Happy Birthday Tyler!

Happy Birthday to Tyler!! Our little baby turned ONE today. I think the realization really sunk in when my weekly email from BabyCenter changed from 'Your baby this week' to 'Your toddler this week'! Where did the time go? I remember thinking that Tyler was never going to an age where he would be fun to play with, back when he was just a newborn and would just sleep/eat/poop/cry. Now he's always on the go, super smiley, friendly, super curious and just amazing to me! Are we even ready to start thinking about another one!??

Here's Tyler's 12 month photo celebrating his birthday! The photographer really liked to get Tyler at his super-smiley-est! I've added more to the slideshow on the right. Yay Tyler!What a busy week it has been, and this coming up one will be quite hectic too since Tyler's birthday party is on Saturday. I'm super excited - I get to see friends we haven't seen in a long time! It really is quite a shame that we are such homebodies, I miss seeing my friends! Hopefully now that Tyler is older, Will and I will be able to schedule more meetups!

Anyway, back to this past week. Last week Tyler's daycare (the wonderful Irvine Child Development Center) had a 4th of July get together on Thursday. Yay! Will and I attended and got to hang out with the other kids (+ parents) in Tyler's class. When Tyler first started there in January, he was one of the youngest in the class, and now he's one of the oldest since they have started transitioning a lot of the older kids to the toddler class. It's sad to see his friends moving on, but Tyler will be joining them soon in September! Here's Tyler when we first got there for the get together - we found out he had been going to town on the watermelon. He LOVES to eat watermelon! I always like to watch him before he sees us, just to see how he interacts.They had this toy house that Tyler was loving. That's his friend Giovanni. It started out with Tyler inside and Giovanni outside. Once Giovanni went in, Tyler looked really excited and closed the door. Giovanni then tried to get out and Tyler wouldn't let him out. Giovanni was not happy, and started to cry (which is when Giovanni's mom and myself freed him). Tyler the bully! tsk tsk.But Tyler is not just a bully, he's a lover as well. One of his friend's older sister Karissa came to visit, and he really liked her! Once he got her in the house, he checked her out, then went up to her and hugged her! Tsk tsk. Tyler the ladies man... hah!
Tyler has this weird interest in pushing 2 things at once. At home, he likes to push a walker with each hand, and at daycare he did the same thing. Of course, he has no way of steering them both, so he just gets stuck in corners.What did I say earlier - what a ladies man! He's got sisters fighting over him! heehee.Friday was 4th of July! I remember last 4th of July, I was waddling around wondering when Tyler was going to make his appearance. We even got to watch fireworks from our community park down the street which had a great view. This year we had to pass since the show doesn't start until 9pm, way after Tyler's bedtime! Amazingly enough, Tyler slept through the entire show, from start to crazy-loud-finale. We watched him on the monitor as the windows shook from the noise. Whew! We had family come over during the day, but didn't actually BBQ (which seemed odd) but it was just easier since my mom brought over dimsum. Yum! We have family (on my mom's side) visiting from Taiwan that came, my parents, as well as both of my grandmothers. It was a fun day!Tyler is growing more and more comfortable with my parents, especially my dad (who he used to be kind of afraid of because he talks really loud). It's WONDERFUL to have someone else play with him and occupy him for a bit - gives us a chance to eat in peace and, well, do anything in peace! :)The next day was super hot and we decided to stay in the area instead of heading up to the even-hotter-inland Hacienda Heights where my parents live (my brother was BBQ'ing). We had Tyler's 12 month photo appointment at Kiddie Kandids that morning (I had a coupon!) and we took photos with some balloons and blocks (where the first photo on this post is from). They had a special this week of $9.99/sheet (min. of 6 sheets), which is still much more expensive than JC Penney's ($3.99/sheet with no minimum), but cheaper than their ridiculous regular price of like $15 or something). Here's another one just for fun.
Sunday was another hot day. We had an appointment at JC Penney's portrait studio that morning at 10am (we were planning on taking family photos), and we headed over only to find out that they didn't open until 11am! How annoying, and incompetent of the person that scheduled us. By the time they opened and it was our turn, Tyler was not in a great mood and they only got one picture (picture from Monday's post). I had even brought a little cake for him to smash up that he barely touched! Anyway, that afternoon we headed to a park since Tyler seemed to be getting a little antsy indoors. Bill Barber Park (in Irvine) is one of our favorites since its got these nice fountains and lots of playground equipment. Tyler really enjoyed playing with the water-spurting frogs!
He pretty much just enjoys being outside period. He dislikes wearing a hat though, but with it being so hot we just kept putting it on until he forgot about it ... temporarily.This week we also started putting some more of his toys away. It's a sad thing to do! First was his Activity Gym. Still can't believe that thing cost $50! Here's a photo of Tyler when he was a couple months old and one from this week. He used to just lie there underneath and watch the star blink. Now there's no way he'd sit still!Next was the Jumperoo. OMG he loved that thing, he would jump in it crazily and squeal and laugh and jump some more. It was awesome! Here's a shot of Tyler when he first got it, and one from this week. I'm going to miss that one!I have bought so many toys for Tyler that I finally caved and bought a toy chest! I chose a plastic Little Tikes one since I have childhood memories of being so worried about crushing my fingers from the wooden one we had. The chest came in a huge cardboard box which Tyler has now seemed to decide is his favorite toy. Sheesh. During the day, I heard him squealing and cracking up when he was playing in it with our nanny.
He also loves his tunnel! When he first started playing it, he was more reserved and you had to really lure him to crawl through it. Now he goes through so quick! Sometimes I like to hide inside it (I have no clue why), and today Tyler decided to crawl inside while I was in it! It was quite squishy.One year checkup Stats!

• Weight: 23 pounds, 12 ounces - 70%
  
• Length: 31 1/2 inches - 93%
  
• Head Circumference: 18 inches - 30%
  

Compared to his 9 month Stats:

• weight: 21 pounds 12 ounces (75%)
• height: 30 inches (90%)
• head circumference: 17 inches (15%)

He's grown! Unsurprising. I had been worried that he wasn't getting enough milk since he is really temperamental about bottles (don't even show it to him, it really angers him) and sippy cups (he'll drink it, but it has to be HIS idea. Don't offer it to him, just put it next to him and let him think about it). I had all my many questions answered and I was worried for nothing. Tyler's doing great! Our pediatrician said that that in a few months Tyler will be able to start understanding simple instructions, like 'throw that away'. ?!? I can't even imagine that! Here's Tyler getting weighed. He's such a big boy now, he can weigh himself! :)
Dr. Galang (our pediatrician) checked his ears and mouth, and commented that he was getting more teeth in. Wow! We totally hadn't noticed! I was so happy that he was finally getting his 4th tooth in on top (he had been just 3 up on top for a LONG time) that I didn't even realize that he was getting his 3rd and 4th teeth in on the bottom (with the new ones coming in, it takes his tooth count to 8)!! Aww, makes sense now why he's been fussy lately... He got two more vaccinations, one was for the chicken pox. Here's a picture of Tyler with his band-aids from his shots. Ouch!Here's Tyler's 52 week bear picture! Finally, we made it through a year! Whoohoo! :)Just for fun, here's a shot of Tyler from week 2 and Tyler from week 52. He is a totally different baby now, looks nothing like when he was born. Wow, he was so tiny before!Short video for fun of Tyler dancing. I can't help it, it cracks me up, not sure where he learned those moves!

And lastly, a slideshow of Tyler's weekly bear photos! Picture trail only allows me 40 images, so we're missing a few but you get the point! :) Starts with the most recent and goes younger - it really is amazing to see the change - I'm so glad we did this!

Alright, whew, what a post! Thanks for all the birthday wishes everyone! And thanks to everyone who reads my long boring posts each week - and extra thanks to those who comment (even if I have to twist some arms)! heehee. If you are a lurker, today is a GREAT opportunity to comment and wish Tyler a happy birthday so that I know you're reading! One year down...check back next week for pictures from Tyler's first birthday party!