dylan masters : eleven months

e l e v e n   m o n t h s

We're getting ready to fly off to Neverland next week with my two little lost boys in hopes they will never grow up!!  With your second baby everything goes much faster and the months just fly by.  Only this time you know that each phase is so precious and fleeting so you appreciate everything more.  I'm always kissing and hugging Dylan and I baby him all day long because I know it just won't last.  They say the days drag on but the years fly, this is so true!

At eleven months Dylan is one active little boy!  He is into everything (mostly the pantry), has an attention span of about 3 seconds, loves riding in the car and going new places, gets so excited to play with other kids, is a little social butterfly and not shy at all, and mostly just loves being free to roam about and do as he pleases!  He is very obedient and when I tell him no he understands and listens but sometimes he does things he knows he shouldn't (playing with small things or things that are mine) and he makes sure to show me what he's doing and waits for me to come over and stop him!

He is a total mama's boy, just like his brother!  If I'm around he wants nothing to do with anyone else and just wants to cuddle, wrestle, climb on, kiss, & hug attack his mama!  I love when he sees me for the first time in the morning or after I come back from somewhere.  I get down on the ground and as soon as he spots me, he's speedy crawling as fast as he can, so excited!  The feeling is mutual.

It's hard to believe that when Clark was right around this age I became pregnant with Dylan!!  Don't worry, we're going to let Dilly be the baby for a few more years because having two this close is crazy enough!  I wouldn't change anything though because Clark and Dylan are just inseparable, the best of friends!  I wish I had a sibling that close growing up!

f a v o r i t e s

♥ FOOD - Food is still hanging around at #1 on the list of Dylan's favorite things!  I'm surprised he isn't a chubby baby!  He's like Rolly from 101 Dalmations..."I'm hungry mama, I really am.  I'm so hungry I could eat a whole elephant!"

♥ Getting into the kitchen cupboards - Dyl loves exploring (esp. the kitchen) and so far the only accidental spill we've had (that comes close to Clark spilling an entire bottle of olive oil) is the time he spilled half a bottle of Shout on a non-washable rug in the laundry room!  The kicker is that I'm the one who put it on the ground for him to play with!  It was closed and in the off position when I put it on the ground so no clue how he opened it!!

HAHAHA, this picture captures Dylan perfectly!!

♥ wrestling - Dylan is a total boy and loves being on the ground wrestling whoever will let him!  He's tough too and actually enjoys when Clark tackles him to the floor!  He really loves climbing all over me when I'm on the floor, pulling my hair, grabbing for my long lashes and yanking my glasses off.  When he's ready for a cuddle session, this kid means business!!

♥ Riding in Lightning w/ Clark - something new I tried this month is taking Clark & Dylan for rides in Lightning.  Dyl sits in Clark's lap and is so serious (just like Clark used to be at that age!) but you can tell he just loves it!

♥ Standing at the entertainment center practically wagging his tail when the TV is on in order to get a closer look!  He always reminds me of Lucky from 101 Dalmations...basically he's our little pup!!

♥ Throwing his food / cup on the floor when he's done & watching for my reaction - this one is getting old!

Here are some more of Dylan's favorites...

Show: Word Party

Movie: Cars

Song: Wheels on the Bus

Food: Pizza

Toy: The remote control

Game: Chase w/ Clark

e a t

What can I say?  He's our amazing eater!!  Yet for some reason, I just dread mealtimes...which is unfortunate because they happen 4 times a day (Clark & Dylan usually eat lunch at different times with nap schedules).  Maybe that's why I dread them!  They never end!!

Still, it's nice to have a kid who will eat.  I don't think there's anything Dylan won't eat except lately he only seems to tolerate his oatmeal.  Sometimes he actually sticks out his tongue and wipes it off, haha, so oatmeal is not a favorite of his.  Some of his favorites are ham, mac & cheese, pizza, pasta, chicken nuggets, fruit (he can eat a whole banana!), muffins, and any dessert we will let him try!

This month we've started giving Dylan whole milk, partly because he's been refusing to nurse.  At first we thought he didn't like it and it was giving him diarrhea but I think that was just because he was sick.  I guess swallowing all the mucus can loosen up their bowels.  But now he seems to like it just fine.  I can't believe nursing is on its way out!!  For me, that's the biggest thing that makes me feel like my baby is all grown up.

It's funny to think about how nervous I was about weaning Clark but then again, he seemed to love nursing much more than Dylan, or rather relied on it more.  By this point with Clark I was only nursing morning and night though and I'm still nursing Dylan 3-4 times a day!  Clearly, I am not wanting our nursing relationship to end.

s l e e p

I wish all my future babies would sleep as well as Dylan!!  He sleeps from 7:30-8 p.m. until 8:30-9 am (sometimes 9:30!) every morning!  He never wakes up during the night but sometimes he wakes up shortly after falling asleep (like half hour later) and has trouble going back to sleep without someone patting his back for a few minutes.  But still he's a total dream because it was a different story with baby Clark.

I used to have tons of pictures of Clark sleeping because he was usually on me and I was bored, haha!  But Dylan only ever sleeps in his crib (and sleeps so good!) so no pictures!  Getting a little worried about how he will do in LA sleeping in a pack 'n play / in the stroller at Disney for a week!  I'm sure he'll be so exhausted it won't matter.

p l a y / d e v e l o p m e n t

This boy wears me OUT, he just has so much energy!!!  He's not walking yet (Clark started walking right around 13 months) and I keep daydreaming his first steps will be at Disney headed right for Mickey Mouse!  It's going to be crazy when I have two walking and also so much fun!  Right now it's hard to do things outside other than go to the park and let Dylan swing because he's so antsy and wants to be put down but am I really going to let him crawl around in the dirt and grass?  Well, I actually was looking at Clark's 11 month blog post and that's exactly what I did!  Barefoot at the park in the dirt that was Clark.

look at baby Clark!!

I guess I forgot but also I think Clark was more careful than Dilly and he hates being dirty.  Dylan on the other hand seems not to mind so much!  The other day we went in the backyard and it's been raining a lot lately.  I made the mistake of letting Dylan crawl around the deck and he headed for every muddle puddle!  Whoops, won't be doing that again soon!

of course his favorite spot was the hole in our deck where it's rotted!

love my boys!

Dylan had his first hair-cut this month!!  I don't think Clark had a hair-cut until he was like 18 months old but Dylan's hair is much finer and his little wispies were constantly getting in his eyes.  I also wasn't as sentimental about cutting his hair for the first time like I was Clark's.  His big boy hair cut is just too cute!!  I'm so in love with this boy!!!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

One thing Dylan has started doing lately is standing and holding his hands up in the air proudly as if to say, "Look ma!  No hands!"  It's adorable!  Then, if there's music playing, he will wave his hands to the music with the most serious look on his face and sway to the music!

He loves clapping along to "If You're Happy and You Know It," playing "Hide & Seek," looking at picture books, figuring out how things work, taking things apart, stealing my phone, LOVES playing on my laptop & grabbing the keyboard cover, staring at Alexa, foraging for food, and being so silly with his brother!  He is one wild child but we love to him pieces!!!

♥                ♥                ♥

dylan masters : ten months

t e n   m o n t h s

I cannot believe this child will be ONE next month!!!  We're taking the boys to Disneyland for Dylan's birthday and we are beyond excited!!!  It's going to be such a blast, although I think Clark will enjoy it more than Dylan!  I still want to have a party when we get back to celebrate his first year of life but it won't be as elaborate as Clark's first.  I have the cutest theme picked out and I think we're going to do brunch with just a few friends and family.  I feel like Clark had more friends by this age but that's probably because I made more of an effort to organize playdates since he was an only child.  Lucky Dilly has a built-in best friend and they are crazy about each other!  Even though Clark loves on him a littttle too much sometimes...

This past month has been a whirlwind...Dylan's first Christmas, New Years, a new church schedule, potty training (Clark, not Dylan!) but things are finally starting to slow down right in time for our vacation!  Dylan however is not showing any signs of slowing down!!  I wonder if he will take his first steps at Disneyland!!

ten month stats:

weight: 19 lbs. (27th percentile)

length: 29 in. (52nd percentile)

head circ: 18 in. (57th percentile)

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b a b y ' s   f i r s t   c h r i s t m a s

Dylan's first Christmas did not disappoint!  We attended two ward Christmas parties, met Santa, drove around town looking at lights, took the boys to Christmas in the Park at Town Center where mama got to be Princess Anna, made gingerbread houses, decorated sugar cookies and watched Christmas movies!  Oh so magical!!

Dyl loved the Christmas tree, trying to eat the ornaments, unplugging the lights, tackling the train set, unwrapping the presents, jingling the bells, eating all the cookies and wasn't sure what to think of Santa...

Santa brought Dylan a sit-to-stand walker which both the boys loved!  He also got books, clothes, a teddy bear named Hugs from daddy, and a ride-on car from Grandma!

f a v o r i t e s

♥ Feeding himself / crawling on top of me while trying to eat my food

♥ Swinging always sends him bursting into laughter and grinning from ear to ear!

♥ Opening & shutting anything & everything...never gets old!  Except when he shuts his fingers in, he does not like that!!

♥ Turning lights on & off

♥ Eating!  His new favorite place in the house is the pantry and let me tell you, this kid can tear/bite into any bag/package/pouch he finds and eat it all up!

♥ Riding Jeeves

♥ Cars esp. Lightning McQueen!  Following in his big brother's footsteps already...luckily Clark owns 9 Lightning McQueen cars of varying sizes!

♥ Dancing!!!  I think this is Dylan's all-time favorite thing to do!  He's really good too!!  When the music starts, he drops whatever he's doing to move to the beat and he's got such good rhythm.  Maybe one day he'll grow up to be a musician like his Uncle Sean or know about all the coolest bands and go on tour like his Aunt Stephy

e a t

This month Dilly has actually become a little picky!  He's started sticking out his tongue to lick foods when we try to feed him and it's so funny!  He usually will still eat anything if it sits on his tray long enough but he definitely favors some foods more than others.  He loves sweet flavors so he loves fruits and juice!  Some of his favorite foods include pizza, ham, chicken nuggets, strawberries, oranges, grapes, goldfish, mac 'n cheese, and chinese!

I can't remember how often I was nursing Clark at this age...I think I started weaning him a bit prematurely because I've read that breastmilk is supposed to make up the bulk of their diet until one year and I think around this time I was only nursing Clark morning and night.  It's getting harder and harder to nurse Dylan these days!  We're still going 4 times a day but I don't think we'll keep it up much longer once he hits that year mark.  He is just SO active and restless and doesn't want to sit still long enough for a session.  He doesn't like to wait for the milk to come down but if I can get him to keep sucking every so often until it finally comes then he will stay and drink awhile.  But he's usually like, 'I've got places to go, people to see, mom!  No time for this!"  What happened to my little cuddlebug!?  Sometimes he still likes to snuggle up before bed and first thing in the morning.  I treasure these moments!

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At the beginning of this month we hit another sleep regression.  Separation anxiety!  It's on its way out and it's only for bedtime, not naps, but Dylan does NOT like when I leave his room at night.  He was standing up and crying for up to an hour with Mark or me going back in every 5-10 minutes to lay him down and rub his back.  Clark went through this much worse and it lasted much longer.  Clark had a lot more sleep issues though so we were used to it.  Dyl has always been an amazing sleeper so this has thrown us for a loop.  But it only lasted a week or so and now he's back to putting himself to sleep and sleeping 12-13 hours!

One thing I cannot get over is how late Dylan sleeps.  Ever since Clark was a baby, the latest he slept in was 8 but that was rare.  He is always up like clockwork between 6 and 6:30.  "Sleeping in" for him is 7.  Dylan?  He used to sleep until 10 (sometimes even later!) when he was younger but now it's around 9.  It's not unusual for him to sleep past 9 though and he's never up before 8:30!!  We always have to wake him for 9 am church which I hate!  If Dylan had been my first baby, I would have slept in every day with him!

p l a y / d e v e l o p m e n t

I took Dylan to storytime at the library today and he was all. over. that. room!  This child doesn't like to sit still for a second!!  He is SO active, even more so than Clark was at this age!!  Sometimes I think he is going to have ADD or something!  Diaper changes......forget about it!!

He actually isn't walking yet which surprises me!  I'm hoping he takes those first steps at Disneyland walking right for Mickey Mouse ;)  He has started standing for a few seconds by himself and can usually sit back down.  So I'm sure those first steps aren't too far...

Dyl is one curious little boy and is always looking for trouble.  He loves climbing the stairs, stopping halfway to look out the window, and then heading up to the top and shutting the baby gate closed behind him!  He thinks he is SO big!!

t h e   r o u t i n e

In the mornings when he wakes up, Clark is the first one to greet him by trotting into his room, opening all his shutters and hollering, "Morning Di-yee!!!"  Then he climbs into his crib with him and sometimes Dyl loves it.  Other times he just wants mama!

After we nurse in the morning, I get him ready for the day and then he and Clark play/wrestle for a bit while I tidy up and start laundry.  Then Dylan has breakfast, typically oatmeal with a banana or a whole-wheat english muffin with whole milk baby yogurt.  After breakfast, he and Clark play some more while I clean.  That pattern repeats for most of the day!

Dylan is still napping two times a day, though we are thinking of switching to one nap with Clark soon.  Right now I don't think he could make it until bedtime after his first nap, which is around 11.  He usually takes one long nap (usually his morning nap, about an hour and a half) and then a shorter nap (45 min-1 hr) in the afternoon around 3 or 3:30.

We nurse after both naps, followed by play, sometimes a walk to the park, snack and a meal.  The majority of my day is spent making, feeding, and cleaning up meals.  It can be really tedious, especially since it usually works out that both boys eat their meals at different times with their nap schedules.  Basically, between 11 am and 5 pm, someone is always napping!  There are 1-2 hours in the afternoon before Dylan's 2nd nap that both boys are awake but it's not very long.  Lately, I've started putting Clark down for his nap right after I put Dylan down for his morning nap so I can have at least 30 minutes or so of freedom!  This has helped make Clark sleepier in the evenings too!

I try not to plan for anything to get done (except keeping up with laundry and dishes) between the hours of 8 am-8 pm and that's the truth!  I used to try to squeeze in things throughout the day (editing pictures, princess work, working out, blogging) and I'd just end the day feeling frustrated that I didn't finish everything (or anything) on my list.  Now I try to wake up at 5 am and read my scriptures, meditate, work out, stretch, shower & get ready for the day, eat breakfast, and start laundry all before Dylan is awake!  (Clark is up between 5:30 and 6:30 every day but Mark usually takes care of him until he leaves for work!)  It's made such a big difference in my days!!  I still hate getting up but when I do, I feel so much more accomplished and all of the important things I need to do are done by 8:30 am!  The hard part is getting to bed by 10 because sometimes Clark takes forever to go to sleep and Mark is up there for an hour trying to put him down.  We always like to spend time together in the evenings so when Mark isn't down until after 9, I feel like we have hardly any time together!  Everything has a season I suppose!

One of my favorite things to do with Dylan is lay on the floor and let him crawl all over me!!!  He goes crazy, pulling my hair, grabbing my face, drumming my tummy, laughing, drooling, slobbery kissing me, it's the best!!  Then Clark joins in on the fun and pretty soon we're all laughing until we can't breathe and everything just feels right.  I love my boys more than anything in the world!!!  And wouldn't change this season of life for anything!!

♥                ♥                ♥