Amen

It’s funny what kids pick up over time.  For the past several weeks we’ve been working with Tyler on saying and pointing to his ears, nose, eyes, toes, etc.  He’s been doing pretty good but tonight he surprised us a bit by saying something we didn’t even realize we’d been teaching him.  We’ve been having him sit with us for family prayers before going to bed and we were just glad that he was finally sitting quietly and not squirming or crying while we hurried through the prayer.  Tonight, however, as Thesha and I said “Amen” and I let him get up to give Thesha a good night hug, he repeated “Amen” after us.  Ok so it sounded kind of like “Na-nen” but it was obvious what he was trying to say.  We just looked at each other and said, “Wow, I guess he’s learned how to say amen.”  It was so cute.

Tyler also had to say goodbye to Grandma and Grandpa Checketts today.  It was kind of sad, but he gave them both a long, long hug before going down for his nap as they got ready to head to the airport.  As if he wasn’t cute enough, he keeps doing these heart warming things that just make you melt inside.  He’s such a good kid.

Bones and Bless You’s

This week we have enjoyed having Mom & Chad in town. It was especially nice for Tyler to have so much attention. I don’t think he had a single minute over the last several days where he didn’t have someone looking at him encouraging his perpetual cuteness. It was really nice, but it’s going to make the next couple weeks a little tricky as we have to wean him off the spotlight. That’s a grandparent’s prerogative, though, right. As you can see from this picture, Tyler was so happy to see his Grandma … well that or he’s trying to give her a diaper to change.

During their visit we were able to visit the Concord Point Lighthouse and visit the parks surrounding the harbor in Havre de Grace, but unfortunately this isn’t really the optimum time for sightseeing in the rural areas of Maryland. In fact we have a book of things to go see and do in Maryland and the calendar of events section doesn’t even have a month of January listed. All the boats in the harbor were wrapped up for the winter and the museums were all closed so we relied on our imagination a lot. We tried to make the most of our time together, though. If nothing else, we made sure to get our fill of Maryland crab at Woody’s Crab House.

We also got a visit from Chad’s daughter Courtnie. It was really nice to see her again and spend some time together. Although we only had a day together, Courtnie left her mark on our family by teaching Tyler “Bones” or “Knuckles.” It’s cute enough to warrant a short video…

To make matters worse, Tyler was sick all week and Tag and Thesha got sick over the weekend. So most of our time was spent in doors plowing through Kleenex and saying “Bless you” every 10 minutes or so. Not exactly the most exciting way to spend a vacation, but it was at least a chance to spend some quality time together. If nothing else it gave us a chance to talk about all the things we want to do the next time they come out to visit – in the Spring, Summer, or Fall because obviously the Winter is not the best season for visiting Maryland. Something for the rest of you to consider when making your plans to visit us.