Tyler's Pizza Kitchen

Tonight is homemade pizza night. I thought I'd get Tyler in the kitchen to begin his training as my sous chef. We made a cheese and onion pizza, and a chicken pesto (whole wheat thin crust with low-fat cheese of course). He had lots of fun but he was so sad when the assembly was over and whined to make more! Anyone hiring?

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Tyler's Random Doings of the Week

Today he walked over to his new shoes, picked them up to say "new shoes dada". Next thing I know he had put them on himself and was walking around the room with them on!

Seems like there are 4-5 new words a day coming from his mouth. We really have to watch our "bad" words more carefully, as it seems like everything is repeated now.

He now counts 1-10 in english and spanish, and knows the difference!

He loves putting together puzzles more and more. Even some complex ones, he's able to find not only the right place for the piece, but also turns it in the right orientation too!

Sleep seems to be increasingly optional. He still naps, but seems to be shorter and shorter now. So much to do, and so little time for the little guy.

Tyler Counts with the iPad

I got one of the new iPads about a month ago. Mainly for reading, etc. But Tyler has taken to it and I think he thinks it is his own (like everything else around here). He has a few favorites: doodlebuddy, the alphabet game, and the newest is counting 123. Basically it presents a random number of the same object, and it counts off the objects as you touch them. In the video below, you can see Tyler adds his own "twist" to the game. It must be working well, as he can now count to ten in English and Spanish!

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Trying out Blogpress

Just a test message!



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Location:E Garden Ct,Saline,United States

Tyler Costanza

On most days I come home from work, and am greeted by a very smily and happy boy. Today was no different, except he was doing some serious "floor work". Having recently gotten a new battery for the SLR camera, I pulled it out to take some pics.

Here is my favorite, in which he essentially poses like George Costanza (Seinfeld character). He held it for a few seconds. I couldn't stop laughing! I put the comparison photo below

Okay, it's not an exact replica, but funny nonetheless.

If you want to check out more photos from today's "action", follow the link below to my MobileMe we album. You can see them in all their glory.  http://gallery.me.com/joshuavrabec/100128

Until next time....

Josh

It's a....

Hi everyone!

Been awhile since the last post. Lots have been going on. As you can see by the picture, we are expecting a new member of the family soon (May 10 to be exact). And today, we found out it's going to be a boy! Very exciting news, and we are thrilled that so far everything looks healthy. I'm sure as things progress, and after he's born, we'll use this blog more to keep you up to date on the family. Merry Christmas!

Haiti Eye Trip

Here are some pics from the Haiti Eye Trip in November. Had a great time. Did over 30 surgeries, mostly cataracts, a few pterygiums (growths over the cornea), and had fun with Pete and Mike. Great trip fitting glasses too. 

July Storm Damage

A huge thunderstorm hit with some big wind gusts. We were both watching out the front window when the huge oak tree across the street fell down! There was a shower of sparks and the power lines were shaking. Fortunately, our neighbors weren't home at the time, but the damage is still not all repaired. We were lucky the power lines didn't come down on our house.

Fratt's Wedding

Philippines Trip

too tired to explain these photos right now. i'll put in some captions in a few days. i had a great time doing the surgeries, and had some good R&R too. the other guy in some of the photos is Jeremy, one of the other ophthalmology residents at UW in my class. Poor Laura had to take care of the dogs on her own, all the while on her surgery rotation. I'm glad to be home!

Army Crawl!

Sorry for posting more stuff from Uli, but in this winter from hell, it is nice to have a puppy that makes me laugh daily I had some bits and pieces recorded from his crazy army crawl that he does when I get home from work. He actually used to do this all the time when he was a young puppy, but stopped for awhile. Now it's back in full force!

Holy Blizzard!!

It's been snowing for over 24 hours now, and although original forecasts were mixed (anywhere from 3-5" up to 14-18" depending on the source and time of day!), we finally are winding down on the snow. It was the same storm system that caused all of the tornadoes in the southeast last night.

This morning we only had about 3" of snow from overnight, and to tell you the truth I was kind of disappointed in a way. BUT, despite forecasts of only 3" more through the day, we got an absolute dump of another 10-12" from about 8 am to 5 pm. Oh, and about 25-30 mph winds made my drive home from work at noon just horrid. Too bad I didn't have a Durango! They actually canceled classes at UW Madison, which I've never seen happen in the 12 years I've been here

My last measure of snow at our house from this morning to now is a whopping 13", which for us, is pretty big snow. They say we might get up to 18" total. Not much by Nor-easter standards, but we've now had over 70" of snow this winter, the second most ever for Madison.

The dogs are really pissed off about it, as they completely sink into the snow. Uli has asked for a vacation at Bucky's house! Time to go shovel...crap!


During the height of the heavy snow, the driveway and road are completely covered

Brandy was lost in the deep drifts of the back yard

Uli as well, was lost, but was trying to dig himself out...and hopefully find China

Uli survives!

So did Brandy. Yep, he's THAT grumpy

Finally, the video below shows Uli navigating the snow, trying desperately to find a place to do his business. Find out if he's successful!

Uli, Time for Bed!!!

So Uli does this awesome thing. We go to bed around 10:30, and he got sick of getting put into the kennel, so he started to just jump into bed before we got to bed, hoping we wouldn't "notice". We finally gave in, and a few weeks ago, from across the house I yelled "Uli, time for bed!!!" He sprinted down the hallway and leaped up into bed, and sat up on my pillow, all proud of himself. So now, each night, we let Uli know and he sprints from wherever he is to the bed. So funny and cute. 

Today happens to be Uli's first birthday!!! Here is a funny video of the typical evening bed ritual. Brandy is pissed off and barks at him.

Stupid Packers

We had a really nice, but small, Packer party. And what do they do? Lay a turd on the frozen tundra. The play calling sucked big time. It reminded me of the two Bears games. Favre sensed that McCarthy didn't have any confidence in him, so he played tenatively too. Oh well, maybe next year. At least we have a young team. 

Sorry, no pics of me drinking beer and eating brats were taken.

Bathroom Update II...almost there!

Update 1/10/07: So despite being on-call this week, I've been able to make some big strides with the finish work. First is the new window, which now is complete with trim that I sanded/stained/cut myself (thanks to Nosaj for the saw!) The window was installed by Brian, and is a nice fiberglass frame that won't stain or get mildewy. Double-paned glass is tinted on the bottom so Brandy can't see me naked when he's outside.

We finally got our new vent cap by FedEx today. It is an unfinished oak, but will be stained to match the window trim. Might get to that this weekend, depending on how busy I get...

Here is the new door, which Brian and I installed on Monday night. It's a nice solid, mission-style that matches the window. I finished nailing up the trim on it today as well.

Here is the new door as viewed from the inside. We really love how solid it feels. (Andrew: no mirror going up on this one ;) )


Lastly, we just put up a little towel/robe hook, right next to the shower. We had been throwing everything on the floor, so this will be nice!

If anyone has any idea for curtains/blinds for the window, let us know. I was thinking of maybe a bamboo blind, but not sure yet. Other things left: fixing a couple cracks left in the floor grout, touching up the caulking around the tub and tile base, and the crown molding around the linen cabinet. Stay tuned!