A Boo Boo For Our Busy Pre-Toddler

We went to the doctor on Tuesday for Dylan's 9 month check up. He is now 29 inches long and 22.8 pounds. This puts him just above the 75% where he has been all along. The doctor said that he is doing great and is officially a pre-toddler. Exploring everything! It is hard to get him to sit still long enough for me to change his diaper and usually requires a toy for distraction. He wants to do everything himself even though he is not ready yet. This includes meal times. We are adding more soft table foods since he often refuses anything that we give him from a spoon. So far he loves cheerios, sweet potato puffs, ground beef, peas and occasionally bananas. I am trying to be thankful and focus on the positive side of Dylan's independent personality because I know we are only approaching the tip of the ice berg of challenges. This independence led to Dylan's first Boo Boo :(
It is hard to see in the picture, but Dylan has a little cut just above his left eye. Yesterday while I was giving him a bath he squirmed out of my hands and bonked his eye on the side of the tub. It was very traumatic for both of us. Luckily only bled a little bit and he was soon back in action happily playing (as you can see in the picture below). My recovery is still a work in progress. I am going to wait until Scott gets home for bath time for a while.
If you haven't seen the 9-month picture video yet be sure to scroll down to the post below. It is long but very cute. Make sure that the sound on your computer is on to get the full enjoyment.

9 Months!

Our little baby boy is 9 months old today! Crystal and I both agree that Dylan has changed quicker than ever since his 6-month birthday. Here are the major events over Dylan's crazy last three months, which I have tried to convey with pictures in the video below:

• He graduated out of his infant carrier to his big boy car seat, which he absolutely loves. It is rare for him to make it through a lengthy car ride without taking a little siesta.
  
• We all took a trip to Joliet, Illinois to meet Grandma and Grandpa Great, along with many great-aunts/uncles and second cousins.
  
• He was an adorable and cuddly bear for his very first Halloween.
• He started to become mobile with his patented pseudo-crawl, which was comprised of getting into a push-up position, moving his legs forward, belly flopping, and repeating until he became too tired to continue. He was quite the little mover with this technique. Alas, before we captured it on video he abandoned his unique style and moved on to the conventional crawl. Now he is really tough to catch.
• We were blessed to take a trip to the beautiful Hawaiian island of Kaua'i over Thanksgiving. Dylan managed to endure 20-hour travel days both ways with only minor fussing. He loved the pool, the ocean, the swings, the grass, the weather (no socks!), and spending time with his Nani and Pops.
• During the trip he sprouted his first 2 teeth in the middle of his lower gum.
• Also during the trip he said "Dada" for the first (but certainly not the last) time.
• He tried many new foods on the trip, such as pineapple-pears, mango, pureed turkey, prunes, apple-cherries, and baby formula (because Crystal got sick and couldn't feed him for a couple of days).
• He began pulling up on things during the trip and really honed his skills when we got back home. Now he spends more time on his feet (holding onto furniture) than he does crawling around on the floor.
• He began feeding himself teething crackers, Cheerios, and veggie puffs.
  
• He celebrated his very first Christmas in Albuquerque in the morning and Camas, WA in the evening.
• During our time in Washington he said "Mama" for the first time.
  
• Through it all he has kept growing and growing. He is poised to walk soon and is already learning to fall gracefully. His blond hair is filling out and he is destined for a trim in the near future. His cheeks are just about maxed out and his little buns have pushed past the #3 diaper. We will get some new measurements on Tuesday at his 9-month checkup.
  

See what we mean by it being a crazy last three months? Enjoy the video...

Merry Christmas!

Ever since we've been back from Kauai we've been going nonstop. I finished teaching for the semester, my good friend Courtney came to visit and now there are just a couple days until the Christmas festivities begin. In the past few weeks Dylan has been changing at a record pace. On the plane ride to Kauai on Thanksgiving he got his first two teeth, he says Dada and is constantly babbling, he crawls super fast and is pulling up on anything in sight. He wants to be on his feet at all times! It is so fun to watch him progress. There will be lots of great pictures and video clips to post when Dylan turns 9 months.

Wishing you a holiday full of:

PEACE

JOY

ADVENTURE


ENTERTAINMENT

AND

LEISURE

Thanks for following our blog. Merry Christmas and God Bless!

8 Months!

Dylan is 8 months old! It is amazing how fast time flies. It seems like only yesterday that we were counting the number of weeks that Crystal was pregnant and now Dylan is quickly approaching the 1 year milestone. We have spent the last few weeks on the beautiful Hawaiian island of Kaua'i and have tons of pictures and stories to share. For now I will just leave you with a great picture Crystal took of Dylan at the resort. He is definitely a paradise baby!

Leaves & The Pseudo Crawl

Leaves

The leaves on our neighbor's tree all fall at the same time. Half of our yard is completely covered. Dylan loves to be outside, so we played in them for a few minutes yesterday until they started to become Dylan's afternoon snack.

The Pseudo Crawl

Dylan is on the move now with a pseudo worm crawl. He starts in a push up position as you can see here and then drops his knees down, lunging himself forward. Next he flops on his belly to scoot his hands forward. Then he goes immediately back into the push up. He is surprisingly fast considering all the extra work he is doing. Scott and I keep trying to show him to stay up and move his hands, but he does not like that one bit.

Eye on the Prize (Going for the orange star)

Mmmm! Got It!
Yes, Dylan is still teething. I keep expecting to see a tooth one of these days.

7 Months!

Our busy little boy is 7 months old today! It is also our Nana's Birthday. Happy Birthday Nana! We love you. Here are some pictures that capture the most recent Dylan updates.

New Car Seat

We have switched from his infant carrier car seat to a big boy convertible car seat because he was quickly approaching the max weight and height limits. So far he is very happy with the change. It must be comfortable because he fell asleep on the very first ride.

Get Ready, Get Set...

Dylan is working hard on crawling. He rolls all over the place and pushes up into either a push up position or a crawling position, but still has not put all the steps together yet. It won't be long before he is ready to GO!

Big Boy Baths

The infant bath tub we had been using was getting a little small so we switched to the big bathtub yesterday. He is still a little wobbly sitting on his own so this change was actually more work for Scott and I. Dylan loved it though! What could be better than playing (aka eating) his bath toys and books (Yummy!)? He enjoyed it so much that he cried when we took him out.

More Peas Please :o)

We finally found Dylan's veggie of choice! Much to our surprise Peas are the winner. Peas are my least favorite veggie and Scott does not like them either, so we saved them last. Anticipating the grimace followed by a stubborn refusal to open his mouth that has followed every other veggie attempt, I was shocked when he is opened his mouth and ate every bite!

Halloween

! HAPPY HALLOWEEN !

From a Little Guy Who is "Beary" Cute!


Goodnight Bear!

A Wonderful Trip with a Blowout Finish

Last weekend we flew to Chicago to visit Great Grandma & Grandpa Connors. We had a wonderful time! Dylan got to meet a lot of his great aunts and uncles and almost all of his second cousins on that side of the family. It was so nice to be on vacation! There was never a shortage of people to play with Dylan. Dylan loved having his Grandma Great hold him and read him stories! Grandpa Great made several comments about what an amazing and strong boy Dylan is. No doubt about it, he is a Connors. We are hoping we can plan a trip to visit everyone again next year.

For Dylan's second plane trip he did really well for the most part. Here is a picture of him sound asleep on Dad on the way to Chicago. After a great trip and a peaceful flight there, we were due for a little excitement... It started when we were in the security line. I picked Dylan up from the stroller in order to carry him through the metal detectors and discovered a record blowout. Luckily there was a family restroom close by, so Scott and I changed him and washed him off before boarding the plane. "At least it happened before we were on the plane," I said to Scott. During takeoff Dylan ate and the timing seemed perfect for him to sleep through the flight. That was until Scott reported a second rumbling. Oh No! A mere 45 minutes after the security incident came a second record blowout, saturating him and his 2nd (and last) outfit. Out of clothes and wipes in the travel bag after the first blowout, we cleaned him up with Wet Ones and were left with a tired, grumpy, naked baby. We covered him with a blanket and he fell asleep in my arms after a mini meltdown that seemed to last much longer to Scott and I than it did in reality. Now back at home, I can reflect on the lessons learned:

• Bring more than one change of clothes for Dylan on plane trips, as well as extra shirts for Scott and I.
• Never say, "At least it happened before we were on the plane!"
  

If you haven't seen the 6-month videos yet... look at the previous post.

Happy 1/2 Birthday!

It has been 6 months now since we became a family of three! I've noticed already how my concept of time has changed. Instead of measuring my own birthday or the changing of the year, time passes now with new milestones and activities for Dylan every few weeks. It is such a joy! There is always so much to look forward to.

At Dylan's 6 month checkup this week he weighed 19 lbs and was 27 inches long. This puts him at the 75% for both weight and height. He is still eating and growing well and is already wearing his 12 month clothes. Prior to the round of shots this week he was on a good schedule and sleeping about 10 hours at night. He loves playtime, stories, and sound effects.

In celebration of Dylan's 1/2 birthday, Scott created not one... but TWO videos for your viewing pleasure! The first is a fun collection of video clips that we've taken over the past 3 months and the second is a picture slide show. Make sure that your speakers are turned on to get the full entertainment value. Enjoy...

Video Clips

Picture Slide Show

Carrots (:oP) and a Cold Front

Does this picture look remarkably similar to the one in the green beaners post? Thought so...
On Saturday night we attempted to move from green beans to carrots, thinking they would definitely taste better and Dylan would just LOVE them. We clearly don't have a firm grasp of our little guy's taste buds. Alas, we are going to keep at it in the hope that he will soon find his inner-veggie. As his Aunt Chris said, he won't get his yummy fruits until he learns to eat his veggies first. Crystal actually tried the carrots herself and she said they weren't bad at all. I again refrained from putting my mouth anywhere near that spoon.

We also had a cold front move in on Saturday night and with it came a lot of rain. Between downpours we thought it would be fun to take a stroll to the neighborhood Walgreens to get vanilla ice cream to go with the amazing peanut-butter brownies we had bought that day from Sweet Blessings Bakery. Crystal was thrilled to bundle Dylan up in his Oshkosh outfit, complete with a matching ski hat. He did look quite handsome in my humble opinion. We were successful in our ice cream mission, but Dylan didn't make it all the way. He konked out halfway through the journey, which provided us with some unobstructed photo opportunities of our sleeping little man.

Coming up... Big 6-month checkup on Wednesday and a 1/2 birthday on Friday! Also, Happy Birthday! to my sister Allison today and my brother Bill on Wednesday!

Green Beaners (:oP)

We attempted to introduce Dylan to the wonderful world of green beans last night, but as you can see, he wasn't thinking they were all that wonderful. It was the first time we had fed him anything non-breast milk related and we were hoping for a better outcome. Although, after smelling the green beaners myself, I really can't blame the little guy for his reaction. I didn't put that spoon anywhere close to my mouth.

Today Crystal tried to feed him some more green beans along with rice cereal and he has apparently decided he isn't going for anything that doesn't come from his mom or a bottle. In fact, he was actually more interested in eating his foot, which he just got done doing in this picture...

Thank You For Voting!

The Baby Palooza results were announced today and Dylan did not win the contest, but he is still the cutest baby in Albuquerque in our book. Thank you all for your support! It was fun.

Go Cubbies!

!!! CUBS CLINCH NL CENTRAL !!!

Thank you to the Lenke's for this awesome Cubs uniform
and the Raspolich's for the squishy baby baseball!
Dylan is ready to cheer on his Cubbies in the playoffs.

5 Months! & Baby Palooza!

Dylan is now officially 5 months old! Crystal and I get asked how old he is quite often and we have been rounding up for so many weeks now that I was thinking he should be 6 months soon. It is amazing how popular you become at swimming pools and grocery stores when you have a handsome little baby with you. Babies must have some magnetic properties about them to attract so much attention.

As you can see in the picture, Dylan has finally found his feet. He always knew those little piggies were down there, but he wasn't able to capture them until a couple of weeks ago. Now he pretty much just sits like this all the time. These past few weeks he has really improved his motor skills. He constantly reaches for things (like his Mama's hair), jumps and spins around in his Jungle Jumper (look for a video at 6 months), swims like a fish, and has started on his way towards mobility with some rudimentary crawling movements.

With these new skills, our little man is starting to become an independent rebel. Just yesterday (9/9) I went to work and came home to a completely different little boy. He had decided that he no longer liked to be held and demonstrated this by arching his back and turning to his left to escape his confines. If he didn't escape quickly enough, he screamed and grunted to further his cause. Before he goes down for naps we read books to him. However, last night he decided that he did not like some of his favorite books anymore and kept slamming them shut right after I started reading them. We had to move on to new books (with lots of noisy buttons) to get him to stop doing that. He also developed another language yesterday with a tone that is somewhat of a cross between Donald Duck and a drowning pig (I don't know what this actually sounds like, but I have an imagination). He used to make high pitch squeals but now Crystal says it is like he is trying to swallow his tongue. You'd think he was if he didn't have such a huge smile on his face after doing it.

One of my favorite changes of this past month has been Dylan's awareness in general and his awareness of Snoopee in particular. He just loves that spotted black and white dog. If I put him close to Snoop, he will just coo and scream until Snoopee gets annoyed and walks away. He loves grabbing onto Snoopee's hair and squishing it through his fingers. Luckily Snoop is a good sport and just rolls over in hopes Dylan will scratch his belly. They make a great pair.



Well by this time you might be wondering what the Baby Palooza! part of the title is about. A local radio station (100.3 The Peak) is conducting a contest to find Albuquerque's Cutest Baby, called Babypalooza!. Being the biased parents that we are, we decided that Dylan is definitely the cutest baby in Albuquerque and should win this contest hands down. So we went ahead and entered the photo above (there have been cuter ones since, but this one is in my all time favorites and I entered over a month ago). The voting begins today and we need your help to crown Dylan the champion. So here is what you need to do to vote for Dylan...

1. Click this link... The Voting Page.
2. Know that Dylan is baby #326.
3. Scroll down until you get to #326, then click the white button next to it.
4. Scroll down more and click the "Vote here" button right below #361. If you successfully voted, then the "Vote here" button you clicked disappears.
5. If you want to see Dylan's picture on the site, go to Gallery 4 and click the right arrows until you get to his picture.

The rules say you are allowed to vote once per computer, so if you have access to more computers, vote more! I created another blog with these voting instructions that you can pass on to everyone you know. It is at http://votefordylan.blogspot.com.

The grand prize is a trip to San Diego and a couple of other things, so here is a deal for you... if you vote for Dylan, leave us a comment that you voted and we will send you a super-duper postcard from San Diego if Dylan wins. Sounds great huh?!

Voting goes until Sept. 24th and the winner will be announced on the air the morning of Sept. 25th! Don't delay in voting. Vote today!

Thanks!

Everyone's A Lobo...Woof, Woof, Woof!

For those of you who are not from New Mexico, the UNM chant is the title of this blog. I thought it was fitting being that I started back last week as Professor Connors, teaching two nutrition classes, Dylan spent a few hours tonight with Cousin Ashley in her apartment on campus while I was teaching, and Scott is going to be a guest lecturer for an engineering class later this month. So as you can tell the University is yet to see the end of the Connors Crew.

For me working again has been a big adjustment. It has been a lot of work to prepare lessons during the day during any spare minute I have while Dylan naps. The hardest part is staying focused on a task with multiple interruptions throughout the day. I know... all you mom's out there can relate...welcome to motherhood. Despite the challenge, three nights a week when class starts I remember why I enjoy teaching nutrition.

The experience for Dylan (AND especially Cousin Ashley) was not as enjoyable. First, mom had to wake him from his nap to get to class on time, and then his tummy hurt and he refused to take a bottle. Needless to say it might be a little soon for Dylan to be heading off to college. Thanks to Ashley for doing so well calming Dylan and enduring the meltdown!!!

With the exception of tonight, Scott has been going into work super early so that he could be home in time to be with Dylan. It has been great for Dylan to get more Daddy play time while I teach. However, we are still adjusting to our extra early mornings. Despite the big adjustments we have made as a family these past few months, we are truly blessed to have Dylan in our lives. We love that little guy so much it is hard to imagine our life ever being complete without him.

His First Lobo Gear!!!

Our Little Boy is Growing Up

This is somewhat of a catch-up post for us. It was a bit hectic getting back into a normal routine after our long vacation and our blog has suffered the consequences. Hopefully this can right the ship.

On August 10th, Dylan turned 4 months old! With this milestone came his dreaded 4-month checkup on the 12th where he was poked with long, sharp needles in the legs again. He reacted about the same as at his 2-month appointment and it was still really hard for us to watch him screaming. He was a bit of a grumpasaurus for a couple of days after that but I think he has come out of his funk now. This picture shows his little chubby legs and the patriotic band-aids he got to cover his shots. He wore the band-aids for a little while in support of the USA competing in the Olympics.

At the appointment Dylan weighed 16 lbs 9.6 oz and was 26 in long. Both of these measurements are in the 75th - 90th percentile range. We love our little eater!

Other good news for Dylan at the appointment was that he is now able to start eating some rice cereal in addition to his heavy dosage of breast milk. The great news for me and Crystal is that he has taken to eating from a spoon like Michael Phelps has taken to winning gold medals. He loves eating his cereal in his big boy high chair with his "Handsome" bib. Mom and Dad just need to work on hitting the hole with the spoon a little more often from the look of his face. There is not much harm done with simple rice cereal, but when the super-colored carrots and peas enter the arena, we're going to have to step it up a notch.

Finally, Dylan has officially become a serious drooling machine over the last few weeks. He doesn't have any teeth yet but the doc says they are on the way in no time. One of his favorite drooling objects is his Mom's arm and I find myself having to wipe her down a couple times a day after he gets going. Crystal took this picture after a particularly heavy drool-fest. You can see he has completely saturated the front of his shirt and is really quite proud of himself. His soaked shirt is absolutely true though, because his mommy is certainly #1 on his list of favorite things.

Dylan and His Magical Tuxedo

Call us crazy but we ordered Dylan a fancy tuxedo so that he would match his Dad at Michael and Mandy's wedding. It came complete with tuxedo pants, a tuxedo jacket, a tuxedo shirt with fake studs, a red, shiny vest, and a matching euro tie. We even got him little black socks. Unfortunately our little man has lots of neck rolls and we couldn't button his top button and still allow him to breath, so we went tie-less. He still looked like quite the little stud-muffin though.

Unfortunately we did not get any pictures of just him at the wedding in his tux (he was a little grumpy that day), so we decided to take him to a photo shoot today. On the left you can see him looking very handsome in his vest and shirt. We loved this picture because his facial expression is so great. I put the rest of the tuxedo pictures on the right as the new slide show. If you click on any of the pictures it will take you to a site where you can see the larger versions.

Enjoy!

Washington Highlight #2: Michael & Mandy's Wedding

The Main Highlight of our trip was the wedding of course! It was beautiful. We are so excited that Mandy is officially part of the family and Dylan's Aunt. The wedding events started Thursday with a golf tournament and lakeside BBQ at my parents house, Friday was the rehearsal, Saturday was the main event, and Sunday was a gift opening pool party at the Myer's. We all stayed busy and had a great time visiting with all of the family! Here are some photos:

Golf & BBQ

Team Lobo (Scott, me, and My Dad) tied for 1st place in the Michael & Mandy Masters

Dylan with Michael & Mandy sporting his World's Best Aunt & Uncle onesie they made him.

Dylan feeling the wind in his hair on his 1st boat ride

Learning to drive with Pops!

Wedding

Dylan looking shockingly handsome in his tux

The Connors Crew all dressed up

Napping on Dad

Another shot of the Family

New Family Photo

Dylan loved dancing. Here he is stealing a dance with the beautiful bride.

Two handsome guys: Uncle Michael & Dylan

Pool Party at the Myer's

1st Time swimming
Dylan loved the Myer's pool and was a good little kicker

Tuckered out from all that swimming in one of his favorite napping spots... on his Nani

Washington Highlight #1 : Flying

A quick note... Crystal, Dylan, and I have been on vacation in Washington for the past few weeks, so we are a little behind on the blogging. We have had a great time up here in the Northwest and decided we would like to share some specific events with you. So as not to overwhelm the reader, we will document our vacation in individual highlight blogs. Enjoy!


Flying

Until our vacation we had never taken Dylan on an extended trip of any kind, not even in the car, so the plane ride out here was an anxious time for all involved. He was sleeping soundly in his car seat/stroller contraption until we got to security and they forced us to take him out. Of course he woke up and wasn't happy about it in the least. We managed to get all of our million carry-on items through security and he calmed down shortly after that. He was starting to fall asleep again before it was time to board the plane. Unfortunately, when we got to the end of the tunnel, just before getting on the plane, he started crying like you wouldn't believe. Tears were pouring out of his eyes and he was kicking his legs like a dog trying to stay afloat in water. I don't think he quite understands fear yet, so it couldn't have been that he was afraid to go on the plane (that will come in a few years I imagine). It might have been because it was so loud with the engines running, but usually he handles noise without issues. Regardless of the reason, we had to take our screaming little boy onto a plane full of people. Oh what fun!

We encountered three types of people on the way to finding our seat. Type 1 people were the ones who cringed with fear every time our little man let out a scream. Their faces looked like someone was jabbing toothpicks under their toenails. Obviously they didn't broadcast a receptive attitude towards us sitting by them. After we had chosen our seat, one of these Type 1 people actually got out of his window seat and demanded he be allowed to change seats, despite the fact that he was holding up other passengers boarding the plane. I felt sorry for the Type 1 people because it is sad to be so afraid of a little baby, especially one as cute as Dylan.

Type 2 people were the ones that showed indifference to the screaming. They just subtly cranked up the volume on their iPods or raised their voices as they were chattering on their cellphones. I don't think they would have been pleased had we sat near them, but at least they wouldn't have made a big ado about it.

Type 3 people were the ones we liked the best. They were mostly the older ladies on the plane that had compassion for our situation and tried to make us feel better about it. They would stroke Dylan's arms as we walked by and say nice things like "Oh, here, here little baby" or "Everything will be alright" or "Bless his little heart". It was comforting to have these people on board and made it a little less painful. This is how people should react to babies. After all, they don't know any better and crying is how they respond to most situations in life.


I am pleased to say that the worst part of the whole plane ride was actually just boarding the plane. Once we reached our seats and got situated, Crystal started feeding Dylan. While the plane was taxiing Dylan finished eating and then gave both of us a HUGE smile that just melted our hearts and took the anxiety away. I turned to Crystal and said "Too bad everyone can't hear him smile." After that he sucked on his paci and was sleeping before we lifted off. He woke up as we were descending into Portland and then ate some more. Everyone around us commented on how great he was and we just smiled and nodded our heads. We think he is pretty great also!

Dylan snoozing on the plane

Happy 1/4 Birthday!

Our sweet little boy is 3 months old today! He is still growing like a weed and changing almost daily. Last week he weighed 14.6 pounds. It has become more and more of an arm workout for me each week running errands and carrying Dylan around town in his infant carrier. With how quickly he is changing and how undeniably handsome he is, Scott and I take a LOT of pictures. Scott made this incredible slide show to share how we've caught Dylan in the act over the past couple months. The music Scott selected for the video is perfect. "When I See You Smile" is mine and Dylan's theme song at the moment. The first month I was a bit delirious from the sleep deprivation, but now we usually sleep 7-8 hours at night and smile together as much as possible everyday!

Here is a list of some of Dylan's Favorite Things so you can watch for them in the video....

• Dylan's new favorite thing is to suck on his hands. Often he tries to put both hands in his mouth at the same time. It is quite entertaining to watch him focus on opening his little mouth as wide as possible to squeeze in all of those tasty fingers.
• His Paci
• Bath time
• Watching his train mobile
• Singing "If You're Happy and You Know it" (The biggest smile comes when Scott and I stomp his feet)
• Cuddling (Cousin Ashley is an especially good cuddle partner!)
• Standing on his feet and walking with Dad
  

Enjoy the Slide show!