The Tyler

I just wanted to compile a few favorite Tyler moments that I want to remember, because he has been really cute lately.

*Often, Christopher and I jokingly call our kids "the boy" and "the girl."  ("Have you seen the girl?  She was just here . . .")  And Christopher especially makes up silly little songs and things about them.  "He is The Tyler . . . who can do anything" (we do love Veggie Tales around here).  But apparently Tyler was picking up on some of that.  One day at school, they were encouraging him to jump down a step with both feet.  And he exclaimed "I will jump down because I am THE TYLER!"

*One of our challenges with Tyler has long been what I call spontaneous combustion.  There have just been random times when he just cries, and he has never put words together to tell us why.  I think we are getting closer - he now tells us when he wants food or other things more often - but we still aren't there.  On Sunday, we were at my in-laws having cake after dinner when we had a spontaneous combustion.  Daddy was joking with Tyler about how Tyler stole Daddy's chair to eat his cake, and then his face just fell . . . and then the bottom lip came out . . . and then he just collapsed in a tragic and pitiful wail. 

Obviously, that's not the favorite part of the moment I want to remember.

What I love about that moment is the reaction to it.  The thing is, Tyler is just the happiest, sweetest, most adorable guy.  And so when he curled in my lap and cuddled to cry in my shoulder, everyone at the family gathering was concerned.  Daddy tried to give him the seat back.  Or the cake.  Grandma got him some fruit snacks.  Aunts and Uncles asked what was wrong, because they had never seen him cry before. 

Meanwhile, one of Tyler's cousins had been throwing a small little tantrum for 40 minutes because she didn't have a kitten like the other cousins.  No one really paid her any mind.  We know manipulation when we see it, I guess.  But if Tyler cries - the world stops.  Because he is just that adorable, and has convinced a lot of family that he is "the best kid ever."  We have often said that he is the spirit of a puppy misplaced, because he is just so sweet.

*This morning, Tyler came to me very excited.  "Look, I made a heart!"

Yes, you did.  And how could any mom resist that?

*Today, he ate his chicken and drank all his water at dinner, and then started to look around.  "Tyler, do you want anything?"  I was trying to prompt him as little as possible to see if he could come up with the rest.  So I watched as he carefully surveyed everything on the table.  "Um, PIZZA!  I want pizza!"

Too bad we didn't have any pizza . . . and haven't for days . . .

*And speaking of food, the other day he was having a lot of fun playing around, and then I gave him some food for lunch.  And he looked at me and said "I am SO happy!"

I'm happy too, little friend.