I like dirty

I feel like Tyson has been overshadowed in blog world lately, so I wanted to give him his own post.

Tyson went through a little phase recently where he could be difficult at times. He was acting up at school and home. Not all the time, but he'd have his moments. In the past couple of weeks it seems like he's pulling out of it. He keeps getting rave reviews at school ("happy notes") and is doing much better at home also.

His sister is constantly going after him and trying to take things from him, touch him, etc. She's trying to play but I can see how it's annoying from his perspective. He's learned to keep his special toys out of her reach and that's made a big difference.

He loves to play in the tub - he gets water outside of the tub at least once a night, but he's a good bath taker and teeth-brusher.

This is him going "I'm squishing your head mommy!" He says hilarious things every day, it's hard to remember them all and some are only funny because of his voice.

Thanks to Uncle Nick and Aunt Amber giving Hailey more megablocks for her birthday, they made this massive tower that was taller than Daddy! And then had fun knocking it down.

He has gained so much confidence in the pool since last summer! He will go anywhere with his floaties on. Here he was really proud of himself and saying "Yook [look]! I jumped in the DEEP END!" (Previously MAJORLY off limits of course)

Having tons of fun swimming

He started pulling this trick lately - hiding in the trunk in the hall. Funny guy.

Every night when he's getting ready for bath, he goes #2 but he announces it beforehand by finding each one of us and saying "Mommy, don't open the door! Daddy, don't open the door!" Which is great because we know exactly what he's doing.

One day recently we were going to school and he said "Mommy can we go fishing today?" "Well Tyson we can't go today, but Mommy and Daddy will plan something soon so we can go, ok?" "Ok Mommy. I want to go fishing. I like dirty."

He has also started saying "yes ma'am." But he says ma'am to everyone. We've been telling him to say "sir" to guys. Guys who don't know him hesitate a little when they get called ma'am ;-)

We just taught him the difference between he/him and she/her, so I think he'll figure it out pretty quickly.

Tyson is such a fun kid and a joy to have around!

1 year stats

I took Ms. Hailey to see Dr. G yesterday for her 12 month checkup. She passed the developmental milestones with flying colors (it's ok that she can't walk yet), her weight has dropped off a bit, but she lost a pound since I took her in for her double ear infection. If she weighed now what she did 2 weeks ago she'd be in her normal growth curve.

Height: 30.5 inches (75th percentile)
Weight: 19 lbs 12 oz (30th percentile... but temporarily low)
Head: 18.25 (75th percentile)

She took 3 steps tonight so we'll see when she starts walking... looks like it will be soon!

Happy Birthday Hailey Bear

Hailey, you are 1 YEAR OLD today! I can't believe it. You are such a sweet baby. You wave, clap like crazy, play pattycake, point and open/ close your fist at things you want,

love to wrestle, be tickled (your feet are really ticklish now), be thrown in the air, or mostly be the center of attention.

You have started opening books and looking through the pages.

Happy Birthday today! We got cupcakes to celebrate your REAL birthday. Mommy always likes to make sure something special happens on everyone's actual birthday, even if the main celebration is on another day.

You give high fives...

You discovered the stairs this month... uh oh...

I love when you look down. It's hard to catch on camera, but your cheeks get all chubby and I just wanna squish/ kiss them.

You talk to us all the time. Mostly still mama, dada. It seems like you know how to use the names properly. I think you also just realized that's you in the mirror and not another baby. You really love to hand things to us, share your food, feed us, etc. When you give things to us you say "neh" every time you hand us something.

You have officially switched to table food now, you refuse to eat baby food. We also just started you on whole milk instead of formula - you love it but it has to be warmed up. I will take that as a win. You are a pro at sippy cups. You have 5 teeth, 3 on top and two on bottom. You have two bottom teeth working their way through now. You're still cruising the furniture and standing by yourself, but not quite walking yet.

You are still a happy, talkative girl. Tyson sure loves you unless you are taking something away from him. He is still very protective of you and shows you off to his friends.

Here's your birthday song from today... forgive the bad singing!

I hate mosquitos

I'm sorry, but this is way too much a part of our lives right now so I have to mention it. I can't even think of a catchy title for this post. I don't know if it's like this everywhere in Houston, but down here in Pearland, we are INFESTED. They must have liked the rain we got from Alex. There are literally SWARMS of them by any flower bed/ garden in the area. I really think it's the worst I've been around so far.

Steve and Hailey are lucky, they don't get bitten much and when they do, the bites are pretty small. Tyson and I on the other hand, get attacked in the swarms and get massive, nasty looking welps when we get bitten. On my left knee alone, I have 10 bites. No exaggeration. The past few nights I've woken up multiple times because my mosquito bites are itching.

Ok I will stop my rant, but seriously. Please. We need those repellent fogging trucks to drive around the area for about 10 hours straight. I know there are others out there who sympathize with me.

Hailey's 1st birthday party

We celebrated Hailey's 1st birthday a little early on July 3rd. We had a weekend long bash with family. It was a lot of fun and we were sad to see everyone go!

It had been raining for days beforehand (thanks Hurricane Alex... we took two days off work to work in the yard and that all didn't happen...), but it finally stopped that Saturday. So a lot of us got some pre-party swimming in. Synchronized cannon balls seen below...

I am not creative AT ALL on party decorations, unlike my friend Kelly and my sister in law Amber. But here's my best shot at putting out pre-made stuff :)

Hailey takes bows and headbands off immediately right now, so this is the only shot I got of her in her tiara. (We learned a few days after her party that she most likely had a double ear infection at her party. She doesn't quite look like herself in the pics. She had also just gotten over pinkeye. It's been a fun couple of weeks.)

Enjoying the meal! Steve made ribs, potatoes, and naughty green beans. Yum!

As always, Laura was a great help but more importantly, a fun addition to the family :)

The cakes...

The cake destroying... she was hesitant at first but once she got into it, she got messy very quickly!

Kissing her new baby doll

Thanks to everyone who made the long trip to celebrate with us, and sorry to those who couldn't make it due to previous plans. We can't believe our precious princess is almost 1! (Two more days!)