Moving, Then and Now

Moving Day is here. Crept up on me, actually. We thought a month was going to be plenty of time to fix up the house the way we wanted before our apartment lease ran out. Ha! Turns out we sorely underestimated the time it would take. The upstairs bathrooms are tiled, the popcorn ceiling is gone and replaced, a lot of the upstairs is painted, and the new carpet will be installed tomorrow, but that's as far as we've got. We had to take a break to pack up the apartment and tie up loose ends in Euless. Thank heavens Mona was here this week to take Dylan during the day to play with Tommy so I could get stuff done without stepping on my little shadow, literally. Dylan and Tommy are hilarious together:

Just for memory's sake, first thing this morning I wanted to record Dylan talking. He said a few things, but didn't perform like I wanted him to. Go figure. He did redeem himself at the end of the clip though:

It was exactly one year ago this week we moved from St. Louis. I found this video I took of Dylan right before we left. I never posted in the chaos so I might as well now, just for fun. Amazing that only a year ago he was just scooting around the floor, not even crawling yet.




Ok, break's over. Back to business. Autrey'll be home soon so we can go pick up the moving truck. So long apartment life. Hello, new house!

19 Months Old Already?

Yeah, a little sad it's been an entire month since I posted last. Just a reflection of the busy lives we have been leading lately traveling and going between the apartment and house all the time. I haven't been taking pictures either. These are the only new ones I have. This was taken at the park with a few of the kids from Mona's week long summer camp I helped with in Houston after Memorial weekend: Dylan's 1st popsicle...
...and 2nd. Tried to eat the Otter Pop like a regular popsicle:
Fun outside with Tommy and his toys. Dylan LOVES to ride and push anything with wheels:

Cute Tommy:

Playing with the pirate water table:

And now the 19 month update:

*New words: "awesome," "funny," "hug," "almos" (almost), "be-ja-ble" (vegetable), "noda book" (another book), "app-a-sauce" (applesauce), "ah kean" (all clean), "eh-phan" (elephant), "beda" (bread), "fiss" (fish cracker), "ca-coo" (cracker...no longer "tattoo"), "beep, beep" (watch...because Autrey's beeps)

*Dylan will start so say "Kean up, kean up" and start to put a toy or two away all by himself at random times or after I have started to clean up a "mess."

*He can say "meow." He can also identify a "frog" and say "rrrr" for ribbit.

*After someone sneezes he says "Bess you" all by himself.

*He says "Here go" when I hand him things because I usually say "Here you go."

*Dylan will say "Ah you, Mama" (Thank you, Mama) after anyone gives him something and says "Sawee, Mama" (Sorry, Mama) whether he has done something wrong or not.

*He will randomly say "Oh, fun!"

*He will say "walkee walkee walkee" while we are walking or he is making toy animals 'walk,' and "run run run" when he is going fast.

*Out of nowhere he started saying "Shi-o Duke." We have no idea where he picked that up since no one calls me that. When I try to get him to say Dylan Duke he will either say "DinDin Duke" or "Dada Duke."

*His favorite breakfast is still "egg a cheese" (eggs and cheese) and he won't ever just say 'eggs.'

*While we are driving he will say "big truck" if he sees any sort of large vehicle. He will say "bike-o-bike" or "da bi-ckle" if he sees or hears (or thinks he hears) a motorcycle.

*He says "Yee haw" and "Howdy." Last week a guy greeted the congregation with a "Howdy" (He's Tongan and was being funny.) Dylan responded with a very loud "Howdy!" of his own. Everyone got a kick out of that. People also frequntly have to stifle laughs when he gives a loud "Amen" after EVERY prayer, talk, or testimony. Needless to say, he is less than reverent duing Fast and Testimony meetings.

*He calls real and toy cows "moo cows."

*When he hears music he says "song."

*He puts my hand on his toes and says "wee wee home" (wee wee wee all the way home) when he wants me to do 'This Little Piggy' with him.

*He can identify and say "neck."

*He likes to work out with me. He imitates squats and tries to help lift my feet for leg lifts.

*Dylan is able to climb up the ladder on his playground equipment by himself. He only needs minor assistance on the way back down. He is great about going down the house stairs backwards on his belly.

*He really likes nursery. However, because he was doing so well we tried to leave him in there without warning him. Bad idea. He became very clingy. Totally my fault that he's afraid I'm going to disappear. To help, every time I leave a room I say "Be right back" and "I'm back" when I return. Now when I come back he says it for me before I have a chance.

*He is quite the little parrot. And, yes, he always wants a cracker.

18 months old!

Last night we went to Lowe's, our home away from home, and bought all our bathroom tile and supplies for our 1st big house project this weekend. Dylan doesn't mind going because he loves the race car carts! Dylan went to his 18 month check-up today. Here are the stats:

Height: 35 inches (When I asked for a percentage Dr. Walker said, "Top of the chart. There is no such thing as 100%, but he is over 90%" Not bad for a kid born in the 3rd percentile. He is exactly 1/2 of my current height. Math problem for the day: Dylan + Dylan = Shilo)

Weight: 27.14 lbs (75th percentile)

Head Circumference: 19 cm (75th percentile)

And for the run down of latest and greatest:

*New words: "Tie" (His suit tie), "Home Wun" (Home Run), "Mak" (Milk), "Poonah" (Spoon), "Buddah" (Bird), "Boonah" (Balloon), "Tia" (Tortilla), "Cuck/Tuck" (Truck), "Bawk" (Book), "Pah" (Pass - During basketball games Autrey will commentate and say Dribble, Pass, and Shoot, which cracks Dylan up.)

*He loves to count "2, 3, wee!" before he goes down the slide himself or when he wants to be tickled because I always count before I do it.

*While reading his book about opposites I said "up" and he said "down," I said "day" and he said "night" before I turned the page.

*He refers to any piece of fruit as "apple," except bananas, to which he says, "mena". He has a food shape book and learned to say "peda" (pizza) and "ovoh" (oval).

*At breakfast the other day he said, "Sa-reahl pease, mama." (Cereal please, mama.")

*He loves trains. When he sees or hears a real one, a toy, or a picture he will say, "Choo choo."

*He sings "E-I-E-I-O" in the right spots during Old MacDonald or when he is all by himself. It will also frequently occur when we are reading animal books. He will sometimes go "Moo moo moo" because that is the first animal I sing about. He also tries to sing along other songs with Autrey and I. He usually gets the melody and then rambles, interjecting a few words. At the end of ABC he will say "Now I now I now I" (Now I know my...). He also does it for Twinkle, Twinkle since they have the same melody.

*The kid loves books. His favorite is "Old Black Fly," an ABC book that constantly repeats "Shoo fly. Shoo fly. Shoo!" He asks for "Shoo Fly Shoo Fly" EVERY time I go to read him a story. I know the book by heart. Sometimes he requests additional readings during playtime by finding it, bringing it to me, putting it in my hand, saying "a peda" (please), and plopping on my lap. No mistaking his desires there.

*He knows he is not supposed to throw food and will say "No no fow foodah" before or after he does it. Now I am taking him out of the high chair when he does it to break him of it. It's gotta stop.

*When people clap or cheer, he joins in...loudly.

*He loves pretending to talk on the phone using my phone, old phones, toy phones, calculators, remotes, etc. and loves when I 'talk' on them. My fake conversations (and many of my real ones) usually end with "Love you. Bye." Now when we say, "I love you" he will quickly say, "Bye!"

*He folds his arms for prayers.

*He does the Patty-cake motions. Not exact, but very cute.

*He pats my head and says "head".

*Dylan will say "poo poo" just before or after he poops.

*He loves his "Nommy". If we are in the car for more than just a short ride he starts asking for him, thinking that is where we are going. Also, as we are walking up the stairs to our apartment or whenever the car stops and turns off he will say, "We're home!"

*In Austin over Easter Dylan would say, "Eh ah you, Papa?" (Where are you, Papa?) and run around the corner to find him. Now he will say, "Weh ah you, airpane?" (Where are you, airplane?) if it disappears behind the trees.

*When I say, "Where are you, Dylan?" he will run around the corner and shout, "I see you!"

*Dylan loves to squat walk to sneak up on things (like people and squirrels) and to be funny. He has plenty of personality and makes us laugh. Nursery, here we come!

Our New House

It's official! Autrey and I are now home owners. So exciting! Since many of you have been asking for pictures, pictures is what you get. We love the size and layout of the house, but we have our work cut out for us to make it 'our own'. We are planning on tearing out the carpet in the upstairs bathrooms and putting tile in instead. We also want to repaint most of the house interior but are struggling with color schemes. I'm a great imitator, but not a great innovator, so PLEASE give me paint suggestions. And don't hold back. I truly want your input. Anyway, the tour...

Curb appeal (That is a real plum tree on the right):

The Upstairs Floor

Master Bathroom:
Master Bedroom:Master Walk-in Closet:
Game Room:
Bedroom #2:

Bedroom #3:

Kid/Guest Bathroom:

Bedroom #4

Top of Stairway:

The Main Floor

Front Door into Stack Formal Living and Dining:

Family Room:

Eat-in Kitchen:

Textured Built in Table:

Laundry Room off Kitchen that goes to Garage:

Guest Bathroom:

Walk-in Pantry:

More of the Kitchen (and, yes, that is chalkboard paint):

Backyard Deck:

Dylan's Personal Playground:
(Dylan with Lorraine Miller, our FABULOUS realtor, smelling the gardenias)

Cute video of Dylan playing and counting "2, 3" on his slide our 1st night as home owners:



We are thrilled! Now we're off to Lowe's and Home Depot (our other new homes) to get tiling supplies...

Bead Roller Coaster

Autrey and I were walking around IKEA last week. We didn't get any furniture, but I did get the best toy ever for Dylan: a bead roller coaster for only $7.99. Sweet, right? I was just a little excited about it (read: It's all I could talk about that night). Dylan has always loved these and I finally found one at a great deal! In case you can't picture what I am talking about: This toy was in lieu of candy. Yes, Dylan played with EMPTY Easter eggs all weekend and was happy as a clam...and so was I.