Spring's here in Tucson, and we're treasuring the beautiful days at nice temperatures. A long term goal of ours has been to make a back yard worth spending time in, instead of the pile of dirt we started with. We started with hardscaping two years ago, but somehow we got a little side tracked...Much of our debate was what to plant for a "lawn", given we live in a desert. Last year we discovered Frogfruit at Tohono Chul's Xeriscape Garden, so this year we decided to try growing it from seed. Tyson went to a landscaping supply company for compost and mulch, and rented a rototiller.
After a final raking, Tyson sowed the frogfruit seeds.
Tyson and Tyler performed a little sprout dance for good luck. (Okay, they were just practicing waving. But a sprout dance would've been pretty cool. Maybe if they'd done that, the seeds would've actually sprouted! We resorted to buying 4 plants instead, hopefully they'll take off soon.)
The next Sunday, Tyson participated in New Belgium's Urban Assault with our friend Chris. They rode over 28 miles, stopping at various checkpoints to perform challenges before riding on. Tyler, Noah, Emery and I met up at one of the checkpoints to cheer them on.
We were worried we'd missed them, but it turned out we'd selected the checkpoint they'd saved for last. Though Tyson was exhausted, he gave us a big grin when he heard us cheering for him, hustled through the challenge, stopped to give Tyler and me each a quick kiss, and rode on, on a borrowed bike, wearing everyday clothes and regular shoes.
Despite being at a disadvantage, Tyson and Chris finished 97th. Out of something like 320. Go Tyson!
The next weekend was Tyler's birthday party. As we approached the big day, I kept reminiscing about the cool cakes my mom used to make for Roger and me when we were growing up. They were always cool designs, and were covered in tinted coconut and 7-minute frosting, which reminds me of snow that's frozen over - crunchy on the surface, soft underneath. I could picture the cake book she always used, with a train cake on the front, which she'd made for me for my 5th birthday.
So I called and asked if she by any chance still had the cake book. Sure enough, she did! She mailed it to me right away. I laughed when I saw the book was put out by Baker's Coconut. No wonder ALL of our cakes had coconut frosting!
After several discussions with Jonell, Emery, and Tyson, I settled on making a lion cake. Tyson requested German Chocolate. I baked the cake at my house, then drove it to Emery's house for assistance with the decorating. We made the coconut-pecan frosting, and used M&Ms for the eyes and nose, and chocolate licorice for the mane, tail, and outlines. At one point it looked more like a bear than a lion, then transformed into a "Li-Bear" ("it's kind of my favorie animal"). In the end it seemed pretty lion-like to me. While I mourned UofA losing the Elite 8 game, Emery added M&M toes, which made our cake even better than the one in the book! In the process of making this cake, I learned something pretty cool about how I feel about my childhood. Those cakes meant so much to me. I hope I continue this tradition with Tyler for many years.
Chris gave Tyler and Noah a bath while Emery and I finished up in the kitchen. What a fun day!
Oh, this is the debut of Tyler's new haircut, isn't it? I took him to an old-fashioned barber, who knew exactly how to cut a little guy's hair, and when to give up. Okay, obviously I can't remember what my brother Eddie looked like as a kid, since Eddie's 11 years older than me. But I
think Tyler looks like Eddie did when he was little.
On Sunday we went to the park for Tyler's birthday. He got to spend time with his Grandma Allaire, Grandpa Keith, Great Grandmother Allaire, Great-Auntie Em (aka Anita), Nana Gayle, Anti-Mantha, Auntie Paula, Uncle Shawn, and many friends.
Here Tyler is telling Auntie Paula and Great Grandmother what he thinks of his barber.
Here's Tyler getting ready for cake in the arms of Grandma Allaire, with Amber looking on.
The wind took care of the candle for him. And it turned out, Tyler wasn't in a cake-eating mood.
Ashlyn and Jolie helped Tyler open his gifts...
I think Tyler was concerned that Ash was going to keep the boat Auntie Em gave him for herself!
Leo's already learned to point and laugh at Tyson!
Nana Gayle and Anti-Mantha hooked Tyler up with all kinds of cool clothes.
An overstimulated Tyler is a quiet Tyler. What a trooper!
On the actual day of his birthday, Tyson and I got to wish Tyler a happy birthday at exactly 6:53 (his time of birth). We reminisced about his birth during our morning commute, telling him his birth story. It's funny, the things you remember. Like Tyson washing my feet in the middle of labor because they'd turned black from the dirty floor. Or me screeching, "Why am I walking in PEANUTS???" when the midwife had difficulty getting our trailmix into her mouth on a consistent basis. How desperate I was for Tyson's thumbs to be pressing the small of my back. How sympathetic I was towards Tyson for his wrist and thumbs hurting him (while I was in the midst of laboring without anesthesia!) How we kept finding things to laugh at throughout that long day and night. The nurse with her deer necklace and pigtails (her hobby was hunting deer.) And how, just before Tyler was born, I could have sworn I heard a pilot say, "Flight attendants, prepare the cabin for landing" as a swarm of nurses entered the room, turned on flourescent lights, turned the TV on to watch the morning news...I remember the midwife telling me that I would get Tyler out during the next contraction, and me making the conscious decision to bring him into the world right that moment instead, and hearing her shout and scramble to catch him before he hit the floor. And of course, the look of joy on Tyson's face. He finally had the son he'd been waiting for. I remember sitting with Tyler on my large bouncy ball that first night, rocking him, while he was so alert and fascinated with the world around him. How little sleep we got in the hospital because three nurses visited every hour, as well as lactation consultants, custodians, plumbers, photographers...How everyone in the hospital seemed to wear Lesco glasses, and how nobody seemed to be able to give me ibuprofen. And how can we ever forget our naive surprise that Tyson was considered to be a hospital visitor instead of a "patient" - no meals for him, no bed, just a chair for 36 long hours. And how anxious we were to bring Tyler home...
On the day of his birthday, we gave Tyler a rubber ball. He loves it almost as much as his soccer ball!
We also gave him a tambourine, sleigh bells, and a shaker, since he's so into music. The day before his birthday, Tyson decided he couldn't stand the anticipation, and introduced Tyler to the Radio Flyer from Aunt Jonell and family. No pictures yet, but he loves riding in it, especially down steep slopes (looking concerned, but smiling at the end.)
Saturday I set up the eagerly awaited sand table from Grandma and Grandpa Glass. We can tell this will be treasured for years to come! We picked a table instead of a regular sandbox to try to encourage Tyler to stand and walk. It served its purpose within just a few hours of set up - Tyler was so excited to play, with a shovel in each hand, that he didn't even realize he was standing on his own!
The sand table converts into a race track, here's Tyler test driving his newest vehicles.
My friend Patricia told me I need to spend some time writing about what I thought about during Tyler's first year of life. The things that surprised me - I expected to be exhausted, yet I was still surprised how tired I was despite getting reasonable amounts of sleep. I always thought new parents were exhausted because the baby kept them up at night. We were so lucky with Tyler, he started sleeping through the night pretty early on. So I think lactation is what has been so tiring for me. I'm also surprised how forgetful I still am, especially since I get 6-7 hours of sleep at night these days. I was surprised to realize that learning to nurse is just as much up to the child as it is to the mother, and that so many other women had struggles similar to mine, that they too were able to overcome. I was surprised to learn that I'm not immune to Tyler's bodily secretions. I'd always heard "When it's your kid's [spit/drool/snot/yak/deuk] you won't mind." I mind! I'm not at all surprised how much I love Tyler, but I was surprised that it wasn't as simple as "love at first sight", though I did have an immediate, intense drive to keep him alive. I thought I knew him pretty well when he was still in utero. So I was surprised that he seemed to be such a stranger when he was born. It was such a cool journey to go from "here's this little creature, I have to figure out how to keep him alive" to knowing his sweet, energetic, playful personality. But the thing that surprised me most was that giving birth didn't make me feel like a mother. It made me feel like a woman, but not a mother. Nursing didn't do it, either. I remember various people kept asking me, "how does it feel to be a mother" and I kept saying "I don't feel like a mother at all, more like he's Tyson's baby and I'm helping out. By nursing him, clothing him, diapering him, and watching over him all the time." But when Tyler had a bad case of croup in Denver, whenever he started struggling to breathe, I would wake up with a start and find myself in the bathroom with him, with the shower and the sink faucet on, steaming him. My ears knew to listen for that terrible sound, even while I slept. My arms knew to pick him up, my legs knew to get us to the bathroom, and somehow I'd turn the shower on, before my conscious mind kicked in. That, in my opinion, was the night I joined the realm of motherhood.
Patricia also told me to write abut Tyler's personality, because Tyler will ask when he's older, her boys do. Tyler has always been a mellow, happy little guy. He only cries when he's tired, overly hungry, or when he's told "No". When told "No", he not only cries, but throws his head on the ground as though he's ashamed of himself. He was always difficult to get to eat at each new stage - first learning to nurse, then starting baby food, and then table food. But he always figures it out in the end. He loves fruit or sweet potatoes mixed in his oatmeal. He is highly adaptable - when he came to work with me he was fine with being passed around to different staff members, and laughed out loud when a man used his prosthetic hook to tickle him under the chin. Tyler can sleep anywhere, including on the floor, much to the surprise of his daycare teachers, who now know that when he cuddles up with a soft object, it's time to transfer him to his crib. WE know it's time to put him in his crib when he holds his arms down with his wrists facing out, aka "the backwards hand". He loves being outside, whether in the baby jogger during my running training, or hanging out in the backyard, or even when we stand at the side of the road at daycare to wait for Tyson to drive past us in his truck on Fridays. His beloved toys are his music table, his soccer ball, his monkey, and ever since Christmas, his workbench. He was using a wider vocabulary from December until just recently - now that he's working on motor skills, he's reverted to calling almost everything "Dah!" He's not walking by himself just yet, and will only practice on his own terms - if we try to finger-walk with him, he buckles his legs as if to say, "Well, since you're here, carry me!" But he cruises along furniture and is getting very brave about letting go. Tyler startles easily and doesn't like loud noises or a bunch of bright objects all at once, so he may cry or fall asleep when first introduced to loud toys or in loud environments, until he is picked up. But in all other situations, he's calm, just focuses intently with a look of concern until he can relax and smile. He loves to climb, especially me. He also loves to be "thrown" on pillows, and picked up and thrown again. He pounces. He adores his dad. He loves his dog. He loves his teachers at daycare, and the toys they have there. When I enter the room at daycare, he continues playing happily until he notices I'm there, then he bursts out crying and crawls to me, pretending life has been terrible to him while I was gone. He has a beautiful smile and a laugh that sounds like music. He loves to read, especially "Moo, Baa, LaLaLa", "So Say The Little Monkeys", and recently, all books with animal sounds. He sometimes will say "LaLaLa" when he sees a picture of a pig, just started saying "Quack" for the duck, and sometimes says "Oink" for the pig and "Moo" for the cow. He loves to dance - he stands at the coffee table, places his hands on the top of it, bends his elbows, and rhythmically rocks side to side. He especially loves dancing to the musical Christmas snowglobe his Grandma Allaire bought for him.
Thank you everyone who made Tyler's birthday so special, and to everyone who's been a part of his life!
Thank you Tyson, for being such a wonderful husband and father. And thank you Tyler, you're so awesome, we love you! What a wild, fun ride this year has been! Happy Birthday!
