Baptism

I have been baptized...again. I was baptized in the Gulf of Mexico on Sunday night. It was really interesting. There were about 8 people baptized and we probably had about 150 people turn out. We had dinner as a group and then made our way out to the water. I was honored to be baptized by Jim Nite. Jim is the Pastor at our church and has really helped with my growth. If anyone is ever interested in hearing wonderful Christian sermons you can hear them online.

http://www.cpccnaples.org/

Every chance Tyler gets he wants to go to the park. At one park, there is a train type of ride where someone has to spin the handles. Of course, he wants me to do it the whole time we are there. It used to be enough for him to ride it...now he wants to spin it as well. All the other parents are socializing or reading. I have to go for a triceps workout.

As I told you before, MY KIDS LOVE DORA & DIEGO. This is a clip of Lexi singing the opening song to Dora the Explorer.

Tyler shares his imitation of Swiper. He is a character that 'swipes' things from the characters in the cartoon. He is the villain.

Tyler doesn't just quote evil TV characters. Here he is doing one of his Bible verses.

Last week we went out to buy some pumpkins. I still have not gotten used to cooler holidays coming up. I remember being down here a few years ago in December with shorts on and seeing Santas.

Bedtime

Some nights before bed I have to bribe the kids to go upstairs. Candy seems like a bad idea at midnight (just kidding...we don't feed them candy before bed). So, I have to put them on my shoulders and gallop down the hallway like a Clydesdale. Have a look. Turn up the volume and press the play button...

It's worth mentioning that I am sitting in the hallway outside their door right now to keep them from getting out of bed. Once the party gets started in there it's tough to get them down.

Tyler has recently enjoyed listening to audio books when going to bed. He has a collection of books that he can read along with and he gets a 'ding' when to turn the page. He sleeps in a tiny bed because it is meant for Lexi. So, of course, it is the one he prefers. He also insists on sitting in her car seat. I guess we can live with it...as long as he doesn't start asking to dress in her clothes.

Lexi has to have everything in bed with her. She brings some baby dolls, books, a walk-a-long dog, and of course her beloved Bear. Since an infant Lexi has needed to suck two fingers on her left hand in order to fall asleep. Whenever we want her to slow down and relax we say 'Lexi, suck your fingers'. When she is not interested in going to bed she awkwardly puts her right hand fingers in her mouth. It's really funny!

New Video Clips

I have posted some video clips and some pictures. If there is a 'play' triangle below the picture, this indicates you can view as a video. You may need to click on the play button twice. If the picture does not have a 'play' button it is simply a picture. Most recent posts will be first.

I took Tyler to his first high school football game last night. Eamon came along as well. Tyler was sitting on Eamon's shoulders. A local TV show spotted them and put a short clip on the 11:00 news.

Anyway, Tyler loved the game. He was really in awe of all the activity. He loved roaming the bleachers, watching the band, and cheering the guy running the ball. Most of all, he anticipated opportunities to clap and raise his hands in the air and yell 'TOUCHDOWN'! He got alot of chances because the home team was up 42-0 at half.

Where to begin with Lexi. So many friends and family have not seen Alexia in quite some time since we have not traveled North in over a year. She has a really spunky personality. She starts the day by sneaking into our bedroom somewhere around 7AM. She wants to go downstairs and immediately be fed and sat in front of the TV. It starts with Diego or Dora. For those of you who are not aware, Dora and Diego are cartoon cousins. They have an interactive dialogue so Lexi usually is yelling back at the TV. I'm not much of a morning person so Lexi screaming serves as my morning cup of coffee.

Our kids love being together. They really do. There is plenty of 'That's mine!' and 'I want it' but generally they stick close together and love playing with each other. We moved them into the same bedroom a few months ago. Big mistake. The two can feed off each others energy for hours. Each child is behaved on their own; but putting the two together we suddenly have a mosh pit.

Tyler & Lexi

I have finally decided it was time to bridge the gap between our friends and family who we may not live so close to since moving to Florida. It's hard to believe that it has been over 3 years. However, this really feels like home to us now. After all, Alexia is now over 2 years old and Mary Sue got pregnant with her here!

I will try to keep the posts brief but do them often. I will feature pictures and short videos. If there is anything you would like to see in addition let me know (even though I will probably ignore it).

Tyler is doing exceptionally well! We are well aware that most of you have kept him in your prayers. Thank You! We are convinced that the Lord intervened. For those less aware of what I am referring to allow me to explain.

Tyler was progressing seemingly normally (I say 'seemingly' b/c I had little reference as he was our first child) until 18 months. He had some words and was really happy. Somewhere around the birth of Lexi he started to regress a bit. He lost ALL language and his behavior became more and more awkward. At 24 months he allowed no affection or holding, would not talk at all, focused in on and became obsessive with certain routines, would not engage with other children his age, etc... At the age of 24 months Tyler was able to arrange the alphabet in order with absolutely no problem. He understood numerical order and had other really amazing abilities. It was exciting but we knew is was unusual.

His condition was really hard on us and especially Mary Sue. With advice of both of our sisters and some researching on the web we discovered some people were having success taking gluten and casein out of the diet. Gluten is the protein that exists in many grains (most often wheat) and casein is the protein in cow's milk. In a nutshell, these proteins are thought to be responsible for blocking incoming information in some children.

Tyler LOVED foods with grain. He had cereal for breakfast, a sandwich for lunch, and pasta for dinner. He ate an amazing amount of food. We were at a party with friends one evening and the attention turned to Tyler as we loaded his plate with his third helping of an adult sized portion of penne. The kid loved to eat.

Surprisingly, we were able to introduce substitute foods fairly easily. Our brother-in-law, Matt, is a celiac along with two of his children. This means that their intestines cannot digest gluten properly. So, Mary Sue's sister, Erin, was a big help in introducing us to foods to buy. In general, they are not as palatable. However, there is a substitute for just about every food.

Anyway, we started the diet on a Saturday. On Sunday morning, as I was buckling Tyler in his seat, I said 'Hi'. He looked at us and said 'Hi' back. Remember, he had not said a word in about six months. On Tuesday he had about 20 letters of the alphabet and could count to 10. He had brought back many words that he once knew such as banana, food, ball, and of course Mama. It absolutely poured from him. By the end of the week he was saying 'I love you'. His behavior changed as well. He became more affectionate, less frustrated, and his focus became less intense. He awoke!

Since, Tyler is amazing and delightful. He is in preschool and we have activities at our church several days a week. He really likes engaging with others. His language is a bit behind but he is doing fine. He loves to go get tacos with his Dad after school and ice cream (casein doesn't seem to affect him at all) after trips to the beach. He bugs us to go to the park all the time. His best bud is his little sister. Together, they run up and down the hall with cars, blow bubbles, dress up, do puzzles, and chase each other. They love watching Dora and and Diego. We crack up when they throw Spanish words our way. Both are counting in espanol as well. Who says TV is bad?

He still has some goofy quirks. As I tucked him in bed one night he told me 'This one's 14...it's not 13'. I could not figure out what the heck he was talking about. Finally, I found he was referring to the numbered song that was playing on the cd player in his room. He had memorized the songs numerically. We know he has memorized some books without us knowing he was doing it. He is able to give two words for each letter of the alphabet and he doesn't always give the same ones.

We are still not certain what caused his delays and disruption. We are just thankful that he has been healed.

I guess you want to hear about our other brat. It will have to wait until the next post. Sorry Lexi!