Happy Birthday Tyler

Well, it was a very different scene this birthday compared to Tyler’s 1st birthday.  A year ago we were in the park behind our house in Roy getting ready to say goodbye to everyone.  As we look back over the past year so much has changed. 

We considered having a birthday party for Tyler with all his friends from nursery, but then we decided it would be a fun tradition to just have a party every other year and go somewhere fun as a family in between those years.  Before heading out, however, we set up Tyler’s birthday gifts on the couch so they were there for him as he walked out of his bedroom in the morning.  It was a lot like Christmas, but at least we didn’t have to bother wrapping everything.

Tyler enjoyed the Lego's and farm animals, but he made his preference clear when he went for this gift right off the bat.  Here’s Tyler with his new “oder cycle” (Tyler for motorcycle).

As I sat on the couch putting this together at 11:00  the evening before his birthday, I told Thesha that this thing was so cool that if I could ride it I totally would right now.  For all the dad’s who’ve assembled toys while you’re kids were sleeping, you know how good it feels to see your kids enjoy them as well.  So you can imagine how cool it was when Tyler stopped pushing the blinker and engine noise buttons to give his new motorcycle a hug. 

Best reaction EVER!  The best part about this picture is that it wasn’t even staged.  We actually got the picture in the act.

Here’s another picture of Tyler in his new Sunday clothes.  He looks like such a big kid I just couldn’t help but include this one in the blog.

Yes, he’s pointing to his motorcycle and No, he did not give his new dress clothes a hug. 

For our family outing, we went to the Delaware Children’s Museum.  It was a ton of fun.  Tyler ran and played non-stop for about two hours running from exhibit to exhibit.  By the time we left he was so worn out that he didn’t want to walk to the car and when we went into a restaurant for lunch he just laid his head down on the table.  Here are a few pictures of him taking it all in.  See the rest in the slideshow at the bottom of the blog posting.

 

A really fun exhibit was the simulated NASCAR garage.  In this exhibit you can tune the engine, replace a muffler, and change a tire.  Here’s Tyler changing the tire.  I kept waiting for him to say “Ohhh fuuudddggge” but it never came.  Maybe when he’s a bit older he’ll risk the soap poisoning.  (If you don’t get that reference you’re missing out on an American classic – A Christmas Story.)

I know it’s supposed to be all about Tyler, but I just can’t help but include a cute picture of the ladies.

At the end of the day we finished up the days activities with a special Birthday Cake that Thesha did such a good job putting together.  While I assembled the motorcycle, Thesha assembled the birthday cake.  It really turned out cute.  For all those mom’s out there who toiled in the kitchen for hours trying to make your idea come together in cake and frosting, you know how rewarding it feels to see it all come together.  Then to see your 2 year-old get a huge smile on his face and blow the candles out all by himself…best reaction EVER!

Tyler loves the M&M’s so we figured why not let him indulge – it’s his birthday after all.

It was a really fun day for all of us and even though it was different then last year it was still a very special day and one that will always be remembered.  Happy Birthday, Tyler.

Here is the complete collection of pictures from Tyler’s birthday.  Enjoy.

 

Holy Rollers Batman

Well, it’s official.  Reagan’s rolling over.  She actually rolled over once a week or two ago but we weren’t really sure if she had rolled over or just fallen onto her side and back on accident.  We put her on her stomach last night and she purposefully rolled onto her side then onto her back.  To confirm it wasn’t a fluke, we put her back on her stomach and she rolled over onto her back again – this time with photographic evidence.  Here are the pictures of our little roller.

   

Mama and Tag

Well, Tyler’s starting to come into his true 2-year old spirit (even though he still has a week left as a 1-year old).  As if on cue he suddenly realized that he can say no, so now everything we ask of him prompts an immediate “No.” 

Tyler, do you want breakfast?  NO.  Tyler, will you pick up your toys? NO.  Tyler will you ever stop saying no? NO.  I didn’t realize we had raised Tyler to be such a fan of Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No” campaign.

In addition to the perpetual No’s, Tyler has also taken to calling me Tag instead of Dad.  I’ll come home from work and he used to run up to me and say something like “Hi Dad”, or ask Thesha “Where’s Dad?” but now everything is “Hi Tag” and “Where’s Tag?”  My personal favorite is when he calls for me from across the room.  “Tag…Tag…Tag…” We’ve tried to correct him and tell him to say Dad, but it always reverts back to Tag. 

It’s not much better for Thesha, however.  Granted, he still calls her Mom or Mama, but he’s gotten to where he just calls out her name over and over again.  The other day he woke up from his nap early so Thesha tried to just let him settle back down and go back to sleep.  After a little while, however, he started yelling for her… “mama…..Mama……MAMA.”  When she finally broke down and went in to see what was the matter he just looked her straight in the face and said “I fine.”  This is Tyler’s other new favorite saying, “I fine.”  Whenever he falls down… “I fine.”  Whenever he falls and slams his head into the wall… “I fine.”  Whenever he lets one rip while sitting on my lap… “I fine.” 

Well, that’s about it for this time.  Here are some recent pics just for fun.  Next time we should have some pictures from Tyler’s birthday and maybe even some pretty fall pictures (the leaves are starting to turn and it’s looking prettier every day).

These are some from a nearby covered bridge.

These are just some cute pictures of our little “Squishy” (as I like to call her).