Dylan at Home!

Ah, the joys of eating! Dylan enjoying his meal
Sacramento, February 2008

Dylan gives a shout out to his bros via the bib: I Love My Big Brother(s)
Sacramento, February 2008

Well, after the dust settled from all the visiting and traveling last month, we are getting a chance to recover and recuperate. Much needed. Here are a couple photos of the boy, just Dylan chillin' and taking it easy...

The Big Visit!

My 3 Sons: Matt, Jack and Dylan, Sacramento, February 2008

Jack and Dylan, Gettin' to Know Each Other
Sacramento, February 2008

My 3 Sons, II: Matt, Dylan and Jack, Sacramento, February 2008

My 3 Sons, III: Matt, Dylan and Jack... again.
Sacramento, February 2008

My Three Sons (and me) IV: Poppy, Matt, Jack and Dylan
Sacramento, February 2008

Proud expecting parents: Teresa and Jack
Fresno, February 2008

Jack, Dylan and Teresa, Fresno, February 2008

Teresa, Dylan and Jack, Sacramento, February 2008

Teresa, Dylan and Jack, Sacramento, February 2008

Poppy, Teresa, Dylan and Jack
Sacramento, February 2008

The Big Visit finally happened! My (formerly) youngest son, Jack, and his girlfriend, Teresa, flew out here to Sacramento on February 19th. We have all been waiting for this for many months now, and it was just as exciting as all the anticipation. Jack and Dylan would meet, face to face, and then the little boy would know both his big brothers.

Jack arrived sicker than the proverbial dog, and so he and Teresa stayed with some family friends in Elk Grove. And they also had a very full schedule visiting friends all over the area. It had been over a year since Teresa was in town, and nearly that for Jack, so they had a lot of catching up to do. But we did get to spend some time with them, and enjoyed every moment.

While they were here, we got some very exciting news from them. Teresa is pregnant! That means Dylan is going to be an uncle, and I am going to be a grandfather! I was beside myself with happiness at the news - I had thought about the possibilities of being both a new daddy and a new granddaddy when Dylan was 'under construction' and I thought that was pretty amusing, but did not imagine it very likely. Well, color me wrong, and wrong in a good way! So in about 8 months or so, another baby enters into the world in our family. Very exciting!

The photos of the three brothers were all taken early in the morning, just before we rushed out the door to drive Jack and Teresa back to San Francisco to catch their plane. That may explain the morning hair I am sporting and the occasional morning fog in my eyes. But I was very happy to have some photos with all three of my sons! They are all wonderful and I am a very lucky guy indeed to have 3 fine sons!

Dylan's First Trip to San Francisco!

After we took Jack and Teresa to the airport, Jennifer and I decided to head into The City for a short visit. We first went to one of our regular spots, a burrito restaurant on Mission Street, near 23rd Street. Dylan enjoyed the ambiance, and you can rest assured that he will be a huge fan of all sorts of Mexican food as he was very focused on what we were eating.

Dylan and Mommy, San Francisco, February 2008

Then, after our tummies were full, it was off for Dylan's first visit to the beach. Ocean Beach, to be specific. We parked the van, got Dylan ready and took him for an old fashioned stroll along the boardwalk. He got a big kick out of seeing all the people, the seagulls and the rest of it. Many more trips to the beach for this little boy!

Dylan and Poppy, San Francisco, February 2008

The day was absolutely beautiful in San Francisco, and we had a very good time being there with Dylan. Just the first of many trips to come to this wondrous place!

Dylan Eats and Bathes!

Dylan, wearing a lot of rice cereal - and an "I love my Daddy" bib!
February, 2008

Mommy feeds the boy a spoonful of yummy cereal.
February, 2008

"I don't know what it is, but keep it coming!"
February, 2008

Nothing like a bath to soothe the little boy!
"Splish, splash, I was taking a bath..."
February, 2008

Not much text here, just some photos of Dylan eating rice cereal and getting one of his baths.

He has passed the phase of whatever and has now returned to his old, happy self. Thankfully! Was it teething, illness, upset stomach, a reaction to Jennifer's hormones... ? We'll never know. But things have settled down once again and we are grateful for that.

Jack is coming out here next week, he and his girlfriend Teresa flying in from Louisville, KY on Feb. 19th. This will be Jack and Dylan's first meeting and we are excited about it. They are staying for about ten days. Then we are thinking of a trip to KY in May if we can make it work.

All else is moving forward and in good ways. Dylan continues to delight and amaze.

Day Tripper!

Uncle Mike, Aunt Clarice, Dylan and cousin Kyle
January, 2008, Fresno

Grandma Pilulaw, Dylan and Ah-tish-win
January, 2008, Fresno

I got a burr under my saddle last week, and felt like I needed to make a road trip - taking Jennifer and Dylan, of course! Jennifer was most accommodating, agreeing to the madness that had taken hold of me, and so we loaded up the Sienna and drove to my brother's home in Fresno.

For those of you who may not know it, taking a baby on the road does something to time. What would normally be a three hour trip all of a sudden becomes more like five or six hours! But we sallied forth anyway and got down to Fresno around 3PM. We had a very nice visit with Uncle Mike (what a lucky kid to have not just one, but TWO Uncle Mikes!), Aunt Clarice, Grandma Pilulaw and cousin Kyle. Not to mention all the puppy dogs there -Jeb, Jake, Petey, Ah-tish Win, and Pumpkin!

After having a very yummy dinner, and having a video-fest of early Dylan movies, our little family of 3 loaded back into the van and headed back north. Actually the trip back only took about 2.5 hours as Dylan slept through the entire trip. That was generous of him, don't you think?

Dylan at Home

Dylan, January 2008

Dylan, January 2008

Here are just a couple of snapshots taken the last week. Nothing special. Well, I ought not to say that! I mean, the little boy is amazingly special. And then his Aunt Connie knitted the beautiful sweater which accentuates Dylan's blue eyes. And he is getting ready for his high chair, which is a pretty cool one... it's got wheels and all the latest gizmos! But no special occasion for the photos is what I meant.

What's been going on? Well, I have returned to work (sigh). I got used to spending nearly every moment with Dylan while I've been on vacation the last six weeks. So it's been a big adjustment for me. The only plus to it is that I get to come home and see that boy smile at me!

As for Dylan himself, right about the time I went back to work, he hit a rough patch. Dylan went through a major change in his attitude. Whereas he has been a very happy baby with just a few moments of being unhappy and fussy, all of a sudden - almost overnight it seemed to us - he became a baby that was mostly miserable with just a few moments of smiles. The techniques we used for calming him that worked flawlessly, were no longer working. Very hard on him, and on us as well. Maybe he was ill, or having a growth spurt or possibly reacting to the change in my schedule. We didn't know, and took him to the doctor. Not much help there, but it didn't seem like there was any overt illness causing this.

Now a week later, it seems like Dylan has more or less returned to his old self, though the sleep issue continues to be difficult. We are trying to find a solution - if you have any ideas, do share! We'd like to find one. We tried the crying it out method many weeks ago, and it was like torture for all of us.

Well, he's once again happy most of the time again. And, we are having a grand time and love him
with all our hearts!

Dylan's First Road Trip!

Dylan had his first road trip this past weekend, January 18 through January 21, 2008. We loaded up the brand new Toyota Sienna and headed down to Santa Barbara. We found the van to be a most worthy purchase (so much room!) and Dylan to be a true road warrior. He did a terrific job of handling the vagaries of a journey and very flexible and patient and accommodating!

The trip to Santa Barbara was short, but eventful. It just so happened to coincide with a memorial event for an elder of the Chumash Coastal Band, Sespe, who recently passed into spirit. The memorial service was held near Solvang, at Nojoqui Park. There we met up with Grandma Pilulaw and Uncle Mike (my mother and older brother). Dylan enjoyed meeting everyone and delighted all of them. He also enjoyed the drumming and singing a lot! We shall have to make sure to get him to more ceremonies and events in the future.

We stayed in Santa Barbara at the home of my youngest sibling, John, and his lovely wife, Kim, and her son, Josh, along with assorted dogs and cats: Pinga and Max, the two adorable Maltese dogs, and Qupid, Gizmo and Phantom, the 3 cats. It was a very comfortable stay, thanks to the grand hospitality of John and Kim. We also got a chance to have a meal with my very best friend, Leigh. I've known Leigh for over 30 years now, and try to get together whenever we can. Hopefully he'll send some photos he took along so we can include them on the blog, as I was very neglectful and didn't take any!

We are now in the planning stages of making a major, cross-country road trip to Kentucky to visit Jack and Teresa in Louisville in May of this year. Both Mommy and I will be off-track then, and we think it would be a lot of fun and very adventurous to make this sojourn with Dylan!

Dylan and Grandma Pilulaw, Nojoqui Park, January 2008

Grandma Pilulaw and Dylan, Nojoqui Park, January 2008

Grandma Pilulaw, Dylan, Jeb and Uncle Mike, Nojoqui Park, January 2008

Aunt Kim, Dylan, Uncle John and Max, Santa Barbara, January 2008

Poppy, Pinga, Aunt Kim, Dylan, Uncle John and Max
Santa Barbara, January 2008

Poppy, Uncle John and Dylan, Santa Barbara, January 2008

Just the Facts, Ma'am...

Dylan with his mobile - his fave animal? Donkey! January 10, 2008

Dylan had his four month doctor visit today. The short and sweet news is that he is doing just fine! We figured as much - he's such a happy boy and seems to be very content with his situation. Mommy and I are so grateful to have this little boy with us!

As to the numbers for the past (and only) three pediatrician visits:

Weight:

09/12/07 7lbs, 4oz (birth weight)
10/10/07 9lbs, 2.4oz (36th percentile)
11/15/07 12lbs, 6.9oz (65th percentile)
01/10/08 15lbs, 7.5oz (66th percentile)


Height:

09/12/07 1' 08" (birth height)
10/10/07 1' 10" (83rd percentile)
11/15/07 2' 0" (77th percentile)
01/10/08 2' 2" (91st percentile)


Head Circumference:

10/10/07 14.17" (28th percentile)
11/15/07 15.75" (48th percentile)
01/10/08 16.73" (60th percentile)


That's mainly for you who are interested in the numbers. What it all boils down to is that Dylan is growing just fine.

For more information on his day today, keep reading.

A Day (1/10/08) in the Life of Dylan:

7AM feeding
9:20 drive to doctor
9:40 - 10:20 wait in doctor's waiting room (another feeding) for 9:50 appointment
10:20 - 10:50 get weighed, measured, examined
11:00 injection clinic: THREE SHOTS!!!
11:20 - 1:00 Mommy and Poppy eat out (Dylan has the WORST blow out [to date], and during the diaper change in the women's restroom at Panera Bread, screams and screams - Mommy was the brave one who unknowingly got stuck with this; normally, Dylan really enjoys a diaper change and is all smiles and chatty)

1:00 - 1:30 Another feeding in the car in parking lot
1:50 - 2:30 Sleep in the bank, while Mommy and Poppy check out car loans
3:00 - 6:30 Car shopping at Maita Toyota (another feeding)
7:00 Jiggedy jig, HOME AT LAST!!! (another feeding)

Now considering that the boy is only four months old, it is amazing that he tolerated being out and about for nearly 12 hours! Not only did he tolerate it, he actually was in a great mood for nearly all of it (diaper change and injections being the only real exceptions!). Tons of smiles for doctors, nurses, car salespeople, and various assorted people just (naturally) drawn to the boy. I kept thinking "Oh, this is it... we're going to have to head home..." only to have him be in a great mood and happy to be wherever he was.

He's a great kid!

Rock and/or Roll

Here is Dylan, rolling over! Actually, last month he did this a few times over the course of a few days. These initial roll-overs were always accompanied with great drama and struggle. Then he stopped, for reasons unknown to everyone - but him, of course! Maybe it was just more work than it was worth.

Then, Tuesday, 1/8, Mommy (who's been fantastic with working with the boy on his tummy time) had him on his tummy and he just rolled over. Just like that! She put him on his tummy again, and Dylan did the same thing - rolled right over! So on Wednesday morning, I thought I'd try to catch it 'on film' (OK, digital). It's very spontaneous and spur of the moment sort of digital capture (i.e., photography).

Anyway, here is our own little Dylan, doing his 'first' front to back roll. More to follow.

Visitation from Uncle Mike and Aunt Patti!

Uncle Mike, in town for the holidays from his librarian job in Tampico, Mexico, and Aunt Patti dropped by for a visit the other night. This visit to Sacramento is the first time Uncle Mike got to see his newest nephew and Dylan was very taken with him and Aunt Patti, too. Uncle Mike has now returned to Mexico, but we hope to see him as soon as he returns!

Uncle Mike and Dylan, January 3, 2008


Uncle Mike, Mommy, Aunt Patti and Dylan, January 3, 2008

Wednesday Lovins

Mommy got hold of the camera this morning...

Dylan and Poppy, chillin' at breakfast, January, 2008

Happiest Baby on the Block

OK, so Dylan's the ONLY baby on our block, but still... He is one happy baby, and here are some photos to show it! He's still a little leery of the camera and the flash, but if Jennifer is around she can usually cajole a smile out of the boy. There is also an introspective look on his face in some of these photos - Dylan is a deep thinker. I'd love to know what he is thinking when he furrows his forehead and stares right at me.

And when he smiles (which is a lot of the time), his toothless, gummy smile lights up the whole house.

Can you tell we are rather partial to the little guy?

Dylan Joseph, doing some 'tummy time,' January 1, 2008

Dylan at the gym, December 31, 2007

Just Because!

No particular subject here on these photos. It's just when you have a cute baby like this, you can't help but force him on everyone!

Enjoy (and thank you for your indulgence)!

Dylan gets a manicure, December 2007

Dylan busts a move or two in some overalls he got for Christmas, December 2007