A prayer

As Ty was sitting in bed this morning a few minutes after he woke up, he turned to me with a quizzical look on his face and said, "Mommy, God needs to give me new feet. Mine are stinky."

Megan's first milestone

Well, call her an overachiever, but a couple of days ago Megan rolled over from belly to back a couple of times. I figured it was just a fluke and would take a month or so before it happened again, but today she did it again two times and I luckily caught one on video. You can tell she didn't share our excitement over the accomplishment.

A wonderful celebration

Our last week has been full of activity and celebration. Here are some highlights:

• Granny and Grandpa Schmidt were in town all week and were a huge help. Ty loved playing numerous make-believe games with them and Megan loved being held by them.


• Tyler had his holiday show at school during which the whole class dressed up as angels and screamed a multi-cultural version of "We wish you a Merry Christmas." The words were "We wish you a happy Hanukkah, we wish you a happy Christmas, we wish you a happy Kwanzaa, and a happy new year." Tyler will now not let anyone sing the Merry Christmas version without telling them that they're singing the wrong words.


• Ty actually sat on Santa's lap--a huge accomplishment after being terrified of him the past couple of Christmases. He whispered, "May I please have a Backyardigans' DVD?"


• Tyler has memorized almost all of the words to "The Night Before Christmas". I guess it helps that we've been reading it since early November.


• We had a great Christmas dinner with Granny and Grandpa and our friends, the Bushroe's.


• We all enjoyed our best Christmas gift this year, little Megan Avery.

For photos, click here.

My Christmas wish: That this attitude lasts for at least a few more years

Due to many generous friends and relatives, Tyler was overloaded with gifts this Christmas. However, a comment of his early in the day made me realize how little he really needed to be happy. As he opened his stocking, he grabbed the candy cane, clutched it tightly and said, "A candy cane...just what I wished for."

"Getting Ready for Christmas" Day 2008

Last weekend, after being a tremendous help for a week, my mom returned to Chicago. So in an attempt to keep Ty in his routine and at the same time allow me some time to rest and recover, we kept Tyler in school this week even though I was home. Well, as the week went on, the drop-offs at school became increasingly difficult and teary and I began to feel increasingly guilty that I wasn't spending the time I could with Tyler.

In an effort to make the rest of the drop-offs easier for Jeff and to assuage my guilt, I announced to Ty on Tuesday that on Thursday he would be staying home with me and we would have a "Getting Ready for Christmas" day. This was in part inspired by one of my friends from work whose family celebrates the "The Days Before Christmas" with a special activity each day. Although we started small this year, I'd love to expand it next year.

Here's how our day went...

(Oh, and by the way, one of the rules of "Getting Ready for Christmas" day is that you can stay in your pajamas all day.)

Activity #1: Making the dough for the gingerbread cookies (one of Ty's favorites)

Activity #1b: Megan entertaining herself looking at the hippo on her bouncy seat (yes, there are a lot of patterns going on in this picture)

Activity #2: Decorating Christmas gifts with paint and cookie cutters

Activity #3: Decorating gingerbread cookies (you can almost see how vigorously Ty is shaking the sugar/sprinkle container--needless to say this activity was a little messy)

It was a great day that we will repeat (and hopefully expand) next year.

We wish you all a happy and peaceful holiday season!

The difference for me between #1 and #2

Okay, so maybe I'm just in new baby euphoria time, but yesterday as I was thinking about my feelings when Ty was a newborn and how they compared to my feelings right now, I realized an interesting difference. With Ty, for me, it was all about waiting for him to get to the next milestone (when's he going to roll over? when's he going to be able to eat baby food? when's he going to walk?, etc.). Not that I didn't enjoy all of those moments, but I was always focused on him making progress. This time, with Megan, all I want to do is enjoy each moment. I guess maybe I now know how fast everything goes. And to think I didn't think I liked the newborn phase...

Anyone have similar experiences?

Megan pictures--Part 2

To view some more pictures from our time in the hospital and Megan's trip home, click here.

The love of a big brother

When Megan cried in the hospital, here's how Ty responded....

(Sorry for the orientation. I forgot that I couldn't rotate videos).

Ty's new role

When Ty came to visit me and his new sister at the hospital last night, he told Jeff and me about his new role. He said "I'm going to protect her from the bad boys." Boy, does that make Daddy happy.

A couple other precious comments:

• His first night visiting, he came up to me and said, "Mommy, you were so brave."
• He followed that up with "Mommy, you're pretty." That sure was nice to hear when I was dressed in a hospital gown and after I had been awake for over 24 hours.

Megan Avery Schmidt

December 6, 2008, 6:43am

7lbs., 20 inches

To view more photos of our little girl click here...

Of course...

The other morning, when I was going to drive Ty to school, he said that he wanted to take the school bus. We compromised by finding a way to turn our car into a school bus (which, in case you're interested, involved three steps: 1) saying "Abracadabra" 2) singing the last line of "You are my sunshine" substituting the word "awake" for "away" and 3) singing the entire "You are my sunshine" song--again with "awake".)

He seemed to enjoy it so much that when I picked him up from school later that day, I asked him if he wanted to turn the car into a school bus again. Suprisingly, he said "No." When I asked him why he replied, "We need to turn it into a 'home bus'."

A wonderful alarm clock

This has to be one of the best sounds I have ever awakened to: This morning through the monitor, the first sound we heard in the morning was Ty singing "If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands..." in his sweet three-year old voice.

It also helped that it was after 7:30...a luxury that we won't be enjoying for much longer.

A future teacher?

This morning when Ty got up, Jeff and I went to his room to play with him. A few minutes after waking up, he was already directing us around. He instructed us to sit in particular places on the floor so that he could read us a few books.

Well, he may be bossy, but at least he believes in positive reinforcement: When I sat where he told me and Daddy didn't, I pointed out how I followed his instructions. Ty immediately jumped up, ran to give me a hug, and said "I'm so proud of you."

The difference a night can make

Ty has always been fairly good at going to sleep at night. We've had him on a pretty set routine since he was less than a year old: story, prayers, running hugs, a family hug, he closes the door and turns off the light (in my arms) and then I sing him a combination of "You are my sunshine" and "Twinkle, twinkle little star" and one more "You are my sunshine." Usually I then leave and he's quiet and falls asleep.

Well, the last couple of weeks, I made the fatal error of adding extra songs into the routine. This was probably caused by my exhaustion at that point of the night and thinking it was easier to just sing one more song instead of reason with a 3-yr old about why I couldn't. Last night I paid for my mistake, as Ty got me up to about 8 songs and was still screaming when I left.

I was dreading tonight when I was going to try to get him back down to 3 songs. Imagine my happy surprise when Jeff and I got to the end of the last song, said "Good Night" and all we heard back from Ty was "Good night, guys."

Fun at the Long Island Children's Museum

While Jeff was travelling this weekend, Ty and I got a chance to visit the Long Island Children's Museum. Ty had a great time playing in bubbles, sand, pretending in a toddler-sized town, making noise in a music room, and playing with many other manipulatives. Click here to view some more pictures.

Gratitude

Tonight Ty, Jeff and I went out to dinner. Nothing special, but a nice time for the three of us.

On the walk back to the car, Ty looked up at me and said, "That was a nice dinner."

Then he said, "Thanks for the oranges and the french fries. Those were special treats." Funny how playing up the little things can make them so extraordinary.

He ended the conversation by repeating a comment he heard a month ago: "Granny said french fries have a lot of flat (fat)."

Argh!...A happy Halloween

To see more pics of Ty's Halloween adventures (carving a pumpkin, a school party and parade, and trick-or-treating), click here.

An extrovert...coming from me and Jeff?

A few posts back, I wrote about Ty's outgoing personality, which for anyone who knows Jeff and me might come as a bit of a surprise. Well, he continues to exhibit social courage that I didn't even come close to at his age. This morning was no exception. When the time came at church for the children's homily/sermon when all of the kids go up to the altar for a special talk, we asked Ty if he wanted to go up and he said "I want to go by myself." He proceeded to walk to the front with the other kids, sit down, listen, and then come back to our pew all by himself. Amazing (to me at least)!

Fall has arrived!

The trees that we love so much in the spring and summer have begun to occupy a good chunk of our weekends as they always do this time of year. Maybe we'll beat last Fall's record of raking 45 40-gallon leaf bags this year. At least Ty's old enough to "help" this year.

Our little guitar hero

Our little sweetheart

Last night, in the middle of playing with Ty, he ran over to me and gave me a hug. Then, leaning back with his arms still around my neck he smiled and said, "I'm so glad you're playing with me, Mommy."

This morning, as I was leaving for the train, after telling me he loved me, he said, "Drive safely!"

Positive reinforcement from a 3-year old

Ty has a new pastime. He likes to "teach" us how to do something and then say "Okay, great. Now try...." For example, last night he taught me how to sing "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" the correct way (apparently you have to pronounce "...what you..." more like "whatch you"). After I did it correctly, he responded "Great. Good Night!"

Tonight, while watching Dora, I said "Map!" when directed and it came out of Dora's backpack and Ty said, "You did it," held up his hand and said "Give me five!'

The nesting effect...on our blog

Well, we have just over 7 weeks until we become a family of 4 (or 5 if you want to include Seger), and I'm starting to feel the need to get everything in order. The first step? Addressing the blogging dilemma that I mentioned earlier (see previous post). So, what was once Tyler's Times has now become The Schmidt Saga. BTW, saga="A book that covers several generations of a family, usually starting in historical times and ending in the present." Yes, it's a little ambitious to use that word, but maybe it will give me a little motivaton to blog more frequently (and expand my scope a little). Plus, the alliteration works...

Spreading a little bit of cheer in an early morning TSA line

It's been a while since I've written...but not because Ty hasn't been growing, changing, and cracking us up with his new comments. The observation that I've probably had the most in the past month is Ty's ability to make friends with all kinds of people (especially since I was known for hiding behind my mom's leg and refusing to talk to anyone at his age) He's befriended older women in the doctor's office, cashiers at Target and Trader Joe's, and today--a TSA representative.

Rarely do you see many happy faces in the TSA line at an airport...especially before 7am. Today, Ty tried to do his part to change that. When the friendly TSA worker looked at him and said, "Hey!," Ty immediately responded "Hay is for horses!"--sending a ripple of laughter through the line.

For some pics of our short trip to visit Granny and Grandpa in Clearwater this weekend, click here.

The Popeye trick

Not sure how long it will last, but we finally found a trick to get Ty to eat his vegetables (for more about our past challenges, revisit a post from last April). I told him about Popeye and how eating spinach gave him big muscles and now he's much more excited about eating vegetables and does the following pose for us every time he takes a few bites.

A week-long celebration for his 3rd birthday (Sept. 3, 2008)

Ty's 3rd birthday celebration included a school party, a trip to the "Choo-Choo" restaurant with Granny and Grandpa, a joint celebration with Nana (who shares his birthday), the Burke's and Chernesky's, and a treasure hunt back in NY--quite a way to begin his 4th year. For pictures of his birthday and some videos (and a few bonus pictures of a recent trip to a church carnival and a fun trip to the city with our friends Julie and Dave), click here.

How was your day?

Every night at dinner, we ask Ty about his day at school. For a while, he would respond to the question "How was your day?" with an exhausted look on his face, saying "It was too busy." (Yes, our child has become a parrot.)

Although that response was pretty funny, Jeff decided to teach him something a little more positive. Here's his new response:

It's about the journey, not the destination

This past weekend, we spent three days camping at North-South Lake campground in the Catskills. We had absolutely beautiful weather (80 degrees during the day with blue sky every day) and loved our time outdoors. We did a short hike each day, rented a row boat, played on the beach and had a campfire every night with s'mores. Jeff and I also got a lesson in hiking with an almost three-year-old. Ty's getting too big for our backpack carrier and the hikes we went on were no place for a stroller, so the only option left was to allow Ty to walk. It's a good thing we started out with a hike that was .2 miles long, as it took about an hour. You see, for a toddler, it's not about following the path as efficiently as possible to get to the "destination," but instead, it's about finding every possible stick, rock, etc. to play with along the way. Although that did limit our hikes, maybe it taught us a little bit about a good way to live life.

For more pictures, click here.

One week, two parties, and a big announcement

Last week, we took Ty to the Greater NY Hot Air Balloon and Music Festival. Although we didn't actually see any balloons in the air (since we got there at noon and they launched at 6pm), Ty did enjoy the monster trucks, the boat show, and the pirate show.

A few days later, he had his school party which was a luau complete with a grass skirt, pinata, and a limbo. I got the chance to meet his friend Kiera's parents (he talks about Kiera non-stop and apparently they were caught hugging and rolling around on the ground a few weeks ago). Ty decided to use the oppportunity to ask Kiera's dad a very important question.

For details and more pictures of the festivities, click here.

His 16th? birthday

Ty has a birthday coming up. Although most of us know it's his third, Ty is convinced that he's now 16. Why 16 you ask? Well, a few weeks ago, he wanted to drive our car and we told him that he couldn't until he turned 16 and got his driver's license.

Oh, by the way, did you know that 16 is the age that you get to climb up a ladder to the roof of the house? And watch the Cat in the Hat movie? According to Tyler, 16=the age of ultimate freedom when he can do anything that Mommy and Daddy won't let him do now.

A ray of hope smothered by some sunshine

Early this Saturday morning, Ty awoke after a small toy dog let out a few shrill barks outside of his window. He started calling my name and I figured that was it for my sleep for the night. However, I had some hope when I went upstairs and said "Good Morning" and he said, "It's not morning yet; I want to sleep with you and Daddy." Excitedly, I agreed and brought him downstairs. Here's how the rest of the conversation went (after us meeting his requests for a cup of milk and all of his animals):

Jeff and I: "Okay, Ty, go to sleep; it's not morning yet."
Tyler (peering under the blinds in our room): "No, I think the sun is up. It is morning! I want to play!"

Oh well, at least we got an early start to the day...

Where rain comes from

During a nice summer evening downpour tonight, Ty explained to us where rain comes from. Here's his explanation, which he gave while holding up his hand in the shape of a shower head:

"God makes the thunder. Then Jesus holds his hand up and the rain comes out of his hand. His hand has holes in it."

Our young but very seasoned air traveller

We know that with my airline benefits and our need to travel by air to visit family Ty has been on more flights in his 35 months than a lot of people have been on in their lives. However, we didn't know exactly how seasoned he was until he started playing with Kelli and Kaitlyn in the lake and assigned the following roles: Chicago, Florida (our two most-frequented destinations), and "Security".

Our favorite things (Part 3 for Ty and Part 1 for me)

It's been a while since I've posted an update on Ty's favorites (here's Part 2), so here you go...

• He now loves the color green and pretty much anything green (except most vegetables). He picked all of the green M&M's out of the potty reward jar first and loves to wear green clothes.
• He loves ramps...anytime we see a ramp (no matter if it's 2ft. or 20 ft. long), it's a special treat if we get to go up (and down) it.
• He loves watertowers and will yell excitedly any time we see one
• He loves playing in the water (no matter how cold it is--see the pictures linked below)

And now for me...

• I love to feel baby #2 kick :).
• I love when Ty sings "You are my Sunshine" with me and points at me when he says "You'll never know how much I love you"
• My favorite place, ever since I was young has been these stairs.

My dad built them and they lead from my parents' cottage to the most peaceful and fun-filled place for me--the lake that the cottage is located on. Thankfully, Ty, Jeff, and I once again got to enjoy these stairs a couple weeks ago and had a great time. Ty knows that "Up North" is mommy's favorite place and according it to him, it became his too (see him having fun with Nana below). For videos and more pictures of him having a great time with his cousins on our recent trip, click here.

A blogging dilemma

Well, I obviously wasn't thinking past the present moment when I created this blog. You see, I named it "Tyler's Times" which pretty much limits its content. Now that wouldn't really be a problem (since so much of our life happily revolves around him right now) except for the exciting fact that we'll have a new family member joining us in early December. So, will there be another Schmidt blog? Hard to say right now. For the meantime, Ty will have to share...

Here's the early picture of our new friend (taken a couple of weeks ago during the ultrasound):


PS: Place your vote on whether Baby Schmidt #2 is a girl or a boy at the top right corner of this blog :).

A week with a holiday and a trip to the Potty Train!

It's been an eventful week for Ty! It started out with a neighbor's party and the fireworks on the 4th of July and ended with a much-deserved trip to the Potty Train (named by Ty--see the last post). Ty's had about 10 days (and 4 nights) completely free of diapers and he's doing really well. I'm sure we'll still have accidents, but it's nice that we'll at least have a 5 month break from diapers before we start all over again :).

Ty wasn't quite as thrilled with the fireworks as he was last year...in fact, he was pretty terrified when we were outside, but he enjoyed them when we went inside and watched them from his window. And we weren't sure if he was going to go through with the ride on the Potty Train once we found out that neither Mommy or Daddy were allowed to ride with him, but he was a brave kid and even though he didn't look like he was really enjoying it, he talked (and sang) about the 3 minute ride for a good while afterwards. To see some photos and videos from this week, click here.

All aboard the potty train

We've been working on potty training with Ty for quite a while (he went for the first time on the potty about 16 months ago). We've tried not to push it too much, but always give him the opportunity and encourage it as much at possible.

One day when we were at the mall last March, he saw a little train ride that you could pay like $2 to ride. I didn't let him ride it that day, but I told that when he was 'potty trained" and wore underwear all the time, we would come back and he could ride it.

Well, we've been having lots of success during the past couple of weeks which makes me very happy in itself, but my smile gets even wider when Tyler turns to me after he's had an accident-free day at school and says, with very wide eyes, "I'm getting closer and closer to the Potty Train!" Seems they're going to have to put a new sign on that attaction at the mall.

Fun family visits

This past month, we've been lucky enough to get two visits from family. First, my sister Cathy and niece Elise (who was celebrating her 18th birthday!) came to spend a long weekend with us (their weekend got a little longer due to some cancelled flights, but they were good sports). Then, my mom, doing really well after her surgery, flew out for a few days. We had a great time during both visits and Ty loved getting to see his aunt, cousin, and Nana.

Re-birth from a driver's license?

Ty and I were having a conversation in the car on his way home from "school" today. As usual, the topics had a wide range, today going all the way from the bumpiness of the road to a question about where Santa lived (who knows why in 90 degree heat he's thinking about Christmas). One particular comment made me laugh more than all of the others. Watching me drive, Ty said with certainty, "When I get old I can drive like you....and then I'll become new."

More fun in the city

This past weekend, we took our 2nd trip to the Big Apple BBQ (a yearly event held to benefit the Madison Square Park Conservancy). This trip was particularly special because we got to show our friends, the Bushroe's, around the city. We're thrilled because the Bushroe family, who we met in West Lafayette, recently moved three houses down from us. Although it was incredibly hot and humid during our trip, a good time was had by all. To view more pictures, click here.

Isn't that cool?

It's funny how little sayings can change your perspective. Ty has a new tendency to tell us what he's going to do in the future (the next minute, the next hour, the next day, etc.) and end his comment with the words "Isn't that cool?" (e.g., "Mom, tomorrow, I'm going in the water. Isn't that cool?"). It makes me wonder how much happier life would be if we could all find at least one happening in our lives each day that we could put a "Isn't that cool?" on at the end.

Even though it's been a challenging month, I've had my share of "Isn't that cool?" moments: Fun with Ty and my mom and my dad in Palatine, the baptism of our nephew Drew, time with extremely supportive family and friends, and the sun shining brightly at an American Cancer Society Relay for Life event despite the forecasts of severe thunderstorms. For pictures, click here.

Here's to many more "Isn't that cool?" moments for you and your family.

Ty and Papa

Here are some of our favorite shots of Ty and Papa. We'll miss him very much but are thankful for the happy times that we spent with him and how he taught us to reach out to help others and focus always on the present moment.

Learning Daddy's tricks

New vocab word included in this post: Gar Gar = (n.) one of Ty's favorite new made-up words.

Saturday morning Ty decided that 5am was a great time to wake up for the day. Jeff and I quickly brought him down to our bed with hopes that the lingering darkness outside would encourage him to go back to sleep.

Although Ty laid down, he wouldn't stop talking. We told him over and over again that it was time to sleep. I think he could tell that we were getting a little annoyed because he decided to pull out one of his Daddy's tricks--when you're about to get in trouble, try to make your parents laugh. After another admonishment from us that it was way too early to get up, Ty put his face about 1 inch from mine and said "How do you spell Gar Gar?"

A fisherman's dream

Here's what happens when you give a toddler a new fishing pole the same day that you're working on potty training:

Our own Kentucky Derby (with Big Brown in his underwear)

His favorite things, Part 2

One of my first posts on this blog was about Ty's favorites. Although I could give you a few updates (his favorite number is still 6, favorite color is brown--although it was green yesterday, and favorite letter is T), the purpose of this post is a little different.

I'm posting to tell you about a new habit Ty's developed: Whenever you give him a choice, he picks what he wants by saying "(insert choice) is my favorite."

Here's an example:
Me: "Tyler, do you want a cheese stick or applesauce."
Ty: "Cheese sticks are my favorite."

The nice part is that he frequently says the opposite when he doesn't like something. Instead of saying "I don't like that" or "Ewww, that's yucky," he simply says "That's not my favorite."

If he keeps this up, it may come in handy later in life. I can just see his wife asking him if he likes the dress that she's wearing and him responding "It's not my favorite." It probably will work better than "Eww, that's yucky."

The next American Idol

On Monday morning, I was driving Ty to school with the radio on. All of a sudden, I heard him mumbling something in the back...saywhatyaneedtosay, saywhatyaneedtosay. Our little boy was singing along to the radio for the first time to John Mayer's "Say What You Need to Say." Guess it's time to make sure we're paying attention to what comes on the radio--there are quite a few songs that I wouldn't want to hear in his sweet little voice.

Christening of the kayak in the waters next to JFK

As I mentioned a few posts back, Spring has begun to show its face every once in a while here in NY. Since it was a balmy 70 degrees and sunny yesterday, we decided to take our new kayak on its first trip. In an effort to make it a fairly short, but interesting trip (since we weren't sure how Ty would react to sitting still for an extended period of time), we ventured to Jamaica Bay, which is right next to JFK airport. Basically, you can look in one direction and watch the planes take off and look the other direction and see the Empire State Building...an interesting "nature" experience. Interestingly enough, the Bay is well known for having 200 species of birds and excellent fishing.

Although we'll probably go east on the island next time we go, we had a great time. Ty loved having a picnic on the water and had fun turning the reel on Jeff's fishing pole. He was thrilled everytime they caught some seaweed. He stayed seated and loved his new "special" jacket (aka life preserver). Below are a couple of pictures from our trip (if you expand the picture and look closely, you can see the subway train and JFK in the background).

Advice from a toddler

Tonight I showed Ty a band-aid that I had on a small cut on my arm. He looked at me sweetly and said, "Aww, Mommy, you have to be careful."

Time to hide the vegetables?

I recently read an article in Wondertime that talked about how hiding pureed vegetables in your child's food (promoted by Jessica Seinfeld and others) is not the best way to go because then kids will never learn to like vegetables in their true form.

I'm not sure where I stand on the issue yet, but I do recently sense a need to get more creative in how I feed Ty his vegetables. You see, our little boy who once ate anything you put in front of him, has developed an new practice whenever we give him vegetables (with the exception of canned green beans and peas and chopped kale hidden in meatloaf and on pizza): He slowly picks them one by one off of his plate (he has even peeled them off of pizza), looks us straight in the eyes, tilts his head, and says, "I don't like these, remember?"

Two busy Saturdays

The best thing about Spring arriving is that we tend to get out of the house more on weekends. The last two Saturdays were evidence of that.

Last weekend, we visited a St. Patrick's Day parade (delayed because of the timing of Holy Week and Easter) in a very Irish Catholic village next to us. We must have seen 10 groups of bagpipers and 10 fire engines. Ty loved both and was talking about the parade for several days afterwards.

This weekend, we took the train into the city to view the Bodies exhibit. Ty wasn't quite as interested as we were, but he was a good sport. We then headed to Madison Square Park and stood in line for about an hour and a half to get our first Shake Shack burgers and shakes of the year and then headed up to Central Park for a while. It was a beautiful day and fun to be in the city again.

Here a couple of pictures of Ty in Madison Square Park (one from two years ago and one from today). For more pictures of the parade and Ty at the park, click here: http://picasaweb.google.com/teri.schmidt/March29April52008

Something that always brings a smile to my face

In the past six months, Ty has become more and more interested in having me and Jeff play with him. And, although I have to admit that sometimes I'd rather rest for a few minutes right when I get home from work, there is absolutely nothing sweeter than him taking my hand in his and guiding me where he wants me to go--even when it is to pretend that I am a dolphin swimming in the pretend water in our basement for the 20th time that week.

Sometimes I wonder why we buy toys...

This weekend, after we were done coloring Easter eggs, Ty asked for a snack. When I gave him an orange, I had no idea that the peel would entertain him for 45 minutes as he turned the pieces into boats and islands and used a plastic cutting board and a piece of construction paper as the beach and the ocean.

Two holidays in one week

To view pictures of Ty celebrating with some Irish chicken nuggets and a hand that resembled the Hulk's, click here: http://picasaweb.google.com/teri.schmidt/StPatrickSDayAndEaster2008

Apology on a weekend morning

This weekend, Ty got up very early both mornings. Luckily, when I went up to get him on Saturday morning, he wanted to "sleep with daddy." Unfortunately, that meant laying his head on our pillows for 5 minutes and then getting up to go play. At least he softened the blow with the kind words that he said as he walked away down the hallway..."Sorry guys."

A 10-word sentence

Yesterday at church, Ty decided to say his first 10-word sentence. So, what did he say? Maybe a nice prayer? Or an expression of love for his parents? No. He said, "I want to go to Target after church is over." Guess we've made that more of a routine than I had thought...

Fun in the sun

Ty has had a wonderful month, getting to spend a week on Sand Key with his Granny and Grandpa while I worked in Florida and then while Jeff and I travelled to West Palm Beach for my friend Melanie's wedding. He got to go to an aquarium, a bird sanctuary, swim in the Gulf and the pool and have a ton of fun. He also got to see his friend Reilly whom he hasn't seen since they were 1-yr. old. They had a great time talking to each other and playing.

For more pictures, click here: http://picasaweb.google.com/teri.schmidt/FebruaryFloridaTrip2008

Hide and seek?

One of Ty's favorite games to play in the last couple of months is hide and seek. Unfortunately, he hasn't quite grasped the concept of staying quiet when he's hiding. If only we had video accompanying this picture you would hear me say "Hmm....where's Tyler?" and you would hear him say "Right here!" and when I tried not to respond, you would hear him say "Right here...under the table! I'm RIGHT HERE!"

A side note: It was a game of hide and seek that gave birth to his "clubhouse" or "fort"--basically two end tables covered by a blanket. He loves it and wants to play in it every day. Just in case you come to visit, the magic words to enter are "Miska, Mooska, Mickey Mouse!"

Catching up

It's been a while since I've posted, but that doesn't mean it hasn't been an exciting month. We cheered for the Packers early, but quickly had to switch to cheering for our local Giants. Ty and I made a fun 24-hour trip home to Palatine. Unfortunately, our camera battery went dead, but I did get one picture with Ty and my dad playing with the new magnets that he and my mom gave him. Ty also got to spend and evening with the Burkes and had a ball playing with their Legos and with Sue, Jim, Kelli, Kaitlyn, and Kevin. Finally, we got to spend time with our friends from Indiana, Scott and Kyleen, who will soon be living 3 houses down from us. If you want to see a few more pictures, click here: http://picasaweb.google.com/teri.schmidt/January11Feb102008?authkey=rUckmMgRb98

Ty has continued to expand his pretending skills and cracks us up almost every day with new comments and faces. He's been snorkeling, gone to a pumpkin patch and made Mickey Mouse's clubhouse---all in our basement.

A very good day

Here are some ingredients for a wonderful weekday (okay, they didn't all happen in a single day, but they did all happen this week):

• Tyler, with no prompting from dad, running to the door and blowing me kisses as I drove away to catch the train to work (an image that made me smile all day)
• Our little helper taking all of the clean sippy cups out of the dishwasher and stacking them while we were out of the room for a few minutes
• My excited son telling me about how he got a candy cane at school for matching all of his colors correctly (and then saying that he threw it in the garbage because he didn't want it)
• Being greeted with a running hug as he screams "Mommmmy" when I pick him up from school
• Ty's teacher telling me that he is very kind to the other kids
• Ty saying "You did it!" when I backed into the driveway without going up on the "curb"
• Ty making sure to mention his current and past teachers by name in his prayers (after he prays for all of his extended family members, of course)
• The sweet sound of Tyler singing "You are my sunshine" with me before I tuck him in

Fun with a piece of paper & the "Happy Dance"

The biggest development in Tyler's life this week is his new ability to pretend. Yes, he was able to fish with a pop gun at Christmastime, but his skills have expanded to cooking in a pretend oven (which is basically air next to the wall), shopping at a pretend store (where he bought pretend cornbread), and turning a piece of paper into 4 different objects in a period of 10 minutes.

Let me explain...
It all started out pretty uneventfully with Ty using the paper as a canvas on which he traced (or tried to trace) his hand and mommy's hand. After doing each hand about 5 times on the same piece of paper, it was instantly transformed into snow as he threw it up into the air and watched it fall down several times. Apparently that made him thirsty, as the paper soon became a cup of milk. And for the grand finale...the folded paper became an ice skate on which he slid and spun across the basement floor.

I had forgotten how much fun you can have with a little imagination...

Oh, and for Ty's second biggest development...he's now mastered his "Happy Dance" (video below).

Daddy's a what?

Yesterday morning Tyler was talking to himself in his crib when I walked in the door. I heard him say something about an angel, so I asked him what he was talking about. He pointed at me and said "Mommy's an angel." (Awww....) Then he pointed at himself and said "Tyler's a butterfly." I replied, "Oh, mommy's an angel and Tyler's a butterfly...so what does that make daddy?" After thinking for a bit, he replied, "Daddy's a cow."

Unsolicited compliments

As we were eating dinner tonight (that Jeff made), I heard the words that Tyler has been saying at every dinner for the past 3 weeks---"Good dinner, Daddy." I have no idea where he got this from, but I couldn't be happier that the first time he delivered this compliment was when Granny and Grandpa were babysitting him and he said "Good dinner, Granny" as he was eating meatloaf and broccoli that Jeff's mom had made for him.