Mommy & Dixon

Just because I love this picture.

And this one.  I love how only his one eye is in focus.

DOUBLE DIGITS

Dixon turned 10 months old on April 5th.

(He would NOT lie still for his photo)

(So we took one with his walker)

At ten months he is...

• crawling like crazy
• starting to cruise
• standing up on his own
• playing with blocks- he likes to choose two that match
• playing peek-a-boo
• waving hello and goodbye (sometimes)
• giving hi-5's
• remembers where his toys and books are kept and can find them on his own
• "reading" turning pages and looking at the pictures
• follows commands for - sit, hands up, up, lie down (sometimes) 
• responds to his name
• responds to mama and dada- will look for us when asked
• seems to be linking objects to tasks- knows the towel means bathtime, bib means foodtime

He LOVES

• to eat.  he has eaten- rice, oatmeal, cheerios, bread, tortilla, tofu, beans, peas, corn, carrots, blueberries, strawberries, pears, apples, kiwi, yogurt, cheese, feta, mushrooms, pasta, lasagna, broccoli, lentils, asparagus and just about anything mommy has on her plate.
• to play. peekaboo, blocks, books, airplane, anytime people will sit with him he will play and play.  he also likes to play alone and will spend quite a bit of time quietly taking all the toys out of the basket or all the books off the shelf.
• to go places.  he loves to travel on the metro or by bus.  he enjoys the zoo, the park, target, the store, mommy's work, museums, restaurants, monuments, and just about anywhere.  He would rather be in the carrier or sling than in the stroller but the stroller is ok too.

He does NOT LOVE
bedtime, being woken up, having his nose cleaned, diaper changes, putting on clothes, being fed by anyone other than his parents, and being told no.

HAPPY TEN MONTHS!

Last Day @ Woolly

Today is my last day at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company.  Ryan and I are moving on to a new adventure that will be detailed in an upcoming blog post- we are waiting on some paperwork.

I started at Woolly in 2011 on April 4th, just 12 days before their big benefit.  Somehow, I managed to pull that 350 person gala off (along with the help of everyone on staff) and since then I have completed two more galas along with two fancy 100 person dinners and a enormous amount of Opening Nights, Artist Bunches, Cast Dinners, Holiday Parties and board meetings.  I have created procedures and policies for all events, utilized our Tessitura database system to manage and record guest activities, increased net income our fall event by 400% and redrafted our New Year's Eve party into a revenue generating event.  I have also met a ton of very talented and dedicated individuals and somehow managed to turn a few of these amazing people into some very dear friends.

I will miss my time at Woolly.  I learned a lot from my departmental team and a lot from many other people on staff, but now it is time to move on. Time to migrate south or become extinct.

Later Mammoths!

Easter Eggs!

Ryan made Easter Eggs for Dixon's first birthday.  Ry calls D, Dixon Bear- spelled Bexar. 

Yummy!

These eggs are SO fun!

Cherry Blossoms

We spent Saturday wandering around DC and visiting the tidal basin.  The flowers were beautiful, even if the ones near the Capitol building are not cherry blossoms.

The Jefferson Memorial

My New Walker

A few weeks ago Mommy and Daddy bought me a new walker.  I love it.  It is wooden and has lots of toys to play with built in.  When I first started using it I could only pull up and stand for a minute but now I am walking all the way up and down the living room.  I like to go FAST! and I like to bang it into whatever gets in my way; furniture, people, walls, whatever.  I can also put my toys in the front part of the walker and carry them with me wherever I go.

Since Mommy and Daddy bought me the walker I have started standing for longer and longer periods all by myself and today I started cruising on the furniture. It won't be long now before I can walk all by myself.

Love- Dixon

Busy Week

Whoosh.

The last two weeks just sailed by.  I had my big benefit, which went well.  Mimi and Grandpop came to take care of Dixon, which also went well and Dixon learned to wave (sometimes) and high five. (most of the time)

He also learned to drink from a sippy cup and is pulling up on EVERYTHING and has stood up in the middle of the room unassisted a few times. I'm starting to miss the days when we could put him down on a blanket and he didn't really go anywhere.

Now I want the winter weather to whoosh away too.

Stand by me!

I'm standing!

With a little help from my toybox.

(we added a few pictures to the flickr site on the right-hand bar)

NINE months

Dixon is now 9 months.  That means he has roughly been outside my body for about the same amount of time it took to grow him in the first place.  CRAZY.  I can't imagine life without him.

At nine months he is crawling, pulling up, playing games like peek a boo with us, responds when we indicate each other vocally- "where is mommy?" or "look at daddy." He is also using mmm noises when trying to get my attention and is more likely to use ddd noises or aaa noises to get Ryan's attention. He remembers where we put his toys, diapers and clothing and is gets a bit cranky any time I put on my shoes and he isn't wearing his jacket.  We are still working on waving hello and goodbye.

We have spent much of the last month working on sleep and I think we are doing much better.  He now sleeps about 11 hours at night and usually will go to sleep without any bouncing and only a bit of screaming. We are still working on naps, which are hard because we are just getting to daycare when he really needs his morning nap.  He does know his bedtime routine and has parts he loves- bath, book, nursing- and parts he hates- diaper, lotion, and pj's.

We are still breastfeeding but it is starting to taper off.  He loves to eat and has had all kinds of baby food plus bread, tofu, mixed thawed veggies, canned beans, pasta, rice, cheerios, lentils, quinoa, blueberries, banana, and a bunch of items off Mommy's plate. If he can't have breastmilk he will drink water (preferably out of a parent's glass) and coconut water.  He does not like sippy cups.

Dixon is a very happy and easy going baby but is a little spoiled when it comes to cuddles.  Everyone loves him; the ladies at daycare, the people at our offices, random people on the street and wants to fuss over him.  We have even had several people stop and tell us how beautiful he is.  He usually loves the attention and flirts like no other.

Love you Dixon bear!

Zoo #2

Last weekend the weather was bright and sunny so we walked over to the zoo.  This was D's second trip to the Zoo.  The first one he slept through and the second one most of the animals slept through!

He did get to see some of the "farm" animals and a few elephants, plus the sea otters were out and about.

We also saw one of the orangutan start to travel their skyway and ran into one of his little friends from daycare and her parents.  All in all it was a great day.

Not a Monkey but a Mouse

My dear friend Katie traveled to Disneyworld and brought D this big Mickey.  He wasn't so sure about him at first but you can tell from the second picture they have worked it out.  D has Mickey's nose in his mouth.

Thank you Katie! 

Valentine's Day

Our family on Valentine's morning!

Thank you to Aunt Sue for the bib.

Eight Months

Eight Months Already!  (Well, actually on Feb 5th)

At eight months Dixon can... use his pincher grasp to feed himself at dinner, especially thawed frozen veggies, canned green beans, Cheerios and anything that comes off mommy's plate. crawl forwards and backwards.  is starting to pull up on everything.  has two teeth (bottom middle) and is about to add a third (also on the bottom). 

Likes- all kinds of food, nursing, playing with shoelaces, peek-a-boo, putting things in his mouth, bathtime and going on trips.

Dislikes- bedtime, having his face cleaned, wearing his hat and being left alone.

He is making it quite hard to get this picture!

Which one is D?

Three little Monkeys!

Island Living

Our friend just got back from Hawaii and brought D his own little outfit.  He hasn't tried the shorts but we wore the top over his onesie the other day.

Ready for the beach!

Monkey Daddy

So Dixon promptly grew out of the baby towels and we had to purchase a toddler sized one.  We found this Monkey one at Target on sale and decided it would do.  The best part is the Monkey head fits on Ryan's head so each night before bath D and Daddy play.. Monkey?  Daddy?  Monkey?  Daddy?

After his bath we play peek a boo with the side of the towel and he has started grabbing it and yanking it down whenever I say, "Where's Dixon?" Then he brings it back up over his face again.  He thinks this is hilarious.  

Monkey Baby and Daddy

FOOD!

Dixon loves to eat.  Here he is chomping down on some spinach, green beans and banana.  Yum!

Look at that pincher grasp!

(sorry the video is sideways- not sure how to fix that)

So busy

We have been so busy lately.

Sleep training was a trial for us all but we are now on the third night of us putting him in his crib, saying "night night" and Dixon rolling on his side and closing his eyes.  We still sometimes end up on the couch between 1-2 while he screams for a bit but he is doing so much better (knock on wood). go! now! knock some wood, seriously.

Dixon is about to crawl.  We can see it.  He gets up on both hands and one knee sometimes but the other leg is holding him back.  The daycare ladies swear he must be crawling when no one is looking because he can be across the room like a shot, but I think he is just scooting.

Luckily it looks like his weight gain has slowed down but he is getting taller.  His pants just keep getting shorter and shorter.  It is so cold outside now that we dress him and then put him in a snowsuit.  That does solve the gap between pants and socks but the snowsuit makes him look like the kid in that Christmas movie.  that falls down and can't walk.

I'm not sure what I did with all my time before.

Seven Months- ALREADY?!?!

Dixon is now SEVEN months.  I can hardly believe it.  

At seven months D has one tooth, can sit up unassisted and is trying to crawl.  He currently scooshes on his bottom and wiggles forward from the splits position.  He loves to stand and can hold all of his own weight, although his balance is not great.  One day in his crib he moved from a sitting position into a kneeling position and was trying to pull himself up on the side.  We dropped the crib floor that afternoon.  

He loves to eat solids and has tried carrots, peas, beans, squash, prunes, pears, applesauce, peaches as well as mashed potatoes, cooked squash, broccoli rabe, raw asparagus, and rice cake.

D is tracking objects and people.  He can find toys when they are hidden and can pull his blanket to get a toy to move closer to him so he can grab it.

He is also incredibly vocal and loves to laugh and talk with his caregivers and family.  We have lots of vowels and mm's plus raspberries and lots of bubbles.

We are having some issues with sleep but have started some sleep training that is very difficult on mom and dad.  We feel badly that we can look back and see mistakes we made that have added to his sleep issues but I think we are paying for it now! 

PLAYTIME

I'm the TOY NINJA!!!!!

Battling plastic rings and my new bath time blocks in one fell swoop!

A House Divided

We live in a house divided.  

Ryan is a Skins fan- now that we live in Washington DC.  

My family started off as Cowboy fans but currently are rooting more heavily for the Texans.

So right before New Year's we were a house divided.

The Skins won but were defeated by the Seahawks yesterday.  Oh well- now D needs a Texan's onesie.