Bedtime Story

We read the book, "Baby Signs" tonight. Here is how you read it to me -

"B-A-B-Y S-I-G-N-S" BABY
"R-E-P-A-I-D" DIAPER
"S-T-R-U-H T-I" HURT
"E-M P-L-E-H" HELP ME
"Y-M-M-O-M" MOMMY
"Y-D-D-A-D" DADDY
"X-O-O-B" BOOK (THE K LOOKS LIKE AN X)

Apparently, you have decided that you spell words backwards... except for the title. haha. It was so cute! The first time we read it you did "S-T-R-U-H T-I" OWIE! haha. That was really cute. There are pictures with the words... so I assume you just looked at the picture and deduced what the word was. Pretty impressive!! My smart little boy.

Hilarious

Dylan, you are so cute. Today you said "Mommy pretty " So I said thank you so much, Dylan is handsome. You giggled. And I repeated, Dylan you are too handsome. You pulled the blanket off your head and smiled up at me and said, "Dylan two handsome! "As you held up both hands showing me that you have two of them. Ha ha. I love you.

Monsthers!

You love monsters. You love stories about monsters. You love dragons. "Cary dragons"

Everything is scary to you. Monsters and dragons are the main two things you'll say are in your room, then you'll run out to me to cuddle. You'll do it a lot of the time just for cuddles... but, lately you have genuinely become scared of monsters or dragons in your closet.

You are having a hard time sleeping through the night. You are up a few times most nights (once in awhile you sleep through the night). You get up, turn on your room light (we do have a bright night light in your room), and then just knock on the door until someone comes to get you. It usually turns into pounding on the door. Sometimes you climb back into bed and fall asleep... other times, you just don't give up and it will turn into tears... and we will come and tuck you back into bed.

We love you so much that we have a hard time not coming when you call us. But, it sure is getting rough on us getting woken up throughout the night by you and your sisters. In fact, they are sleeping better than you lately. Even though they are only 2.5 months old!

It made me so sad tonight when you started crying, I rushed in (we were still up feeding babies). You pointed at the closet and said "Happy dragons, there." So, even though we tell you "happy dragon" stories, they are still, nonetheless scary. You were so scared and started saying "Monthers (monsters) and dragons."

We looked in the closet together and made sure there were no dragons or monsters. I finally got you into bed and taught you how your blanket protects you and keeps you safe. Your doggy keeps you safe and your bunny keeps you safe. Then, I asked if you wanted to say a prayer... and you folded your arms immediately.

I asked Heavenly Father to keep you safe through the night and help you feel His love and His spirit so that you could sleep peacefully and happily. I know you felt the spirit because you were calm after and went to sleep. You were even calm through the prayer and said, "Amen" at the end. You are never calm through prayers... maybe 1 out of 30 prayers. I know you felt the spirit and I know that Heavenly Father comforted you in that moment when you needed His comfort in your room all by yourself.

I hope that you can soon understand that you can pray anytime you need comfort. I will continue to show you how and hope that you will learn by example. I love you so much and I'm so grateful for moments like these when we have Heavenly Father watching over us and showing us His love. I'm grateful for this reminder, that He loves us all, big and small.

26.5 Months Old

Wow, where did the last couple months go? Oh, that's right, your two adorable and sweet little sisters were born on August 7th in Salt Lake City. You absolutely love Sylvie and Axie. It is just so fun to watch you with them. I've gotten a little behind on your updates since taking care of you three pretty much takes all of our time! It's so worth it and fun, I just wish I had more of it documented. Oh well.

You are a little chatterbox and I wanted to write down a few of my favorite phrases of yours.

Everything crashes. "Crash!" - always followed by a giggle.
"Mommy cuggle" - when you want to cuddle with mommy. I love it!
"Yong" - when you want us to sing you a song.
"Tory" - when you want a story.
"Ahhh! Monters!" - you think there are monsters in your closet.

I wish I could capture your facials in words. You are so expressive and act out everything you think is happening.

"Cary Monters" - Scary monsters, then you run into my lap so I can protect you.
"Big crash"
"Gickle" - tickle mommy or sylvie or axie, etc.
"Wub you" - Love you
"Miss mommy"

You are Mr. Opposite. No matter what we say, the answer is "no." If we say up, you say down. Literally. You answer "no" on accident to a lot of things you actually want to do, so then you'll rethink and say "ya."

"Mommy, come" - you have become very shy and want mommy or daddy to come with you everywhere. Even down all the slides at the park.

You know all the animals by name. You love animals more than anything.

You still love your cars and especially trains.

You love giving your sisters kisses. "Kith Akie"

"Fwake" - if someone is awake
"Sleep"
"Mommy yone?" - can I play with your phone?
"Coon" - cartoon
"Daddy, see?" - Daddy, come look at what I made.

You've put up to 6 words together in a sentence. You are learning new words every day. You seem anxious to learn and love naming everything you see. Right now you are sitting on the floor behind me naming every animal in "My Big Animal Book." It's so cute! I wish I had my video camera right here.

You love music. You're a little shy with dancing and usually tell me and daddy to stop dancing... haha... other times you'll giggle and dance with us.

23 Months

Dear Dylan,

You are one month away from being 2 years old! You are such a fun little character. We just love every stage you go through and love watching you learn and grow.

You've spent this month in Park City, UT. Mommy is on bed rest until your twin sisters are born, so Grandma Jill and Aunt Maren are helping take care of you while mommy can't get up very often. You are in heaven here. One week Grandma Terry came out and played with you constantly. This week Rulan and Annie are here visiting and you just love Annie. You two giggle at everything the other one does. You ask for her every morning first thing and you even cry going to bed because she's not with you.

You at 23 months

• You carry your school bus (boo bus - with a lisp) everywhere and a little micro machine ambulance which you call the baby bus. 
• Your train is your other favorite toy. It's electric and goes around a track. You love having it go all over Grandma's hardwood kitchen floor. 
• You love milk and choose it over juice any day.
• You could watch school bus videos and sing "Wheels on the Bus" all day. 
• When you count, it's "One, two, one." 
• You're a little cautious, when other kids jump off the couch, you like to jump to somebody. We appreciate as we don't have to worry too much about what risks you'll take.
• You always "see" a rabbit everywhere, in cupboards, corners, closets. 
• You love animals. You love looking out the windows for birds. You love smashing ants. You'll lay down on the ground to get a closer look at any bug. You're going to the zoo tomorrow and I know you'll just go crazy for all the animals there. The other day at a museum you started crying when you saw stuffed bobcats and other big animals because you were so scared. 
• You love belly hugs. You life my or dad's shirt all the way up and lift up your shirt then you lay on us with our bellies touching. It's so sweet. 
• You're still a momma's boy, but you ask for daddy a lot more these days since mommy got boring and just lays on the couch all day on bed rest. 
• You love hugs, kisses, and cuddles. Many other moms comment how their kids won't cuddle with them the way you cuddle with me, all the time. You like to hide your mouth with your hands when we ask for kisses. 
• You love being tickled all over.
• You love using your vocabulary and will narrate everything. "Tickle" "Burp" "Cough" "Funny" "On" (when the tv turns on) "Coon" (cartoon) are just a few of my favorites. 
• You're starting to connect more words, but still not many sentences. 
• You have the bounciest run and love to walk around on tiptoes. You even bounce sideways in a sase move like dancing. 
• You love jumping and turning 180's in the air. 
• You're into sound effects for cars, crashes, airplanes, trains, going down stairs (uh, uh, uh, every step), etc.
• You're very polite with please and thank you.
• You love sundried tomato and basil wheat thins, clementines, strawberries, and cookies.
• I love when you run into my arms for a hug. 
• It's sad because I can't carry you with my pregnancy right now and it breaks my heart when you just cry to be picked up. At least we still get plenty of cuddle time lying down.
• You're quite a bit taller than Annie (who is one month younger than you) and only a couple inches shorter than Rulan (who is 1.5 years older than you). You look much older than you are.
• You have such a sweet personality. You get shy around new people and chat like crazy around people you know.
• You love laughing and making funny faces. 
• You know a lot of the letters of the alphabet by sight. 
• You're very obedient and most the time will stop doing something if I ask you to.
• You don't like to share. If Rulan comes in the room, you will quickly pick up all the cars you can and hide them behind your back so he can't have them. 

We love you, of course. We love you more every day and will always love you for just being you. Happy 23 months!

Love,

Mommy & Daddy

22 Months

Dear Dylan,

Happy 22 Months! Right now you are running around outside exploring with Aunt Maren. You are having so much fun with her. I'm jealous I can't join you. I've been on strict horizontal bed rest for almost 3 weeks now and we've decided to move in with Grandma Jill. Maren is here helping us pack, clean, and move out there. She just moved in there, too. They will be your stand-in parents for the time being. I'm not supposed to be upright in order to keep you baby twin sisters safe and healthy in my belly for another few months, and daddy is studying really hard for the California Bar Exam... so, we needed some help with family to keep you happy and taken care of.

It breaks my heart to watch everyone else get to chase you around and take you to the park. But, I know this is only temporary and I can hardly wait for your little sisters to get here so we can all go and play together.

Here in Laramie you have been going to a new friends house every day for a few hours, and you have been having a blast. You love your friends and you have been so good for those watching you. You just giggle and play and copy the other kids. Everyone's report is the same, "He's sooooo easy!" You really are such a good boy.

We've moving to Park City in a couple days and I'm sure you'll love living with Grandma and Grandpa even more than seeing all your friends here. They just adore you.

You at 22 months:

• Your vocabulary continues to astound me. You pick up new words everywhere. You try explaining things to us and I feel so bad when I can't understand you... most the time we know what you're saying though. 
• You love buses. We sing the Wheels on the Bus everywhere we go, you ask for it by saying "bus" and rolling your arms round and round. You just got a school bus as a gift from someone who watched you because you held onto their bus the whole time you were at their place. This morning you woke up asking for your bus and last night you fell asleep with the bus in your hand. When you say "bus" you articulate clearly and say your "s" with your tongue between your teeth, kind of like a lisp. It's so cute. 
• Your new train is your other favorite toy. You could watch it go around the track over and over. You'll pretend to put things in its' path then yank them off the track right before the train gets to it. 
• You are full of giggles and if we just smile at you, you start laughing.
• You love your dinosaur dvd and ask for it every day. Since I'm on bed rest, we have watched it a lot. 
• You're potty trained as long as we're at home. You gave up other places so we just put a diaper on you when we go out.
• You love hugs and kisses. You kiss my belly saying "babies"... not sure if you understand there are babies in there. :) You always climb on me, while I'm lying down on bed rest, and just lay on me hugging me. I love you.
• We can't really do laundry or any project really, you like to throw the clothes all over the place or dig everything out of boxes. 
• Your run is a bouncy run on your tip toes... it's so funny. Everyone loves it and comments on it. 
• When you kiss you do big puckered lips. 
• You love to crawl around the floor acting like a horse, dog, lion, froggy, etc.
• You love playing in the sink, you love water and pouring it between multiple containers.
• You love milk and juice, "muck" and "jjuu". You do not like drinking water.
• You love going outside, if you hear us say "outside" you run to the door and knock on it until we leave. You love rocks, dirt, and exploring. You chase rabbits and birds and point out different cars, trucks, and buses.
• You love singing together. Your favorites are: Wheels on the bus, 3 Monkeys swing in the tree and the alligator snaps the monkey out of the tree, Head Shoulders Knees & Toes (you laugh super hard when we go super fast), Popcorn Popping, Twinkle Little Star, My Heavenly Father Loves Me (our nightly lullaby). 
• You like honey on your peanut butter toast.
• You like sharing your vocabulary and are always pointing out your elbow or cars or toes or chairs, etc. When you give a kiss, you say kiss. When you pee, you yell "pee pee". When you touch my hair you say, "hair". It's pretty adorable. You're so smart. 
• You love watching bus videos or videos of babies. 
• You love babies, we hope you love your sisters as much. You lay down and stare at babies and point out their eyes, nose, toes, etc.
• You love skyping grandma jill (video chat on the computer) and you just want to see all her animals the whole time... ducks, sheep, giraffe. 
• You love any animal and go crazy for dogs at the park. You neigh every time we drive by the horse statues around Laramie - you know where they are. 
• You ask for daddy a lot more during the day now.
• You like brushing your teeth and will bring your toothbrush and toothpaste to me at random times throughout the day.
• You now call us mommy and daddy, instead of momma and dadda. It's so sweet.

We will never stop loving you, you are the most fantastic, entertaining, sweet, giggly little boy there is. We love you forever. You can do no wrong in our eyes... I, honestly, have a hard time disciplining your because I just want you to be happy 100% of the time. I'm learning though because I know it's for your own good. I love love  love you!!! Happy 22 months my precious baby boy. 

Love, 

Mommy

High Heels

You're so cute when you're walking around half naked in mommy's shoes.
:)

 

21 MONTHS

My dearest Dylan,

You have really sprouted in the last few months. I can hardly believe we were just on the cruise in California 4 months ago where you were still more like a baby than toddler. You are so old now. You are so tall and so mature. You are starting to connect words together. Anything longer than one syllable you used to say "wee-wee" or "ma-ma" to replace the word, like mango's are "wee-wee's". But, now you can connect "thank you" with "dadda". It's so cute. You are so smart and learning so much every day. It's so fun to hear your new words and watch your understanding grow. You are the highlight of my days. Daddy and I love you more than life itself. We are constantly amazed at the love we feel for you and are constantly in awe that this kind of love exists.

You are getting two baby sisters this summer and we are so excited. We're not sure if you understand there are two babies in my belly, but you give them kisses and it is so precious. You love babies, you lie by them, and you just watch them... we think you may have a few jealousy issues at first, but you'll be the best big brother to them.

You are still a momma's boy. You loooooove mommy. I'm ok with it. Daddy gets a little jealous when you shriek at him coming near you when you just want mommy cuddle time. Most the time you love playing games with daddy, though.

You are so handsome. You have big beautiful eyes, everyone comments on them. You have such a sweet, fun personality. You giggle and love attention. I love your little fingers and toes. I love seeing your naked bum as you run around everywhere. You've been pants-less most the time while potty training.

You have such a sweet demeanor and love hugs and kisses. You kiss all your animals and cars. We just love you!

You at 21 months:

• You love to play with cars and trucks. You carry 3 cars everywhere. You also love trains and buses.
• If you see a semi-truck or a bus, you start "rolling" your arms and saying "buh" (bus)... and you start to fuss if we don't start singing "Wheels on the bus"... we sing that song multiple times every day. It is your favorite. 
• You love acting like different animals. We crawl all over the place acting like lions, cats, dogs, horses, elephants, frogs, etc. We hop around like a kangaroo, while you say "hop, hop, hop". 
• You jump off of everything that you can. You count one, two, three, jump! "boo, boo, boo, jump!"
• You generally wake up happy and only start to fake cry if I haven't come in to get you yet. When I come in the room, you smile at me and say something cute like, "hi" or "elbow" (pointing to your elbow) or "Di-so" (dinosaur - pointing to it on your sippy cup). Once we take off your diaper - since you're potty trained during the day - then you stand up and say "hodj-you" (hold you) and I pick you up and carry you to the living room where we cuddle for at least 30 minutes watching your cartoons. I love cuddling with you. You point out every animal in the cartoon and make sure that I see all the cool things you see. 
• Your favorite breakfast is oatmeal - most any flavor except strawberries and cream (you hate the red pieces in it). Every morning you ask for "oa-meal" - you don't quite say the "l". 
• You love cartoons. You always want the tv on even if it's not on a cartoon and even if you're not in the room. Sorry to say... we don't let you have your way on this one. :)
• You love cookies and treats, after going potty you like to remind us you get a cookie for going. 
• You love sitting in my lap, not next to me, it's getting hard since my pregnant belly is growing so fast with 2 babies in there... you're starting to not fit too well.
• You love the outdoors. You love running around our apartment complex, you love going to the park and you're pretty daring there (makes me nervous!), you love exploring and wandering anywhere new. 
• You love when dadda comes home. You used to get scared when you heard the door knob turning and would run to me, now you know it means dad is home and you run to the door and shout "DADDA!" when he walks in. It's so sweet.
• You love showing off all the body parts you know. Eye, nose, eyebrow, toes, knees, etc.
• You love singing songs. Head, shoulders, knees, and toes is a favorite. You giggle and giggle when we go super fast. 
• You are great at following instructions. You get anything we ask you to, including throwing things away if asked. 
• You love prayers. It's how we get you to bed easily. 
• You love brushing your teeth. You bring your toothbrush and toothpaste to me about 5 times every day saying "teeth?"
• You're usually outgoing... not a very shy kid... but sometimes you get uncomfortable and just sit quietly.
• You eat toast with peanut butter and honey for lunch every day. You don't like pb & jelly for some reason.
• If we're in the car we're either singing "Wheels on the Bus" or making horsey sounds because there are horse statues all over Laramie, WY and every time you see a bus or truck, we sing your favorite song.
• You make animal noises all day long. So cute!
• You have a "baby" - (Blankie) - that you carry everywhere around the house. You always want it on you and whine for it constantly because it's big and heavy and you can't easily get it up on the couch or around corners. 
• You always want to play in our bed. 
• You're a bit territorial and don't like sharing toys. If you find a better toy, then you'll hand over your other toy.
• Lastly, you're perfect and we love you. We could not ask for a more perfect Dylan. :)

I'm Potty Trained!

Not me, you. You're potty trained!! What a big boy!!

You are only 20 months old and officially potty trained. We are THRILLED! We used the book "Toilet Training in Less Than a Day" and it totally worked! My mom, your grandma Jill, actually used this method on us... and it worked. We were 2 when potty trained, my siblings and I. I would have waited, but since we're expecting twin girls this summer I had to get you out of diapers so that I didn't feel like my life was consumed by changing diapers. :) Plus, I needed time for you to get used to it... Grandma says I was very ambitious potty training you so early.

I have to say, the ONLY hard thing about potty training you this young is that you don't like pulling underwear or pants down because it's hard and you get frustrated.

We started potty training Monday morning... closely following the method of this book... and you did not seem to like it. We're supposed to do 10 positive practice trials, and you were bawling by the third one... so I stopped. You peed on the floor once, we did a couple practices and you helped clean it up. The next time you started to pee on the floor, I caught you a second into it and we ran to the potty for you to finish.

After that, every time I asked you if you needed to go pee pee on the potty you would clearly answer "yes" or "no" and if the answer was yes, then we'd go to the potty and you'd pee and it was simple as that. I let you nap in your diaper, you're too young to go without diapers for naps and at night.

After you woke up, you were potty trained. You went to the potty without any prompting. You just ran in there whenever you needed to go. You go pee in your potty, dump the pee in the toilet, put the seat back in place, then flush the toilet. It is sooooo cute. Side note: you were naked from the waist down that first day.

Tuesday: Day 2. I decided let's put on underwear, you mastered the first part so quickly, pulling down underwear and understanding wet and dry can't be that hard. After the first couple trips to the potty, you decided pulling down underwear was too hard. You don't tell me when you have to pee, so I have to watch you closely because you silently run to the potty and go. You couldn't get the underwear down one time so you just sat down to pee and peed in the underwear. The next time you had to pee, I asked if you needed to and you said, "no" and stared at me as you peed your pants. Ugh!! I was so frustrated!! You were frustrated! But, we did all the positive practices and I explained your underwear were wet and that was disappointing to mommy. The next time, you peed in your underwear again! Nothing I did had made any difference. So, I took off the underwear... and suddenly you were trained again. No accidents. Well, sometimes you stand up mid-pee to watch it and it ends up on the bathroom floor... but that's ok. I get that watching your pee is pretty cool.

Wednesday: Day 3. I tried underwear again, I felt like I couldn't go back once I started it. You would get so mad at me for asking if you had to go pee pee, I almost untrained you. You made it through playgroup without an accident. But you cried when I made you go pee before we left. So, we came home and I decided to just let you go naked and let you get used to the potty for awhile. You were perfectly trained again. You must like being naked. :P

Thursday: Day 4. Naked Day. Success. Maybe one accident out of over 10 bathroom trips. Pretty good. I never once asked you if you had to go. But I gave you treats for being dry.

Friday: Day 5. First outing. Dadda's law buddies were going to dinner at The Library, delicious. We showed you where the potty was. We packed 2 extra pairs of pants just in case and we brought along your potty seat (the kind that goes on top of the toilet). Half way through dinner you announced you had to pee pee and it was great. Accident free. Success. That felt so good. Then we went bowling. We ended up asking you to go after awhile because we were so paranoid. But, you happily went. We could not believe when we came home after being out for over 3 hours that we had made it accident free!

It's nice to not be super terrified of going in public. I'm still not sure how to swing it at the park if you have to pee... there's no potty there. Walmart makes me nervous too since the toilet is so far away from shopping. Oh well. Baby steps. We're almost there! You are such a big boy and we are so proud of how fast you picked up on potty training. Once you get the dexterity to easily pull down your underwear it will be even better. :)

20 Months

Happy 20 months my child! You are so big! It's hard sometimes at the park because people expect you to be older than you are. So, when you go up the big tall slide, which is your favorite... and kids climb up behind you and you stop just to turn around and look at them for a minute before continuing up... people ask, "How old is he?" Because it is not until that moment that they realize you must be younger than you look... as the line of 4 kids piles up behind you anxious to get up to the slide and you just want to turn around and look at them and say hi. haha. You're so funny!

You say "weeeeeee" when you go down slides or do something that you think is fun.

We've finally had some nice weather in Laramie this week so we've gone to the park a lot, sometimes even twice a day. We have yet to leave without a lovely fit thrown by you. You just love the park and hate leaving all the fun. You're favorite are the slides. You made me go down the tall slide with you the first couple days, but now you go all by yourself over and over. (mind you, this is Laramie, the slide is not that safe going up, steep stairs and pretty easy to fall off). You don't like the swings very much, you last for a few minutes then you're done.

We went to Mt. Rushmore this week for dadda's spring break. You loved it. The car ride was fine as you just watched your cartoon songs the whole time, you're getting really good at the letters and making their sounds with it. We visited a Mammoth sink hole and saw tons of mammoth bones and you loved that part of the trip.

You love books.

You love sand, rocks, grass, pennies, quarters, anything little that can be put into a container and dumped out again.

You love music and just started "conducting" in our pew at church. You bob your head to the music and sway back and forth as you try to sing.

You love animals. You say all the sounds of all the animals. You pound your chest for the gorilla, make a fishy face, quack, hiss, etc. It's so cute, you make the noises all day. In the morning when you wake up you wake up making monkey noises and lion growls because you see animals all over your room. We can't get you to not growl during sacrament at church, and people think it's hilarious every time you do it.

You enjoy somersaults. If you do it yourself, you put your head down, then roll on your side. haha. You even do somersaults at the grocery store.

You love to help at the grocery store, you have to walk and push the cart and sometimes I'm not allowed to touch the cart if you're pushing it... even though you can't see. You love running around the store and find treats everywhere that you try to sneak in the cart. You understand very well that what goes in the cart, comes home.

Since you're allergic to milk and eggs, your snacks are usually fruity ones. This works out well for me because I don't eat many fruity candies, so I don't try to eat all your treats. :) You love starbursts, skittles, airheads, suckers, and oreos (no, that's not a fruity treat).

Your favorite dinner is spaghetti with meat sauce. You devour it.

You love cuddles and sitting in our lap. You always have to be in a room where someone else is. You do not like being alone.

You love friends, nursery, playgroup. You cried leaving church today because you were sick you couldn't go to nursery. It was sad.

Your hair is long and curly again.

You're wearing 2T clothes and size 6 shoes, and have been for about a month now.

You're a sponge and love to learn. You want to know what everything is. Everything that you know, you point out a million times a day. Hair, nose, eyes, cheeks, knees, toes, animals, books, dinosaurs, blankies, doggies, grass, rocks, cars, teeth, choo choo train, apple, etc. etc. etc.

You love to color.

When you drop something you say, "woop" which is what I say. haha. You little copycat. You still mimic all sounds you hear.

Your big into fake falling "woooooooee" and making a loud crashing sound when you hit the ground. Your cars also fly all over and get crashing sound effects when they hit the ground.

You carry 3 cars with you everywhere. You grab one, put the next in the crook of that arm, then grab the third car. When you set them down, you line them up in a row.

You're currently learning colors, I think you have a few down pretty well. You also surprise us when you'll bring in a "B" block and say "Beee!" It's amazing what you know.

You're still a momma's boy. You always want to be with momma, luckily, you're starting to loosen up a bit and will go to daddy even if mommy's in the room. I think spring break really helped having him around a lot more.

You love the outdoors and want to get outside anytime we can... this is why we're hoping to find a job in a warmer climate than wyoming... well, we like warm too. You get mad and throw a fit every time I make you come inside after we're outside.

You still get over your fits pretty fast, but you still throw yourself on the floor, tears come pouring, and your face looks soooo sad!

You love smiles, tickles, giggling, cuddles, kisses, hugs. You're such a little sweetheart. We love you so much. You are such a light in our home and we're so grateful to have you.

Love,

Mommy & Daddy

19 Months

My favorites -
I love when I look at you and smile, you always look back and give me the biggest smile and start laughing. You just love me, and I just love you.
I love how you say thank you to everything. You even thanked me for buckling you into your car seat the other day.

You just upgraded to a big boy bed... meaning, we took one side of your crib off and replaced it with a little 3 inch railing. You absolutely love it! It's so cute. The last two nights (since you've had the bed like this) you beg to go to bed and you run into it, climb in and giggle as you curl up to go night night. It's so sweet. The only problem... you fell out of it twice last night. I checked on you at 11pm last night and you were asleep on the floor, so I put you back in bed. Then, at 4am you woke up crying, I ran in there and you were sitting on the floor confused and crying. It was so sad. But, there's this 3 inch ledge that you must be climbing over in your sleep to get out. We don't have any idea how you kept getting out in your sleep. In the morning you were in bed just saying "Owie" until we came in and got you.

You're big on saying "owie" probably because you know we'll coddle you if you're hurt, and you love the hugs and love... which we give you anyway, of course. :)

You're a big kisser. You sometimes get so kissy that you'll hold a kiss for quite awhile. You love hugs, you pat our backs when you're hugging us.

You love music and cartoons. You love to dance, you'll copy any dance moves you see. My favorite is your booty dance, you get down low and shake it. haha.

You're going to be a big brother in 6 months! We're hoping you gain a little more independence by then, you're still very attached to mommy, you just love me and want me to hold you all the time (except, of course, when you want to play).

Your curly hair is growing back out.

You love running and playing with other kids. You're getting very territorial and do not like sharing your toys. You know how to keep a toy away from another kid by dodging their grabs.

When we drop daddy off at school, you burst into tears crying, "Dadda!" It's so sad, you get over it pretty quickly though.

You're still a picky eater. You hate pbj sandwiches. You love chicken nuggets and fries. You love grapes. You love froot loops.

You laugh during prayers. You fold your arms, bow your head, then giggle. You last about 30 seconds and then you're goofing off.

You mimic every sound you hear, from any person, child, baby, or animal. If we taught you an animal sound like, "meow" and you hear a cat then you perfect it and say, "wow" because that's closer to what you heard. You mimic cries, laughs, yells, grunts, coughs, squeals, etc.

When you want a cartoon you say "tee" and point to your teeth. I'm not sure if you think the tv is the same name as teeth? It's pretty cute though.

You're pretty obedient, unless you think it's really funny. You hit, and that's funny to you, so that's probably most of your time outs. But, if I ask you to put a toy away, you're quick to go pick it up and put it away.

You bring me your shoes and beg for your coat if we act like we're about to leave, you do not want to get left behind.

You run away from me all.the.time. Getting shoes on, you run away so I have to chase you (sounds contradictory to the last post, but they are both very true). If we going out to the car, you run down the walk so I have to catch you to get you in. If it's time to get dressed, you run to the opposite side of the apartment and hide... you eventually wander back in if I don't chase you. You're a very good boy... you just like to have fun while being obedient. :)

You're a goof. You make faces at us and at yourself in the mirror.

You like having your teeth brushed. But sometimes say, "owie" the whole time.

You love drinks. You love milk and juice (we water both down because you drink so much). This makes you have tons of full wet diapers throughout the day. The only way I can get you to not drink so much is put water in your bottle, then you only take a drink if you're thirsty, not for a treat.

Aunt Mette's family came here last week and you kept wanting to hold Austin (8 months old).

You love to smile and laugh, you love to be a part of the conversation and insert your thoughts, you love conversations and laugh when I have one with only you.

You say, "ya" all the time. I finally taught it to you after you were so stuck on "no!" even when you wanted something. Now, you understand "ya" is how you tell me that you actually want it.

You bring crackers to me if you want them. You know how to get things or where to look for items you want.

Your favorite toys are the cars you drive everywhere (little ones you hold), and blocks that you can stack or put on your fingers. You still love books and could read them all day.

Your latest obsession is with animal noises. You kept showing the family in front of us at church the lion and growling on Sunday. You're very good at the animals and want me to teach you new animals... but I don't know what a gazelle says or dung beetle... so you just get confused when those magnets come up in your animal book. Sometimes we hear you in the middle of the night or in the morning in bed making monkey noises. Your blanket has monkeys on it, so it's the first thing you see. Auntie Maren made you that blanket.

We love you to pieces our dear Dylan. You are the light of our lives and bring so much joy into our family. You make us happier than we ever imagined. We can only hope to do the same for you. We love you forever and a day. Mwah.

Can You Whisper?

Yesterday.

We were reading a book where Mr. Brown can make all kinds of sounds. One page is about how he can whisper whisper.

So, I'm whispering to you and I ask, "Dylan, can you whisper whisper whisper?"

You immediately fold your arms and bow your head for prayer, then you peek up at me to see if you're doing it right. It was soooo sweet!

I love you.

18 Months

You are finally old enough to officially go to nursery... as my calling is in nursery, you've been in there since about 9 months old. Daddy joins us in there too, why not? :)

Photo: From the cruise, you playing with Jaxon, your cousin who is 9, you love him more than you love mommy. :)

Vocabulary: You can say around 40 words, we tried counting and it really got up there. You repeat anything we ask you to, not that it sounds exactly like it, but it sure is cute. You can make most animal sounds, I need to video that. The monkey "oo oo oo, ah ah ah", the elephant you're pretty good at, the rooster, "cock-ah", etc.You communicate pretty well and can tell us what you want.

Manners: You have such sweet manners. You say please and thank you for everything. Seriously. It's been great, you don't really fuss much... sometimes you keep saying please and forget to tell me what it is you want so it takes awhile to figure out why you're saying please over and over.

Places Visited This Month: You went on your first cruise out of LA, CA down the Baja to Puerta Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas, and La Paz... your first visit to Mexico. We visited grandparents in Utah and California... all 3 sets. We went to Fort Collins, CO to go shopping and you made it over the Cheyenne to see your cousin, Darby get baptized.

Dylan at 18 Months:

• You are very jealous. I still cannot hold another baby without you running over and fussing for me to pick you up too.
• You sleep from about 7:30-7:30 or 8:00. We love it.
• You take one nap every day from about 12-2.
• You're a good traveler as long as you have your dvd player, which plays songs with cartoons dancing, sometimes you sing and dance along.
• You love hugs and kisses. You hug all of your friends.
• You're a momma's boy, you choose mommy over anybody.
• You're a goof. You love to watch yourself in the mirror making faces, fussing, growling, laughing, etc.
• You love making faces at people and when they make faces back you laugh.
• You love cars, balls, music, water (to play in), books (esp if they have flips or parts to remove) and your sippy cup.
• You like watching cartoons in the morning: sesame street, barney, dinosaur train, whatever is on. If you're in the other room playing and I turn off the tv, you run out and beg for me to turn it back on... you're like mommy... you like the background noise.
• You love wearing hats. If you find one, you put it on... and giggle.
• If I go anywhere near the front door, you run over as if you're scared I'm going to leave you. You start begging for your coat right away. You don't even like me to take out the garbage without bringing you (and it is COLD outside).
• You follow me around in the morning. You pick out the toy you want to play with and bring it in by my computer, then when I go to the kitchen you pick it up and follow me in there, then you follow me to the bathroom, etc. It's pretty cute.
• You still say "no" a lot and you do not say "yes" at all. If you want something you either repeat the word or look at me in silence waiting for it. 
• You did you first somersault yesterday in Sacrament meeting. haha.
• When you have friends over you do not like sharing your toys. You're very territorial.
• You love the colored pencils, sometimes you even draw with them... but, mostly you take them out of the box and put them back in, over and over.
• You love cuddling with mommy or daddy and with stuffed animals. 

We just love you to pieces. We are so grateful to have you in our lives. 

Love,

Mommy & Daddy