Stinkin' Cute

Stinking cute.  I always thought it meant overwhelmingly cute or something like that but as I've been trying to put some words together to honor my baby it dawned on me.  Stinking cute should be reserved for children such as Tyler.  He is a stinker.  He is cute.  Some days I want to send him back.  I don't because he's cute.  Hence, stinkin' cute.

This little rat is really coming into his own.  He's got a personality big enough to blow the roof off our house so we spend most of our time trying to manage that... but man do we love him to pieces.  In the picture above he was really testing his limits and I was trying to be so stern, but I'd have to quickly turn my face so he couldn't see me cracking up.  We were up on the mountain and were driving an incredibly short distance so I did not buckle him.  (I know... don't report me... you don't even know how not far we were going)  I asked him to sit so he wouldn't get owies and he'd oblige me for about a second.  You know... just long enough to get turned around and driving again.  Then I'd see him out of the corner of my eye inching his way up and out of his seat.  There was a large box on the floor in front of him so I wasn't worried about him falling down and he thought it was a perfect place to perch and watch the scenery go by.  After a few rounds of stop. scold. start. stop. scold. turn to laugh. scold. start. (you get the picture) I finally pulled the camera out because he was being such a punk.  You can kind of see the evil in his eye... but the camera prompted him to be just a titch more delightful.  I could not stop laughing because he is so... the words... I don't know... mischievous... so much like his father.  That's actually the first thing I told Colby when he met up with us.  The whole episode just reminded me of a story I have heard about a certain young man (uh-hmm...Colby) that was asked to stop throwing the ball in the house and he persisted while explaining that he was just tossing it.  At one point he was informed to "NOT PUT THE BALL IN MOTION."  Oh, his poor mother.  I have such empathy for her.

Like I said, though, he really is so cute and I love him to pieces.  This was from the same afternoon and he was in heaven making smores.  Can you tell?  He thought he was SO cool roasting his own marshmallow and making a mess with it.  He's happiest whenever he gets to act like a big kid.  Which he almost is.  He's been showing signs of wanting to be potty trained so I'm gearing up for that.  Today he walked the whole way to preschool with Marshall.  He refused to let me carry him like usual.

I've slacked and haven't gotten Tyler in for his well child visit yet, so I don't have official stats but I'll tell you this.  He's thinner than Marshall was and his head, by far, is smaller than Marshall's was, and he's taller than Marshall was.

He likes to eat... nothing.  Actually, he loves candy, cookies, chips, and pickles.  He'll rarely eat anything but he does like chicken.  He LOVES milk... in his bottle.  I've decided I need to hide them and see if he starts to eat anything other than milk.  Marshall did this same kind of thing so I figure it will all sort out.

He loves to play with balls, trucks, animals, and whatever Marshall has.  His favorite word is mine.  He's also often heard saying daddy, MOM! and baby.  He points out anything that has a baby on it and any baby he ever sees.  We're really excited that Aunt Cassadee will be having her baby soon so he can love on it. 

I can't remember what else is notable about him right now... besides his impatience and his temper.  That's incredibly notable.  But he remains incredibly lovable all the same.  Oh yeah... happy 18th month birthday big guy!