18 Days of Celebrating 18 Months -- Living with a Toddler

Tyler is in that "into everything, especially the things you don't want him to be" phase.  When does that end again?

At home, he loves getting in the pantry or cabinets and pulling out everything in sight.  The bigger mess it makes, the better.  When he's bored (or Mama is on the phone and he's jealous), he'll go from no-no to no-no -- the tv receiver, the remotes, the cabinets, the baby monitor.  If our house had a big red self-destruct button (insert "it would destruct all the Selfs" joke here), he would break through all the barriers, bust the protective glass, and push it in a heartbeat.  Consequences mean little to my little guy (trust me, he has them).

He particularly loves all the no-no potential in our bathrooms.  I mean, there are bathtub faucets at perfect Tyler-turning-on heights.  There are trashcans and toilets.  Speaking of toilets, his newest obsession is the flusher on the downstairs bathroom toilet.  Thank goodness the flusher is broken and he isn't flushing away hundreds of gallons each day!


When we just need. to. get. out. of. the. house. (said with clenched teeth), we usually have a family outing to some exciting place -- like Target.  He's actually pretty chill in public, usually content riding around in a shopping cart or in his stroller.  But if we're out for a while, then we try to give him time to roam around freely -- well, roam around while I hold onto the hood of his coat to stay within arms' reach.

He is such a ball of energy.  I sometimes feel like my official title should be Child Wrangler.  I shared this picture the other day.  Yep, this pretty much sums it up:

99% of the time, he's my sweet little boy.  He rides when it's time to ride, runs around when it's time to run around, is held when it's time to be held.  The other 1% of the time, well, he's glad we don't live near more cannons...

18 Days of Celebrating 18 Months

I can't believe Tyler turns 18 Months today!  This was Tyler a year ago:

This is him now:

Such a little grown up!  Ok, maybe not, but such a little boy now (instead of a little baby).

I knew I wanted to blog about this milestone and try to record what life is like these days.  That's what prompted me to write 18 (yes, 18!) posts because there was just so much I wanted to share!  Stay tuned.

New Bern -- Jason's Photos

To be honest, I was mostly on strolling/wrangling Tyler duty during our recent trip to New Bern.  Jason managed to get some pictures of what we went to see (not just of Tyler!).

waterfront

ceiling of gazebo/pavillion

the Tyler-wrangling I mentioned before

cool panoramic photo Jason stitched together in Photo Shop

playing cannons outside of Tryon Palace

New Bern

Two weekends ago, the weather was beckoning for a road trip, so we headed to New Bern.  No set agenda, just go.

We mostly just strolled/walked around town, pointing out all the bear statues, eating lunch, and walking around the gardens at Tryon Palace.

All in all, it was a great day!

Tyler was very proud of his gumball

My Birthday

This year's birthday was pretty low-key.  A few days before, the world's largest box arrived with my present from Jason -- an ornament ball wreath!  I had tried to make one over Christmas and it did not go well at all.  So, supersweet gift from my thoughtful keeps-me-sane husband!

On my big day, I got to administer state exams and then attend an IEP meeting.  Yaaaaaay.  My guys surprised me after work with flowers, a balloon, and a card.  Tyler picked them out.  At least that's what Jason said to explain the "Who's counting?" balloon.

Another year older.  Or, as Jason put it, I'm no longer in my "thirties."  He may have gotten smacked about that one!

Christmas with the Davenports

Kara and Addison couldn't come on Christmas, so they came a few weeks before.  I swear, every picture I have of Kara is reading to Tyler and Addison...

Everyone enjoyed opening presents, but I think Tyler and Addison's favorite part was playing outside on the swing set.

While Tyler napped, the girls made chocolate-covered pretzels.  Other than being a bit stingy with the sprinkles, Addison was a natural!

A few days after Christmas, the rest of the crew came to the house.  There was lots of food, lots of eating of said food, and lots and lots of present-opening (we kept it under 4 hours this time, I think!).

                                    

                         

  

Exhausted yet?  Tyler was, too, and stopped to eat a snack!

    

Teal jackets!

I've never entertained that many people (other than for a party), but Mom and Dad graciously supplied Brunswick Stew and pimiento cheese, so it was fairly easy!  I made some Christmas goodies and a Feliz Navidad feast, and we were all set!

Christmas with the Selfs

The weekend before Christmas, we headed to Nebo to celebrate with Jason's family.  In my list-making, Christmas-packing mania, I somehow managed to leave my camera at home, so we'll have to rely on Jason's pictures.

Beth and Jake graciously hosted us, and we had a really great time, especially watching the little guys (Sawyer and Tyler) playing with their new loot.

loved this idea!

new mittens

There was lots of playing at Nana and PawPaw's house, too, but we didn't happen to get pictures of that.  Tyler got to play with Nana's chickens and learned about pianos.  Everyone else got to hear my awesome singing of "Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star" over and over and over as Tyler requested I play it on the piano and sing it.

Tyler also gave lots of hugs: