Cause and Effect

Dylan is 7 weeks and 3 days old. It's crazy how much he is changing everyday. I feel like everyday I watch him experience something new and it's exciting for all of us.

Since his first week of life, Dylan has LOVED bath time. He would sit in the water for hours if we let him. He takes his baths in an infant bathtub, which has a little ridge that he sits on. This week he learned that if he arches his back really fast, his backside will come off the ridge and he will go under the water. The first time he did this I wasn't fast enough to catch him and he totally submerged himself. I quickly got him out and dried his face off and he immediately did it again, but this time I was able to catch him before he totally went under. This seems to be his new game...every night I have to fight with him to keep his back straight and his head above water...it's a workout for momma.

I was reading a parenting book and they were talking about how the 2nd month of life is when a baby starts to understand cause and effect, which is why I think Dylan keeps arching his back. This is his first experience with cause and effect and he is loving it. I want to get it on video - he looks right at me and then quickly throws up his feet and arches his back at the same time. If I wasn't holding his head it would go under.

Something else that is "new" this week is giggling. Dylan is SO ticklish, and if you get him on his thighs or under his arms he giggles - it just melts my heart. If I am changing his diaper and he starts crying I immediately start tickling him and his cry turns into a giggle. He has a deep belly laugh that is so cute...maybe I can get that on video too. I just need to walk around with my video camera so I can capture all the moments I want.

We have started taking Dylan on walks at the park when it is nice outside. He starts off really well, but after 2 or 3 laps he is over it and wants out of the stroller. This always seems to happen when we are at the farthest point away from the car. I usually end up walking back to my car with a screaming baby and I know all the people I pass are thinking I am a horrible mom. I was walking today and, as usual, Dylan started crying. I started walking back to the car and we passed a guy walking his dog. As we approached the dog, the dog stopped and sat on his hind legs and let out these pitiful howls. His owner told me anytime the dog hears crying he wants to cry too. I felt bad for the owner...I was loading up Dylan in the car and I could still hear the dog howling. I kinda feel bad that Dylan made a dog cry-oops!

Anyways, there is so much I want to blog about, but I don't want to bore you guys. I am probably the only one (besides Trey) that finds this stuff cute. Speaking of cute...I bought his Easter outfit yesterday and it is adorable. I can't wait to post of pic of him in it. Okay enough...thanks for reading our blog. I will leave with a few pics.

Dylan with his bunny


Dylan getting his diaper changed...look at those thighs!

His goober face

Family Visit

This past weekend my parents and my mom's side of the family came for a visit. We had a great time and can't wait to visit with them again this summer. This weekend was filled with many "firsts". The biggest "first" was that my grandma and two aunts got to meet Dylan. He is the first grandchild on my side, so it was a big deal for my grandma to meet her first great-grandson. My Aunt Leta captured my grandma's reaction on video when she first met Dylan...it was precious!

Dylan also experienced his first restaurant. My parents came in on Thursday and we went to a little Greek restaurant that is never crowded and had dinner. Dylan sat in either my lap or Trey's the entire time. I was nervous he was going to have a meltdown and clear the restaurant, but he was a champ and didn't make a peep.

On Friday the rest of the family arrived and we spent the day shopping. Dylan enjoyed his first of many trips to DSW. The people in my family are shoe fanatics and we love DSW. I am sure Dylan will be quite familiar with that store soon enough. He spent his first DSW experience being pushed around the store in his stroller by his papaw and great-grandma.

After DSW, we went to my other favorite store-Barnes and Noble. I could spend hours looking at books and I hope Dylan has my love of reading. He spent this store experience being strolled around my his Aunt Beth.

The last store we went to was the Academy. However, Dylan was DONE with shopping and we spent most of the time nursing in the car and driving around the parking lot. He loves riding in a car, but HATES sitting idle in a car...which can make for fun stop lights:)

On Saturday we had a Bradley class Reunion. Before Dylan was born, Trey and I went through and completed the 12 week Bradley Method birthing class. We loved our instructor (who was our doula) and the other 3 couples who were in our class. I looked forward to our class every week and was bummed once it was over. Our instructor had a reunion at her house so we could all get together, tell our birth stories and see all the babies. We had a great time and I loved seeing/meeting the babies.

After our reunion we met up with my family and we all went to eat at Loveless Cafe with two of my good friends-Liz and Jordan. Loveless is a "must" for anyone who comes to Nashville. It is an awesome restaurant with home-cooked food and a cool, country atmosphere. Dylan was great and slept through the whole dinner.

We had a low-key Sunday and spent the day taking pictures, eating at home and visiting before everyone left the next day. My mom, grandma and two aunts watched Dylan so I could go to church. I didn't stay the whole service, but he did great and when I got home was sleeping on my mom. We are hoping to be able to take him to church this coming Sunday. I was going to take him last Sunday night, but the stomach bug was going around and I didn't want to risk it.

Overall we had an awesome weekend. Dylan is missing his "audience" that was always around. He gets bored when it is just the two of us at home. This afternoon he was so cute. Trey had meetings this morning and was gone for a couple hours. When Trey walked in, Dylan had his back to the door, but he heard him and started smiling so big. It was so cute and I can only imagine what Dylan was thinking..."woohoo, someone else besides momma to play with". Anyways, I will leave you with some pics that were taken this past weekend.

Meeting great-grandma and aunt Leta for the first time


Meeting Aunt Beth

Quick Update

We just got back from Dylan's one month appointment. He weighed 11 lbs 7 oz and was 21 inches long. He gained 3 lbs in 3 weeks and grew an inch. We laughed when the nurse told us he's in the 87th percentile for weight and the 19th for height...he's a little chunk. It totally makes sense why all of his clothes are tight in the stomach and way too long :)
Dr Kalb gave us a clean bill of health and said we can start getting out and about more...woohoo, I was going stir crazy being home bound. We are still waiting a few more weeks until we get him around large crowds. RSV is going around right now. Dr Kalb told us he had to admit 3 infants into the hospital last week because of it...scary stuff!
I will leave you with some pictures taken two weeks ago. Thanks for reading!