Santa

Santa came to the Berning house!

He brought Kyle a table and chairs.

We think he liked it.



Kyle sat at his table and "opened" the rest of his gifts.

Fun in the Snow

We had a huge snow storm a week ago.
It was Kyle's first time in a big storm. He had a spiffy new snow suit and was ready to go out and play. He did not do any playing, just watching the snow and things outside.
He liked being outside but did NOT like to be put down in the snow, or the sidewalk that had been cleared.


He did like watching the snow plow when it was clearing our court.




Cole enjoyed playing in the snow. He especially liked chasing snow balls.

Oprah

One of Kyle's favorite things to watch and dance to is the video of The Black Eyed Peas when they appeared on Oprah. (When the audience did the surprise dance for Oprah).

He will ask to watch it on the TV, Computer and our phones.
He will run to one of those and say "Oprah" so he can dance to the music.

He gets SUPER excited when we play it for him!




He usually dances to the video but sometimes will just watch the video.

Mission Impossible

I know I said in the last post that Kyle loves to smile for pictures, that is except when I want to get a Christmas card picture.
I tried several times and really got nothing.

Here are a few of the rejects.


Cole did not want to be photographed either.
(and I know our tree is skinny and pitiful, next year I think we will have to get a real one)


Look at my feet!!


Trying to put monkey in the tree (after watching Daddy do it) UG!


Then he decided he needed to wear his very festive skull boots and carry his Halloween bag.





I got beautiful pictures taken at Picture People but decided not to get the cards because I was too cheap and did not want to spend that much on cards. I should have just spent the money.

I guess I will use this picture ...

Merry Christmas!!!!

Say Cheese

Kyle will give you his best smile if you ask him to SMILE! Sometimes if he just sees the camera he will give you his big grin. Then run over to the camera so he can see the picture. (Does that mean we take too many pictures?)
Here are a few of my favorite pictures of him recently.

Its Time to Dance!!

Kyle loves to dance.
You may remember him dancing as a little guy on this post. He now has added a few more moves (but kept the drool!).

One of THOSE Days

Tuesday of this week was one of those days...

It was the first time Cole was staying home alone, back at our house since Brian returned from his trip. I guess he was feeling a little sad, anxious, abandoned?? I don't know, but whatever he was feeling, I came home to a MESS.

A bag of potatoes and a bag of apples pulled off the counter. Bags ripped to shreds, apple and potatoes pieces everywhere. Not to mention he got one of Brian's hats and decided to chew that. So I had to clean that disaster up. (Did I mention I had a headache before I got home to see this mess.)

Then it was time to start fixing dinner. This of course is the time when Kyle decided he was going to cry (more like scream) about everything and hang on my legs. So making dinner was a challenge. I managed to get dinner in the oven.

Brian came home just in time to tell me to sit down and try and relax... I was getting a bit stressed!

After dinner Brian and I did not want to move to start cleaning up the disaster that was left from my cooking. (How does a 4 ingredient recipe end up with so many dirty dishes???) So I sat in my chair and watched as Kyle decided all his dirty laundry needed to be put all over the kitchen.
I decided the only thing to do at this point was take pictures and a video of what my evenings are now.




Kyle had a great time playing with the bowls and laundry. He did help me clean up the laundry before it was time for bed.

The rest of the evening was perfect, the kitchen was cleaned by my wonderful husband and after bath time Kyle kept giving me the biggest hugs and kisses.

I also decided / learned a few things...

1. Dogs can be more work than kids.
2. 4 ingredient meals are not always easier than fancy recipes.
3. I am never satisfied with my meatloaf.
4. I am beginning to understand why some families eat out or do carry out so many nights. Making dinner while watching a toddler is hard (exhausting) work.
5. At the end of the day I have a wonderful husband who comes home and listens to me complain, helps out and loves me.
6. Having your baby give you hugs and kisses for no reason is the BEST feeling in the world!!! and can take away any frustration you may be feeling for that moment.
7. I know this will happen again and I hope I handle my stress better next time and remember it is life (doubtful...but saying it is the first step...baby steps).

Missing Daddy

My daddy has been out of town for a very long time (he is busy working) and I really miss him.
I miss when my daddy comes home from work and I yell "da da!" and run to the gate to greet him.
I miss building lego towers with my daddy.
I miss making funny faces at him during dinner.
I miss going for walks at night with daddy, mommy and Cole and watching daddy play fetch with Cole.
I miss playing silly games with daddy.
I miss daddy chasing and catching me.
I miss hanging out with my daddy on the weekends in our pajamas.

I miss my daddy and can't wait to see him soon!!!




Oh yeah, mommy and Cole really miss daddy too.

Scrub - a - Dub - Dub

My mommy is slacking on posting so I thought I would help her out...

One of my favorite times of the day is BATH TIME!!!! I get so excited that I try to take off my own clothes and climb in before my clothes are off. I have lots of toys to play with, but my favorite toys are cups. I like to fill them up and dump the water out (over and over).

Sometimes I try to blow bubbles. Mostly I end up drinking the water. My mommy says "yuck!" when I do that.

I get very sad when it is time to get out. Sometimes I even cry. I always try to run away before I am dried off.


Talk to you soon.
Love,
Kyle M. Berning

Daddy and Matching!?!

While mommy was busy, Daddy decided to get Kyle dressed for the park.








I think picking out clothes for Kyle should be left to mommy.

Oreo Cookies!

I used to be able to eat junk food in front of Kyle, but those days are gone. He knows what I have is better than his food. So I had to share my Oreo cookie with him the other night.


Yummy!!!!

We went straight from the high chair to the bath.

I Need My Privacy!

Recently Kyle has started to need some privacy when he is going poop. We started catching him hiding under the table or behind the curtain and then we would smell it when he came back to us and we figured out what he was doing. Sometimes he stands there and sometimes he squats. Now it is getting more obvious, like this morning we were playing and he tooted twice and took off running to hide under the table for a few minutes to finish his business. When he is finished he comes back to doing what he was doing before (making no indication of a needed diaper change). I then say to him "do you need a new diaper?" and he takes off towards the steps to go get a new diaper. I don't think we are near ready for potty training but at least he knows he needs to do this business in private.

I caught him while we on vacation getting some privacy. (I know it is strange that I took a picture and I am talking about him pooping in private, but it is so cute).

How Many Ways!?

Since Kyle has been sitting in his high chair eating finger food we have had a problem with throwing food and sippy cups on the floor. I feel we have tried everything and said "no throwing food" a million different ways. Here are a few that we have tried -
- "NO"
- "No no no"
- "No throwing food"
-"keep your food on your tray"
- stopping him before he throws it
- removing his tray for 1 minute after he throws food and saying "no"
-"please do not throw your food"
-"eat your food"
- making a startling noise when he is about to throw the food
- "all finished"
-moving his hand full of food away from the side of the tray and saying one of the many options listed above
- "NO!!!!!"

And what has Kyle learned from all of this??? Saying "no no no" and then throwing his food on the floor!!!! Trying to be sneaky and throwing food faster and when he thinks we are not looking.

Ug! At least when dinner is over I can call Cole into the kitchen to clean up the mess.

Dinner Text

During dinner the other night Kyle was very focused on something other than eating... sending text messages.




I am pretty sure at the end he is rolling his eyes!

Since he was so busy texting he did not realize that he was eating carrots. Something that is usually not a favorite of his.

Clean Teeth

Kyle enjoys getting his teeth brushed each night. After mommy brushes his teeth he always likes to give it a try himself.

The Zoo Times Two

Kyle had a busy social calender this week that included two trips to the zoo. On Monday we went to the zoo with Stephanie and Abby.


Kyle and Abby got to feed giraffes. (Well really their mommies did while being held). It was so cool. Here we are feeding Angel.



On Tuesday Kyle and I went to the zoo with Carolyn and Yoni. Kyle was just not having a good day and it was soon discovered that he was having an allergic reaction to his amoxicillin. I realized this after he had a second screaming fit and had hives on his face and arms. Poor baby!

After a quick call to the doctor and getting some benadryll from Carolyn (she is a very prepared mommy). We were off to have a better day.




Kyle is showing more of a reaction to the animals. He will look very carefully at them and sometimes point.

Spending the day at the zoo has been such a fun thing for Kyle and I to do this summer. I am sure we will be taking several more trips before our membership expires.

Bethany Beach - The Sand Journey

We just got back from a great vacation in Bethany Beach. We had great weather and fabulous time with all the family.

If you remember from previous posts Kyle does not like the sand. So we started out the week crying whenever he was on the beach.



Then we picked up a chair that was just Kyle's size. It was a perfect way for him to be comfortable on the beach and not have his feet touch the sand. We also got him a baby pool that allowed him to play in the water with his beach toys.


After a few days he would sit in the sand by his chair and play in the sand. Still not standing or walking.
Then on the last day he stood up and starting walking and crawling all over the beach. He was so proud of himself! And mommy and daddy were so proud of him too!




We hope that he remembers this accomplishment when we head back down to the beach in a few weeks.

Phone Time

I thought we would have to limit phone usage when he got a little older. We may have to start early.






He has not started texting yet.....

Dobbins Island Yacht Club

The Palletts and the Bernings met at Dobbins Island over the weekend.











We have heard that you are not to trespass on the island. But we never saw anything posted telling us to stay off.















Kyle seemed to tolerate this boat trip more than his first. Once the boats were anchored and it was time to swim and play on the beach without his life vest he was a much happier little guy. He is still not sure about the sand. When he was on the beach he would only move his upper body. I don't think he knows he can walk in the sand yet. He had fun collecting rocks and shells and putting them in his cups.


As soon as it was time to leave Kyle was asleep. Too much fun in the sun!







It was a great time and I am sure we will be meeting up again many times over the summer.

Doggie Paddle

Today we walked to the beach in our neighborhood. Cole loves to run on the beach and play fetch in the water. He just LOVES to swim and it gets a bunch of energy out of him. This was the first time Kyle has stood or walked in sand at a beach. He cried and did not like it when the water would come up and get his toes wet. After a few minutes and being allowed to hold Mommies sunglasses he did feel a little better. He definitely does not like it as much as the pool, but I think after a few trips he will soon be a beach bum!