Monday, October 11, 2010

New Sand Box

Way back in June, my dad came over to help Adam build a sand box for Tyler
Tyler helped - by lifting the "heabee blocks"
Here is the finished project...and here is where it sat - for the last four months!Finally, the moons aligned and it worked out for Adam to take a day off to do yard work and get the sand box set up in the yard - and for grandpa to be home to help load and unload the sand from their yard and bring over to fill the big box!
Tyler played and played in his new sand box today!

He had so much fun, he was laying down and rolling in the sand!
He had to have a bath before lunch!
Thank you Daddy, Grandpa, and Uncle David for helping give me this fun place to play!!!
Love, Tyler

Playing Ball with Grandpa

Tyler has been excited to "break in" his new T-ball set! He has played with Mom & Dad, Grandpa & Grandma Haselhuhn, and then took it over to Ames to play with Grandpa Stephens. He likes to bat one-handed and hit the ball with the handle of the bat, just to see if that worked better.

Birthday Party

We celebrated Tyler's second birthday this past Saturday with a Thomas the Train themed party with our family. Tyler loved opening all his presents, getting to play with cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents....and eating cake! He is growing up so fast!
He couldn't wait to play with his new drill and all his new train toys!

I decorated his Thomas cake - took a long time, but he really liked it!
2nd Birthday Cake
1st Birthday Cake
Same bib, same blue eyes, one year older!

Tyler Turns TWO!

On Wednesday morning, October 6th we woke our sleeping toddler up by singing him Happy Birthday like we did last year - here are the two videos to compare:
2009

2010


Then we took Tyler out for a birthday breakfast. We drove Dad home so he could work and then Tyler and Mom went to the Library to play with the trains and go to story time. We were there for 2.5 hours!!!
We had birthday lunch at McDonnalds and then Tyler met a new friend who was very nice and helped him play in the big play area (it is really built for kids taller than Tyler but he has figured out how to maneuver his way around already). We had a great day!

Weekend Trip to SWIA

On the first weekend in October we drove down to my hometown (Clarinda). Saturday morning we bundled up and went to watch the 3-hour Southwest Iowa Band Jamboree Parade on the Clarinda town square. Lots of bands and lots of chilly wind. Adam ended up taking Tyler back to my grandparent's house early to warm up and I stayed to watch the parade, ate at the new Runza restaurant in town, and met up with family for a trip to the apple orchard and a hike at Waubonsie State Park. Adam and Tyler stayed home to catch up on some much-needed rest!

When I got back from the park, I snapped these pictures of Tyler's fun ride with Dad and Great-uncle Lyle on the combine harvesting soybeans. It was the FIRST combine ride for both Tyler AND his dad!! Tyler really liked watching the combine unload into the wagons!Saturday evening we were invited over to my Aunt Mary's near Red Oak for some Stephens fall family fun! We went on a hayride, roasted hot dogs, played cards, listened on the radio to the ISU Football team win, and Tyler played, and played, and played with his second cousins.

On Sunday Tyler and cousin Kelsey enjoyed the nice weather by playing in Great-grandma's yard.

Monday, September 27, 2010

September Tyler Tales

Stashing things: Tyler has taken to stashing things all around the house - much like a little squirrel does with acorns before winter. One minute he is playing with his cars and then next they are all being shoved under the china hutch. Missing library books have finally been found under his dresser. Legos are under the entertainment center. Crayons are more fun to roll under the kitchen island than to color with. My mixing bowl beaters end up in the toy box after he helps me unload the dishwasher. The most exasperating is when we catch him about to do this stashing act (like rolling a marble under the stove) and he does it anyway with a look of defiance and pleasure on his face. He has also started stashing himself in places around the house now too - when his idea of what to do next and Mommy or Daddy's do not agree - like hiding under the slide when it is time to change his diaper, or under the table when it is time to wash his hands....makes Mommy feel like hiding in her room some days! :)

Contradictions: One minute he wants us to help him and then next minute he is pushing us away saying NO, I do it, me do, I get it. Lately he has started grabbing our hands after dinner and pulling us into the living room saying, "Momma, a play cars wif me," or "Daddy, a play balls a me!" We tried potty training for 3 straight days when he seemed interested all of a sudden but his interest was short lived so we are back in diapers with only using the potty a few times a day when he is in the mood. The other day we were going to eat and then go to the park, but Tyler stood up on a chair and loudly demanded "A drink, a park, a NOW!

New Words...or Whole Sentences: Besides "Momma, a play cars wif me," he is also using sentences like "Oh YES, a go park and go wheee (slide)," and "Momma, where at?" or "Momma, are you?" when I am out of sight. He usually gets out of bed/his room on his own after nap time but last week I heard him saying "Momma, all done night night" over and over until I came to get him up. Words are also maturing like "broke-ded" has now become "broken"...a word he hears a lot...hmmm!

Trains: To get Tyler to do anything these days, like get in the car when we need to go, all we have to do is just mentions trains! He has gotten more excited about trains lately and we have read almost every library book on trains in the toddler section! Living in Boone encourages this passion of his with trains going right through town every half and hour, the train museum, going to see Thomas, his Thomas DVD, and the library has had train decorations and train books set out to celebrate Pufferbilly Days in Boone this month - plus their 2 toy train tables Tyler plays with each time we visit. He has to loudly point out each train and its "moke" (smoke). He says choo-choo and whooo, whoo now and also thinks he sees train tracks in everyday things, like muffin cups, fences, rugs, pictures with lots of lines in them, the xylophone picture on the side of his wooden block, etc.

Empathy: Adam has had a cold for a week and each time Tyler hears him coughing or sneezing from his office upstairs, Tyler stops what he is doing and says "Oh NO! Daddy A-choo'n!"

Sunday, September 26, 2010

Thomas and Kelsey and one busy Saturday!

This past Saturday we took Tyler to the Boone Scenic Valley Railroad for A Day Out With Thomas - that's Thomas the train...who Tyler LOVES! (Thanks to Grandma for the tickets). It was wet and cold, but Tyler could have stayed in the toy train tent all day if we would have let him - even though he had to share the trains with tons of other Thomas lovers!
We asked if he wanted to ride the train and he said "OH YES!"
Here we are waiting in line to board the train.
And waiting for the train ride to start.
Dad did really well despite having a bad cold!
A quick rainy photo by Thomas.
We had to pry Tyler away from the toy trains to have a quick photo with Sir Topham Hat before we left, which is why he is crying in this photo...and he cried most of the way home saying "more train", "train that way". Poor kid! Why is it that the most fun things to do always go by so fast?!?
After Thomas, lunch, and a long nap, Tyler was ready to head over to Grandma & Grandpa's to watch cyclone football and play with his cousin Kelsey! They only held still long enough for me to get photos of them when they were eating!
After Kelsey went to bed, Tyler stayed up to pump some iron!
He likes to lift them up and say "Heavy!"
Showing off his new Thomas shirt!

Dinner with Friends

Two of our friends have birthdays in September, so we try and get together to celebrate and give our kids a chance to play with each other. This year the Grabers invited us to their house in Ankeny for dinner. Adam and Justin helped feed Justin & Amanda's new twins.
Tyler even got an early birthday present - a book he had fun opening!
Here is a fun photo of the older 4 kids playing under the staircase at
Dustin & Sonya's house. They look pretty cozy in there!
Here are the dad's and the kids - 7 kids in all!

ISU Football Games

Tyler likes watching ISU football games with Grandma and Daddy!
Here is a photo taken last fall (11 mo. old) during the Iowa/ISU game...
...and here is a photo taken this fall during the game (23 months old).
One year's difference - he is growing so fast!
And he still likes to pull his socks off!

Pufferbilly Days

We celebrated the Boone Pufferbilly Days by attending the downtown parade after Adam ran in the 10K. After the parade we headed to Ames to watch the ISU vs. Iowa game at my parent's house. Tyler was excited for the parade!
Waving at the tractors....
Didn't like the loud sirens much!
Showing off his stash of candy!
We got lots of compliments on our ISU Football jerseys too!