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i <3 mommy, and mommy loves me.

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Typical Dylan. He avoids the real camera at all costs, however he loves his yellow Elmo camera.

This was really taken at the beginning of week six because I failed to get my act together during week 5. It was a rough week. Hence the dark circles under my eyes.

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Another photo taken by my fabulous hubby!

thirty-three months (d)

Dylan is just 3 months shy of turning THREE. Oh. My. God. Where did my baby go?



I thought we were going to make it through the terrible-twos without meeting "the terrible" but as of recently, I am realizing we aren't so lucky. Occasionally the 'terrible' side rears its ugly head. I know you all think that this adorable little boy could not be terrible but I assure you, you are wrong. Sometimes he makes me want to pull my hair out. It doesn't help when my neighbors try to comfort me by saying "three is worse than two." Let me tell you, I can't wait.

Dylan is OBSESSED with Thomas the Tank engine. He knows all the engine's names and even the names of the buildings (like the Tidmouth Timber Yard). If you ask him what color a particular engine is, he will tell you. He'll even look at a black & white outline of a train (coloring book) and tell you which one it is. He learned all the engines by studying the 'map' that comes in each package of the Thomas Wooden Railway system. He even forces us to study the map with him. "Mommy, way down. Wead my map, peas." How can you say 'no' to that? Dylan is really developing an imagination too. He talks to his trains while he is playing and he likes to build tunnels and tracks out of random objects around the house.

He has his absolute favorite trains too...James ("Mase"), Spencer, Gordon ("Monin"), Murdoch ("Mocock"), Harold ("Hadold"), and lately Peter Sam ("Beeter Dam"). We got him a train table for his 2nd birthday and we recently set up a new track layout with a roundhouse that he begged for, for months. The table turned out great and he spends hours playing with it. Every night, he takes a train (or three) to bed and oftentimes he takes one along in the car too.





Dylan has little interest in potty training. He refuses to sit on the potty and if we try to put him on it, he will straighten his body. We even put the potty in front of the TV thinking maybe that would help. No such luck. The weird part is that he will watch his Elmo's Potty Time video over and over again. Last week when my mom was watching him he said to her "Big boys wear diapers." Nice.

Eating has been hit or miss with Dylan lately. Some days he eats a ton, other days he doesn't want anything. He won't touch a PB &/or jelly or grilled cheese sandwich, you know the things kids normally love. It can be frustrating. He will look at something and say it is yucky, without even tasting it. His favorite things to eat are avocados, tomatoes, olives, soy sausage, whole wheat english muffins, rice, and french fries. Oh, and milk. He would drink milk instead of eating. Actually he has done that, but it was entirely his choice.

Here he is snacking on a whole wheat bun. Strange kid.


And some fries (while wearing Grammy's Soduku glasses).




Dylan knows the entire alphabet. He doesn't know the ABC song but he can recognize & say all the letters. Today we were parked in front of Toys R Us and he read all the letters out loud on his own. I didn't even ask him to do it. I was so proud! He also knows his numbers and has counted to 13. His favorite number is 18, and he likes to say "18 minutes" even when we are not talking about time.

He knows his full name although he only says his middle and last name together. He says "middle name Mike-o, wast name Al-ba-do". His first name comes out like "Den-in" and he calls Gavin "Davin". Some things that he says only Bryan & I can understand, while other things are perfectly clear and anyone can understand him. It is almost like he is speaking two languages. Maybe he is. Last week he said "Dos XX".

Dylan LOVES his baby brother and says "my baby bra-der loves me all times". He can't wait to see Gavin in the morning. When he hears Gavin wake up, he runs into his room, flips on the light and wants to hug him. It is so sweet!



Dylan starts swim lessons this week. I am excited for him. He loves the water and I know he will do well.

There is never a dull moment in our house. Not a day goes by that Dylan doesn't say or do something funny. I can't stop giving him kisses (and neither can his Grandmas). He has brought so much joy into our lives. I look forward to what the future holds for him.

seven months (g)

Gavin is seven months old today. I know I have said it before, but damn, time has flown by.



Gavin is very interested in Dylan and watches his every move, with a smile. When Dylan cries, Gavin smiles. When Dylan whines, Gavin smiles. When Dylan acts goofy, Gavin smiles. When Dylan laughs, Gavin smiles (or laughs with him). Gavin is one happy baby. He only fusses when he is really sleepy or hungry. Don't get me wrong, he does have an occasional crying bout but they are few and far between.

He has been saying "dada" for quite some time and he loves to scream, babble and make other random noises. Gavin also loves to blow raspberries, especially when I am feeding him with a spoon.

Speaking of eating, this kid eats like a long-shoreman. In addition to his milk, he loves solid foods. After a bottle or nursing he will eat 1-1.5 jars of baby food (Stage 2). Gavin will eat any fruit we give him, and his favorites seems to be apricots and mangoes which we mix with rice/oat cereal. He is a bit pickier with the veggies. The only veggies we have been successful with are sweet potatoes, sweet corn, and a couple varieties of squash. He is not a big fan of carrots, and he gagged when we gave him peas. We have yet to try green beans.

Don't bother me. I'm eating.






Maggy's got her eye on the spoon.


He will eat just about anything, including a bag of the fabulous Costco wipes!


Gavin is surprisingly small considering the amount of food he consumes. He weighed 15.8 pounds and was 25.75" tall at 6 months (25 percentile for both) . 3-6 month sized clothing fits him perfectly right now, and even some 0-3 pieces still fit him. I think his size has to do with his constant moving. We say that he has Restless Leg Syndrome because he is always kicking his legs. I think he will be a swimmer, a runner, or a bicyclist when he grows up. Maybe even a tri-athelete.

Gavin loves to be in his exersaucer or jumperoo, as seen in this post or playing on his playmat. We will set him in the playroom in one of these things and he is perfectly content for an hour (sometimes more) as long as his big brother is in there with him. It gives me a chance to get some stuff done. He also loves to play with his feet.



Gavin is rolling, but he isn't sitting up on his own yet. That doesn't surprise me one bit considering his big brother wasn't able to do it at this age either. It is fine by me though, because sitting up means he is closer to crawling/walking, which in turn means I will be that much closer to chasing two kids in opposite directions. Now that he rolls, he also sleeps on his tummy which is so cute.

He normally goes to bed bewteen 8:30-9:00 PM and wakes in the morning around 5:00-5:30 AM to eat, and then back to sleep for a few hours. I am trying to cut out the 5:00 AM nursing session now. Mama needs her rest!

Gavin got his 2 center bottom teeth right at 5 months, and 2 center top teeth right at 6 months. Now at 7 months he has a 3rd top tooth breaking through. He handles the teething really well.





My new goal is to give an update every month on each kiddo. I wish I started long before now but I didn't think about it until recently.

Kangaroo

Photo Sharing - Video Sharing - Photo Printing - Photo Books

This kid loves to jump. You'd think he would get sick from all that jumping.

Note: It will take a minute or so for the full clip to load.

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Bryan took this picture of us at Legoland this past weekend. Thomas the Tank Engine is made out of Legos. More Legoland pictures coming soon.