Happy Mama Day

Happy Mother's Day 2010! I have to say I had the most PERFECT Mother's Day. I got to do all of my favorite things today. I started off the day with some one-on-one quality time with Tyler while Mike slept in (until 7:30). Then we had our Sunday morning traditional breakfast of egg and cheese bagels and fresh fruit. After a little more play time, I got to skip out to the gym for my favorite exercise class. I came home and we had tacos for lunch then went to close-by Miller Park Zoo. Although it's a pretty small zoo (it only took an hour to walk through), we got to see some bigger animals--a tiger, leopard, bear, sea lions. Tyler is planning to go to Brookfield Zoo with his Grandma and Grandpa Ellsworth when we are on vacation next week so we thought it would be a good introduction for him. Then while Tyler and Mike napped, I went out to get my hair cut and highlighted. When I got home we went for a walk/wagon ride before dinner. For dinner I made my very favorite meal--Italian beef sandwiches!! The night ended with watching the series finale of The Amazing Race and the Celebrity Apprentice with Mike while I painted my fingernails and toenails. It's been the best Mother's Day yet and I can only imagine that each one will get better and better as my little man grows!

18-Month Checkup

We took Tyler to see the pediatrician for his 18-month checkup. He is 33 inches long (75th percentile) and 29 pounds, 4 ounces (88th percentile). The doctor was very pleased to see how much he has developed in the last 3 months and has no concerns about his health or development!

Happy 18-Month Birthday Tyler!

Happy 18-month birthday to you
Happy 18-month birthday to you
Happy 18-month birthday dear Tyler
Happy 18-month birthday to you!

Many more birthdays to you
Many more birthdays to you
Many more birthdays dear Tyler
Many more birthdays to you!

Tyler is a year and a half old! That sounds so much older than 18-months! Yes, he is a big boy now! His check-up isn’t until Tuesday so I don’t have the exact numbers but I will post his weight, height and percentiles after the appointment. I know this much—he is wearing size 3T shirts and 2T pants so he is a BIG boy for his age!

Tyler's language skills have really taken off in the last 3 months. He can say about 25 words really clearly (his current favorites are “hot” and “bus”) but I am sure he is saying much more that we just can’t make out yet. He seems to understand most everything we say however he is beginning the “selective listening” stage. Lookout terrible twos! He is starting to do some “big kid” things now—he loves to feed the dog, is brushing his own teeth, uses a fork and spoon fairly well and has just recently been using his potty chair pretty consistently on the weekends at home. We are so proud of him and he is starting to show pride in himself and in all his accomplishments. His personality is super-sweet. He is now giving kisses and likes to receive them. He is almost always smiling or giggling!

Here are some pictures from the last month….

Easter Egg hunting at home. It didn't last very long once Tyler realized the eggs that made noise had M&Ms inside!

Easter at Grandma and Grandpa Breclaw's--Tyler taking his first swing at T-ball

Wearing his new shades--inside!

Enjoying some beautiful Spring weather in the backyard

Modeling for the camera

Coloring Easter Eggs 2010

Coloring Easter Eggs 2009

OH MY! How things have changed in the last year! We decided to color Easter Eggs again this year, this time with a little more involvement from Tyler! Mike got us all these dinosaur shirts from his credit union....Tyler's is a children's size X-Small but still WAY too big so we decided it would be his "art shirt". So he and I got all dressed up in our "art clothes" and got ready to color the eggs. We figured we would dye the real eggs and let Tyler "color" the plastic ones. Turned out he had more fun just playing with the plastic eggs and watching us. For some unknown but unfortunate reason, the crayon we used didn't come through on the eggs so they didn't turn out as well as hoped. We still had a lot of fun though!



The final result

It's "Potty" Time!

We bought Tyler a potty chair for Easter (when he'd be closer to 18 months) but he is so curious about our toilet and how we use it. So we decided to give him his potty a little early for his 17-month birthday. We don't really plan to start potty training yet but figured it would be good for him to get the concept of sitting on it for now. He seemed a little intimidated at first but now seems to like his "toy"!


Mommy and Tyler reading "A Potty For Me" together

Carefully inspecting the "goods"

Looks fun when Hershey the Bear sits on it

It's fun for Tyler to sit on it too!

End of the Month Random Pictures

I got the camera out today because Tyler was looking extra cute, to me at least and I'm not biased at all, right?! ;)

Thought I'd share a few pictures....

Big smiles
Ready for Spring Training--or at least for Spring!
Go Sox!!! He doesn't look very optimist though does he?

Valentine's Day

This year we spent Valentine's Day with Grandma and Grandpa Ellsworth. Here are some pictures from the fun day....

SweetheartsHappy Family
Tyler with Grandma and Grandpa E.
Tyler with Grandma E.
Tyler and Grandpa E. having fun