Funny Little Dude

Tyler is one funny little guy these days. In December, he suddenly began referring to me as "Honey." In the car, at home, in the grocery store...Can you imagine walking through the grocery store, seeing a toddler trying to get his mother's attention, and upon failing to do so, shouting "Honey!" to get the mother to look at him? He made so many people laugh during that phase.

Tyler is speaking in full sentences more often now, even 4 word sentences like, "Did you see that?" or "I need help, Mama." It's so nice to know what he's wanting more often. He's identifying landmarks as well - every morning on the drive to daycare, as we pass a used-car lot, he shouts "Circle!" and points to the circular address sign. It seems like the family unit is important to him right now - if I say, "I love you Tyler," he smiles and responds, "Da Da!" And if Tyson says, "I love you Tyler," he responds, "Ma Ma!" If we repeat it, he answers, "Dee Da!" [Vader]. One in a while, he'll tell us he loves us back, but usually, he just calls out the other parent's name.

His diet is finally expanding as well. The only vegetables he'd been eating were veggie packs, but we discovered that if we call peas "balls", he'll eat them. That works on black beans, too.

We find "stomping" to be the most useful distraction technique lately. For example, if I say, "Time to change your diaper," if Tyler protests, then chanting "Stomp to the bedroom, stomp to the bedroom" and making a show of dramatically stomping will get him to join in, and the diaper change is no longer such a bad thing. From Christmas until February, getting Tyler to walk into the daycare room was a challenging, but when the stomping chant seems to have resolved it.

This winter has been fabulous for playing outside,and I've come to truly appreciate the path just outside our back gate - away from cars, with nice trees, shrubs, and cactus to look at, and it leads to an open space where some older kids have built up a mound of dirt to jump their bikes - perfect for our wagon, wheelbarrow, or lawn mower. I've relented and allowed Tyler to play in the cul-de-sac - he's great at shouting, "Car! Game off! Car gone! Game on!" though he doesn't yet initiate the appropriate action.

Walking backwards, saying "Beep, beep, beep" has been fun lately, and jumping continues to be delightful. "Circle Time" with stretches during motor development class is suddenly no longer torturous. Tyler now sits compliantly and even touches his nose to his toes during the "Butterfly" stretch. When Tyler sits in his driving simulator, he wants his seatbelt to be buckled. He loves closing doors.

He loves to feed Vader, and does not believe in portion control. While washing dishes or preparing dinner, I'll let him pour several cupfuls of dog food in Vader's bowl (sometimes even both bowls) for a couple of minutes, just to keep him occupied, then I'll say, "Last one. Time to put Vader's food away!" One day I actually turned from the sink to observe, and watched in surprise as Tyler snatched both bowls of food right out from Vader's nose! and poured it all back into the storage container, and returned it to the pantry. No wonder Vader's been so hungry lately!

Tyler's love of books continues. He refuses to greet Tyson in the morning without a book in hand, asks Tyson to read to him while Tyson is in the bathroom, demands to me, "Sit!" while gesturing to his bedroom floor, to read him books in his bedroom, and of course continues to ask us to read to him in the living room and kitchen. He surprised me last week by counting to 10 for Grandpa Keith, while stacking containers of playdough, and I've heard him reciting the vowels. He also likes to hear the alphabet and is beginning to practice the signs. He requests certain songs be sung to him by showing you the matching gestures (the spider, the wheels on the bus, a twinkling star) and stops you if you sing the wrong song.

No pictures today, but we'll get some new ones up soon!