first steps (technically)

On Sunday Ryan and I went out for a nice anniversary dinner (at Ruth's Chris, which was divine!) and walk along the beach, then drove around the UCSD campus for a while. Dylan spent the evening with Grandma & Grandpa Drenan. Upon calling to check in on them, we learned that Dylan not only had his first Oscars breadstick, but also took his first two steps!! OK. So technically he took his first steps, but since we didn't actually see them ourselves, they don't count. Got it?













On Monday we went over to Aunt Nancy's house for a BBQ before heading back to LA. Dylan had fun playing in the grass outside. It was so nice to spend the weekend with family.













Uncle Matt and Aunt Meghan were home from college too, which was a treat! (above picture: Matt and Dylan)

We brought Thaddeus home with us. Aunt Nancy has been fostering both our cats for the past 4 months (THANK YOU so much, Nancy!) and we decided to relieve her of at least one of the cats after this trip. Dylan ADORES Thaddeus, which is really cute. He squeals with delight when he spots him in the same room, zips over to him as fast as he can crawl, and grabs either his tail or reaches to poke at his face or to hug his back. Thad has been a real trooper, putting up with an overeager baby who isn't always gentle. He actually just lays there most of the time, letting Dylan explore. It is fun to watch the two of them.

5 years

Today was our 5 year wedding anniversary! And this weekend while we are down in San Diego visiting family, we have a nice dinner and walk along the beach planned - just the two of us. Of course, there will be a plenty of loving grandpas, grandmas, aunts, and great-aunts to play with the little guy while we are out enjoying a few stolen moments together sans baby.

Derek Argel

It has been almost a year since a former classmate of mine was killed in Iraq. Derek Argel was killed on May 30th in a plane crash during a training mission. Strangely enough, his son was only 10 months old when he passed away and now Dylan is 10 months old. I think about the loss of his wife and son and I choke up. I can't imagine what they've endured. Another dear classmate of mine, Keelee, posted a lovely blog about him recently. Also, you can view more information at a website created in memory of him here. We were on the Cabrillo swim team together.

Pamper's box

Dylan discovered the empty Pamper's box today on its way down to the trash.
He loved being pushed back and forth. He wore himself out so much playing - he took another nap.

pool-time

On Friday night, we took Dylan over to play in the pool with Sammy and Adriana.

It was almost 6pm, but still warm enough for a dip in the pool.
It felt so good to wade around in the water after such a long and hot day running errands.


After about 20 minutes, it started to get cooler, so we took the boys inside to play in the tub. They had just as much fun. Go figure!

Aunt Meghan

Ryan's sister came up today for a visit.
Dylan had fun playing with her glasses.
And stealing them from her!








Note: Meghan just graduated from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. We are so proud of her. She starts law school this fall at Saint Louis University!

oops

Playing in the bottom of the exersaucer. Having fun.












Then he tried to stand up...












And got stuck!

(daddy got a picture before the rescue)

changing-table blues

You wouldn't know it from looking at this picture, but Dylan actually throws a fit when he is on his changing table. We haven't figured out the genesis of his dislike for diaper changes, but he sure puts up a fuss for us. What should normally be a one-man-job often requires two adults. He cries and flips himself onto his stomach, grabs the railing, arches his back and hips until he has scooted entirely off his diaper. Our only reall saving grace is when he is hungry enough to take a bottle while we rush through the dirty task, praying all the while that he'll sit still for us. Hopefully this is just a phase. (Otherwise I might be asking for some wrestling classes soon here).

Mother's Day

Mother's Day last year:
It was a hot and balmy night in St. Louis... I was VERY pregnant and craving mexican food like you wouldn't believe. We met up with our best friends, Rob and Julie, for some dinner at a local mexican restaurant named ZuZu's in Clayton. Julie and I were both in the last weeks of our pregnancies, and desperate to go into labor, become mommies, and meet our little ones! Can you tell we were both about to pop here? I remember my feet being swollen, feeling so hot and tired, and SUPER hungry all the time (hence, my cravings for mexican food)!


This year (Mother's Day #1):
My darling husband woke me up for breakfast in bed, followed by a sweet card with a very thoughtful gift certificate to a spa for me to enjoy later this week. Then after church, we went to lunch at my favorite Caltech bistro and for a walk around campus with my two favorite boys. Lovely day.

blowout blooper

Ok, so the news is that Dylan had a major blow-out today while I was at work (first Saturday I worked at the hospital). And from daddy's report, sounds like it was a nasty one. I wondered what it could have been... that is until I learned that daddy found the prunes in the cupboard and decided to give Dylan a whole container of them! He said, "he sure seemed to like them, so I gave him the whole container." Oops! Not a good idea. Those were supposed to be hidden in there for an emergency if Dillyweed got stopped up. And even then I was only going to give him about a 1/3 or at most a 1/2 of the container. Poor Ryan. He had a wild afternoon.
Both survived the ordeal. And now it is kind of funny. Ryan actually laughed when he realized it probably was the prunes.
Lesson learned: prunes are NOT one of our daily fruits.

clapping

He can clap. It took us nearly 3 days to get him to do it for the camera. But last night in the bathtub, we suckered him into doing it for us with this silly made-up song I sing to him. Ah, what a fun age. He looks so proud of himself when he figures out what we want from him and that he CAN do it. His smiles light up the room as his hands slap together over and over, albeit uncordinated.















Note: while he can clap, he would much rather have you clap for him with your hands. In fact, sometimes he'll grab your hands with his and make you do it for him.

incident report

Upon picking Dylan up from daycare today after work, I learned that there was an "incident report" waiting for me to read and sign. First let me tell you that he is fine. Just a bruise on his forehead and a red little bump over his left eye. According to the report, he apparently fell while trying to reach down for a toy while "walking." Now that part must be a mistake, since he hasn't walked yet... but I'm assuming that he fell while cruising along and probably got distracted by another kid or toy nearby. I'm sure it looks worse than it really feels. However, he'll most definitely be spoiled with love and affection tomorrow on my day off at home with him.

there's a friend

Today Dylan and I went to the children's gardens at the Huntington Library again with a couple of our new friends. He had fun with his friend Samuel who is only 12 days younger than him. They crawled around in the grass, through the tunnels, and in the water together. Adriana and I took turns trying to catch pictures of our busy little boys as they played, which proved to be quite a task. Ever tried taking pictures of crawling babies? Not easy.

Dylan was much more interested in playing with the plants, than looking at the camera.

.

- Dylan and Sammy -

And here is my friend Adriana.
She and I are taking the AFAA group exercise certification course in Malibu on Saturday. We probably should have spent the afternoon studying, but who wants to study when the gardens were free today?

"clap your hands"

Dylan clapped his hands for the first time today. The first time he did it I thought it was a coincidence that he did it after I did. But later tonight when Ryan clapped his hands together and asked Dylan to try, amazingly enough, Dylan simply clapped his hands. What an exciting moment. It was so cool to see him connect that we wanted him to copy us and then actually do it. And while I understand that things like this are going to continue to occur, it is still very exciting and special to watch him learn each day. Horray for Dylan! Lets give him a round of applause.

Another thing we have started doing this week is putting him up on our shoulders (holding his hands to keep him balanced up there), which he absolutely loves. He is all smiles and giggles, especially when he spots himself in the mirror. I'll have to take a picture of him up on daddy's shoulders soon for you all to see.