New Haircut

After the last haircutting experience, where it took both Paul and I to hold Tanyon down in order to get the job done, I was a little nervous to face the task again.  However, we had been practicing "pretend" cuts at home and talking very positively about the idea of getting his hair cut again. So, early in a marathon day of errands and Christmas shopping, I took Tanyon to Kidz Kutz downtown.  He saw another 2 year old do a great job in the chair, which was very encouraging.  

Then, the lady listened to his list of concerns and made sure he felt at ease.  

• First, he did not want to sit on the special frog seat.  Instead, he wanted to sit on mommy's lap in a regular chair.  This was an easy request to fulfill.  
• Second, he wanted a green lollipop when he finished.  Again, no problem, there were plenty of green ones in stock.  
• Third, he wanted to make sure she would not be using the blow dryer at all during the process, "No blower, no blowing!" he repeated over and over.  This concern seemed to be quite large and he didn't quite trust the lady not to do it.  So, she showed him a seat where there was not an outlet on the wall next to it and hence, there could not be a blower involved in his experience. After a bit more conversation, he seemed to be content with the situation.  
• Finally, he requested that he watch a Dora video with Diego in it. I thought this was a bit much, since Dora and Diego usually have their own shows, but Tanyon and I were thrilled that they had a Dora video in which she and Diego rescue Baby Jaguar (his 3rd favorite character)!

Once all of his demands were met, Tanyon sat like a still little angel for the entire cut!  He even let her use the buzzers around his ears and on his neck. I was very proud of him! Maybe next time he won't have so many stipulations. Then again, I think this may just be his personality...

12/15/11

Building Towers

Our little engineer. He made these one morning on his own.

12/8/11

Gun Show

To answer the first question that will come to most people's minds...YES, I let my son wear pink and purple Dora jammies!  He loves them and I think there is too much genderizing of colors and icons. What I also think is great, is that Paul decided to get pics of Tanyon flexing his muscles while wearing these jammies... so fierce...hahaha!

12/5/11

Cereal

First time eating cold cereal without any help or spills

12/3/11

More music

And a little "Row, Row, Row Your Boat"

 11/30/11

More singing

This kid LOVES to sing!  He will randomly break out in song around the house at any point during the day. He is now experimenting with changing his voice while singing.  Here is his version of "Itsy Bitsy Spider" if you are singing about a very large spider:

Now here he is singing about a very small spider:

Waterboarding?

Sometimes daddy will take baths with Tanyon.  The idea is to make the bath more fun and to teach him that getting your hair wet is not that big of a deal. Currently, Tanyon hates to get his hair washed, as he does not like the water to get in his face. We have tried various techniques, but none have seemed to work yet.  Sometimes, Paul lets Tanyon wash his head to show how the process could be fun. However, this last time, washing started to look a little like waterboarding...

11/28/11

Another Tanyon Directed Photo Shoot

As I have mentioned before, Tanyon can be quite a ham.  Sometimes, he likes to direct his own photo shoots.  He will hand me the camera and ask me to take a picture or two (or ten).  The following photos are a series in which Tanyon requested be taken.

Now with the tongue out:

Don't forget one of daddy:

And one of mommy:

Now to capture the surprised look from everyone:

Tanyon's kissy face:

Silly face with the tongue:

Silly face from dad:

Oh yeah, and don't forget Emma:

Christmas Tree 2011

The weekend after Thanksgiving, we went out to get our Christmas tree.  I have visions of taking Tanyon out to pick out his own tree and cutting it down some day, but I think he is still a little young to remember such things. So, we opted for the cheaper Home Depot option. Amazingly, we ended up with the first one we saw.

  Posing with my little boy and our future baby boy.

Tanyon's thoughts on getting a tree:

 When we got home, Tanyon loved helping with the lights.  He helped Paul spot which ones needed to be replaced.  He also liked yelling out the colors of various lights he saw. Paul also made him believe he had the power to make the strand light up.  He had Tanyon yell, "On" and Paul would simultaneously plug in the lights to the wall.  Tanyon thought it was a miracle every time.

 When Paul had to go to work, Tanyon helped me finish stringing the lights around the tree. 

We waited for later in the evening for Paul to get home to put the ornaments on the tree. We were grateful that it was kind of slow at work and he was able to come home while Tanyon was still awake. 

Christmas Tradition

So, when Paul and I first got married, we didn't have any ornaments for our tree.  We decided then, that each year we would give each other at least one ornament that signified something important to us.  After 7 years now, we are getting quite a special collection.  This year, the day after Thanksgiving, I gave Tanyon and Paul their special ornaments for the year.  

Tanyon was excited to open his first gift...

He was even more excited that it was a Dora the Explorer ornament!  I figured it was one of the main obsessions of the year.  Last year, I gave him a garbage truck and garbage can ornament.

Paul got a watering can to symbolize all of the work he did putting in our drip system for the garden this year. He also got a suitcase to represent our trip to Los Angeles and a hammer, because he has become our family's fix-it man.

The next week, I got a cute sand bucket with a sandcastle in it to represent my trip to San Diego with Tanyon.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving, my favorite holiday, a time for family and food, when nothing else matters besides enjoying the company of others and eating food many helped to prepare.

Here is Paul standing proud of his turkey:

We had to move our dining room into our living room to accommodate the 20 guests we had over.

Tanyon was a little shy at first with how many people were over, even though he knew them all.  However, he eventually warmed up and spent some time on many laps, including Papa:

"The hosts:"

 My sisters and I with my mom and step-dad Larry:

Between dinner and dessert, the coloring books came out, not sure who was having more fun?:

Such a wonderful evening!  I loved having my family and Paul's join to create such a special event.

Papa's Birthday Lunch

After a nice lunch for Papa's birthday in Middletown, Tanyon got to play puzzles on the iPad.

I think they were both having a good time solving the puzzles, but at one point Tanyon held back Papa's hand, so he wouldn't help him anymore...

Even though it was Papa's birthday, Tanyon got a special present. Papa picked up a Smokey the Bear hat for him.

Trains

Playing with his new train set:

New Room

In order to prepare for the new little one coming into our lives, we decided to move Tanyon into his own "Big Boy" room. We wanted him to have a special place that was his to help with the transition of having to share so much with his new baby brother. It was a couple of months in the making, but after trips to IKEA, Target, online sources, and gifts from family...we have finally put it all together.

We used some of the items from his old room and added many new touches to create a transportation themed room. Tanyon now sleeps in a toddler bed (he was in the crib converted into a toddler bed). He loves his new space so much that he drags anyone who comes over to the house into his room to play.

Tanyon is in the middle of potty training, so he wears only his underwear around the house.  This is so normal for him, that he saw no problem giving you a tour of his new room in them...

New race track rug from IKEA:

A train table from craigslist was completed by an amazing train set from Grammie Dee and Larry.  There were so many pieces, that we decided to simplify the track for now and grow into it.

Tanyon helped decorate his closet door with stickers from Target. He also has his own coat rack and chalk board easel:

 His toys are organized in cubbies, so he can easily put things away.  He is pretty good about the clean-up game already.  We switch out some of the toys every other month or so. Of course he also wanted to show off his guitar for the photo tour...

Here he is taking a break to sing one of his favorites, "If you're happy and you know it:"

Hanging out with the cousins

November 4th, 2011

Paul's uncle Brian and Cousin Meghan were out from Michigan in November, so we met up with them in Corte Madera for lunch.  As a bonus, his Cousin Molly who lives in Mill Valley was there with her son Weston.  While I was particularly excited to meet Meghan's new little boy Liam, Tanyon was smitten with Weston.  They have played before, but Tanyon really enjoyed playing the older cousin role. 

Here he is pushing Weston around the shopping area:

He would stop the stroller to make sure Weston was doing OK, or to ask if he wanted to go somewhere specific:

He talked to him about the duck fountain:

I am usually the photographer when we are out, but this time my hands were full with baby Liam whenever possible.  Sorry we don't have more to share!  It was a lovely time with the fam and we hope to do it again soon.

Mama's Night Out

On November 2nd, I joined my dad, Teri, April, Matt, Julia and our friend Paul in San Francisco for the Gaelic Storm concert.  My dad and Teri had seen them last year and thought we would all enjoy them.  It was in early celebration of dad's birthday and it also happened to be Paul Troppy's as well. We enjoyed dinner at Tommy's Joynt, then found seats towards the front for the show.   The concert was at the Great American Music Hall, which is an amazing venue.  The band was great and the company wasn't so bad either... =)