Tay 23 Month Update

How is Taylor going to be 2 in a month?? It has flown by! Here are some highlights from month 23:

• Tay's biggest trick this month is climbing out of his crib. YIKES! It started on vacation - We was able to hoist himself out of the pack n play onto the bed. I was hoping it was because he had the best to hoist himself up but our first night home I watched him climb out of the full size crib and start wandering around his room crying. We have now put the crib mattress on the floor with the crib around it and he is now safely back in his crib/cage.
• He is very agile and athletic - Can throw a ball pretty far and on the playground can hang on one arm on the monkey bars successfully. For such a skinny guy is he stronger than he looks!
• Tay is very into taking you by the hand and leading you to what he needs/wants you to do. Because he's not very verbal he just has this cute way of guiding you to what he wants. Like if he wants you to lay on the floor, he pushes down your shoulder. And in the lake he kept pulling Grandpa's hand down to make him kneel in the water with him.
• On vacation he was getting really upset at breakfast one morning. I had no idea what he wanted to he took the coffee mug full of creamers, emptied it, took my hand and led me to the hot chocolate machine and pointed at it. He wanted hot chocolate like his sister. It was just so sweet!! 
• He has been saying Up, Help and WaWa for water in addition to Mama, No and Yeah. He also points to his mouth when he is thirsty and says Yeah and throws his arms up when he is excited. He also raises his hand when you ask "who wants to do x, y, z".
• Tay is LOVING trains, cars and trucks. He is into lining them up and forming a long choo choo train and then saying "choo choo". And also just likes to carry them around and take them wherever we go. Papa says "He is a boy who loves his transitional objects".
• Tay also really likes water guns/shooting things. I basically want to abolish the 2nd amendment and Tay has decided to loves guns :( 
• He has been resisting the high chair and sippy cups. He wants to do what Avery does and sit in a regular chair and use regular cups. It can be a bit messy and also leads to him getting up and down a lot during meals which is not ideal....But if you put him in the chair he kicks and screams like a crazy man.
• Tay can be really sweet when someone is upset. If Avery starts to cry he runs and gets her a tissue and pats her back. And he'll give random, sweet hugs that we love! Also good at giving kisses when prompted.
• Tay is still in 18 month-2T clothes and some 12 Month pants since he has shorter legs. Size 6-7 shoe.
• Appetite and favorite foods vary from day to day but he is always up for a treat!
• Sleep has been a challenge lately - Not only with the crib escape but he's been fighting going down more both for nap and bedtime and waking some in the night so we are having to do some more sleep training. Since coming back from vacation it's been a bit better luckily.
• Tay loves playing with the older kids in the neighborhood - When they all head to the trampoline he just wants to be a part of it. And they are all really sweet about including him.
• He is such an inquisitive kid and just wants to tinker and figure things out like his Dad. He is also strong willed and knows what he wants and gets pretty darn mad when he doesn't get what he is asking for. His face is the sweetest, he cracks us up and keeps us on our toes and we love this age. It's SO cute!! Onto 2.....
• And he still hates his sign.. Thanks to Avery for making sure we got some pics :)

Cute Avery Comments

Just wanted to capture a couple Avery conversations so I don't forget them :)

• Avery has been really into taking these quizzes with Ashley online. Things like "What Descendent are you?" or "What Disney Princess are you most like?". We were at the park last night and a neighbor came over and was talking about her mom took the Indiana Bar exam that day. And Avery goes "Oh I took some tests today too with my nanny". She totally came off like she had these hard tests that you could compare to the Bar Exam.
• I asked Avery if she wanted a new backpack and lunchbox for school since her backpack has some stains and paint splatter on it. She said "No, I want to have a little tough in me. I don't want to wear pink dresses everyday and be like 'OOHH I'm a princess'. I need a little toughness. I need a little Mulan in me".

Multi Sports Camp

Avery went to Prime Time Multi Sports camp with Lila this week and had a blast!! She also participated in Crazy Sock Day (Avery is the polka dot and striped socked with the grey shoes), Crazy Hat Day (A makeshift bucket that Avery and Aunt Amy found at G's house during their sleepover) and Crazy Hair Day. It's been a fun week back from vacation for Avery :)

Avery's 4th Tooth

We lost the 4th bottom tooth last night. It fell out on its own while she was brushing her teeth. We only had a $10 and a $20. So then we thought let's give her a bunch of change. I had it out on the counter and she came down for a drink of water and asked why there was change there So then I couldn't use that as she would suspect I was the tooth fairy. Avery ended up with $10 and was thrilled :) She looks like a vampire that lost both its fangs.

Grandma T's Cottage 2017

After a week and half in Leland we headed over to Bellaire to spend time with Grandma T, Grandpa, Aunt Maddie, Eddie and Aunt Debbie. We missed having Hung and Uncle Nate there - hopefully next year!!

We had so much fun at the cottage!! Highlights included:

• Boat Rides on the Pontoon. Tay was NOT happy about wearing a life jacket but otherwise they loved it! We were able to distract him by letting him help drive the boat.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Lots of swimming in the Lake - Both in clothes, in swimsuits and even some skinny dipping which both kids found hysterical. Avery loved playing in the inner tubes and swimming out deep. Avery and Debbie did lots of pretend games in the water - they created an enemy named Chompy and they had to keep finding ways to foil his plans. Avery also created a job and would pull us around in an inner tube. She told us she had the job for 5 weeks and it was because her parents had a computer job and never played with her so she had to work and she told us all about her training schedule and how hard the job was. Too funny! Tay loved walking around in the water and was brave enough to go up to his chest. He also liked bringing sand toys in and messing around very seriously with those. They really took to the lake!! 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Raspberry Picking - Tay just ate them off the bush the whole time. Debbie made a delicious pie from scratch with our pickings!! YUM!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Marbles and Trucks - Tay LOVED playing with Marble Race Toy, the dollhouse and kept on making trains by lining up all of his trucks and trains. He was VERY into taking you by the hand and showing you how he wanted you to play with him. Everyone found it really sweet and cute and impossible to resist! 
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Pretend Time for Avery - Avery loved playing school up in the little desk in the loft and also did some yoga outside one night after watching Aunt Debbie do hers. She was so funny doing this yoga on her "mat" and then spent about 30 minutes just making up songs and singing at the top of her lungs!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Aunt/Niece Club - Avery formed the Aunt/Niece club with Debbie and Maddie. They got matching friendship bracelets to seal the deal.
  
• We also had lunch at Shorts Brewing Company (I was chasing Tay around for most of the meal...), had lots of ice cream and Do from NYC, bonfires and S'mores, and played at the bowling arcade - Tay LOVED the dinosaur shooting game that Eddie graciously played with him over and over and Avery was really into spinning wheel games to get tickets. Avery loved turning her tickets in for lots of plastic trinkets that are now mostly lost :). We also just had lots of fun hanging out together in the cottage - The kids played hard all day and crashed at night! It was such a fun 5 days and we miss everyone already.  BUT, after 2 weeks away it is nice to be home :) Until next summer Northern MI! We love you!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
   Watching The Descendents - Avery's new obsession - Tay was entranced too!
  
   Fancy Aunt Debbie Hair Do!
  
  
  
  

• Avery got her first bee/wasp bite - we are not sure which. But she was super brave and did not even cry. But she was really into talking about it afterwards. She was also terrified of getting a splinter and asked us about 10 times a day if any cuts on her feet were actually splinters. She needed every adult to examine it with a flashlight.
  

Leland 2017 Week 2

• Week 2 started with the Annual Fireman's Pancake Breakfast. We go every year - It's super cheesy and we love it. The whole crew joined us this year!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• After breakfast, Cullen, KJ, Hung and Du had to take off. We were sad to see them go! It was an overcast day so we headed to the Children's Museum which both kids LOVED. Avery met a friend that she played with the whole time - This girl lives in Texas. When it was time to go Avery hugged her and said "Well I guess I'll never see you again since you live in Texas". It was pretty funny! Tay had a lot of fun with the train set and the water/fishing area. Avery spent her time in the kitchen playing pretend with Ava.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• On Monday, G and Papa had to go back to Indy for a funeral so the kids and I were on our own for a few days. We spent the day at the beach with the Lawrence's and then went to Lori Lutz's on Monday night for dinner. Avery and Lori really clicked - Avery was just so chatty and sweet the whole night. They had these big puppet dolls in the basement named Ma and Pa - They looked like they were 80. Avery insisted we also feed them dinner and she didn't like that Pa smoked a cigar and asked Lori to make sure Pa tries to quit his bad habit. After dinner we went down to the beach and watched the sunset. Both kids rolled in the sand and splashed in the water and it was beautiful and precious.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Tuesday was our last full day in Leland. We had some fun park time with the Lawrences and also enjoyed a magic show at the library. Avery thought this guy was hysterical and LOVED it -Was dying laughing! Tay was dancing like a madman and enjoyed it, too! We ended the day with Dinner and ice cream. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Tay got really into lining up his toys this trip. He would make his own trains and it was just really cute. And when he was done he would grab your hand and pull you over to it to show off his work.