Those eye teeth seem to have broken through because Tyler slept through the night for the first time in a week! I am so happy. I thought it was his lower two because he's always broken the bottom teeth before the tops. But when I stuck my finger in there to feel his gums this morning, he bit me and I discovered it was his upper teeth. No wonder the Orajel wasn't working, I was putting that on his lower gums! Ooops. We have been trying all week to record the way he says 'Zoooo!' because it is so cute. It never fails, he says it great when we're not recording but as soon as we are ready to capture it, he gives us a blank stare or says it in silly way. This week, Tyler began walking into daycare in the mornings as opposed to being carried in. He's just learning about holding hands so I'm a total nervous wreck about it when we have to cross the parking lot. But once we're inside, it is so cute to see him walking into his classroom. He gets lots of comments from the other parents and teachers about what a big boy he is. Yesterday was water play outside at daycare and it's a good thing because it's chilly today. They said he loved the water and got all the other kids wet and wild with his enthusiasm. I think I'm going to have to play hookey from work to see this for myself one day. Tiny little kids in swimsuits are so cute, especially the little girls.

Since Tyler spends 10 hours a day, 5 days a week at daycare, there are things he is learning that we just don't know about. His teachers do a good job of sending daily reports home telling me things like "We learned about the color red today" and "This week we are talking about the beach" that gives me an idea of things to prompt him with. But this past weekend, Shawn and I discovered there are all sorts of animal sounds he knows that we didn't know he knows. Shawn and Tyler were reading a baby animals book and looked at a picture of a rooster. Tyler said "Dooo" and we didn't realize what he was saying until we said cock-a-doodle-doo. They looked at a bird and Tyler said "Caw" Ok that's interesting. I would have taught him "chirp" but clearly he associates Caw with a bird. Very cool. A picture of an owl got Tyler saying "whoo" wow this is impressive stuff. But then there are things he learns from daycare that we would all rather do without. Like the word "Mine" which they blame entirely on Carina who's older sister is 3 and probably uses that word a lot with her. Well big mouth Carina now has Tyler screaming "Mine" whenever he doesn't want to give us something. (she doesn't really have a big mouth). And this weekend we discovered a very peculiar association we are positive he did not get from us. Whenever he touches something gross, I say "Yuck" ... whenever Tyler hears that word, he now says "Ca-ca." Nice. Very nice. I'm sure his teachers will blame that on one of the other kids as well but it makes me realize how often I say the word "yuck" because he must say "ca-ca" 25 times a day. This is fantastic. So Chili's dog bowl is ca-ca, food on the floor is ca-ca, the toilet is ca-ca...well at least he's right about that.

If you want to see the cutest thing in the world, come to the zoo with Tyler. We woke up Sunday morning talking about what we will see at the zoo. He says that word so cute. You know how he says 'Book?' and 'More?' in the form of a question, he says 'Zzzoooo!' in the form of an exclamation. It really is a fun word to say if you think about it. So we got inside and the very first animals we saw were called a nayala or something I had never heard of or seen before, but you'd think these things were Tyler's best friend. He stood on the railing so he could see, stomping his feet and clapping his hands, waving hi and flailing his arms all around in excitement. He was so thrilled to see the animals Shawn and I wondered why we hadn't done this sooner. He got people around him cracking up at his reaction to seeing the animals. This boy is hilarious. We saw chimpanzees, birds, koalas, giraffes, tigers, flamingos, ducks and more. Tyler had an equal display of excitement for all of them. He did a good job at spotting them too, from the birds way up high in their cages to the monkeys swinging from the ropes, he was watching and following them all. While we were watching the giraffes, the flamingos all started honking at the same time, and Tyler said 'Duck.' Great connection, I thought. He'd probably tell you his favorite part was chasing the pigeons. They'd let him get pretty close and then fly off a few feet, to which he'd stomp his feet and try running after them again. The Sacramento Zoo is small but very nice and we will definitely be back soon. Of course, we captured the visit on video but he wouldn't say 'Zoo!' at all while the camera was running (that seems to be the norm) no matter how hard we tried.

Saturday we visited the Phillips and the Jensen's. Tyler can say Mack's name now. It's very cute, more like 'Mach' as in mach-speed. The boys played together pretty well and did a pretty good job at staying out of trouble. And yesterday we visited the Dobbs and Conor and Tyler swam in the lake. While the water was cold, Tyler enjoyed himself for the most part. We discovered when we turn him over to float on his back, he cracks up. Must be the feeling of the water going into his ears or something. Tyler and Conor play together very well, Conor can crawl faster than Tyler can walk. While he's 2-1/2 months younger than Tyler, Conor is a good two or three inches taller than him. Between Mack and Conor, Tyler's got some very tall friends.

After work & daycare, we went to the swimming pool last night. Tyler looked so cute in his new swim trunks. By the end of last summer, he had spent many fun days playing in the wading pool. But back then he couldn't walk or even stand so for the most part, I just held him in the water and he loved every minute of it. For some reason I was thinking that's how yesterday would be. At first he was tripping out being in a 1-foot deep wading pool. He kept saying "Whoa!" and splashing up a storm. It was a while before he even tried walking in the water, but once he tried it we couldn't get him to hold still. He didn't seem to get the fact that between the slope of the pool and the resistance of the water, he had no balance. He just kept trying to walk all over the place, falling down with Mommy and Daddy right there to catch him. He got curious about putting his face in the water. Should we let him? Shawn and I asked each other. We thought maybe if we let him fall and get a face full of water he might understand the consequences of walking in water. We were too chicken to try it. We did give him a quick dip up to his nose, and he kept that mouth open wide and came up swallowing all that salty, high-chlorine water. In fact, it was so strong that I still smell like chlorine today. Tyler loved it though. I loved sitting in the water too, even though it was just a foot deep. Shawn was on chasing duty because Tyler eventually found that it was just as fun to run around the pool as it was to play in it. We are trying to teach him to hold hands but he only does it when he wants to. If he doesn't want to, he has a meltdown and throws himself to the ground. Not a good thing when he's wearing shorts. Every day this week he has come home from daycare with a new scratch on his knees from falling down while wearing shorts. I felt so badly about this that on Wednesday I sent him to school in pants. But they changed him into shorts saying he was too hot. Ok I guess I should start getting used to seeing those knees scratched and bruised. He is a boy afterall.

Tyler got another haircut last night. It grows so fast. I did it myself and while I'm getting better each time, it still needs some work. I always get the front crooked. Cutting his hair is a work in progress. I'll fix it tonight and probably again tomorrow until it's so short it can't be fixed anymore. We have been looking at his scrap book a lot lately. He likes seeing pictures of himself. Daycare told me he looks at the picture of our family on the wall in his classroom a lot and talks about it. They're not quite sure what he's saying. He's been waking up at night again. I think those eye teeth are finally going to cut through. I've heard those are the worst and it's proving to be true with him. So today I am very tired and can't think of much of anything else to say...except it is so HOT here! And it's not even June yet.

Every night after Tyler's bath and book, it's time to say nighty night to Daddy and Chili. He sings "Bye" to them and sometimes waves, clutches his Softy and we go off to his bedroom. I lay him in his crib and recite Goodnight Moon to him, lay down on the floor next to his crib and he goes to sleep. The going to sleep part is the sweetest thing to watch and one of my favorite times of the day. He prefers to lay on his stomach to sleep, with his butt sticking up high in the air, but tosses and turns all around while falling asleep. Usually he stands up a couple times, sometimes to throw Softy over the edge, sometimes just to look around, sometimes he stands up when his eyes are barely open and he's on the edge of sleep. He laughs a little and sings a little. Softy goes over his head, over his face, on his side, at his feet, back over his head, but always ends up under his head as a pillow when he's fallen asleep. And his speech goes from completely coherent to singing to babbling baby talk to grunts and sounds until one final deep breath turns into rhythmic breathing and I know he's out. I'm pretty sure he could fall asleep just the same if I didn't stay in his room with him but I love watching and listening to this ritual he's developed. It is so Tyler in every way.

We're starting to think we have a streaker on our hands. He is really putting up a fuss about putting on diapers and clothes. Last evening we hooked up the hose to a sprinkler toy, took off his clothes and diaper and let him go wild in the water. This was so cute and he played out there for a long time. He loves the water. I heard one of his teachers mention water play would be starting soon at school and really wanted to be there for his first time with it. Since it was still 88 degrees outside after dinner, we went for it. Chili, who we can't keep out of lakes, ponds and rivers, is deathly afraid of sprinkler water so he was acting weird about his Tyler was enjoying the water play so much. Unfortunately it all ended with a little accident of Chili and Tyler running for the ball at the same time and Chili bumping a naked Tyler off the patio and into the dirt. We were a little shaken up and very dirty. So Tyler had another new experience as I took him into the shower instead of the tub to wash off all the soil. He smiled the entire shower and absolutely loved the water spraying him. I just need to get a sticky mat or non slip stickers for the shower floor because he was sliding all over the place and I had to hold him most of the shower which was not fun for me and my pulled groin. I'm glad to know he likes the shower though!

Tyler has so many words in his vocabulary I can't count them all anymore. It is fantastic. He even says 'Chili' but in a way that only Shawn or I and maybe Chili can understand. I'm so happy he can communicate and tell us what he wants. He is very stuck on saying "Mooo" whenever he sees any animal. Whether it's a dog, a goat or a cow he yells "Mooo!" really loud. It's very funny. I don't particularly like it when he looks at people and says mooo to them, but he hasn't offended anyone too much yet.

Last night when we got home, Tyler and I went for a bike ride in the park across the street. I couldn't believe I actually rode a bike pulling him at 29 weeks pregnant. But I did and we went real slow. It was very fun. We stopped so he could play at the playground for a little while. This playground is built for older kids 5 years and up, so I have to stay with him at all times in case he decides to step off the edge or take a wrong turn. Well, he took a turn right to the big giant tube slide and sat down as if he was just going to fly down this 15 foot drop. I grabbed him saying we had to go down it together. As soon as I sat down behind him, I began wondering what the heck I was thinking. My butt wouldn't even fit in the tube. But we went flying down it. He thought that was so fun. I thought that was a little too much for me. Next time we'll go out of our way to the little kid's park further down the street.

We had a great weekend. Saturday Tyler went to two birthday parties. He was the only boy at Chloe's party and Daddy said he did a great job of dancing with all the girls...or was it that the girls did a great job of keeping him dancing with them? Tyler is at the age where you can't take your eye off him. He's fast and he's trouble on the loose, especially at other people's houses since he doesn't respond to the word No and he thinks it's funny when we chase after him to stop him from doing something bad. Daddy did a good job of watching Tyler at Chloe's but was bummed he didn't get to spend more time talking with the adults. I know that feeling well. Next, the three of us went to Conor's first birthday party. Conor lives on a lake and Tyler really wanted to walk off the edge of their backyard into the water. I'm pretty sure he was after the balloons on the dock, but I spent a lot of time chasing after him and keeping him away from the edge. I think I pulled a muscle from picking him up so many times. We'll see what the doctor says Wednesday (besides the usual 'you shouldn't be picking up anything more than 20 pounds). Yeah that's realistic. I tried wearing Tyler out by throwing a ball and him chasing it and bringing it back to me. We must have done this 20 times. I felt like I was playing fetch with Chili. We wore him out all right. He had a great day on the party circuit.

Sunday we went to Roseville Galleria where Tyler assumed the role of Greeting Committee, waving and saying 'Hi' to everyone we passed. Lots of people stopped to talk to him. Especially older ladies. He warmed their hearts. Shawn and I were cracking up and how friendly he was. He really goes out of his way to catch people's eyes and tell them hi. We took him to the playground there. The last time we were there was December and Tyler wasn't yet walking. This time, he was all over the place. Daddy was on Tyler duty since my groin was hurting and they played, climbed, crawled and slid all over that place. Tyler really liked the slide, which was a little on the sticky side. So he figured out he could walk down the slide instead of sitting and sliding down it. His adaptability is impressive, as we dragged him all over the place. We sure are lucky to have such a sweet boy and keep reminding ourselves of this as we accept the fact that someday we will be dealing with him throwing fits when it's time to leave the playground.

The week of the No's continues. At least I'm hoping it's just a week. He used to be so good about getting ready for school. He enjoyed the routine of getting dressed, brushing his hair, brushing his teeth and washing his face. Ok nobody likes the washing their face part, but he did it because he knew it was the routine. Every day this week, it takes two of us to get him diapered and dressed he's twisting and turning so much. He puts his arms over his hair as we try to brush it, saying no the entire time. He pretends he wants to brush his teeth and asks for the toothbrush, only to chuck it across the bathroom and say "Woah" as it flies away. You can only imagine how fun washing the face is. I thank my lucky stars I am stronger than him. That probably won't be the case in a few more years and he'll be throwing me across the bathroom if I don't get a grip on this attitude. The only thing he doesn't seem to mind these days, which used to send him into a fit, is using the inhaler. I guess we're all evolving a little. I have a feeling he is going to wear us out this weekend. Two birthday parties on Saturday will hopefully wear him out too.

Getting dressed this morning, Tyler must have told me No at least 25 times. No to putting on a diaper. He ran from his bedroom out to the living room without a diaper on yelling No. I finally tackled him but it was No to getting dressed. I tried letting him put his shirt on but he took it off. I started to think maybe he likes streaking. But those no's just kept coming. No to brushing his hair and teeth. He threw both the hairbrush and toothbrush on the floor when I tried letting him do it himself. No No No to washing his face. No to his inhalant. No to Chili just because Chili got in Tyler's way trying to sniff him good morning. No to saying bye bye to Daddy. No to getting in the carseat. Finally once he was strapped in and stuck, he changed his tune. Cracker? Cracker? Ok I will take any word over No. Eat a cracker. Wow that was exhausting.

He came home from daycare in someone else's clothes again yesterday. I'd better take a closer look at him, maybe they switched my sweet little boy with this tyrant who's favorite word is no. It's been getting hot so they let the kids play with water outside. Tyler loves water so of course, he gets soaking wet. We came home with two outfits wrapped in plastic bags weighing five pounds each because they were soaked. So I sent him back this morning with a bunch of shorts and short-sleeved shirts, hoping those won't get as wet as the pants and shirts he's been wearing until now. I'm practically keeping half his wardrobe at daycare these days. But I'm glad they get to play in water. They also sent him home with a bunch of pictures they had taken of him as a baby. Since he's no longer in the infant room, they cleaned out his stuff to make room for the tons of babies they have now. There must be at least seven in that room. While Tyler was an infant, there were never more than four in his room and usually it was two or three. I feel so lucky now, but wonder how many they'll have when Tyler2 is ready for daycare. Those babies in there now are competing for the one swing, two Boppies, two teachers and one bouncy seat. There must be a baby boom in Elk Grove. And they are ALL BOYS! Not a single baby girl.

After our first weekend apart, the three of us are finding it harder than I thought to adjust back to the old routine. Tyler had a great time at Grandma's. So great, in fact, that he cried for her from 11:30-12:30 Sunday night and again from 5:30-6:30 Monday morning. We didn't get much sleep that night. When he asks for Grandma while he's crying, it sounds like Momma but I can tell the difference. Shawn can't and kept telling Tyler I was right there which made Tyler more upset crying for Grandma again. He did great at daycare--back to the old routine of being happy and cute and took a good, 2-1/2 hour long nap. Last night's bedtime was a struggle but nothing compared to the previous night. He cried for about 20 minutes straight while I laid on the floor watching him toss and turn screaming and crying. I had to pick him up a few times when the crying turned into coughing fits, which would instantly stop the crying but it would start up as soon as I laid him back down. We did this for what seemed like forever. Finally he took one last deep breath to get ready for another big screaming cry but fell asleep instead. Phew.

While at Grandma's, Tyler picked up some new words. "Bug" which he is using for any small thing he sees on the ground. We were playing with the hose outside before dinner last night and he pointed to the sidewalk and kept saying bug. All I could see was regular sidewalk particles, pieces of mowed lawn, pollen and dust. To Tyler these were bugs. It reminded me of when Michael was a toddler and called everything that could fly a Bee. Whether it was a fly, an airplane, or a wasp, he referred to them all as Bees. Tyler also says "Bird" now but I don't think he quite gets it that birds can be in cages or flying in the sky. To him, if it's in a cage, it's a "bird" and if it isn't, he doesn't have a word for that. And another new thing is probably more due to the adjustment of being apart, but Tyler is throwing a lot of fits and yelling, throwing, kicking and screaming "NO!" Wow. If this continues I'm afraid of what the terrible-twos will bring out in him. I have a feeling this is just his way of expressing some new independence but boy is it different from the sweet little angel he was last week who liked nothing more than blowing a bunch of kisses. At least he's not getting down on his hands and knees to bang his head anymore.

I said Bye-bye and showered my baby with lots of kisses this morning as I left for work. I won't see him again until Sunday night and he probably won't see me until Monday morning because he'll be sound asleep when I pick him up from Grandma's. I have been looking forward to this first weekend away with just Shawn & me for so long but now that it's finally here, I'm ready to cancel all the plans and stay home with Tyler. Wouldn't you know it, he seems to be coming down with something. He threw up right before bed last night and while he doesn't seem to run a fever in the daytime, he has had a mild fever the past two nights. I know he will be ok it's just harder than I thought it would be.

So I came to work while Shawn and Tyler are packing up the car to head to Grandma's house. Shawn came online to Instant Message me a question and Tyler started typing me a note. Here is an excerpt:
Shawn says:
tyler's helping me type
Lorelei says:
hehe HI TYLER
Shawn says:
afy t hnbmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmk
Lorelei says:
i miss him already
Shawn says:
jmmjk j jjkk nb bn nbuyikkkkkkkkkkk
Lorelei says:
a lot
Shawn says:
fgggggggggggnit's only a couple days
Lorelei says:
i know
Shawn says:
.j m,,,,,, nn nn nnnnnnnnnnnnnsx53
Shawn says:
8NIIIIIIIIIIIIVGSX
Shawn says:
CAC 222222222222222222222222MK
Shawn says:
1111111111
Shawn says:
22222222222
Shawn says:
weeeeeeeeeeeeee
Lorelei says:
weeeeeeeee to you too
Shawn says:
jnh nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn
Lorelei says:
ELMO
Shawn says:
i'm goin0g to pack the car now.04
Shawn says:
ba byo{);;
Shawn says:
m,l,okjkmmmmmmkj a

Now, I don't know what you got from all that but I'm pretty darn sure he said he would be a good boy for Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Kristin, that he would miss his Mommy and Daddy a lot and would look at our pictures to remember us, and that he hopes we win a big jackpot in Vegas! Ok I'm starting to feel better.

When my brother was a baby, I remember him falling asleep in his highchair. It was always so funny. First his eyes would get really heavy and then he would do the head-bob until finally he'd fall sound asleep with a plate of food in front of him. I'm still waiting for Tyler to do this. He hasn't really come close yet. He hates having food on his hands and starts flailing them all around when he does, so it may not happen until he's better at eating with utensils. He's not going to fit in his highchair for much longer though. He has fallen asleep in the bath tub many times. Now that he's in a big boy bath tub that doesn't recline, he can't fall asleep anymore. But last night he came home from daycare running a slight fever and very sleepy. So we fed him and put him in the bath to bring the fever down. He started dozing off while sitting up in the tub. Sweet guy. That was the easiest bath I've given him in a long time. No complaints when I poured water over his head. No trying to stand up in the tub. He did need my arm behind him to support him as he started dozing off though. The other day he was in his playpen while I was showering & getting dressed. He kept laying down in the playpen on top of all the toys and everything. I didn't think he was really tired since it was still an hour before the usual naptime, but I could see his eyes were glazing over. He was sitting up trying to play with the shape sorter as I was blow-drying my hair. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see his head bobbing. The sound of the blow-dryer was knocking him out. This was so cute to watch. Until he bobbed his head one last time right down onto the corner of the shape sorter and jolted back awake.

Shawn pointed out that Tyler's face is getting round again. Looking through his baby pictures, we see a trend of fat face one month and big growth spurt the next. His face started getting fat about two weeks ago so all this sleep must be related to an upcoming growth spurt. He went to bed at 6:30 last night. And slept in until 8:15 this morning. Shawn fed him some pancakes and as long as Tyler's fever is gone, which it seems like it is, he'll take him into daycare later this morning. It is such a guessing game when these guys aren't themselves. Is he teething? Growing? Sick? Fine? Thank goodness for the ear-thermometer. Back when my brother was a baby they didn't have those, and you couldn't use an oral thermometer on babies so he got it in the other "end".

There is a new kid in Tyler's class and his name is Tyler also. I knew it would happen and consider us lucky for it not happening sooner. Out of the 80+ kids at daycare, only three of them are named Tyler. But having two Tylers in the same classroom is causing confusion for these boys. Ms. Jaclyn was telling me how she was telling Tyler C he had to put his shoes on in order to go outside and Tyler H was very confused sitting down pointing at his shoes. He's older and bigger than my Tyler, 21 months old so he'll only be in this classroom for three more months. But he still uses a pacifier. Man are we lucky Tyler gave that up. I thank my lucky stars for that every time I see a walking toddler with a binky in his mouth. As attached as he was to the binky in his first five months, he just went cold-turkey one day and wanted nothing more to do with it.

Tyler C has been mysteriously throwing up the past three days at daycare. Just once a day, at the same time each day, right before eating lunch and after playing outside. Shawn thinks he might be making room for his next meal since he does it right as he's washing his hands or sitting at the table waiting for lunch. Ha ha. His teachers were writing this mysterious event on Tyler's daily report and sending home the puked on clothes in a bag, so I knew it was happening. I never got the phone call to come and pick him up so I figured daycare wasn't too concerned since he's not showing any other symptoms and still eats and sleeps fine. But yesterday the Principal at school, Ms. Cindy, called suggesting we should call the advice nurse, which Shawn did. It could be related to his weak bronchial tubes but not for sure...they suggested putting him back on the inhaler which we probably won't. So when I picked Tyler up last night I spoke to Ms. Cindy more about this. She explained to me that she would have called the first two times it happened, but she was calling Tyler H's parents instead. So funny, his poor parents were baffled. As for the puking, I told his teachers not to give him any milk today and we'll see how that goes.

I'm too chicken to try letting Tyler cry himself to sleep so I usually lay down on his bedroom floor until he falls asleep. It gives me ten minutes or so of downtime which I don't mind at all. He never usually pays attention to me, just ocassionally checks to make sure I'm still there. Lately though, he's begun this dreadful game of throwing Softy at me. Last night it must have taken him 30 minutes to go to sleep. First he threw Softy and I left it on the ground until Tyler got really worked up crying for his blanket. But as soon as I put it back in the crib, Softy came flying out again. So then I pinned it down with my hand so Tyler couldn't get it over his crib railing. This made Tyler mad but also made him lay down after a while. So I let go and laid down myself. Only to find Softy landing on my face a few minutes later. This was so funny I couldn't help but laugh. Luckily my face was covered so Tyler didn't know I was cracking up but he started laughing too. Hysterically. Until that turned into hysterical crying because he wanted that darn blanket back. As soon as he got it back, Softy came flying back out. It's really quite funny to watch Tyler throw it overboard, but I've got to start getting serious about this. It finally wore him out I guess because he finally fell asleep. I came out of his bedroom blaming Shawn on letting Tyler get too wound up in the bath right before bedtime. The truth of the matter is I need to find the right way to react to this so I don't get sucked into Tyler's game of throw it and make them pick it up.

Another fun weekend behind us. We dragged Tyler all over the place and like a trooper, he had fun everywhere we went. Jacob's birthday party was Saturday and when we first got there, it was nice and sunny so we were playing outside on their deck. Tyler was very intrigued by the above-ground pool but luckily wasn't tall enough to get into too much trouble with it, as long as his sleeves were rolled up. It started raining on us outside so we moved in but Tyler had a really hard time leaving outside and kept convincing Jacob's grandpa that he needed to be allowed back outside. Funny boy kept running straight out toward the pool only to start getting pelted by the rain. He put his arms over his head as though he didn't like the rain, but kept heading back out there so it must not have bothered him too much. Jacob got a big chocolate cake to make a mess in and he did a pretty good job at it. There was even chocolate up his nostrils. I was up and down more in the few hours we were there than I usually am all weekend so by the end of the night I was wiped out. Tyler too, he fell asleep before we got to the end of their driveway.

Sunday we went for a walk in the newly opened park across the street. We are so lucky to have such an awesome, huge park in our front yard! Chili loves it too. We strolled along the many different sidewalk trails and wandered up to the path along the refuge that had been Chili's old stomping ground. The park will definitely take over that roll now. At one point along the walk, Shawn looked at Tyler in the stroller and noticed he only had one shoe off. We had to turn around and retrace our steps to find where that sneaking boy had removed his shoe. How he did that without either of us noticing or running over it in the stroller I don't know, but I've added that to my list of things to tune my radar into for future walks. Sunday was also the 12-year anniversary of the first date Shawn & I had so we wanted to go out for dinner, but when Tyler decided to take a nap at 5:00 we weren't sure if that was going to work out. I usually try to keep him awake instead of taking one of those late afternoon naps because it's so close to his real bedtime, he never wakes up in a good mood. This night was no different. When he woke up at 6:30 we headed straight out the door to the Old Spaghetti Factory, the same restaurant Shawn took me to 12 years ago (he took me to the one downtown Sac but we went to the one in Elk Grove). Tyler was fine during the wait but once we sat at our table he turned into a tyrant. Since he had eaten pasta with red sauce for lunch, e ordered him macaroni & cheese with applesauce. He occasionally eats applesauce at daycare but usually has something like a waffle or pancake to dip it in. This time he decided to dip his hands into it. When Shawn tried to help him with the spoon, Tyler had a fit which included flailing applesauce all over the table and floor under him. We offered him bread but he just kept picking it up and throwing it on the ground. Same with a spoon. And the placemat. Luckily for us, this is a family restaurant and their were other kids who were crying much louder than Tyler so I wasn't too bothered by his behavior. The mess he made was pretty bad, but at least that doesn't disrupt other people's dinners. Unless a thrown piece of food hits them, which none did this time. The macaroni kept his interest for a little while but what Tyler really wanted was the spaghetti on Daddy's plate. Unfortunately, we didn't realize that was what he wanted until it was almost all gone. Note to self, order spaghetti from the kids menu next time. Even though it will make a big mess on Tyler's hands and face. Maybe the mess on him will take away from the mess on the table and floor.

As we get dressed for school, Tyler and I talk about his friends and teachers. This helps him stay sidetracked from trying to wiggle free from the diaper change. This morning as we began talking about it, he said "School" clear as day. I couldn't believe it. Yesterday he picked up my slipper and said "Shoe." Amazing.

I cut Tyler's hair three weeks ago and it looks like it's ready for another cut already. I can't believe how fast he grows. Every night before his bath, after he takes his clothes off and puts them in the hamper, he likes to stand on the scale. He weighs 30 pounds. He really likes it when Daddy gets on the scale and makes the needle go all the way around. Mommy makes it go pretty far too these days. We are going to Jacob's first birthday party this weekend. I plan on taking lots of pictures of Jacob, Tyler, Mack and Owen. These boys are going to be life-long friends and while we only see each other every few months, we'll likely be spending all our family vacations with them since Nickie and Mark, Val and Glynn are such great friends of ours. We are so lucky to have so many boys so close in age.

Next weekend, Tyler goes to Grandma's for his first weekend away from Mom & Dad. For her sake, I sure hope his rough nights are over with. This week he has woken up 3 out of 5 nights crying in pain. We're pretty sure it's from the eye teeth he's working on. I made the mistake of washing Softy before bedtime last night and he was still in the dryer when Tyler was ready for bed. I gave him a teething towel instead hoping Tyler wouldn't notice the difference. He did and he couldn't fall asleep, as hard as he tried. I broke down and brought him a slightly damp Softy thinking I'd put him back in the dryer after Tyler fell asleep. I tried several times in the night to get Softy back, but Tyler was holding on very tight. He uses Softy as a pillow so I couldn't get that darn thing back. So Tyler slept with a damp Softy last night. Shawn was up with him in the middle of the night, helping him go back to sleep and told me Tyler felt a little damp. Bad mom. Now I know, a dirty Softy is better than no Softy at all. I'll be shopping for a reserve Softy this weekend just in case anything should happen.

It was picture day at daycare yesterday. All the little girls looked so cute in their dress up clothes. Tyler looked very handsome too. I stayed to watch his picture and boy did that photographer have his hands full. The goal was for the child to sit in front of a background with some colorful pillows around him. I warned the photographer that Tyler wouldn't stay sitting for long. He ended up taking three great pictures. One of Tyler sitting. One of him laying on his belly, and one of him standing. I was just glad he was smiling for all three.

This child still will not leave his shoes on and he's coming home from daycare with filthy socks. It doesn't matter which shoes he's wearing. He has figured out how to take them off so that's what he spends his time doing. Hopefully he'll get bored with that game soon. Another thing he is very good at is listening to instructions when they are task-oriented. Things like take off your clothes and put them in the hamper. He'll go all the way down the hall, into his bedroom, put them in the hamper and come back to the bathtub. What a stud! In the morning after he's had some cuddle time, it's dropping Softy off in the crib. He does this with me holding him and it is so cute because I can tell he doesn't really want to let go of Softy. But he does. He brushes his hair, his teeth (ok, I help a little, but he prefers to do these things on his own), and picks up his toys. It's great. But when it comes to listening to instructions with the word "don't" in them, he just doesn't understand. Like "Don't put your hand in Chili's water dish." or "Don't slam the door." Maybe I should turn these into positive tasks instead. Hmmmm then I'd be a wonderfully patient mom, wouldn't I?!

Our coffee table has turned into Tyler's stage. He loves music and can find rhythm in any sound. For example, last night Shawn was chopping garlic with his fancy knife the way only chefs on TV know how to. Tyler started dancing to the beat. So funny. But to dance, he has to climb onto the coffee table because that's his stage. He hasn't fallen off yet--knock on wood--and seems to understand where the edge is. But it only takes one time, so we encourage him to dance on the ground. His ground dancing is more pelvic, like Elvis-kind of dancing. Whereas the table dancing consists of hundreds of tiny steps and stomps. Like Greek dancing. This kid is an entertainer.