Bottle Free, Baby!

Here's a cute picture of Tyler playing at the Treehouse, an indoor jungle jim for kids. Of course, the balls were the highlight! Just wanted to give Ty Ty a shout out as he has been bottle-free for a week now. Tyler is 18 months and has been using sippy cups and sport caps for months but we (I should say me) just continued with bottles at night time. He has been a champ all week and never once even reacted at the sippy at bedtime. In fact, many nights we haven't even been using a drink to pacify. Great job Ty!

Just noticing a little change in daily life

So, as you know...our boys love video games. Tyler loves to help Ryan get his game chair out and he sits on his little bench enjoying the show. Our game time has been very limited since we are still having constipation with Ryan and an unwillingness to go to the potty. It is one of the most difficult challenges I have ever faced and am so looking forward to Ryan's success.

Notice Life Today: Ryan has just started showing "possession" in his speech. When he is telling a story it is now "My Daddy, My Mommy, My Brother"...you get the point. Before it was simply Mommy, Daddy, and Tyler. It's really cute because he uses it in an endearing way.

Notice Life Today: Last night was the first time that Ryan woke me up in the middle of the night because he recognized that he needed to go potty. I'm so proud of him.

Snow Ball

Ryan was practicing his slam dunk in the cold weather. He's been practicing his shots from all angles and trying to get some air when he jumps too. Tyler loves to follow behind and make baskets too. As a matter of fact, it is quite difficult to get Tyler to head inside...even in the coldest weather. The rest of us run indoors and watch him play for a few more minutes before we make him come inside too.

Ryan and Daddy made their way down to the neighbors this weekend for some sledding fun. "Forget the lunch mom! I'm ready for hot cocoa," Ryan says. "Yumm...this really warms my belly!"

Mom, I didn't like the taste of that!

Tyler is finally starting to eat a wider variety of foods. He still shys away from meat and pretty much devours pasta and potatoes. I'm pretty sure he won't be trying this snack again for a while! (It's just a Gerber gummy bear for Toddlers.)

Did I mention?

We discovered a whole bunch of big teeth popping out in the back of Tyler's mouth. 4 large molars are working their way out. Ouch. He's pretty much been all smiles since. Of course, he still has his temper...but he was mostly happy this weekend.

Ryan, Tyler, Grandma, and I ventured to Chelsea this weekend and played at the Treehouse, an indoor playland for kids. We met up with cousins Hailee and Jake and had a really fun time. The kids crashed in the car on the way home and Grandma fixed us some goulash for dinner. Tyler ate 5 plates of goulash and delighted us by calling out Ryan's name. You should have seen the smile on Ryan's face. Tyler's vocabulary is very limited but he does enjoy saying:

Choo Choo

Meow

Bark (in a growl)

Ry-an

Dada

maaa

kiss

Our night time routine is one of my favorite times of the day right now. Around 8:00 p.m. I always ask Tyler if he is ready for Night Night and he shakes his head yes and starts for Daddy and Ryan to give kisses. He says kiss, puckers up and doles out the goods;) Then he grabs his ribbon/tag blanket and reaches his arms out for me and we lay down together until he falls asleep. Such a nice routine.

Friday, Friday, Friday

Yo! It's Friday and I am psyched for the weekend. Have a great one.

Run!

We had alot of fun this week teaching our kids to play in the street:) They really enjoyed playing catch and it is the first time since November that Tyler got to walk outside as we have carried him from the car to indoors all winter. The winter air takes Tyler's breath away each time we step foot outside so we didn't have any winter play. It was so nice on Sunday that I took Tyler out in his footed pjs crammed into shoes. (Parent of the year award. ;)

Ryan did enjoy some sledding time earlier this week.

We've had a few chances to play Wii again and had a few very good behvior days. Ryan blew his streak last night with some naughties while grandma was watching him. Let's hope for a better day today.

Ready for the weekend!

Look at the smiles on our faces when we leave for school today knowing that the weekend is finally here!

For the love of Golf!

So you can't wait for spring? Neither can a little boy with new set of golf clubs! Ryan decided to play some snow golf and really did not give up easily even though the ball kept getting lost in the snow.

We're having small breakthroughs in the pattern of bad behavior but are still witholding the Wii. Had the most fun this weekend at Brendan's 6th birtday bowling party with a little Wii bowling to follow-up. Brendan showed Ryan some new games and now Ryan is in hot pursuit of getting his game back. We're hoping to return privelges for Valentine's. Cross your fingers.

Been playing a little on Facebook. So new to it that it is a little overwhelming but really enjoying seeing glimpses of the past. Check it out.

Gotta Go! Have a great week.