Little Landscaper

We've been relandscaping our front yard this spring and Tyler loves to "help".... I can't begin to tell you how much dirt was at the bottom of the tub after this evening in the yard!

"New" Swing Set

Tyler got a swing set from a neighbor across the street, it was quite the process getting it moved... the guys did a great job, thanks everyone that helped! This is the third house on our block that this well loved swing set has now resided! T loves his new "fort"!

Getting it out of the neighbors backyard.

Down the driveway...

Into the street....

To it's final resting place!

Boots

T got some rain boots from Grams and Grandpa Jack for Easter!

Here he is taking 'em for a whirl...




He really is under there...

Look at that sweet boy in glasses, I love it!

Modeling his new boots with the broom the Easter Bunny brought him!

Easter in St. Louis

We had a great trip to St. Louis to celebrate Easter with the Neier family and had a fabulous baby shower for Katie to help prepare for Gavin's arrival!

2 Weeks!

It's been 2 weeks since surgery and T's eyes are looking a little better everyday, considering where we started I think they look great!

Happy little man.

Aren't those teeth THE BEST, I could just eat him up!

My oh my...

I guess it's time for a March update, this is becoming pathetic! Let's see what we've been up to over the last month...

We ended February in Florida with Grams and Grandpa Jack, Tyler loved the pool and would stay on that beach all day if we let him... boy was so happy to get outside for a change!

Tyler turned 18 months old! I know I say it every time, but this is one solid boy weighing in at 29 pounds and 33 1/2 inches long, my arms have never looked so good (yeah, I know that's not saying much for me!)! He is an incredible little talker, every day he has something new to share that amazes me... last week Brad walked in from work and he ran to the door looked at him and said "you're late", no idea where that came from, but it was hilarious! He's opted to use the word "yeah" instead of "yes" and has no problem letting us know "no like it" if he isn't pleased with something. Everything in Tyler's world is "blue" for some reason and he's obsessed with the "ironing board", "(s)wing" and fans that "go round and round"... such a happy little guy!

Mid-March was T's eye surgery, all went extremely well and so far we're pleased with the results. Children are truly incredible when it comes to resilience, after a good night's sleep he was back to his crazy, mile a minute self like nothing had ever happened. I was told to keep him "quiet" for a week following surgery... all I can say is that I did my best! It's been nearly two weeks and his eyes are slowly getting back to normal, they're still red, but nothing like they were right after surgery... let's hope this is the only one we'll have to endure, only time will tell - he needs to be at least another year older to tell us what he's able to see when looking at depth perception charts!

The day after surgery... poor little eyes!

On our way home from our 1 week post-op visit... and yes he's eating a hamburger while on the way home from Cleveland... hey, this kid can have anything he asks for when he's stuck in a car for 4 hours just to go see a doctor for 15 mintues! But aren't they eyes looking so much better!!!

One of those stories...

I don't want to forget! Tyler's been going through a phase of waking up at 4am and requesting milk before (hopefully, but not always) going to back to bed for another hour or so. A few weeks ago he woke up yelling for "mommydaddy" and "mealk", so I gave him the requested milk and brought him into bed with me so I could hopefully get another hour of sleep. He finally rolled over to settle down and all the sudden I hear "pizza, pizza, strawberries, chocolate...", that was it, then he was sound asleep!!! I've always known this child loves his food (wonder where that comes from?!), but I had no idea he had sweet dreams about it!


What a little character...

XO XO XO

The Valentine's Day cupid was good to Tyler this year, poor boy had yet ANOTHER double ear infection... that's 3 or 4 since November, I've lost count somewhere in there! Good news is the doc says with Spring around the corner we're going to wait on going to see the ENT guy... whew, one surgery this year will be quite enough thank you!

Snow Day!!!

Well I wouldn't call it spring, but we did get out of the house over the weekend for some sledding and fun in the snow! Once we get Tyler on the sled all he says is "more, more" so I know he likes it, but the funniest thing is that he's so bundled up he pretty much just sits there like a bump on a log... too funny!

Cabin Fever

It already seems like we've been couped up in this house too long this winter... and it's only the beginning of January... yikes!!! Here's a glimpse into how we spend our time inside lately!

We play with hats... T love to take them on and off over and over and over again!

(I do apologize to the STL crew on the Cubs hat... you can blame his Uncle in Chicago for this, but don't you worry, he'll know his loyalties are to the Cardinals!)

We spend a lot of time going for "rides" in my huge bag... he can't get enough of it!

This kid's 28+ pounds... his dad has to help out with this game after awhile!

We climb on our blocks...

We play peek-a-boo...

We play with play-do...

We go for rides in the firetruck while playing with our tounge!!! (I mean, who doesn't!)

Christmas 2009

Christmas was wonderful this year, having a 16 month old really helps liven up the holidays that's for sure! This year Tyler actually knew who Santa was and that he says "ho, ho, ho" and he loved the all the lights and the Christmas trees!

For anyone that knows Tyler well, they'll appreciate that we had to improvise with decorations this year, we put the tree up on a table to keep little hands away from the lights and ornaments, this boy can't be trusted alone for a second, he's like a bull in a china shop! It took me reading one article in a magazine about how many children visit the ER each year having taken a bite out of a glass ornament that sealed the deal... everything STILL goes in the mouth... none the less, Tyler loved his tree!

Here he is showing it off.

The Hoffmann "men" on Christmas Eve.

Christmas morning... I love that bed head!

Digging into that stocking!

Santa brought a vacuum, can you tell this little boy LOVES vacuums?!

Hanging with Uncle Tim.

Celebrating with the Lee family... those Grand kids just seem to keep multiplying!!!

The boys being boys on Ty's new slide...

Christmas Cookies...

Tyler helped me make my first batch of Christmas cookies today... he kept asking for "butter" (aka batter) long after the clean-up process had taken place! Sweet boy also starting saying "love you" this week, which I just can't get enough of!!!

In other news we had T's follow-up appointment with the eye Doc up in Cleveland yesterday after trying glasses for 8 weeks and unfortunately he agreed the glasses weren't doing the trick... apparently that was just a $400 experiment!!! So without other alternatives, we went ahead and scheduled surgery for the middle of March... I know we'll all get through it and he'll do great! I also knew there'd be lots of miles logged to Cleveland, but we left the office yesterday with 6 appointments already booked... wish us luck that this is the only surgery he'll need!

First time licking a spatula!

He really got into it...

didn't want to miss any!!!

Testing out the final product!!!

Who doesn't love mittens...

just look at that face full of anger and determination... wanna take a guess as to who won this battle?!