Papa and the Purple Balloon

Tyler got a purple balloon from the grocery store last weekend and he recruited Papa to play a game with the balloon that involved Papa getting smacked in the face over and over. That's not a game we would typically encourage, but Papa was a willing target and Tyler laughed so hard every time the balloon hit Papa. They were having so much fun together, we just had to laugh along with them.

Nathan and the Bouncy Seat

Nathan has really started to enjoy his bouncy seat, which is shocking for us because Tyler despised bouncy seats. As you'll see in the video, Nathan has definitely figured out how it works. When he kicks his feet, the activity bar lights up and plays music. He likes trying to kick the toys that dangle down. The middle one is a mirror. I'm not positive that he can actually see himself in it, but sometimes I do see him smiling. He's either just having fun, or he's smiling back at the handsome boy in the mirror.

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Yesterday I noticed that Nathan has started doing the Superman. When he's on his belly, he pushes his shoulders off the ground and lifts his feet, so it almost looks like he's flying. It's hard to believe he'll be 3-months-old tomorrow!

Mission Man Triathlon

Tim competed in the Mission Man Triathlon on Saturday. The race was about an hour and ten minutes from home, so I had to get the boys and myself out of the house at 6:45 that morning. That was no small feat, but we made it and the drive actually wasn't bad. Nathan slept most of the way, and Tyler kept me company with his continuous commentary on the passing trucks and scenery.

We were just a couple minutes late by the time I got the boys out of the car and ran with them in the double stroller to the lake where Tim was already swimming. Tyler liked watching all the racers swimming back toward the shore where we stood. Unfortunately, he didn't get to see his dad get out of the water because there were so many other spectators standing around who blocked his view. I would've picked him up, but I was carrying Nathan at the time.

While Tim was biking, I had a chance to stop and feed Nathan while Tyler watched the racers mount their bikes and ride away. He kept saying, "nutter (another) bike, Mommy!" Since there were over 850 racers, I got to hear that a lot. Granted, we didn't sit there and watch everyone get on their bike, but still.

After I finished feeding Nathan, we walked down the street a little ways so we could watch the bikers coming back. I saw Tim riding toward us, but I wasn't sure that it was him until he zoomed past us, so again Tyler kind of missed him. By that point, he was probably thinking that his daddy wasn't really at this race. He kept asking, "see my daddy?" The good thing was that Tim came running back by us just a couple minutes later when he started the run portion. This time Tyler got to see his dad up-close (literally 2 feet away) and Tim smiled and said, "Hey, buddy!" Tyler was more interested in the race after that and he then commented on all the runners. "Nutter runner, Mommy!"

We got to see Tim one more time before we headed to the finish where we saw him running up the final hill. Tyler never did cheer out loud for his dad during the race, but he said he had fun. He loves bikes and he loves to run, so we may have a future triathlete on our hands. More than anything, he just wants to be like his daddy, and that's a pretty good thing to aspire toward. Tim ended up finishing 4th, which he was pretty happy with since he had the fastest bike and run splits of all the racers. Of course, he's his toughest critic. I think 4th place is fantastic! Good job, Hon!

I'm glad we got to see this race because we won't be able to see his next few triathlons since they're further away from home. Both Tim and Tyler wanted us to be at the race, so it was worth the early wake-up call and the drive to make it happen for them. I'm sure it won't be long before Nathan catches the triathlon bug and he'll be just as excited as his brother for Tim's races.

Nana's Birthday

Nana's birthday was last week, but we celebrated it this evening with dinner at Bahama Breeze. It's getting pretty crazy when we go out to eat with the 4 boys--Cooper, Tyler, Gabe and Nathan. They behaved just fine (sigh of relief), but there just always seems to be a lot going on at once with 3 of them in high chairs and one in my lap. After dinner I took a few pictures of the 2 older boys. (The 2 little ones were either sleeping or just about to fall asleep, so they didn't make it into the pictures). Cooper tried to show Tyler how to give thumbs-up, but as you'll see below, Tyler didn't quite get it. I also got a few pictures of them giving Nana kisses, which were probably some of her favorite birthday presents this year.

Tyler & Kaitlyn

On Thursday we went to the mall for our weekly playdate with Kaitlyn and Lindsay. It was our last one before Lindsay has her new baby girl, which will hopefully be any day now. Tyler really looks forward to going to the mall to play with Kaitlyn. If I mention the mall, he immediately starts talking about Kay-Kay and the bus. I finally took a few pictures of them riding the bus together. As always, Tyler drove while Kaitlyn sat in the back. It's a good thing Kaitlyn is so willing to let Tyler drive because he loves driving that bus!

Life With a 2-Year-Old

Tyler is just like many other 2-year-olds I know. Everything is "mine" or "my (fill-in-the-blank)". He has started calling us "my daddy" and "my mommy". He even says "my PJ" (pronounced "my pis-say"). The other evening we went for a short walk with Tyler in his wagon and Nathan in the Baby Bjorn. Tim was telling me a story and I responded with, "Oh, my word!" to something he said. For the rest of the walk, Tyler kept repeating, "No! MY word!" We just had to laugh at him because he doesn't even know what that expression means. He just knows that he wants everything to be his.

Tyler loves playing with this enormous Thomas train set he got from Cooper and Gabe for his birthday.

This is PJ licking his chops. Yes, that is his tongue.

Happy boy

Playtime

Nathan is starting to really enjoy playing on his playmats. We have two--one in the living room and one in Tyler's room. He lies on them and tries to grab the little dangly toys that hang down from the arches. He's getting pretty good at grabbing onto them and he's usually content to play like that for 20 minutes or longer, which is great when I need to get a meal on the table. I'm so glad we invested in a new one for him because Nathan gets so excited when he's playing on it. How do we know? Because he smiles and kicks his chubby little legs over and over.

Tyler wanted me to take a picture of him with his basketball, so here it is...

Big Sleeper

In the last week, Nathan has decided to start sleeping through the night. I'm not talking about 5 consecutive hours like the pediatrician considers as sleeping through the night--he has been doing that since he was 5 weeks old. Ever since last Wednesday he's been sleeping anywhere from 8 to 10 hours, and Sunday night he even slept a whopping 12 hours! I had to wake him up the next morning at 8:30 because I thought he should eat after 12 hours of sleep. He doesn't take long naps during the day, but that's okay because he's making up for it by letting me sleep at night!

More Smiles to Share

Last week was pretty laid back for the boys and I. We just didn't have a lot going on, which isn't necessarily a good thing. Tyler can easily get stir crazy, so it's better for him (and, consequently, for me) if we get out of the house so he can burn off some energy. He's at that age where he's constantly testing his boundaries, so I feel like I spend a good chunk of my day reminding him where they are. Although dealing with this typical 2-year-old behavior is not one of my favorite things, this age does have its benefits. I love all the conversations we have during the day. He repeats just about everything he hears and our once quiet little boy has turned into quite a chatterbox. When I'm talking with Tim at dinner (one of my few adult conversations during the day) and Tyler thinks it's his turn to talk, he says, "No talk, Mommy. My talk." I have to work really hard to stifle a giggle when I tell him that he needs to say "excuse me" and wait his turn. He's such a riot these days.

Below are some photos of "the little one" (which is how I often refer to Nathan) from last week. I can't get enough of his adorable little smile so bear with me as I show it off--again.

"The big one" wanted his picture taken, too...

July 4th Weekend

We actually celebrated Independence Day a day early so that we could celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary on Friday. Garner, the town where my parents live, holds an event on the 3rd so we went to that with Nana, Papa, the Cardenases (Jonathan, Becki, Cooper and Gabe), and the Pittmans. We just set out some blankets and chairs and enjoyed a picnic dinner (I found out that I love Bojangles' biscuits). After we ate, we got to watch Cooper and Tyler run and dance around with each other. They have so much fun together and little Gabe will be joining in the big boy fun soon. He is trying so hard to walk and I'm sure it won't be long now! Nathan loves being outside, just like his big bro, so he was perfectly happy. We didn't stay for the fireworks because we had to get Tyler and Nathan to bed, but it was fun just to hang out with family for a while.

Our 6th wedding anniversary was also last weekend, July 6th. We decided we'd celebrate it on Friday, the 4th, so that Tyler could spend the night at Nana and Papa's house. Tyler wanted PJ to go with him, so we only had Nathan that night. We didn't want to do much because we still had Nathan with us, so we got take-out from Red Lobster (it had been at least 4 years since we'd eaten there) and ate it at home. We had both forgotten how good Red Lobster's Cheddar Bay biscuits taste. We even rented a movie ("27 Dresses"--a total chick flick), which is a rarity for us. It was so nice to be able to just relax together like we used to!

A Jumping Party

Last Sunday we went to a birthday for my friend Deanna's little girl, Lily, who turned 3. They had the party at a place called Jumpin' Beans and Tyler had a ton of fun. He loved it because he got to run and jump around, eat pizza, and have a cupcake. It just doesn't get much better than that.

Unfortunately, a lot of the pictures I took didn't turn out because he was moving and jumping so quickly, but here are a few...

Mr. Smiley and New Shoes

These pictures were taken the day before Nathan turned 8-weeks-old. He is getting so smiley. All I have to do is smile and talk to him, and he smiles and coos back. Even in the middle of the night when I'm changing his diaper and barely able to stand, he's looking up at me with a big goofy grin. Yep, it's darling. The double chin he's sporting is pretty cute, too.

Tyler got new shoes. He was so excited about his new shoes, so I had to snap a few photos of him wearing them that day. When Tim came home, he ran and got the box so I could put them on his feet. He couldn't wait to show his daddy his new shoes. Fortunately, Tim approved (he's pretty picky about anything his boys wear, in case you didn't know) and he told Tyler how cool they were. Tyler usually refers to them as his "new shoes", but a couple days ago he told me he wanted to wear his "cool shoes."

Chasing Ducks

As I've mentioned before, Tyler loves to go to one of the many nearby lakes to feed the ducks and geese. On this particular visit to the lake a couple weeks ago, a few of the ducks were feeling a little brave. They walked onto the bridge and toward Tyler because they knew he had bread in his hand. At first he just looked at them, but it didn't take long before he was chasing them, which you'll see in the video below. (In case you're wondering, Nate was fast asleep in the Baby Bjorn, so I couldn't get him in the video).

When I actually stop and take the time, I love looking at the world through a 2-year-old's eyes. Things that are seemingly little, like feeding and chasing ducks, can be the highlight of an entire day.

"Bye-bye, ducks."
Tyler kept saying "hi" to the ducks.

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