Baking & Christmas

Kyle helped mommy make cookies last night! Can you tell?

Our tree

Jeff and I at his Christmas party.

Bowling

I had won a gift certificate for bowling. We decided to have some friends join us and take Kyle. He loved it... so long as he could bowl every frame :o). Actually, Kyle did really seem to enjoy it, but we did learn some lessons for the next time.
*4pm at a bowling alley is pretty busy. It would be better to go before nap.
*Get the last lane, so that Kyle can't run into the path of another bowler on BOTH sides.
*Get 2 lanes, so that Kyle CAN bowl every frame should he want to.
They had this cool contraption though. It is the ramp pictured. Basically, we would place the ball on top of the ramp, and Kyle would push it down. That way the ball would ahve enough momentum to get down the lane.
And yes, that is a 6 lb ball Kyle is holding in another picture. We really weren't allowed to help.

Some Recent Photos

Jeff has the camera on his trip, so these are from my phone. We haven't slowed down any with daddy out of town. We went to the firestation, saw helicopters at the neighborhood Christmas event, played at the bounce house, and got a (GASP) haircut!







Haircut and "Cheesing" for mom to take a picture.

He is SOOO all boy

Last night as Kyle and I sat reading books before bed, we heard a strange sound. It sounded like a cross between a sneeze and a gag. Since Jeff is out of town, we had to assume it was a cat :D. Kyle started giggling immediately. Ginger did it again, and he giggled harder. Of course, this started me giggling. I can already foresee his future... giggling because someone said "nuts" or some other benign word that COULD have another meaning. Hmmm... whoever could that remind me of - JEFF?

Big Changes

The Bergman family has lots of changes in the coming months. First, Jeff has taken a new job within GE Renewables. He is still catching the wind, but now it requires us to move with it... to Schenectady, NY. Can anyone say BRRR? Seriously, we are very excited about the new opportunity. There are lots of positives about moving North. Kyle will get to have 4 seasons including snow, the schools are far superior
and the traffic is a non-issue. His commute to work should rarely exceed 30 minutes at any time of the day.

Of course, moving means selling this house that we love. Bye, bye to the beautiful golf course view. Hello to building the home just like we want! We have been so spoiled with this place that we couldn't find anything to compare. Hopefully, the blueprints are underway! We will be anxiously awaiting an April move in! Did I mention that we sold our home already? In 17 days? Who says houses aren't selling :o)!? The best part is that the new owners-to-be are renting it back to us for the next 4 months, so we won't have to worry about temporary housing while the new place is being built!

Outside of that, I have TONS of Kylisms to share. I swear he seems to learn something new every single day! He has lots of words now - mostly involving transportation - of which he is absolutely OBSESSED! Car, truck, helicopter (I wish you could hear this though - totally precious!), train, clock, kitty cat, blueberries, and the list goes on. It is so funny how he can do what I would think are more difficult words, but balks on the easy stuff!

Kyle is very expressive now. OK, maybe that should read - DRAMA! The boy is over the top sometimes for the simplest things. I do believe we are hitting the "twos". If he can't do a minor task, he seriously fake cries. Too funny.

Some highlights of our week so far - Kyle came to the couch with this crinkled nose look on his face. He waved his hand in front of his nose like something was stinky. I asked what was wrong, thinking diaper. Then he led me to the kitchen and pointed to a paper towel. I asked if he wanted one. As I tore one off and went to hand it to him, he took off to the dining room. Turns out a cat had puked. I apparently needed to clean it up! Seriously, does he take after mom and dad or what???

I bought some prepared cookies from Nestle this week on sale. I thought Kyle might like to have a sugar cookie now and then and I wouldn't have to bake them all at once. Tonight, we tried them out. I decided to bake 4 stocking shaped cookies. Of course, to my son... they were DRILL shaped. Who else's child would think that? Kyle walked around making his drill noise, holding it in that manner.

Speaking of tools. A friend of ours from our Mommies' Group gave us a play shopping cart nearly a year ago. And Kyle loves it. He plays with it all the time. It must not be rolling quite as smoothly these days. Today, I found him turning it onto its side. Then he proceeded to get his toy hammer and screwdrivers out to do some maintenance. Only in the Bergman/Szabo house - he gets it honest from the both of us. Sorry! No pics. Daddy has the camera in India at the moment.

Painting Help

Jeff and my dad will be laying the new flooring in the basement this weekend. My goal before Jeff returned from Greenville and Dad arrived was to paint all the trim. Having a toddler makes this task a little challenging. During the last 2 naptimes, I have taped and managed to paint the game and play rooms. I THOUGHT I could remove tape and touch up the walls while he was awake. Yes, I could... but only if Kyle was able to "help". To save my sanity, I gave Kyle a foam paint brush with a bowl of water to "paint". He was certain he was painting. It worked perfectly! Now lets hope it doesn't leave marks on the wall. Shh... no one tell Daddy!

Wow!

This is Kyle's favorite new phrase. Jeff recently returned from a business trip to Canada. Since it was a conference, he came home with all the goodies that conferences provide - stickers, stress balls, keychains, flashlights, etc. Jeff also bought a few select treasures including a toy Air Canada plane. We piled all the items on top of the bookcase in our room so that Kyle could find them in the morning.

As soon as he realized Daddy was home, he raced to the bedroom. It took him all of 10 seconds to spot the treats. He went through each item before he got to the airplane. He picked it up and in that whisper, excited voice that only comes on for something really good, he exclaimed "WOW!". It was the tone that said, "I have wanted this forever". Great job, Daddy!

Mommy Let Me Play in the Rain

We were a little tired of sitting inside :)

I DID IT!

Not a lot of people know that I just completed my first mini-triathlon this weekend. I kept it hush-hush just in case I chickened out :o). Our neighborhood was sponsoring the event and it was strictly gym based, which I liked. That meant you rode the recumbent exercise bike, walked or ran on a treadmill and of course, swam in the pool. Although I used to be a competitive swimmer, I hadn?t swam laps for more than 15 years! That was the test. I started out at the pool a couple days a week. I think the first day I only swam 4 consecutive laps. The next trip, I thought, I will go for 10, which quickly became 30 in the allotted time. Whew! If I could do that, surely, I could ride an exercise bike and walk the treadmill.

I had it set up for 3 days of workouts per week. Of course, with vacations, Kyle being Kyle and the basement renovation, I want to say that I averaged closer to 1 ? workouts per week when it was all said and done. I figured that chasing (literally) and lifting a 30 pound toddler daily had to count for some exercise. As it turns out, I was right. The day of the event still snuck up on me though! They decided the format would be 30 minutes on the bike, then 30 minutes on the treadmill and 15 minutes in the pool. Your total distance would be added at the end to determine the winners.

The best part of the event was when Jeff and Kyle and Vi showed up at the gym to cheer for me. I had about 5 minutes left on the treadmill and was actually cruising along to Maniac on the iPod. What a perfect song to end a run on, by the way! It was funny to watch Kyle as he recognized the sweaty woman on the treadmill as mommy. Daddy had him dressed very appropriately too in his WVU jersey for a college football Saturday. They got to be there for my entire swim event too. Jeff was a huge help in letting me know how much time was left, which can be a challenge when you aren?t in a pool set up for swim races ? no big clock catch a glimpse of as you make a turn.

I completed 10.24 miles in the course of the 3 events. Sadly my 30 laps in the pool doesn?t add up to much in mileage. But only 2 people swam further than I did. I like that! And while I didn?t place, I am excited to simply have set this goal and made it! Thank you to my wonderful family who did without me while I hit the gym or pool! Maybe, just maybe I am not as out of shape as I thought.

Spoiled Milk

Kyle has very truthfully never thrown up... until today. Mommy and Daddy were debating on who would go get the little one up as he yelled from his room. I poured the milk into a sippy and we trotted back together.

It was his favorite TV time - The Wiggles - so Kyle settled in with half a banana and a milk. Before Jeff could say his goodbyes, Kyle came into the kitchen giving his best Scarlett O'Hara impression. Hand to the forehead, head bowed. I picked him up and he promptly puked all over my shoulder. Good morning, Mommy. Daddy, of course, was beside himself with glee. It wasn't his shoulder after all :o).

I cleaned Kyle and myself up, and Jeff left for work. I threw the partial banana away thinking it was the culprit, checked for a temperature in Kyle - no heat. Huh?! After a while, I offered plain Cheerios to help settle the stomach. He picked up the remaining milk and downed it along with the Cheerios. Then he walked behind the couch and threw up AGAIN!

OK, now it is time to become a sleuth! I immediately go to the refrigerator and look at the milk. September 8th is the date. That SHOULD be fine. I open it up and it has that tinge of going bad, not the snap your head back, but definitely not great.

FAN-freakin-TASTIC! I was the cause of the whole mess! Poor guy, Mommy poisoned him! The good news is that he bounced back and was able to spend some quality time with Miss Vi so I could run errands. And sushi with Mr Yoon was great tonight.

Note to self though - ALWAYS smell the milk!!!

Guess Who Learned to do a Somersault?

No, Jeff already knew how :o). Kyle has been able to with assistance for sometime now, but today - whoop! Right over, all alone!

Don't Drink the Water

This is a cute one from yesterday... but a little too long for the "Day in the Life". Kyle likes to help feed the cats. I fill the coffee can with food and he will pour it in one of the bowls. Since he doesn't have a pause button, we have to fill the can for each bowl. After filling the last bowl though, he bent over and I was afraid he was planning to play in the water or food. No - he was trying to DRINK from the cat water fountain like Fred does. He likes the water fountain at the pool. I can only assume he figured it was just like that!

New Feature on the Left Side of the Blog

I have added a new feature to the blog called "A Day in the Life of Kyle". I will post quick snippets of what I find entertaining throughout our days. Be sure to stop by and check them out!

Myrtle 2009

What a fabulous trip! Sorry it took so long for me to post pictures. It took me a while to wade through the hundreds - yes, hundreds of photos to choose from. Kyle was a great little traveller - not a single negative peep out of him for the 6 hours in either direction. Of course, there was the occasional "uh oh" or signing for "all done". But after 6 hours in the car, who isn't "all done" :o).

Kyle LOVED the ocean, much to my surprise. While he was pretty cautious with it, but he was fairly certain he ruled the beach! I suppose it was the space. The beach is so wide there at low tide that he had plenty of running room. We visited the Cherry Beach Pier and Alligator Adventure where he got to see a live version of his favorite animal, Zooboomafoo, a lemur. Of course, there were lots of seagulls. Though Kyle couldn't imagine why they wouldn't stand still for him as he ran at them yelling "Twee, twee" (his sound for birds). He even stayed up after bedtime to run in the dusk on the beach - barefoot!! That was almost more than he could stand.

All in all, it was really a fun trip and we are looking forward to more beach vacations!

Happy 8th Anniversary to Us!!

A little busy this year to go away :o(. Of course, we have only been home from Myrtle a little over a week! We started construction on the basement yesterday. One of the tray ceilings is nearly framed out. You can actually see a room taking shape. Jeff leaves for Greenville tomorrow though and then NY on Monday. We will have to try and catch a weekend in September to scoot up to Ellijay.

Uh Oh!

I have lots of updating to do since our vacation, including some fabulous pictures from our Myrtle Beach trip. In the meantime, I will leave you with the latest in Kyle's adventures. On the 6 hour drive to Myrtle, he was a dream, as expected :o). He also learned something new... the phrase "uh, oh!" It started innocently with a few tools dropped out of the car seat.

Now though, we are often awakened in the morning to the glorious sounds of "uh, oh". Typically, this means you will find him in an empty crib. Everyone and everything is ejected while "uh, oh" is uttered over and over. Sorry Taggie Elephant, Chicken, Wally and Teddy, but Kyle has to practice it somehow!

Chattahoochee Nature Center

Another exciting day in the life of Kyle Bergman. Today, Mom and I took him to Chattahoochee Nature Center. He loved it. Of course, he LOVES animals, of which there were plenty to see. They had displays with fish, turtles, frogs, hawks, bald eagles, beavers, and then nature provided us with geese and butterflies. What more could a little boy want

We spent another great afternoon at the pool. Daddy joined in on the slide fun today!

My Brave Boy

Mom and I took Kyle to the neighborhood pool this afternoon. He started out playing in the fountain, but then decided he should go in the pool. Fine, just had to put the water wings on. Suddenly, Kyle takes off down the side of the pool toward the waterslides. He was very animated in "telling" us where he was going. I explained that we couldn't go on, so he watched awhile and would clap for the riders coming off the slide. Finally, I saw another mom riding with her son and asked the rules. I haven't had a need to know whether I could ride with a child, I guess :). Anyway, he was allowed just no flotation device.

I asked Kyle if he wanted to go on the slides and he giggled. We took the water wings off and went up the stairs to the slide. He LOVED it!! We went on at least 10 more times. I was so surprised and had a ball! He just gets braver by the day! I will post pictures once we get them off Mom's camera.

Give the kid a break!

I suppose that is what the last 35 days or so were. It is official though, Kyle is teething AGAIN! Poor thing! Last night was the first time he had woken in the night in some time, so I fished around a little and sure enough... 2 year molars under the gum. UGH! They don't seem to be bothering him too much yet. We had noticed some chewing and were speculating. I guess we were just hoping that wasn't the case. He got his first tooth roughly at this time last year. His last first year tooth came in while we were in WV last month. So basically he got a 1 month reprieve and bam... back in the game.

Trying it out...

Just discovered this really cool gadget on my iGoogle homepage! I can do quick notes on anything and they are supposed to automatically update the blog. You may have more information on the Bergman family than you ever cared to know :o). Of course the posts with cool pictures will take a little more effort still. Hope everyone is having a fabulous summer!

Tuesday Ramblings

I have been neglecting my blog here recently. It has gotten much harder to spend time on the computer now that Kyle is beyond mobile. He will very literally stand between me and the counter and push me away. Apparently, I am needed for the ever important game of golf using a mini Red Sox soft baseball and a turkey baster. Yes, I said turkey baster, as everything in the remote shape of a golf club is in fact a golf club in Kyle's eyes. He would literally hit balls in the back yard for hours, Except that after the second hit, Mommy or Daddy better be willing to chase the ball down into the pinestraw. That would be fine, if only I ever wore shoes LOL.

I have to tell you that we are impresssed with his hitting. Now maybe every 17 month old grabs a club with the correct grip, has a backswing and hip action... I just don't know. We don't see any other 17 month olds golfing. Of course, he has no concept of hitting it to anywhere yet. All in due time.

Yesterday, Jeff took the morning off and we all went to Zoo Atlanta. What a perfect day for it! It still hit the 80's, but very little humitidy. Kyle adores animals almost as much as vehicles. Some of his favorites were the Meerkats (which is also Daddy's fav), the lemurs (like Zooboomafu), the birds, and the petting zoo. He has mastered several animal sounds at this point. In the bird house, all we heard was "twee" or "ckk" (which is his duck sound). Anything that remotely resembles a cat, gets the cat noise and then there is the dog noise that sounds remarkably like a "roar". Since the petting zoo was such a hit, Jeff and I decided to try some of the more local sites like Cagle's Dairy, Tanglewood or Petitt Farms. Tune in for those adventures in the coming months.

Summer Travel

We have been busy this summer and it is only the middle of July!!

Kyle and I flew to WV in June to visit with MaMa and Grandpa Szabo. He even had the exciting adventure of spending the night there alone while Mommy went to Vegas. Ooh la la! Kyle had big fun seeing the horses out at Oglebay and heading to the Good Zoo. Better yet though was the animal menagerie found just between MaMa's and Aunt Tracey's house - birds, chipmunks, kitties and the occasional ferret! He thought he was big stuff running between the 2 houses.

I almost forgot about the trucks and cars. My son might be surprised to learn that golfers aren't in everyone's back yard, but he was even more surprised that some people have cars and trucks riding past their front door every single day! Life in the suburbs. How we managed to leave WV without taking pictures, I will never know. I can only assume it was because Kyle barely stood still!

In July, the whole family flew to Boston for the annual trip. We spent our lazy days at the Cape, enjoying the the Children's museum, beach, 4th of July parades and lots of cousins. We took a ton of pictures, so I am putting them in a slideshow for your enjoyment.

Tellus Science Museum

Adventure number 2 for this week - Tellus Northwest Georgia Science Museum. What a great find only 25 minutes away! Kyle would have been content to stay outside of the museum if he could just touch the trucks on display. This was his favorite. It was so big that he could walk under it without bonking his head!



He really enjoyed the transportation exhibit - walking from car to car to car. But then we discovered "My Big Backyard", with science experiments designed with the little ones in mind. There were more buttons to push than he knew what to do with! All the running from site to site wore the poor thing out! He fell sound asleep on the way home. We will definitely make more visits there.

McKenna's Farm

Another busy day! Today we visited McKenna's Farm which specializes pediatric therapy sevices for ages 0-21 yrs old. We are so lucky to have great moms in the mommies' group scoping out activities for us. It was really a great time!

We got to feed, pet, and brush the horses. No riding today, but none necessary. Kyle especially enjoyed hanging out in the barn where he could run between the stalls to visit whichever horse was poking his/her head out. I think Storm was his favorite, but my camera battery had died by the time he decided that :). He also spent some time with the barn kitties, who surprisingly didn't mind his hugs.

Touch a Truck

Kyle thought he might have died and gone to heaven! Today was Touch A Truck sponsored by our county recreation department. They had a ladder fire truck, bucket truck, race car, amulance, farm equipment, and the ever popular police car and motorcycles. He even got to set the siren off in the police car!

Here are a few pictures from his exciting morning. I put them in slideshow format. Hope it works!!

Happy Belated Easter

Here are some pictures from our trip to Indiana. The whole family rendezvoused at Aunt Steph's and Uncle Joe's new place. We stopped at Nashville Zoo on the way up, which accounts for Kyle's fat lip. Then Friday, we hit the Children's Museum in Indy. What a huge place! Good times had by all!

Ring Around the Rosey - sort of

We have been playing ring around the rosey. Kyle particularly likes the "down" part. I am pretty sure he is saying it too, when he isn't distracted by the screw holes in the temporary wall :-).

New Addition to the Bergman House

A Sandbox!!

Mommy and Daddy decided since we don't use one of the garden beds for actual gardening anymore, it may as well become a sandbox for Kyle. Now with his water table, he has a little play mecca in the back yard. Of course, the stairs to the screened porch also provide moments of interest.

This is stage one, no dirt and lots of sand! Stage two will be putting a roof over the sandbox and also creating a cover to lay directly over the sand. So far, Kyle is very happy with the results!

We also had some challenges while walking the slopes in the yard. Notice the scratches and forehead bruise in the bath shot. Builds character :-).

Happy Birthday Daddy!

This is a picture of Kyle in his outfit from the birthday dinner last night. Happy Birthday Daddy!

OK, so it is even HARDER now that he is older to get online. Kyle desperately wants to be on my computer if I am. We actually can rarely use the desk because he has found ways to pull the computers toward him! Oh well.

Lots to report here actually. First and foremost, he walks!! The second video is some of his early attempts. He is walking probably 75-90% of the time. He is no longer content to sit in play. Our days consist of him picking up a toy, walking into another room, then coming back with a different toy.

Secondly, from the walking video, you can see his other new talent. He communicated very clearly yes with a nod and no with the shake of his head. Well, ok, clearly might be a stretch, thanks to a goof up on my part. When I would ask a yes/no question, I would nod when I said yes, but immediately follow with shaking the head no while saying no. SOOOO, my brilliant deduced that yes was demonstrated by nodding, then shaking no. If he means no though, it is a definite no, no nodding on that one.

He had his first real sickness this week, alas, the dreaded ear infection. When we went to the doctor, she of course wanted to check him with a stethoscope. She made the mistake of asking if he wanted to touch it first, to which he shook his head NO. Then she asked if she could touch Mommy with it, again a NO, with the added whimper for good measure. at least he knows what he wants.

We have been enjoying gorgeous spring weather here in Georgia. Kyle has been taking wagon rides with Wally (the Red Sox mascot), playing at his water table on the side porch and his very favorite, playing on side porch when Daddy gets home from work. The only glitch in our outdoor playtime. He hates the feel of grass on his feet.

Hope you enjoy the videos!

Here We Go, Steelers!

Just a quick popin to say - congratulations to our Steelers, SUPER BOWL CHAMPS! Oh, and the only team in the NFL with 6 (COUNT THEM - 6!) Super Bowls!

I will try to get back this week to post JAMAICA pictures, mon! No problems :)!!

11 months today!

Oh where has the time gone! I haven't really posted lately because my camera died just before Christmas. Now there is so much to tell, I don't even know where to begin!

We travelled to WV for Thanksgiving. Kyle loved hanging out with Olivia and Kelaen again. He also decided right around that time, that maybe he would like to try REAL vegies out. Forget this baby food stuff! Here is a quick video of him eating peas one of the first times. We have since graduated to carrots, beets, turkey, chicken, ham, and anything Mommy and Daddy are eating that maybe he could taste :)

Immediately following our holiday in WV, Kyle decided to graduate to true crawling and GASP crusing around tables and furniture. When did he get so big? No walking yet, but there have been momentary sightings of standing without any support.

Kyle was a very lucky boy for Christmas, as it lasted 3 weeks! Nana and Grandpa Bergman were here the week before, then there was Christmas with Mommy and Daddy, and finally the following week with MaMa and Grandpa Szabo. Never fear though, he was a champ through it all. I don't think he knew what to make of Christmas this year. Really, Mom's box from Grandma Miller and Dad's new bungee cord set were pretty exciting in his book. Kyle got lots of goodies, mostly musical - xylophone, drum set, leap frog table, and a cool set of WVU balls. We often find him playing with one and rocking his body to the beat. Daddy and Mommy didn't do too badly either. Dad FINALLY got that drill press he had been wanting. And Mom got her Wii Fit! Woo Hoo!

Here are a couple of our favorite Christmas shots. The one on his train is from the night before... notice just a few presents. The second one is the Saturday following Christmas for the WVU bowl game. He was playing with his snowmen. "I'm gonna eat some gingerbread...." I swear, I will be singing that for months to come!

I promise more to follow as we fast approach the first birthday!