Baseball

I'm not sure how it started, but when the weather turned nice a few weeks ago, Jason decided to play baseball with Tyler.  We already had the gear, thanks to a Christmas present from Beth and Jake and a hand-me-down from my coworkers Will and D.

teaching correct form

pitching the ball

That is the face of a happy boy!

some tee action

Holly = nonplussed

Then, Jason put out bases...

heading to first

rounding second

third base in his sights

 He's a natural.

Candids

Disclaimer:  These photos are awful.  Out of focus, messy background, poor lighting.  But that's kinda the point.  Just wanted to inform you that I know these are bad photos before you proceed.

People have asked what it's like being a family of four now.  This kinda helps give you a glimpse of our daily life.  Holly was in a particularly good mood, so I wanted to get some pictures of Jason with both the kids.  This is what I got...

At first, Tyler seemed game.
Me: "Oh, let's get that blanket out of the way."

Tyler decided to help.  Daddy and Holly just kept doing what they were doing.

Tyler "helping" by throwing all the pillows in the floor.

Everyone (well, except for Holly) distracted by the tv

At this point, Tyler was totally over the "let me take your picture" thing

...and proceeded to jump on the couch, which he knows isn't allowed (that's half the fun, though, right?)

*sigh*  Guess I'll have to try again later for a family photo

Chillaxin'

Tyler is a tv addict.  We're actually ok with that because my kiddo is seriously learning stuff, and it's not like he watches 12 hours a day or anything.

I love watching him watching tv.

"Mom, can't you see I'm trying to watch UmiZoomi?

Jason was not as enthralled by the episode:

Here is another day.  Apparently Daddy's pumpkin (what we call belly) is very comfy.

Snapshot of Time

It was not a great day.

In the arboretum parking lot, Tyler had insisted on being strolled.  Two minutes later, he wanted nothing to do with the stroller, which meant I had to chase after him AND lug an empty stroller behind me!  Seriously, someone invent a stroller that levitates or shrinks or something when your kid isn't in it.  I hate pushing an empty stroller.  We hadn't left the house until after 10, so Tyler and I sat on a bench so he could eat a snack (and I could take a rest!).  Problem was, I hadn't brought myself a snack, and it was nearing lunch time, and I was getting hangry.  More like hungry-cranky, but that's not nearly as catchy of a term.  I was sweaty.  I was losing my patience.

Then, Jason called us over because he wanted to take a picture.  I was way not in the mood, but posed for one anyway.






Photos amaze me sometimes.  I usually think of them perfectly capturing a moment.  This day, though, I didn't want to capture that particular moment.  I wanted to leave and eat lunch and sit in my air-conditioned car with a fully strapped-in toddler.

When Jason got his pictures back (this is another film shot), I was shocked by the photo.  This picture didn't summarize the day we were having, but it caught something much better instead.

I'm not normally a fan of B&W, but love this photo.  Besides, getting my eyes open and Tyler looking (and smiling!) at the camera all in one shot is a miracle.  Definitely one of my favorite pictures Jason has taken with his film camera.


What a beautiful snapshot of time.  Because this happened about two seconds later...

Yes, he is jamming his fingers in my eyes.  Ah, the precious moments of motherhood.

Wordless Wednesday -- Wrightsville Edition

Still working on getting photos together to fully describe our vacation, but here's an "awww" moment for the time being.

A Boy and his Dad

I can think of no better post for Father's Day.  Here are a few shots I captured at NC State on Memorial Day when they weren't really paying me any attention.

Heart... melting... can't... stop... smiling... so blessed!

Happy Father's Day, Jason.  Thank you for being such an amazing dad to Tyler and to the bump.

Jason the Comedian

Jason has always been able to make me laugh.  Well, he has quite a way with Tyler, too.  It doesn't matter what he comes up with, Tyler thinks it's hilarious.

Monday, it was saying "drinkies!" in a high-pitched voice as we sat down to dinner.  Yesterday, it was pouncing up and saying "rawr!"  There was also the hilarity of telling him he couldn't have an applesauce after dinner.  "Applesauce... no no no!"

Applesauce Video (not leaving up for long, so link may not work if you're seeing this a week later than post date.



Last week, Tyler was playing with his wheel on his swing set.  Every time he turned the wheel, Jason would turn with it (so Tyler thought the wheel was controlling him).  Tyler thought it was the most awesome thing ever.

Hard to capture with photos, but here's what I got (when I wasn't cracking up laughing, also)

18 Days to Celebrate 18 Months -- Expressions

Want to make my little guy smile and laugh?  Tell him you're sad, and make a sad face.






Yeah, you read that correctly.  He thinks sad faces are hilarious.  If I say something makes me sad, he'll say "Mama sad" and laughs when I make a sad face.  This does not bode well for future interactions with his peers.

One of his favorite books (he has about 100 favorite books, or it feels that way at least) is One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish (a personal fave of mine as well).  He loves this page:

In case you can't read it on your screen, it says "Some are sad.  And some are glad.  And some are very, very bad."  He turns to me when I'm reading this and enjoys each of my expressions.


He not only enjoys expressions, he's quite the expressive guy himself.  Here, I asked him to "smile."

Hmm, gonna have to work on the smile.  At least he's got "show me your tongue" downpat.

My little guy -- so expressive.  Where does it come from?

Oh yeah, he gets it from his daddy!  Seriously, I took these two shots within about 10 seconds of each other.  They couldn't see each other, but they were making nearly the same face! 

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

Christmas at Home, Part 2

"Tyler, who came last night?"

"SANTA!"

not sure about that face!

his very own "Hot Dog," so we wouldn't have to constantly show him the Hot Dog Dance video (it didn't work...)

 Tyler needs a little work on his jumpshot, so we just stuck with dunking.

His big gift was a tent and tunnel.  When he came downstairs, he saw it and immediately said "Addison!" because his cousin has a tent.  We had to explain to him that it was his tent.

We all joined in playing in the tent!

"Hey, Mom?  That's cool and all, but get out of my tent"

He's obsessed with keys (what little kid isn't?), and Santa found these metal keys that come with buttons that make honking, ignition, lock/unlock the doors, etc. sounds.  I have to be clear -- at no point did we stage/direct Tyler to do any of the following things:

"lock" his Chris-moose after he got off of it

try to unlock the door

no really, that's what he's trying to do!