Catching Up... by Dylan

Hi folks, this is Dylan...you know, the baby that's featured in almost every post since the day he was born. Since my mom has been such a slacker, I decided to catch her up.

A couple weeks ago, Mom took me on my first plane ride to Salt Lake to visit my Grammie and Grampie. I was so good on the plane ride! Mom fed me during take-off, then I slept for a little bit, woke up and smiled for the people around me, and then fell back asleep for landing! Woohoo! Here I am on the plane... Mom had a hard time holding me and taking the picture:


When we got there I was a little grumpy because I didn't get much sleep the night before and my naps were all off, but Grampie was so nice and still played with me even though I would fuss. He even sat outside with me for long periods of time to calm me down:



My first night there, we celebrated Aunt Jessie's birthday and got to watch her and cousin Vera dance around for us. We had yummy fruit pizza instead of birthday cake (well, everyone else had fruit pizza...):


The next night, lots and lots of people stopped by to visit me and Mom. They started rolling in around 4:30 and kept coming even after I was in bed! It was nice having so many people willing to hold me since I was still a little fussy... Look at all these people (and these are only the ones who were in the pictures...there were more!):







The rest of the week, I spent time with my cousins. Cousin Vera loved helping to take care of me and holding my hands. She also would remind me not to suck my fingers. Cousin Reuben would get so excited when I was down on the floor with him. He really liked to touch my face and I'd let him, but our Moms kept stopping him...




I got to see snow... Mom even made me hold some, which I really didn't like:


I went for walks in the cool air and got to use my super-cool sweatshirt:


I got my picture taken...a lot! Mom loved Grammie's awesome camera so she would snap pictures of me all day long. These are from a shoot that lasted all morning (yes, all in one morning). There were a total of 47 pictures by the time she was done:







I also spent lots of time with my Grammie. She makes me so happy! We have lots of videos of her making me laugh and laugh and laugh. I just think she's the funniest person I know!


I also got to try peas for the first time...and I loved them! Eventually I couldn't get enough of them. I'd lean forward for each bite and get antsy in between. Needless to say, I made a bit of a mess:


The last day we were there, Mom went out with her friends so I could have some alone time with Grammie. She went to a yummy dinner and then decorated some Tax Day cookies with her friend Natalie. If you ask me, I think they're all a bit crazy...





For the flight home I was just as good. I ate on take-off, slept for a while, smiled and cooed at the man next to me, then sucked my binky nicely for landing. No problems!!

The day after we got back, I got to play with my cousin Jack all day long! He tried to beat up on me, but since I'm so big and tough his punches didn't bother me one bit...



I'm also learning how to grab things (and put them in my mouth, of course). I especially like my stuffed animals because they're so big and easy to grab:



We've also discovered that I must be allergic to rice cereal. The last two times I've eaten it, I've done this to Mom two hours later. We're going to experiment once more in a little while just to be sure it's the rice cereal, but we'll be better prepared for the possible result:


Other than that, I've just been working on being a cute little boy:



Thanks for reading. If you made it this far, you must really be my friend!!

P.S. I start day care this week... Wish me luck!

Frame of Reference

I know, I know...I haven't posted in a while and I have quite a bit to post (like almost a month's worth of Daily Dylans, which I'm debating, and all about our trip to Salt Lake), but today I got a very clear picture of just how much our little boy has grown since he was born.

In our birthing class, the nurse suggested that we take a picture of our baby next to the same stuffed animal throughout his life as a frame of reference. I thought this was a great idea but for some reason I never really thought about doing it. (I know, with all the pictures I take of him each day you'd think I'd remember to take one with a stuffed animal once a month).

Anyway, today I was taking pictures of Dylan with his monkey because he was squishing him and eating him. Then I remembered that my mom took a picture of Dylan at 2 weeks old with the same monkey:


I realize he's grown in the last 5 months (yes, he really is almost 5 months old!), but it was shocking to see how much he's actually grown...and I'm not sure how I should feel about this. Excited that he's growing up and learning new things? Yes! In awe at how amazingly fast our bodies develop? Yes! Sad that my little boy isn't so little anymore? Yes...

The Little Things

Lately I've been trying to focus on little things that make me happy...and to be grateful for them. Today while I was on a walk with Dylan, I thought of a few things that seemed little but meant a lot to me. Whether or not you're interested, here they are:

-- Last Thursday, Shane's dad watched Dylan while his mom and I went on a bike ride for an hour. It was a beautiful day...and because of all the rain we've had the ride was beautiful and green. We returned from the ride to learn that Roy had taught Dylan about hammers and screwdrivers. I'll have to get the pictures because they're so so cute!

-- Last Friday Shane didn't have work...they had a "Spring holiday" (whatever that means) so we basically got two whole Saturdays with him! It was so much fun having him home with us for an extra day.


-- Yesterday after our walk, Dylan and I encountered our next door neighbor out front pulling weeds...in our part of the yard! She immediately said, "Tell Shane I love pulling weeds. I get so much satisfaction from pulling up their roots!" I said something about having plenty to pull from all the rain we got and told her I wasn't offended. We talked a bit more about the weather and such and then Dylan and I went inside. I thought this was the end of our conversation, but a few minutes later the doorbell rang. There she was again, but this time offering me a freshly clipped rosebud from one of her many bushes. I dropped it in a bud vase in our kitchen. This was a very small act on her part, probably just an afterthought while she was out pruning, but I really appreciate it. For some reason it made me feel good to know that she thought I'd enjoy the rose.

-- This morning I walked into the kitchen to find that same rose had opened and looked like this, which brought a smile to my face. I was sure to thank my neighbor when I saw her outside this afternoon. She then offered to replace the rose with a new bud when this one wilts...


-- Today I stopped by Shane's parents' house to drop something off. I ended up staying for an hour and then leaving Dylan there for almost two more hours so I could run and errand and get some cleaning done around the house [for some reason Dylan won't sleep through vacuuming :)]. I was hesitant when Shane's mom first offered...because I don't like to be a burden, but in the end I was very grateful because I was able to get so much done! Thanks Connie (and Tom and Roy)!!

-- On Monday Dylan took a nap that lasted an hour and twenty minutes, without any motherly intervention (i.e. binky replacement, rocking, etc.), and he woke up happy!! If you haven't read any of my earlier rants, Dylan can't seem to sleep longer than 40 minutes at a time and most of the time wakes up very grumpy and still tired (most times he'll quiet down and try to go back to sleep as soon as I pick him up). Sadly, he hasn't slept longer than 40 minutes since, but at least I can see that he is capable of sleeping longer...someday.

-- Dylan loves going on walks, which we do pretty much every day in the afternoon when he gets too fussy to handle (because by 4:00 PM he's quite grumpy from all his 40-minute naps). As soon as he's in his stroller, he's content and by the end the heat and the sun wear him out and he's so cute!


-- Because Dylan loves being outside so much and because we live in Arizona, I invested in the hat shown in the picture above...but I still felt bad for his little eyes. Today I bought him some sunglasses that have an elastic band that connects in back to help them stay on better. When I first put them on, he wouldn't open his eyes...it was funny. He looked so cute all decked out for his walk today!


-- As you can see in the picture above, Dylan finally figured out how to keep Nuk binkies in his mouth. As sad as I am to see his little soothie with the dog attached be retired, I feel like these are more convenient and will be better for his mouth in the long run (Before you tell me not to let him get attached, let me tell you that he is an accomplished finger sucker. I think I'd prefer a binky I can later throw away to fingers that I can't so I'm trying to get him to like it better than his fingers...so far I don't think I'm winning). Anyway, I think he looks so cute with them in his mouth!

-- As of Tuesday, Dylan is a solid-foods eater! His first encounter wasn't so successful, but on his second try today he figured out how to keep the food in his mouth and eventually I couldn't shovel it in fast enough!


-- Dylan has found his voice...actually many different voices...and he loves to hear and explore the noises he can make. His current favorite is a whisper/growl that is adorable. It almost sounds like he's trying to make an 'h' sound, but in the back of his throat...so I can usually get him to make it if I just say "Hi" to him. We've been trying to get it on video, but once the camera is out, he always stops performing. Instead, I'll just have to show a picture of the face he makes when he makes the sound:


-- Dylan also has learned to stand. Often times when I really intend for him to sit on my lap, he ends up standing. When he first stands he stiffens his whole body and makes the funniest face...but I don't have any pictures to share. Instead, enjoy a repeat of the post-bath picture from the last post:


-- Finally, one not so little thing that makes me happy is knowing that I'll be in Salt Lake on Saturday!! Dylan and I are going to brave an adventure to the airport and on an airplane together so we can visit family and friends. Wish us luck!

Well...the list ended up being much longer than I originally anticipated, and the things on there aren't as 'little' as originally intended (starting solid foods is kind of a big thing), but I guess it's good I have so many things to be happy about right now...and that's probably what I should be focusing on.

Guess who's 4 months old!

Really?? Four months old??

That's right, our little boy is already four months old! Today we had his doctor's appointment. Along with all his yucky shots, we learned the following:

Head: 42 1/2 cm (50th percentile)
Height: 25 in (50th percentile)

Weight: 18 lbs 12 oz (95-100th percentile)

We're back on the charts in weight! I think Dylan realized that he could avoid the discomfort and spit-up associated with overfilling himself if he deflected some of his sucking to his fingers and binky. Yes, this boy likes to suck on anything and everything he finds.

We've had so much fun these last couple weeks and I have a few posts planned, but here are just a few sneak peeks:





{Yes, I have awesome photo editing skills...}

Check back for more updates soon!