for the love of animals… especially rilla

Your mom and I have noticed lately the you have a love of animals. Whenever you see an animal, especially dogs and cats, you point and let out a squeal in their direction. You are quite fond of our cat Rilla. Lucky for you she has had a few years to get use to Jack and she is getting a little hard of hearing. This provides you will plenty of opportunities to give her long smothering hugs.

ty_and_rilla

vacuum cleaner obsession

So the story goes a little something like this. Mom was vacuuming one day and you were hanging out watching. The vacuum cleaner was unplugged without turning it off and when it was plugged back in you were standing behind it and received a blast of hot air. More than anything this scared you. For the next severeal weeks you were afraid of this common household appliance. Then one day you became curious. We’re not sure what changed but you seemed to want to vacuum daily. You would have mom or me follow you to the closet where the vacuum cleaner was stored. When we did use it you were right there acting as a supervisor of sorts. We’ll see if you’re still interested when you’re a teenager and it’s one of your chores.

ty_vacuum

lots of pointing

mom read somewhere that babies that point to communicate will learn to speak earlier. we’ll have to wait and see. one thing is for sure, you do know how to communicate without speaking. you’ve got the pointing thing down and you have several sounds that you use for words like “yes,” “no,” “bed,” “outside.” you love to go outside. the first thing you want to do in the morning or when we get home in the evening is go in the backyard to play.

happy 1st birthday

i can’t believe that you’re one today. mom and i just returned from a business trip to nyc. tomorrow we’ll celebrate your birthday with grammie and gramps.

as you can see from the photo below that you had lots of fun at your birthday party. you especially liked the cake and balloons. and putting cake on the balloons. fun. you’re getting good at many things, including walking, communicating what you want (and don’t want), playing with toys, and playing with your brother. i’m looking forward to the many changes over the next few years.

happy birthday ty. i love you lots baby.

ty1st

christmas 2008

we flew out of Tampa on Christmas Day to San Francisco, CA. we drove down to Sant Cruz to spend a few days with mom’s family. nonna and poppa also came from New York. you did great on the plane. you only cried a little during the take-offs and landings. you and jack were sound asleep when we arrived in Santa Cruz. uncle sean had arrange for your very own pack-n-play for your visit. just like the one you have at home. everybody was excited to see your new developments. lots happens in the first year of life and you are progressing nicely. lots of sounds and physical communication and the walking is crazy. man are you fast.

after a few days in the small beach town we headed north to San Francisco for a couple of days before flying home to Sarasota. again we went to a playground in golden gate park, walked around haight street, and rode on an orange trolley.

you never did quite adjust to the time change. well, we’re back on the east coast so get some sleep.

tychristmas08