Hatch Family Campout

This weekend marked the second annual Hatch family campout in Payson. Actually, the majority of the family is still up there camping, but our trip ended early because Shane had to work today. I didn't want to put off posting because I know myself and if I don't do it now, it won't ever get done, so here we go.

This year's campout was a month earlier than last. We weren't quite expecting the dramatic difference in weather and weren't completely prepared for the freezing cold sleeping conditions! We only brought short sleeve outfits for Dylan, with a sweatshirt and beanie just in case it was cold...which he ended up wearing the entire trip. He also had to have a blanket wrapped around his legs all day since we didn't bring him any long pants... He didn't seem to mind.


Cousin Jack came too...and it seemed between him and Dylan there was always a baby sleeping, eating, or needing to be changed, but we had plenty of willing, helping hands.


We celebrated my birthday a little early since everyone was already together. We had peach cobbler for my cake, and Shane and my parents gave me a new bike!! You can't see it very well in the picture, but it's a cream-colored beach cruiser with flowers and a very large basked on the front. Shane's parents brought their cruisers (from Christmas) up and all the kids brought their bikes too, so bike riding was how we spent a lot of our time. (Note: Dylan did NOT ride in the bike like this. We just thought he looked cute in my basket.)


Shane's dad left up the zipline from girls' camp (which was at the same campsite the week before), so we all went an took rides. Sadly, I don't have any pictures since there was only one camera present. Maybe I'll remember to add one later once I get them from Roy...

Thanks to Shane's parents, we ate some awesome meals in the 36 hours we were there: dutch oven turkey with mashed potatoes and green beans, dutch oven german pancakes, and ribs with potato salad and cantaloupe. Chance and Shane had a difference of opinions regarding the best way to organize food on a plate... (If you've never seen Shane eat mashed potatoes and gravy, it's worth inviting us over to dinner just to witness):



All in all, Dylan really seemed to enjoy camping...probably because he got to be outside all day long, which doesn't happen much at home these days thanks to the 100+ degree weather. The only problem he had was napping in the tent. I think he was a little overwhelmed by how red it was and how it moved in the wind... He wouldn't fall asleep on his own at all and would only sleep 40 minutes if he was by himself. If we slept with him, he slept better. It was difficult (yeah, right), but we managed to take some naps with him to get him the rest he needed:


I apologize for this next section, but it was a major part of our trip. Dylan had a bit of a cold when we left our house Saturday morning. I think the cold probably made it worse... By Sunday morning, every time Dylan coughed he'd finish the coughing fit with a nice big sneeze, leaving his face looking like this... It's a great way to clear out his nose!


Sadly, those are pretty much all the pictures I have from the trip. Last year, I took quite a few and got some of everyone. This year, I was a bit preoccupied with keeping Dylan clean, fed, rested, and happy. Shane summed it up best while we were cleaning up our tent: "Camping with babies is a lot of work!" We had a great time, though, and can't wait until next year...when we'll be chasing Dylan everywhere instead of carrying him!

Dylan's Favorite Toy

Every morning, Dylan gets very excited when he sees this:

Can't tell what it is? Let me help you out a bit...


I'm not sure why, but this is currently his favorite "toy" in the whole house (aside from the remote controls and cell phones that he only gets to play with on rare occasions). Every time I take a drink, he starts flapping his arms and reaching for the cup. Even though he can only see the bottom, he knows that if he grabs it and keeps rotating it, he'll end up at his favorite part: the straw cap...



He doesn't seem to get bored of the cup. I eventually end up taking it away so that we can play together! I used to work on getting the right amount of fluid each day by drinking while he was eating, but I can't do that anymore...as soon as he sees the cup, he's not interested in eating until it disappears!

6 months!

Can you believe our little Dylan is 6 months old?? Well he is...as of Wednesday. I meant to post on his actual 6-month birthday, but his doctor's appointment wasn't until Thursday and Shane's been out of town so life's been a bit hectic. Enough with the excuses, here's a picture of our 6-month-old man:

He had his 6-month check-up and we got new growth stats:

Height: 26.5 inches (50th percentile)
Weight: 20 lbs 2 oz (90th percentile)
Head: 44 cm (50th percentile)

It's crazy to think our boy has grown 6 inches (and gained almost 13 pounds) since he was born. Here are a few other updates on Dylan's life:

- He learned to roll over! He can roll from his stomach to his back...and does so quite frequently. Let's just say tummy time is very short lived these days (I've included a video below if you'd like to watch the magic).

- He's working on sitting up. He recognizes when he's falling off balance and tries to fix it, but most times he still ends up falling over, but that's an improvement from the days where he'd just fold in half rather than hold himself up.

- He's back on solid foods. We waited a few weeks to get all the rice cereal out of his system and started him back on just fruits and veggies for now. So far he's loved everything we've given him...and he always acts like he wants more.

- He sleeps through the night (for real this time). In the past he's given us spurts of all-night sleep, but he's now very consistent. He goes to bed around 7 or 7:30 and sleeps until at least 5:30.

- He's learned to fall asleep on his own at bedtime and for naps, and he takes three longer naps (1-3 hours) instead of six 40-minute catnaps (thank goodness).

- He knows how to control his hands, which means he grabs at anything and everything he sees. This includes the pigtails of a little girl at day care, the lip of Shane's parents' dog (luckily she just sat there nicely until Shane's mom rescued her), and anything electronic. One of his favorite things to grab are his feet.

- We think he's working on some teeth. He has four little marks showing on the his bottom gums but nothing has broken through yet. Instead we've been graced with low-grade fevers, lots of drool, and an occasionally fussy baby.

- He's so much more alert now. I can see him studying things...the way I eat my cereal, a fan on low speed, his own hand and fingers. It's amazing to see his little brain processing what he's seeing.

- Dylan LOVES water...well, warm water. He gets excited whenever he hears water running, and especially if he can see the water is running into the bathtub. He loves to try and grab the water as I pour it onto him in the bath. He didn't love his first swimming experience, however... The water was a little too cold still so he only lasted about 30 seconds. He did enjoy watching his cousins swim though. We'll try again when the pool is a little warmer.

- He loves his stuffed alligator. He really likes to chew on it's mouth (which makes it nice and crusty) and he squeals with delight when we make the alligator fly and dance over his head.

- He LOVES to dance, especially if he's up on Shane's shoulders. Once you get him moving he grins, laughs, and squeals.

Well, I think that's enough about the boy for now... But first, here are some updated pictures and a video:

{Click for larger}