Dinosaur bath

Dylan is currently in LOVE with dinosaurs. I'm not sure how it started, but once he started talking about them a lot, I bought him a little set of dinosaurs to play with. He loves these guys. They all have names (some are their real dinosaur name, others are nickname) and he can tell you which one is missing if he doesn't have all of them in front of him. I generally carry two of these with me at all times because he likes to ask for them...

Last weekend Dylan went to play with cousin Jack, and they got to play with bubbles in the sink...something I never would've thought of to entertain Dylan.


A few nights later, Dylan said "Dinosaurs bath." Feeling inspired by Ashlee, I grabbed my biggest bowl, made some nice soapy water, and let Dylan have fun with his dinos. (They probably needed a good washing anyway...) He loved it!

I'm hoping I can eventually channel this love of bubbles toward helping clean the house someday...

[P.S. Go here to see Ashlee's blog of Dylan and Jack at the splash pad... At least someone's blogging about my summer.]

A day in the life...

Yikes! Do you know how old Dylan is?? Well, if you don't, I'll let him remind you:

I can't believe how fast he's growing up. I try to be good and make note of the things he can do and what he likes as things change, but I'm feeling a bit behind. So hopefully this post will at least capture what life is like for "almost two" Dylan.

On days Dylan and I are home together, I try to mix in something fun, something productive (for me), and plenty of playing. Today we started with a game of baseball in the yard. Dylan loves his "red bat" and for some reason really wanted to play baseball (at 7:30 AM)... {Yes, I realize he's holding the bat upside down, but I pick my battles... Maybe someday I'll post a video of him banging it on the ground saying "Hey batter batter..." It's worth it.}


The we played animals and cars while I got ready. Dylan's animal box is the current favorite of all his toys. He usually packs them all onto his stool, but lately he's been "hiding" the animals in the trees...


Once we were both ready to go, we headed out for some "baby donuts" (aka donut holes). {Don't worry, Mom, we don't eat donuts often at all.} Dylan entertained everyone in the shop... He walked along the donut case going, "Not baby donut, not baby donut, not baby donut...BABY DONUT!!" as he looked for the donut holes. I snapped a quick picture to share the baby donut joy with Shane...


Then we headed to the grocery store. Dylan currently feels the need to select two toys to take with us wherever we go. Usually they stay in the car, but the cow and sheep accompanied us inside. Dylan requested blackberries, but I couldn't bring myself to pay $3+ for a six ounce pack...

Then we came home and Dylan helped me cook. He loves watching what we're doing on the kitchen counters. He stands on a chair and watches, asking questions along the way. Today he helped me put green onions in the food processor, and then learned that the food processor is not scary (especially when he gets to push the button).

Once dinner was prepped, we went out back for some water fun. Now that it's kind of cooling off here (i.e. not quite 100 degrees), I'm excited to get him back outside as much as possible. We played in the sprinklers and "painted" the sidewalk with water.


Then we headed inside for some lunch... Refried black beans, cheese, and some fruit. Dylan was nice enough to share with Triceratops :)


After lunch we looked at pictures and video of our family on the computer for a while. Then we got ready for nap time. This week we got How Do Dinosaurs Say Goodnight? and The Grumpy Dump Truck from the library. Dylan thinks the dump truck book is hilarious and he loves dinosaurs, so he won't go to bed until both are read...

And now, he's sleeping... Once he's up, we'll take a walk to the mailbox and then blow bubbles out front until Shane gets home.

I love my days at home...

Conversation in Target

Ever since we bought Dylan a talking T.Rex at the dollar spot in Target (talking = horrible screeching sound we didn't know it made until we bought it), Dylan regularly requests a trip there when asked what he wants to do. On Monday, we stopped there for a few things, and had the following conversation:

Dylan (pointing to a fruit smoothie pouch): I want eat it.

Me: We have to buy it first.

Dylan: Pay for it.

Me: Yes, we need to pay for it.

Dylan: I pay for it. Dilly pay for it.

Me: Oh, you're going to pay for it? Do you have money?

Dylan: Yep.

Me: Where's your money?

Dylan: Pig.

Me: Where's your pig?

Dylan: (Pauses to think)...Home...money pig home...


It was fun to watch his little mind put the pieces together. Hopefully he'll keep offering to pay for his toys and food...this could work out nicely for us.