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!

20 Terrific Months

Tay --

It's already that time again!  You are twenty months old today and unfortunately for you, it wasn't your best day ever.  Last night, when it was time to get ready to go to Bible study, I kissed your forehead and you felt pretty warm.  When Daddy saw you crawl up on the couch, cover yourself with the blanket, and turn your head away from the tv, we really knew something was wrong.  So, we gave you some Tylenol, a glass of chocolate, lots of hugs and kisses, and put you to bed.

This morning when you woke up, you were burning up and looked so pitiful.  You didn't want to eat anything.  So, after two glasses of chocolate milk, I called the doctor and made an appointment.  It breaks my heart when you get sick.  I wish I could swap places with you.

We spent about two hours at the doctor's office.  They weighed you and took your temperature.  You weighed 23 pounds even and were running a fever of 101.  We waited for Dr. Morgan in one of the rooms and you fell asleep on my chest.  After some poking, prodding, and a couple of swab tests, we found out that you have strep.

There was only one thing left to go. . . get ice cream from Chick-fil-A, of course!  Between ice cream, a new Cars toy, and a bouncy ball, you seemed to be feeling better.  What can I say?  Your Mama is a sucker for sick kids. . . especially her own!

You continue to amaze me from day to day.  Your never ending energy and sweet smile are two of the things I adore about you.  You don't know the meaning of walk.  Running or galloping (that's a new thing) are the only two speeds you seem to know these days.

I love how instead of crying when you wake up in the morning, you still say "Hey Mama. . . hey Mama!" until I come in, scoop you out of your bed, and kiss your little buddha belly.  You are talking all of the time now and starting to string words together.  During church the other day, you randomly starting singing "Where is Taylor."  Of course, the words were in your own language, but the tune was spot on.  I hated to have to tell you to be quiet because it was just so stinkin' cute.

You are quite the ham and love the spotlight.  The other night we said "Hey Taylor, do you want to take a bath?"  You did your little Fred Flinstone run over the the bottom of the stairs and started dancing up and down on your tippie toes.  It was hilarious.  I told your Daddy that we needed to video tape how excited you get about bath time, so he went and got the video camera.  This time, instead of climbing up the stairs as fast as you could and running into the bathroom, you climbed a couple of stairs, turned around and looked at the camera, then gave your Daddy your "big smile" and said "Ceese!" (Cheese).  Then you proceeded to turn around, climb a couple more stairs and do it again.  You made your Daddy and me laugh so hard.  It seems your Mama may have a camera around you a little too often.

Here's something you'll be surprised to find out. . . you love the movie Cars!  Shocker, right?  You have a whole bucket full of the characters from the movie and you can almost name them all.  Watching Cars continues to be our morning and night time ritual.  You start the movie when you wake up in the morning with your glass of chocolate milk and then end your day with Lightning McQueen and a glass of chocolate milk.  Life is good, huh buddy?

You have definitely earned your buddha belly.  You love to eat anything that your Mama and Daddy are eating.  Your favorites are still cheese, bread, and sweets (which your Daddy says you "get honest" from your Mama).  You'll eat any of them at pretty much any hour of the day.  It's fun to watch you eat mac and cheese because you take a bite or two and then smile and say "Mmmmmm. . . mmmmm!" and then have a big orange rim left around your mouth.  Sadly, I am guilty of the same thing!

One thing you have been able to do a lot over the last month is play with your friends.  Of course, you love seeing all of the girls at Mrs. Joanna's house, but you got to play with Evan, Brayden, and Clayton a lot lately.  We either go to Mrs. Kristin's house (and make a mess over there), meet at the park, or at Chick-fil-A.  I can't wait until summer when we will really be able to have some fun!

 

I love you sweetheart.  I could write on and on about you. . . but you want me to hold you while you watch Cars.  Happy 20 Months love!  I hope you feel better soon.

Feelin' Crafty

I know it's a little late, but I thought I'd go ahead and post some pictures from last Saturday, when some of my girl friends and I got together with our "boys" to make Valentine's Day card.  Three of our husbands are firemen, so when the boys are "away," we find time to play!  As you can probably tell from the pictures, we seemed to be the ones that were into making the cards and the boys were humoring us. . . at least for a couple of minutes and then it was back to playing with trucks and trains and making messes.

 

We actually got all of the cards "signed" and were brave enough to get out the finger paint.  I must say, they turned out pretty cute and the boys were happy because the got to decorate cookies after we cleaned up our mess!

I have a feeling that these boys are going to get into a lot of trouble together. . . look out world, here they come!

A Whole Lotta Love

For some reason, I am one of those people who love Valentine's Day.  I can remember being a little girl and waking up on Valetine's Day morning to find a card and small treats from my Mama and usually a flower or two from my Daddy.  Those little things always meant so much to me. 

I was excited to do something for Tay this year and for him to be old enough to enjoy it.  Over the last couple of weeks, I collected little things here and there and when he went to bed last night, I laid them out on his little table for him to find in the morning.  I wasn't sure if he would be up before I left for work this morning, but luckily, I was pleasantly surprised.

He woke up while my sweet husband snuck out to get me Starbucks.  I took him downstairs and we went through our usual morning routine (get cozy on the couch under the big blanket, drink chocolate milk and watch Cars).  When Brent got home (and Tay finished his chocolate milk), I turned on the light and told him to look at the table.  A huge grin spread across his face as he yelled "Lightning 'Queen!"  He slid off the couch and did his little Fred Flinstone run across the living room.

When he got to his table, he crawled up onto one of his seats and just stared at everything.  He would point at different things and then look at Brent and me and smile.  We both said, "Go ahead buddy. . . you can touch it.  It's for you."  It was so much fun to watch the emotion of pure joy on his face.  It's amazing how the little things make the best memories.

Of course, we couldn't leave Bruiser out.  He got a card from Tay and a new toy (which didn't even last for a day before it was torn to shreds). 

 

I am so blessed with a wonderful husband, precious son, and wonderful friends and family.  Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!  I hope it's filled with a whole lotta love.