"Look, Mama!"

This is my new favorite thing to hear. Kyler has been saying it a LOT. This morning it was when he scooped up a big spoonful of Cheerios (he's still getting the hang of using a spoon). It is always said with lots of excitement too and sounds more like "Wook, Mama!" So freaking cute! Yesterday I heard a lot of that while we were outside. He would find something interesting and point it out to me. Or do something he thought was cool and show me. Once in a while he will ask me "hear it, mom?" when he hears a motorcycle on the highway or a choo choo coming into town.

"Kiss It" and other Kyler-isms

Now that Kyler is talking a lot more, he's been saying some funny things. One thing he's started on is "kiss it" when he gets ouchies ("ashes"). Then he will say "all better" after you kiss it. And immediately after that he will proceed to point to another area with a supposed "ashie" and tell you "that kind" because he wants that body part kissed.

Some of the most frequently heard phrases around here are as follows:
"yeah" = he says this ALL THE TIME, he is also starting to say mmm hmm
"nah one" = another one
"dat kine" = that kind
"up eee-ah" = up here
"ah dit down" = I want to get down
"at side" = outside
"down tair" = downstairs
"nack" = snack
"uh uh uh down down down" = up up up, down down down (used a lot of times when he is playing)
"ah papa cuck" = I want [to go in] Papa's truck
"doe-ba" = door bell (he's obsessed right now)
"oh no" = (self explanatory but super cute the way he says it, a lot of times when he hurts himself and is about to cry or while crying)
"mo-ky-cle" = motorcycle
"sy-cuck" = fire truck
"skooba" = school bus
"too too" = choo choo (train)

He also uses a lot of gibberish at times, and it's usually very loud. He talks about Noah (one name he can say perfectly) quite often at home. That is one of the kids in his group at daycare. He thought it was funny and laughed going up when he saw that we got our stairs carpeted. When he throws fits, he usually jumps a couple of times which almost always cracks me up. When he gets really, really excited he will wave his hands up and down really fast - it's sort of weird looking at his age but also pretty funny.

This weekend was the Seneca bike show. We walked around at it for quite a while and made two trips there. Then on our way to Kansas City that afternoon for a party, he started chanting in the car: "mo-ky-cle, mo-ky-cle, mo-ky-cle." He also sometimes just starts laughing or giggling when he sees a motorcycle or other exciting vehicle. The kid loves his motorcycles - which is also his birthday party theme.

He is very bossy to the dogs. He is constantly telling Baxter to stay inside or go to bed (his crate). Sometimes he even yells "bad bad bad" to him. He also yells at Frazier (my parents' dog) a lot. He is the first to notice when Frazier sneaks out of the yard and will walk around the driveway yelling at "zay-zer."

Today he was eating some popcorn in the garage. A piece hit the floor and he attempted to eat it. I told him not to and we would throw it out on the driveway for the birds. So we did. A little later we were sitting on the driveway and he found that piece of popcorn. He reached down and pretended to stick it in his mouth. I played along and exaggerated how gross it was that he was eating it. He pretended to chew it and had a little smirk the whole time I was disgusted. Then he spits on the driveway right next to where the popcorn was. So I thanked him for spitting it out. He thought he was so clever to trick his mama like that. ;) Then I had to explain that he can only spit outside not in the house. So he walks over to the garage and acts like he's going to spit, watching for my reaction. Then he steps outside and spits so that I would tell him good job and thank him. I think this little man is really figuring out how to manipulate people (and you can tell so by the way he gets spoiled by the rest of his family).

23 Months

My little Kyler is 23 months old today. One more month and he'll be TWO! He isn't big for his age but for some reason he just looks older than he is. A lot of people think that he's three, which makes me kind of sad. When he plays with bigger kids, he doesn't even seem that young to me - and he's MY baby.

The biggest giveaway on his age is probably his speech. He talks all the time, and repeats everything we say but it is just pretty unclear a lot of the time. His hair is super curly and people comment on it constantly.

We fiddled around with potty training earlier in the month. He did okay but wasn't quite getting it. So I've gone back to cloth diapering so that he can tell when he wets and maybe figure out how to turn that little hose on and off. Once he understands how to make that work, I think he'll do a lot better.

Kyler can ride a tricycle now and is a pro at climbing around at playgrounds. He goes up obstacles that make us really nervous but almost always does just fine. Even when this kid falls, he is able to brush off getting hurt really quickly. He's a tough guy, that's for sure.

Kyler has also started sitting on a regular chair at the table when we eat (rather than a high chair, and we don't have a booster chair). Once in a while he will ask for the high chair and we put him in there if it is something really messy. He is also finally getting used to drinking out of an open faced cup. He missed his sippy cups for a while but has since stopped complaining. He rarely uses his silverware but hopefully that will come soon.

Today's funny moment: I asked Ky if he wanted to watch cartoons after  he woke up a little fussy this morning. "Yeah." So I turn on one cartoon, "I want cartoons." I flip it to another cartoon, a more irritable "I want watch cartoons." I kept saying that these are cartoons. Eventually I asked, "do you want to watch cars?" He answered with another "yeah." As soon as I found the Speed channel, he was totally content.

Easter 2012

On Saturday afternoon, the high school had an "egg hunt" that we took Kyler to. One of the first pieces of candy he picked up he stuck right in another little girl's (Brynlee's) basket. What a sweet boy. :)

A lot of the time he just sat there and watched all the commotion. He ended up with quite a bit of candy in the end though.

The Easter bunny was pretty nice to Kyler. He left a basket with some new shoes, some big boy cups, and candy. He also left a froggy potty chair with a little bunny on top. The last basket had training pants, stickers, a boat, and a motorcycle with more candy.

Kyler went straight for the little motorcycle.

He played with it right away and at one point even tried to sit on it and ride it.

We got him to try out his new potty for a few seconds too. He likes to sit on it (plus, he gets a jellybean if he sits on it).

The Easter bunny also filled Ky's eggs with candy and hid them around the house. He had fun finding them and tried to eat all the candy out of each egg before continuing to the next one. Later that night, he went around and hid a couple of eggs himself.

Tricycle

Kyler can pedal a tricycle. He looks like one of the big boys at daycare when I go to pick him up. A week ago last Friday, he was starting to pedal just a little back and forth, but wasn't going anywhere. By last Friday, he was pedaling all over the playground, frontwards and backwards, and was steering and everything. My baby is turning into a giant. Or just a big kid. Someone the other day asked if he was 3. He's still 1!

Church

Today in church my face was bright red and I had tears in my eyes. I was trying my hardest not to laugh as Kyler "mimicked" Father. He would hold his hands out, then fold them together in prayer, then out again, then a little higher. It was hilarious but thank goodness it only went on for a minute or two. And I didn't let him know it was funny or he would have been doing more showing off and bouncing around than he already was.

Smarty-Pants

Kyler is learning his colors. He has black and blue down and sometimes gets red, orange, brown, and green. Our living room rug has a bunch of big colored squares and that's one of the best ways we've found of teaching him colors. He also wants to be told what color things are like his Fruit Loops and little race cars.

He knows nine letters: B, C, D, F, G, K, M, P, and T. He will point to the letter you ask for or will tell you which letter is which by telling you what they stand for (P for Papa, etc.). He loves having the letters written in sidewalk chalk really big on our sidewalk. He jumps to each letter and says what it is.

He is doing really well at jumping now and almost always gets both feet off the floor. It's so funny how he sort of walks/skips/jumps around the house and everywhere he goes. I love it! I think it's my favorite thing he does right now.

Kyler has also developed a little imagination. He is always looking out the windows saying "motorcycle" ("mo-ky-kle"). He also tells me that he's playing with Frazier and Mot. They seem to be imaginary friends that are around once in a while. And when he's eating or finds crumbs anywhere he tells me they are bugs ("bud").

Oh, and one last thing he's started doing is calling himself "Ky-woo" instead of "Waa-waa." But poor Maggie might be "Wong-wong" forever.

Baby Love

We went to visit a newborn baby yesterday. I wasn't sure how Kyler would react since he's never been around a baby that small before. He had just woken from his nap so he was very calm and gentle when we first got there. And he LOVED holding that precious baby.

I would pull her closer to me and he would put his hands under her and pull her right back onto his lap (very gently, of course). He just couldn't get enough of his newest friend.

He thought it was funny when she would reach up and hit him with her flailing newborn arms. And he had to check out her tiny legs and toes but then cover her back up so she wouldn't get cold.

He even gave her some kisses on the forehead. Her daddy said that would have to come to a stop when they get a little older.

By the time we left, Kyler was pretty wound up and full of energy and had much less interest in Baby Eva. But when he did want her he knew just how to handle such a tiny little one.

What a Difference a Year Can Make

These pictures were taken exactly one year apart.

Some things I want to remember about this age (21 months):

Kyler will play by himself and then just come up to me out of the blue with a big smile on his face. I don't know of anything better than this boy's smile! He also makes a face a lot where he smiles with him mouth closed and sort of scrunches up his face where his eyes are a little bit squinty. It's the face he makes when he is feeling all warm and happy - a cross between "I'm so proud of myself" and "I am loved." When he's around Papa, he usually either makes that face or is licking his upper lip just like Papa does.

He pulls me wherever he wants me to go, tells me to get up, and generally just talks a lot more than he used to. There are lots of 2-3 word sentences and lots and lots of repeating. It's getting more and more clear all the time too.

He finally likes to give hugs and kisses. He is always wanting to hug the dogs, "Bak" and "Wong-Wong" (Baxter and Maggie). I get lots of hugs and even more kisses. Even last night Daddy called to say good-night and Ky said night-night and walked over and kissed the phone. What a sweetie!

He also identifies Mama and Dada in pictures and points to what things belong to each of us and to "Wawa" (Kyler). He'll point to Dad's pillow and the place Dad sits on the couch. It's especially all about Dad since he's been gone for the first week in a long time traveling for work.

When he does something he knows is wrong, he will tell himself "no no no." Whenever I hear his little voice saying "no no no" I know that I had better go check because he's about to do something he shouldn't. Yesterday he was messing with the electronics saying "no, dada's." Too bad those no-no's are just so tempting!

Ky recently learned how to play hide and seek with me. Mom was so hard to find. He would say "Mom go?" and look and look. I would talk to give him hints to find me. He would always hide in the same place which was the first place I hid.

He knows how to tease. He tells Papa that it's "Dad's kuck" (truck). Papa says "Noooo" and Ky will laugh. Then "Mama's kuck" and "Noooo." He thinks it's so funny he will even say it to himself at home while he's playing.

February Photos

I finally put my pictures from the past month on the computer. Here's what we were up to:

Playing with Play-Doh in the high chair.

Crazy boy acting goofy.

Yummy Valentine's Day treats for Ky's friends and teachers.

Kyler Brack - 2012 - All you need is LOVE

Pulling a Matchbox-sized semi trailer with a big truck.

Three shots on those little legs! But he got a lion sticker and Mom gave him candy.