Live from Boise following the Idaho Erben's one post at a time…

Headstrong?

My loving husband has been encouraging me to use this blog for the numerous stories that come out of raising a child. I have to admit, that sometimes it's easier just to relay them over the phone. But, not everyone gets to hear them and occasionally it is months down the road. So, I'm going to try and put a few stories up here a month. Hopefully, I'll get some photos posted too. (Not necessarily related to the story).

Anyway, last Monday afternoon, Tyler and I were having a pretty good afternoon. For those of you that haven't spent much time around Tyler since he's started walking, he is enthusiastic about helping around the house. He is especially obsessed with the various "tools" used in the running of the household. Things like the mop, broom, dishwasher, refridgerator, plunger and rakes have all held his rapt attention. His latest gadget is the vacuum. He wants to run the vacuum literally all day. As the vacuum is a power tool (essentially) I won't let him run it without me right next to him. He can push it, but basically, Mom gets to turn it on and "run" it. This tool can only be used relatively sparingly because it does take Mom's supervision and for Mom to get it out of the closet.

Well, last week, Tyler figured out how to open the closet door. Monday, I was cooking dinner and Tyler decided he wanted to vacuum. He opened the closet door and hefted the entire vacuum (we have a canister set up, so the canister and the front beater bar end) out of the closet. This is not an easy task for a 17.5 month old. It is a heavy piece of equipment and it's awkward. It isn't all that easy for ME to maneuver in and out of a closet. So, anyway, he gets the vacuum out of the closet and comes and gets me to turn it on.

I politely explain to him that I'm cooking dinner, it isn't time to vacuum. I put the vacuum back into the closet and close the door. I walk back to the kitchen. Tyler voiced his protest. He walked back to the closet, opened the door and proceeded to get the vacuum out into the hallway again. Yet again, he comes to get me to turn it on. I, again, tell him that it's cook dinner time, not vacuum time. I pick up the vacuum and put it back in the closet.

Tyler is not happy about this turn of events and begins to walk to the closet. I put my hand on the door so he can't open it. At this point, Tyler went from upset to livid in .2 seconds. He starts crying and stomps to the front door. He points up to his baseball hat from the coat rack (he can't reach it). I give him his hat. He puts it on. He then proceeds to point to the backpack he takes to daycare. It contains all the necessities, which are a change of clothes, stuffed animals and pacifiers.

He then tries to open the front door. I open it just to see what he'd do. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, my 17.5 month old son was RUNNING AWAY FROM HOME! As the grandparents are guffaw-ing, I have to make the rationalization that Cody and I are in deep trouble. Some might say that Tyler has received his, shall we say, stubbornness from myself. Others might say that his father has contributed to this aspect. I'd have to say that when you combine the genetics of TWO stubborn individuals, you end up with a whole new level of this particular personality trait.

Thank goodness that the mail truck pulled up at this point in time. I was able to distract Tyler from running away by helping me with the mail and all was right with the world again. However, over the last week, Tyler has had the vacuum out more times than I can count. I finally had to bar the closet door because he was throwing the vacuum around so much, he was going to break it.

Anyway, Tyler's vocabulary is slowly beginning to grow. While not all his words are correctly pronunciated yet, you can understand a few of them. Among the notables are Kitty, Doggie, Daddy, Mama, Up and Car. We had a new one on Saturday, Bubble.

Tyler turns 18 months, yes that is one and a half years, this month. Man, the time flies. Anyway, I hope to keep you all up to speed.

I have got two new groups of photos up. They aren't very big, but it's a start. I did have some constructive feedback to include the newer pictures of Tyler. So, I'm going to do one old group of photos and one new one.

The first one is a grouping of photos taken over our Christmas Break. Cody took the present opening photos with his big camera, so aren't included here. But, anyway, enjoy these:

Here are some photos from the month of April:

Tyler’s First Birthday and Holiday Preparation

Well, I spent some time this afternoon on some photos. I'm such a slacker, but I am slowly, but surely getting there!

I posted some photos from Tyler's first birthday. He had a wonderful birthday, enhanced by a visit from his Grandparents from the sunny south, Phoenix. It was great to see Grandpa Larry and Grandmother Barbara. I have to admit that I borrowed some of the photos from Grandpa Larry's camera. Thanks Grandpa for the use of the photos!

I also posted some generic family photos taken from the end of the Portland trip on the 23rd of November through the begining of the Holiday craziness, putting up the tree, etc.

On the homefront, Tyler had his 15 month checkup recently. His stats are below:

- Height - 23.75" - 90%
- Weight - 22.5lbs - 15%

He is active and getting in the swing of daycare. He has had a couple colds since starting, but that's good. He's building his immune system. He has started saying a few words, though mostly it's just repeating Mom and Dad. It's definitely a start. Here is a list of some of them that I have heard: Kitty, Momma, Dada, Map, Thank You, Jeanne, Dogie, This, Card.

In addition, we have finally begun to sit still to read a book. You can show him things on the page and then ask him to show you those things. My favorite was as we were walking through a book with animals, I asked him to show me the squirrels. He looked up at me, then looked and pointed outside. He is a smart little boy, he knows squirrels live in our backyard!

Those are the big milestones as of lately. I hope this finds you all well. I hope you all don't have the same Spring Fever that I do. Bring on the nice weather so we can DO MORE STUFF outside!!

The Erben’s in Philadelphia, Deja Vu?

Back in early October 2005, the Erben's took a trip to Philly. As most of you have seen before, my ambitious husband posted some photos from the hotel in Philly. However, not all the photos were posted from that trip. I spent some time and compiled some more of the photos from that trip. I hope you all enjoy them!

I'll see what else I can get edited up in the near term!

Some Photos FINALLY

Well, I have finally found some time to work on photos. I have a set of photos from October 2005. Yes, they are 4 months old. I'm hoping to spend a flurry of days working on photos before my hours at work get bumped up.

Tyler seemed to enjoy his first day at daycare. Some escapades include sharing his lunch of hot dog out of his mouth with another kid, refusing to drink anything and making wierd faces during the ABC's. The biggest challenge for him right now, is his schedule is a bit different then the other kids and Tyler ended up eating lunch and napping at a little different time. Hopefully, he'll get all adjusted.

Anyway, we hope all is well with you. Take care and drop us a note when you get a chance.

P.S. I'm still working on my Christmas cards, so don't be surprised if you get one in March!

Tyler Heads to the Doctor for his 1-year Check-up

Yesterday, Tyler and I headed to his pediatrician's office for Tyler's one-year checkup. Tyler played in the lobby with the toys while we waited for the nurse to call his name. Tyler had a good time and tried to pursuade a 4 year old little boy to share his sucker. Said little boy was not going to share and was a little confused as to why Tyler was "grunting" at him.

20 minutes later, we got in our room. We stripped Tyler down and got his new stats. They are:

Weight - 20 pounds 15 ounces - 20th percentile
Length - 30.25 inches - 65th percentile
Head circumference - 45.75 centimeters - 40th percentile

His development is going good. He is fairly far ahead with his physical attributes, already walking, being able to hold, carry, push, etc. The rest of his development for the most part is on par with average. The only thing we need to work on is his talking. He should have a few recognizable words already, and he doesn't yet. Although, I "THINK" that he is saying "ball" as of yesterday.

All in all, things are going well with Tyler. He is rapidly growing and learning. It is so fun to watch.

His birthday was a great weekend, with the Lindner grandparents making a long weekend appearance. Tyler enjoyed the company and we had a pleasant weekend. We did get video of the present opening and cake eating. However, with the company this weekend, and the fact that we are going to Vancouver, Washington for a long weekend this weekend (Cody has to be there for work on Friday, so Tyler and I decided to hitch a ride and make it a weekend in Oregon), it'll probably be the Thanksgiving Holiday before Cody can get the video in the computer and posted.

However, to appease the masses until the videos are available, I did get some photos from the month of September posted. Yes, I'm way behind!

Anyway, here they are:

Thank you all for the birthday wishes and presents for Tyler. We truly appreciate it.

Take care!

Mommy catchs up on August Photos

Well, I'm not sure where the month of September, and now October have gone. I have finally finished editing the photos from the second half of August.

The first is a pictoral of Aunt Jeanne's 27th Birthday. Jeanne, Marcel, Tyler and I had all planned to go on a hike, and on our way, we met with an obstacle. We had to change our destination on our way. You'll see why when you see the pictures!!

The second is a collage of Tyler photos from the 16th to the 30th of August.

On the home front, some of you may have seen that the Erben family hit Philadelphia for a long weekend earlier this month. In addition, we just had a nice visit from Gramma (my mom). Tyler is walking really well, has begun "playing" basketball and has been thoroughly enjoying his weekly gym class.

I hope this finds you all well and happy!

The Erben Family’s Busy August

I have created two galleries of photos from the beginning of August. The first is of Tyler "on the move". Tyler having gained mobility is CONSTANTLY moving. It is a joy to see him getting around, but can be exhausting and harrowing for Mom and Dad. We have captured some of his antics on "film" and are here for your viewing pleasure.

We also had some summer outdoors house work. The first is getting close to the end of our "landscaping project" that we started LAST MEMORIAL DAY. That's right, it's taken us over a year to "almost finish" it. We also had a jail break incident which required us to do some work on the fence to ensure that Mutt and Jeff (aka Eros and Ralph) don't get out and make the entire neighborhood nervous again. Aunt Jeanne came over and helped occupy Tyler while Mom and Dad flew through the necessary repairs. THANKS AUNT JEANNE for your help!

We have been taking some more video, and hopefully Cody will continue to update that area of the website too!

July Flies By

Somehow, it is now August. I am not exactly sure where the blur of July disappeared to, but it has. However, we have captured it digitially, so I know it happened!

During July, the Erben clan traveled to Nebraska, with a quick stop in Laramie, to visit family. We hit Omaha, so that Tyler could meet his Great Grandma Marie for the first time. Aunt Lauren accompanied us to Omaha, where we met up with Grandpa Rick, his friend, Sue and Great Grandma Marie. After that, we headed to Chadron to spend some time with Grandpa John and Granny Karen. We were lucky enough to be able to spend a few hours with Tyler's cousins, Tristan and Jonathan in Casper. It was really good to see them, and they have grown so much since we last saw them two long years ago! The pictures from the trip and some more from the rest of the month of July can be found by the links below:

On the homefront, Tyler has begun walking. He can walk between 4 - 8 steps, then he falls down. One thing I do know, it won't be long before he gets the hang of it and is running around the house. We were able to catch the event (which incidentally happened on his 9th month exactly, August 10th) on video. As soon as Cody gets a chance, I'm sure you'll be seeing the video.

Tyler has one tooth now, his bottom left. His bottom right has just begun to bother him today, so that lone tooth won't be alone for long. He's begun eating a wider variety of foods. He doesn't like lettuce or tomatoes. But, grapes and turkey are good!

Tyler is definitely keeping his parents, and even his Aunt Jeanne, on their toes!

Tyler’s 9 Month Checkup

Well, the time keeps soaring by. Today, Tyler had his 9 month checkup. There were no shots associated with this milestone (YEAH!), but we did get a poke in the heel to draw some blood to check iron levels. All is good.

The following are his new stats:
weight - 19 lbs 5.5 oz - 25%
height - 29.5 inches long - 75%
head circumference - 44.75 cm - 40%

Yes, he is now tall, even skinnier and his head has moved up closer to average!

The doctor came into the room and said, "Oh look at the bumps, bruises and scratches. That's good, you are getting around." Oh, if he only knew!! Who knew a baby is that fast and that fascinated with stuff!!

Anyway, I have posted some photos from the end of June (yes, he was only 7.5 months at this point), but hey... they are new photos!

Take care all!