Valentine's Celebration... One Week Early

What an amazing weekend it has been. Chad surprised me Saturday for an overnight at a bed and breakfast in East Dubuque. We stayed at the 'Egyptian Suite' at the Captain Merry Inn. The room was 800 square feet, equipped with heated floors and even a heated toilet seat. We had the place to ourselves and we enjoyed some R&R and a little quiet time away from Dylan (who overnighted with grandma Kathy). For evening entertainment we went to dinner at a place called Champagne in the Mystic Casino and then stayed for a little gambling. Fortunately neither of us lost much money so that was a bonus. Here is a picture of our room but I'm not sure it does it justice... I love my husband!!!




Sunday the honeymoon was over and it was time to come back to reality and baby D! I hardly have any pictures of him these past few weeks so I tried to take a couple yesterday. His latest hobby is watching Baby Bach, a baby einstein DVD he got for Christmas. It is a lifesaver! I can keep him entertained watching it for at least 20 minutes most days (which is what I am doing now to finish this post)! And if I give him a teething ring, life is really good!



Finally, yesterday we had a quiet night at home with Chad's family watching the Super Bowl and celebrating Aunt Jen Jen's birthday. So many friends with birthdays this week. Happy Birthday to Rebecca, Sara, Jen, Jenny, Kari, and cousin Jon next week!

Hooray!

Dylan must have felt really guilty after my last post because he decided to totally surprise me last night and sleep through the night! Yep, that's right. Went to bed at 9 pm and slept until 7:30am (of course I looked at the clock every two hours all night but didn't go check on him until 6:30). It may not happen again for a while so I am cherishing every minute of feeling rested today.

One possible explanation could be that he had his 6 month check up yesterday with immunizations. He is 15 lbs 11 oz and 26". 50th percentile for head growth, under 50th for height and 10th for weight. I'm thinking that he is thin because he is constantly in motion. It seems like he is eating a lot but who knows. Also he was 'diagnosed' with baby eczema, aka dry skin... I doubt that this is the explanation for his sleep issues but to be on the safe side we are greasing him up twice a day. Anyway, that's all to report. My fingers are crossed for tonight!

Help Wanted

Immediate Opening! Full time (10 pm - 8 am) or Part time (11 pm - 3 am) night nurse needed. Duties include comforting a sleep deprived 6 month old. No experience necessary but extreme patience is required. Please view the attached link for photos.

http://www.picturepeople.com/sso/publishconfirm.sso?data=MgOnfzKAFxjGixGz6TJCrkjA84SjnDPExaB6GG3BPVDRmGurf3nKjxKedavy%2b1of

Ok so I'm only sort of kidding. This past week Dylan has started a new routine. Sleep for 2-3 hours, then wake up around midnight and scream unconsolably for two hours until mom gives in and rocks him back to sleep. Seriously, I have tried it all. Letting him cry it out, rubbing his back and shhhhing him, feeding him, and nothing works. I thought the point of letting him cry is that he would cry himself to sleep. NFW. In fact, the more he cries the more wound up he gets. I wish I could blame this new pattern on teething but unfortunately I can count the number of times on one hand that Dylan has slept more than 6 hours in a row in the past 6 months...
Oh well! Life is good and I wouldn't trade him for anything! Dylan is a healthy, happy 6 month old (during the day). We have his doctor appt on Tuesday so I'll post the stats but I'm guessing around 15 1/2 lbs and maybe 26 " or so. We love our little peanut!

Happy 1/2 Birthday Dylan!

Yesterday was Dylan's half birthday. Yes, we are continuing the half birthday celebration tradition! Chad bought Dylan a gift, sippy cups and more binkies. We just can't have enough of them around here. His two hobbies seem to be taking the binkie out of his mouth and then getting it back in and rolling around like a mad man. He is all over the place but it is fun to watch. Since I haven't taken many pictures since Florida I thought I would post my attempts at his 6 month photo with Mickey. It was a disaster but we did our best!

Obsessed with my toes...

This is sooooo lame mom...

Close up!...
Then we took a bath and tried again in Dylan's PJs. BUT
Can't get my hand out of my mouth...
So we tried one last attempt this morning. Not the best photo but closest thing to a smile...

One More Pic

A picture for the baby book. Dylan meets Adrian Clayborn, MVP of the 2010 Orange Bowl, after we shared a flight to Dallas. Good thing we were all dressed in black and gold. Go Hawkeyes!

On Iowa!

We are happy Hawkeye fans today! The Orange Bowl was a blast and it felt like we were in Iowa City as we tailgated with a parking lot full of Iowa fans in chilly weather! But the 40 degree weather and late night were both worth it. Family photo at the tailgate...

Dylan in his Herky hat. I think he had at least 10 random people take his photo yesterday.

Picture of Dylan in the pool earlier in the week. Yes, it was heated! He loved it. Thanks for the floaty Jenny!

Dylan in his snow suit last month. Do you think he prefers the pool or snow???

Only 2 more days left, then its back to the blizzard!!! BRRRRRRRRR.

Happy New Year from Sunny Florida

http://widget-6d.slide.com/widgets/slideticker.swf" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" quality="high" scale="noscale" salign="l" wmode="transparent" flashvars="cy=bb&il=1&channel=3386706919822871149&site=widget-6d.slide.com" style="width:400px;height:320px" name="flashticker" align="middle">

TECHNICAL DIFFICULTY WITH SLIDESHOW ABOVE... MAY HAVE TO CLICK 'VIEW ALL IMAGES TO SEE'?
Happy 2010! We are celebrating the beginning of the new year down in Ft Lauderdale. The weather forecast keeps talking about the cold front and 'chilly' conditions in southern Florida, but 65 and sunny beats below zero temperatures in Iowa so no complaints here. I am behind on the blogging because we have been so busy! Dylan had a great first Christmas and no suprise, got WAY too much stuff. We celebrated Christmas Eve with the Everitts and Christmas with the Weigles. Then we spent the next week drinking beer and watching football! Daddy's two favorite activities. We headed down south New Years Eve and now we are ready to cheer on our Hawkeyes Tuesday night. Below, Dylan's first dip in the ocean!