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Monday, July 31, 2006

ididit

Nicole, my older sister by 16 months, just had her second baby boy tonight. And get this: her kids are 16 months apart. Which is pretty funny, if you ask me.
His name, you ask? Dominick Shane. But they are calling him Nick for short. I'm not sure on the rest of the details (weight, etc.) yet, but I know he has arrived and I'm itching to see him in a couple weeks when we'll be in town for my 10 year high school reunion. Yikes. Has it really been that long? I'm getting old.

Welcome little Nick. We love you already!

Tonight Ryan and I realized that Dylan's new word is ididit -
I think he believes that 'I did it' is in fact one word, meaning 'I've pooped.' Whatever Dylan. At least you're getting your point across. And we are VERY proud. Even if it does mean that we are required to change yet another dirty diaper...

Saturday, July 29, 2006

straws, falls & poop, oh my!

Straws:
Guess who drank from a straw for the first time today? No. Not Ryan. Silly.
Yeah, Dylan. We were sitting at CPK with Meghan and offered him some milk from the CPK kids meal cup and he gulped it up like he'd been doing it for years. Only glitch is that he can't seem to figure out how to let go of the straw from his mouth without dumping all the milk down his chin in the process. I'm sure he'll eventually "get" the whole straw concept, but for now it's sure making a mess.

The falls:

Then later tonight, he fell and bumped his lip on a toy. (now imagine lots and lots of tears with lots of breath-holding that babies and toddlers do so well when they get hurt). Good thing he already has that bruise on his right eye to complete his rough and tough look.

And now for the poop:
And now I'm pretty sure he has some kind of stomach virus. He's pooped 4 times today, which is at least 3 more times than any other normal day and without too much more in the way of details, I'll just say that my gut feeling on this one is that he's sick. Plus he's also puked a couple times this afternoon. And either it is all in my head or I'm starting to feel kind of yucky myself. Cross your fingers that I don't wind up with a stomach flu as well. They say that when a kid gives a bug to the parents, the parent gets it much worse. I remember when Ryan got something a few months back from Dylan and he was in agony, in bed for a few days, not eating, or sleeping. At least what they say was true that time around.

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Mimi's rap music

Aunt Mimi (Meghan) came up for the weekend and introduced our innocent toddler to rap music. T.I. What You Know is the song playing on Meghan's computer.

Behold, a rap-star is born:

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Friday, July 28, 2006

published

Ryan would never toot his own horn on here about his paper getting published. But since I know that you all would love to read 19 pages about how "R7BP augments the function of RGS7/G5 complexes by a plasma-membrane targeting mechanism" I'll give you the link.

To be honest, I think the pictures at the end are pretty cool (see the last 5-6 pages of the full text version).

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

all in 20 minutes

I swear this all happened within 20 minutes (WHILE I was making dinner and scrubbing/cleaning out the fridge, I might add).

Dylan emptied the kitchen cabinet under the sink full of cleaning supplies (I was cleaning the fridge and thought he was playing safely with something else and was TOTALLY shocked with his mischief when I turned around)... then just minutes later, after a dirty diaper and getting him settled in the living room with his toys and music, I hear some banging and look up for him. I expected to find him banging a toy on the coffee table, but NO, he was around the corner with all 4 of our glass coasters (that he hasn't been able to reach until today of all days) and banging them up & down on the fireplace! There was glass shattered everywhere and luckily he wasn't hurt. I guess he grew just enough overnight to reach and explore in ways he couldn't yesterday.

All that and to top it off, he'd been fussing and crabbing at me all day. Plus, he refused to eat both his lunch and dinner. (sigh). At least he's not constipated anymore.

Who said that the terrible twos start at 18 months? They've got to be kidding me!

Tuesday, July 25, 2006

(un)happy nails

Tonight after getting the boys settled in with dinner, I headed out for a much needed "moms night out" with a handful of my other mom friends.

The venue: pedicures at "Happy Nails" salon at Paseo Colorado.
The outcome: a ticked off Briana with a satisfactory pedicure and sub-par manicure, but a good evening overall with good friends and memories to eventually laugh at after about two nail polishings down the road.

Basically the women that did my nails were downright rude and rough with me. They pushed my feet around instead of gently telling me to switch feet in/out of the water, glared at me without even a tiny smile when I over-tippped them for their shoddy service, and further botched up my nails when I pointed out that a flake of skin from the man next to me (getting his callouses filed off) landed in my wet nailpolish! I think they had a plot against me. One thing is for sure, I'm not going back there again for their abuse. Happy Nails? My ass.

Honestly, hanging out with my friends was the point of the evening - which was a major success and I'm glad I went in the end. I'm just irritated with the very unhappy nail salon workers and hope plenty of other customers stiffed them on their tips tonight (since I was an idiot and personally over-tipped them)!

Monday, July 24, 2006

sonicare

The past few nights (to be honest, ever since the pediatrician put the fear of God in us last week that we MUST brush Dylan's teeth every night... or else!) we have had to instill another event in the PM routine: the sonicare teethbrushing extravaganza.



Fade in. Dylan interested for a brief moment in his own toothbrush while we brush our teeth with our sonicare toothbrush. Fade out.

Fade in. Dylan sees us with the obviously-superior-to-the-lame-baby-toothbrush (electric-fun-feeling sonicare) and swarms in for the grab. Mommy and Daddy decide that it would be cute to let him try it out and see what he thinks of it. Dylan falls in love. Now Dylan MUST have the sonicare whenever it makes an appearance. Fade out.

Fade in. Dylan melting down the moment said sonicare is taken away. Fade out.

Needless to say, that is the precise moment when the bedtime routine shifts into baby-goes-to-bed-NOW mode.

Maybe we need to wait to brush our own teeth till after he is in bed for the night. But then again, then there won't be that special "we all have our toothbrushes and are brushing before bed together" moment anymore. What a dilemma.

Sunday, July 23, 2006

dunk, dunk

After a nice long nap after church this afternoon, we headed over to play with Ewan and his mommy and daddy. Dylan even took a few dunks under water (don't worry y'all, he seemed to kind of like it and I was very gentle and careful).

On another note: Dylan had his ONE YEAR checkup at the pediatrician this past Wednesday evening. Here are his stats:
Weight: 22 lbs. 11 oz. (50th percentile)
Height: 31.5" (90th percentile)
Head Circumference: 46.5cm (50th percentile)

As you can see, he is a tall bugger. And if you've been following along with us since the early days, he's sure made some strides with his weight during the past 6 months. Way to grow, Dilly!

Saturday, July 22, 2006

coffee anyone?

We spent the evening with some friends of ours from Turkey. One of the highlights was watching how they made Turkish coffee . All the coffee in the pot is poured into cups, but not all of it is drunk. The thick layer of sludgy grounds at the bottom of the cup is left behind. You then can invert your tiny coffee cup onto the saucer and then let it dry a bit. The coffee grounds form a pretty pattern on the side of the cup and saucer. And if your host is creative enough (as ours sure was) you get your fortune read.
The coffee itself was so smooth and not bitter at all, much to my delight. I am normally not a fan of anything without tons of sugar and milk and whip cream (ok, so I like those fru-fru drinks from Starbucks - sue me!), but this coffee was FAN-freaking-tastic. If you ever have the opportunity to try some of this stuff, you'll too see why is has been around since the 16th century and why Turkish coffee has the reputation it does.

So anyhow, now I'm all jazzed about this whole thing... and clearly wired up from all the caffeine. Ah, caffeine.

I'm afraid they got me hooked.

Thursday, July 20, 2006

an aborted mission

To start off with a disclaimer: I love my cat. I do.

But have I ever mentioned how much I hate kitty litter? I am not using the word "hate" lightly here. I H-A-T-E the dust, bits of it that end up along the carpet, smell, and general idea of it all. I also H-A-T-E cleaning up the litter box, which sits pestiferously in the downstairs 1/2 bathroom. Today, in an attempt to make the room less repugnant, I decided to sweep up the scattered litter and scrub the floors. Little explanation is needed beyond the fact that I got even more annoyed and aborted said mission.

And have I mentioned how much I L-O-V-E my husband for always keeping it clean and not making me deal with it more than once in a blue moon? Ah, I love that man.

Tuesday, July 18, 2006

"gonna get you"

New game. Produces squeals all around. Katie and Dylan love it. It's kind of like hide and go seek, except they lurk closer and closer trying to get caught and then squeal as they race away from the boogie-woman.



P.S. update on the discipline issue: we started a time-out "naughty chair" tonight when obvious boundary pushing was noted. The funny part of it was that Ryan placed him facing the wall and then commented with slight frustration that he seemed to "actually like it." I then remind him to take away his toys that he still had and was playing with happily. Sigh.

lounging at gymboree

Julie and I took the kiddos to Gymboree again yesterday for an hour of unbridled play.


The kids on the rocking boat. Dylan wanted to stand and rock the boat (literally) while Katie sat sweetly across the way like the lady she is.


Dylan took a surprising 10 minute or so rest, lounging on this banana rocker. It was so unlike him to just lay there for minutes at a time. At one point, he even folded his hands behind his head. I was tickled to have my camera along in my diaper bag (gotta love how much you can cram in those things for any occasion).




Today we are off to the Huntington Library. The plan includes a nice long walk through the gardens, playtime at the children's gardens (which should be fun now that Dylan can walk), and perhaps a picnic in the shade. If all goes well, the babes will nap in the strollers for us and we can enjoy our last day together there in the beauty of the gardens. I remember when we first moved out here and I took Dylan to the gardens. I called Julie while I sat there and cried, missing my friend so much that it hurt. Now I get to take her there. What a treat!

Monday, July 17, 2006

pushing the limits

Tonight was a glimpse of what "pushing the limits" is all about. As we sat visiting with our friend (her little girl, all but asking politely to be put to bed over an hour beforehand), Dylan crawled over to the "NO TOUCH" arena of the fireplace, then looked up at us, smiled, then placed his hand on it. It hit me at once. This little guy knows what he is doing and is seeing how far we can be pushed. In shock, we didn't know what to do but laugh, then redirect him to another part of the livingroom. Now I'm desparately searching for how we should discipline our now ONE year old son - in fear that any wrong decision hereafter will result in a terror of a child that will spur glares from all. I'm scared.
Any suggestions?
Perhaps a time-out space designed only for acts-of-defiance punishment. Ryan and I talked about maybe just putting him in a "naughty chair" (which would actually be the guest high-chair/booster-seat that we have and don't use except for company), or perhaps a gate across the laundry room and let him have a moment to reflect with us out of the line of sight, but still able to watch for safety...
Sigh. How does one decide on what is the best way to teach a one year old? It seems as though the need for such decisions has crept up on us. Eeek.

Tigger

Games of cat and mouse with a toy deemed the favorite by two one year olds in the tub can be quite entertaining. Dylan had the toy, then Katie somehow got it. Soon followed by Dylan. Then Katie.
Katie got the idea of trying to lure Dylan into distraction with other squirt toys, so she could reclaim her status of "tigger toy holder."

Crafty little girl.







In the end, Dylan got Tigger (note the grin across his face when he finally got it back). Halarious.

Sunday, July 16, 2006

Peanuts


brief recap

Matching "HELLO MY NAME IS:" jumpers. One word: ADORABLE.

Bathtub fun. Katie is reportedly not a huge fan of the tub, but she had a blast playing in her respectable side of the tub the other night, exchanging squirt-toys with Dylan.

At the end of a long morning, both kiddos konked out. I'm sensing a theme here. Play hard, then nap hard.

Saturday, July 15, 2006

Partay!

Despite a 101 degree day, Dylan's first birthday party was a big hit!

Riding atop daddy's shoulders. Always a hit. Especially when daddy kicked it up a notch to a jog around on the grass - smiles galore!

Opening presents! Dylan's friends were VERY generous to him... He got: Gymboree tunnel and bubbles, gift cards, swimming ducky for the bathtub, cute outfits, a jingling ball, books, animal puzzle, dump-truck/shape sorter, bottle/sippycup cooler, and a school bus. We were overwhelmed with the generosity and thoughtfulness of our friends. Thank you everyone!

Our friends Penny and Sarah gave Dylan this tunnel from Gymboree. Let's just say that it is currently in our livingroom and Dylan can't get enough of it! (Recipe for a smiling little boy: shove a bunch of his deflated party balloons in the tunnel and let him crawl through, pushing the balloons ahead of him through the tunnel. He loves it!)

Katie enjoying the festivities after a nice pre-party snooze in the stroller.

Sacked out in the car on the ride home (with his beloved bear). We barely pulled out from the park before this birthday boy was snoozing.

Friday, July 14, 2006

best friends

Julie and Katie are here visiting us for the week. We have been keeping super busy so far. Stroller strides each morning, playtime at Gymboree, walking along Lake Avenue, Trader Joes, dinner out at Rubios and In & Out... and tomorrow morning we have Dylan's birthday party at Garfield Park in South Pasadena. FUN, FUN, FUN!


Eating french fries at In & Out



at Gymboree

at Gymboree (see Julie's post for more about this fun afternoon)







I'll post more pictures soon. But now I need to get ready for the pahr-tay!

Tuesday, July 11, 2006

Birthday Weekend

We went to San Diego this past weekend to see family and celebrate Dylan's birthday. He got some cool toys and we all swam until we were exhausted.
Here he is with his new Radio Flyer wagon.
He's a bit of a ham, as you can see. Uncle Roger decorated him with a hat and some sunglasses.
Dylan: A Ladies Man.
He got a John Deere tractor and farm animal toys from Grandma and Grandpa Drenan.

Lastly, he had his very own banana cake, which you can see that he very much enjoyed! (immediately followed by a bath!)

Friday, July 07, 2006

a year ago TODAY

He learned to laugh
and squeal,
then sit and stand.
Now he can walk if you
hold their hands.
But the fun has only
just begun...
Look out he's turning ONE!


A YEAR AGO...


July 7th, 2005: our son Dylan Ryan was born. A precious, perfect gift from God. Here is our first picture as a family, minutes after his birth at 11:32am!

Dylan was less than a month old here. While he took a nap, my mom and I had fun taking pictures. This picture was my favorite.



This is the picture we used for his birth announcement. The dark colored teddy bear on the very bottom is his favorite. See previous blog titled "Finding Teddybear" for details on the discovery of his furry friend.



Mommy and baby.




Mommy, Daddy... and Dylan makes 3!










AND TODAY...



Sporting his birthday hat.
Full of energy, curiosity, and smiles.
I couldn't be more in love!









Tonight we are heading down to San Diego to celebrate with some family. Dylan will get to play in the pool, soak up some sun (with sunscreen of course, no worries), and dive into some birthday cake!

Thursday, July 06, 2006

the songs we sing

We sing the same songs over and over to Dylan when he is fussy or going to bed at night. We sing "Twinkle, twinkle, little star" followed by "Favorite Things" from the Sound of Music. The amusing part is that we don't know all the words to "Favorite Things" and mumble the parts we don't know and end up catching eachother's eye and laughing together. Tonight I just looked up the words (gotta love the 'ol internet for solving problems like these) and now don't know if I'll actually sing them because our silly little way is special now. It has become our little family song, mumbles and all.

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens
Bright copper kettles and warm woolen mittens
Brown paper packages tied up with strings
These are a few of my favorite things

Cream colored ponies and crisp apple streudels
Doorbells and sleigh bells and schnitzel with noodles
Wild geese that fly with the moon on their wings
These are a few of my favorite things

Girls in white dresses with blue satin sashes
Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes
Silver white winters that melt into springs
These are a few of my favorite things

When the dog bites
When the bee stings
When I'm feeling sad
I simply remember my favorite things
And then I don't feel so bad

Wednesday, July 05, 2006

July 4th

We started off the afternoon with some playtime at Garfield Park in South Pasadena. The weather was absolutely perfect - 73 degrees and sunny. We played on the swings, slides, and then parked ourselves on our blanket under a tree, blowing bubbles for Dylan and lying around. Quite a few other families had the same idea, but none too close, so it was nice. Dylan crawled around in the grass, chasing bubbles.





playing on the slide with daddy


the swings are always a big hit!




the fireworks, at South Pasadena High School




holding onto mommy during a big BOOM!




trying to protect the little guy's ears

Sunday, July 02, 2006

balloons, walking, and borrowed shoes

Today was Dylan's friend Adal's birthday party. He and Dylan are only 5 days apart. The party was at a local park in Sierra Madre with lots of good company and yummy food. Dylan surprised us with taking a few steps, while borrowing a pair of Adal's walking shoes... which immediately led to the borrowing of said shoes for Dylan to further practice his steps at home. Maybe it wasn't the shoes, but he seemed to do well in them. Nike shoes. Go figure.
Only 5 more days until Dylan is ONE. I can hardly believe it has been a year already since he was born. Time really has flown by the past 6 months (meaning that the first 6 months seemed slow-going with so little sleep on board with our family). He has grown into such a fun little boy and we are excited to watch his development in the next few months with more words, steps, and the like.
Speaking of development, we got some video of him taking some more steps tonight while he was playing with some balloons from the party that we brought home with us. We kind of tricked him into thinking we were holding onto him while he held onto the balloon string instead... and behold: a walking Dylan!


Saturday, July 01, 2006

Playing at Gymboree


Proud of himself after crawling in there on his own!






Deciding what to do next while watching the 'big kids' play.








"Look at mommy!"






Here he is with his friend, Ricky, in the "boat"








And on the swing:

Dylan loves his kittycat

Dylan loves Thaddeus. And apparently Thaddeus doesn't mind his affection too much. Whenever Dylan finds Thad, he tackles him.

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