Just want to drop a note that I love, love, love this age. Tyler is so cute!!!! I love how he says “hi” and “bye” to everything. “Hi truck, bye truck”. I love how his face lights up when he sees people to wave to.

I also love how we have set our house up. There are plenty of places and things for Tyler to check out and not get bored. We were going for a walk today, but he just kept toddling around in front of the house. So I asked him if he wanted to go play in the sandbox which he hasn’t been in for a while. He turns tail and heads to the front door, in the house and to the backyard. Didn’t know that he knew the word, but he knew what I meant. He has been playing out there happily filling a bucket of sand for the last 15 minutes or so. I just love we have enough variety, that he is’t bored.

The playroom is always a winner, so I try really hard not to overuse it. We are up there when I shower, sometimes when Daddy comes home and plays with him and rainy days. Today my doula is coming over for a prenatal visit, so we will probably hang out up there.

Ug, I know this routine is going to change too soon. I don’t do well with change. I am probably going to mourn the loss of routine and Tyler and I’s enjoyable days. I am going to return to that dishoveled mess I was when Tyler was a baby, but oh well. I know that everyone goes through it.

I read a fabulous article entitled The Birth of a Second Child: A Unique Impact on the Family System. It was a great eye-opener into what we will be experiencing very soon. I am ready to pput some more energy into getting ready for this. Anyway, need to go….we have music class in a little bit, so I should get ready and start coaxing Tyler out of the sandbox. I am charging the battery for my camera – have some more cute pics I want to take and post soon.

The most amazing cold front has blown in and the weather around here is nothing short of AMAZING!! Monday’s high was 79 degrees!! Tyler and I spent every moment outside that we could. We went to Zilker in the morning and I let Tyler walk down the pedestrian bridge under Mopac – with water on both sides – he was in heaven!! We then went over to Barton Springs, got our feet wet (and shorts), and played in the water. We then took another ride on the Zilker Zephyr Kiddie Train. Tyler LOVES riding the train!! That afternoon it was off to the Austin Science and Nature Center to look at animals, more water, and to play in their HUGE dino pit (a massive sandbox).

The first two pics are from the Austin Science and Nature Center. Tyler has become choo-choo train crazy now. So when he sees a train, he will immediately look up the train in his Toy book (that book lives in the car). Today he wantesd to hold onto the book when I took him out of the car. He started walking down the sidewalk while “reading” his book. It was pretty cute!!

Tyler Walking and Reading

For the longest time if you opened a book with words, Tyler would take his hands and swat them out of yours. He was also about picture books – especially anything with a flap, tag, etc. which he occasionally likes to destroy.

Well, just a few days ago he has gone nuts for two books. They are both Bearenstein bear books – one is a counting books about bears on wheels. He will sit there are say “bears and wheels”. The other is about three bears that go into a scary tree. He brought them both to me the other morning. He opened up the scary tree book and was showing me the “bats”.

It is just amazing to watch how FAST he changes!!! Fun stuff! Chris must be happy – he is finally moving away from the truck books he wanted read over and over.

That is because for the most part it is a non-issue. Tyler is up only once or twice a night and usually the waking in incredibly brief and then we are back asleep until about 7am. Even on a “bad” night, they are no where near as bad as they used to be. I still get cranky when he takes a long time – which is really terrible of me because I should remember it could be a million times worse.

I am thinking about nightweaning again, but lazy as I am it probably won’t happen. However, the prospect of nursing two at night has me a little panicked. I don’t think I could tolerate laying still that long. Then again, if I was tired enough – I probably wouldn’t mind.

Who knows. Anyway, I had said we were in a new phase a while back and we are. It is a great one too!

Our Little Man
I can’t believe that Tyler is 18 months! He has gotten to be such a big boy! I was telling Chris the other day that I need to stop calling him “baby” and start calling him my “little man”. He does so many amazing things every day. Here are some of his latest

– Two Words! He has been stringing “hi” and “bye” together with other words (“hi, kids”, “bye, tractor”). But just today he said “more cheese”. Very cool!

– Puzzles! He is starting to become really interested in his puzzles and will work on them a bit. His patience has increased and he is starting to slide the pieces in place. In fact, he has started to bring me puzzles to work on like he brings us books to read. It is so neat!

– Magnets! He has the little magnet farmhouse that has the front and back of several animals. When you put the magnets in, a song plays based on what animals you popped in. A match gives you a song about a duck, etc. and a mismatch gives you a song about a “pig-duck -that’s funny”. Anyway, Tyler is finally figured out how to turn and manipulate the pieces to get them in. He is so very proud of himself too!!

– Shape Sorters and Patience. Like his puzzles and magnet farm, the same goes for his shape sorters. It is just neat because he used to try once and then throw the pieces in frustration. He still has that same impatience and will call for my help when something doesn’t “work”, but at least he spends a bit more time trying to get it on his own.

– Big Steps! Just today he sucessfully stepped down into our sunken living room on his own. He was so excited that he has to “practice” it a few more times. He was so proud. He is really getting good at bigger step-downs and is starting to get more interested in climbing on things.

– Whatcha Doing Mom? Just a few days ago, I got tired of holding Tyler while cooking (he wanted “up”), so I dragged over a chair and stood him on it. Luckily our chairs put him at the perfect height for our counters. He really enjoyed the view. He will now drag a chair over to the counter on his own and then request “up” to be placed on the chair – so cute!

– Funny stuff! We went out to eat at Austin Java with Chris’ parents. I was sharing my chicken burger with Tyler, so I tore off some meat, gave it to Tyler and said “chicken” (he knows what that is). Before he picked up the meat, he made a chicken noise, “bawk!”. Chris and I were howling. Chris then gave Tyler some if his burger telling him “cow”. It was just too funny – we were rolling!

– Adding Audio to his Play. Tyler now makes noises for his cars and animals and whatever he is playing with. It is so funny to see what he comes up with.

– A Note About Accomplishments. Real quickly I wanted to say that what is so cool about Tyler’s accomplishments is seeing how proud he is of himself. He loves to have us share in his accomplishments, but the main souce of satisfaction comes from within him. I hope we don’t interfere with that and he can do that for himself his entire life. I think it is important that he learns that his job isn’t to make us proud, but to make himself proud.

– Life is easier now. Yeah, I couldn’t say that at a year, but I really can now. Things are truly better. There are a lot of reasons why I am sure, but one main thing is that this is a great age. We have a good routine and we are lucky that he is able to communicate with us so clearly. Of course, now that things are good…we are about to stir it up. Such is life – we are just needing a new challenge and she will be here soon.

Well, it is honestly a pretty ho-hum day. Chris had to work this morning, so Tyler and I ran an errand and played at the park. If the 60% chance of thunderstorms doesn’t occur, then we are supposed to go on an hour and a half boat ride on Town Lake with Chris’ parents and then get some dinner.

Ya know, all these years, until I became a Mom, I never realized how important Mother’s Day is. Being a Mom is a thankless job. There are a lot of little things we do every day that go unnoticed and unthanked, but we do them because we love our kids and our family. It is the ONE day a year where we thank and celebrate our Moms and how miserable our lives would be without them. I wish I had put more effort into the things I did for my Mom on Mother’s Day when I was younger. I guess it is just one of those things you don’t “get” until you are there.

In celebration of the day, I posted two pics from our trip of Susan and I with our kids. I need to get going – Tyler is napping and a Mom’s job(or jobs) are never done. Happy Mother’s Day to all the mamas out there! You are amazing women – each and every one of you!

Balmorhea State Park
Day Two we wake up, have a quick breakfast in our room, get re-packed, check out and head to Balmorhea State Park. The main features at Balmorhea are the San Soloman Springs and its spring-fed swimming pool. There are neat cabins you can rent that were built by the CCC in the New Deal days. The whole place feels like this oasis in the desert. Tyler did take a dip in the pool and seemed to enjoy it although it was chilly. It was the perfect place to stop, relax and have a little lunch. You will see a photot of a friendly animal – Susan said chipmunk and Chris said it was a relative of the prarie dog – we don’t know what he was, but he wasn’t afraid of us and wanted our lunch! Any ideas anyone?

Guadalupe Mountains
Of the entire trip, I think we were most excited to get to the Guads. We were so jazzed to set up our tents and do the camping thing. We got to the campgrounds and were a little nervous that the campsites were too small for our tents. Thankfully, we found adjoining campsites that would accomodate us and got set up. We had dinner, did a little exploring and then did our best to get the kids to bed.

One funny note was that we thought about how the kids would love the camping part. What we didn’t realize is that the desert environment is not necessarily friendly to kids – it is very rocky and there are tons to spiky, thorny cacti and plants. There were a lot of “no” and wrangling at first, but the kids quickly figured out the area they could occupy and were pretty mindful. Tyler actually touched a cactus the first day and got 4 long needles in his one finger. I pulled them right out and he didn’t even wince. Luckily, that was the last time he did it though. There were plenty of scrapes and bruises, but the kids overall didn’t seem to mind.