Frequent Flier for Sure! The tally for Dylan is...

Dylan and I have done A LOT of flying since his 1st airplane ride to PA last spring break and I have been curious to figure out exactly how many trips he has taken. I think Dylan has to have set some sort of record for the number of flying days in a year for a baby: 22. That number doesn't include the additional flights taken when we made stops and switched planes along the way, but I'm not going to take the time to figure out the exact number of take offs and landings. The official tally of trips, courtesy of G-ma and G-pa and Mimi and Papa, is as follows:

Round trips to PA: 2 Spring Breaks, 1 Christmas, 1 Fall Visit (at least 8 flights)

Round trip to Utah: Jackson's Blessing (at least 2 flights)

Round Trip to New Mexico: Easter at Nana's(at least 2 flights)

Round Trip to Pagosa Springs, CO: Labor Day Weekend (at least 2 flights)

Last Memorial Day at beginning of June: From St. Louis to Houston: 1, Houston to San Diego: 1, San Diego back to Houston: 1, Houston to Dallas: 1, Dallas to St. Louis: 1

From St. Louis to Dallas: Moving to Texas end of June (at least 1 flight)

From Houston to Phoenix/Phoenix to Dallas: this Spring Break (at least 2 flights)

Wow. Dylan flies free until November and we have made the most of it so far! I heart Southwest Airlines!

Spring Break in PA

It has been a whirlwind 2 1/2 weeks. On the 11th we drove down to Houston to stay with Doug and Mona and have a reunion with the guys Autrey grew up with. The next week we were in Phoenix. Flew home, unpacked, did laundry, repacked, and Dylan and I flew to PA 1 1/2 days later to spend a week with my parents, Desiree', Kristen, Ashlyn, and Jackson. We went to the YMCA, of course:

Looking at Dylan's face playing, you would never expect he would have to go to urgent care 24 hours later (on my birthday) due to a double ear infection. We ended up celebrating my birthday every day this trip except my actual birthday. Because Dylan was in a lot of pain and very clingy, we stayed home most of the time hanging out, eating way too much, and watching movies in 'G-ma's infirmary'. Luckily we had fit in 2 shopping trips before Dylan needed constant attention. Since my closet is full of clothes I don't really wear I am excited to 'Rambo clean' it this week to make room. Ashlyn more than made up for Dylan's lack of energy. Such a cute girl:

Video of the 3 kiddos 'playing' the piano:

Don't bother pointing out I am wearing the same thing in all the rest of the pictures. I know. Reason being they were all taken Monday, the day before I left. That day I got to see a few people from high school. I visited with Kristin True (Runyon) and little Tabitha while Dylan took a much needed long nap:

Kristin Sassaman, Tiffany Metzler, and Coach Brown came over for a mini basketball team dinner. Standing by them makes me feel like less of an Amazon woman. Funny thing is, we are all wearing flat shoes:

That night we had another birthday cake. It was a good ice cream cake, but wasn't nearly as good as the pumpkin cake with cream cheese frosting Kristen made earlier.

It's a good thing she made it, because the day we arrived she accidently ate my Boston creme doughnut in addition to hers, not realizing I hadn't eaten mine yet. It is my favorite kind and I had to settle for sugar-free pudding that night instead. It became the joke of the week. Mom went back to Giant's bakery and I still ended up getting 2, but not the 4 Kristen did. Here are the antics associated with me attempting to enjoy my 2nd one:

Fighting off the savages:

Ya got some in your teeth, sis. Payback:

Cuddling in the comfy chair:

Thanks, G-ma and G-pa, for a trip full of laughs and helping with my sick kidlet! PS-The ear plugs and beanie idea worked pretty well on the plane so Dylan didn't scream the entire time with the pressure.

Sweet 16 Stats

Betcha thought this was going to be about the NCAA tournament, BYU, and Jimmer. Not so. It was a great game tonight, but I am still disappointed they tripped at the finish line. Focus, Shilo. Dylan has reached sweet 16 months. The stats/highlight reel:

*He has 5 teeth. He added his top right lateral incisor, right next to his missing top right front tooth. It looks like he has already lost a tooth. Sweet grill.

*He grabs his feet when I ask, "Where are your toes?"

*He will spontaneously say "Happy day" and start laughing.

*He loves to go "ouside" (outside) and take a "ride." He didn't say the final 'd' sound until recently. I emphasized it so much that he now does also. Kind of funny.

*When I make the bzzzzz sound he says "bee." At the Phoenix zoo he saw some cows and said "moo."

*He points to the moon and says "moon" and to his knee and says "knee."

*He says "Hi," "Hey-oh" (Hello), "Bye-Bye," "Hi, puppa" (puppy), and "Hey baby," though sometimes he has a few second delay.

*He picked up on one of idiosyncrasies. He says, "I know!" with the same tone I use. Little parrot.

*He says "heo" when he needs help and "ow" when he wants out of something.

*He has learned to say "go," "apple," "hat," "sha-ba" (shovel), "wa-tee" (water) and "yigh" (light).

*When saying good night to his family picture collage, he can say "Mommy," "Daddy," "Mimi," "Papa," "Nana," "Maggie," "DeeDee," and sometimes "Ash."

*In an act of shameless self promotion, I taught him that when I ask, "Who loves mommy?" the correct response is, "I do!" Now he will also do it sometimes for others.

*He hasn't done it many times, but he can make a tower using 4 blocks.

*When given a veggie medley, he always eats his peas, then carrots, then the corn. Not sure if it is a taste or color thing.

*We are trying to break his habit of throwing food. Also the one where he thinks it's funny to high-5 people in the face. Oh, and squealing like a little girl. Not cool.

*When music plays he stomps his feet and/or waves his arms.

*He loves any type of "bahwh" (ball) and throws them, interestingly enough many times with his left hand.

The stat I need to figure out for him is how many airplane rides he has been on since his 1st one to PA last spring break. He is quite the frequent flyer and loves the "airbahs"...especially the Southwest ones. Haha.

Phoenix Golf Trip

This past week we went on a golf trip to Phoenix with the Duke crew. We stayed in a nice rental house that was beautiful but NOT kid friendly. Between the stairs and the landing areas there were 8 areas inside the house with stairs Dylan tried to fall down. I counted. That didn't include the steep driveway or stairs up to the pool. A case of false advertising that turned into a comedy of errors for the 3 kiddos. Makes a funny story. Anyway, we had a lot of fun swimming and playing around town.

At the Phoenix Zoo:At the zoo "Little People" playground:
Mini-Golfing at Cracker Jax (I don't have any pictures from the REAL golf courses since the girls/kids opted out). Tommy is turning into a golf prodigy, but Dylan was more interested in the landscape and taking everyone's balls. Maggie and Tommy were really patient with him this trip:

I think Lori and Allyson look great, but I'm sure they're going to love me for including this one. Lori is due April 21 and Allyson is due June 16.

At the driving range:

In St. Patrick's Day green:

We went to a place that had an aquarium and zoo. Dylan was pretty brave at the petting zoo:

Added bonus to the trip is that Autrey's old roommate, Pat Hobbs, and his wife, Anndalyn, live in Phoenix with their 3 kids (one named after Autrey) and so does my BYU roomie, Alison Merritt. Autrey watched Dylan on Friday and I got a 'hall pass' to party with her all. night. long. I'm too old to stay out that late, in any time zone. I had to take a post party nap the next day and could use a few more. Weak sauce, I know. But totally worth it to be with my twin for her birthday.

Dylan's 1st big carousel at a local amusement park:

Still happy half way through the ride...

...then he got scared, but didn't cry. I didn't mind. He gives great squeezy hugs!

Thanks for a fun trip, Mimi and Papa!