Neighborhood Park...

Luckily, the weather was still good when we got back from the beach so we went to the neighborhood park. Tyler and daddy had a great time swinging together and walking around the baseball field!

This is the Life...

Wouldn't life be so much more relaxing if we would all take the time to do this a little more often?!

Paradise in Topsail Island...

We went to Topsail Island for a week with my family. We stayed at an oceanfront house and literally could see the ocean in every part of the house (when we ate, when we watched television, when we went to sleep and on and on). The weather was perfect. The water was clear. The shell and shark teeth hunting was plentiful. The company was fantastic. The week, in one word, could be summed up to nothing short of paradise. Here is the week in review!

This is right before we were getting ready to leave. We left around 7:30am on Saturday morning. It is only a 3 1/2 hour drive for us so I can't complain!

Right before we got to the beach, we stopped at Harris Teeter to pick up some groceries for the week!

Grammy and Grandpa met us at the beach!

Take a look at Tyler's "beach" attire. No, I didn't put him in a bathing suit on his first trip out to the beach. Quite honestly, I didn't think he would want to be anywhere near the beach, let alone sit in the sand and get in the water. I was wrong! Tyler was a huge fan of the water!

Story time, of course. This is a must in our routine!

Another beach day in the sand...

Family shot :)

Complete beach boy...

One of many sunsets!

I mean, who wouldn't be this happy if they woke up to the ocean every morning!?

This pool was great. Tyler was totally fearless in the water, so the only way to keep him contained was by putting him in this little pool. He liked when we found him some shells and put them in his pool. He liked finding the shells, picking them up and putting them in a cup.

One of our many playground dates!

Snuggle time with Ungle Girair and Auntie Jaime

 Fun at the playground!

This is the sight of one tired little boy.

Relaxation and peace at its finest!

This picture was taken from our beach house. The lower deck by the ocean had a cabana with a picnic table. It also had some nice chairs. I liked having my hot tea out here in the morning! The weather was perfect. Most days, it was in the low 80's. We only had one day of rain and it worked to our advantage. We used the day to collect shells, go shopping and search for sharks teeth! Combined, we found well over 100 sharks teeth along the shore line!

There were a number of great playgrounds so we took advantage after Tyler's naptime!

This was taken on the last night that we were at the beach. We were supposed to take "family pictures." Unfortunately, I waited too long. By the time I got Tyler outside, it was around 6:00pm. Anyone with kids knows that the best time to accomplish a task is in the morning. When Tyler was dressed in his white polo and shorts, all he wanted to do was run straight into the water. He tried to wiggle out of our arms when we were trying to snap photos. He expressed his discontent to us, over and over, so much so, that the photo shoot ended! :)

The sunsets were awesome!

Grammy and Grandpa babysat for us two nights in a row so we could have "date nights" with Jaime and Girair! We had so much fun going out with them!

Seriously, our week at the beach was the most perfect time with the best family. I loved having everyone together and being able to spend an entire week at the beach, with no other cares in the world other than beach time! Here are the last few pictures of Tyler and I. I was usually the one with the camera, but luckily my dad loves the camera too! Until next year...

Upgraded from Good to Really Good...

Tyler seemed to wake up feeling pretty good so off to school he went. The description of Tyler's day was upgraded today from "Good" (last week) to "Really Good" (today). We'll take it! Tyler did eat a croissant for breakfast and endulged in beef tacos for lunch, but passed on the green peas and mangos. For snack, he had a fruit and yogurt smoothie.

Tyler enjoyed dancing to the elmo CD.



 Today, they read the book, "What Color Is Your Underwear?" Tyler would lift up a flap and point to a color.

Tyler's first time finger painting! I love the second picture of him looking at his hands, like, "Hand, why are you red?"

Tyler even played the "piano."

Something Is Brewing...

I had a feeling all weekend that something was brewing with Tyler. With the exception of going to a baby shower on Saturday, we hung around the house all weekend. I wondered if he had an ear infection because he was tugging at one of his ears (but he does that sometimes without an ear infection too). On Sunday, Tyler had a 103 fever when he woke up from his nap. His fever went down to 101 but he bought himself a "day off" from "school' and an appointment to the doctor's today! It turns out he has a slight ear infection in his right ear. I'm honestly not convinced that is all that is going on, but I hope I'm proven wrong. Tyler had his first dose of antibiotics tonight - hopefully he starts feeling better tomorrow.

Here are some pictures from the weekend and tonight:

First time "making" a fort with daddy!

Tyler's first "drawing." Those are his little fingers touching his picture :) We try to encourage him to draw with crayons but he shakes his head "no" at us, but he was really excited about holding a pen!

"Here kid, I'll sit you in the laundry basket, throw some toys in there, and see how long you can entertain yourself." Success!

Tyler loves cars, especially his yellow matchbox car. He spent most of his time in the office, sitting on the step, holding his car.

This is an example of why I get confused. Here he is, holding his left ear...but he has a right ear infection?! Also, he played the very helpful role of "Dinner Supervisor" while the dogs ate their food.

When we took Tyler out of the bath on Sunday night, he was shivering. It was the first time we have ever seen that happen to him. We wrapped him in a towel, dried him off, got him dressed and cuddled. When we were done, daddy read a book to Tyler. Yes, that is daddy in the background, in case you didn't recognize him. He has lost 20 pounds since his shoulder surgery!

 Tyler doing what he does best - stalling bedtime by "servicing" the lawn mower. Sorry, kid. Sick toddlers need their sleep! Goodnight, all.

Friday - The Best May Be Yet To Come...

When I opened my email today to read Tyler's daily report...I read the words I had been waiting to hear all week..."Tyler had a good day today!" He explored the room, walked over to the science area, tried putting puzzle pieces together and stood outside by himself, contently!

Here are the pictures I was sent by email today from Tyler's teacher (if I haven't mentioned how much I love this, let me mention it again)...LOVE IT:

Hey look, puppy made the cut for the photo shoot:

Playing:

"Pretending" to eat corn with his new friend:

Playing with the "walkie talkie." What can I say, the kiddo loves technology. I think he may be supervising here.

Whew, what a week! I'm glad it is over so I can spend some time with my little munchkin. Until next week...

Day 3 - Is It Me?

Seriously, what did I do to my sweet child? The morning went as I figured it would. The second we walked through the doors to his room, he started to cry and there was no stopping him. The more people that came around him, the worse it got. Even if one of the teachers holds him, he still cries. He wants me to hold him and he wasn't having it any other way. Another day, leaving my child loudly crying. I called back 40 minutes later and he was still crying.

The morning crying is starting to bother me and I think about it alot. It is not good for me to think about it alot because when I think about it, I have regret. What if he can't get comfortable here? What if the environment is too overwhelming? Maybe I shouldn't have moved him quite yet? What if he starts to regress
from all of the progress he has made recently?

The silver lining is that Tyler's report from his teacher today does note some progress. This is what his report said, " Today was a free choice day for Tyler. He seems to be getting more confident about the room. Tyler walked around and found toys that he was interested in. He rolled the small car across the shelf, read books and listened to songs. Tyler went out to the courtyard to play for the first time. He was much better today, not as much sadness. He slept for an hour and a half, but he did wake up in between that time. He also did not eat much today."   I reminded his teachers that we are okay with Tyler having his "puppy" when he is "sad," if that is okay with them. It looks like they gave it to him. You may not be able to see that he has a red face from crying, but at least he tried a half smile for the camera! Thanks, buddy!  

Looks like he is playing with one of his cars while one of his "friends" watches him.

 Reading...and looking content! One of my favs :)

Zoom Zoom. Tyler definitely made his way back to the cars today. I'm glad he is finding toys that he likes and is getting comfortable with them.

  Matt and I picked Tyler up today. It was raining outside, so they weren't in their usual spot, but we found them in the common area, playing with mats, batons and balls! Tyler was carrying around his puppy but he was still in the tyke crowd. We stayed for about 45 minutes, sitting in the room but encouraging him to play.
Some know this, and some don't...but there is a "biter" in Tyler's class. I know this can happen to any kid and any parent. This deserves its own post and I'll do it another night. Matt and I have had our "biter" glasses on the last couple of times we have gone to visit, but this 45 minutes of observations was definitely critial for our assessment. We're pretty sure we have narrowed it down to two kids. I have to say it...I think this furthers my guilt in leaving him there. I know it sounds crazy, but I imagine a toddler with a shark head walking around, putting his mouth on my vulnerable kid who can't talk or express himself yet. Ok, ok. Another time. I must move on from this subject...although, who am I to assume that anyone even made it down this far? I know its a long post, but I've got alot to say, people!   Night time has been a little rough with a capital r. Tyler has been throwing his food at night (more than usual) and very strong willed and upset. I chalk some of it up to his age, some of it up to his new environment and some of it up to his limited naps that he is not used to. Tonight, Tyler had trouble with his bed time routine. He cried during bath time, didn't want to read and cried in his crib which is not typical for him. I get a sense that he does not want us to leave him at all now. After letting him cry for several minutes, I felt terrible because I recognized he was upset and not just winding down. .I took him out of his crib, rocked him in the glider, rubbed his back, stroked his hair and he was asleep in 10 minutes. Should I mention that I haven't had to rock Tyler to sleep in months and months and months? I'll admit, it was nice to get some snuggle time in :)   In closing to this blog post that has enough words to be published into a book...regret and guilt are tough. I hope we made the right decision.

It's An Emotion and Rhymes with Mad...

Toddler School - Day #2. Must document events so I remember (hopefully) how far he has come...

Whats a word that rhymes with mad? SAD! Yep, thats right. Tyler has had a serious case of sadness the past two days that he has been in his new school. I called twice again today and both times, he was crying in the background.

Here is his report from the day:

"Today at circle time, we introduced our new friends. We had each of our friends say good morning to

Tyler or at least try :) He started off a little rough, but did explore the room a little. He rolled around the cars and sat with Ms. Crissie for books. Outside, Tyler walked around the bench looking for a sand toy. He will soon get familiar with his new surroundings."

Tyler did sleep for an hour and a half today which is a great improvement from his hour nap yesterday. He ate his yogurt, honey dew melon and cucumbers. He did not like his ham and cheese pita or his jello.

One of the many things I love about his school is that they send me a daily report and several pictures every single day, somewhere between 2:00pm and 3:00pm, while the little tykes are napping.

Here are my interpretations (which have also been confirmed by Matt to be accurate) of the following pictures.

Look at this poor, lost soul! I think he looks so sad. He is eating his yogurt, and eating it with a spoon. I'll go ahead and classify those both as wins.

The happiest picture of the bunch. Clearly, he has found his car (favorite thing these days) and we are able to witness a moment of content.

And last...oh poor poor last picture. Here is Tyler, needing to be held in Ms. Crissie's lap. While he is reading a book (win), you may not be able to notice that he has a huge pouty sad face lip going on, even while reading a book!

I know it is going to be an adjustment - but no one ever said adjustments were easy!