Tyler's little catchphrases at the moment are:

"I like-a some...uuummmm...." meaning he wants something but he can't figure out what it is (usually food).

"Uh oh, happen?" when something breaks/falls/interesting happens.

We also have a thing we do where if he is getting stroppy and/or hitting I say "Where's nice Mummy?" and he will stop and stroke my face. It's a little calming thing for him. Yesterday I was so proud of him when he was mad at me for not allowing him to have something he swung his arm at me and then stopped himself mid-swing, reached up and stroked my face.

Another Mummy Moment last night - as he was having his last feed before bed, I said "Love Mummy?" to which he smiled and stroked my face and then said "Love Tyler?" which he's never said before. I said "Yes I love Tyler, and you'll make Mummy cry" and he went "Nah" in a sort of dont-be-ridiculous tone. So cute!

Merry Christmas! Santa was very kind to everyone, and Mummy and Daddy were VERY kind to Tyler, who was given his own petrol-powered four-wheeler. His face was a picture when he saw it and he couldn't wait to get on.

He has his own helmet too. He tootled around, first with Daddy on the back, then on his own. The bike needs some tuning though so will have to go back to the bike shop.

Unfortunately Chris was feeling very unwell - feverish and nauseous - so he did not come to lunch at the Howard's. We had a lovely dinner - turkey, ham and roast lamb, followed by trifle and pavlova. Dad and Jan were there too. Afterwards, Anton and Stephen played cricket in the back yard. Here's Anton 'laxing out after a big feed. (Photo taken by Tyler).

Last night we finally put the Christmas tree up. Tyler spent most of the time taking ornaments out of the various bags and exclaiming "Lookit Mummy! Bootiful!" Poor wee man hasn't been well recently, nothing dramatic but a constant mild fever and lethargy and he wasn't eating much (a sure sign something's wrong!). He's on antibugs and seems to have bounced back now. The cold I had in the lead up to the A Capella concert turned into sinusitis so I am also on anitbugs.

Last day of work for me yesterday (and last day as Practice Manager) and last day of daycare for Tyler. Just a few last bits and pieces to get today and then we're done. Ruth Kate and I (aka Three Good Women) are doing some items for the St Stephen's Christmas Eve service at 11pm tomorrow night. I'm going to sing Schubert's Ave Maria and play the flute version of Bach's Ave Maria. Ruth and I will also sing a duet. It's a lovely way to slow down and get into the true spirit of Christmas.

Get a load of this ginormous egg we got today!

And here's Tyler on his favourite chair :)

Last night we went to the PRL Christmas party. It was a Hoe-down so we yeeha'd and doh-si-doh'd. Chris went for the Billy-Bob look and I didn't really make much of an effort!And here are the two best buddies snuggling on the couch this morning. :)

Saturday the Preston Russell Law Vikings rowed in the Corpor8 Rowing challenge. Here's Tyler in one of the Viking hats. He was a great little supporter shouting 'Go Preston Russell' as the boat went past.
He also commandeered cousin Stephen's phone.

Tyler has been asking for 'racing car' ever since we got the DVD of 'Cars' out so Chris bought the DVD today and here are the boys riveted by it this evening.

The isurance assessor has been to check out the fallen cables from the tree incident (see August post) and we are going to be getting a big fat cheque which will allow us to get all the power cabling put underground - yay!

Dad's birthday today - HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Officially an OAP now ;)

As you can see, I have been playing around with the blog colours. Comments welcomed :)

The weather has been horrible since yesterday afternoon, so we all blobbed out this afternoon in front of a DVD with an icecream each...

Tyler then proceeded to amuse himself by 'posting' things under the gap in the door from the kitchen to the laundry.

Yesterday was Mum/Granna's birthday, so we had an afternoon tea here.

OK that's it! Chris is NEVER going near Tyler's hair again!! Look at this! I TOLD him not to trim the back while Tyler was huddled up against me as it wouldn't come out right but did he listen? Nooooo. And now we have a haircut which looks fine at the front and like a mental patient in a 1920's institute at the back.

At least it looks OK from the front. Here's the wee monkey-face modelling the latest in sheets :)

Just back from a flying visit to Oamaru to see Nan, Leona and the girls. Got a couple of lovely photos....
We stopped off at the North Otago Vintage Machinery show and Tyler enjoyed all the tractors and diggers and the steaming traction engine. Maybe we should have travelled at a more 'vinatge' speed on the trip home as we had an unscheduled stop to talk to Mr Policeman!

Gosh it's been a month since I last updated!

We now have another pet lamb (we had four little orphans but three didn't make it). This one seems to be thriving so that's good. Tyler likes feeding it and as he goes towards it with the bottle, he starts making sucking noises :)

I have been really sick with a virus which ruined my singing competitions weekend. I still managed a second and three thirds, but it was pretty disappointing not being able to sing properly. Now rehearsing for 'Last Night of the Proms' which should be lots of fun.

Anton has been away camping in the Catlins and is now back with us for a few days before heading up to Pop and Ali's farm for the rest of the week.

We have acquired two new cars - a little Mitsi Lancer to use as a runabout instead of my Holden and Chris traded in his 1970 CE Mercedes for a 1997 model, which we will use for longer trips.

The week before last part of one of the very tall trees by our gate fell down - miraculously a) no-one was there at the time b) both vehicles were on the outside of the property and c) the tree fell in a straight line down the driveway, so virutally no damage except for the powerline to the deer shed and garage coming down. Chris is a bit disappointed that it didn't annihilate one of the smaller sheds on the way down as he quite fancies a new one! Anyway, for three days in order to get out of the property we had to go across the to the paddock with the pig pen, walk round the pen, duck under the trees and go across the verge to the road. Lots of mud because of the weather. So imagine me in my work suit and gumboots, Tyler under one arm, handbag under the other, Tyler's bag on my back negotiating the pigpen, the mud and the low branches. It's all cleared now though.

Tyler wasn't well last week so had a visit to the doctor and a day at home. The antibugs kicked in and he bounced back quickly.

I went Dunedin for the weekend to the Salmond Hall 35th Reunion (my hall of residence when I was at University). It was quite small but lots of fun. I also visited Rachel, Chris, Sam and new addition Morgan who is just gorgeous.

Quick post to load some photos from the party yesterday. Tyler had a great time and got some lovely presents. Fortunately it was a lovely day, so he was able to run the excess sugar off outside!

Big brother took to Tyler with his hair gel the other day and this is the result.

And here they are in the kitchen, Anton is cooking bacon and eggs for breakfast and Tyler is supervising.

Tyler has had his first plane trip and he thought it was great. We flew to Christchurch and stayed in Rangiora with Grandad and Jan. On Friday night we went to Nan's for tea and Aunty Leona was there too. Isn't that a lovely photo? Nan gave Tyler his birthday present early - a beautiful book called 'Guess How Much I Love You. We also visited Garry and Donna and Tyler thought the John Deere kid's ride-on tractor was very cool.

Here he is on Grandad's Laverda...

I'll post some more photos later.

Here's Mr Tyler doing his Mr Cool impression in the digger that was pulling out some posts for us this morning.

Here's Tyler in his lovely Great-Aunty-Betty-knitted jersey, drawing his beloved tractors. At least it would be if this %#^*&^$# site would let me download the picture!!! *bangs head on keyboard* I'll try again tomorrow.
(Edited 'tomorrow' - it finally worked!)

Tyler now his own tool bench and tools, which Chris bought him the other day. He just LOVES it and goes everywhere with two fistfuls of tools. Even eating breakfast he has a spoon in one hand and his 'ammer in the other!

A busy time in the Campbell-McLeod household. I had my HR exam on Tuesday and today I am singing in a concert with my choir. Also doing a solo and a duet so feeling a bit nervous.

The tummy bug monster has been visiting Kennedy Rd, first Tyler then Chris. I've managed to avoid it so far *touches wood*

As with everywhere, it's been pretty cold down here, but luckily no snow at all. Here's Tyler looking very styly in a lovely 'jerwy' knitted by Granna. And Sting colours too! :)

I have my final exam for HRM next Tuesday - eeek! It's definitely a LOT harder to study with a wee man around. So much more fun playing with him. ;)

Yesterday was Anton's 14th birthday. Chris had rugby at Gore and then we planned to go out for tea (Anton's choice). However Chris buggered his shoulder at rugby, so we got lots of takeaways and a yummy cheesecake, a couple of DVD's and a PS2 game and partied at home instead.

Here are the two bros hangin' out...

And here's Tyler in his favourite reading spot

Poor wee man is sick, has some kind of tummy bug :( He stayed home with Chris yesterday and seemed to have come right during the day, but went downhill again overnight. This morning he is just sleeping on the couch and drinking water when he wakes.

He is going through a polite phase and says 'Kankoo' and 'Peeees'. If he wants me to get out of bed he will drag my dressing-gown over and push at me saying "kankoo" until I get up. He also says 'K' for OK.

Tyler's routine for having his bedtime bottle has been to say "Bawli" (bottle) and then climb onto the sofa and recline against one end until ones of his slaves brings it to him. He has now decided the couch is not suitable and makes us pull out the Lazyboy and pop the footrest up, then he climbs up and sits back like Lord Muck until the bottle arrives. When finished he says very imperiously 'Finee now' and holds out the empty bottle until a slave takes it away.

Goaty died yesterday :( He managed to get his rope caught on something. It won't be the same without him, he was a real character.

This picture is of the mark left when Tyler got bitten by another kid at daycare :(

And this one I call 'Mr Grumpy'. He often goes to sleep like this!

We spent last weekend in Queenstown, as it was Melanie and Greg's wedding. We had a good time although it was freezing. Tyler cut 2 more molars this week and has also been suffering from a cold, so stayed home with Daddy today. Now Mumy is getting the cold!

Looks like winter is on it's way, it was very cold and rainy today. Tyler had a dose of hand, Foot & Mouth last week, which is common amongst pre-schoolers and toddlers. Fortunately it wasn't a bad dose.

I'm going to try and add a link to the little bit of video I took of him saying "I don't know". Look for the link on the right hand side of this screen.

Milestone moment yesterday - Tyler said his first sentence! He came to show me something and whatever it was (a piece of fluff I think) dropped onto the floor. So I said "Where is it?" and he replied, clear as a bell "I don't know". I nearly fell off my chair! And best thing of all, I managed to capture it on video because he repeated it each time I asked the question. And all accompanied by a palms up gesture and shrugging of shoulders. Too cute :)

And this morning when he had finished his breakfast he said "Finished now".

We've had a lovely Easter, although Chris started work on Sunday, which meant that we missed Leona's birthday so HAPPY BIRTHDAY LEONA!!

Tyler and I popped up to Dunedin on Sunday and stayed with Rachel, Chris and Samantha. The kids played very well together and we got some great photos including this one of them kissing.

We also visited Grandma Holford - she is looking much better now, and Donna and Garry.

Today we put Tyler in a big bed for the first time...

Tyler has lots of words now. He calls Anton 'Budda' which we figured out means brother. He can name lots of body parts, and says book, pussy, bath, boody (ball - apparently that's what Anton used to call it as a toddler). His very favourite word though is No. Or more commonly Noooooooo! or Nononononono!!

He is getting quite good at feeding himself with a spoon although if it takes too long he resorts to fingers again.

He loves watching his 'Thomas the Tank Engine' DVD while having breakfast. His favourite songs are Incy Wincy Spider and Roll a Bobbin up, both complete with actions.

Well it's not being for lack of trying that we haven't posted for a while. Dang dial-up! And yes I know we could get broadband via sattelite but it's over $100 a month - thanks but no thanks.

Anyway, before it all craps out on me again, here's a pic I took the other day of Tyler eating spaghetti bolognaise. He starts off with a bowl and spoon and then gets impatient...

Quick post just to put up this photo taken tonight while T was watching the Commonwealth Games...

Nan (Rosina) was down last weekend from Christchurch, so it was lovely to see her. We went to tea at the Tin Shed Cafe where they now do a great buffet on a Sunday night.

Big bro Anton did really well in his speech exam. He stays with us 3/4 nights a week and Tyler thinks he is the bee's knees (or as Chris would say - the duck's nuts!).

Speaking of which, the ducks have taken up residence in the hen house, and we now have 2 pigs. Tyler is getting very good at imitating their grunts.

Modelling Daddy's watch

Tyler loves the mini-vac, only here he seems to have it confused with the telephone.

Mummy has been in the wars lately, first tearing her calf muscle playing touch (and with one Final still to be played!) and then having a scare with her left eye which was behaving as if the retina was torn or about to detach. All OK now though.

Here's Tyler having fun in the bath tonight. What a cheeky monkey!

Yesterday Chris and I went to a wedding so Belinda (daughter of one of the partners at PRLaw) came out home to babysit. She said Tyler was wonderful, so I hope she wasn't just being kind ;)

We are considering moving T to a 'big' bed, as we think maybe there are times when he wakes himself up banging against the bars of the cot.

Tyler, Anton and I went to the fair in Queen's Park on Saturday. T was too little for most things, but I was able to take him on one of the little jeeps. He thought that was pretty cool and randomly did the Queen's wave at people as went round! Not so happy when it was time to get off though. :) He is loving having his big bro Anton around.

He has been sleeping badly the last couple of nights. Not teething, not hyper on fizz so Aunty Helen's suggestion may correct, and he is having a growth spurt. He certainly feels heavier carting him around anyway.

Tomorrow he will be 18 months old! Where has the time gone??

Posted at 10:43pm, Tuesday 14th February 2006.

With the hot weather plus some showers, growth has been lush on the farmlet. Here are Tyler, Benji the goat and Milly the dog all getting lost in the dandelions.

Today Tyler had his first decent fall, running on the driveway. A bleeding nose (both nostrils) and a fat lip, plus a few abrasions on his toes. 'Special juice' (orange and water) had amazing restorative properties. :)

Posted Monday, 6 February 2006 at 9:43pm

Posted 28 January 2006 at 5:12pm

It's been a while between postings. Tyler has cut two molars and had a dose of champylobacter which was not pleasant.

Today we took advantage of the fantastic weather and went to the Edendale Crankup Day. This features vintages tractors, so Tyler was in his element.

Tyler was restless during the night so came and slept with us (as I started work today and needed the sleep). He spent the day with Chris and was a bit feverish, refusing food and wanting cuddles and sleep. He also had 'interesting' nappies. Lo and behold, tooth No. 7 has just poked it's head up! He's now a box of fluffies.

Totally zonked out! When he sleeps, he's all over the place.

Here he is just after daddy gave him a haircut with the new clippers (thank you Grandad & Jan).

He is a budding mechanic and loves to help Daddy do things to the cars and bikes.

Here's Tyler's 2005 Santa photo.

Yesterday we drove to Cromwll for their New Year touch tournament. We've played in it for the last 3 years. It was overcast and windy, but still warmish. Our team came second in it's grade, although we played 3 girls/3 guys whereas everyone else played 2 girls/4 guys. We lost the final 5-3.

We also stopped in to visit Chris' Uncle Ron and Aunty Noeline near Arrowtown. Tyler didn't sleep on the way home so was grumpy and overtired. I also think he is teething - this will be tooth number 7.

Posted at 1:11pm, Sunday 8 January 2005

On Monday Rachel, Chris & Samantha from Dunedin came for lunch. Tyler and Sam had a great time together, and both were pretty tired by the end of it all. Rachel is 12 weeks pregnant and glowing!

Tuesday, we went swimming with Helen, Stephen & Rebecca. Tyler was very reluctant at first, but finally decided that he wanted to join in the fun, and then demanded to be with Anton all the time, preferably at the deep end with lots of splashing :)

Tyler's latest word is 'tacta' for tractor. He is also very good at waving goodbye and saying 'ta-ta' and blowing kisses. His repertoire of animal noises has expanded to include 'bk bk' for the hens and 'ssss' for the snake. 'RRRRURRRR' for the lion is still the enthusiastic favourite.

Happy 92nd Birthday Great-Grandma in Dunedin!!

We went to Te Anau for New Year's. We stayed with Bruce and Ali, where Tyler had more fun on the four-wheeler, checking out the animals. We also visited Paul and Kirsty and their new baby Shelby, who is a wee darling.

We were all big Nanas and in bed by 11:3pm so did not even see the New Year in!

Back to Invercargill today. Rachel, Chris and Samantha from Dunedin are visiting tomorrow. Sam is 5 days older than Tyler.