Spring Snow Day

So just when we thought the snow was on it's way out we got another 4 inches. So being, or trying to be, hardy Minnesotans we did not let the snow stop us from getting out. First we headed to Amma for toddler playgroup. We were the only ones there. I guess the snow proved to be a little much for some people. Still we had good time. Dylan walked around pushing this roller toy and I had to moved all the obstacles out of the way.

Dylan enjoyed the roller toy so much that I got a very similar toy out for him at home. He has been pushing it around the house ever since.

Monkey is also a new fav. I dragged monkey out from downstairs when I was swapping some toys around. Dylan immediately grabbed monkey and gave him a great big cuddle. Very cute.

Dylan also tried out a new way to use his walking toy. He stood in the tray, held onto the handle and rocked himself back and forward trying to create motion. Not so successful on the motion front but fun to watch. Now he puts monkey in there and pushes monkey all over the house.

After lunch and a nap the snow had stopped so we suited up and headed outside. Dylan stood looking at the white in the driveway, totally uninterested. So i got the sled out and we went for the little loop around in front of the house, unfortunately Dylan fell out of the sled and so the deal was sealed and not in a good way. The tears flowed and that was the end of the snowplay.

Back inside we had fun watching the birds out the window. Dylan noticed their return first, he started pointing and saying "chee, chee, chee".

Another thing we have enjoyed a number of times this week is music and snuggles. It generally happens after nap time. I get Dylan out of the crib and he points at the Ipod. We sit down in the glider, I turn on the music and we get cozy. Sometimes Dylan will snuggle for 30 minutes. Lovely!

Mexico

A little late on the post but here are the highlights from Dylan's perspective.

Hanging with Grandma by the pool.
A little beach time with Daddy.
Watch out for those waves Mama!
The jets were more fun by the end of the week.
These jets on the steps were pretty cool.


Yum chalupas...not actually Dylan's memory but we liked them.
Chilling out on the balcony. Thanks for the birthday t-shirt Nana and Poppa!
Auntie Sarah that is my balloon!!!

I can play in my sleep

The trip to the supermarket was boring and there was not enough toys so I shut my eyes to make it more interesting. I wasn't sleeping! You can see that I am still holding on. - Dylan

Water Play

Just another one of the fun things that Dylan likes to do in his kitchen helper. Splash splash in the baking tray.

Springing back to Swinging and Sliding

The weather has been nicer and we have been back to swinging. I had to invest in a pair of rain boots so that we could swing last week. Fortunately the Armatage Park Playground is nice and sandy underneath that melting snow and so it is drying out quickly. Dylan loves to swing. I swear he would swing all day long if I let him.

Now that Dylan is bigger he also likes to slide and sit on the teeter-totter and crawl about on the kids play equipment.

However, he still has no concept of going down stairs or any other similar drop-offs - I see some bumps in our future. Today he also tried a little sand fiber snack. Ugh!

The sunny weather meant we also spent some time hanging out on our front steps soaking up the rays. Dylan practiced his walking and toddled over to the snow pile next to the front walk where he fell upon the snow and proceeded to eat it. I moved to distract and I hope that the temptation to eat nasty aged snow will soon pass.

I discovered this week that Dylan has moved on from just destroying the lovely block towers that I build him. He happily added blocks to the little towers that I created for him. So sweet!

One of "those" websites (Zulily) had a sale of children's shoes today.....I had to look because this newly acquired walking skill combined with the damp ground is not a great match for the cute little Robeez that Dylan is currently wearing. The girls shoes were soooooo cute.

Would you like that blended or toasted?

It's true we have not put locks on the kitchen cupboards and now Dylan can open them. His favorite cupboards are the pots and pans cupboard (this previously housed some glass baking dishes that have now been moved to a safer spot) and the miscellaneous small electrical kitchen tools cupboard (you know that one that houses the toaster, the blender, the kitchen scale etc).

At some time during the past week Dylan saw Matt using the blender and the toaster. He is now fascinated by these two items. I have watched him trying to stick blocks into the blender (it is not plugged in), block smoothie anyone? I don't think he can reach to put blocks in the toaster, I will be checking before I toaster anything in the future, but he does like to tap taps on the toaster lever.

While he didn't get there himself he has also been checking out the cupboard that we call the pantry. He couldn't actually find anything in there because it's in serious need of a clean out.

Chomping Broccoli

Broccoli is not one of Dylan's favorite foods but we give it to him anyway. Yesterday I cooked some broccoli and peas for him to eat at lunchtime. The broccoli went in the mouth, chomp, chomp chomp. The mouth then opened, the tongue poked out and out slithered the broccoli.

Now Dylan doesn't have a problem with pea, broccoli and pear tube food so I blended the peas and broccoli with some apple. It was still not a hit for lunch but did disappear over the course of dinner time.

After lunch, but before I got to that broccoli that was tossed over the edge of the high chair, Dylan was crawling around on the floor. He true child fashion he made straight for that lonely piece of broccoli on the floor, popped it in his mouth and it was gone. Mommy is very confused why floor broccoli tastes better than broccoli off the plate.

February Snow Time with Daddy

While a little out of the time line I thought these were cute and deserving of inclusion here.

Dylan and Daddy got outside to enjoy some time in that snow that seems to have been with us forever this winter.

Stepping into Toddlerdom

This week has marked the transition from first steps into the world of toddling (on a regular basis). While crawling is certainly the option used when speed is required walking or toddling is the new way to get around this week. It is so much fun to watch Dylan as he carefully and cautiously steps across the room with his arms out. I know it is only a matter of time before speed replaces this careful and cautious mode of walking.

We also started our new ECFE class this week. The class is not separating but there is time when the children are supposed to play on the other side of the room from the parents. Dylan was fairly happy to move away to play on his own (without Mommy) but he did resort to tears a couple of times when he wanted to check-in with me and couldn't immediately see or find me. There are lots of older toddlers in the class so I am sure that he will be more comfortable with this very quickly.

Music has been lots of fun in the last couple of weeks, both at home and at class. Dylan has been taking the sticks from the box of instruments and banging them together and on the floor. This week at class he showed more confidence and more enjoyment. He was also wowed by the guitar that the substitute teacher played for the goodbye song. He was so wowed that he just wanted to look, look, look. When Molly offered the guitar to him to touch he snatched his hand back.

I have been putting the cushions from the couch on the floor and covering them with our cozy red blanket to provide something interesting to crawl over. It seems that this obstacle is not so much fun to crawl over as it is to flop down on and roll about on, all the while looking at mommy with the "look at me, aren't I cute" look. So cute. Love love it.

We are also back on sleep training this week. Mexico broke our little guy from sleeping through the night. We think it was those molars pushing through but whatever it was he didn't go back to sleeping through the night once we returned home. Matt has taken over the job of tending to the nighttime needs in the hope that it speeds up the message that there will be no milk. We seem to be getting there. Hopefully it will not be too much longer...I don't think Matt can take many more nights.