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}

Reunited...

As mentioned in my Mother's Day post below, I was able to catch an earlier flight on Friday that got me in 4 hours earlier than planned, which meant I was able to see Dylan before he went to bed!! I even got to go with Shane to pick him up from day care. When we got there, he was playing on the floor in a little play gym. I put my face over his, and immediately got a huge smile...kind of like this one:


I picked him up and squished him and he was all smiles. It was so nice to know that he remembered who I was. We took him home and hugged and kissed him all night long. It was wonderful!

I also learned from Shane and the babysitter that maybe my absence was a good thing. In the five days I was gone, Dylan learned to: (1) sleep through the night, (2) fall asleep on his own for naps, (3) STAY asleep for 1.5-2 hour naps at a time, and (4) reach for and grab everything in sight! I'm pretty sure the last one was just his normal development, but the other three point to one major factor: I was the source of a lot of Dylan's sleep problems.

Anyway, my posts have been lacking pictures lately, so here are some picture-filled updates:

First, I know I mentioned it in passing, but my work paid for nightly milk shipments from Chicago to Phoenix. It was quite amazing, and quite a process... My hotel room was full of little bottles, styrofoam coolers, and ice packs but it was definitely worth it. I came home to a counter and dishwasher full of bottles as well. To be kind to my work's budget, we're saving them for my next week-long training in June. And luckily, my sweet boy had no problem transitioning back to nursing after five days of bottles!

Part of the reason Dylan has been taking longer naps is that we discovered how to help him sleep comfortably... The babysitter lets him sleep in a beanbag-ish thing and now, so do we, but even being propped up by a pillow works. If he's comfy, he falls asleep on his own, stays asleep, and sleeps through almost any noise!

When I left, Dylan would grab things if we put them right on his chest near his hands...but I came home to the grabbiest baby ever! He'll reach his arms out/up as far as they go to try and grab anything and everything he sees. For example, my camera:

Shane was good and kept up with the Daily Dylan pictures while I was gone...that will be another post of it's own, but here's a sneak peek:

That's all for now. Hopefully I'll post a Daily Dylan catch-up soon...

Mother's Day

Due to my all-day travel session on Sunday, we chose to celebrate Mother's Day when I got home from Chicago on Friday. Shane was expecting me home late that evening, but I got an earlier flight so he and Dylan had to do a bit of scrambling to get everything ready...

First, Dylan made me a bouquet of flowers in day care. At first I thought they were just paper flowers, but then realized they were his little handprints. I need to post about the wonderful person Dylan's babysitter is another time, so for now I'll just say it was very cute.

Then, Dylan and Shane bought me some REAL flowers and gave me some cute new shirts (no pictures of the shirts...):

And to top it all off, Dylan wrote me a card and signed it with his footprints. I bet very few 5-month-olds can do that! ;)

All in all, it was a great mother's day!

Single Parenthood

Shane and I have each gotten a brief glance into the lives of single parents...

Last week, Shane spent 3 days in New York City, leaving me and Dylan to fend for ourselves (dramatic, I know). We did fine, but Dylan wasn't feeling well and he and I would spend about 2 hours at a time awake each night. It was hard not having Shane to take turns with, but we survived.

This week, I'm in Chicago, leaving Shane and Dylan for a fun adventure together. They've had two nights together... Sunday night, Dylan woke up once and cried himself back to sleep, then woke up again, ate, and went back to sleep. Last night, Dylan slept all night long! Of course he'd save his all night sleeps for when Dad is watching him...

Now, I'm not claiming to have any idea what real single parents go through. But it was definitely hard knowing that Shane wasn't coming home from work each night...even just for moral support. We have plenty of family and friends around to help, but it was still a different feeling. I'm so glad to have Shane...I can't imagine life without him.


[End of cheesy, ridiculous post]

Another wonderful Mother's Day...

They say history repeats itself, and for me today it definitely did... If you're an avid reader, you may remember this post and this post from last Mother's Day. Due to work travel last year, we had to accelerate our Mother's Day plans--which included announcing the imminent arrival of our dear baby Dylan to our families. We had dinner with Shane's parents the night before and a quick Skype call with my parents on Sunday morning before I had to head to the airport, where my flight was delayed, I missed my connection, and ended up getting to my final destination (Lubbock, TX of all places) in the middle of the night.

This Mother's Day (my first Mother's Day as a real mother), I travelled all day and will still be travelling tonight. The first half of my travel wasn't so bad... I spent all morning and afternoon in the car with Shane and Dylan driving home from a weekend in San Diego. Dylan slept most of the drive (he's an awesome road-tripper) and Shane and I ate a chocolate croissant and watched a movie on Shane's new stereo (I guess I should clarify... I watched, Shane listened).

But now I find myself sitting in the airport blogging because (1) I'm not with my family on Mother's Day and (2) my flight is delayed... As of now, I'm scheduled to arrive in Chicago at 1:00 AM local time...awesome. That's right, I'm off to Chicago for work training. And I'm going to be gone until FRIDAY! That's five whole days away from Dylan...the longest I've ever been away from him so far is 10 hours so I'm not sure how I'm going to deal with this. Isn't that a nice mother's day present from my work? Mandatory training and travel on mother's day??

To be fair, my work has been very accommodating with everything thus far. They're letting me work part time, giving me flexibility as to where I work (some work can be from home), and they're even paying for daily overnight deliveries of milk to Dylan... But still, who sends a mom one week off maternity leave on a 5-day trip??

Alright, I'm done venting. I really do hope you all had a wonderful mother's day!