Sadly, this year the skating party just didn't work out. We didn't really have time, the skating place didn't have any deals for the holiday break, and Daddy already had another event planned for him. I don't think Tyler even noticed, since Daddy's plans were so awesome. But I missed it!
Tyler is happy no matter what happens, though. He was thrilled to have the Birthday hat with his green 9 on it. He was excited about his new dinosaur play-doh toy and the pirate pizza plates we got him.
But the highlight of the day was obviously Daddy's plan.
The company Christopher works for installs and maintains large phone systems. One of their customers, the Maverick Center where this picture was taken, set up the deal so that half of the payment came in trade. But in the three years since they made that deal, no one had used any of that trade. So as the manager, Christopher noticed that and noticed that there just happened to be a Monster Truck show he wanted to see. That just happened to be on Tyler's birthday. So he booked a suite for everyone in the company to bring their families to.
I felt a bit guilty about that, but no one he works with was complaining! They all loved the show and were very glad he set it up.
And our kids have honestly been talking about noting else for days. Coolest show ever!
I'm glad we got to go early and see all of the trucks up close. That made it all much more impressive when we watched all the way from the suite at the top.
I don't know why the stands were empty that night, because it really was a great show. There were monster truck contests (like this wheelie contest here), smaller cars that raced each other (and flipped over a couple of times), a guy that breathed fire and lit himself on fire (Jasmine keeps talking about that one), and a demolition derby at the end.
But between the Freestyle Monster truck contest and the demolition derby, Jasmine just got too exhausted to watch any more!
She has fallen asleep in some odd places before, but this one takes the record. If you haven't been to a show like this indoors before, the headphones she is wearing are noise canceling because your ears would be in pain otherwise. The trucks are so loud that the entire place shakes! But it was bedtime, and out she went.
Tyler loved the Monster truck show so much that we made it the theme for the weekend. I figured that since we weren't paying for a party for him, I might as well splurge a bit and actually order a cake that he liked for dinner at Grandma's house.
The cousin next to him whipped out his new tablet to take pictures of the event, by the way. That cracks me up. It starts so young . . .
My annual snapshot:
*Tyler is still our happy guy. It is so wonderful to have someone in our house that is cheerful no matter what happens! He is becoming increasingly concerned about Jasmine, however. They often have fights, and often neither of them truly know what they are fighting about. Jasmine just likes to yell, and Tyler wants to correct her.
*Tyler loves to head straight toward any babies he sees. He will often tell them that he wants to hug the baby "because I love her!" Some babies are more interested in being squeezed than others, but the adoration in his face it truly adorable. I just have to make sure he doesn't chase after babies in the store that we don't know!
*Tyler is getting so much better at reading! It is still a slow and painful process for him, but I have seen a lot of improvement. He is also remembering events better, which is great. On Sunday he even answered a question in church that was totally on topic! That is amazing to me, because most weeks, I don't know if he is listening to a word they are saying. So when he raised his hand, I wondered what he would say. But his answer (while very much a Tyler thing to say) actually made sense and was a correct answer!
*Tyler loves scouts! He was excited about moving up to "9 year old scouts", or Bears. I am so glad that he has something he gets to go and do, in the midst of all of Kaitlyn's activities. He isn't into sports very much, but scouts is just perfect for him.
*Tyler has discovered that he doesn't need as much sleep as his sisters. So when I put them all to bed, Tyler sneaks right back out and heads to the basement to play Mario Bros. with Daddy. (You can tell who the "fun parent" is in our house!"
One night, I didn't realize he was down there until he came back up to the kitchen for a glass of water. I told him that he needed to go to bed, but he just paused and looked at me carefully. "I cannot hear you, Mommy", he said, as he headed back to the basement stairs. When I told him that I knew he could hear me, and that it was way past his bedtime, he paused again. "I still cannot hear you," he said in his flat and matter of fact tone, and went downstairs anyway. I think it is the first lie he has ever told me! If I wasn't laughing so hard, it would have been easier to punish him.
We love our Tyler!
