Tyler Today....May 31, 2010

• Right now Tyler is 4 years and 7 months old.
• He is extremely social....says hello to everyone and starts to talk to them....He tells them whatever is on his mind and just starts rambling. He (and Kelsi) will even shout hello to people as we walk across a parking lot.
• He LOVES school. He wishes the day was longer and he wishes that he went more than 3 days.
• He needs some quiet down-time when school is over...He gets very grumpy without it!
• He is "friends" with everyone in his class. He never plays with the same kids repeatedly. He says that they are all his friends....but he does seem to talk a bit more about Grace than anyone else!
• He loves breakfast. He eats the most at breakfast and he likes it all...cereal, oatmeal, eggs, french toast, muffins, fruit, yogurt with granola and more!
• He has double ear infections again! After a doctor free winter, he complained of ear pain in April and it turned out to be double ear infections. THis last week he has had a bad cough but said that his ears didn't hurt....turned out to be double ear infections again!!! He has been crabby and now that explains it!!!
• He has a high tolerance for pain....see the last bullet point....he STILL says that his ears never hurt and the doctor is amazed!!!
• He saw his first 3D movie this month with Noni...How to Train Your Dragon and he is not collecting the little men and dragons from the movie...He has 2 dragons and just got Hiccup.
• He STILL loves dinosaurs and animals....He plays with anything to do with those the most and once in a while will integrate cars....
• He LOVES to do art projects....stickers, painting, drawing, cutting, punching, etc.
• He has a small foot...He has worn the same size 8 sneakers since September!!
• He loves Kelsi...most of the time!! THey play very well together one moment, and then are screaming at each other the next....mostly because one took something from the other....that happens constantly!!!
• He sleeps from 7ishpm-about 6isham....He has given up naps completely....Since September he has slept in the afternoon only a handful of times!
• He still has quiet time in his room....it used to last about an hour, but not he comes down after about 10-15 minutes to "give me a hug and kiss"....Then he stares at me and says, "Can I stay down now?"....a riot!!
• There are two FUNNY stories that he has done and I never wrote about....I will get them in here!! One day we were headed out to dinner to meet up with Douglas and I said, "Aren't you excited....we havent gone out to eat in a long time....we have been trying to eat healthier and we have been trying to save some money." He looked at me in the rearview mirror and with serious face said, "Then you should switch to Amica. It can save you tons of money." I almost died!!! I said where did you learn that..."On the commercial".
• The other story happened at lunch one day....He was eating ziti with a fork and he was staring at the ziti....He scoops one up with his fork, looks right at it and says, "What a beauty!" I looked at him and said, "What did you just say?", and he goes, "What a beauty. I am fishing and that is what they say when they catch on on Dada's show!"
• He watches Dinosaur Train, Penguins of Madagascar, Caillou, Animal Planet shows, Zooboomafoo and some DVD movies.
• He loves his grandparents...both sets! He loves when they come to visit!!
• He loves his Trevor...we don't see them as much right now (busy schedules), but it is still his BFF and when they see each other it is the same as it has always been....like they were together the day before!
• He likes to help...He does a great job helping Dada in the yard and he even likes to help cook/bake.
• He doesn't clearly resemble Mama or Dada...He must just be a true mix!
• He loves his Mama and Dada....I don't even think that he has favorites....He enjoys me when I am home and when Dada is home, he is happy to be with him!! Dada reads to him 99.5% of the nights because Kelsi "needs" me....When Tyler finally realizes that it has been a while since I have read to him, we switch!
• Right now, things seem to come easy to him...he transitions well from activity to activity and from place to place, he is social - so he can meet new people easily and he is doing well in school (I know it is preschool, but so far so good)....I just hope that things always continue to come easily to him!!

Love you my little handsome man!!

Recap #3...July 2009

July 2009....The pictures are definitely not in the right order, but I am happy to have them all together in one place for the month!!

This first group of pictures are some of my favorites...A day in the yard, working on the garden, turned into an impromptu photo shoot on the steps of the shed! Three of these photos ended up on standouts and were hung in the dining room...it took me a while to actually do it because I wasn't in love with the outfits!! The bold colors ended up matching our new yellow dining room, so I finally bit the bullet and got them made up!

These next two are two of the three that are up in the dining room!

Tyler was LOVING jumping off the step...he kept telling me to take pictures and then he wanted to see himself jump! Those arms were the only thing Kelsi could copy...she was too scared to jump, so she just did the jump arms and giggled!

Love this one too!

The packed car...at all times....I can see beach things and photography props...amongst other things, I am sure!

Kelsi and cousin Jorja...Love the sweetness of this picture...

Movie time with Noni...It was one of the free summer movies at the Lincoln, RI theatre...We saw one of the Shrek movies.

Then we played on the machines in the mall lobby!

Backyard playtime...This is a perfect picture of Kelsi...not because it is the best technical photograph but because it show her completely! She always has a doll with her or something to carry...she has a bit of hoarding in her, just like her mom! This was actually the beginning of her doing this...Now (May, 2010), it is regular routine...she takes an animal or baby in the car with her whereever we go!

They first started watering the garden and then ended up watering themselves! They were pouring cup-fulls of water over their own heads!

During this month and August too, Tyler and Kelsi were going to ScribbleTime from 8-12 two days a week so that I could edit! They loved it once they were there, but Kelsi was having a hard time getting dropped off...Tyler had NO problems!! Kelsi would also scream and cry, the second she spotted me coming to pick her up! I would have to carefully peek around the corner to see it she was done eating lunch and if she was still eating, I would quickly go grab Tyler from his room....He would always get all of his stickers for good behavior!

Tyler also did one session of swim lessons...It was his first time getting in the water by himself with just a teacher...I wasn't sure how he would do, so I planned on Kelsi and I just sitting and watching him...He loved every minute of it and had NO problem getting right in...He was so sad when the lesson ended.

By the time we took swim lessons again in February, Tyler was swimming with only 2 bubbles (no noodle), and his teacher said that he could even swim without the bubble (but just barely!)...Kelsi and I took lessons in February 2010 also...She was the oldest in the class, and was the only one swimming on her own...first she was only doing the bike pedal with her legs, but by the end of April, she could coordinate both her arms and legs to move at the same time! So proud!

Kelsi's 2nd birthday party in our backyard...She clung to me for most of the party, and wasn't feeling so well....It turned out to be the start of conjunctivitis and she ended up on drops for her eyes!

Pushing Jorja with Auntie Sue!

We had a bouncy house and the cotton candy machine for two years in a row!

We also had a pinata!

Kelsi and Delaney

Special popcorn treat in the cute containers that Aunt Joan bought...Kelsi has a big cut/scab below her nose because of Rudy...It was the final straw that led us to seek out another home for Rudy...Rudy knocked Kelsi off the back brick steps. She fell to the brick ground and landed on her face.

I love that adoring look on Kelsi's face...I wish she was watching Tyler do something nice...but tongue out face, obviously intrigued her!
I took this picture just after Kelsi turned two...I was the last time that we would need whole mild! At age two, they transition to 1% or skim!

At the end of July, we had our first annual Chick Family Cookout. With all of our busy lives, it is hard to travel to all the birthday parties, so we thought it would be a nice idea to have a special party once a year to celebrate everyone's birthday at one time!

The slip-n-slide was a big hit! Kelsi wouldn't actually do it and neither would Kaitlyn, but everyone else enjoyed it...Jeff and Sue couldn't keep Jorja away from the spraying water!

Kaitlyn and Kelsi were loving jumping in Pop's arms!

We used our slip-n-slide all summer...Tyler and Kelsi loved it and I think it was $9.99!

In July we also visted Auntie Joan down in Onset. She rented a cottage for her vacation week! We played on the beach for the morning and ate lunch back at the cottage!

Next up is August and September!