash. He happily returned to me, and when we met up with Tyson in the van, Vader easily leaped into the van. The look of relief on Tyler's face was priceless.

Six hours later, we arrived at our destination - an adorable little cottage in Ocean Beach, CA.

The first night, we followed other people with dogs to a beach, thinking it was the famous dog beach. But there were lots of people at the beach without dogs, and people looked annoyed if Vader approached them. We felt very out of place, not knowing the etiquette, and it gradually dawned on us that we were at the wrong beach.

The cottage was a block away from Pizza Port Brewing Company. Great pizza, great beer, and only a block away? Heaven. We drank beer there while waiting for our pizza, then brought the pizza back to the cottage to enjoy a quiet meal together.

Sunday morning I took Vader for a run, and discovered the real dog beach, as evidenced by signs saying "Dog Beach" and lots of plastic bag dispensers that serve as a subtle hint to pick up after domesticated animals...

After Vader was good and tired from running, the rest of us went to a local breakfast joint, then spent the day alternating between walking around the town, along the beach, and hanging out in the yard of our cottage. We ended the day at the dog beach, building sand castles, trains, sea turtles, and whales.