Easter 2013

Tyler's birthday celebration carried over into Easter Sunday. He opened birthday gifts first thing in the morning, then we dyed eggs right before church. Tyler, Grandma Glass and I attended church while Tyson worked on Easter preparations. Tyler was um... "lively" at church today. During the children's message, instead of listening or participating, Tyler kept asking to souffle the candles and pointing out butterfly balloons that were "stuck", wanting to fix them. He also saw another kid's Thomas Train on the floor, but thankfully remained seated. During the sermon, when the pastor suggested we take a moment to "listen, and observe the sounds we hear when we take a moment to really listen", Tyler blurted "I love you!" The pastor worked this into his sermon, so it was quite touching, but when the pastor asked us to listen again, Tyler exlaimed "Don't blow your nose!" He spent the rest of the service asking "Where's my candle? Gonna souffle it?" Clearly, he associates church with the Christmas Eve Service. I told him  he could have a candle after church if he stayed quiet. When we got home, Tyson indulged me without question. He went the extra mile - he made him a candle similar to what the church provides on Christmas Eve, with a little cup to catch the wax, but used a re-lighting candle so Tyler could practice blowing it out again and again.

So happy!!!

This year, Tyler was totally into the Easter Egg hunt, eagerly running from egg to egg and so gingerly placing them in his Easter bag.

At the end of the egg hunt, 17 eggs were accounted for. The contented smile on Vader's face makes him a prime suspect.

I remembered seeing some bunny ears in the cupboard under Tyler's grill recently...sure enough they were still there, from LAST Easter. Thanks Grandma Allaire!

Only Tyler can make bunny ears look gangster.

Chowing down on jelly beans...

Tyson and I may not be romantic, but we certainly are spontaneous. We suddenly decided to team up, hogtie Tyler and strap him into a chair for an Easter haircut. He was pretty mad at first, but when Grandma Allaire hooked him up with some baby powder and a paintbrush, he was good to go.

Happy Easter!!!

Three!

Tyler had so much fun on his birthday this year, I want to celebrate it again! I took Tyler to the party store a few weeks ago and asked him to choose a theme. I was thinking he'd probably pick dinosaurs again, was hoping he'd pick dragons, but instead he surprised me by choosing "Hot Wheels," asking for a race car birthday.

I'm not artistic at all, and am very uncoordinated, so it is with great love that I make Tyler's birthday cakes. Emery was superbusy all weekend, so I was on my own this year. Scary. Tyson requested a cake made from scratch this year, making a valid argument about quality control. That was fine, it just took a little longer.   Next year I'll double the recipe though, we barely had enough cake to go around. I didn't notice a difference in flavor, and Tyson didn't even have a piece! But he is proud that he "improved everyone else's cake experience." (Okay Tyson...)

To make the race track, I put two 8 inch cakes next to each other, then trimmed a slice off each cake and put them together. I was going to use crushed Oreos to make the racetrack, but got lazy and made it out of edible paper instead. I piped the white dotted line, and then used green food coloring to make the frosting green for grass. I had planned to add green coconut for grass, but ran out of food coloring. Easter weekend seemed like a bad time to try to find more food coloring, so I figured we'd skip the coconut after all.

Still, Tyler was so excited about his race car cake that he kept dragging me into the kitchen to "check it." He was pumped!

Tyler was so excited that morning. He talked in his sleep at 5am, woke up at 6am, and at 6:53, I showed him his newborn pictures and sang happy birthday to him. He ran around in circles for a while, checking his cake every few minutes, played with his new race cars that were meant to decorate the cake, finally agreed to take a shower, and then we headed to the park.

New toy race cars AND juice - this kid was in heaven!

Nothing says party like a batch of bubbles and bubble wands! Freya, Ruby, Wesley and Noah instantly bonded, with plenty of bubble wands to go around.

I was absolutely thrilled to see Kalen - it'd been over two YEARS!

And I was so glad to finally meet this guy! Maxx will be two in July. He befriended Tyler by sharing animal crackers with him.

Ah, the Bushmans. Awesome people.

And The Grandmothers Three - Grandma Glass, Grandma Allaire, and Gigima (Great Grandma Allaire).

Grandpa Keith was there too, but somehow managed to evade the camera, as did the Eaves and the Welchs...

Tyler loves to "souffle" [pronounced 'soof'] candles. Especially at the Bushman's house - their chandelier is a bunch of faux candles, and he repeatedly asks Tyson to hold him up to "souffle" them while John turns the lightswitch off. So since we know he prefers to "souffle" candles more than once, I went ahead and got him the re-lighting candles. Tyler joyously sang happy birthday with everyone else.

He successfully blew out the candles on the first try...

But they soon re-ignited. I don't think he found this to be weird, I think he was just happy to get to blow them out again.

He blew them out three or four times before we decided to put them out for good.

Ruby eats lettuce straight up. As a parent desperate to get my child to eat any vegetables, a voluntary vegetable eater is my hero.

Noah is one of Tyler's very favorite people, perhaps his most favorite person under the age of 5. Looks like Maxx is becoming a fan, too.

Gigima helped Tyler open gifts.

The Batmobile - initially Tyler didn't know what to make of it, as he's not very familiar with Batman just yet. But he quickly caught on that this was even cooler than his Lightning McQueen car - I mean, it goes faster, and it shoots discs in the air! Once this became apparent, the Batmobile became a prized possession.

But trains. Oh, the trains. Tyler chants Train Song. He plays with trains in the morning. He plays with trains in the evening. He SLEEPS with his trains. So to receive more trains...This kid is in 7th heaven.

A tender mother-daughter moment...

The Glass-Johnson family called while we were at the park and asked to speak to Tyler. They serenaded him with "Happy Birthday" on speakerphone. I wish I had a picture capturing the biggest smile on his face!

After the guests left, we chilled at the park for another hour or so, enjoying the gorgeous whether and watching Tyler run around. When he became excessively uncoordinated, we left. He was asleep before the truck got out of the parking lot. We let him sleep until 6:45, then I began trying to rouse him. He finally got up at 8:00, his normal bedtime. He opened more gifts, and we put him back to bed at 10:45 at night, figuring we'd extend his birthday into the next day.

Thomas the Train for the Leappad? Good deal! Thanks Grandma G!

 I can't believe Tyler's 3 already! I remember the day of his birth like it was yesterday. Just over the past few weeks, Tyler's vocabulary and sentence structure has grown exponentially. The other day, he sat in my lap playing a video game while I was trying to watch TV. I set him down on the couch and moved to the other end of the couch so I could hear the television. Tyler asked, "Why you not sitting next to me?" This question touched my heart - this was the first why question that was completely spontaneous, asking about another human being's behavior (as opposed to "why not" when I tell him he can't have crackers for breakfast.)

Much of getting along with Tyler over the past year has been negotiation, or linking what he wants to what I want - "You want a vitamin? Okay! First you have to brush your teeth." "You want a hot dog? Great! First we have to eat some vegetables." We've also worked with him on identifying his emotions, and letting him know what he can do with those emotions - "I can see you're angry right now. It's not okay to throw things when you're angry, but it IS okay to stomp your feet..." It's heartbreaking to hear him exclaim "I'm sad!" Or once, when I said, "I'm mad at you right now for dumping milk on the floor", he cried so intensely and exclaimed, "No, I'm sad at YOU!" - like it's devastating to him to realize his actions can cause negative emotions in the people he loves.

Tyler is intensely affectionate, still giving ferocious hugs and lots of spontaneous kisses. He loves kissing our injuries. He often sings, and asks Tyson to read him his songbook. London Bridge, Itsy Bitsy Spider, and Wheels on the Bus are favorite songs right now. He still loves reading Train Song and at least one Thomas book each night. He reads for at least a half-hour each night, painfully obvious when I had laryngitis last weekend! He calls his vitamins "candles" - maybe short for candy? Or maybe because they kind of look like candles? He takes being a "good listener" very seriously, and randomly exclaims, "Vader's a good listener!" He also at times says "Vader's not listening. He needs to go to timeout."

It just occurred to us to have Tyler go diaper-free over night - he often wakes to ask to use the bathroom, though he stays in bed until one of us arrives, instead of simply walking there on his own. So far, I've only had to change the sheets once in the middle of the night, so I think we're doing pretty good there...

He loves to make art projects - we got an Alex Little Hands craft box, he made a frog puppet, other puppets, and his very favorite creation is a tissue paper butterfly.

I got a little concerned the other day driving home from work/school - Tyler was talking about airplanes "falling out of the sky and crashing into the ocean!" I wondered why on earth anyone would have talked to him about plane crashes, and we asked each other, "Are they watching Cast Away at school?" It was a good twenty minutes before we realized he was talking about the movie, The Incredibles! What a relief.

Thank you, everyone who helped make Tyler's birthday such a happy one! And thank you Tyler, for being so awesome! We love you!

A Brief Visit

A few nights ago, I saw Vader stop abruptly, silent, and drop low to the ground. I went to see what he was stalking, and just inside our front door found this:

I considered waking Tyson but decided to take pictures instead. When I got my camera, he was on his way back outside, yet returned to pose for a picture. He coiled up and shook his rattle-less tail at me, as though trying to intimidate me. I took some flash photos, prompting him to turned his back on me, and he slowly slithered back outside.

Two nights before that, I woke up to discover a swollen, itchy big toe, with a spider bite in the middle of it. We also discovered a brown recluse a few weeks ago. It's kind of exciting to think what other creatures might be lurking in our home. But a snake like this is a welcome guest. I just have to make sure Vader doesn't  eat it.

Spring Break 2013

For Spring Break this year, Tyson didn't go to Rocky Point, or San Carlos, or San Diego either. He chose to work for the majority of the break. But we decided to check out two museums.

On Sunday, we took Tyler to the dinosaur museum! He went to sleep excited about dinosaurs, woke us up at 4:50am ready to see dinosaurs, and the smile on his face at the very first display made the trip worthwhile.

This T-Rex moves periodically. Tyler was transfixed by him.

So tired. So happy.

Tyler caught a second wind when he found this guy.

Panning for gold. Not something I've ever done before. Tyson, on the other hand, is a pro, and quickly showed Tyler how to get it done.

Mark and Michaela...coolest twins ever.

The next day, we took Tyler to the Desert Museum. He was initially disappointed when he realized we weren't returning to the dinosaur museum, but soon perked up at the idea of seeing "animals." 

We started off with snakes, spiders, lizards and frogs. Then we made our way to the hummingbird aviary.

We went to a live show. We didn't expect it to be lecture style, but Tyler was a trooper and stayed through most of the presentation. First we learned about Gila Monsters...

Followed by rattlesnakes.

Next we stopped by the regular aviary.

Then we wandered around looking for more animals.

What a fun day!

Snow in Tucson!

There's something magical about snow in the desert.

Tyler saw snow earlier this year on Mt. Lemmon, but snow in the backyard, especially FALLING snow in the backyard, is a special treat.

What a great excuse to wear boots! Great boots, Grandma G!

Tyler hasn't been a fan of fallen snow so far. But falling snow...completely different.

Until next time...

The Big Boy Bed

Tyler first climbed out of his crib long ago (during a furious time-out session) but with encouragement, opted to respect the boundaries of those four rails for several months. A couple of weeks ago, however, he began climbing over the rail on an increasing basis. At first, Tyson simply removed the lightbulb from the lamp on his nightstand - blinding the kid dissuaded him from climbing out. But Tyler soon became brave enough to venture out of his crib in the dark. So I began persistently encouraging Tyson to convert the crib into the toddler bed, and began warming Tyler up to the idea.

Tyler is slow to warm up to change, and I'd noticed a classmate from high school putting up daily posts of her 2.75 year old sleeping on the floor next to his toddler bed (more specifically, on the floor next to his bedroom door, where a baby gate is conveniently installed.) I didn't bother reading the details of her posts, the pictures were clear enough. So I was anticipating a similar situation might happen in our house.

Converting the crib to a toddler bed was much easier than we anticipated. We showed Tyler his new bed and helped him explore the advantages of having a low railing and an open area. He immediately proceeded to practice doing a headstand into a somersault over the railing and landing on his reading pillow.

We debated which end of the bed should be the "head" end. Tyler's been sleeping with his head close to the door, but we decided to put his head towards the wall in the hopes of encouraging deeper sleep. Tyler was reluctant, but Tyson eventually coaxed him into sleeping the direction WE wanted him to sleep.

There's a long but funny video of Tyson trying to put Tyler to bed. If I ever learn how to edit I'll put it up. Tyson almost has him tucked in, when the mandatory "orange car" falls behind the bed. As Tyson struggles to reach the car, Tyler gets out of the covers and returns to standing. The next procrastination strategy, asking for water, is practiced. And then the request for milk. The only tactic he forgot to try was the last minute call of nature.

We said goodnight, and ventured down the hallway to the living room, reminiscing about the night we first banished him from our room, and how long that hallway had seemed at the time. The hallway feels so much shorter now. We braced ourselves for Tyler to reappear. We discussed the various strategies we may have to employ to keep him in his bed. But amazingly, Tyler stayed put.

The next morning, I heard Tyler cry,  went back to his bedroom, and reminded him he could get out of his bed by himself. Later that day, after his nap, Tentative Tyler cautiously emerged from his room, with a look of "Am I in trouble???" written all over his face. I encouraged him to enjoy the big boy privilege of getting out of his bed independently. Sunday night went smoothly. Monday night, however, was another story. I heard Tyler crying and realized he was outside our bedroom door. I returned him to his room, but he insisted "I wake up!" He asked to sleep in our room. He asked to sleep on the couch. Finally, we compromised, and he slept at the foot of his bed, with just the dinosaur blanket on. But Tuesday night he stayed in his bed all night again. This morning, he appeared just outside our doorway at 6:15am. He hesitated at our door, but when I asked, "Does it feel good to get out of bed all by yourself?" he beamed, exuding confidence. His good mood seemed to last all day.

We know not to get too confident, we know he could at any time decide to test the limits. But for now, we're thinking that converting the crib to a toddler bed, rather than buying a new toddler bed, may be helping this transition. He seems to take comfort from the familiar bars. He loves jumping off the open end of the bed, and somersaulting over the railing end of the bed. He's putting up with being tucked in, so he's actually staying asleep during the night, instead of kicking off the blanket and waking up cold. So far, we're all loving this set up.

Other updates...Tyler's now counting up to 20, and loves identifying letters in words he sees on billboards, advertisements, trucks...For about two months, he's loved singing. He likes "Rubber Ducky", "Sweet Little Baby", "The Song of 5", and occasionally will sing us the "We Love You" song. His favorite book right now is Train Song (provided, once again, by the Glass-Johnson family. Great sounds in that book, lots of clickety clack, down the track type stuff.) He plays with his trainset every morning and night. Vader insists on laying on Tyler's trainset, every morning and every night. Tyler loves seeing trains on the way in to work, and loves eating Barrio Brewery because trains pass by there often. He still loves dinosaurs and dragons, too.

We're figuring out better how to help Tyler get through rough moments in his day. We're helping him learn to identify the feelings behind his actions, and he's taken too it. It's so cute and heartbreaking to hear him blurt out "I'm sad!!!" We try to find out what he wants to do next, then link it to the completion of the task WE want him to do - "You want to read books? Okay, first we have to go to the bathroom", or "okay, first we gotta brush our teeth." We're also figuring out that "No" may become "Yes" in just a few minutes. And then, my sister sent us the book, "Your Spirited Child", and I already feel like I'm getting some good strategies from that, and learning more about Tyson and myself along the way.

Tyler's been helping me lately with improving our back yard. I'm excited that the yard is no longer simply a barren plot of dirt surrounded by grey cinder blocks. Now it's a barren plot of dirt surrounded by grey cinder blocks with a raised flower bed at one end. No seriously, it makes me feel so much better to have something green and alive in our backyard. Eventually it will become much more.The goal is for the vines (Lady Banks Rose) to spread all along the wall to keep the wall cool, and the trailing rosemary to dangle over the retaining wall. Hoping the lavender will spread out wide, the butterfly bush will get taller, and the salvia will come back to life. (Vader ate it. He climbed up the wall, sat on the rosemary bushes, and ate it. The selfish jerk...But I think it'll come back.) I hope to add more potted plants to the base of the wall, so eventually there will be four levels of plants, to create the illusion that we have a bigger yard than we really do. And to prevent Vader from marking the wall or from eating any more plants.The potted plants are gardenias and Arabian jasmine. Not sure the jasmine will make it, it was an impulse buy, and will need more water than the other plants. So all the plants have either white or purple flowers (or will, at some point. Assuming I can keep them all alive...)Tyler loves transferring soil, and especially loves watering the plants. I learned, after planting these, that I'm supposed to actually remove that center stake on the rose vines, and that, even though Lowe's was kind enough to grow me nice, tall, vines, I actually need to cut them down to 4-6 inches from the soil, and let the plant start over. So I have to lose some of the green! I guess I'm supposed to prune that butterfly bush down as well. Oh well, at least I got to enjoy the green for a couple of days...