Tyson sometimes mentions that we remember so much more about Tyler's early years than Tyrien's. It makes sense, our attention was divided, and Tyrien barely slept the first two years of his life, so we were exhausted! So when I think of things, I need to remember to write them down.
Some of the cute things Tyrien did when he was little...instead of crawling, he loved to bunny hop all over our house. I wish I had recorded it! I remember him in his little pajamas with the footies, his long hair, bunny hopping from one room to the next.
He didn't sleep much at night, so sometimes he would fall asleep at his preschool, or even standing up at our couch at home.
He was so eager to get to eat grownup food. When he was nursing, if one of us was eating at the same time, he'd pull his head away from me, lift his chin, look down his nose, and tilt his head, as if to say, "What do you have over there? I would like to try some, please!"
Tyrien always looked up to his brother so much, from his newborn days. I'd set him down in his carrier at the front desk of Tyler's preschool, and go get Tyler. Tyler would race ahead of me to greet Tyrien, and I would always see Tyrien looking up at his brother, beaming.
Tyrien loved Vader immensely, too. He would sit next to Vader on his dog bed and cuddle him for 45 minutes straight. When he cried, Vader would nuzzle him and do his best to console him.
For the longest time after Vader died, I remember the intensity with which he would say, over and over, "Vader all gone, no more. Kiss. Hug." Over and over, with such a sense of urgency. "Are you sad Vader died?" "It's sad. It's sad."
Pronunciation of words - to this day, he still says, "NUFFTHING!" As in, "What do you want for dinner?" "NUFFTHING!" For the longest time, he referred to Tyler as "Bruh-tha!" I remember bringing him to see Tyler in a musical at his school. We were near the back of the room. Tyrien stood on my lap and shouted, "Bruh-tha! Bru-tha!" over and over for the duration of the song.
He has always wanted his own space. When he lived inside me, he often stretched out and hated to be crowded. When he was having his diaper changed, if Tyler tried to crowd him, he would smack him in the face.
I remember the ladies at his first childcare center telling me, "He hasn't eaten yet. He's waiting patiently for you." They said he would look towards the door when waiting for me. After a couple weeks, they began to worry that he wasn't drinking milk all day, so we gave them a syringe since he wouldn't take a bottle. The syringe turned into a battle of wills, and he won. The doctor told me to reassure them, some babies go all night without feeding, and we call that a success. He could go all day without eating, it just meant he'd eat more at night. I felt relieved, the ladies relaxed, and suddenly he was willing to take a bottle.
Tyrien was plagued with a horrific diaper rash. When we were in the hospital for bronchiolitis, the wound care team consulted. Their medicine didn't work either. A dermatologist finally diagnosed it as not just yeast, but eczema AND yeast at the same time. Any time he got bronchiolitis, the rash came back. I hypothesized that breathing fast just dried him out. I started to look for that rash as a sign that we needed to push fluids and saline and suctioning.
Young Tyrien had quite the temper. When he was an infant, when he became angry, his unibrow would turn red. When he was a toddler, he enjoyed defiantly knocking over a kitchen stool whenever he was angry.
He was diligent when he decided to learn something new. Evening seemed to be his favorite time to practice, whether it was standing, walking, hopping, he would practice again and again relentlessly from after dinner until it was time to get ready for bed.
He was always a bit of a daredevil, especially liking to stand on the arm of the couch to look out the window, then falling backwards onto the couch. He enjoyed doing "butt-drops" in the pool and in the bathtub, which turned into a long-running argument between him and me, because he would splash water all over the bathroom, and me. In the pool, he enjoyed floating face-down in the water to practice holding his breath as long as he could, a horrifying game for lifeguards, parents, and grandparents. He had no fear of the water and was known for climbing out of one end, quickly crossing the peninsula before we could stop him, and jumping into the other end of the pool, where we would have to quickly rescue him. He loved his swimming lessons, and every time we drive by Campus Rec, he mentions them. It seems so strange to have missed swimming lessons for an entire year!
Once he learned how to run, he was like Forrest Gump - "everywhere he goes, he is RUNNING!" During the pandemic, without the outlet of Lil Dragons or other sports, I purchased online kindergarten parkour classes. I was horrified to realize that it was teaching him and encouraging him to jump on and over our couch. But he did need exercise, and it was far too hot to play outside. He adored the first one, and did it every day. He refused to do any of the other sessions. To be fair, they changed instructors, and the other instructor was boring. During online schooling, he resumed that online kinder parkour for afternoon recess time.
It was so strange to hear a 5 year old saying the phrase, "Because of the pandemic." He didn't start saying it until kindergarten. Now he is 6 and his pronunciation is less startling. He has been such a good sport about the pandemic. Surprisingly, considering how social he is, he requested to be able to stay home instead of going in to school. I think I mentioned his rant in a previous post. If not, I'll add it later. It was the first I'd ever heard him lay out his complaints so eloquently, logically, and passionately.
He continues to speak about how we met Kylo, referring to the animal shelter as "the dog house." He used to introduce anyone that came to our house, bringing them to meet him, saying, "This is Kylo!"
Somehow he has picked up a habit, when he is excited, of pausing mid-sentence and then finishing the sentence in a high pitched voice - "Today is...Friday!" "Then it will be...Christmas!" "Tomorrow is my...birthday!" He often does this while leaning in to touch foreheads, looking directly into our eyes, wide-eyed and excited.
When he is tired, he strokes my hair. When he is cuddly, we assume he is getting sick. If he doesn't get sick, then we assume he must be growing. That's how much of a non-cuddler he is! He is a hugger, but it's a good squeeze hug and then he's off and running to his next adventure.
He loves having "sleepovers" with Tyler on the top bunk of the bed. Tyler seems to enjoy it too, and often brings a flashlight to read to him for a few minutes. We save this for the weekends. On school nights, I read to Tyrien on the floor of their bedroom, while Tyson reads to Tyler on the bed in our room. Kylo migrates between the two rooms, seeking attention.
Those are just a few memories that come to mind now. I'm sure more will come later...
