Dylan the Destroyer

Dylan has become a destroyer. If there is a sense of order, which in our house is minimal, it must be disordered. Toys cannot stay in a line. Stuffed animals cannot remain on their low perch. And of utmost importance to Dylan, books cannot remain on the bookshelf. See for yourself:

1) Dylan, the agent of chaos, methodically removes books from the second shelf to a disorderly pile on the floor.

2. The enemy of order rests to contemplate his strategy for the next shelf of the bookcase.

3. Satisfied that his work is complete, the destroyer savors his triumph with a tasty bookmark.

More pictures from Thanksgiving trip to PA

Me and Dylan playing the piano.

Presbyterian bear and Lutheran bear joined us on the trip.
Here's Dylan and my mom on the train at the mall.
I think Dylan really liked the train.

Dylan's first haircut

Dylan did great at his first haircut. He wiggled a lot but the hairdresser (Heidi) was able to cut his hair despite the wiggling. It took awhile but he didn't really cry much at all.



Ta-dah. The finished product...

"Before" pictures

Here's how crazy Dylan's hair was before we got it cut...

Dylan update

Dylan is finally sleeping through the night! It's been going on for about a month now and I think it's been long enough that I can say it for sure. (But he'll probably prove me wrong tonight now that I've said it.) Sometimes, he'll even go back to sleep if he wakes up early (like 6am). But usually Dylan sleeps for 12 hours straight. 7:30pm-7:30am.



Nap time is all over the map though. Sometimes that's a good thing because I can move his naps according to my schedule. Dylan has been sleeping for a longer time period. He actually takes 2 hours naps now! Sometimes even more! For a while he wasn't going down for his morning until late in the morning (which pushed back his afternoon nap til almost dinnertime and too close to bedtime and some days he wouldn't take an afternoon nap) so on Monday I tried to skip the morning nap and just give him an afternoon nap. Well, he about fell asleep in the high chair at lunch and then when I tried to get him to go to sleep it took an hour (I think I missed the window). So now my strategy is to stick with the late morning and late afternoon naps and work dinner and bedtime around that.



Dylan got his 8th tooth over Thanksgiving. Now he's even on top and bottom.



I'm still nursing. I don't have a strategy on this. Dylan takes milk when I'm at work fine. I nurse him when I'm at home (mornings, nights, and naptimes or attempts at naptimes when I'm not at work so 2 to sometimes up to 5 times a day.) I thought with this schedule that my supply would go down to nothing but it hasn't. I still pump once a day the two days I'm at work and I consistently get about 3-4 ounces. So I figure that's what I'm producing each time Dylan nurses too. Dylan eats a lot of yogurt and loves cheese so I'm confident he's getting the calcium so I'm not worried about him not drinking more cow's milk. And I don't mind nursing on this schedule...I minded the pumping though. I think Dylan is less cranky when he nurses and he's much easier to get to sleep that way. So my only concerns are....1)if I keep going with this is it going to be harder for me to wean when I want to and 2) Dylan not sleeping at day care because he's only used to being nursed to sleep. But with 1) it would be hard now to stop completely because it would harder to get Dylan to nap and he might be crankier and 2) not napping at day care doesn't seem to affect him too much. Actually, I think she is usually able to get him to take an afternoon nap around one but I think it's usually just a cat nap. So, I guess now that I've put all my thoughts down my strategy is to keep going like we are for now. Oh, and there were two nights in a row last week when Martin put Dylan to bed without me so I know he can fall asleep on his own at least at night.



Dylan is babbling a lot. He says mama and dada but it's hard to know if he's just making sounds our saying our names. It another one of those anti-climatic "firsts." What that it? Does that count? Last night Dylan said "ah-da" and kinda did the sign for Daddy and was looking at Martin so I think that counts. Which bring me to his "signing update." Dylan's signing really took off at one year. He got "eat" down really quickly. See video:

He also signs for "more" and "all done." We're working on "milk," "mommy," "daddy," "hurt," "diaper change," "drink," "bed," and "(teddy) bear" now. It's so much fun now that he's getting them. He gets them so quickly.

Dylan has been eating a lot lately so I'm wondering if he's going through a growth spurt. It would be nice to be able to turn the car seat around before our big trek to Florida but I'm not going to push it.

Christmas Tag

I was tagged by Nancy.

1. Wrapping paper or gift bags?

Gift bags because they are recyclable although I will do paper when I run out or when the gift bags I have won't work with the shape and size of the gift.

2. Real tree or artificial?

Artificial. And this year it's a small artificial since the big tree with a 13 month old in our little condo seemed totally unworkable. So I got a small tree for $3.75 at Michaels and its on a tv tray table inside the supergate in front our our fireplace.

3. When do you put up the tree?

First weekend in Dec.

4. When do you take the tree down?

First or second weekend in January depending on the date those weekends fall. I like to keep it up for Russian/Orthodox Christmas but might take it down before that depending on my schedule that year.

5. Do you like eggnog?

Yes, in small doses.

6. Favorite gift received as a child?

The thing that comes to mind is an electronic keyboard (piano).

7. Do you have a nativity scene?

Only in a tree ornament. My husband had one that he kept up all year in the Maple Ave. bachelor house but I think it got lost in the move. It was probably still at the MAMC until the great purge of 2005.

8. Hardest person to buy for?

My husband. He doesn't want anything, at least anything that's not uber expensive.

9. Easiest person to buy for?

My mother-in-law.

10. Worst Christmas gift you ever received?

Leopard print slip on shoes. My mom wanted to get me the shoes but those where the only ones they had in my size. She really wanted to buy them because they were $2. I think she took them back.

11. Mail or email Christmas cards?

Mail.

12. Favorite Christmas movie?

Not sure if this is a movie but it's the yogi bear christmas special.

13. When do you start shopping for Christmas?

In the late fall.

14. Have you ever recycled a Christmas present?

Yes. I even brought a gift that I had gotten early to a white elephant gift exchange that same year. Hey, the gift got stolen once so someone who actually wanted it got it.

15. Favorite thing to eat at Christmas?

Peanut M&Ms.

16. Clear lights or colored on the tree?

Definitely clear. I think colored lights are tacky. That said I have colored lights (the M&M lights) on the small tree this year.

17. Favorite Christmas song?

Joy to the World.

18. Travel at Christmas or stay home

Travel. This year to Florida.

19. Can you name all of Santa's reindeer?

Yep.

20. Angel on the tree top or a star?

Neither. A big bow.

21. Open gifts Christmas Eve or morning?

Christmas morning.

22. Most annoying thing about this time of year?

The whole merry christmas/seasons greetings/happy holidays thing. Every thing about it - that people don't say merry christmas, that others get insanely upset at stores that don't say merry christmas, that you have to worry about what you say to what people, etc.

23. What I love most about Christmas?

Finding the perfect gift for people and them recognizing how thoughtful it was. Yeah, that's not the Sunday School answer. Maybe someday my heart will be in line with the Sunday School answer.

Okay, I tag Catherine, Christine, Amy, Cara, and Martin.

Visiting Friends

Here's Dylan and Brenna (our freinds Jen and Rich's daughter). Dylan and Brenna played well together. Brenna is 2 (there's a 14 month age difference between the two of them). It's really fun to start to see Dylan play with other kids. Mom and Dad got to enjoy a nice dinner and conversation with our friends too.

Visiting Great-Grandpap

When we were in PA for Thanksgiving we visited my grandfather in the nursing home. Dylan liked his wheelchair. (Great) Grandpap got to come home yesterday. He has been in either the hospital or nursing home since September.

Random pictures of Dylan

Here's Dylan playing with this toy where you have to put the balls in a round hole. Dylan decided Mommy's mouth looked like right shape too. Daddy was sure to get a picture of this one.

Here Dylan's wearing what we've been calling the green monster suit. We've also been told he looks like a little turtle, dinosaur, frog, and alligator. We got the suit in a bag of hand-me-downs from a friend of ours. Dylan has worn this to a PALS trip to the Washington Monument, the Help the Homeless Walk-a-Thon, and outside at grandma's house (shown here). He's gotten a lot of wear out of it already.

What Dylan has been up to...

Climbing! Here's how Dylan gets on the coffeetable.

Step 1, approach the table.
Step 2, lean forward, swinging legs up into the air.

Step 3, wiggle forward until knees are on the table, come to a kneeling position and then...

Step 4, come to a standing position.

Also see this video...

Dylan is pretty good about getting down too. He can do it by himself.

Dylan also likes to climb on less dangerous objects, like the trivia pursuit game. He is so proud of himself. Touchdown!