up north

Allen and I took Tyler up north to Grandma and Grandpa Borcher's cabin near Baldwin. It was so nice to just get away and Tyler just had a blast! But what kid wouldn't when they got to spend ALL their day outside? We left Friday afternoon and Ty slept the whole way there. Allen and I were concerned about his sleeping and napping (normally does not do that well) but he kinda surprised us with 2 naps on Saturday and 2-3 hour nap Sunday. Night time was a little different as he ended up in the rocker with Daddy one night and slept ON me the other. And both days was up at the crack of dawn with the birds.... Each morning he would wake up, eat like 2 bites of breakfast then haul me over to the door... "side, side"... He played with the water in his little pool there, went a quad ride with Daddy, went on a hike with Mommy, played ball w/ Daddy and Uncle Tony and got to see cousins Eli and Cheyenne and lots of other random people - he didn't care though, he took it all in and was a huge ham! Of course it is all fun and games until some one gets hurt.... well I expect a few scratches and bug bites and stuff (hello? it is the woods!) but on Saturday morning Tyler was SO excited to see Grampa up, he ran, tripped on his blanket and biffed it so that he ended up with a fat lip; bottom teeth puncture the top lip :( Of course he was screaming and I had no idea at first, but after some much needed snuggling about 20 minutes later was raring to go!!! All in all it was SO worth the lack of sleep to how much he loved it there, and I didn't even care that he was as filthy as Pig Pen!!! It will be fun to bring him again and see how he remembers.

Becoming a "big boy".....

This weekend Tyler got to have a sleepover at Gramma Borchers house, while Mommy froze her tail off watching Daddy race. :) He seemed to have a lot of fun here, and who wouldn't with going to the park, getting a tattoo (wash off kind obviously) and staying up late... he had a blast! Allen and I got to enjoy a nice night to ourselves including SLEEPING IN! Ahhhh.... And then Sunday it was back to reality.

I must say Tyler is really just blooming before our eyes. I finally had to buy him new jeans and tennis shoes because he has just shot right up in height and all a sudden his feet grew like a size and a half?!?!?! He has been talking so much (still don't understand most of it) but is saying more and more words all the time. He now says "at" for hat, "cuck" for truck and instead of Dada can now say "daadee" (so adorable!).

Tyler is still a big helper with putting coats and shoes away, replacing caps/lids and even in the bathroom. He loves to come in the bathroom, close the lid and says "all done" and the will flush the toilet. I am very pleased with the interest he shows in this, and if he keeps it up, we may just be trying potty training this fall!!! (I know, don't count my chickens) AND after dropping the mattress to lowest level, we found out real quick that he can still get out. THANKFULLY, with a little coaching, Tyler has been staying in his bed for naps and bedtime!! YAY!

I am looking forward to a nice long BEAUTIFUL holiday weekend we have ahead of us! I'm sure we will be outside LOTS!

one little monkey....

Friday afternoon I had an appointment for a manicure/pedicure as a little treat to myself for Mother's Day. Gramma Pickerd was nice enough to come over and watch Tyler while I was away. He had gone down for a nap right before I left. By the time I had got home he was no longer napping. He had slept for about an hour and Gramma had heard him over the monitor and then all was quiet again. All of a sudden was the sound of a door opening and then the pitter patter of little feet. Gramma got upstairs as fast a she could only to find out one little monkey had climbed out of bed, went into Mommy and Daddy's room, shut the door and turned on the TV. WHAT A LITTLE STINKER!

That afternoon........ after waking up for a nap, no need to call "mama", sure just get out of bed and go play in our room.

Saturday morning...... Al shot out of bed startled by the sound of our door (which startled me out of a dead sleep) to find Ty awake and out of bed. "Hiiiiii" says Tyler.....

Saturday nap times..... who needs a nap when you can crawl out of your bed FIVE times?!?!!? At this point was not willing to stay in his bed and ends up falling asleep in Mommy's arms on the couch.

Sunday morning..... HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! "Hiiii" again from Ty as he pulls and pulls on my fingers to get me out of bed at 7:00 AM..... Guess he didn't get the memo that mommies are supposed to sleep in! That day we dropped his mattress to the absolute lower (was yet - didn't think this would come so soon!).

Sunday night.... I think he was just way to exhausted, but stayed in bed all night!

Monday night..... I put Tyler to bed around 8:45 p.m. and he was good until I hear banging and then the door trying to be opened. Sure enough as soon as I get up there and open the door there is Ty and this time he knew he was in trouble. When I scooped him up he started crying instantly. So I just told him "You are tired and it is time for nu-night. You are to stay in your bed and you do not get out of your bed". To very much my surprise he did! YAY! He did cry, which I figured he would but not for long and went right to sleep.

I am hoping that this tactic will work, I know he is becoming a "big boy" but Mommy is just not ready for Big Boy Bed.

Hope all you mothers had a nice Mother's Day!

little heartbreaker

So, Tyler has not really ever had a problem with going to daycare. The exception was a phase of separation anxiety when he was an infant which passed in like two weeks time. Since then he has always known when we got there and would scramble like crazy trying to get out of car seat because he was so excited to be there. And during that time he could care less that I was leaving him there. Recently when we pull into the driveway he is still be excited and wants to go in but now once inside, he will suction himself to me like a starfish, wrapping his legs around my leg, locking his feet and arms around my neck grabbing my clothes. And he is UNBELIEVABLY strong for how little he is! He also recently has been extra whiney, clingy, just really not seeming to know what he wants exactly. Anyway..... Today was the kicker. Brought him to daycare, was ready to get out of the car and go in. Got in there and, that's right, STARFISH! Did NOT want me to go. We tried distracting him with basketballs, bouncy balls, even the slide and wanted NOTHING to do with it. I think he has figured out what we are trying to do, sticking little smarty. I finally said that's it, I had to go. Told Tyler "Mama is going to say good bye and then give you too Mrs. Sandy" I gave him a couple kisses and handed him over. Of course he was crying instantly as I walked away. I turned around to say "Bu-bye" and there he was in Sandy's arms with his hand just a reaching for me crying "Ma, ma, ma, ma, ma". And as I continued to leave, tears rolled down my cheeks.

Family Time

This weekend Tyler and I took a little trip with Gramma Pickerd up to Traverse City. The main event was Uncle Tom's wedding (Congrats!) but we also got a chance to enjoy some time with all the family, including Papa Pickerd! Allen was unfortunately unable to come with us since there was a scheduled race already. We left Friday morning, and Tyler did pretty well. Slept most of the way and by the time we got there he was ready to be OUT! We stayed with Granny Yetter. Did a little shopping (you have to any time you go there) and spaghetti dinner and a movie to follow. I was really nervous about Tyler sleeping (or rather NOT sleeping) for the night. And tried to hold him 'til he fell asleep and ended up having to put him in the pack n' play and just let him cry. Didn't take very long, but before he fell asleep he managed to pull about 10 books (guesstimate count that I pulled out when I went to bed) off the shelf his bed was next to and into bed with him. At 5:30 a.m. he woke up and I think he realized he was not at home and freaked so he ended up in bed with Mommy for the rest of sleep time.

Saturday morning we got up had breakfast with Granny and got ready to go meet Papa Pickerd at the Great Lakes Children's Museum. They were having a special day - Clifford the big red dog and Curious George were visiting! I thought Ty would be totally afraid, well much to my surprise it was the exact opposite and the second he saw them he took off to go say "Iiiii" (Hi). TOTALLY cute!!! He had a blast the whole time we were there and really took to Grandpa..... After, I was STARVING, so we headed off to Taco House (I have to stop every time I am there - so YUMMY!) for an early lunch. We said our goodbyes and headed back to Granny's for change and get to Uncle Tom's wedding. What a handful Tyler was. At this point he had not had a nap at all, so I think he was just overly tired and had had it at that point. We did find out, however, that Tyler does like both fish and tomatoes. He must have eaten about 5 cherry tomatoes, just popped 'em right in his mouth. Needless to say, as we headed home Saturday afternoon, Ty was OUT like a light the second the car got moving and slept most the way home.

Sunday, Allen and I took Tyler over to Grandpa Davis'. The car is finally finished with paint, stickers and all!! I just had to see it! From there we took a nice little family walk through the neighborhood down to Dairy Dip. It was too nice of day to not grab some ice cream! It felt so good just be out in the sun and enjoy some nice relaxing time together. Now, if we can only keep this weather around, what a bonus that would be!