21 Months Old Today!

Tay --

You are 21 months old today buddy!  Time has flown by and your 2nd birthday will be here in just a couple of months.

This last month, you have learned a lot of new things and perfected some of your old "tricks."  You are still a happy, go lucky kid. . . for the most part.  What can I say, we all have our "off days."  You are incredibly silly and seem to always find a way to make us smile or laugh (which is not good when we are trying to correct you).  You are a true gift from God and bring so much sunshine into our lives each day.

You still love music and sing and dance all of the time.  We have a Disney cd that has some of the Cars songs on it and when we play it in the car, you smile and start nodding your head.  It's like you are at a concert.  It is hilarious!  You still sing "Where is Taylor" a lot but have started to try to sing "You are my Sunshine," which I absolutely adore.

For some reason, you have developed a love hate relationship with your potty.  You went for a while and then wanted nothing to do with it, so we didn't push it.  But we are definitely about to try to go a little bit more because now, not only do you tell Daddy and me when you have to go potty, you go and get a diaper, lay on the floor, and sometimes try to take your pants off. 

On Monday, you actually said "pee pee," went over to your potty and pointed to it.  I was shocked when you actually went.  You got a "potty treat" (a couple of M&Ms. . . for you and Mama) and a sticker.  When Daddy came home, you tried to go potty again.  You sat down, made two fists, and tried to push.  Daddy said, "What's wrong buddy, do you need something to read."  When you heard that, you got up and went over to your basket of books, picked out just the right one, sat back down on the potty and balanced it on your feet.  Daddy and I couldn't help but laugh. You seemed awfully proud of yourself.

You are picking up new words all of the time.  You love to look at books that have lots of pictures of real things and animals, so you can point to them and name them.  Your collection of cars continues to grow and I have become somewhat obsessed with trying to find all of the Cars characters for you.  You can almost name all of them on your own.  All I can say is that you are going to be really happy when your birthday rolls around.  There is a stash of new Cars that I have hidden that you are going to love!

There are lots of things you love to do, but being outside is still your absolute favorite.  Your newest thing is looking for birdhouses and nests.  You are always so proud of yourself when you spot one.  When we go outside, one thing you always do is look for airplanes.  Somehow, you usally hear them and spot them before Daddy and I can.  Uncle D said we need to start calling you "Radar."  That nickname may actually stick.  Aside from airplanes, you love to look for school buses and "Uncle D" (police cars).  But most of all, it makes your day when you find a Mack truck.   

When it comes to cooking, you are my little sous chef.  Whether it's stirring, mixing, or tasting, you want to have a part in helping in the kitchen.  You still love to sweep and vacuum, but want nothing to do with your toy broom and vacuum.  You want the real thing and attempt to make trades with us in order to get it.  Somehow, Daddy and I end up sweeping with a little broom, while you carry the big broom in one hand and the dustpan in the other. 

Thanks for a wonderful month Tay!  I'm looking foward to seeing what this next one brings. 

I love you sweetheart,

Mama

Night, Night

Last night, after Taylor had finished his chocolate milk and we had some snuggle time, I told him it was time for bed.  I scooped him up to carry him upstairs.  As we passed by Bruiser, he said "Bye, bye Baybru (Bruiser)."  I had only climbed a couple of steps when he turned his head towards the t.v. (Cars was still playing) and said "Bye bye Lanin' Qeen (Lightning McQueen), bye bye Lally (Sally), bye bye Helicopter (which is what he calls Mater)..."

I couldn't help but smile.  It's these little things that I try to remember to write down, because they are so cute, I don't want to forget them.

Leapin' Leprechauns

On St. Patty's Day my first graders always get fired up when they think about trapping a leprechaun and taking his gold.  My leprechaun usually doesn't go too crazy with making a big mess in my slassroom, because it is already "lived in" enough and he doesn't want me to have to clean up too much.  What can I say?  He's just a nice guy.  He usually knocks over some chairs, spills crayon cups, etc. . . But this year, there was a little bit of magic in the air.

The night before St. Patrick's Day, everyone colored a Styrofoam cup with a green marker, so that we could do a craft with them on St. Patty's Day.  When we came in the next morning, that sneaky little leprechaun had made a mess in our room, written us a note, and worst of all, he shrunk all of our Styrofoam cups into teeny tiny hats.

He even left one at our house with a little green race car for Taylor.  When Tay spotted it, his face was priceless.  Getting a cookie and a new car on the same day is a pretty big deal!

You Gotta Serve Your Time Buddy

Well Tater Tot, we knew this day was coming, we just weren't sure when it would happen. . . today was the day that you had to go to time out at Mrs. Joanna's house for the first time.  I guess you are getting too big to get by on cute!  You pushed Caroline and when you were put in time out, Mrs. Joanna said you weren't very happy about it. 

At her house, the time out spot is sitting on the fireplace.  Mrs.  Joanna said that every time she looked up, she noticed you had scooted over just a little bit, until you were at the very end of the fireplace.  You kept scooting over until you were right next to Brusters cage.  You crack me up!  I guess you either needed a little company or someone to console you!  You get spoiled at our house, because Bruiser will usually come and sit next to you while you are "serving your time."

I love you Tay, but we have got to work on keeping those hands to yourself!