Dear Sweet Tyler Baby,
Today you are one year, five months, and four days old. I have loved and appreciated your presence every second you have been alive. Tomorrow you will be one day older and life as you know it will change, as you will become a big brother. I will soon find out how it is possible to love another baby as much as I love you. You are the absolute greatest thing that ever happened to your daddy and me. With a big brother as wonderful as you, this baby has a lot to live up to, but I know that you will be the best at teaching him all you know, showing him how sweet you are, and sharing your love with him. My heart aches as I hope and pray all that changes in your world from here on out really is for the better.

For the rest of life, you will be the big brother. Our first born son. The oldest baby. Daddy's first Buddy. Mommy's sweetest boy. We know you will be the best big brother because you are the best son in the world. Watching you grow from a brand new baby like the one we'll soon be bringing home into the big boy you are today has been absolutely fascinating. You achieved so much so fast, from crawling to walking, crying all night to sleeping through the night, eating nothing but milk every two hours to chowing down a plate full of raviolis and peas. It has all been so exciting and amazing to see. I promise you I will continue to live each day by studying your new tricks, documenting your old habits, and taking note of each new milestone.

Your daddy and mommy are so in love with you that we swore to give you the best life possible. We won't let your brilliant mind waste away in TV or video games. Your brother will be so much more entertaining than that. You will have a life long friend. A buddy to share everything with, and who will think so highly of you, just as we do. This is the best thing we feel like we can give you, and we are so excited, nervous and anxious to show this baby to you for the first time. You've done a great job helping us get ready for the baby: unpacking all his clothes and trying to squeeze into some of them, touching all the binkies wondering what in the world they are for (even though you used them too), testing out all your old toys...the swing, the bouncy seat, the car seat, to make sure they are in good shape for him, watching daddy paint the nursery and sharing your enthusiastic approval upon seeing the cow jumping over the moon in his room. Tyler, having you turned us into a family, and now your brother will make our family bigger and better. We couldn't have done any of this without your wonderfully sweet personality and amazing brilliance.
Like that crazy toy bear sings twenty times a day:
L-- is for the way you look at me
O-- is for the only one I see
V-- is very very extraordinary
E-- is even more than anyone that I adore
Love was made for me and you and Daddy and baby too!

After spending last week at home with Mommy, Daddy, and Grandma Dee, Tyler is back into his daycare routine this week. His teachers have all commented on how much more he is talking. His new trick is to come up and ask for your hand "Hand?" he says, reaching up for it. He takes hold and says "Galk" which means walk, and begins leading you along on a walk. This adventure usually ends up at a place like the front door, the TV, the pantry, or somewhere else he needs assistance getting beyond. He sure gets a kick out of taking us on "galks." Another thing he gets a big kick out of is following instructions. The other day he was looking for his Cookie Monster. Holding his hands, palm side up and shrugging his shoulders, he said "Cookie?" to which I said "Cookie is in your bedroom, under your crib." You could see the sparks flying as his brain processed this for 30 seconds or so, and then he took off running down the hall, giggling. Shawn and I sat on the couch wondering if and when he would come back. He did, about a minute later laughing all the way back down the hall and proudly presented Cookie to us. He also loves to put his clothes in his hamper for me. Only, we've recently redecorated his bedroom and moved the hamper to a new place. So I keep finding clothes in his trash can, which is right where the hamper used to be.

Tyler met Gramma Dee for the first time. He pulled his usual shy guy stint at first, but now he's fully enamored with her. She takes him on walks, gets him to fall asleep for naps, and the evening she put him to bed while Shawn & I went out to dinner, he slept through the night. They are bonding big time and it's great. We have completed the nursery and it's ready for a baby. Tyler does not appear to remember many of the things I've pulled out of the garage, like his car seat, swing and clothes. He just thinks they are new toys for him and his bears. He likes to buckle the bears in the car seat. Very cute.

Also, by some miracle, the singing frog Grandpa Neb brought back from the Phillippines is working better than ever so Tyler is really getting into his dancing moves. We went to Grandma and Grandpa Robert's for Grandpa's birthday yesterday and I let Tyler bring his frog, Rog. I'm laughing as I write that silly name but Tyler must say it at least 10 times a day. So Tyler and Rog put on their show for Grandma, Grandpa, Great Grandma, Great Granpa, Uncle Mike, Aunt Kristin and Gramma Dee (although she's seen it dozens of times in the short time she's been visiting). Rock side to side, give a little cha-cha-cha which Great Grandpa was convinced was the Salsa, spin around a few times, rock some more, and clap at the end. He anticipates the end and is usually grabbing Rog's hand to turn him back on just as his song comes to an end. We're still trying to capture this on video, as elusive Tyler seems to know whenever it's on him.

So today is Thursday and so far, every day this week Tyler has come home with an incident report informing us that he has bitten at least one child. That's the bad news. The good news is he slept through the night without waking up once last night. Yippee! But back to the bad news, his teachers asked us to come in and discuss how to handle the situation as it's obviously getting out of control. One day he bit two kids. I'm pretty sure he has bitten the same kid (Tyler H.) repeatedly which can lead to major problems if his parents ever confront us. Daycare's policy is not to tell who bit or who got bit, but I can usually drag it out of his teachers so I'm sure Tyler H's parents can too. If our Tyler came home three days in a row with a report that he was bit, I would demand the culprit get expelled. Hopefully Tyler H's parents are a little less extreme than I am. He also hit Ms. Jaclyn in the face one day when she told him repeatedly not to put his feet on the table while he was eating. Wow this boy is really acting out. So, they wanted to know if there were any problems at home they should know about. Problems? Uhh well I have this gigantic belly and it's taken away almost all my energy, his dad is unemployed and my blood pressure is too high. Not sure what they think they can do about any of that, but that was my answer. I think they were looking for something more along the lines of Tyler seeing changes in the house as we prepare for the new baby. Honestly, that can't be it because we really haven't started doing much yet. We're a little behind. Ok a lot behind. But we just got a reality check when the doctor sent me down to labor and delivery for monitoring my blood pressure and they threatened bed rest or induction. So now we've kicked into high gear to get the nursery ready and pack our bag for the hospital. All while I rest as much as possible. For now, I'm still gleeming about the good news. Our good sleeper is making a comeback.

Whenever he's in the car Tyler becomes hypnotized and begins zoning out to fall asleep. When we're sticking around town for errands I try to keep him awake by asking him questions. Last week he surprised me when I asked what a pig said and he replied with a snort. I was expecting to hear an oink but he snorted. It was so funny. He did it again that night for Daddy. They must have taught him to snort at daycare. You could practically see the wheels turning in Tyler's head as he slowing concentrated on making the sound through his nose. So anyway, we had him snorting all night because it was so funny. But I guess we didn't practice enough because now when you ask him what a pig says, you can see him searching for the sound in his brain but he can't seem to reproduce it anymore. It will come back. But it is so fascinating to watch him try to find it. Shawn noticed he looks up when he's thinking, just like we do. They say toddlers regress before they get good at a new skill. So he's regressing on the snorting skill for now. Which actually makes a lot of sense because before swim lessons started last week, he was great at blowing bubbles in the water. His swim teacher even noticed how good at bubbles he was at the very first lesson. Now that we practice blowing bubbles every day, he's suddenly forgotten how to do it. Don't blowing bubbles and snorting both stem from the same nasal area? So maybe he's just going to blow us away with this awesome snorting/bubble blowing talent in the next few days.

He is getting good at repeating words we say. One of his books has simple sentences like "This is a cow.... Hello duck... How are you, bear?" in several different languages. I've been reading the Spanish version to him the past few days and suddenly he's saying "Vaca and Oso" that's cow and bear for you non-Spanish speakers. It's so strange to hear this little American speaking in Spanish. Last night Daddy and Mommy said Buenos Noches to him as we put him to bed. He gave us some weird looks. I wonder if he knows that's a different language?

We went to Mark & Cathi's wedding yesterday. Trying to keep Tyler quiet through the ceremony was impossible, but thankfully it was a very short ceremony. At the reception, he really turned on the charm. Within minutes of entering the reception hall, Tyler located the dance floor and began dancing. How does he know you dance on the dance floor? I mean, you could hear the music from all parts of the room he wandered through, but he didn't dance until he was on that dance floor. That is very curious to me.

We have discovered Tyler has a dancing routine. He uses the same moves at home when he plays with the drumming frog and singing bear Grandpa Neb got him, but now we have confirmation he carries this routine over to other types of music. No idea where he learned this routine and we have yet to capture it on video tape, although we've tried many times. But it is hilarious. He leans forward at the waist, bends his knees, sticks his arms out behind him and sways side to side four times. Then he stands upright and begins turning around and around. Sometimes just two times around, sometimes he spins until he gets dizzy and falls down. If he's still got the rhythym, he starts walking backwards, which somebody pointed out looks like a moonwalk. At home, he incorporates this jitterbug thing where he shakes his body quickly without moving his feet. But apparently he's not ready to do that move in public. There were other kids, none quite as into dancing as Tyler, but they were all watching him intently. Whenever he was approached by another kid though, Tyler backed off. His dance moves are definitely made for one. This was all done in the first hour, while the wedding party took pictures, and by the time the real music started, Tyler was sound asleep. As Daddy said, he peaked a little early.

Our little buddy is driving his mommy and daddy crazy hogging up our bed. This weekend we will get him back to sleeping on his own, in his own bed. Where did we go so wrong? He was great at falling asleep and staying asleep on his own. It seems between changes in his routine (weekend trips and overnites at grandma's), teething, and too much sympathy from mom, Tyler has become attached to sleeping with us and can't handle a night without us. This next baby is never coming in our bed. (I know I know, I say that now...)

Our first week of swim lessons is behind us and we have definitely seen improvement. Tyler kicks on cue, and drinks far less water than he used to. He also is extremely comfortable in the water, especially on his back, and can turn from his stomach to his back on his own. It's a lot like the death roll alligators go into where they roll and roll keeping their nose just above the water, that's what Tyler does. It's funny though, he does not like his swim instructor and we can't figure out why. Even she has noticed he doesn't like her. We're working on it, but this is the first time I've seen him actually upset by somebody else. We're picking him up to start our weekend, always so much fun but so tiring too. I have no idea how stay at home mom's do it. It's been a very nice week of sleeping in, resting and relaxing for me and Shawn.

Tyler started swimming lessons this week. It's a parent-tot class and after two classes, he's still not sure what to make of it. The first day, he impressed the teacher by showing her how well he blows bubbles. This is something we have been practicing in the wading pool and bath for a while now. But the second day, he wasn't interested in blowing bubbles, or doing much of anything except floating on his back. We aren't sure if it's the sensation of water flowing into his ears as he floats on his back, or the feeling of looking up at the sky or what, but Tyler cracks up when he floats on his back. He kept his back arched and head tilted back the entire class, trying to get onto his back. We thought he might fall asleep in the pool floating on his back. He is definitely getting comfortable and familiar in the water, which is the ultimate goal of these introductory swimming lessons. We thought he'd begin sleeping better at night with all this new activity and exercise. Not the case. He's such a busy body it is really hard for him to turn his brain off so he can fall asleep. You can see him try to do it as he lies on his bed but then his fingers start tapping or he starts exploring his eyes, ears, nose, or he looks up and realizes he is surrounded by fun toys in his bedroom. So sleeping on the mattress isn't working out as well as we thought it would and we're going to put the crib back up so Mom and Dad can get some real nighttime sleep.

So much has happened I had to put it down on paper before my head explodes from trying to remember all this stuff. Tyler began giving real hugs. He's been dishing out the motion of hugs for a while, but now he puts a big umph into in and squeezes tight. It is the sweetest thing and I just can't get enough of it. Luckily, he doesn't get tired of giving them away. He can be across the room focusing intently on pulling two legos apart and sticking them back together, and all I have to do is ask for a hug. He'll look up, drop everything, get up and come running over to squeeze so tight. He's also begun speaking in long sentences. Long ones that don't contain many words I can understand. When we leave in the mornings, he says "Bye bye, dada. Dada, bye bye. Bye bye, dada. Dada, bye bye." That we understand. It's a little redundant but at least we know what he's saying.

We moved his crib out of the bedroom and he falls asleep on his mattress. This isn't working the way we planned because he still ends up in our bed by midnight. But he is getting better at falling asleep without getting up to play in his bedroom. We may move to plan Z (having already tried A-Y): Put the crib back up and let him cry it out all night. Nothing seems to help those nasty eye teeth. Although, he recently discovered biting my fingers feels good so now he constantly tries to grab a hold of my hand or arm and slowly brings it up to his mouth watching me to make sure I don't know what he's going to do. I think he moves slowly because his brain is telling him this is not okay to do and he's waiting for my reaction. Hopefully it's not because he thinks I won't notice if he moves slowly enough. He can't start thinking like that. I am terrified he is going to do this to one of his classmates at school and warned his teacher to keep an extra eye on him. She said so far he's been so occupied keeping his own fingers in his mouth, he hasn't gone for anyone else's. He got bit by Alana last week at school and Shawn is convinced that is why he's so interested in biting now. I'm pretty sure the two have less to do with each other and more to do with the age they are at and the teething they are going through.

He climbs out of his playpen. While we distraught parents were desperately trying to get him down for an overdue nap over the weekend, we finally resorted to putting him in the playpen and shutting his bedroom door while we left to try cooling down. Next thing we know, he comes running down the hall. This was shocking to all of us, Tyler included. We're not sure how he did this but haven't tried putting him back in it yet for fear of him breaking something as he falls out. He's been swimming a lot. Doesn't seem to mind getting his face under water one bit. We're a bit confused about his lack of a kicking instinct while under water. If he goes under, so far he just lets himself sink until we get him out of the water. I thought everyone kicked and instinctively fought to keep their head above water. I guess we'll learn more about this in another couple weeks when he starts swimming lessons. Hopefully we won't discover we've been doing everything wrong up until now.

We accidentally discovered he knows how to drink out of a straw. We went out to dinner at Strings to celebrate the onset of my contractions (Strings was where we ate when I told Shawn I was pregnant again) and had forgotten Tyler's sippy cup. I planned on just letting him sip out of a cup I held, but Shawn put the straw up to his mouth to see what he would do...he sucked and even ended the sips with a big ahhhh. We were impressed! Bring on the crazy straw.

His favorite things are still his favorites: peas, spaghetti, crackers, wearing Chili's leash around the house, balloons, bracelets (this includes anything that fits around his arm; my purse, his ring-toss rings, Chili's frisbee disk, etc.), Daddy's hat, Mommy's fascinating belly button, and talking on the phone. I am exhausted all the time. Keeping up with him is not an easy task. We've recently tried wearing him out before bedtime by taking him swimming, to the park, on car rides, soaking in warm bath, etc. he still doesn't seem interested in sleeping for more than 2 or 3 hours in his own room each night. Then he comes into our bed. I predict we get a king sized bed soon, as he prefers sleeping perpendicular to us, leaving Shawn and me with about ten inches each on the edge of the bed. That's what we have been up to for the past week.