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.

Dylan and the Fat Man

As you can see, Dylan got to meet someone special this past Thursday. It was quite a treat for him, and he seemed genuinely impressed. I tried to explain to Dylan that this was some very important networking for him to do, as he will want to get on the big guy's good side. It's not what you know, I told him, but WHO you know, and it's always good to know Santa.

I was quite pleased to see how nicely Dylan took to his visit with Santa. I've heard horror stories from other parents about how kids can be frightened by him, but I guess Dylan is still a bit young for that. He was quite comfortable on Santa's lap. He even made a grab at his beard. Santa was too quick, though. Better luck next year, I guess :)

In other news, Dylan continues to try to crawl, but alas, he continues to not quite get it yet. The effort is certainly there. He'll pump his legs and swing his arms and lift his head... And end up just tottering back and forth on his belly. Then, he gets upset and starts to yell. I guess he's getting frustrated because he can't get everything together yet. It looks like he gets the idea of it, so I'm sure he'll figure it out soon enough. He is starting to get the hang of rolling himself. He can't quite get himself over, but he rocks himself almost to the point of tipping over. I think once he grows and builds up a bit more strength, he'll be rolling all over.

Speaking of growing, Barbara and I were packing away some of the things that Dylan has outgrown. Maybe it's just us, but we surely didn't realize just how much this little guy has grown. Take a look at the following picture. It shows Dylan with the outfit he wore coming home from the NICU- and that was at two months old...

I can't get over just how much he has grown over the months. I know he is almost seven months old, but still... how did he get so big? I guess he eats well :)

And eat well he does. Just not neatly. We've been continuing the experiment with solid foods, and it really has been going well. Yesterday Dylan ate half of a jar of applesauce without any trouble at all. Then he seemed to lose interest and want his bottle. It's pretty exciting stuff- at least to Barbara and I it is :)

Anyway... That's about all I have for now. I'm sure Christmas will be a day full of excitement for Dylan and I'll post all about it soon after.

From Dylan, Barbara and myself

Merry Christmas To All!!!