This kid is too funny...

Yesterday afternoon I let Dylan have his afternoon snack without wearing a bib. He had graham crackers and milk (in a cup...without a sippy lid). As you can imagine, he was soaked and sitting in a puddle of milk by the end of snack time. I stripped his clothes and figured he could run in his diaper while I made dinner. I was making a casserole that needed to go in the oven for about 45 minutes, so I wanted to get it assembled before changing him. I put Go, Diego, Go on tv for Dylan to watch while I was in the kitchen. He seemed content, sitting in his diaper watching Diego. Five minutes later, this was the site that greeted me...

Apparently he wanted to feel the wind. I put his diaper back on, then got a clean pair of shorts for him to wear. Five minutes later, this was the site that greeted me. Yes, those are his shorts, discarded and laying on the right side of the picture. I guess he knows how to undress himself!

Today we've had fun inside, playing with Dylan's tent and tunnel. We haven't put the tent up for awhile, so it is like pulling out a new toy!

Momma and Baby Meekins

This is a picture of Dylan from earlier in the week. Doesn't he look like a little Linus? Sucking his thumb, dragging his blankie along. Right now little Linus is taking a much needed nap. This morning we went to my friend Janine's house, for a play group with her mom's club. There were 7 other mom's there with their children. I think Dylan enjoyed playing with the toys, but I don't know what he thought of the other kids. He was very interested in snack time.

These pictures are from this morning, shortly after getting out of bed. Oma gave these beanie babies lambs to Dylan awhile back. It is a momma and baby, and the tag on momma says "Meekins." While we were having our morning cuddle, which is becoming more rare, Dylan spotted them on the bookshelf and wanted to hold them. I told Dylan which one was the baby and he hugged it, and which on was the momma.

One other note about our week; On the way home from daycare on Wednesday we were listening to Barbara Ann by the Beach Boys. Dylan sat in back and sucked his thumb, just hanging out, enjoying the music. When we got home I turned the music off, and Dylan started to sing "bah, bah, bah" just like the song says! He's so funny.

First Official Haircut

Dylan had his first official haircut today. I've trimmed it twice, but he has his father's hair and it's a bit unruly. He was a very good boy the whole time. He sat on my lap and watched the lady cut his hair in the mirror. He wasn't sure what was going on, but true to Dylan's nature he sat and observed before getting too upset.

When the cut was all over Dylan got to use the brush to sweep away stray hairs. He spotted the brush right away and during the haircut kept saying "brush."

Here's the after shot, and he even got a prize.

Later this afternoon he had a bath, and I styled his hair with some gel and hairspray. He's a pretty cool dude with his little spikes. He was just enjoying a snack in his stuffed animal basket. He used it earlier in the day to reach something. You know, the old trick of flipping the basket upside-down to use as a step...

This basket is a popular resting place...

Speaking of "brush," Dylan's vocabulary is growing everyday. Just yesterday he said "money" when he saw some coins. My favorite mispronunciations are "watty" for water, and "goggies" for glasses.

Four Wheelin'

Only 17 months old and already Dylan has a four-wheeler. Daddy is 33 and still doesn't have his first one!

Dylan inherited this fine piece of machinery from the Pearson kids. Corey, Brian's boss, just bought a new one for his kids, so they were ready to give this one up. We went over to their house tonight to pick it up.

Dylan seemed comfortable on it right away, and figured out rather quickly that you use the foot pedal to power the four-wheeler. He even managed to steer a bit, but that is definitely the part he'll need help with!

Dylan loved cruising around the yard at Corey's. He really likes thrills that he can control, so I think this will be a favorite toy of his.

We brought the four-wheeler home and Dylan got to have one last ride before bedtime. After he got off, he held the riding stance. When I got him inside I figured out why...his pants were loaded!

Madison Farmer's Market

This morning we went up to the Madison Farmer's Market. There was also the annual Art Fair on the Square, so it was a busy city! We brought home raspberries, zucchini, corn, and a freshly baked loaf of cinnamon-raisin bread. We went with our friends Nate and Erin Berry and PJ, Christa and Mia Titone.

About halfway around the square we stopped and let the kids run around for a bit. Brian did a good job wrangling Dylan up when it was time to go.

Gee, can you tell Dylan and Mia were in Wisconsin??!!

We had lunch at one of my favorite places in the whole world - the Union Terrace. The food isn't great, but the atmosphere more than makes up for it. The sunburst chairs are the symbol of the Terrace, and since we were there last they've installed a giant one, which was just too perfect of a photo opp to pass up. Here we are in the big sunburst chair.

Brian and I were amazed at all of the changes. Time doesn't stand still, and visiting the places we used to frequent made that very clear! Madison is an ever changing town. Some of the changes were very neat, others a bit disappointing. I think there must be one of every trendy chain restaurant in the U.S. on State Street now. Despite that, I hope Madison will always retain the charm! I know it will always have a special place in my heart!

Official Due Date

This morning I had my first prenatal visit for the new pregnancy. They confirmed that I am 11 1/2 weeks, and the estimated due date is January 29th. Just six short months to go before we have a new family member. Brian has a lot of painting to do to get the baby's room ready, and to change Dylan's room from a nursery into a big boy room. I'm sure I don't have to remind him, he's also promised to paint the kitchen before we host Thanksgiving. He might as well open a painting business at this rate!

Technology these days is pretty amazing. I had an ultrasound to confirm the dating. Below are the pictures they gave me. The first one is a standard ultrasound picture. The 2nd and 3rd pictures are 3D.

Are you wondering about that little nubbin in the last picture? :)
I was.
The ultrasound tech said it's too early to confirm, but it looks like a boy to her. Her exact words were "If I were going to place a bet, I'd say it's a boy." She did say the nubbin could be a small remainder of the tale the fetus outgrows. So it's looking like a boy, but we won't get official confirmation until our next ultrasound in late September. She did flip back and forth from 3D to regular ultrasound several times to get a look at it, and by the end of the session seemed convinced. I asked if it could be a really swollen girl and she laughed pretty hard but didn't think so.

Isn't it hard to believe those pictures are of a baby the size of a large lime?! While she was doing the ultrasound the baby kept moving around, and I got to watch it in real-time. It was like watching a movie, very cool.

Yummy

Yogurt comes in so many fun colors these days

At daycare yesterday it was Hawaiian Day. Noelle had grass skirts for all of the kids. Here is our little Hawaiian.

Counting

Last night Dylan was up on the side table again. I decided to count in my most threatening voice, all the while thinking he's never heard this before, he won't know why I'm counting. I wasn't smart enough to preface the counting with "Dylan, when I count to 3 I'm going to....". I said "ONE" and waited to see what he would do. Do you know what he said to me????? "TWO"
I started laughing and that was the end of the discipline for the moment.

He's really turned into a little rascal. He needs constructive play all the time, otherwise he gets into things. He's a handful!

Summer Vacation

We've just returned from 4 days (today doesn't count, all we did was drive) in Minnesota and Wisconsin. We had a lot of fun! We arrived in Eagan on Tuesday night. Wednesday morning, the 4th of July, Dylan, Oma and I went to the Eagan parade. Unfortunately the parade route doesn't seem long enough for the amount of people that want to watch, so lawn chairs were 3 rows deep and there were about 15 kids for every piece of candy thrown. Luckily for Dylan, Oma managed to nab him one tootsie roll!

Later that evening we went to the fireworks. Dylan said "all done" after 3 fireworks, but then sat on my lap and snuggled and almost fell asleep. He's not used to being up that late!

Thursday morning we headed up to my aunt and uncle's cabin near Webster, WI. My cousin's Shelly and Kevin were there with their families. We had a very fun time, and got to enjoy LOTS of activities. Dylan loved all the motorized toys.

In the evening on Thursday we went for a pontoon ride and swam at the sand bar. Here are Griffin (Kevin's son), Avery (Shelley's daughter) and Dylan, keeping an eye on the water.

Dylan even got to go for a little jet ski ride. He seemed to enjoy it until Brian went too fast. Then he was "all done."

Friday mid-day we returned to Eagan. That evening we went to Pan-O-Prog in Lakeville. They have a classic car parade that lasted about 2 hours. A long parade like that called for a distraction - Dylan's 1st snowcone!

I couldn't let the summer go by without taking a picture of Brian holding ridiculous amounts of food...Here he is with my brother Matt.

Just as we were about to leave a young lady asked Dylan if he would like her glow in the dark toy. Yes indeed, he liked it. He was mesmerized.

The car ride home today was the typical summer Sunday drive...LONG and filled with slow-downs, accidents and did I mention the temp gauge read 100* at one time?! Dylan didn't have a problem with it (at least not until the last hour), because we bought him a DVD player for the car. He's kickin' back and relaxing.

I mentioned the last hour of the drive was torture, for all 3 of us. Dylan was arching his back and screaming at full volume. Thus, you can understand why we had to laugh at this picture. He got back into the car while we were unloading! I guess the driver's seat was just too tempting.

Big News

Now that I've shared the news at work, it feels okay to post on the internet. We're expecting!! I haven't been to the doctor yet, my first appointment is next week. By my calculations I am 10 weeks today, so we're looking at a late January or early February baby. Surprised? So were we! Oh well, what's life without a few curveballs?

A haircut and a birthday

Our Sunday was quite exciting. It was Brian's 33rd birthday (he told me he was turning 27...now he's younger than I am!). He spent part of the morning washing and vacuuming the car. Now it's all cleaned up for our trip to MN tomorrow. My brother Matt and friend Jess came down from Whitewater for part of the day, and Brian and Matt went disc golfing. After that we had a nice bbq for dinner.

But wait, I'm getting ahead of myself. While Brian was washing the car, Dylan had a haircut. Can you see how bushy his hair is in this before picture? Yes, the curls are totally adorable, but the waves were taking over his head. I decided it was time for action. After all, I am fond of preppy, clean cut kind of men.

Before:

And after:

Enjoying the deck before dinner. I feel it's important to point out Brian is wearing a non-Michelle approved shirt. Sleeves cut off a t-shirt are definitely not part of the fashion plan. BUT, it was his birthday, so what's a girl gonna do?

And finally, you can see we are teaching Dylan the important things in life, like comandeering the remote control. He thinks that he can change the channel just by waving the remote at the tv. Someday soon I'm sure he'll realize that doesn't do the trick.

That's about all from here. I have much more packing to do before Dylan's bath time and bed time. We're leaving for MN right after work tomorrow, and returning home on Sunday. Happy 4th of July!

Fun in the Summer Sun

On Friday evening Grandma and Grandpa Luther came to stay with us. We had dinner, then enjoyed a game of golf (hmmm, really?) and some sidewalk chalk artwork.

Saturday afternoon we went up to Riverside Park in Beloit, WI. It is a great park, especially for kids Dylan's age. Here are some snapshots of Dylan at the park.

Drinking from the Lion water fountain

Feeding the ducks

Walking around an art exhibit