Playground Madness

Our zoo rebuilt a playground that just opened up and has made Ty the biggest fan! We are blessed that it is so close to home. The kid goes crazy every time he sees a playground and signs the word "play"! This playground is perfect for the big and little kids, handicap accessible and the incredible soft cushion stuff on the ground guards the falls. Its even fun for adults!

The new playground. This is just a portion of it. The place is HUGE!

The drum wall. They never had these when I was growing up.

Ty climbing up the big dinosaur tail.

This a cool piece of equipment. You can slide down it, but also climb up it.

Look at that smile...oh, the joy of a toddler!

This is a springy type contraption. Not quite a trampoline, but requires some balance.

This is a big kid slide. Check out the steepness to get up it.

I love this picture. The boys were watching a helicopter fly overhead.

Ty using his impeccable fine motor skills to pick up a piece of tiny plastic. The little guy will hand you the tiniest crumb off the floor and happened to continue his game on the playground floor.

Morning Stretches With Daddy

Troy came home for a morning run and we met him in the garage to welcome him back. Ty is in this stage where he mimicks what we do. As soon as Troy started his streching, Ty joined right in.

" Down and..."

" ...and up."

"Down again."

"And cross the feet." (Look how Ty has crossed his arms!)

A little modification by Ty.

"One last time. And down."

"And strech real high to the sky."

"Say Cheese!"

Ty decided to dump all of his books out of the basket and sit inside. He looked so cute and I had to take a picture. He wouldn't smile for me so I said, "Say cheese." This is what I got! He signed the word "cheese" which totally made sense. He had me rolling on the floor laughing. The kid doesn't even say the word cheese or even know what the saying means, so what did I expect. He gave me exactly what I asked for!

This is the picture I got of him after explaining what "say cheese" meant. Isn't he full of personality?!!

Easter...A Little Late

Our Family Picture. Ty had an itch on his back, hence the arm movement.

Ty's Easter Basket full of bubbles, a kazoo, Melissa and Doug Puzzle and a few eggs with Mr. Potato Head parts.

"The Biggest Egg...Mr. Potato Head"

Ty taking a break from hunting eggs while watching the Masters.

Ty with his new puzzle.

Ty found an egg!

These are some pictures from Easter, a little late, but we have been busier then normal. Troy's dad came for a visit and Ty enjoyed the Easter goodies, but did not quite understand the entire hunting for eggs concept. Funny since he understood Halloween more then we thought he would. Maybe it was the lack of candy. Instead of hiding eggs filled with the sugary stuff, I bought a Mr. Potato Head and hid the accessories inside the eggs with the addition of a few pennies and quarters to add to the piggy bank. The day was gloomy and we decided to hunt for eggs inside our house after his nap since Troy went for a run in the morning with his Tri-Gator friends, breakfast and off to the big church (we decided to cancel our organic church, not "house church" anymore since it can be in other places besides our house) and then home for lunch with our organic church family. It was an eventful day, but Ty found time for fun between his nap and watching the Masters.

Beyond Cute...Short and Sweet

I cannot get over how cute our little guy is. Look at that smile. He radiates pure joy. I am in love with our little man.

"Snot Your Average Wipe"

OK, so I stole the title from the Boogie Wipes website, but it is so true! This is our new favorite product. Between colds and allergies, this product is amazing! We don't use it for every boogie or we would be $$$ in the hole, but the dried on crusty stuff, AMEN! I found it in the medicine department at our local big box that begins with "W"! Go try it for yourself!

The Power of Words

Ty said "No" for the first time on Monday morning and I was a proud moma. I always give him a few munchies to nibble on while I fix his breakfast and I put a few cheerios on his tray. He said "No" and I clapped my hands and said, "Great talking!" Ty wanted Craisens instead. He also said "Egg" as I was making scrambled eggs. He is getting into the stage of "no" and while some moms might be dreading this time, I am rejoicing. Out little man is right on track. Right on track and beyond. We had Ty evaluated a couple of months ago for early intervention services. He qualified for speech since he was at the 10 month mark, but was beyond his age in everything else! Ty now gets speech therapy once a week and developmental therapy twice a month that focuses on speech and vocabulary building. We are so blessed by Miss Betty and Miss Linda. Their toys are a blast to play with. Ty is starting to babble more and attempting to imitate our sounds and words on occasion. "Uh-oh", "mama" and "yaya" (daddy) are still the 3 words that are used the most and clear.

Signs and More Signs

"Bear"
"Go"

"Stop" (In mid-stream)



"Drink" (Ty's version.)




"Monkey"



"Please"



"Sleep"



"Water"


"Hurt"

"Eat"

"Cheese"

"More"

"Apple"

Ty knows about 21 signs at this time and continues to expand my knowledge of infant/toddler sign language. While I teach the infant/toddler sign language class for work, I know enough signs for a 3 year old, but my son is expanding my sign vocabulary. He doesn't just want to "eat" anymore, Ty is specific in what he wants to eat, thus my need to learn new signs.

I am teaching a lesson on infant/toddler sign language at BabyFest which is held at a regional library in late April. In preparation, I took pictures of Ty using some of his signs to show the families on how children modify signs. This was the first time that I had ever tried this on Ty by say, "Ty, show me (fill in the blank). " I was quite impressed with my little guy. He used all of his signs out of context and gave me the perfect opportunity to take some pictures. When I teach my class, I always encourage my participants to share these signs with caregivers since the signs children make are often modified from the actual sign.

Rain, Rain...Oh, My!

"Here's a kiss for you!" (Ty is on the window screen.)

"Peek-A-B00!"

"Oh, I need to give you another smooch!"

"Hah, Hah!"

"Oh, the rain,the joy of simplicity!"

It is officially Spring, but the weather goes back and forth between blustery days of a wintry mix of rain/snow, to rain, to snow, to beautiful 65 degree sun filled days. We are now expecting snow for Monday. Please, oh please, give me some relief. We are ready to plant our garden. But in the meantime, I let Ty enjoy an afternoon moment of playing in the rain. He was thrilled to be in his boots and play in WATER. You know how this kid loves his water...the dog bowl, bath time, water fountains, swimming in water, splashing in water puddles, catching water on his tongue...I could go on.

Tri-Gator in the Making

"Why can't I get in the water?"

"Why does Daddy look like that?"

"Run, baby run!"

"Let me fix the bike to my satisfaction."

"Where are the pedals?"

A couple of weeks ago, Troy competed in a local indoor time trial type triathlon sponsored by the Tri-Gators, the triathlon club he helped find. Each participant had to swim, bike and run for ten minutes and the person with the most distance was the winner. Troy took 2nd and Ty and I were there to cheer dad on. This was the first tri Ty has witnessed and he was a little confused. He wondered why he couldn't swim, bike and run with daddy, but we let him do his duathlon after the event was over. Ty was fascinated by the bikes and running is at the top of his list these days, especially if he is chasing Jack.