Mother's Day

Mommy and Tyler

Look... no hands!!

Uh oh... I fell down!!

11 months, really??

Wow...I can't believe that in less than a month our little man will be ONE!! He's growing so quickly and learning more and more every day. He's now pointing to lots of things and can actually distinguish (most of the time at least) between "mama" and "dada". And, we think he is trying to say "cat" too? At least he points to them and something that sounds like "cat" comes out. He's not walking yet, but he does balance himself for short periods of time and he moves very confidently with the aid of furniture. I'm guessing it probably won't be long until we are really in for it. Although as fast as he can get around on all fours, it probably won't be much different. :)

Family Portraits

Easter

leaving carrots for the Easter Bunny...


I found an egg...


now I'm going to eat it.

All dressed up for Easter

(brrr...it's cold for Easter... )

Tyler's 10 Months Old

So...I have to say that I cannot believe it's time to start thinking about Tyler's first birthday. The past 10 months with him have been so amazing. This month has again brought many smiles to our faces and many "did he really just do that" moments, as well as his Tyler's first wagon ride and trips to the zoo and beach. Of course the ocean wasn't quite warm enough to take a dip in, but he did have his first experience with sand. After a few minutes of trepidation (from the sound of the ocean I think), he decided "this stuff is pretty neat!".

The little guy wants to talk so badly...he just babbles on and on as if we know exactly what he is saying, while we smile and talk right back (all the while wondering "what in the world is he thinking about"and does he really understand us?). He is walking with his walk-behind car now, and can go pretty far before he decides he's had enough, drops to his bottom and takes off crawling (since that method of movement gets him to his final destination MUCH quicker. He's a little speed racer when he crawls!), and as of last night has figured out how to climb our stairs (I guess we can't put off the gates any longer, huh?).

He is also loving life with the animals. In fact, chasing after the kitty was his main motivation in determining how to climb the stairs last night. As he got closer, the kitty would move further up the stairs and Tyler went right on up as well. Every now and then he'd turn around and see how far up he was, but that didn't seem to frighten him at all, because he'd turn right around and keep going. Maybe the fact that daddy was right behind him gave him some piece of mind, but I'm afraid we've got a little dare devil on our hands!

9 Months Old!

This has been a fun month for Tyler...do I say that every month? Well...he just seems to become more fun with each passing month. He can now pull himself up on anything that will hold his weight and is starting to cruise from piece to piece too. He's even gotten brave a few times, letting go altogether, to test himself. At first it was an immediate drop to the floor, but he's gradually adding a second here and there to the free stand. He can go hands free for about 4 seconds now. As for crawling...well, it took him a little while to discover this method of movement, but now that he has, there is no stopping him. He is literally everywhere. We have to barricade him into the family room, to keep him from roaming the house.

We're on the go...

It's not exactly crawling, but Tyler has instead chosen scooting as his preferred method of mobility...and appropriately enough since "Scooter" is one of the many nicknames daddy gave him many months ago. In fact, he was demonstrating his ability to scoot at just weeks old, when he would try to scoot himself up daddy's belly, closer to his face.

I got it!

nap time...

He has also mastered going from lying on his back or belly to a sitting position. This was a feat we were not completely expecting. Imagine our surprise when we woke to find him sitting in his crib playing!!


And finally, he is desperately trying to stand and even take steps. He will try to pull himself up on whatever he can find. We have to keep a hand close by for the moment he gets tired and just drops to the floor, but he really does a good job.

He also likes to stand with the assistance of his walk-behind push cart. He understands the concept of pushing it and the fact that he is supposed to take steps behind it. However, he sometimes pushes just a bit too far and has to be caught by mom or dad.

look at me!

After months of only slight interest in moving around, he seems to be giving in to his exploratory nature all at once. Watch out world...here I come!!

He has also taken a strong liking to Cheerios...and he is a master at shoveling them in, as fast as they appear in his sight. In fact, we have to limit how many are within his reach, because he is a stuffer and will shove as many in as he can. But boy does he love them. I joking asked Les one night if too many Cheerios were harmful to a baby, because he loves them so much.


Lastly, we are very much enjoying his jabbering. Daddy especially, as we have frequently been hearing "dadadada" coming out of his little mouth. Since I can't capture that in a shot for you, I've posted his 7 month pictures instead.


This has definitely been a very exciting month for us, and we are looking forward to everything that Tyler is about to discover and show us he can do. Until next month...

Our Best Christmas Ever!!

Without a doubt, this was our best Christmas ever. It truly seemed like the never ending Christmas, with trips to WV and TX to celebrate with both of our families.

Of course Tyler was too young to really understand what was going on...but he did enjoy pulling the bows and paper off of all the packages...and in true Tyler fashion they went straight to his mouth!

Tyler's other big milestone over the past month was the arrival of his bottom two middle teeth. He's started to look like such a little "big" boy and he is so much fun. Hope you enjoy the pictures.