Tyler's Birthday Day

Tyler woke up ready to sing "Happy Birthday" to himself. I laid out his clothes and crown and he loved them. He has an opinion on what he wears now.

 Ivy came over and gave him his present. Corrie stayed at my house while we walked Dylan and Isaac into school and dropped off paperwork at the school office. I thought of going to the store with the babies, but since we had to come back home to get Ivy, we just hung out. We ate mangos. 

I considered taking them to the zoo but it was my first day having to take them in two car lines. I videoed them interacting and before I knew it, a half hour had passed, that'll be a boring video:) 

You and Ivy took a long nap, but it was right in the middle of when I needed to go pick up Malia and Noah. So Bailey came over! I took Malia and Noah to Target where I bought you some big boy Mickey Mouse undies and some maternity shirts for Aunt Kat. (It's no fun spending money on maternity shirts at the end of a pregnancy since it seems like a bit of a waste.) Then Bailey said Tyler and Ivy were still asleep so we went to Dylan and Isaac's car line. When we got home, Bailey said the kids had only been awake for 5 minutes. So the gift of a long nap was a present that I personally would have appreciated. 

Then the Taylors came over and we swam before it rained. It had been raining a lot in the evenings so we got in the pool right away.  

Inside, we ate Hungry Howies and the kids went wild.

 Steven brought home new Crocs for Tyler. The shoes look like they'd fit Isaac, not sure how that's just one size up. Tyler liked them that day, but still wears the old ones. He likes crocs and I like that he can put them on himself and they are so washable.

 Tyler got a helicopter cake! It was much anticipated. and when it was gone, he missed it.

 He blew the candles out first try right when we put the cake in front of him, so we had to re-light, sing, and he blew them out first try again. We sang many times to him that day.

These Taylor kids are so sweet, they thanked me for everything!

 Steven got a new car for Tyler's birthday. There was paperwork and test drives and instruction going on that evening. Steven finally has a new car after years and years of driving one that was old (and paid off.)

 (I never changed out of my swimsuit.)

When the crews left, it was just family. Tyler told my everybody how we plan to spend Cinco De Mayo next year and my mom thought I'd blog it. So I did :) Barbie understood Tyler first.
Tyler was about as excited for a potty book as he was about his undies. He liked the water table set from Grandma and Grandpa though :)

You even feed your mower grass and dirt. So cute.

Thank you Uncle Andre and Aunt Barbie for the Tee Ball set and for the homework books for the other two, and Thank you Taylors for the duplos. Ivy has claimed all of the pink ones, a new source of sibling rivalry :) They both love them!

Dear Tyler, You're TWOOOOOO!

Dear Tyler, 

You're two! You say "One Two." You're so cute. I love you and your honey blonde hair and your silly smile and your reasoning and how you help yourself to fruit on the counter and how your favorite monkey of the day changes and how you put your finger in the tag of your blanket and how you can jump from off of the arm of the couch and land it and how you arch your back up and go back flat on your tummy to do push ups with your big brothers and how you know how to give kisses and sometimes give them on your own accord by grabbing our faces and kissing us then re-grabbing wanting "nose" where you rub noses.  

 You can jump from high places now so I had to get a picture of it.

 One TWO years old. (Two fingers.) You use hand gestures to explain stories sometimes.

 I made a crown a little taller than your last year's crown.

Ivy's grandma, Linda, gave you this blow fish shirt, and since we're just having family over for a pool party, it's perfect for a birthday shirt.

 The first thing you go for when we are in the back yard, is your lawn mower. You also get a chain saw that we think you think is a leaf blower since the handles are in the same place as Daddy's leaf blower.

 Corrie and family got you this Curious George monkey for your birthday in the morning. You love it! She got you cool sandals and a book, but this is your favorite. You even call him his name, "Joge."

 Here are some other random pictures from the month, mostly from my cell phone.
You are really motherly lately, feeding your monkeys, giving them water, carrying baby dolls around in nursery and at Corrie's, etc.

 You love Ivy. You two are like my last set of twins. You know how to push one another's buttons too. She is not that nice to you at her house, so I hear. You tell me "Eye (Ivy) pull hair." You love her anyway. And you sometimes do not share here.

You shove every monkey and blanket and water cup in the diaper bag. I guess it beats you trying to carry it all yourself. You also throw everything off of your and your brothers' beds down the stairs in the mornings. That got old the first day. Too many monkeys and blankets! 

You are having a hard time with nap time and bed time again, I'm blaming it on school starting, Daddy's blaming it on the "terrible twos." You know what you want. And you just repeat yourself. I call this the "broken record" phase. Sometimes it's just asking the same question, sometimes it's something silly, sometimes I don't know what you're saying, and sometimes it's that you miss me or Daddy. We have to also be broken records and stand our ground. You're trying for the "squeeky wheel gets the grease" method but it's not working with us, little buddy! We try to re-direct you after affirming what you're saying (a lot of times.) 

 We visited Jake and it was raining but then, we saw a full rainbow! I tried to combine 2 pics here.

 I Instagrammed this one and friends noticed that it was a double rainbow! You love Jake.

 Sometimes you nurse still, but rarely.

Look at your milk drool.

 And how you hold your tag.

Your brothers help get you out of bed in the mornings, and you request to be dressed. They help you sometimes. You came waddling over to me after their sad attempt this time. I'm working on you pulling your own pants down and up in preparation for potty training. I taught you how to climb in and out of your crib on your birthday, but you got stuck a couple of times and haven't tried it on your own since. That's probably better. 

You like to go for a "nun" (run) still, it always calms you.

 And the skies calm me. They make me a little anxious for the beach actually, since I'd have an unobstructed view there. Here are pictures taken from our back yard when we got back, BEAUTIFUL paintings in all directions.

 One evening, neither you nor I could take it any longer so we left and went to the beach. We were a little late for the sunset, but who cares. It's the BEACH! So relaxing. So worth it. Every time.

 So happy birthday my little two year old! I love you so much!
Love, Mommy