More Potty Updates

We have had some very successful potty experiences lately! That's not to say that we haven't had our fair share of accidents, but I am very proud of my little man for the progress that he has made. We went out a few days ago and were gone for about 4 1/2 hours and no accidents!! He even went potty in a big potty at two different stores. It is very cute because he gets so excited when he pees in the potty and we have a little celebration right there in the public restroom. We seem to be a little more successful when we are away from the house than when we are home. I guess it is just too hard to stop playing and run to the potty. Go Tyler!!!

Potty Training continues

Sorry I haven't posted in a few days, but we have been very busy with the whole potty training thing. I wanted to update all of you on how it is going. Let me start by saying how proud I am of my little man for the progress he is making. I would say we are about 50/50 right now on making it to the potty. He is getting much better at saying "potty" when he needs to potty. The problem is when he says potty, he means right now. We are working on letting mommy know with enough time to get to the potty. We did have our first success on a big potty at Borders the other day though. I was so proud of him!! We will continue working on it and I'll update you on how it is going.

Potty Training!!

Day 1:
Our big day came yesterday, Day 1 , of our 3 day potty training method. We started about 8:00 in the morning with throwing away all the diapers and putting on big boy pants. Tyler helped with this, but didn't seem all that interested. Then we went in to check out his new potty and he did have his doggy sit on the potty a few times. The main focus of this method is to teach the child to let you know when they have to potty and not just to sit them there every 15 min. So, I let him play and watch a little TV (sitting right by his side of course) and after an hour of nothing, I finally had him go in and sit on the potty and he peep immediately!! We celebrated and got stickers and even called Daddy to tell him. Don't worry though, the rest of the day was not so easy. He did resist sitting on the potty quit a bit during the day and we had our fair share of accidents and oops, but we did have some minor successes for Day 1. All in all, I think we had a successful day. He even ran into the bathroom saying "potty, potty" right after his bath and sat down (although most of it ended up in his big boy pants). It was a long, exhausting day for mom (and there are still 2 more to go), but definitely worth it and worth all the effort. I'll keep you posted on the following days.

Happy Halloween 2008

Tyler experienced his first trick-or-treating this year. We went with some friends, Ally & Colton, and they all had a great time. It only took one house for them to figure out what was going on, after that they were all into it!! Tyler really liked when they let him pick out of the bowl. He would take one, put it in his bag, then take another and another and another, until we made him stop. All three kids were still going strong after an hour of trick-or-treating, but we decided they had enough candy. It was a fun night!!

Pumpkin Fun!!

This past weekend we had some fun getting ready for Halloween. Tyler carefully painted his very own pumpkin. Everything was going very well, until he realized that he had some paint on his hands. He's not a fan of anything sticky or gooey on his hands. After that, daddy helped Tyler carve out his first pumpkin. He wasn't so sure of this at first because it involved sticking his hand inside where the goopy stuff was. It took a little coaxing, but he got the hang of it. We are looking forward to trick-or-treating at the end of the week. Stay turned for more costume photos from the big event!!

Costume Contest

On Saturday, Tyler and 2 of his friends (Colton & Ally) participated in a costume contest at the Mall. All three of them did a great job walking through the crowd to show off their stuff. Although we didn't win anything, all the kids had fun dressing up and showing off their costumes. After the contest we went into the mall for some dinner and a little play time. It was a long and busy evening, but great fun. Don't worry, we'll try again next year!!

Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure

On Sunday we participated in the Race for the Cure. It was a beautiful day to be out doing a 5k walk through downtown Phoenix. We were joined by our friends Donna, Keri, Colton, Amanda & Trey for this great fundraiser. The boys go to stretch their legs and play a little before we started. We then strapped them into strollers for a 5K walk through downtown Phoenix. The weather was great, cool and breezy (about time for some cool weather around here). After the walk we relaxed in the grass with some snacks and played a little more before heading home for a nice long nap. This was Tyler's second race and we are looking forward to next year.

Big Boy Bed!!!

We took the side rail off of Tyler's crib yesterday and he spend his first night in his Toddler Day Bed. He did very well, slept all night and was still in his bed when I went in to get him this morning! I am so proud of him, not to mention that I worried about him falling out all night long. He also took his nap today and did fine. I'm not sure he understands that he can get down on his own, but that might be a good thing. He is growing up so fast and it is fun to see all the changes, but also a little sad that he is growing up so fast. Hopefully he will continue to have successful naps and nights in this new (but old) big boy bed!!!

Arizona Children's Museum

Today we visited the Children's Museum in Downtown Phoenix. Tyler had a fabulous time playing and exploring all the wonderful exhibits. One of his favorite exhibits were the race cars. Daddy showed him once how to put the race cars in the box and then release the lever to start them off, and that was all it took. He did the rest on his own, over and over and over and....... Needless to say, we spent a lot of time there. He also enjoyed the room with all the balls and mazes. We could have spent the whole day there. We will definitely be going back to explore the things we didn't have time for today.

Visit to the Gilbert Fire Station

Today Tyler and I visited the Gilbert Fire Department with our mom's group. We got a tour of the facilities and saw how the firefighters eat, sleep and spend their free time. We even saw how they slide down the pole or the slide when it is time to go to a fire. The best part though were the big fire trucks. Tyler got to climb up in the trucks and even practice a little driving. That was his favorite part, in fact, he didn't want to leave the truck. We also watched the fireman put on all his gear and take photos with the kids. Tyler didn't have his photo taken because he didn't want to get that close to the guy in his gear. After the tour we headed over to a nearby mall for a little play time and some lunch. A very busy morning which lead to a long nap.

Jump and Shout Play Center

Today we visited the Jump and Shout Playcenter with the East Valley Hip Mamas group. Tyler had a blast climbing, jumping and sliding. This is an awesome new playcenter in the Mesa Riverview Plaza. Tyler played so hard that he took a 3 hour nap later that afternoon. Tyler's favorite part of the playcenter was the racing game in the lobby- go figure...

Visit from Gramma & RaRa

Tyler's Gramma and Great-Gramma (aka RaRa) came for a visit over the weekend. We had a fun filled and busy weekend. Tyler enjoyed playing on a new slide from Gramma. It made for hours and hours of sliding fun. Tyler also had his first try at making some cookies. We made cut out cookies with sprinkles. All was going well until we were out of cookies to sprinkle! Tyler just didn't understand why we had to put the sprinkles away. Although is was a quick visit, we had a wonderful time, and it will have to last us until our next visit in December.

While they were here, we took the opportunity to take a photo of all 4 generations.

20 months and growing

Tyler is now 20 months old and growing like weed. He is turning into such a handsome little man. He is a big help around the house. Some of his favorite jobs include unloading the dishwasher, doing the laundry, vacuuming, mopping and cleaning up after the dog. Yes, he is a little strange, but we find it very helpful. His vocabulary now includes car, truck, dog, door, bird, up, down, juice, and his favorite- all done!!

He and his cousin Colton are also becoming quite good friends!!

18 Months Old

Tyler is now 18 months old and we can't believe all the changes. He looks like such a big boy now. He had his first haircut on Aug. 19th. He looks so grown up now. We just enjoyed a visit with Gramma & PaPa who braved the heat to spend a week in Phoenix with us in July!! It was a busy week and there was lots to do.

We've now entered the phase of toddlerhood which brings it's own challenges. Just as Tyler has grown and learned new things, he has also developed an independent personality. He likes to do things on his own and is very insistant on things being picked up and put away. He does not hesitate to let daddy and me know when shoes need to be picked up or trash thrown away. We'll see if this behavior continues when it is time for him to clean his room..... We enjoy seeing him learn new things everyday. Some favorite words lately include: NO, all done, shoes, eyes, nose, something that resembles Sorin and of course repeating things you say when you don't expect it.

Tyler's Chores

Now that Tyler is 17 months old, we've decided that it is time that he pitch in a little around the house. The has quite a list of chores to do lately which include watering the flowers, cleaning up his playroom, putting shoes away and doing the laundry. He is very helpful around the house and also becoming very independent. Click on the link to the right to see Tyler helping out around the house.

Phoenix Zoo

Our most recent trip to the zoo was a blast! Tyler went with his friends Colton and Ally. The weather is warming up so we went early and spent some time at the spray pad inside the zoo. The kids got wet and it helped them to stay cool for the rest of the trip. Their favorite exhibit was the Monkey House. The monkeys were out and playing right in front of us. Ally's favorite part of the zoo was the spray pad. Tyler's favorite part was walking like a big boy and pushing his stroller. Colton's favorite part was the ICEE!! Check out the photos from the zoo and see how much fun we had!

Splash Park

Tyler recently had his first visit to a nearby splash park. He went with his cousin Colton and good friend Trey to enjoy a day of fun in the sun. All three boys had a great time, after the initial shock of seeing so many kids and water shooting out of the ground! It didn't take long and they were off and enjoying the water. Check out the photos from the splash park on the right. What better way to beat the heat than a day at the splash park!

Photos

I've linked the web pages that were previously created for Tyler to this blog, so if you click on one of the photos to the right you can access his other photos. I will add more recent photos soon!

Hello All!

Well, after 16 months I thought it was time to start a blog to keep everyone updated on the little man's progress. I'll try to keep up with photos, milestones and general info about our favorite little guy (although there are so many changes, it's hard to keep up).

So here are the latest stats:
22lbs, almost 32 inches tall, 8 teeth, 3 real words (mama, dada, NO) and about 5 baby signs

Tyler and I made our first solo trip to Memphis to visit family and he did very well on the plane. I tried to stay ahead of him with toys and snacks and of course he entertained everyone around us with his charm and smiles. But, we made it and had a wonderful visit with the family. Although, we may have to get a golf cart to keep him happy now! I'll post some photos from the trip soon!