Catching up to date

Oops... Sorry folks. Somehow it seems that I missed a month or two here on Dylan's Den. So much has been going on for our little one, too, so let me take some time to tell you all about it.

We left off telling you how Dylan had gotten to meet the Easter bunny. Not long after that post, he got to enjoy his first Easter, with a lot of family there to share it with him. His Great Grandparents came to visit, as did his Nana and Grandpa Les who all came for dinner at his Grandma and Grandpa's house.

We all had a great time, but Dylan seemed to have the most fun. Don't worry, this cake survived the fun. He was just practicing for his birthday cake. But we'll get to that later.

While we're on the subject of cake, and eating, it might be a good time to mention just how many teeth Dylan has to eat that cake with. As of right now, he has five teeth that are fully out, and another three that we can see starting to break through. It's only a matter of time before he'll have a big toothy grin for all to see. And all of this teething is coming without all that much fuss. Maybe a day of clingy-ness, but that's about all.

He certainly was feeling good on May 23rd though, for his first birthday party. There were lots of decorations, good food and plenty of family and friends to celebrate with. Dylan really enjoyed being the center of attention.

Dylan also enjoyed his own special birthday cake, as you can see here. He was slow to get started with it, just trying it out by putting his hands on it, but with a little encouragement, he had that cake destroyed in mere minutes. Afterwards, Dylan went straight into the bathtub, clethes and all, for a quick bath. Even after we got all the icing off of him, he was still as sweet as ever.

Dylan also enjoyed opening his big pile of presents. He was too tired from "eating" his cake to get to them on his birthday so on the following day, we had a second celebration just so he could enjoy his gifts. He didn't need much help, managing to empty the gift bags with ease and even tear into the wrapping paper with a small assist from Mom and Dad

In the time between posts, Dylan also had his one year check up at his doctor's office. He weighed in at 27 lbs. and 2 and 1/2 ft tall. Strangely, the normally active and friendly little guy was quiet and shy. He just sat there staring at his doctor, not even taking a toy that she offered. Little did we know just what he would be getting in to in the next week.

Just three days ago Barbara was talking to Dylan while he was in his playpen. Suddenly, to her great surprise, he grabbed the top rail of the playpen and pulled himself up to stand, grinning at his mommy. Then, when she yelled "Good Job!" Dylan got so excited that he began to clap his hands. Of course, once he wasn't holding on, he fell right onto his bottom.

The last two days have been filled with Dylan not only pulling himself to stand, but also with him starting to "cruise"- walking while holding on to the furniture. He especially likes to pull up on his couch and cruise over to his playpen. In fact, we've even got that little trip on video for you.

Dylan is taking advantage of this new-found ability. Now, when you think he's ready to take a nap, he may have a surprise in store for you. Yesterday afternoon, I put him down for his nap, only to hear him up on his feet, pounding on the wall next to his crib, yelling, "HEY!". I guess he was trying to tell me he wasn't quite ready for that nap.

Every day, Dylan surprises us with something newly discovered or newly mastered. It certainly keeps Barbara and I on our toes. I'll try to keep this blog updated with all of his continuing adventures.

Hop To It!

Welcome back to this month's installment of Dylan's Den!

There's quite a bit to talk about, as it's been a while since my last posting.
Overall, Dylan continues to do exceptionally well. He continues to learn new and interesting things every day and perfect how he does other things, as well. One of his new things is his ability to get around in his walker. If you put him in his walker, watch your toes. He'll be rolling over them any minute. Dylan is especially fond of chasing the cats and trying to grab the dogs while they lay on the couch. Luckily for the dogs, Dylan can't really reach past the side of the walker very far. He has managed to get a hold of Bosco's tail once or twice though. Bosco is our Italian Greyhound. Dylan seems to really like both him and our Jack Russel, Kelly.

Dylan also has begun experimenting with some interesting sounds he can make. He does this sort of half growl, half talking thing where it sounds like he's speaking through a computer synthesizer. I can't do it justice by describing it, but take my word for it, it sounds... odd. He also seems to be making the connection between "da-da" and me. I'm not saying he is outright calling me da-da, but he does say it when I come into a room sometimes. Barbara is ah-da, apparently. He says that and looks right at her. We're encouraging him to talk a lot. Whenever he is in the mood, we're having conversations back and forth. I wonder just how much he understands. Sometimes, I think it is a lot more than we give credit for.

Dylan also got to meet the Easter Bunny. He wasn't as impressed as he was with Santa. I think that Dylan may have thought the Easter Bunny was just another one of his stuffed animals. Still, we got some great pictures.

Barbara and I have been encouraging Dylan to try new things, as much as we can. One of our favorite pastimes is to sit Dylan in front of a new toy and watch him try to figure it out. Just the other day, Barbara put together a little sports center for him that has a mini basketball net, a baseball to hit and a football rattle. At first, Dylan seemed a bit confused with the small basketball. He has never tried to pick up something round before, so this was a new challenge for him. He tried to grab it several times, and each time it would roll away. Finally, he pinned the ball against his leg and sort of rolled it up his chest into his hands. After he got a good taste and decided that this was something he wanted to play more with, he soon figured out how to pick it up with both hands, right to his mouth.

We'll work on actually putting the ball in the basket another time. It was just fun watching the gears turn in his head as he tried to figure out how he was going to pick the ball up.

One last thing that I almost forgot to mention- Dylan is now working on his third tooth. This one will be his upper front tooth, on his left side. It's been playing hide-and-seek for over a week now, and it's turning our normally happy-go-lucky baby into a bit of a fussy boy at times. Even so, Dylan at his fussiest is still pretty darned good. At worst, he'll get a bit whiny and sleep a bit more than usual. Otherwise, it's not really that bad. Of course, that's easy for me to say... it's not me who is cutting the tooth.

Anyway, that's all I have time for now, I'll post back with another update next month!

"March"ing ahead

Welcome back to Dylan's Den!

Tonight, I'm writing to tell you once again just how wonderfully Dylan is doing. As of his last visit to his doctor on Thursday, he is 24 lbs and perfectly healthy. This places him right where he should be for a child his age, without making any adjustments for the fact that he was 10 weeks early.

Dylan has also graduated to eating Stage 2 jar foods, which include larger servings and a more varied selection. He is also now getting to experience Cheerios, every baby's favorite toy/food. He is managing to pick them up and eat them on his own, but he hasn't yet mastered using just his index finger and thumb yet. Having something small to try and manipulate, like the Cheerios, is a great way for him to learn that bit of dexterity.

With St Patty's day coming soon, Dylan is looking forward to his first green beer. Somehow though, I think we are going to stick with his formula. Also, Barbara has been telling him all about the Easter Bunny, so he's looking forward to grabbing a hold of his cotton tail and long ears :)

I also wanted to throw out a mention that Dylan's birthday is coming up soon (May 23rd) and that if any of his nurses or doctors from the NICU would like to come to his party here in Ocala, please email Barbara at babyfundsales@aol.com.

We'd love to have you here for the get-together.

Nine Months already?!?

How did nine months pass by so quickly? And how did my little boy get so big, so fast?

It sure seems hard to believe that Dylan is 9 months old already. And boy, how things have changed. Heck a lot has changed even since my last post here.

When I last posted, Dylan had just started to cut his first tooth. Well, not very long after that, his second tooth came in, right next to the first one.

It may be hard to see, but there are two little teeth hanging out there at the bottom of his mouth.

Dylan is also learning to sit quite well. He can't quite reach a sitting position without either pulling himself up or by getting some help from Barbara or I, but once he is sitting, he can balance himself really well. He usually braces himself with one arm, but just over the course of the last two days or so, he has started staying upright without using his hands at all. He's loving that, because it gives him both hands to play with whatever toy you may have nearby.

Dylan has also been growing quite fast, as I'm sure you can see from the pictures. So fast, in fact, that he has outgrown his original infant car-seat and graduated to the next size.

Our little boy is also coming very close to getting out his first words. He has recently started babbling da-da-da-ba-ba-ba for long stretches. We even think he may have gotten out a few ma-ma-ma's. I think it's going to sooner rather than later that he fires off a da-da or ma-ma and actually means what he says.

Anyway, that's about all I have time for right now. As things change, I'll be sure to post here about them, at the first chance I have.

A New Developement

I just wanted to drop a quick line to our readers about a new and exciting developement in Dylan's world...

He is starting to cut his very first tooth!

Now, it's probably a week or two away from being out completelty, but the very top corner of his first tooth is poking out of his gums. Barbara first pointed it out to me yesterday afternoon. It's the front left tooth on the bottom. I wanted to take a picture, but so little is protruding out as of yet, that I don't think you'd really be able to tell yet.

If he chews on your finger, as he sometimes likes to do, you will definately notice it. I guess that is something we're going to have to discourage now. But that's okay. I think he has plenty of toys to chew on, instead.

Anyway, that's all for now. I'll be sure to keep you all up to date.

Welcome Back!

Welcome back to Dylan's Den!

Dylan had his return visit to see Tricia, the physical therapist, and she has given Dylan two thumbs up. He is now exhibiting "age appropriate behavior" which basically means that for his adjusted age, he is doing all of the things he should be doing. He's been discharged from the therapy, as there is no further point to it. It really shows just how much work his Mom has been putting in with him, encouraging him whenever he tries something new and congratulating him whenever he succeeds. Ever since the idea of physical therapy was brought up, Barbara has been something of his own personal therapist- working with Dylan every day, making playtime have a purpose besides fun.

And he seems to be learning new things every day.Since my last post, Dylan has started trying to pull himself up to a sitting position. He can also hold himself steady with one or two hands while in a sitting position. He's even trying to use one hand to play with his toys while holding himself up with the other. Sometimes that works out pretty well for him. Other times it ends up with him laying sideways, wondering how he got that way. He is also pushing his front end completely off the mat with his front arms, building the strength he'll need when he starts to learn to crawl. Tricia said that crawling is still a little bit away, even for a full term baby.

He has also taken to sucking his thumb. He seems to do it most when he is either tired or right after eating. Maybe it's something like an after-dinner mint? It's pretty cute to see him do it.One funny thing to see is watching Dylan trying to suck his thumb and roll over at the same time. He hasn't quite realized that he can't do both. He has however, started to realize that he can roll over several times to get to the other side of his playmat. Just the other day while playing with him on his mat, he decided to roll from one end to the other, to get to where his pile of toys was. He seemed quite pleased with himself when he got there. I know I was pretty excited about it.

Something else that Dylan is rather pleased with, it seems, is jar food. He now eats a full jar of Beechnut Stage 1 food before each bottle. Sometimes he even goes for another 1/2 jar. He's been eating peas, green beans, sweet potatoes, pears, applesauce, bananas, even turkey. He really has gotten the hang of it. Soon, we'll be switching to the Stage 2 stuff, which is larger jars and new flavors, too.

Every day seems to be something new for the little guy. Who knows what the next few days will bring? Whatever it is, check back here to find out. I should have a new post up in the next few weeks.

A New Year

Happy New Year to All!

I just thought I'd drop a quick line to let everyone know how great this Christmas was for Dylan. Being his first Christmas and all, Barbara and I were really hopeful that everything would go perfectly, but we were also expecting a bit of crankiness from Dylan, since there would be a lot of commotion.

Dylan was cool, calm and collected throughout. I guess we should have known, given how well he has taken all the rest of the commotion in his young life, but even so, it was nice to see how he took everything in stride. It started Christmas Eve with a big get-together at our house, with 12 people at the table for dinner. Dylan seemed to really enjoy being passed around, and he had a big smile for each new person to hold him.

On Christmas day, Dylan woke up with a smile on his face and I don't think it left for more than a few minutes all day. From his Nana and Grandpa Les visiting, to his trip to Grandma and Grandpa Levine's house and then dinner there he was a happy baby from start to finish.

A day or two later, Dylan had a little surprise in store for me when I went into his room to wake him for his morning bottle. When I looked into the crib, he was on his belly! Dylan apparently figured out how to make that last little turn that he needed to make it all the way over. A day later, he figured out how to roll back over onto his back. He's making some big strides. Next up, crawling. And he seems to be getting closer to that as well. His movements look more coordinated and I think he's starting to get the hang of the leg movements. He just needs to build up the strength to move his chubby butt.

That's about all for now. As far as what's coming up soon, we have his re-evaluation appointment with his physical therapist in two weeks or so. I'm looking forward to getting the therapist's opinion on his progress and maybe learning a few new things we can incorporate into his play that will help him develop as we go.

Barbara is also beginning to look into ideas for Dylan's big First Birthday Party in May. Although there's plenty of time between now and then, we've both noticed how things suddenly seem to sneak up on us since Dylan has joined us, so we figured better to get a head start on things. Barbara wanted me to ask that if anyone had any ideas for themes for the party to email her at babyfundsales@aol.com. We have some thoughts about it but would certainly welcome any input.