11 Months!

Another month gone and Dylan just continues to impress us!  I regularly find myself in awe of the fact that I get to be his mama.  Seriously, how lucky am I!?!  He is such a funny baby - typically filled with smiles and giggles.  That's not to say he doesn't have his moments, because trust me he does!  This last month he has become much more communicative, either that or we're getting better as interpreting his various screams/jabbers/cries.  I love spending my days with him, even when I'm totally exhausted he can always make me smile.  He's my best bud!

Facts/Accomplishments:

One more tooth this month bringing the total to 6

He regularly freaks me out by sucking on his tongue and making me think he's got something in there that he shouldn't

He's constantly making and discovering new noises with his mouth  

He crawls up to me and gets up on his knees while reaching for me to be picked up

He is constantly biting onto everything, occasionally getting skin but mostly just carrying things around in his mouth or chewing on things

Finally started to wave and say hi (of course he won't show anyone but mom and dad his new trick!)

Has added new words to his vocabulary - doggie, outside, moo, and nononono! (the no's were cute for all of one day - ha!)

We have a rug in our front room that constantly loses strings and he tries to literally suck them up on the floor  with his mouth - no hands

He climbs off the couch face first (don't worry, we've always got a hold of him, but it scares me that one day this is going to end in disaster)

Likes:

Pulling all the laundry out of the laundry basket

Velcro - he likes scratching it, eating it and just pulling it apart

Music!  He will stop in his tracks when he hears a commercial with music on it and also loves watching Sesame Street music videos on the iPad

Reading books - specifically he likes turning the pages

He's obsessed with the trash can - blech!

Getting his hair brushed

Going outside (i'm so sad that it's going to get cold soon since he just recently really started to love this!)

Animals - this past month we went to the aquarium and farm and he loved both!

Dislikes:

Wearing socks - every time I go to take him out of the car he has pulled them off

Sleeping in his crib - we've totally disgresed 

Hats - he pulls them off the second they go on

Putting a diaper on after bath time

His car seat - still  :(  

Thank you baby boy for picking me to be your mama and for teaching me so much about unconditional love!  I am better because of you!

10 Months!

Oh my - 10 months - time moves all together way too fast!  Last night I laid in bed forever looking at newborn pictures and I honestly can't believe how long ago it seems and yet how quickly it's gone.  What an absolutely beautiful baby I have and what an incredibly handsome little boy he's becoming!  Poor little bug is super sick today and it kills me that I can't just make it all better.  I'm certain it's not the last time I'll feel this way.  I'd give anything to make him happy.  As always we're loving every minute we spend with him - he's such a character!  Pat said yesterday that the absolute best part of his day is coming home from work and getting to play with Dylan and I feel so lucky to spend my days with him!  Nothing makes us happier than the sound of our little boy's laughter!  Life is so so good and in large part we have him to thank for that!

Facts/Accomplishments:

He has finally figured out how to crawl on his hands and knees - if he wants to get somewhere fast he'll drop back down to his belly, but for the most part he's now a crawler

Tooth #5 broke through

Constantly pulling himself up on anything and everything - last night he was literally climbing the walls

Never ever sits still - always on the go go go! which results in only being half dressed most of the time

Mastered climbing the stairs

Walks all along the couch

Upgraded from infant car seat to convertible seat

Puts -everything- in his mouth

Has started biting - ouch!

Is eating a lot more table food but his favorite is still cereal puffs

Likes:

"Feeding" the dogs - he is constantly dropping his food/snacks off the side of his tray

 and then watching the dogs get it

Blowing raspberries/spitting

Favorite game is when daddy lays on the ground and fake snores - he'll immediately stop whatever he's doing to go wake him up!

Eating the side of the table or the high chair

Eating books

Putting his toys on mom and dad's face - he thinks it's hilarious

Playing under the blankets

Pulling all the laundry out of the laundry basket

Watching videos on the iPad while eating snacks - his absolute favorite app is called sparkabilities

Taking the dogs outside

Dislikes

Falling down - he'll hold to the edge of things and lower himself down as far as he can possibly go, sometimes doing the splits

It scares him when the puppies fight/play - he used to think it was so funny

Putting clothes on

Getting his nose wiped (poor little fella!)

Again, wow 10 months!  Let the birthday planning begin!

Love you bug!!

 

And then there's reality

So remember when I was 38 weeks pregnant and my doctor suddenly realized that the horrible painful spot on my belly was actually a hernia and not an adorable baby part?  And then remember how I saw the general surgeon and he said he wouldn't operate until after I had the baby and to come back is six weeks?  Well, I didn't take his advice.  Once Dylan was born I was consumed with baby (and still am) plus magically the hernia didn't hurt anymore, so I decided to ignore it.  Then one day Pat reminded me about it and said it was time to get it fixed, so I called the surgeon and 9 months later went in for an appointment.  I was super nervous about getting operated on, mostly due to post-op.  How would I care for my baby?  Ya know, the every day things like picking him up and feeding him?  The doctor assured me that this was minor surgery and while I'd be a bit sore and would have to pump my milk once and throw it out that life would resume totally as normal - hallelujah!  So we scheduled the surgery, I looked at the calendar and decided the best time would be during the same week as the first BYU football game, that way my folks would be in town and could watch Dylan while we were at the hospital (yes, we're that crazy and even schedule surgery around football).  Pat also decided to take the week off, he works a lot and thought a vacation would be nice!  So it was scheduled, my minor same day quick recovery surgery!  As quickly as the surgery was scheduled I started making plans for the week - how fun to have my folks and Pat all to myself for an entire week!  

The week was to go a little something like this:

Tuesday - Surgery - while in post op waiting desperately to get out of there I'd go ahead and pump to get that out of the way and do some light reading on my kindle until they FINALLY let me go home!

Wednesday - Take a day and rest, play with the baby, visit and mostly take it easy and just enjoy myself

Thursday - Shopping with mom followed by a football game in the evening

Friday - Breakfast in SLC and perhaps check out City Creek Center with the folks

Saturday - Mom and Dad leave town and Pat and I decide to take an impromptu trip out of town to enjoy the Labor Day weekend (nothing crazy probably just Park City, maybe even St. George!) 

AND THEN THERE'S REALITY

Tuesday - Wait for hours in the hospital before finally going into surgery.  Wake up sore, groggy and angry.  Beg the nurse to not make me stand up and plead with her to not have to walk down the hall.  I also informed her that I swear a lot and will never be having a boob job because surgery sucks.

Wednesday - I wish I could recap Wednesday, but with all the Lortab I took, I'm really not sure.  I'm sure it went something like this - pill - sleep - whine - pill (repeat)

Thursday - managed to take a shower!  

Friday - went to Tia Pan trading for maybe 15 minutes before I decided it was a bad idea and should probably go home

Saturday - Went on a super exciting impromptu trip to Smith's!

Basically you can see everything went exactly as planned!  In my defense, I wasn't the only one with unrealistic expectations, Pat after all thought he was taking a vacation!  The good news is I have been really well taken care of, I'm feeling better and I'm off pain pills!  Things are looking up, even if they didn't go according the plan!

One bit of wisdom my post op nurse gave me that she received from an elderly patient was "surgery isn't for wussies!"  Here! Here!

This was the only photo taken of this momentous event - thanks iPad!

9 month photos

So I confess to being crazy mom (you all already knew this) who paid for new born, 3 month, and 6 month photos before Pat wised up and cut me off! He did give me permission to do one year photos so that just left a gap at 9 months!  With that the neighbor and I decided to grab our cameras and go out on a shoot! They are no where close to professional, but at least we grabbed a few that turned out cute! Getting Dylan to look at the camera was pretty much impossible, in fact getting him to sit still was quite the accomplishment! Anyway, we did our best for two ladies who know nothing about taking pictures! I now present photos curtosey of "moms photography"!

9 Months

Here we are again - another month has passed and we're still just busy playing and having fun with our little boy!  He really is growing so fast, sometimes when I look at him I no longer see a baby and instead see a little boy - honestly breaks my heart a little!  That being said, he is still tiny!  He seems to be getting longer and lankier all the time.  I told someone the other day that had I known he was going to be so skinny I may have reconsidered taking his monthly pictures in only his diaper and opted for clothes!  We're getting more and more personality which equals lots and lots of giggles and unfortunately a fair amount of fits.  Oh well!  We love every single thing about him and feel super lucky to be his mommy and daddy!

Stats:

Length - 28.7 inches - 63rd percentile

Weight - 17 pounds 5.5 ounces - 5th percentile 

Head - 45.8 centimeters - 61st percentile

Facts/Accomplishments:

He teeth are really starting to come in!  The top two are in bringing us to four total teeth with two more about to break through any day now!

Speaking of teeth - he loves grinding them together (drives mom nuts!)

When throwing a fit he arches his back and throws his head all the way back

He also loves to bonk his head against the back of his car seat/chairs/parents when he's unhappy

On 7/24 he pulled himself into the standing position and now he's constantly on his feet and usually trying to climb up mom and dad or the side of the couch

He has said both "hi mama" and "hi dada" - I've only heard them once, so probably just a fluke but it was still super awesome

When he is happy/playing he jabbers "dadadadada" and when sad/angry it's always "mamamamama" (little stinker!)

Thanks to our puppy Jack he's mostly figured out object permanence - Jack used to hide from him under the blankets, but Dylan has wised up to it!  There's no hiding from him now!

On 8/4 he took a couple steps along side the couch

While nursing he rubs his eyes with his feet

HE IS FINALLY SLEEPING IN HIS CRIB AT NIGHT (we've had/are having a few set backs, but for the most part he's doing great!  Mom on the other hand is still struggling!)

Likes:

Grabbing noses

Blowing raspberries on mom's arm and belly

Play dates with Emma

Rubbing, smacking, and pinching mom's belly while nursing (awesome for mom's self esteem)

Taking showers with mom

Not just likes, but LOVES when daddy comes home from work!  He squeals with delight and makes a quick dash for daddy

Giving the puppies hugs and resting his head on their body

Climbing on anything he can

Throwing things on the floor - his absolute favorite is shoving things off the side of the bed

Pulling on the neckline of mom's shirts (everything I own is now stretched out)

Cereal Puffs - when he eats them he says "nom nom nom"  Adorable!

Playing with cups - he loves talking and yelling into them

Dislikes:

Most foods - he will not eat baby food, I think it's a texture thing and then he won't swallow other foods, so unless it just dissolves in his mouth it's a no go

Getting dressed has become a traumatic event each and every time we do it

Diaper changes - he screams and squirms and twists, it goes without saying but there are times where this is especially trying

Waking up in his car seat - even if I'm sitting right there and he can see me it seems to frighten him every time

Not being allowed to play with the computer

What a ham this little boy is!  We wouldn't want it any other way!  Love you bunches!!

Splish Splash

"Hey Mom - How about some privacy?!?"

Diapering...

Today my *8* month old has done the following:

1.  I left him in only his diaper while I went to the bathroom, I came back to a baby without a diaper!  How in the world did he figure that out?!?

2.  Later in the day while trying to change his diaper he kept squirming away, so I laid him down for the upteenth time and firmly told him "NO" to which he immediately started giggling.

I have to assume this is only the first chapter in many more diaper adventures to come!  I've got my work cut out for me!!

But really, how can you even be remotely upset with this face?!?