Kyler -- Week 47 (10/6/12-10/12/12)

Kyler has been a very busy boy, and by busy, I mean that I do not think he stops moving after he wakes up. With all this movement, you would think that he would need more sleep, but the truth is that our naps are becoming a little less routine--the dreaded one-nap-a-day might be here before we know it! Along with all this added activity comes much colder weather and winter clothes. We got a great snow suit at Costco with Grammy and Papa, and during a walk with Duncan, we even broke out the hat and mittens. Mittens are something that Kyler is going to have to get used to, especially since he cannot seem to figure out how to grip things with them on.

Kyler has always been curious, but now this wonderful trait is starting to leave a wake of destruction in his path. He has discovered how to open drawers and continues to like to open and cabinet that Mommy cannot firmly latch. His favorite cabinet is our corner Lazy Susan that cannot be locked and where his favorite snack is stored--puffs! It is not surprising to see this little Houdini walking around with a bottle of puffs in his hand and potatoes all over the floor. Thankfully, we are not able to open the bottles yet--much to Duncan's dismay. Grocery shopping has become a favorite activity for Kyler because he just loves to watch everyone. But we do have a few new challenges, including his high pitched excited squeals that you can hear from miles around and grabbing onto the plastic produce bags.

We had a great time on Thursday going to visit cousin Sarah and Aunt Lynsey. Kyler was having fun checking out the new place and seeing the adorable nursery for Sarah and Andrew's new baby. He also loved to show off how good he is getting at walking, quickly cancelling out most of his crawling activities. I am sure he is going to be so excited to teach his new little cousin all kinds of fun ways to get into trouble when they are older.

So cute...

...and another face...

...and another cute smirk :)

Kyler with Grammy!

Getting some love before going down for nap time.

Post-nap excitement with Papa...and a change of pants...sorry for the Christmas colors, kiddo. 

Cute picture with Grammy and Papa

Sitting with Daddy watching the baseball playoffs

Oh, baby, it's cold outside!

"I'm so cute I make drool look good"

He loves to drive things on our window sills--the little Batmobile is a favorite

Kyler -- Week 46 (9/29/12-10/5/12)

So the biggest news this week is that we have a WALKER! Yes, Kyler did take a few steps when he was 9 months, but starting on Monday, he decided that it was time to start taking steps on his own all the time. It is really fun to see him just cruise along the couch, but then start to cross the room. He also loves to just stand in the middle of the room waiting for me to take video and then sit down! It has been a lot of fun watching him explore and move as a walker. We thought this kid was busy before, but it has just been even more fun now that he is walking everywhere!

This weekend we finished the working in the backyard with Grandma and Grandpa. After a long day of work, they agreed to watch Kyler for us while we went out on a date. Kyler decided to stay up late with them, trying to be a party animal, but he finally fell asleep on Grandpa while watching college football. On Sunday, we woke up late to enjoy a wonderful fall day and had family pictures taken by Rebecca Alberda Photography. We had a lot of fun with pictures, and Kyler even got to try his first full apple. We were surprised after giving him one to take a picture with that he just took a bite out of it like it was the most natural thing. This kid is always thinking about eating, but the pictures turned out amazing.

Kyler has done a few new things other than walking too. He has found how much fun it is to empty out the cupboards that do NOT have the cabinet locks on them. One time the cupboard housing my many cookbooks was emptied, and I curiously found blood all over some of the pages. Little man got a paper cut and didn't even cry! Kyler has also started sharing his food with us. He would gladly put anything in your mouth if you lean forward, so you have all been warned that anything Kyler eats could be your dinner too. When Kyler is outside, all he wants to do is be in the mud--typical boy. We played with bubbles in the tub, and he had a great time trying to eat them. One thing that Ryan and I have loved is that Ky will drive cars up and down your back, just like a little massage. :)

Grammy and Papa came on Friday to spend the day with us, so we took them to get fresh pumpkin donuts and cider at Post Family Farm. We also petted some goats, and Kyler showed absolutely no fear trying to grab their ears and noses. Thankfully, the goats were used to it, and he just laughed and had a good time.

Wonderful family pictures taken by our friend Rebecca Alberda

Thought we would enjoy some fall colors for our pictures

Kyler is enjoying an apple in the leaves

He seemed to like it--he even took a bite out of it!

Autumn = leaves, pumpkins, and baseball

"I cannot wait to be big enough for the slide, Mommy!"

Kyler has a lot of hair, but he also has some adorable curls in the back :)

Hanging in our jammies with the dino toy

We like to take pictures and send them to Daddy at work...

...but we sometimes would rather just chew on the phone

I caught these two red-handed--Duncan already licking his lips!

Kyler likes to take things out of the cupboard...mostly puffs :)

Kyler -- Week 45 (9/22/12-9/28/12)

It has become a lot colder here in Michigan, and with that comes new clothes for Kyler. We had a great time shopping for some pants and sleepers, but shoes were always something that he has really disliked. We finally found some shoes that he tolerates, but some day that might have to change. He looks so much older in his little outfits, since during the summer, he spent most of his time just in onesies. On one shopping trip, we even picked up a movie for Daddy, too! Kyler has been having a great time learning new things, including high fives across the table with Daddy and how to play with Duncan. We need to make sure that he does not "pet" Duncan too forcefully, but they actually like to play together now. Duncan likes to leave toys for Kyler to throw, and then returns them to him. Or sometimes Kyler holds toys out for Duncan to take. It's fun to see how much they like each other! (Check out the video below to see proof.)

We had a great time going to ArtPrize downtown on Sunday, even with the chilly weather. Kyler was having a great time looking at all the art and people. At one point, we were inside a building looking at some paintings, and Kyler decided to blow raspberries as a sign of approval--or at least that is what we told the artist. Already an art critic, little guy? Kyler also went downtown to see a urologist, where we scheduled a minor procedure for late October. Thankfully, we were able to schedule it on a day when Ryan did not have to be at work, so we can try and comfort each other in the waiting room. Kyler also got his second flu shot, which seemed to "crabbify" our little man for a few days.

Food-wise, Kyler still loves to eat! We often wonder if he will ever get full. He never seems to get enough of the finger foods we put in front of him. He tried eggplant and tofu this week--much to Ryan's dismay. We had sweet potato pancakes for dinner one night, and Kyler thought they were delicious!

We enjoyed ArtPrize on a cold fall day

"I think that a penguin is staring at me, Mommy!"

Ryan and Kyler by T. rex art

Up closer to the dino

Had to take a break and get some dinner in...even if it all ends up on the blanket

I can only assume they are watching baseball together

Even though you picked it out for Daddy, it will be years before you get to watch that movie, little guy!

Such a cute little guy

Discovering the joys of playing with Duncan

"C'mon, Duncan! Take my toy, and let's play!"

The Yard

Buying a house is a lot of work, but after a few weeks, we had to tackle the next large project--the yard! We are so thankful that we have so many wonderful people who were willing to come and help out with all the work. We could have not done half of what needed to be done without the hard work of family and friends. Thank you so much!

We started out doing the front yard which was overgrown with weeds, building scraps, and super hard clay. After a lot of weeding (it took days of working during Kyler's nap times), we got a large burgundy belle red maple planted in the front and a lot of top soil delivered. Also during that week, we had loads of help cutting some trees down and pulling out tons of poison ivy in our back yard. Even though the backyard was not finished until another month later, it was great to get some of that brush taken care of. We had a late night of moving top soil and smoothing out the yard before having a very long day of my dad roto-tilling the yard. What a lot of work! We put in some edging and planted loads of great plants before finally fertilizing and seeding the yard. We don't have in-ground sprinkling, but Ryan set up an elaborate system of hoses, splitters, and sprinklers to water our muddy yard. After about two weeks, little blades of green started to pop up, and by winter, we had a good deal of grass coming up, with just a few spots of mud. The yard will still need a little work in the spring, but it's off to a great start.

The front yard -- lots of weeds

Side yard

The backyard needed a lot of work...

...including this jungle of dotted hawthorn trees, poison ivy, and weeds

Our new tree in the front yard; we had already started to weed at this point

The clearing of brush and cutting down of hawthorn trees

Ryan was the designated poison ivy remover; he actually managed not to get any skin irritation!

Shot of Jesse, Dad W, and Mom W working on the trees, while Duncan supervises

Edit (from Ryan): We inexplicably don't have any "after" photos. Sorry! I'm sure we'll get some in the spring. :)

Kyler -- Week 44 (9/15/12-9/21/12)

Kyler and Ryan had a lot of fun on Saturday while I worked at Lynsey's garage sale. Ryan did a fabulous job and even had time to swing by with a very well-dressed little guy and bring us lunch from Checkers! Kyler had a great time visiting with everyone, and even got to try out pumpkin doughnut holes! Sunday was a trip to another church, where Kyler spent most of his time in nursery pushing things around--that does not surprise me at all. We had a great evening at Lori, Matt, and KayLynn's house to celebrate Grandpa and Grandma's anniversary. Kyler enjoyed played with KayLynn's toys, but really seemed to like pushing the pink princess ride-on toy. I guess this kid doesn't care what the toy is, as long as he can push it!

Speaking of pushing, Kyler thought that Monday would be a good time to rearrange some furniture, as he moved his highchair all the way from one end of the house to the other. He is a pretty strong and determined little guy. He also found the pantry closet to be a source of all types of wonderful toys, including the boxes in the recycling bin. With Duncan's help, he "arranged" them all over the kitchen. When I tried to mop the floor, Kyler thought that using a bucket of water was just not quick enough, and he wanted to dump all the water out to save time, making it a fun-filled chore time. We had a great time seeing lots of people this week, including a great trip to the park with my friend Emily and her girls. It was fun to run around the park, have Kyler play on the swings, and--of course--push the stroller. Yes, even at the park, we like to push things.

A few new things for Kyler this week were grapes, honeydew melon, and finding the sound buttons on his books. If you hear a roar from his room, it's probably just Kyler playing in his books. He also likes to spy on Mommy in the shower, much to the amusement of Ryan and the surprise of me! Kyler pretty much never stops moving unless he is eating or sleeping, but he suddenly became interested in only one television show: Super Why! It's probably too old for him (it's all about reading), but for some reason, he will actually stop pushing things around to sit and watch. We don't have him watch much television, but it is kind of fun to hold him in our laps and say the ABCs.

Oh, the trouble begins...

...and the fun also starts... These two have fun together

"I found your bucket, Mommy! Now you can mop the floor!"

Have I mentioned that this kid hates to wear shoes?

Eating breakfast at the park while waiting for friends

Probably blowing bubbles or talking :) 

Oh, the swing--how much fun!

Hanging out at the park; next year we might be doing more than just standing around

"Mommy! I found the lens cap!"

"What? This isn't how you mop the floor?"