Day 30

Tyler told me he wanted to go potty but that was actually a ploy to get a bath instead. He decided he didn't want the salamander to be in the bathtub and thought it was scary. 

Day 28/29

Oops, we missed a day.  So here's a double post!

Lately Tyler's been trying to pull his pants down.  Usually it's when he needs to go potty.  He hasn't yet figured out how to pull them down before he's gone potty.  But he's working on it.  We're super excited that he seems to be interested in the potty, that's a good sign.  And today at playschool he began pulling his pants down so Miss Ashley asked him if he needed to go potty.  He nods yes and she places him on the potty (for the first time at daycare!).  He didn't end up going (the other two times he's done that at home he's never gone either) but they all celebrated the fact that he tried.  Ryan and I are very excited that he seems interested.  The sooner he gets potty trained the sooner we can get rid of those spendy diapers!

My favorite moment of the day was sitting on the couch, hanging out with Tyler, and watching the bonus feature screen in "Tangled" when Rapunzel swings round and round and every now and then shouting, "Woohoo!"  Tyler and I giggled every time.  He put his head on my shoulder and we had the best giggle fest.  This is what makes every mundane day extra special.  And these are the kind of moments I'm hoping this blog will savor, so I can look back on them twenty years later and remember that there was indeed a baby who loved his mommy.

And now that the baby is asleep we're watching a "The Place Beyond the Pines."  It's intense.

Good night kids.  More to come tomorrow!

Day 27

I was at work from 8 to 6 today with the only break being the hour of commute it took to go to and from Epic training.  Which was honestly a waste of time.  It's been a long a day.

And I get home to this:

I love, love, love my silly, wacky, OSU-loving family.  I love, love, love my ham of a baby, my snuggly munchkin, my favorite little boy in the whole wide world.  I love, love, love being a mommy and I love, love, love my wonderful husband.

It's been a long day but I am so grateful to get to go home and relax with my family.

Evidence of the wackiness that is my child, here are some pictures of him cleaning.  With an adult-sized broom.  Without pants on.  Oh Tyler.

Day 26

Today was nice and relaxing and very much needed.

We got up somewhat late, in Tyler terms, at 6:40.  I brought him into the room, turned on the TV, and attempted to catch a little more Z's while Mickey was on screen.  It sort of worked.  But not really.  He got bored and woke Daddy up.

We had planned on meeting up with a friend this afternoon but the plans fell through.  So instead the entire family took a 3 hour nap, made a trip to The Book Bin (I bought The Valley of Amazement, I'm so excited to read it, I love Amy Tan and have read every novel she's written so I have very high expectations for this one), Safeway, and had a turkey dinner with Rosie's sister and Uncle Tom.  So it's been pretty much a perfect Sunday.

I loved our family photo today.  Tyler looks so happy!  And the outtakes are sweet too.  Just don't mind my giant head in the pictures.  The poses are sweet though.  My baby is sweet.  Gosh, I love his face.

Day 25

It was a busy day getting ready for the memorial service, which was a lovely service. Tyler supervised all of the cooking in addition to finishing up the slide show.

Considering the fact that we were at the memorial service for 4 hours he did a great job. At one point in time he took off daddy's shoes and started walking around with them on his feet. He got to play peek-a-boo with grandma and uncle Tom during the service too.

We will miss you Rosie but we are so grateful to have been fortunate enough to have you in our lives. We are also grateful that Tyler was able to see you if only for a short time.

Day 24

Today after work we had dinner at Appleby's with Grandma Geri and Uncle Tom.  Tyler had grilled chicken, garlic mashed potatoes, and apple juice.  His favorite part of the meal was dipping Daddy's french fries into his mashed potatoes.  We joked that he was embodying Aunt Rosie's spirit, she loved potatoes.

Tyler had a very good day with Grandma today.  He got to enjoy all of his favorite things today: Noodles, chocolate pudding, lots and lots of reading, and a bath!

He's also made a new favorite friend.  I know we've mentioned Goofy before but today Tyler brought him everywhere with him, to the restaurant and to the church that is hosting Rosie's memorial service.  In fact, at one point he had dropped Wolfie and just carried Goofy around.  I am so excited for Disney World, we are definitely bringing Goofy to Florida.

We nearly forgot our family photo today but got it right in time, right in the middle of Wall-E.

Tyler was super tired.  He did a really good job staying up tonight and not getting too cranky.  He was definitely ready for bed.

And now so are Mommy and Daddy.  Good night world.  We're arming ourselves with tissues for tomorrow.

Day 23

What does it mean if your child's idea of play is to clean his play things?

This evening when we brought Tyler up to the nursery for bedtime we let him play for a little bit before settling him down for bed.  He got into his drawer of play food and after feeding Elmo, he began "washing" the bowls, the cups, the strawberry yogurt...And then he went on a cleaning spree.  He cleaned his horse.  He cleaned Goofy.  He cleaned Daddy.

He also enjoys brooms.  This is going to make weekly chores go so much more smoothly when he's older.

We got some fun pictures in today.  Tyler was in a silly mood and Mama chose an inopportune time to eat some fajita springrolls.  Daddy has the same smile pasted on.

Enjoy our wacky family!

Day 22

Tyler's new favorite thing is playing with the dog's water bowl.  He knows he's not supposed to play in it but he does it anyway.  He's gotten smart though.  He'll play with it when no one is watching so he can get a few splashes in before we catch him.  The dog dish he always goes for is located behind the kitchen separated by a loud, clanging gate that he hasn't yet figured out how to sneak by quietly.  But in his clever little mind, he believes that if he closes that gate he can keep Mommy and Daddy out and play in the water to his heart's content.  Whenever we hear that clang we know that Tyler's up to something.

It's nice to see him so honest though.  Tyler was closing the gate on Daddy and not letting him through and Daddy asked, "Are you not letting Daddy in so you can play in the water bowl?"  He nods yes.

Today he was sneaking off towards the water bowl again and Mama caught him.  I asked him what he was up to.  He came over to me, held my hand, and then led me to the living room.  He pointed to the couch and had me sit down.  Then he decided that couch was too close to the water bowl.  He had me sit on the other couch.  When I sat down, he ran off towards the water bowl again.  It's a good thing his short, stubby legs can't carry him as quickly as he would like them too!  He's a sneaky little bunny.

He's been cheeky all day!  To coerce him into a family photo Ryan had to turn him upside down:

And now I think it's time for bed.  Tonight Mama put Baby to bed by herself and thankfully it went smoothly.  Ryan and Grandma Geri have been working on the slideshow for Aunt Rosie's memorial service, we have to get it done by Friday.  So it was just me and Tyler, The Bunnies are Not in Their Beds, Goofy (Tyler's latest best stuffed-animal friend), Wolfie, and a round of "The Ants Go Marching" and "Five Little Monkeys."  Tyler's in his crib and Mama's ready to go in hers.  Good night world.

...Mama probably lied.  It's a good night for some "Revenge."

Day 21

Remember how I said yesterday that Tyler went to bed fairly easily and Ryan and I were excited to go to sleep at a reasonable hour?  I spoke too soon.

Today's topic:  Night Terrors.

It's happened before where Tyler would wake up in the middle of the night screaming, inconsolable, and flailing but they didn't last very long and it happened only maybe once or twice.  Last night was the worst.  Tyler woke up around 11 in a panic because he couldn't find his my-my and I went into the nursery to help him.  He was crying hard and feeling around for the pacifier, which had found its way underneath a mound of blankets.  I found it for him and gave it to him but he was screaming at that point and when I touched him he started hitting me and throwing his Wolfie and my-my at me.  He kept hitting me and I thought he was angry at me for not coming to his aid sooner.  Ryan came in and Grandma Geri came in and Tyler was still crying/screaming.  We tried to pick him up to console him but he flailed against us.  Grandma Geri ended carrying him into our room and we put him on the bed.  He grabbed onto my hand and tried to walk away saying, "Go!  Go!  Go!" the entire time as though he wanted to run away with Mommy.  We had to stop him because he was trying to walk off the bed.  Grandma Geri picked him up and put him on the floor and he screamed harder and began hitting her.  When we realized that he was having a night terror we placed him back on the bed and let him be, we didn't touch him and we just let him lie there.  After he finally calmed down, I bent over and looked at his face and realized his eyes were open.  He had woken up.  Grandma was able to kiss him goodnight without him going into a panic and Mommy and Daddy turned on the Disney Jr. channel to take his mind off of scary thoughts.  We also let him sleep with us in the big bed, which meant we didn't sleep as well but at least he didn't have any more terrors.  As he watched Mickey and his friends, he snuggled up to me and I was able to hold him and I admit it, I started crying.  It was incredibly scary watching him scream and flail and not be able to calm him or console him.  Your instinct is to hold him close and kiss him and love him but in their dream-state that containment is incorporated into their terror and only makes it worse.  As a parent you feel so helpless, it was awful.  Just thinking about it makes me want to cry again.

So Ryan and I did some research on night terrors today.

We've concluded that what could have triggered Tyler's night terrors was a combination of being sick, having a hectic weekend with a sudden change in routine, and lack of sleep.  We had also watched an episode of "Parenthood" last night and there was a scene when Amber got super drunk and started yelling and crying and Tyler was pretty upset.  He's a sensitive boy and he doesn't like seeing other people upset.  Grandma Geri thought that might have triggered it as well.

We learned that the best thing to do during an episode is to let it play out, make sure he is safe and unable to hurt himself, but don't touch him or hold him down because that will only frighten him more.  We also learned that night terrors are common and affect about 6% of children but that most children grow out of it.  I am hoping that tonight will be easy on him and that he won't suffer them frequently.  The nice thing that, like sleep walking, they don't remember their "terrors" in the morning.  It's different from a "nightmare" and occurs in a separate sleep stage.  And Tyler did well today at playschool so it didn't seem as though his night terror affected him negatively.  He was also a lot less tantrum-y so I'm hoping that means he's recovering from whatever bug he caught over the weekend.

Proof of our happy baby:

Well, he isn't smiling but he was definitely in a playful mood.  Some outtakes to lighten the mood from today's depressing topic:

Day 20

And Tammy's back in the saddle!

When we left for Tigard for the weekend we forgot to pack a laptop.  I refused to blog on my phone, it's inconvenient and apparently the app is awful and Ryan had to rewrite everything three times the first time he used it.  So I said no, Ryan could blog.

Then yesterday we had a tough time getting Tyler to sleep.  He took two naps yesterday and apparently that was enough to keep him up until eleven.  I have no idea how Ryan managed to finally get him to sleep because I threw in the towel around 10.  Ryan was working from home today so he could possibly sleep in but I had a full day of work and I needed sleep.

I still need sleep.  Since Friday night the three of us have been functioning on very little sleep.  Although Tyler catches up on it during the day.  I don't know how he sleeps so well during his naps and so poorly at night.

This weekend was exceptionally hard because poor Tyler ended up with a fever on Saturday night.  Dad stayed up with him for over an hour in the middle of the night trying to cool him down.  He left for Tigard with a typical runny nose so we didn't think to pack the Tylenol and the poor baby ended up getting feverish that night.  Dad supplied the liquids, unzipped his footie pajamas, and basically stood vigil until the baby cooled down.  Mama tried to stay up but she had been waking up with baby every half-hour to an hour until 3:50am the night before so she was exhausted.

Not to say that we had an awful trip.  The nights were difficult but Tyler was super happy during the day time!  It was as though he was never sick at all!  Literally night and day.

Tyler attended his first ever Tet celebration.  He did not enjoy the food (though it really was just mediocre and disappointing), he did not care for the music (Vietnamese karaoke...enough said), but he did enjoy his fresh squeezed orange juice, goldfish crackers, and Cheerios!  And he was so well behaved.  I have no idea how many times I will end up saying this but Ryan and I got very lucky.

Which is how I know that Tyler is still feeling a bit off.  He was a grumpster today after I got home from work.  He threw tantrum after tantrum and I even had to put him into two time outs, one for hitting Mama and another for throwing things at Mama.  This was not the sweet, mild-tempered baby we usually know and love.  If this is any indication of how the terrible twos are going to be I am not looking forward to it.

But getting him to bed was slightly easier today.  He cried and cried and cried when we finally turned off the lights and put our books away, he kept pointing towards the door wanting to go to the "big bed."  But I think both Ryan and I were afraid of another 3 hour battle similar to last night so we stood our ground and kept him in the nursery.  Eventually I put him in the crib and he cried for a bit until we started singing "Baby Beluga."

After also singing "Do Re Mi," "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" and "This Old Man" Tyler finally fell asleep.  Ryan's upstairs folding laundry with the monitor on at the moment while I'm typing away in the office so I hope, hope, hope Tyler is still fast asleep.

So as you can see, it's been a rough few nights.

So let's highlight some of my favorite moments:

• Ryan sent me a picture today of Tyler giving him the pith off of his Mandarin oranges.  Ryan is constantly making fun of me for peeling every bit of white off of any orange I eat and now Tyler is doing the same.  He is definitely my son!
• We've been working on getting Tyler to say his name, mostly just "Ty-Ty" because that's what Declan calls him and also Miss Bethany at school, so now he's also referring to himself as "Ty-Ty."  But yesterday when Ryan asked him what his name was he said, "Tyler."  Proud Mama moment!!!  He's also called Riley by his name a few times, not just "Gus."  So that's an achievement as well.
• He was playing with a puzzle today that has a circle, triangle and square on it.  I asked him where the circle and the triangle were and he pointed them out!  He hasn't yet figured out "square" but we're working on it.  He's only 18 months, people, let's cut him some slack.
• I got a free gift card to Starbucks from work today.  Starbucks is always a good moment.  Though I don't recommend the caramel flan latte.  That was disappointing.
• We got our family photo in today with no tears, that's always a win!
  

Oh Tyler.  You are quite the handful at times.  But you are so very worth it.

Finally, my favorite moment from the past few days, going to bed an hour earlier than I did yesterday.  Let's just hope all the caffeine I guzzled to keep me going through the day won't also keep me up at night.  Fingers crossed!!

Day 19

We had fun spending some time with John today. During lunch we had the football game on and saw that they were throwing the ball and got excited. He then saw the soccer ball in the kitchen and wanted to play with it. I told him that we could play after he finished lunch. With no hesitation be said he was done with lunch! 

This evening during dinner we asked Tyler what he is name was expecting him to say "Ty-ty" of just "Ty" but he actually said "Tyler!" That was a first and made us very proud parents! 

3 hours later and the baby is still not going to bed. It's going to be one of those nights. Just got him to bed now, hopefully he sleeps in tomorrow but I (Ryan) will be staying home with him while I work because his daycare is closed so if he doesn't sleep in it I'll just get more work done! 

Day 18

We all had a low key day which was definitely welcomed. We didn't even leave the house in Tigard until 4:30 PM for a celebratory new years dinner with Tammy's dad's Navy friends. Tyler got his first glass of "fresh hand squeezed," literally squeezed, orange juice tonight too.

At the dinner Tyler got to see his first Lion Dance and we have it lucky money. Tyler was much more interested in watching the drummer though.

Day 17

Today Tyler got to spend all day with Grandma Geri. He got to try on some of her shoes and also helped make a devils food cake. His favorite part was eating frosting from the spatula!

While putting on shors he said "I did it" for the first time! He also blew his nose for the first time. Unfortunately he is feeling a little under the weather, but hopefully he gets over it soon.

We took our family picture tonight after Tyler ate his piece of cake for dessert. He thoroughly enjoyed the delicious chocolate cake. He's a chocolate monster!

Day 16

Ryan posting today. Tammy is in the middle of filling out the appointment book for PTP so she was unavailable to write the post tonight.

Today I helped a woman at the post office directions to FedEx, it was a little awkward because it was in front of the post office worker, oh well.

Tyler had a great day today at school but apparently he only took a 45 minute nap but was happy the rest of the day. He did pass out on the way home but woke up in time for dinner and to see the Grandmas. We then watched "Cowboys and Angels" which is about a girl's quest to find her cowboy father. The only memorable part was when one of the characters called out "Dad" which spurred Tyler to start saying "Dad, Dad!"

Tyler's favorite book at this time is Wall-e. Whenever we ask him if he wants to read the story he eagerly nods his head and says "wall-ley"

We got a couple good picture today. The best ones of course were blurry. He decided to throw both his hands up in the air, which we did sort of get. That's it for tonight! 

Day 15

Today we lost a close family friend.  She passed peacefully away at 4:15am with her sister and one of her closest friends.  Her Facebook page was filled with comments from family and loved ones and it made me so happy to see how many people loved her and that she touched so many lives, not just mine.  I am so thankful that Tyler got to meet her even though he'll never remember it.  Seeing the surprise and joy on her face when we brought him in brought tears to my eyes.  She loved our family so much, she loved our baby so much, and she had never even met him.

We'll miss you, Aunt Rosie.  I wish you could have met your future namesake but I hope part of your spirit will live on in her.

Day 14

I know I've said this before but I have to say it again.  It is so much fun watching Tyler learn new things.  One of his favorite books is Wall-E and we've read it every night for the last few nights.  Last night when we pulled it off the shelf Tyler said, "Wall-E!"  He did it again tonight.  And he's been reading along with us.  There's a part in the book where Wall-E plays with a fire extinguisher and the words "Whooosh!" are printed in the foam (is that the right term?) and Tyler will point to it and say, "Whoosh!"  We also read The Bunnies are Not in Their Beds every night and his favorite part is the big bunny band:

BOOM BOOM BOOM

HONK SQUONK HONK

CLASH CLASH SMASH

He now says, "Boom, boom, boom!" when we get to that page and he also points to the bunnies with their respective instruments and say, "Boom, boom, boom!  Honk, honk!  Cash, cashhhh!"

I love it!  I love to read and I've only recently rediscovered that love.  I didn't read for fun in college and when Ryan bought us some e-readers I've been searching for new books to fall in love with ever since.  I really want to impart that love onto Tyler, have him enjoy reading as much as I do, and so far I think he does.  He has a handful of favorite books and he never tires of reading them over and over again.

Our new bedtime routine is to say goodnight to everybody (grandmas and puppies alike), change our diaper, change into jammies, take a family photo--

--read some stories, sing a lullaby, and then go to bed.  Tonight was a little more difficult because Tyler wanted to sleep in the big bed.  He kept signing "sleep" and pointing towards the door.

"Do you want to sleep in the big bed?"

Nods yes.

But Ryan is afraid that if we allow him to sleep in the big bed with us he'll want to do it more often so we stood our ground.  No big bed.  Tyler was not very happy and I ended up putting him in the crib.  He kicked and cried for a bit and we started singing "Baby Beluga."  He calmed down and I ended up singing the song twice while Ryan rubbed his head and then Tyler re-positioned himself and curled up with Wolfie on his pillow.  We might add this to our routine.  Sometimes he gets really upset when we leave him, even if he's super tired.  This will be a good way to keep him in his crib and still show him that Mommy and Daddy are still there for him, that we love him, and that we wouldn't abandon him.  I know a lot of other parents are strong proponents of the Ferber method but I just don't think I can do it.  So far we haven't had much trouble with him so we're just going to continue doing what's right for us and our family.

Now that he's in bed, Ryan is finishing "Battleship" (it's pretty cheesy so far) and I'm going to play Puzzles and Dragons instead.  I am so addicted.  I blame Danny.

Good night everybody, see you all tomorrow!

Day 13

The baby went to bed before 9:00pm.  That's a win in my book.

We even managed to get a family photo in!

He was very tired today.

Apparently he had a very good day at school though he and his BFF at school had a bit of a falling out.  She kept trying to take his Wolfie, which is his Baby, and finally Tyler had to snatch it from her hands.  Unfortunately she had a death grip on that wolf but Tyler would not let go.  Somehow she tripped and fell to her knees and he ended up dragging her halfway across the room before the teachers had to intervene.  Oh goodness, silly babies.  Luckily no one got hurt and no one got in trouble so it was all good!

We were supposed to join the Crawfords and the Holmbergs at Sada's today for Danny's actual birthday but we forgot our diaper bag.  Instead, Ryan and I bought Chinese from Safeway and had a family dinner watching "Ratatouille" with our baby.  No yummy sushi or buta kakuni but Tyler ate two full potstickers and plenty of noodles so it was a successful night.

Now that I think about it, it was a really good night.  Ryan and I had been feeling pretty funky this morning (much better now, it was probably the fast food we ate yesterday but I was so nauseous) so it was nice getting some snuggle time in with Tyler while watching a movie, having some take out Chinese, giving Tyler a bath, reading his favorite books, and then putting him to sleep.  It sounds so mundane but it's cozy and sweet and I love my little family.

Now for your enjoyment, some outtakes, including one that cracks me up!

The last picture is my favorite.  He's got his head up towards the screen and his arm pulled back so it looks like he has a giant head and teeny, tiny arms!  Oh my goodness, I love this child.

Good night peeps, we'll see you folks tomorrow!

Day 12

It is cold in the office tonight.  The family has gone to bed early after watching the 71st Golden Globe Awards together.  I love this tradition of ours.  I remember perching myself in front of the TV with my sketchbook and a large Ziploc bag full of colored pencils and quickly sketching out every single red carpet gown that flashed upon the screen.  I don't do that anymore but it's really nice finding not just a soul mate but a soul family.  We watch all the big awards shows together, for the Oscars my in-laws throw a party, and we always eat homemade nachos and guacamole.  Sitting together in the living room with our TV trays and plates of nachos, Tyler in his booster seat doing the same with his little blue plastic plate and "Finding Nemo" sippy cup, I honestly thought that life was perfect.  I am so lucky.  I love my family.

I really, really do:

Today, Ryan and I did some extra work for his mom at the clinic.  Ryan and Geri moved some furniture, rearranged the office supplies, and Ryan ran some virus scans on the computers.  I completed the scheduling book, started on a new one, did some referrals, and wrapped two diaper boxes in contact paper to make some toy bins.  Tyler napped for a good hour while we were there and then he was up to help.

When I started vacuuming the lobby, Tyler disappeared.  I was just about to ask Ryan where the baby went when he came toddling back in with a broom in one hand and Wolfie in the other.  Funniest entrance ever.

He is Mommy's favorite little helper.

It still isn't 10 yet but I am so excited to go to bed.  I'm actually excited to watch TV.  The only problem is I don't know which show to watch, "Revenge" or "Downton Abbey??"  Oh, who am I kidding, my heart only has room for Emily Thorne.  Let's see how she gets herself out of trouble tonight...

While I'm getting my "Revenge" on, please enjoy these outtakes.  A la Wheezy Waiter (whom Ryan and I love, check him out), this is our family wink.  *ping*

Day 11

We just got back from an impromptu date night.  We had dinner at Aomatsu (chicken katsu, bibimbap, spicy salmon rolls, and the fastest service we've had in a long time--A+!) and then saw the second Hobbit movie in theaters to keep with the LOTR theme we've had all day.

Danny's birthday party was super fun.  We showed up around eleven, munched on mushroom frittata, banana bread, scones, and cinnamon rolls.  We watched the last part of "Fellowship of the Rings," caught bits and pieces of "The Two Towers," and started watching "Return of the King."  I failed at Lord of the Rings Trivial Pursuit and showed how Tolkien-ignorant I really am.  And then Joanna made a delicious potato soup and a platter of cheese, salami meats, crackers, and fruits were shared.  Tyler enjoyed playing with his BFF Declan and new friend Joleigh and the big people enjoyed hanging out with their friends!

Ryan and I also made it to the AAA informational meeting about all things Disney.  Basically, if we book our Disney trip through them we would get a bunch of perks including early entry, meet and greets with the characters, and gift cards.  But we have to do it in the next three days to get our gift cards.  Of course.  Currently we are planning two Disney trips, one in February to Disney World and then one in July to Disneyland.  But our plans aren't concrete, we don't know how many days we'll be spending at the parks and who will be joining us so we don't want to make any finalized plans yet.  Bye bye gift cards...

Before our busy day, I convinced Ryan to take our daily family photo.  He thought we'd be able to do it later after the party.  It's a good thing he listened to me because we didn't make it home until after 10 and Tyler was already in bed.  We would have had to do another crib shot and that was actually really difficult.  So here's our family photo!

We have such a silly but very smart baby.  I might be one of those moms who think their child is brilliant...but Tyler really is so smart!!!  I know he's a tall baby but he's still only 18 months old and 18 month old children usually don't know how to wink or jump with both feet off the ground.  So I'm going to say it, my baby is smart.

When we still lived in Tigard and Tyler attended the local KinderCare, they did a unit on emotions.  The children would stand in front of a mirror and practice making faces.  They would express sadness, happiness, anger, confusion, etc.  I didn't think he would remember it but a couple of weeks ago I said, "Tyler, how do we look happy?" and he gave me a big smile, eyes crinkled, dimples showing.

"How do we look sad?"

Smile disappeared, shoulders drooped, head dropped to one side, eyes lowered.

"How do we look mad?"

Teeth bared, fists raised.

"How do we look scared?"

Arms up, eyes wide, mouth in a grimace.

"How do we look confused?"

Blink.  Blink.

He honestly didn't know that last one.  I raised my arms and shrugged my shoulders, my head cocked to one side, raised my eyebrows and said, "Huh?"  He copied me.

Every now and then I quiz him to see if he remembers it all.  "Scared" is his favorite expression and lately he's been using that "look" for everything, even happy!  He still doesn't remember "confused" though now that I think about it, perhaps he does understand it and is mimicking it so well that he's got his mama fooled...Genius, I tell you, that baby is a genius.

Anyways, the whole point of this anecdote was to explain the following pictures.  To get Tyler to smile for our family photos I asked him to show me happy.  And then we ran through the rest of the expressions and got these priceless little nuggets.  Enjoy the outtakes:

        

Apparently when you're sad you stick your tongue out.  So says Tyler.

"Good night everybody, big and small.
Sweet bunny dreams to one and all.
Good night, good night, sleep tight."
-The Bunnies are Not in Their Beds

Day 10

It's Friday!!!

Reasons to celebrate:

- The cupcakes were a hit (except for one mishap...more on that later)
- I broke a record at the call center
- I drove myself today and belted out Miley Cyrus's "Wrecking Ball" on the way home
- The family enjoyed "happy hour" while the salmon was baking
- I had a margarita and daiquiri
- We watched the latest episode of "Parenthood" and "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" is back
- Tyler went to bed with minimal fuss and no tears
- Ryan made popcorn

So one of my coworkers is allergic to raspberries and strawberries.  She asked me if all of the cupcakes had a raspberry filling.  I assured her that the Snickerdoodle Cupcakes and Chocolate Espresso Cupcakes did not.  She ate a Snickerdoodle Cupcake.  And then she turned bright red and got really itchy.

Cassie, if you ever read this, I am so sorry I tried to kill you.  But because of you I now will call my future bakery Danger Cupcakes.  They are dangerously good.

And now it's time for the daily photo:

I think at the end of our year we're going to see the exact same facial expression on Ryan's face.

Here are some more pictures with Ryan looking exactly the same:

I throw my hands up in the air sometimes...

And now it's time for bed.  Good night all, sweet dreams.