Trip to Rochester - 6/6/08

Last weekend we drove to Rochester to visit my Gram and Stepmom. We've been making the trip every 6 months or so and this was the best ride yet. We made it there in less than 6 hours (or exactly 4 1/2 Dora's). We only made one 1/2 hour stop. Tanner was perfect in the car the whole way. He only slept 45 minutes out of the 6 hours (still not a car sleeper) but he sat back there watching his DVDs and we really didn't hear much from him. I never thought I'd say that! He's finally tolerating the car quite well!

Tanner went a million miles an hour the whole time we were there...He was a major ham and ate up all the family doting...

Tanner walking Gramma Bonnie's dog, Chance. Theo didn't let Chance out of his sight. Despite being 13 years old and neutered, Theo tried to have his way with poor Chance all day long...

Daddy doing a little Tanner entertaining...

Tanner loved Gramma Bonnie's pool toys. But he didn't want to get IN the pool, despite the 95 degree heat...every time we'd ask him he'd say "nope."

Rob made up for it by floating around peacefully with his beverage in hand...

Tanner taking Gram (Granny to him) for a walk.

My nephew Danny taking Tanner for a ride...he is so good with him and provides lots of valuable Tanner entertainment...

Back at Gram Jean's, Tanner reads Granny a book...

Granny gave Tanner this little porcelain figuring of a boy and a girl under an umbrella. It winds up and plays "raindrops keep falling on my head."

Tanner LOVED it...

and kept carrying it around with him while we were there...it now sits on his dresser in his room and we wind it up every night before bedtime...

There is nothing quite like sharing your child with family, who love him near as much as we do...its such a good feeling...

Gram and Bob relaxing on Bonnie's porch...

Gramma Bonnie's house...1000 Penfield Rd. Where I grew up visiting my dad. The house looks wonderful.

and we had a wonderful trip. Gram and Bob made us a hearty breakfast each morning and pulled pork for dinner one night. We went tag saling and to the Fairport Canal Days in the 98 degree heat on Saturday...even though we didn't stay long, it was worth it. The afternoon at Bonnie's was so special and as usual, she put on a wonderful spread for us. A highlight for Tanner was when he got to scoop his own ice cream ("eye keen")...

Tanner's Favorite Things at 21 months

I thought it would be fun to keep a list of Tanner's 5 favorite things - every so often I'll post an updated list since its ever changing...
Right now, Tanner's 5 greatest passions (in his words) are:
1. "Side"
From the moment he wakes up right up until bedtime, the child wants to be outside. Sometimes we're out in the dewey yard before 8am. He loves it so much that I have to bribe him to get him inside. I continually have to think of ways to get him in the house when its time to come in. It can be tough, since almost nothing trumps outside. Lately "want a cookie?" works quite well...but if we don't have cookies or if its right before dinner, I can count on a meltdown. Many a times I've had to drag him in, kicking and flailing all the way. He'll cry passionately for a few minutes then I can usually get him distracted with another favorite activity, like:
2. "Bubb-o"
What kid doesn't like bubbles, right? Well Tanner is VERY passionate about bubbles. He gets so excited he shrieks and jumps around when we get them out. He usually insists on holding the bubble container himself, which he inevitably spills...I've tried other things but have relinquished to just filling it half way and letting him go to town...The no spill types of containers don't work as well so I decided to let this one go...and buy lots of cheap refills...
3. "Eye Keen"
A couple of months ago, when it became clear that dairy was no longer an issue with Tanner, we started treating him to ice cream every so often. Well of course he LOVES it. He makes this face when we ask him if he wants it- we call it the "ice cream face" - he looks so excited that he can hardly contain himself - its hilarious. I'll have to try to capture it so you can see. We have a Friendly's about a 1/2 mile from our house and we've been there a couple of times for ice cream. Now he yells "Eye Keen" "Eye Keen" "Eye Keen" every time we pass by. If we give him ice cream for dessert, he tends to ask for it right away when he wakes up the next morning. Apparently, its made a big impact.
4. "Bah-Gah"
This is Tanner's word for Dora the Explorer. We figure he's trying to say backpack, one of the show's characters. Anyway, he has yet to say "Dora" he just says Bah-gah Bah-gah when he wants it turned on. Dora has just recently replaced Elmo as his favorite show. Dora is our wind down time at about 7pm when he's tired from his day and needs some down time to unwind and chill out before bath and bedtime at 7:30...Its wonderful.
5. "Binty"
Binky Binky Binky. Tanner has LOVED the binky from day one. Literally. His binkies are his most prized possessions. He has not picked a lovey yet and has no attachment to any of his blankies or anything. Those binkies are his ultimate comfort. He likes to have 3 or 4 of them at a time, switching them in and out as if they are all different flavors. He makes a "mmmm" sound when he first lays down with them, as if he's tasting the most delectable treat ever. We only use them for sleeping and once in a while during the day if he gets hurt or has a meltdown and needs a calm down. I hope he lets go of them easily one day when he is ready. I really don't want it to be a challenge...but it very well may be one of our vices.

A few other notes on Tanner:
His naps have been fabulous the last couple of months, going down around 11:30-12:30 and averaging 2-2 1/2 hours. 3 hour naps are not uncommon occurring once or twice a week. He's even slept 4 hours on two occasions! I never thought I'd have a good napper - mr. cat napper is a thing of the past!

Mommy thinks Tanner is very smart. Not only his language amazes me on a daily basis (he regularly says help ("elp"), thank you (dank goo), and "I did it", by the way) but he also recently learned to count to 3. Its so sweet - I'll hear him doing it on his own "un. doo. tee." Today we went on a long (over an hour) walk and he did not stop talking the ENTIRE time - pointing out everything he saw "bike, barn, boat, dog, mow (cat), bunny..."

Just this week he started pretend play. It was so funny - he reached down and picked up nothing off the ground and handed it to me saying "a piece?". He then pretended to eat it. So mommy did the same. Well he continued to do this for every person that was there. Going back to the deck (kind of a long walk), picking up nothing, and carrying it back very carefully giving it to each person and saying "a piece?" - we were at Rob's parents at the time and there were about 8 people there. Everyone got "a piece".

Danga, Banga, and Magda

This past weekend we visited Schoharie. Tanner had a great time at Nana and PopPops and at Gramma Va's. He talks nonstop these days - he's an endless flow of jibber jabber. Sometimes to himself and sometimes to us. Its darling and such a riot. Some of his words are clear as a bell, and if not, I can usually figure it out. And every now and then he stumps me. We practice a lot of words and if he's in an agreeable mood, he'll try to repeat almost anything (one or two syllable). He loves to say "Nana" and "PopPop" - he's had those down for a while. This weekend we were working on "Gramma". I even dropped the "r" and tried for "Gamma"...but no matter how hard he tried, it kept coming out "Danga", "Banga", or "Magda." It cracks me up. We tried not to let him see us laugh but it was the cutest thing, especially when he really wanted to get Gramma Va's attention - you could just see him struggle to call out her name - he would have this sort of urgency in his voice and he'd start with a forced consonant and just fudge it after that. Probably one of those things where you had to be there...but anyway, it was priceless.

Danga Va set up a sand heap and a play area in her backyard. Tanner just loved it - all the rocks and obstacles to play with...right up his alley.

Memorial Day Weekend

This weekend was filled with picnics for us. We had one to go to each day on Saturday and Sunday and then we decided to host one at our house today. Tanner was in his glory with all the people and activity. We kept telling him we were going to a party so by the end of yesterday he was saying "pardee. pardee." over and over. This is Tanner posing yesterday in the garden at Rob's old boss's, John Atwater. Poser.

Today at our house...chillin in the pool before everyone arrived...

A wagon ride with friends Henry and Kylie...

There goes Joey down the slide. The kids went berzerk for the pool today. It was 80 degrees and they were lovin it. Tanner went through 2 swimmy diapers. FYI - A poop change in a wet swimmy diaper is NOT a fun time.

Joey on Tanner's 4-wheeler. Tanner gets on, pushes the pedal and goes...directly into whatever is in his path. I guess the steering thing comes later...

Nope, that's not Tanner. That's our new friend Cameron from up the street. We met at playgroup and they are just 2 weeks apart and exactly the same size. Very cute. Cameron proceeded to slide with gusto into the pool repeatedly for at least an hour, giggling all the while. Adorable.

We had water balloons, squirt guns, and the sprinkler for the kids. Ladder golf and washer board for the big boys and of course lots of food. Rob cooked steak, chicken, brats, and hotdogs. In our dramatic moment of the day, Tanner pulled a stunt we hope he wont repeat. I was across the yard and I saw it coming in slow motion but knew I wouldn't make it to him in time. I stood there frozen and watched the whole thing while screaming "ROOOBBB!!!" One of the older kids had left the 4-wheeler parked just a few feet from the rock wall, pointed straight for it. So when Tanner got on, he just pushed the buttom as usual and off he went. Literally. He drove straight off the wall. The 4-wheeler took a nose dive, flipped over and landed on top of him. Somehow he escaped unscathed except for a little nose bleed and a bruise on his back that showed up at bathtime tonight. Eeek. That little trooper was even back on that thing not 20 minutes later.

Murphy's Law Murphy's Law Murphy's Law

If you read yesterday's post, you could tell how momentous it was for Tanner to sleep in...He's been sleeping so well for about 6 months now! I would say he wakes us up maybe one time, once a week. Its glorious. I feel like I can lay my head down at night and count on a good solid sleep. Weeeeeell, last night not only did he not sleep in, but he was up 4 times crying and calling out "Mommyyyyy" "Momma Momma Mooooommmmmaa" in a distressed tone...Rob went in once and I went in 3 times - something like 12:30, 1:30, 3:30, and 5:30...and each time, he would lay back down and we'd cover him up, make sure he had all his binkies, and he'd go right back to sleep. What the?!#$%
All we can figure is that he is getting to really like his blankets on him and can't get them back on himself yet, so he's calling us in to do it. Better not make a habit of it! I'm already having flashbacks! I thought those days were over! Crossing my fingers for tonight.

8:15! 8:15! 8:15!

Tanner slept until 8:15 this morning!!!! Mark the date, folks! 21 months almost to the day and finally made it past 7:00...He has made it to 7:00, even 7:20 before - not more than 6 times ever. Typically, he is up around 6:00-6:30...and never ever past 7:20 ...but today nearly an hour past that! We woke up at 7:05, looked at eachother and said "wow". We proceeded to get up and get ourselves ready, every moment I was thinking "hurry, I only have another few seconds at best..." Well by the time he woke up, I was completely ready for work, had walked and fed the dogs, had Tanner's daycare bag ready to go and his breakfast laid out...ha! He woke up in such a good mood too! It was lovely...

Mothers Day

Neighbor Mike gives Tanner a ride on the "tactor"...Tanner LOVES the lawnmower and spends a lot of time admiring it and trying to "drive" it while its parked in Mike's yard. Poor Mike gets suckered in every time...

Tanner's first bike! He thinks its pretty cool, but at the moment, seems to like the froggy horn we put on it better than the bike itself. He loves to climb on and give it a go, but certainly hasn't gotten the hang of it yet. However he SAYS "bike" very clearly and has been bringing anyone who will go, over to it to show it off...

Rob surprised me and lined up a babysitter last night for Mothers Day. I didn't find out until after noon, that Lindsay was coming to babysit at 6:00...Rob and I had our first date in a long time...we went to dinner in Amherst, then drinks and desert afterward. We had a great time.