Cookies

I made the boys some peanut butter cookies yesterday...this is what Tyler told me after his first bite!

"Thank you Mommy...these are delicious. I just love you....and you are so smart!"

The First Bite

Well....I have warned Tyler that someday Cole will be big enough to get even and that day came today. I'm still not sure what happened, but they were both at the end of the hallway and then Tyler came running and crying. I thought he was just being dramatic but then he raised his shirt and I saw the teeth marks! Cole left his mark right on Tyler's belly! Tyler kept telling me, "Mommy it really hurts" and the whole time Cole has this smirk on his face! It's just the beginning of the days to come with 2 little boys!

Armpits

So for those of you that don't know, Tyler is really obsessed with armpits....or should I say, not seeing other people's armpits. Shirts have 3 different categories according to Tyler: Down sleeves (long sleeves), Up sleeves (short sleeves) and Really Up Sleeves (sleeveless or tank top). He REALLY doesn't like it when other people wear Really Up Sleeves. In fact, he actually has refused to swim due to others wearing Really Up Sleeves. He has a few sleeveless shirts that I bought him before I knew of this problem, so he never wears them. However, today he decided he wanted to wear one of his sleeveless shirts. This is what he told Cole about his shirt as soon as Cole woke up from his nap:

"Sorry you have to see my armpits Cole, I know they are really stinky! That's cause mens armpits are just stinky and I'm a mens....so, I'm really sorry bud, but I'm a farmer and sometimes farmers just have to show their armpits cause that's just the way God made it."

My Mom asked him last week why he didn't like armpits and his response was...

"I don't like to see them and they are really stinky!"

Guess you can't really argue with that!

Tyler's 4 Year Well Visit

Tyler had his "4 year well visit" with Dr. Rohatgi today. He was a picture of health and weighed 36 pounds and was 41.5" tall....50th percentile as usual! He might be average in height and weight, but he is far from being an average 4 year old! For example, today he told me that we need to "communicate more effectively." I can't wait to hear what he tells his preschool teacher this year!

Tyler also completed a vision and hearing test at his visit. He aced them both but a couple of things cracked me up. First, the vision test is just pictures of objects for him to identify...there was a heart, square, circle, etc. One shape was a moon....however, Tyler referred to it as a "crescent." I know this is correct, but he's 4......the nurse said she didn't believe she'd ever had another child refer to it as a crescent! We all know the routine for a hearing test...raise your hand when you hear the beep. Tyler, on the other hand, just mocked the beep each time instead of raising his hand even trying to imitate the pitch of the beep. Dr. Rohatgi thought this was hilarious! He always makes it fun, that's for sure!

The Couch Incident

Tyler has recently started sleeping in underwear...yeah! Ever since he had his tonsils removed, he has been having more and more dry nights. So, we've been putting him to bed in his underwear, but if/when he wakes up in the night and wants in bed with us, he has to put on a pull-up. That was the case a couple of nights ago, which meant when he got up in the morning he still had on a pull-up. I was in the kitchen getting Cole's breakfast and this is what I heard:

Tyler: Ohhhh maaaan! You've got to be kidding me?!? I just peed on the couch.

Me: WHAT?????? How did that happen?

Tyler: Wellll, I was watching scooby doo and waiting on a commercial so I just peed in my pull-up, but since it was on backwards it leaked on the couch.

Me: Seriously?!? From now on, pull-up comes off as soon as your feet hit the floor! You never, ever pee in your pull-up when you are awake!!!

While I was really annoyed at the time, when I think back on his statement it just cracks me up.

I Owe You

Since Papa was out of town right up until Tyler's birthday, he gave Tyler a card and told him that he had an "I Owe You" for the toy of his choice. We explained this to Tyler but weren't exactly sure if he understood. So yesterday as we were checking out at the John Deere dealership with his birthday presents from Mommy and Daddy (a new combine and some small tractors), he told me he wanted this Golf Course Mower. Here was our conversation:

Me: Sorry Tyler, you already picked out your toys so we can't get that.

Tyler: Welllll, here's the deal! Papa gave me an "I Owe You" for the toy of my choice, so I can get this tractor for the golf course!

Me: Speechless....what could I say to that!

He obviously caught on to the "I Owe You" rather quickly and ended up getting the golf course mower as well...in case you were wondering!

Tyler's Birthday Fun

Four years ago yesterday, our lives changed forever when Tyler Joseph Frierdich came into this world! Although we were both very excited, we had no idea how much our hearts would grow from having a child. We knew from day one that he was special....and perhaps a little high maintenance....but that has made him who he is and for that we are very thankful. He's definitely one of a kind....a good kind....the perfect kind....and he has brought us so much joy and laughter (and a few gray hairs)! We wake up every morning wondering what hilarious statement he will make for the day...and every day we have something funny to talk about at night. We can't believe that 4 years have gone by so quickly and we can't wait to see what the next years bring!

We decided last year, that every year on the boys' birthday we would take the day of work and spend the day doing things that they want to do. We think this will be a great tradition that they will always remember and grow to appreciate someday. So this year what did we spend the day doing.....we started at the Museum of Transportation then went to a John Deere Construction Equipment Dealer then a Caterpillar Dealer and finally a John Deere Tractor Dealership...it was Tyler's perfect day. As you can see in the pictures below, he got to sit on a lot of equipment and had a very fun day.

Happy Birthday Tyler Joseph....Mommy and Daddy love you!

The train ride at the Museum of Transportation.

Cole almost fell asleep.

Creation Station at the Museum of Transportation....basically a big play area for young kids.

Tyler setting a new trend for pirate hats!

Pulling the big brake!

Construction Birthday Party

We celebrated both the boys' birthdays this past weekend....Cole turned 1 on July 20 and Tyler turns 4 tomorrow - August 10! Since their birthdays are only 3 weeks apart and our family lives out of town, we decided to have one party for them both. As shown by my previous post of the invitation, we had a "construction theme" this year, which turned out very cute. Tony put up caution tape all over the yard (hope the neighbors didn't think it was a crime scene), the kids all got hard hats and we served plates, silverware and napkins out of a dump truck.

And of course a construction theme party wouldn't be complete without construction themed cakes! I can't take full credit for Tyler's cake....my friend Tracy (Sweet Pea Cakes) does this on the side and came down on Thursday to help me put it all together. My brother also gets credit for the idea of dangling the #4 candle from the crane. It involved him using fire to get a hole through the candle...so of course he was all about that!!! Tyler really wasn't into the cake at all, he just wanted the toys that were on the cake. He was with me when I bought the construction toy set and since he really wanted to play with the crane, he told me all week..."Mommy, I REALLY don't want a crane on my birthday cake!" I love that he was trying reverse psychology on me already! Then, after he blew out the candle, he just wanted to drive the dump truck around the bottom of the cake and dump out the dirt (crushed up oreos). That's okay...he will appreciate it someday when he has children of his own....or maybe his wife will!!! lol

Thank you to all our friends and family for making this another successful birthday party! The boys both received a lot of very nice presents. Our house still resembles the day after Christmas!

Still not sure about a pinata hanging from a rake with a bunch of duct tape...redneck?!?

The kids attending the party this year were:

Tayte and Eli Lewis

Cecily and Vivian Stiening

Olivia Gardner

Grace Yearian

Riley and Sophie Tuggle

Rylee Jones (Riley Tuggle's friend)

Ariel, Aurora and Joseph Frierdich