Comments from Kyler  

(written October, 2003)

For those of you who don't know me, my name is Kyler Christopher Smith, and I am 3 1/2 years old. I go to school at New Haven Day School and take dance lessons with my Mama at Miss Micki's School of Dance. 

Guess what? I still like trains! See my drawing up there? I draw all different kinds of trains, and sometimes I write stories about them and even make books! I especially liked drawing pictures of trains at the fair (see picture on the right)! Of course I still like riding trains, like at Eastland Mall and Frontier City (above, left). One day I got to ride a big train in Arkansas with Mama and Daddy. It was pretty cool.

I am still learning a lot, like how to write my letters. I am really good at writing my name now. We'll have to put that on the website soon. I am also learning my letter sounds so I will be able to read when I get bigger. I have started tracing around things, like my hand or the states on my USA puzzle. I trace a state and then draw a train around it and write the state's abbreviation (my Mama tells me what it is) on the state. I have a lot of fun drawing at my desk, and I also enjoy drawing on my MagnaDoodle and the blank book my Daddy brought home from India. 

I also like to do things on my own, like get my own banana, peel and eat it. I can help Mama feed the dogs and pick up around the house (sometimes.) I can also get myself dressed. If my clothes were hanging lower, I would pick them out all by myself too. 

My favorite new toy is my new Thomas bicycle! I will have to show you a picture of me on it as soon as Mama puts the pictures on the computer. I drive on the sidewalk between our next door neighbors' driveways, but I don't go too far unless a grown-up is with me.

I'd better take off! Thanks for coming by to visit. Come back again soon!

Kyler 

(written 07-17-03)

Well. . . I like trains! That's my favorite thing right now. I'm even starting to draw trains. Ever since Mama and Grandma took me to Dallas to see Thomas the Tank Engine at the Dallas Railway Museum, I have been a 'big honkin' train fanatic!  I was Thomas for Halloween, got lots of train stuff for Christmas and then had a Thomas birthday party and got more train stuff. My favorite color is even blue like Thomas! (Daddy, Grandma and David also like blue best.) We are going to see Thomas again soon in Kansas, when we're on our way to Chicago, and I am excited about that. One day Daddy and Mama took me to a model train show in Dewey, and we bought a model train. We call it a "cheese train," because it has advertisements on it for various kinds of cheese--even my favorite, Macaroni and Cheese! Best of all, it has a bright blue engine like Thomas. We saw some other trains in Bartlesville, like the "big honkin'" engine we looked at and the one we rode at the kiddie park. I even got to jump inside a big locomotive and get a train painted on my face at Wooloroc. I am learning everything I can about real trains and train cars too, and I hope we will see some on our vacation. Mama says I have "train radar" and can spot a train a mile away. 

Besides doing train stuff this summer, I have been going to the library and taking swimming lessons. I have also had fun going to Rocky Pointe, which is Uncle Bryan and Aunt Kendra's property. I went to summer school at New Haven in June and got to go upstairs with the big kids, where I will be in preschool next year. Speaking of New Haven, I also enjoyed my last year in the nursery at Vacation Bible School. Mama says I will be too big to be in the nursery when I'm four, but I wish I could stay in there "forever."

I almost forgot to tell you about my different names. Sometimes I like to go by "Engineer Three," but Mama says she is going to start calling me "Whyler." That's because I ask why all the time. She used to always call me "Mr. Hands," and sometimes she still does. It just depends on what I'm doing. I do know my real name, though, and I now know how to pronounce it so that people will not call me Tyler. I pretty much know how to spell my whole name now, too, with a little prompting from Mama. She just made it into a song, and that helped me learn it. The "Christopher" part is still a little challenging, but I'm just about to get it.

My Daddy came home from India, and he's not going to go back again! I was really happy to see him when we went to the airport, and I have been having fun with him at home. He started working at an office, but I still see him when he gets home and on the weekends. We have fun things planned, too, like our trip to Chicago! When Daddy was gone, we made countdown charts, and I got a sticker every day. Whenever a chart got full, that meant it was a special day. Now I get to put stickers on my train chart when I am good. When a section of the chart gets full, I get a prize. I have been good and have gotten a lot of stickers lately, so I am about to get James (the train).  I already got Derek (the train) when Mama took me to the Zany Brainy train sale the other day. I also wrote my name on a train whistle, got my face painted again and got an engineer's license there. It was fun until I accidentally rubbed the paint off my face on the way home. :( We went over to Janice's (next door neighbor's) house to cheer up, and she gave us some paint so Mama could redo the picture of Thomas. That silly guy at Zany Brainy had forgotten Thomas's wheels anyway (hehehehe)!! 

That's all for now. I'd better get the train going. ALL ABOARD!

Engineer Three

(written 06-19-02)

Pretty soon I will be able to really tell Mommy and Daddy what to write here, and before we know it I will even be typing it myself. I am getting sooooooo big, and I am learning a lot! I now know all of my letters, and I can count up to five objects! I am learning the sounds letters make and starting to spell some words I can spell and read "Mama," "Daddy," "Cat" and "Kyler" all by myself. I am going potty on the toilet a lot now, too, but I can't always stop what I'm doing to go to the bathroom. A lot of things have changed since the website was last updated, too. Let me tell you about what we've been doing. 

Mommy and I are staying home a lot more now, which is nice. I do like going to the office from time to time, though, but now I get to spend a lot more time with Mommy. Lately I have been taking naps at the office while Mommy helps Uncle Bryan. I like going to sleep to the Enya CD and sleeping with the Powerhouse blanket and throw pillow! Of course it's great when I get to see Uncle Bryan and Aunt Kendra, especially after having taken a nice, refreshing nap!

Before my birthday, I got to go to California with Mommy and Daddy to see Mickey at Disneyland. I had fun there with Mommy and Daddy, and we got to do a lot of fun stuff. You will have to look at our Disneyland Pictures to see what I'm talking about. We also went to Legoland to ride some more rides and see more cool stuff.

My birthday was great, too! I got a button that said, "Hooray, I'm Two," but it got lost. Mommy was amazed when I said, "I lost my 'Hooray, I'm Two' button in the house." I do like to talk! I got a lot of cool presents, like my drawing desk and my Clifford Backpack.  I got to blow out two candles on my birthday cake, too. I went to Chuck E. Cheese's on my birthday with Mommy, Daddy, Aunt Kendra, Uncle Bryan and Grandma B, and then we had a party the next day at our house. I think you will find pictures of my birthday party in our gallery. 

I haven't had school for awhile, and I do miss my friends. Mommy is nice, but sometimes I like to play with people my size. Mommy says I will get to go again in the fall, whenever that is! 

We have been doing some different stuff lately. I got to go to have eight swimming lessons with Miss Jane, and now I really like the water! I can make "rocket hands" and kick my feet while someone helps me swim. I also like to "do a pop-under" and get all wet! I am learning how to float on my back. I also like to jump into the water, as long as a grown-up is there to catch me! I met some new friends at swimming lessons, too. Mommy asked if I wanted to go to swimming lessons next year when I'm three, and I said "yes." It was a lot of fun! I got to swim at Great Aunt Patsy and Great Uncle Fred's house on Father's Day and show everyone what I had learned. We bought our own swimming pool, and Daddy is going to set it up in our backyard so I can practice swimming. I even have my own life jacket! 

I also got to dance in Mommy's Dance Celebration Concert on June 9th. I had a lot of fun tap dancing on the stage with Mommy. I'm not sure what those bright lights were all about, though. They were messing me up!

Mommy and Daddy took me to my first movie at the theater. It was a movie about horses, but I always forget the name of it. My first comment as we walked in the door was, "That is a big TV!" I thought we were going to watch Shrek at first, because it started out the same. Mommy said that was just a preview on my Shrek video. I liked when the horses were happy in the movie.

Mommy took me to the library today for a storytime and signed me up for the summer reading program. That means I will get lots of neat stuff for reading books and going to the library. I didn't want to take a book home this time, but we read lots of books while we were there. Maybe I will take a book home next time. 

My favorite toy right now is my United States puzzle. I also call it my "hard puzzle." I can work the puzzle all by myself, and I am trying to learn the names of all of the states. I have already learned most of them. Next Mommy is trying to find me some world map puzzles, but she says they're all expensive. Anyway, I always want to know what everything is called, like when I'm eating my dinosaur fruit chews and ask everyone what the types of dinosaurs are!  Mommy says we're also going to have to get a book about dinosaurs. Maybe next time we go the library. . .

Bye Bye! 

from "Kyler, with a K" (What's YOUR name?)

(Archived On 08-24-01)

I still say I’m a baby, but Mommy and Daddy say I’m getting to be a big boy. (Does that mean the website will be changing to smithbigboy.com??) I like to say words like they do, and I know a LOT of words now!  Check out my vocabulary page to see some of the words I am saying.  I am holding out on some words, like my numbers. The only one I will say is “nine.” Mommy and Daddy really think it is funny when I count like this—“nine, nine, nine, nine, nine. . .”  They always try to get me to say those other numbers.  I said “two” today, just to see how they would react, and it made Mommy really happy.  I am learning my letters too.  So far, know the letters B, D, E, F, I, K, M, N, O, P, R, T and X.  It’s from all of those books people have been reading to me.  They love it when I say the names of the letters. It’s so easy to please those grown-ups!! 

Comments from Kyler (Archived on 09/02/01)

Wow! A lot has happened to me since the last time Daddy updated my webpage. I learned to walk just after Christmas, when I was 9 months old and have been getting more and more coordinated. I'm even running now! I have also been learning to talk. I am saying LOTS of words. Mommy and Daddy say I know over 50 now! I am always surprising them with new words. I like the look they get on their faces when I say something new, so I try not to say too much at once.  Imagine if I started speaking in sentences!!  I have to save something for later so they'll have something to look forward to. 

I have gotten a lot of new toys since the last update. First of all, Santa Claus came. I couldn't quite keep up with all of that, and I got really sleepy. It was fun, though. Then a few months later I had my birthday. By then I had pretty much figured out how to open the presents. My mommy and daddy let me eat something called cake. It was very sticky, and I didn't like the stuff on my fingers. It tasted yummy, though. Everyone kept trying to get me to hold up one finger. They say I am one year old now, but I'm not sure what that's all about.

My favorite birthday gifts were cars and balls!! I especially like playing with balls. I have some at the office and some at home, and every time we pull into our driveway I want to play with the football, basketball and baseball. I also like books! Mommy reads them to me before naptime, and Daddy usually reads them to me before I go Nigh-Night. Other people like Grandmas, Grandpas, Aunts & Uncles read to me sometimes, too. My favorites are my Elmo books, but I like them all a lot.

Mommy and Daddy say I'm going through a growth spurt. I know that I like to eat a lot, and I especially like to ask for a "(s)nack," "cookie," and "milk." If that's not enough, I do the sign and say the word "more." Then they give me more. It's that simple. I even do that when I want my Daddy to tickle me some more!! When I smile big enough you can see that my ninth and tenth teeth are coming in right now. They feel different, because they are in the back of my mouth. They don't feel too good when they start coming in. Those are on the top, but I think I might have at least more on the bottom pretty soon.

My Mommy and Daddy have been pretty busy, too, and not just with me. They will tell you what they've been up to. 

Bye Bye Bye Bye Bye. . . . 

"Kuh" (Kyler)

Comments from Kyler (Archived on 05/29/01)

I am getting so big! Last time Aunt Kendra weighed me I was 22 pounds, which means I'm not growing as quickly as I was. Thank goodness, Mommy says! I go to the doctor soon, and there I will be weighed again and probably poked with some yucky needles or something like that. They will also put me on that table so they can see how tall I am. I'm not sure what all of that stuff is all about, but I try to be a good boy.

I have three teeth now, and two more have almost broken through. I like to show the bottom ones off when I smile. Mommy and Daddy usually have to turn me upside down to see the top one, though. I can bite things now, so you'd better watch out! I especially liked the bread from Macaroni Grill and french fries from the hamburger place. Mommy says I still have to eat my vegetables, though. That's okay, 'cause I think they taste really good. I'm not so sure about the fruit, but I'm getting used to it.

I am also getting really smart. I am learning to find things when someone asks me where they are. Some of the things I can find are Mickey Mouse, my blocks, and my purple train. I am also learning words such as "Mama," "Dada," "Dog," and "Uh oh." "Uh Oh" is my favorite word, but even more than talking, I like to make noises. Sometimes I immitate noises grown ups make, and sometimes I just laugh at them. They can be so funny sometimes--especially Daddy! I am standing up really well now, but I'm a little scared to let go. I have done it a few times, but not on purpose! Crawling is easy for me now, but I would like to learn how to walk so I can get into more stuff and drive Mommy and Daddy crazy. For now I'll have to rely on the push toy Aunt Kendra brought from her work. 

I'm not sure what this Christmas thing is that Mommy and Daddy keep talking about. When Grandma and Mommy took me walking at the mall, they took me over to sit on this funny man's lap. He had a red suit and a lot of white hair growing on his face. I didn't know who he was, and Mommy said his name was Santa something-or-other. He was okay with me, I guess. I sat there for a minute and then Mommy picked me up and told me how good I was. Mommy said that guy was going to come to our house and bring presents. That sounds good, I guess. Then another day at the mall Mommy put me on this horse, and we went around and around in circles. I didn't know quite what to think of that either, but Grandma was pretty excited about it. She waved at me every time I passed by. That was quite interesting.

Comments from Kyler (Archived on 12/23/00)

(By the way, thanks to Aunti M for translating for Kyler!)

And Mom Says... (Archived on 12/23/00)