Dylan meets Uncle Matt, Aunt Kelly, and cousins Savva and Jeremiah

We were so excited that Martin's brother Matt and his family were able to join us last month for Dylan's baptism. Jeremiah (in the picture above) is holding a little kitty that they brought for Dylan.

Dylan update

Today Dylan weighed 10lbs 9oz after eating and with his clothes on. (He weighed 10lbs. 5oz before eating so I know he 4oz - that's good to know to know how much milk to leave with the day care provider when I go back to work in four weeks.) There was a woman at the group today who remembered Dylan from a month or so ago and hadn't seen him since and couldn't believe how big he got and how alert he was and how he was looking around.

Also at group today and at a party this weekend, a bunch of folks are saying he looks like me. And a few are still saying he looks like both of us. I'll post some more pics soon to see what y'all think....

Talking to myself and about myself

Today Martin had a deacons' meeting after work and hasn't been home yet (as of 8:30pm). I did go out to my new mom group this morning but since then I've been home with Dylan by myself. My mom asked me today if I was getting bored. No way. But I do feel a little insane sometimes talking to only an infant who can't understand what I'm staying. I feel like I'm talking to myself. It's very important to talk to infants and this stage so Martin and I have been trying to do it as much as possible. But I do feel silly about it often times. The worst part is talking about myself in the third person - "mommy's going to do this now Dylan." And the think that makes me think I'm going nuts is that I talk like that to myself when I'm by myself without Dylan. And now that Dylan is starting to "talk" (i.e. make noises) and the pediatrician recommended repeating the sounds he makes, it's going to get even more silly! :) Although I did have one of these "talking" times with Dylan today. We were looking right at each other and making these silly sounds. That somehow felt less crazy. Like I was actually talking to him and he was actually listening, you know like we were communicating. It was special. Anyone else ever have fun interactions like this with a child (your or someone elses)?

More great places to nap

Oh, I forgot that Dylan was also gracious enough to sleep on the metro ride to DC and back on the day he and I went into my work for my office Christmas party last month.

And this weekend we went for a stroll around the arboretum in DC. Dylan slept through most of that. I was hoping that he'd wake up though so I could feed him in the park (a very non-public, public place) so we could stay out longer.

Dylan didn't sleep through a party we went to last Saturday but he stayed pretty content for the 2 hours we were there though. He even let someone else hold him! Rachel was the lucky gal!

Chronicles of Dylan

As I mentioned before, Martin likes to chronicle major events in our lives. Here's the latest installment.

Places Dylan slept through that we were grateful he did (also known as creative places to take a nap):

• Dylan slept contently all through the first 6 church services. This allowed us to worship without major distraction to ourselves or to those around us. During his baptism, he didn’t sleep much. But fortunately he was content during the service and during the baptism. (11/06/06 – 12/10/06)
• Dylan slept all but the last 20 minutes of his first road trip (which was 3 hours, 50 minutes): Christmas ’06 at Grandma and Grandpap’s. We were able to drive all the way from Falls Church to Uniontown before Dylan even stirred. He awoke in Uniontown, but didn’t fuss for the remainder of the ride. He also slept all the way home after Christmas. (12/23/06, 12/26/06)
• We decided to take a risk and go hiking while Dylan was two months old. We didn’t want to venture too far from home, so we parked at Turkey Run Park and hiked down to the Potomac and hiked along the river for a while. We managed to stay out for 1.5 hours. Dylan stayed content strapped to Martin’s chest. There were times where we were unsure how he was breathing because he was pushing his nose against Martin’s chest and wouldn’t keep his head to one side. (12/30/06)
• Dylan also slept contentedly during a number of Home Fellowship Group meetings.
• Dylan also complied with a number of trips that Heather made running her errands. He slept as Heather shopped for groceries and bought Christmas gifts at Target. He even allowed Heather to meet with some women to plan the retreat and to do her financial counceling. (12/06)

Places Dylan didn’t sleep that we were hoping he would:

• Dylan didn’t sleep the first time we went over to Ted and Krista's to meet Oliver. Oliver had just come from the hospital and we wanted to go over and meet him. He was content through the entire evening, however Dylan was extremely fussy and little could be done to settle him. We felt bad since they had just brought Oliver home from the hospital and we brought a screeching baby into their house.
• Our friends, Jen and Chris N., came in to town after Christmas and Jen’s sister, Aimee arranged a small party so that they could see their friends. We decided to go, figuring Dylan would sleep through the party. He slept and awoke screaming as soon as we walked in the door. It took a while to calm him down, and eventually he did so. He stayed content and we got to visit, but after a while, the commotion became too much and the Dylan couldn’t be settled. We decided to leave a bit earlier than we planned. (12/30/06)

Amusing Dylan stories:

In the first few months of life there hasn’t been much that Dylan has been able to do except eat, sleep, poop, and cry. (But he has been smiling more and more which is really exciting!) Since eating, sleeping, and crying are not that amusing, most of the amusement revolves around bodily fluids:

1. The second time Martin changed Dylan’s diaper, Dylan peeped while his diaper was open. Pee went everywhere even up into his face. Dylan managed to sleep through the entire experience. (10/31/06)
2. While Heather was changing Dylan’s diaper once, he managed to pee over the edge of the changing table and into the trashcan next to the table. A pretty good shot! (12/28/06)
3. We were ready to head out to church on Sunday morning. It looked like we were going to be able to get there ahead of time and get to spend some settling in and getting into a worshipful mood. Dylan was dressed, in car carrier, wrapped up and drifting off to sleep. Heather and Martin were finished getting ready and about to leave, when the unmistakable noise of pooping came from Dylan’s direction. A mad dash ensued to change the diaper so that we could still make it to church on time. It was quickly found that a quick change would not occur when poop was discovered everywhere. In the haste, Heather even managed to get some on her nice blouse. The diaper was changed, and we all made it to church with seconds to spare. (12/30/06)
   

Dylan update

Hi everyone. I know I need to put pictures up from the baptism and from Christmas but I think I only have time right now for some text. Plus, I haven't written much lately, I've just posted pictures, so I felt like I should write something.

Today Dylan had his 2 month appointment at the doctors. He weighed 9 lbs 13oz (wasn't Jack that at birth Laura? :) and was 21 and a half inches long. His head is 15 cm around. For weight he's only in the 10 percentile but doctor said he is very healthy. The doctor said that Dylan is strong (since he could pick his head up and he has strong legs by the doctor's tests) which is awesome because that's something specific that Martin and I have prayed about for Dylan. So PTL for answered prayer!

The doctor said that the best thing we could do for Dylan's development now is to talk to him. After the appointment I went to the library and got a bunch of books to read to Dylan. The doctor also said to take him outside as there was a study that found that breastfed babies don't have as much Vitamin D as they could use which is probably because breastfeeding mothers don't take their kids outside and out and about as much. So we did and will take that advice. (We went hiking on Saturday with Dylan in the baby bjorn. It was awesome. Martin carried Dylan because I was afraid of falling since there were some steep parts. But he had a walking stick and was fine. Even when we had to cross this stream that was a little higher than expected.)

Dylan also got 5 vaccinations - 4 of which were shots in the thigh. He has two bandaids on his legs right now and we've got him drugged up with Tylenol for the pain. I have never seen him scream like he did when he got his shots (which is a good thing, I suppose - that means he's never been in pain like that before). The needle was so huge I thought it was going to come out the other side of his little leg...:( He's not crying more tonight, probably because of the Tylenol, but his cries are definitely different. We feel sorry for him. The toughest thing for me I think is know that he has to go through the same thing again in two months. And I feel like he's thinking why are you letting this happen to me. Obvious spiritual lessen here that I was reminded of - we think the same thing about God when we face trials - why are you letting this happen to me? Knowing that I want the best for my child, it helps me to see that God wants the best for me too. It's all for my good.

Dylan with Daddy (and one with Mommy)

Really fun pictures

Dylan meets more family members

Here's Dylan with Martin's 2nd cousin Chris and his daughter Emily who lives here in DC.
Here's Dylan with his Aunt Kelly. Kelly is the wife of Martin's brother Matt.
This is Dylan's great-aunt Katrina.






And here's Uncle Matt and his son Jeremiah.

Week 7 weight gain

Dylan gained another 6 oz. this past week. He was 9lbs 8oz. I can't tell when and if he had a growth spurt. I guess typically babies go through a growth spurt around 6 weeks. I'm still going to hold off on pumping until we get back from PA for Christmas (leaving on Friday and coming back Tuesday). Then I'm going to try to get into a routine of pumping every day to build up stock for when I go back to work.

Dylan's development

Dylan weighed 8lbs 6oz on the 4th and then 9lbs 2oz on the 11th. So he gained 12oz. two weeks in a row. We'll see what he weighs tomorrow.

We've noticed that he is really looking at and focusing on things more now, especially faces. He also started smiling! We'll try to get a picture of that.

Dylan's preferences:
*sleeping on his side (if we'd let him) especially sleeping on someone
*being held over someone's shoulder
*getting his diaper changed (for real!)
*sitting on the floor propped up in the boppy
*his Mickey Mouse stuffed animal from Clarita

Ever since my mom was here we've been doing "exercises" with Dylan - touching his toes, moving his arms around, etc. Apparently, these things are good for his development (and they are fun and keep him occupied). But I was thinking yesterday, what's the deal with doing things that are good for a baby's motor skills, etc. I mean, most all kids are going to get it eventually so what advantage is there if they get these skills earlier? [And do we really want him walking early?!] Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Dylan meets his great-grandma F. and his uncle Mark

Great-grandma gets a thumbs up.

Dylan and his paternal grandparents

Playtime!

Okay Dylan, which is your favorite?

More fun pictures

Fun pictures

Dylan and Jack

Jack's parents (Laura and John) are good friends of ours. They are in our home fellowship group. Jack was born on November 19th - 20 days after Dylan. The boys met for the first time at church on November 26th. Here they are in their matching carriers. We took the picture on the left first and then realized they were facing away from each other and so we moved the carriers so they'd be looking at each other. :)

Wrinkly forehead