Fun for Dylan

We have a slight hill in our backyard. What kid wouldn't enjoy rolling, running or spinning down it.  Dylan has a lot of fun doing just that.

Watch Natalie Grow - 7 months

Wow! 7 months already!  I love watching Natalie's personality develop but I have to admit, we think she's going to be a little introvert. She is finally warming up to Daddy, and if anyone else talks to her or tries to hold her she screams and cries. I had a friend stop by today that came in with a big smile and said "Hi" to her and Natalie lost it. 

We have had a good few weeks with the acid reflux. In the course of 3 weeks, I would say she only had 4 episodes.  That's a vast improvement from two times a day.  We went back to the doctor for the remainder of our vaccinations ( I split them up so she doesn't get too much in one day) and they weighed her...she had gained a pound in one month.  That's what keeping feedings down will do.  Our little cakes started out at 8lbs 3oz and now she's about 14lbs 13oz. Oh and I measured her myself later and she measured 26.5 inches.  While she may be about the 15th percentile in weight, she's 74th percentile in length and 90% of head circumference. 

I have to admit that I have been worried that she isn't putting pressure on her feet yet.  When I try and stand her up, she tucks her little feet under her.  If it's not one thing to worry about, it's another.  I pray she does it soon so I can stop worrying about that and move on to something else :)

On a good note, guess we better start planning her 1st Birthday, it will be here soon. 

At 7 months Natalie : 

- Lights up at the sight of Turbo. Turbo is much more tolerable of her than he was of Dylan.  

- Grabs and reaches for everything. 

- Has tried the following foods : sweet potatoes, yellow squash, zucchini squash, apples, apricots, avocado, peaches, pears, raspberries, bananas. ( her favorites yellow squash, avocado and peaches)

- Starting to bend forward from the sitting position to start a crawl

- Has started on her two bottom toothies. 

Interview with Dylan

This is something I am going to try and do once a year with Dylan and Natalie just to see how their answers change over time.  Here's Dylan's first go at it....

1. What is something Mommy always says to you?
I spelled my name wrong

2. What makes Mommy happy?
when I obey

3. What makes Mommy sad?
When I don't listen that makes you sad

4. How does Mommy make you laugh?
you make funny words

5. What was Mommy like as a child?
Pooterjohn (my nickname as a baby)

6. How old is Mommy?
4

7. How tall is Mommy?
"this tall" with hand stretched about his head

8. What is Mommy's favorite thing to do?
"Go to the zoo" (I think he has me mistaken for him), then he changed it to "Love me"

9. What does Mommy do when you're not around?
Look for me

10. If Mommy becomes famous, what will it be for?
Praying to God

11. What is Mommy really good at?
Dancing

12. What is Mommy not very good at?
Looking out for me (where does he get this?)

13. What does Mommy do for her job?
get the newspaper (seriously, what about the cooking and cleaning and playing)

14. What is Mommy's favorite food?
Carrots (whatever?)

15. What makes you proud of Mommy?
When I work (does he mean getting the newspaper?)

16. If Mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Goofy (well at least he got that one right)

17. What do you and Mommy do together?
Take a walk

18. How are you and Mommy the same?
we both have blue eyes

19. How are you and Mommy different?
God made us all different

20. How do you know Mommy loves you?
Sings "sing I love you, shout I love you, whisper I love you" 

21. Where is Mommy's favorite place to go?
to the fair (obviously his answer again)

Play Time at the Park

Fall is my favorite season. I love when the weather gets nice and the air feels crisp.  It's the best.  It's the best time to go to the park and play too.  We went to the park and there were a group of older boys playing.  However, there were no kids Dylan's age. I was surprised when he jumped in with them playing tag.  I was fearful that they would shun him but I was pleasantly surprised by how much they worked with him on how to play tag.  Of course, Dylan was "it" many times, because he was the slowest, but that didn't phase him.  One of the boys would say, "little dude, tag me" and Dylan would touch him and then he would run off to tag someone else.  One of the boys told another one, slow down let him tag you, he's little.  It almost brought a tear to my eye as to how nice they were being to him.  They would say "little dude is it" and then finally one of the boys asked little dude what his name was, then I heard "little dude's name is Dylan" It made me smile.  

I am so impressed when kids this age take the time to be a good friend to him.  You can tell their moms and dads raised them right.  Some days we walk through the neighborhood and Dylan will wave and say hi to a kid and the kid just stares at him like, huh? I want to march up to that kid and say you better say hi back and wave at him.  I am so afraid if he gets ignored too many times it will break his spirit.  

 Natalie gave the swings a try today. She did much better than Dylan's first attempt at them. She smiled. She is a good baby. Only fussy when she's tired or hungry. 

I love my kids to pieces.

First Day of Preschool - 3 year old class

This year we are back to Sunshine School.  We are sad that the director of the school has moved as she really made it an easy decision for me to send Dylan there in the first place. We have changed days and are now on the Tuesday/Thursday schedule to be with one of his best friends. Thankfully, Dylan's best bud from Monday/Wednesday class moved as well.  

We have been drumming up school for the past few weeks to prepare Dylan.  All summer long, Dylan and I have been singing "school's out for summer" and as it got closer, he would sing "school's out for 2 more days". It cracked me up.

Dylan and I had a talk on the way to school.  If he took good pictures with his teachers for me, then he could have a sucker when he got in the car after school.  I asked him to take pictures with Mrs Shanna and he jumped right up and said "yes ma'am"

 Then I asked him to take a picture with Mrs. Katie. He jumped right up again.  Sweet! I actually got pictures of him with his teachers on the first day of school, and he's actually smiling.

 But what's not to smile about?  He's in a class with his best friends.

Although, one is missing. One of his friends from Monday/Wednesday has moved up to the 4 year old class and stayed Monday/Wednesday. That night, Damien asked who was in his class and Dylan's response "not William" it broke my heart, so I surprised him and he came over to play today.

We Need a Good Cry

Sometimes, all we need is a good cry.  After Dylan's first day of school, we met up with Daddy for lunch (by the way, a plug for Drakes...yummy and cool atmosphere).  Dylan wanted a hamburger. The whole time we were there, he didn't eat one bite of his burger and picked at his macaroni. All the while, lying on Damien.  He was suppose to go over a friend's house when we got back but because he acted the way he did, he would go home to nap.

The entire way home, I heard this "I don't want to go home" "I wanna eat my lunch" "I don't want to nap" Of course, he screamed and cried the whole way home....well, until we got 5 minutes from home, then he wore himself out and fell asleep. The monster woke back up at home and insisted he didn't need a nap. I was not about to let that happen, not on my watch, so upstairs to his bedroom we went where he ended up napping for over 2 hours. I guess he just needed to recharge. Oh and that burger and mac and cheese, he got it for dinner.