Yep, that's right, Kyle and I both survived the plane trip to VA with one layover/connection in between. We left around his nap time from Phoenix and he did have a few tantrums, but after a couple books, a half hour of Lady and the Tramp on the DVD player, and the seatbelt light being turned off so I could walk him around, Kyle fell asleep for the last half of our long flight! Our connecting flight was only an hour long and Kyle got his own seat, by the window no less; he did great being seat belted in and loved putting the window shade up and down.
After getting picked up, we stopped for dinner at a place with an indoor playground. Kyle hung out in there by himself because it wasn't very busy and would you believe it?! He climbed up the playground and went down this huge slide all by himself! It was so cute to see how proud he was when he reached the bottom of that slide.
Kyle has adjusted well to all the family and is learning how to dodge the resident dog, Goldie, a much larger than Kyle Labrador/retriever mix. Kyle played with all of his cousins at some point today, racing his hot wheels, trying his hand at air hockey, and playing with some way cool old school toys his great aunt Mary saved!
I know that Kevin and I were a little nervous about Kyle and me traveling alone, but I'm glad we came. It seems that this trip was a lot easier than the last one we took in July. Kyle didn't sleep much last night, but took an almost 3 hour nap and went to bed at 7:30 tonight.
I'm taking pictures, but they won't be posted until after we come home.
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Monday, December 18, 2006
Toddler n the hood
Isn't it funny that Kyle won't keep a hat on, but loves to have the hood from his sweatshirt up the entire time he's wearing it?!
So, I brought in the slide yesterday and we had quite a bit of fun with it, as usual. Kyle got quite a kick out of throwing toys, pacifiers, and the occasional sippy cup down from the top. The highlight though, came after dinner, when he unloaded a grocery bag I had put together with food to donate and started rolling cans of tuna down the slide!
Today, around naptime, Kyle asked me to pull his crib out from the wall (so he could climb in on the toddler bed side). Once he was in his bed, he asked for a binky, so I found one. Then I asked him if it was naptime; Kyle laid down, I pushed his crib back up against the wall, turned off the light, covered him with his blanket and sang a little song as I shut the door. I didn't hear from him for 3 hours! I guess he knows when he's tired!
Kyle has started saying the word "bus" over the past week or so whenever we see a city or school bus while driving around. I'll hear "dus, dus, dus..." from the back seat and sure enough, there is a bus pulled up beside us or in front of us. Additionally, he is making full use of the word "mama" whenever he *thinks* he needs my assistance. Also, I noticed that when he brings me his Old MacDonald book, that he makes the intonations for the E-I-E-I-O part of the song. It's amazing how fast infants and toddlers can make sense of language!
Kyle and I will be traveling to Virginia Dec 26th through Dec 31st. Turns out all my aunts and uncles will be in the same place at one time, which only seems to happen every 15 years or so! So thank you to everyone who made this trip possible; we are so excited to see the extended family! Send your prayers my way, as I'll be traveling alone with Kyle across the United States...should be fun!
Lastly, we have been "hanging" our Christmas cards on the tree as decoration. Kyle especially likes the picture ones, but his favorite are from The Tatums and Baby Ava. He loves to point to the kids, then have me say their names:
Points to Ellie, Looks at mom
"Ellie"
Points to Ava, Looks at mom
"Baby Ava"
Does the sign for baby
Points to Ellie, Looks at mom
"Ellie"
etc... You get the picture. He can do this for quite awhile! Alright, we're heading to the Valley as of Saturday to get an early start on our Christmas celebrations...Happy Holidays if I don't post until after our vacation!
So, I brought in the slide yesterday and we had quite a bit of fun with it, as usual. Kyle got quite a kick out of throwing toys, pacifiers, and the occasional sippy cup down from the top. The highlight though, came after dinner, when he unloaded a grocery bag I had put together with food to donate and started rolling cans of tuna down the slide!
Today, around naptime, Kyle asked me to pull his crib out from the wall (so he could climb in on the toddler bed side). Once he was in his bed, he asked for a binky, so I found one. Then I asked him if it was naptime; Kyle laid down, I pushed his crib back up against the wall, turned off the light, covered him with his blanket and sang a little song as I shut the door. I didn't hear from him for 3 hours! I guess he knows when he's tired!
Kyle has started saying the word "bus" over the past week or so whenever we see a city or school bus while driving around. I'll hear "dus, dus, dus..." from the back seat and sure enough, there is a bus pulled up beside us or in front of us. Additionally, he is making full use of the word "mama" whenever he *thinks* he needs my assistance. Also, I noticed that when he brings me his Old MacDonald book, that he makes the intonations for the E-I-E-I-O part of the song. It's amazing how fast infants and toddlers can make sense of language!
Kyle and I will be traveling to Virginia Dec 26th through Dec 31st. Turns out all my aunts and uncles will be in the same place at one time, which only seems to happen every 15 years or so! So thank you to everyone who made this trip possible; we are so excited to see the extended family! Send your prayers my way, as I'll be traveling alone with Kyle across the United States...should be fun!
Lastly, we have been "hanging" our Christmas cards on the tree as decoration. Kyle especially likes the picture ones, but his favorite are from The Tatums and Baby Ava. He loves to point to the kids, then have me say their names:
Points to Ellie, Looks at mom
"Ellie"
Points to Ava, Looks at mom
"Baby Ava"
Does the sign for baby
Points to Ellie, Looks at mom
"Ellie"
etc... You get the picture. He can do this for quite awhile! Alright, we're heading to the Valley as of Saturday to get an early start on our Christmas celebrations...Happy Holidays if I don't post until after our vacation!
Thursday, December 07, 2006
Little Kyle
Kyle and I just got back from a great mom/toddler get together. The kids played and played, painted some ornaments and ate lunch. Kyle was exhausted on the way home; he just kind of whimpered.
Did I tell you we put our tree up? And a wreath on the door, a few lights around the window. For all of our concerns about Kyle messing with the tree, he is truly unimpressed. Once or twice now he's asked for us to turn the lights on, but then he only looks at them 30 seconds or so. Another thing that happened when we put the tree up is all of Kyle's toys moved to his bedroom, talk about a dream come true! The main room doesn't get near as messy with Kyle stuff because we pick out a toy or two each day that stays with us in the main part of the house; everything else he plays with in his room. I'm tempted to keep things this way after the tree goes back in to storage!
Lately, Kyle has been leaking out of his diapers at night, which is terribly frustrating! We've tried quite a few things, but what seems to be working is not letting him have any fluids after 7 p.m.. Also, he's been sleeping in until 8 a.m.! A couple mornings Kevin or I have gone in and laid down with him at 7 a.m., but he goes right back to sleep until a little after 8 then. It's been so nice to "sleep in" after over a year of wake up calls anywhere from 4 a.m. - 7 a.m.. Another thing we do is bring Kyle in to our bed when he wakes up! I know a lot of parents wouldn't do this, but it is the best way to wake up! He snuggles and plays with us, drinks his milk lying down on a pillow and we all get a couple extra minutes to wake up slowly.
We've started affectionately calling him "little" Kyle instead of "baby" Kyle. I do this thing with him where I use my fingers to beckon him and say "Come here little Kyle, come here" and he'll do it back to me then run full throttle in to my arms for a hug, laughing all the way. It's sooo cute!
And I have to admit, lately I've been taking a leisurely outlook on most chores that aren't Kyle related...I take naps when he naps and generally relax while I can. I figure I need to rest up for when we try for baby #2 in a couple years (good excuse, right?)!
Did I tell you we put our tree up? And a wreath on the door, a few lights around the window. For all of our concerns about Kyle messing with the tree, he is truly unimpressed. Once or twice now he's asked for us to turn the lights on, but then he only looks at them 30 seconds or so. Another thing that happened when we put the tree up is all of Kyle's toys moved to his bedroom, talk about a dream come true! The main room doesn't get near as messy with Kyle stuff because we pick out a toy or two each day that stays with us in the main part of the house; everything else he plays with in his room. I'm tempted to keep things this way after the tree goes back in to storage!
Lately, Kyle has been leaking out of his diapers at night, which is terribly frustrating! We've tried quite a few things, but what seems to be working is not letting him have any fluids after 7 p.m.. Also, he's been sleeping in until 8 a.m.! A couple mornings Kevin or I have gone in and laid down with him at 7 a.m., but he goes right back to sleep until a little after 8 then. It's been so nice to "sleep in" after over a year of wake up calls anywhere from 4 a.m. - 7 a.m.. Another thing we do is bring Kyle in to our bed when he wakes up! I know a lot of parents wouldn't do this, but it is the best way to wake up! He snuggles and plays with us, drinks his milk lying down on a pillow and we all get a couple extra minutes to wake up slowly.
We've started affectionately calling him "little" Kyle instead of "baby" Kyle. I do this thing with him where I use my fingers to beckon him and say "Come here little Kyle, come here" and he'll do it back to me then run full throttle in to my arms for a hug, laughing all the way. It's sooo cute!
And I have to admit, lately I've been taking a leisurely outlook on most chores that aren't Kyle related...I take naps when he naps and generally relax while I can. I figure I need to rest up for when we try for baby #2 in a couple years (good excuse, right?)!
Saturday, December 02, 2006
Last one...
From left to right...Kyle, Kaylie, Hunter, and Bethany with Kellie and Celeste in the back holding their babies.
Pictures
The grass is always greener...
...on the other side!
Sliding fun!
Ride em cowboy!
Rocking Taylor...
High five!
Update
So, Kyle is not sleeping on his mattress on the floor right now; turned out that runny nose right before Thanksgiving was a little cold and we never knew if he was waking up in the middle of the night because he rolled off the bed or needed medicine. We've decided to try the mattress on the floor again while Kevin's on Christmas break.
Our Thanksgiving was just wonderful! We enjoyed celebrating at home with just us and then having some of the grandparents visit over the weekend. Kyle is really starting to warm up to his extended family!
The Monday after Thanksgiving I picked up one of our friends Kellie and her 5 1/2 month old kids Kaylie (sp?) and Hunter and we all traveled to Gilbert to see our friend Celeste and her new baby girl, Bethany. Whew! You should've seen the car! We had Kyle in the middle seat and the babies strapped in on each side; it was tight, but we made it work! It was so nice to get to meet Bethany as a new baby and totally amazing to think that this time next year she'll be doing a lot of the same things that Kyle does!
This week we also headed out to Tubac with my old college roommate, Tammy, to see the site where she's getting married and help confirm some details. It is just a beautiful area and Kyle had a great time exploring!
Also, Kyle had his 15 month old doctor's appointment this week. We found out that he is 23 lbs and 32 inches; on the light side, but tall for his age! The doctor said Kyle is doing great developmentally (which we, of course, know how "advanced" he is for his age!) and that he wouldn't need any more shots until he turns two years old. Kyle giggled when Dr. Lloyd used her stethoscope to listen to his chest and both the Dr. and myself started singing the "Teddy bear, teddy bear turn around" rhyme when Kyle started spinning around in the middle of the exam room. It's really nice to see that she's in touch with his age group! We'll go back in February when Kyle turns 18 months old.
In other news, we have taken quite a few pictures lately, one with Santa and family pictures at the JcPenney studio. I've slowed down quite a bit on the professional pictures now that Kyle is older. He still changes a lot, but not near as quickly as the first year.
Let's see, what are some new things that Kyle is doing nowadays: pretends to be a dog by crawling around and panting, turns the stereo on so he can dance, "requests" certain DVDs/videos by pulling out the one he wants from the entertainment center and bringing it to us or turning on the TV, turns off Kevin's football game and does the "all done" sign when he's finished watching TV, snuggles up to us when we ask him to "snuggle up to daddy/mommy while I get your diaper, milk, etc...", walks around the house with a cell phone babbling away like he's talking to someone on the other end, knocks on doors, locks doors using the bottom lock, pulls out the plug to our tub when he's done with his bath, swims in the bathtub while the water is draining, pulls tissues out of the box and "wipes" his nose before throwing the tissue in the trashcan, and lastly, we have a neighborhood kitten who likes to sleep on our porch in our blue chair. Kyle loves to see this kitten and will lay down on the porch with her when she jumps out of the chair to roll around and stretch. It's too cute, but I have yet to capture a picture!
And I am very tickled that I got to talk to Kirsten last night on the "phone".
Our Thanksgiving was just wonderful! We enjoyed celebrating at home with just us and then having some of the grandparents visit over the weekend. Kyle is really starting to warm up to his extended family!
The Monday after Thanksgiving I picked up one of our friends Kellie and her 5 1/2 month old kids Kaylie (sp?) and Hunter and we all traveled to Gilbert to see our friend Celeste and her new baby girl, Bethany. Whew! You should've seen the car! We had Kyle in the middle seat and the babies strapped in on each side; it was tight, but we made it work! It was so nice to get to meet Bethany as a new baby and totally amazing to think that this time next year she'll be doing a lot of the same things that Kyle does!
This week we also headed out to Tubac with my old college roommate, Tammy, to see the site where she's getting married and help confirm some details. It is just a beautiful area and Kyle had a great time exploring!
Also, Kyle had his 15 month old doctor's appointment this week. We found out that he is 23 lbs and 32 inches; on the light side, but tall for his age! The doctor said Kyle is doing great developmentally (which we, of course, know how "advanced" he is for his age!) and that he wouldn't need any more shots until he turns two years old. Kyle giggled when Dr. Lloyd used her stethoscope to listen to his chest and both the Dr. and myself started singing the "Teddy bear, teddy bear turn around" rhyme when Kyle started spinning around in the middle of the exam room. It's really nice to see that she's in touch with his age group! We'll go back in February when Kyle turns 18 months old.
In other news, we have taken quite a few pictures lately, one with Santa and family pictures at the JcPenney studio. I've slowed down quite a bit on the professional pictures now that Kyle is older. He still changes a lot, but not near as quickly as the first year.
Let's see, what are some new things that Kyle is doing nowadays: pretends to be a dog by crawling around and panting, turns the stereo on so he can dance, "requests" certain DVDs/videos by pulling out the one he wants from the entertainment center and bringing it to us or turning on the TV, turns off Kevin's football game and does the "all done" sign when he's finished watching TV, snuggles up to us when we ask him to "snuggle up to daddy/mommy while I get your diaper, milk, etc...", walks around the house with a cell phone babbling away like he's talking to someone on the other end, knocks on doors, locks doors using the bottom lock, pulls out the plug to our tub when he's done with his bath, swims in the bathtub while the water is draining, pulls tissues out of the box and "wipes" his nose before throwing the tissue in the trashcan, and lastly, we have a neighborhood kitten who likes to sleep on our porch in our blue chair. Kyle loves to see this kitten and will lay down on the porch with her when she jumps out of the chair to roll around and stretch. It's too cute, but I have yet to capture a picture!
And I am very tickled that I got to talk to Kirsten last night on the "phone".
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