So sad

I found this picture of Tyler (2 years old) while looking for Tyler's yearly pics for the blog I just did. It reminded me so much of a Hailey picture I took and posted recently. I just had to compare the two. Have they mastered sad eyes or what??

Tyler's 4 years

I wanted to do this blog on Tyler's 4th birhtday but our computer was on the brink of crashing and I wasn't able to access my cd's with the older pics. But, now we are up and running so I thought it would be fun to see how Tyler has changed over the last 4 years.

First few days

1 year
2 years
3 years

4 years

I do it!!

Yesterday I heard (maybe she's said it to Dave though) the first utterance of a phrase I am sure we are going to be hearing A LOT of over the coming months and years. As I was trying to brush Hailey's teeth she yelled out "I do it!!! She's been saying "I did it" for a while now when she perseveres on something and actually accomplishes what she'd set out to do. I lover hearing her say this. But it's the first I've heard her vocalize with words that she wants to do something herself with no help. Not that this is at all surprising with her fierce independent attitude. And I suppose it's better than the shrieking and refusing to do whatever we were trying to help her with which has been her strategy to date. So, we'll see where this goes.

Hailey has also been enjoying putting a "school" bag on and "going to school". This involves saying, Have a good day at school. Have fun. See you soon........walking down the hall to the other room (count to 3) and then walk back......I'm so happy to see you! Did you have a good day? (big hug). This of course is her interpretation of Tyler going to school but it's fun to see a little bit of pretend play starting with her.

Going to school

Finger Twiddler

Just a quick note on our finger twiddler. Hailey has become quite to finger twiddler when she is watching tv or sitting down focused on something. It is pretty cute to watch and I'm guessing it will be a life long habit but I suppose only time will tell. Here's a random picture from the last few days just to spice up this post a bit

Bizarro world & lots of love

On Monday afternoon we went to get Santa pictures. I once again wanted Tyler in his Christmas outfit. I'm not sure what Dave said to him but he actually put the jeans and sweater on without much complaint. We went to the mall got the pictures and had a successful dinner at a restaurant (this is definitely news worthy). By the time we got home Tyler was in love with his jeans and wore jeans all day yesterday and half of today by his own choosing. He spent the second half of today in sweats so we will see if the jeans moment is over or if life is bizarro world will continue. In addition to wearing his jeans he has also chosen to wear several shirts we bought him at the end of summer that are so cute but until now he has refused to wear. You just never know with Tyler!

Hailey has been an absolute bear to get to bed. I usually put her down about 7pm. She screams (loud, heartbreaking, my life is about to end type screams) the entire time I am brushing Tyler's teeth, reading him books, telling him his story, and tucking him in bed. So by about 8pm I've had it and I actually go in and see her (yes I realize I need to stop doing this). She immediately quiets down and will just snuggle me (this part is lovely) for however long I am willing to sit there but she refused to fall asleep. We I stand up to put her down again she starts to scream even louder and gives me a death grip squeeze with her thighs so I can barely peel her off of me to get her into bed. Then she screams and screams some more until she falls asleep around 9:00 to 9:30. It is brutal.

Yesterday as Hailey was screaming so loud and Tyler was getting ready for bed I asked Tyler, "Why does she do this?? It hurts my heart". To which Tyler responded, "It's ok Mommy, I have so much love I'll make your heart feel better". That's my lovebug. I hope he never changes (and yes, I realize he will).

Hailey's Dance update

Hailey's dancing has evolved from her tight spin as seen a few months a go to a larger circle of galloping with an arm held up high. In this particular clip she breaks out into counting part way through.....not sure why.

Christmas Tree

Our tree is up and Tyler is very happy about it. He LOVES the tree. The first thing he does every morning when he wakes up is turn the lights on. We got the tree Friday and decorated it on Saturday. Tyler couldn't wait, he was just so excited to put the ornaments on. One section of the tree he put the ornaments on all by himself. There are a lot of ornaments in the one little spot :). We decorated while Hailey was napping so when she woke up from her nap she got to see the finished product. The first thing she saw was her new ornament (a big bird ornament she had picked out when we bought the tree). Tyler's new ornament is a yellow race car. Tyler played in the living room with the tree for the whole rest of the day and still loves spending time out there. We ended up with a pretty skinny tree this year but it still looks great.

At the tree farm

The tree

Tyler was very excited to put the star on
Christmas tree 2008
Saturday morning we went to Snow Days at the community church near our house (as Dave emtnioned in his prvious email). Tyler made a candy cane craft, wreath, and built his first gingerbread house.