Nighttime Lovey

In everything I read, it says that you will naturally have a "lovey" that you just HAVE to have to fall asleep at night. For awhile this lovey was a little stuffed bear with a rattle attached to it. You would tuck in between your legs and fall asleep.

Well... it is official... your new "lovey" is a book. You have a few favorite books and you haven't seemed to mind which book you fall asleep with... but you just HAVE to have a book.

Tonight you put the book down in the crib, then you laid down, and you rested your head right on the book. I swear you would have slept on that thing if I hadn't pulled it to the side for you to look at instead of sleep on.

You are my little bookworm. Your favorite thing to do all day long is read books. You keep going and getting a new book, then you bring the book to me or daddy and turn around and sit in our lap for us to read it together. This activity probably takes place about 5 times a day for about 30 minutes each time. You are obsessed with books. I love it.

Standing Up Part 2

You stood up tonight about 10 times all by yourself! I caught you in your bedroom practicing, then you came out to the living room and you purposely fell so that you had to practice getting up. It was so cute!

Today we played in the sand at the park and then went over to a friends and you played in their little blow up pool and in the sprinkler... but you couldn't stand up when you fell, so you got quite muddy crawling around!

Standing Up

You just stood up on your own for the first time 5 minutes ago. It was so cute! You've never actually tried to stand up without holding on to something until today. And you did it on your first try. (You stand on your own, I mean getting from sitting to standing is a first today).

It's pretty funny though because you keep trying to stand up again and you can't quite get it because your legs are too far apart. haha. You're grunting and looking at me for help. lol.

13 Months

My how time flies...

Dylan, you continue to be the highlight of my life. I've never been happier than I am now.

I get to see you first thing every morning with a big smile on your face. After you drink a bottle, you are quick to go exploring. You wander through the apartment, find your favorite toys, read some books, and of course give mommy kisses and quick cuddles.

WEIGHT: 25.7 LBS.

HEIGHT: 31 INCHES

• Your favorite toys: big legos - you stack them and break them apart for hours, books - you flip through the pages and look at all the pictures, balls - you throw or roll them back and forth with us, and anything small enough to fit in your hand... like pens (or tampons!)... you carry around all day.
• Your favorite game: Peek-a-boo. You play this all day every day. Literally. You even play with strangers at the store. You duck down behind a chair and then pop up and scream. haha. If there is no chair, you just turn your head away as if you are hiding, then turn around and scream (happy screams/cheers).
• Your other favorite game: "Uh-oh" You learned to uh-oh and it is oh-so-cute!! You know when to use it. You throw a lego on the floor and then look at me and say "uh-oh" with both hands up in the "where did it go" position and shrug your shoulders. Then you pick it up and do it again and again. Oh my gosh!!! You crack us up!!
• Your favorite place: Outdoors. You also love your grandparents homes. You always walk to the front door and knock on it to go outside.
• Your favorite food: Cheerios. You love a lot of food... but, once you see Cheerios, nothing else exists.
• Your current vocabulary: "nana" banana, "uh-oh", "hi" said with cheesy smile, "meh" meow said every time you see kitty, "puh" up - when you want me to pick you up, "no no no" when you are doing something you shouldn't be doing and you know it (you also shake your head "no" when getting into cupboards), "mama", "dada", and other random animal noises you try to mimic like an oink or nay.
• You're a good napper and sleeper. You sleep from 7:30 pm to 7:30 am and take one or two naps during the day. You still sleep on your tummy and knees with your bum in the air and a toy tucked between your legs.
• You love when I lay a blanket over you in your crib. Such a big boy.
• You love attention. You don't play alone very long before you're at my side handing me a book or a toy or wanting to crawl into my lap. I love it... but, you need a sibling. haha.
• You are such a "sosh" as Grandma Jill calls you. You are so social. You smile at most everyone and say "hi" with your cheesy cute smile.
• You still get shy and stare very seriously at others.
• You love kids. Any age... as long as they're not an adult. If you see a kid, you immediately go up to them and smile and play with them.
• You walk really well now. You just haven't figured out how to stand up once you fall without the help of someone or something. You get nervous in new places and prefer crawling in public or on grass.
• You're a chatterbox. You talk while doing almost anything.
• When you get lost and I'm trying to find you, I call out Dylan... and you sit still and silent until I find you. I call out "uh-oh" or "meow" and you can't help but repeat it back and I find you a lot faster. :)
• What people often say about you: I'd guess he's 18 months old, he looks like the Gerber baby, you should put him in baby contests he's so cute, he is such an easygoing baby! you are so lucky!, he's big for his age, he's seriously one of the cutest babies I've ever seen.
• On command: you wave hi, you wave bye, you blow kisses, you know where your head is and point to it, you give us kisses if we say "kisses", I say "let's go for a walk" and you put your hand up and we go walking.

You are just a happy boy. We are so blessed to have you in our lives. Happy 13 months!

1 Year 3 Weeks

You are just a serious crack up!! You make us all laugh every day. We are still staying with Grandma and Grandpa Richardson... and you just adore them! We have one more week here, then we'll head back to Laramie, WY for Daddy's last year of law school. Yay!

Today you started signing "more" correctly, rather than the cute pointer finger tapping the middle of your other palm. It sure is cute to see you catch on to things so quickly.

You are a master mimicker!! I know I've said it a million times... but you mimic EVERYTHING!

Yesterday, Grandma Terry was giving you a drink of water and some spilled on Daddy (he was holding you). Gma said, "Oh, sorry" and brushed the water off of Daddy's shirt. For every drink after that you brushed off his shirt as if that is just what you do after drinking. haha. Today, you were brushing off your own shirt after drinking.

You were so perfect for your babysitter last night, we all went to a Dodger's game, you stayed home to sleep. You just played and giggled and the babysitter reported you were the easiest baby she's ever watched. Good job baby!!

Uncle Jake came out here to Bakersfield to visit last week. You showed off all of your tricks for him the first night he was here. It was so funny. You showed off your clicking, signs, walking, clapping, etc. You just love him.

Your First Drawing

You are starting to grasp the concept of pens actually writing on paper rather than just being something fun to hold in your hand.

You may have even had a pen mark right by your eye... now that I'm aware of where the pen is going when I look away... I don't much like you having them.

Here is your first masterful piece of artwork on the MagnaDoodle. You tend to prefer using the wrong side of the pen... but once you get the right side down, you become quite the artist.

1 Year Cake Smash

When you turned one year old we let you dig into a cake and just go at it! It's called a "cake smash".

At first you just poked the top of the cake with your pointer finger. It was pretty funny. Finally... you dug in and obliterated the cake... I think you even ate some it... but most just ended up all over you.

Happy first birthday my dear baby boy! I love you!!

This is the end result of all that cake smashing!

Swimming with Grandma

You LOVE swimming. You're just a little fish in the water. You kick, as Grandma Terry says "kick, kick, kick" you say it back which sounds kind of like it, haha.


You kick your feet and do a dolphin kick. You can float on your back for 10 seconds and are very patient in the water. Grandma also takes you under water, which you don't love, but you don't inhale water cause she blows in your face so you hold your breath.

This other pic is 2 days before you turned one. You were walking around on your knees pushing the bus. You were too nervous to walk, so you used your knees. haha.