Thursday, September 20, 2012

Happy Birthday Baby!

I was going to spend this post writing about my fantastic workout I did yesterday, but first of all, I didn't work out yesterday, and more importantly, it's the boy's birthday today!!!!! Exercise will wait...

<3

This little guy is 19 today!!  I really can't believe how fast the years have gone by.  I remember the day he was born.  Vividly, in fact.  I won't go into the graphic birth details, because no one, but me really cares about those.  Actually, I don't care about them either.  What I do like to remember are all those little growing up moments that I've had with this kid.  

Tyler was always a crabby baby...turned out, he had a lot of gas...ha ha ha.  Truthfully, there were days that I just wanted him to go live with his nana and papaw.  That not being an option, I did lots of things to help him be comfortable.  I read somewhere that one should out the baby on the floor and run the vaccum around them.  Tried that.  It sort of worked, but I don't think a cement foundation floor provided enough vibration.  What finally worked?  I put him on his blankie on top of the dryer.  Turned it on "fluff" and sat there for many minutes while he vibrated to sleep.  Worked every time!  And, I'm happy to report, he never fell off of the dryer.

When Tyler was about 18 months old or so, I was pregnant with his sister.  I would take walks every day around our neighborhood.  Tyler LOVED the stroller!!  He thought that was the best thing ever...so much stuff to see!  He never slept in the stroller and was always peeking around the roof thingie to see his surroundings!  He was always properly secured in the stroller, but sometimes I got a little nervous watching his little head like an owl, looking at everything.  One day, I was about a block from home, and he managed to catapult himself right on out of the stroller onto the pavement.  Head first onto the asphalt in the middle of a crosswalk.  I was 8 months pregnant, but I scooped him up, threw him back in the stroller and sprinted for home.  After an out of breath phone call to the "advice nurse" at the pediatrician's, several hours of trying to keep him awake to watch for signs of trauma, staying awake all night watching him for signs of death, I realized that I had one tough little guy on my hands.  Thank God, as this would not be his last collision with pavement!

After his sister was born, Tyler thought she was a pretty cool toy.  She was something to beat on, push down, run over in the yard with Big Jake (a motorized dump truck), etc.  He tortured that girl for the first few years of her life.  One incident that always stands out was driving home from work one day.  I worked in Riverdale, which is about 40 minutes from home.  On the way home, Tyler kept annoying his sister, which of course means that he was annoying me.  Once I reached the point of nearly no return, I said, "If you do that one more time, I'm going to pull this car over and you are going to walk home!"  What a silly thing to say to a  4 year old, but I had had enough!!  Being the wonderful child he is, he promptly did whatever it was he was doing to her again.  So, momma, what now?  With a slight tinge of guilt, I pulled my mini-van over on the freeway, opened the door and told him to get out.  You would have thought I had taken his favorite blankie and burned it in front of him.  His eyes were the size of large dinner plates and the pleading that came out of his mouth was something I had never heard from any human child!  Mom of the year (I felt like the worst mommy ever...making my kid get out of the car on the freeway!!!) got Tyler back in his seat and secure and away we went.  Good news?  He never did THAT again.  In fact, he started playing a little nicer with his sister after that.  
Playing "nice" with his sister.
So many more little stories, but too many to share without making this entry something that would take nearly 19 years to read.  So, fast forward a bunch of years and that cute little guy has grown up to be a pretty amazing adult (gulp, sniff, sniff).  Here are some of my favorite recent photos:

Senior Night for Varsity Wrestling
Clovis East High School

Duck hunting with Husband
All grown up & graduated.
Class of 2011

Just Tyler
When did he get so tall???



This sums up Tyler's obsession with the
creamy hazelnut spread!  
As you can see, I haven't mastered photo positioning yet.  Anyway, a little press for the birthday boy!!  Lucky duck is having lunch with the grandparents today up in Santa Rosa.  He'll be home in a few weeks for a visit. I can't wait!!!!  

Happy birthday to my boy!! 
xoxo  
Mom

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