Tucker- 2 1/2

Tucker is a funny kid.  He has quite the personality.  He can go from being incredibly sad to very happy in a matter of seconds (I'm hoping this is somewhat typical of 2 year olds).  He's always been what I call "passionate" about his emotions even from an infant. For the most part, he is very agreeable and so fun to be around.  He tends to save his fits for me and sometimes Daddy.  I guess that's typical of kids- show the "real" self to Mom- I know I was always like that. :)

He's always been a big talker but lately the way he puts sentences together and his expanding vocabulary is really impressing Jared and me.  He's really great at mimicking so most of what he says he repeats from us and/or tv shows.  He can count to 10 and is able to identify a lot of letters and some numbers (thank you PBS!).  He can sometimes spell things. The other day he spelled "Go" for my mom and knows most of the letters in his own name and for some reason knows how to spell "stop." (I think from stop signs).

He loooves books and will sit for a long time if he's being read to. He has an incredible memory and it really blows my mind how he knows the words to many of the books we read.  We have several favorites that are read often (Knuffle Bunny, Goodnight Moon, Danny and the Dinosaur, Curious George books, Very Hungry Caterpillar). If I read to him and pause, he's able to fill in the blanks. I realize it's just him remembering what comes next, but the teacher in me gets pretty excited about his early literacy accomplishments.  He's also started asking what things say. He points to signs and words in books and wants to know what they say. 

About 2 months ago, Tucker started sleeping in a big boy bed.  He's surprisingly done really well. He gets in there at night and nap and doesn't get out until one of us goes to get him.  Although it gets a little annoying that he sits in his bed yelling, "DAAAAAADDDDY! I NEED WATERRRRR!" I actually don't mind because it means that he won't get out.  The funny thing is that if he wakes up in the middle of the night and is having a hard time going back to sleep, one of us will lay with him.  My biggest concern about him sleeping in a bed was him being in our bed every night and now sometimes one of us is in his...I'm not sure if this is better?

One of Tucker's favorite things to do his go to the store.  Doesn't matter what store or who he's going with, if he hears the word "store," he's game and wants to go instantly. He especially loves Fleet Farm where he gets to walk around and look at the animal mounts and hunting equipment.  The crazy thing is that he will remember where stores are and as we're driving, he knows what direction to go and will point out stores and places as we drive- again, crazy memory!

Here are some funny Tucker moments caught on film from the past few months:

In this picture, he was picking up random things to put in his frog bag for, "Show and Towel." He will do this often. He fills the bag up and walks around telling me he's going to bring this to school for "show and towel."  Lol- where does he get this stuff?  In fact, anytime we drive past what will be his elementary school down the block from our house, he'll say to me, "That's my school. When I get bigger, I go to school and learn and do show and towel."

Typical occurrence, Tucker acting wacky while I'm trying to get a photo of the two.  I'm pretty sure he was trying to read to Tate.  He really loves his brother.

More love for his baby brother:

Older photo, but shows again how happy Tucker is by his little brother. He was delighted and thought it was hilarious when I put Tate in his crib.  Now he has the same reaction when Tate gets in bed with him after naps.

What a nut.  He's perfected crossing his eyes.  One of his favorite activities in playing in the back of Daddy's truck with his hunting equipment:

At the farm, probably one of his favorite places. In fact, he wakes up from nap most weekends and asks Jared to go there.  The neighbors' farm has a bunch of animals.  This is Tucker's favorite thing to do: he stands outside the peacock cage yelling, "HELLLLLOOOOO PEAHOCKS!"

Making an animal parade in the bath tub:

Eating apples at Grandpa Shoop's farm:

My sous chef.  He loves to pull a chair over and help make dinner:

Getting ready to feed the llamas at Applefest with Dellie and Will:

Silly boy:

This is such a classic Tucker face:

First hot chocolate of the year:

Helping with dishes:

Tucker's favorite part about birthdays, cake and blowing out the candles:

BARNEY!

 Wearing Tate's french beret:

 Loving on his brother:

Tucker, you are such a sweet, endearing boy. Your personality and love of life is so contagious. You make me so happy. Tate could not be luckier to have such an amazing big brother like you. We love you so much and love watching you grow!

Halloween 2013

It was a wet Halloween night here in Appleton. Thankfully, I had taken photos of the boys a few days before.  Tucker had a hard time deciding what he wanted to be for Halloween.  We'd been reading a Halloween Curious George book where George dressed up as a cowboy and then gets tangled in a sheet and everyone at the party thinks he's a ghost. Tucker was convinced he wanted to be a ghost and had perfected his, "BOO!" However, once I started crafting a costume out of a king sized pillowcase and put it over his head, he was done. He no longer wanted to be a ghost or to even see the ghost costume. So then he said he wanted to be a cowboy.  I found a cute little hat a thrift store and I figured jeans and a flannel would do, but again, not a fan of the cowboy hat. Then, I remembered that last year I had found this Barney costume a consignment shop for like $1. Tucker was loving Barney last year after watching tons of old VHS tapes at Grammy's house.  I pulled it out of the closet and he went nuts- bingo- costume! He was pretty good about wearing it, he loved the tail but didn't love the mask that went with it.  Tate was a monkey, just like Tucker at the same age. I borrowed it again from a friend.  It's just such a cute little costume. :)

 A couple of nights before Halloween, Jared and the boys carved pumpkins. They were so cute together on the table with the pumpkins.  It's almost impossible to get a photo where everyone is looking at the camera and smiling. I think if we cut and pasted a few of these together we'd get one, but oh well.

My mom came down for Halloween, which was fun as we made chili for dinner and had Jared's parents and sister and her 3 kids over for dinner and trick or treating.  Sarah's kids arrived in costume, so we quick got a few pictures of Buzz, the Princess, the Monkey, Barney and the adorable baby peapod.  Since the kids were in costumes still (and ready to take them off), we quick went and trick or treated to about 6 houses in our neighborhood. It poured rain the whole time.  The kids didn't seem to mind one bit and absolutely loved the candy.  Tucker cracked me up. He was the slowest trick or treater ever.  Della and Will would run up to each house and Tucker took his sweet time walking between the two licking a lollipop (the first piece of candy he got).  He wasn't all that into the candy but loved being outside. Tate came with for part of it, riding in the stroller, but went home with Jared after his feet started getting wet. 

Happy cousins: 

After we got back home, the 3 big kids sat at the dining room table and sorted out all their candy- I love it- just like we used to do as kids.  Tucker's favorite was a pez dispenser from the neighbor.  Will was too funny, he kept emptying his bucket, looking at everything and putting it back in there. I think he was checking to make sure it was all there. As you can see from the pictures below, they were soaked!  Everyone stayed and played and enjoyed handing out candy to kids who came to our door.  It was a really fun night.  

Click here for Halloween 2011.  Apparently I didn't post from last year's Halloween, so here's a little collage from the last 3 years instead: