Big Shoes

Apparently Ty can't wait to fill his Dad's shoes. I told him there is no hurry.

Xmas Flashback 3

2005: Our little drummer boy... pa rum pum pum pum.

Xmas Flashback 2

In 2004, we tried out the ever popular sit-and-spin.

Xmas Flashback 1

What was under your tree in 2003?

Shine On

Who says you need a dark room to have fun with a flashlight? Ty thinks the light has special powers since when he shines it at me I sometimes fall down and say "you got me!" Parents, you know we will do anything for a giggle.

Atlas

This reminded me of the famous statue at Rockefeller Center in NYC of Atlas carrying the world. Here's our version with an NCAA hoops twist.

Our Little Tiger (Woods)

Ty got a great new set of clubs (well 2 plastic ones) from Aunt Murphy and Uncle John on their recent visit. Here Ty demonstrates how to hit the shots from the rough... fore!

Piano Man

Here's Ty entertaining shoppers at the mall. Hopefully he doesn't turn into that weird guy at the organ store always playing the "timeless classics" hoping passersby will walk into the store and buy something. No, his Dad would hope that if he's good at the piano, he will be entertaining crowds at a sold out Giants stadium just like the real Piano Man.

Cuteness

Yup. He's a cutie. No doubt about it.

3 Wheeling

Dad's back and in the blogging mode again. Tons of pictures are headed your way to wrap up the year. Ty got a new trike for his bday that I put together. Right now he can't pedal too well, but he sure can ring the bell!

Gobble Gobble

There's a Turkey on my head!!! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

The Ferris Jump

This is a shot from Ty's birthday party back in September (reminder here that Dad has a lot of pictures to catch up on and the posts are not in real time). We had a lot of fun at Gymboree. And for the first time we watched Ty make a pretty big jump off a high spot onto a mat. I was right below to catch this great mid-action flight. Being a child of the 80's myself, this brought to mind a famous backyard leap by Ferris Bueller on his way home to avoid getting caught out of bed.

Stuck On You

Sometimes you just have to laugh. Recently I got a bunch of Sponge Bob stickers for Ty. When we got home, he sat down on the floor and proceeded to stick them all over his arms and legs. I ran for the camera and caught a few shots of this. His concentration never was broken as I flashed away and suppressed my giggles.

Halloween Flashback

Our little Tigger from 2 years ago. That hood stayed on his head for all of about 10 seconds before he got really angry. Trick or treat everyone. What's Ty's costume this year? We will just have to see...

Hover Cars?

Ty loves little hot wheels cars. He calls them "hover cars" and for the longest time I had no idea what that meant. Until finally it clicked... "hot rod cars" is what he was trying to say. Add to my resume now: ability to translate kid-speak.

Painting Pottery

Ty recently got invited to a birthday party where all the kids got to paint their own pottery. He chose to paint a mouse. Presented with a palette of colors, he continued to apply paint only on the mouse's nose until it just dripped across the rest of the body. The result was quite unique, but hey, he had a blast making it and that's all that matters.

Making Muscles

We are so excited to have "graduated" to wearing underwear now. I bought Ty a few pairs featuring the characters from Cars. Here he is showing off and doing his Mr. Universe pose.

Roley

If there is a boy in your family then you must be familiar with Bob the Builder. Ty watches episodes every morning while having his blueberry muffins (thank you DVR). Here he proudly shows off one of his favorite characters, Roley.

Flashback Moment #2

Ty turned 3 years old this week. It is really hard to imagine that it has been 3 years since the little guy was "hatched". Glancing through some of the pictures from those first few weeks it's just amazing the transformation that has taking place. Here is one of my favorite shots from just a few days after he came home from the hospital. All bundled up like a burrito and sleeping peacefully.

Ducks in the Park

More target practice as Ty hurls goldfish crackers at the ducks. He started to get angry because they weren't eating all his crackers. But with a slew of other kids also feeding them, I think they were full.

And in This Corner...

There is this cute little log cabin type house also on the playground at Ty's new school. He quickly found his comfy spot and is ready to receive guests.

Tube Top

The playground at Ty's new school is really cool. They have made great re-use of tires and other equipment. Here we are crawling out of a large pipe.

Tito Puente or Ringo Starr?

Here's Ty practicing his rhythms outside on the "drums". Who knows, a future SXSW showcase could be held at our playground.

100 Degrees and Pooped

OK. These 100 degrees days here in Austin are getting old. When's Fall?

Tailgating

We went to see the local minor league baseball team play this summer. They are called the Round Rock Express. A group of my coworkers like to hang out before the game and Ty joined us and had a blast. He was running around with some other kids including a girl he just had to photograph himself:

Photo by Ty

On My Front Porch

Chillin out on the front porch in the rain. Sporting a Choate t-shirt from our recent visit up to Dad's 20th high school reunion.

Foot in Mouth

Kids, don't try this at home.

The Real Lightning McQueen?

Out for a walk on a Saturday morning, we came across this car parked just down the street. Ty jumped up and down thinking we might have found a life size version of his new favorite character "Lightning McQueen". Thanks to the guy who did this wacky custom paint job for making our day.

Box Tops For Education

Ty's school participates in the Box Tops for Education Program. Click here for more info. Ty's Dad is collecting the labels and will bring them into his school. Help us out by saving your labels and give them to Ty's Dad when you see him or mail them to the house. The website will tell you what products these are located on. Thanks!

Happy Meals

Here's Ty showing off the beginning of his Cars happy meal collection. Because I refused to go to McD's every day to grab a new car, I snagged the rest of the group off ebay. Where would we be without that site? It has totally transformed our culture. Now of course, Ty believes that everytime we go to the mailbox, a new toy awaits. Ugh.

Cookies at the Mall

Walking around the mall on a hot Saturday afternoon in Austin is one way to beat the heat. We had also just watched "Cars" at the movies in the morning (note the Route 66 shirt for effect). Ty loved it so much, the cars characters have now taken over his room and his wardrobe as you will see in later posts. But here we take a break from walking and share a cookie. Anybody want a bite?

Indoor Beach Volleyball

Ty's getting ready to serve up the beach volleyball to me inside the house. Amazing how much fun those free trinkets our vendors give away can be. It's also a good thing that it does no damage on errant shots.

George

Ty likes to get down and play with our cat George. Actually it has become more of tormenting George, but it's fun to watch. Not sure George is that into it.

Starfish Face

We visited the Maritime Center in Norwalk , CT. Here's Ty doing his impression of a starfish. He also got to put his hands in the tank and try and touch a ray. But the coolest things he thought were the sharks and the giant turtles.

Seal Ya Later

"Hey Dad, did you see that? Did you see the seal eat the fish and splash in the water?" Yes I did! We managed to catch one of the feeding times for the sea lions at the Central Park Zoo. Hey where's Marty the Zebra?

Napping in the Park with Bob

After visiting with GG, we headed to Central Park. Amazingly the loud buses and bumpy cobblestones along Fifth Avenue provided just the right ingredients to send Ty off to dreamland. So Dad parked himself on a bench while Ty and SpongeBob took their nap.

Park Avenue Swimming?

These next few posts return back to our recent NYC trip... Here we see Ty preparing to do his Superman impression and fly over this fountain in front of the Seagrams building.

Happy Birthday USA

A double dose of Ty for the 4th of July. Our community had a party over the weekend. He decked himself out in all the freebies we got and became fascinated with the pinwheel. Everytime the wind blew and it spun he giggled... priceless.

Want Some Cheese?

Juat a reminder here that we are not in chronological order, and that Ty's Dad is still catching up with some recent pics. This shot is from Gram and G-Pop's living room on a recent trip. We just love our cheese.

Pull My Finger

"Hey Dad, I just had some tater tots, pull my finger?" No that is not what Ty said in this frozen moment of time. We are just laughing while he fills these tiny plastic garbage cans with sand and dumps them back and forth between each other.

A King and His Castle

The living room of our house is really just a big playroom for Ty. Check out the castle set behind him that he gleefully snagged at the recent community yard sale. Too bad he doesn't like to smile for pictures.

Chutes and Ladders

This picture reminds me a little of that poster we used to see up in office cubes or dorm rooms a few years back with that cat hanging from a tree limb and the quote "Hang in there Baby!"

Green Grass and a Smile

Out for a walk with Thomas the Train engine (thanks Aunt Murphy and Uncle John). Please note our grass is still green because in a few weeks everything in Austin will be brown for the rest of the summer.

Animal Kingdom

Too many stuffed animals is never enough!

Flashback Moment #1

With today being Father's Day, I thought I'd take a break from the present and transport us back in time to June 2004 around the time of my first Father's Day with Ty. And just like back then, today we spent the afternoon in the pool. He has loved the water ever since he first dipped in.