17 Months

Blake took this picture of Dylan, who is now 17 months.  One month away from officially being in nursery! This last week has been rough because we had the flu AND Dylan was teething.  His new words are "me, mine and that". He is in 3T tops and 2T pants. He loves to go on walks and constantly will go get his shoes so that we can go outside to either play or go on a walk. He is very good at nodding yes or no. 

Aaron usually puts Dylan down at night while I put Blake down. The other night, Aaron laid Dylan down in his crib, put his blankets over him and then Dylan says, "Nigh, nigh". When he is tired, he will go get his blanket and come say "nigh, nigh" to me. He usually talks to himself to put himself to sleep and I can tell he is awake in the morning by hearing him talking. He usually doesn't cry...unless he has been in his crib awake for too long and he is hungry.  Once I get him out of his crib after a nap or in the morning, he immediately will point to go downstairs to the kitchen. 

Dylan is a silly, outgoing kid. He is very good at figuring things out, but he does have times where he gets frustrated. He wants to do everything that his big brother is doing. Dylan still enjoys helping me out and cleaning. They say that the first kid usually does this, but not typically the second one. Hopefully he will continue to be a good helper. He sure makes enough messes so it is only fair that he knows how to clean them up right? The problem is the power struggle because he wants to do everything by himself and gets mad when you try to help.

Food

I was making dinner and couldn't hear Dylan. While Dylan plays well by himself, I was a little worried. He had found some candy in Aaron's scriptures that was intended for a seminary student the next morning.

The next day, Dylan went over to the drawer that has the kids' dishes in it, gets 2 bowls and 2 spoons and comes over to me nodding his head yes. This means he would like some food. He was nice enough this time to get a bowl for his brother too. As mentioned before, they love being outside and they also love to eat outside.

Happy Birthday Seth

Our nephew Seth turned 8 and we had a family party at Rob's and Sarah's new place. I liked their hardwood floor, but was reminded how great carpet is for keeping the noise level down with kids.  Can you tell Seth likes Legos?

This was cuter in person. 3 boys sitting at the island with their Aunt Sarah and had just made yummy cookies and some ice cream. Where is Dylan? Oh, he found his way over there right after the boys left, pulled himself up on the barstool and started to eat the leftovers. 

Wow, that was fast

A few odds and needs since I last wrote:
Blake's got a new favorite phrase.  "You've got to be kidding me."
He'll be eating something or someone will say something and he'll just call out "You've got to be kidding me."  It's pretty funny and it will pop out at some pretty random times.

Conjunctions:  You've all seen and heard the most popular conjunctions:  Can't, haven't, aren't.  Well, Blake has been picking up on a lot of those more popular ones.  Well, little did we know that he would just make up one of his own.  Apparently when you join "I am and not" you don't get 'I'm not"  instead you get "I amn't"  So, Blake will now frequently respond to us about not being mean to his brother or if he is done eating, "Dad, I amn't."  So, we're seeing if this one catches on or not.  Feel free to use it as you see fit.  

I asked Blake last night, "Who do you want to say the prayer?"
He responded with, "Hmm, how about Kishkumen?"
We are reading Helamen right now--can you tell?

Finally.  We are back on a walking schedule.  Seems like we were on a hiatus for a while, but we're back to several times a week now.  Yesterday, we were walking around the neighborhood and doing our normal route.  Blake was on this tricycle, sometimes he'll walk with us, sometimes he'll ride his bike (with his helmet), but yesterday he was on his tricycle.  I'm was ahead, in the lead.  Blake always wants to be in the lead, it's a guy thing.  :) So, yesterday while in the lead, I turn around and say, 'Hey Blake, I'm in the lead, I'm winning."
He turns on the after burners and as he gets even with me is says, "Not for long, old man!"
He already thinks he can beat his old man--wow, that was fast.

Playing Outside

Can you look at this picture without laughing? I can't. Dylan sure has some fun smiles.

Future cheesy model?

Both the boys love to be outside and Blake especially loves to be outside riding his bike.

The fun smiles continue.

Dylan hasn't figured out how to use the scooter. That hasn't stopped him from trying.

When you can't go fast enough by yourself, just have your brother push you right? 

So, we got the truck at a  children's clothing swap that I participated in. I thought I would score some fun clothes, but didn't expect some toys. This truck is pretty much exactly like the one that my mom wanted to get Blake a couple years ago for Christmas. We all knew he would love it, but we did not have room for it, so she ended up getting him something else. They were both very excited for me to bring this home. I was very excited to get it for free!

Happy Birthday

Saturday we went to the beach, but forgot my camera.  Then Amy and Gregg took Blake to the store to pick out some birthday presents. That night we had an impromptu birthday party.

He doesn't turn 4 for another month, but Amy and Gregg wanted to see him open his presents.

He was really excited and said that he loved all his presents.

He loves Legos and hoodies that zip up and have pockets.

Dylan was happy because he got some brownie.

The Legos did not last long in the box.

Thanks for the presents and for the fun trip. They flew out early Monday morning, so when Blake woke up, he immediately asked where they were. He was sad that they couldn't stay longer because it was "lots of fun".

Disneyland

Aaron's folks came out last weekend for a visit, so Aaron took Friday off work and we went to Disneyland. Aaron and Blake immediately went in line to get a Fast Pass for the Cars ride and Amy and Gregg went on a ride, so Dylan and I got to walk around. Dylan kind of liked being able to walk around without any guidance.

Amy and Gregg watched Dylan while he took a nap so that both Aaron and I could go on Radiator Racers with Blake. Dylan is too short (although almost tall enough) so typically Aaron will take him on the ride while I watch Dylan. If you were wondering...we won the race!

He also got to ride the bumper car ride, which Dylan also can't ride on.

Some folks were a little exhausted. I loved it because I typically take the boys by myself and we have the single umbrella stroller.  So much easier with help...imagine that!

Grandma took Blake on the firetruck.

He was so excited AND he got a sticker!

We then went to Toontown because Dylan needed to roam around. Blake was the one that took Grandma and Grandpa's hands to walk with. Too cute!

This is Dylan's favorite thing within Towntown...inside Mickey's house is Mickey's garden where there are carrots that eventually all go down. Once the carrots all go down a rabbit pops up and snickers....the rabbit ate the carrots. Dylan claps once he goes into the garden and starts laughing.

While the others were in line for a ride, Dylan got to roam.

He kind of liked it.

Thanks for the fun day!

16 Months

Dylan is 16 months old. We found out that all his tests results came back normal. He is getting stronger by the day and loves to demonstrate his strength while wrestling with Blake. He now says Jesus, this, eat (did I already include that before? it is a very important word to him). He is very clear with nodding his head yes or no and that is how he will tell you if he wants something.

And apparently he likes lemons. They were helping me juice some lemons and Dylan had to taste it, continued to eat it, so Blake decided to join in...even though he doesn't like them.  The two of them can be the best of friends and then the next minute they will bug one another. I like the moments when they are best of friends.

Lexi and Kent

Our niece, Lexi, was in LA a couple weeks ago for a gymnastics meet. After the meet, we went out to eat.

After we ate, we went to Venice Beach and they all loved to run around on the pier.

And pretend to be birds.

Then we went to the water.

Here is the gang...plus a random girl and the guy with the metal detector.