Birthday Party Time!

Some may think it's strange that a 4-year-old would want a "Totally Disgusting Smoking" video...But Dyl begged for this video for his birthday. Grandpa says he doesn't want his grandkids to smoke so he showed Dyl and all his cousins this gross movie...They all fell in love with it!

For Dylan's birthday this year we went to the Energy Solutions Center to see Disney on Ice...We had a blast!

Grandpa and the Birthday Boy!

We rode Trax to and from Disney on Ice...The kids were fascinated! Dylan wanted to wear his cowboy boots so--Give the Birthday Boy what he wants!

After the event the kids posed with their memorabilia...

We celebrated with a pinata, dinner, and a birthday cake...Spongebob, of course!

Dylan Turns 4!

On Dylan's birthday I took the day off of work and we took the kids to one of their favorite places for lunch...Carl's Jr!

We had to wait till the weekend for the "real" party--So Aunt Leslie baked cupcakes with the kids to celebrate Dyl's birthday.

Gotta taste-test before you'll ever know if you need to add something else!

Chocolate is a girl's best friend!

...Preparing the cupcake pan for the most delicious cupcakes ever!

Gotta make sure there's exactly the right amount of batter in each cake...

The finished product...Not bad for a few wild and crazy kids!

Stretching the truth (Just a LITTLE bit!)

Aunt Leslie: Hey, Dylan...I like your new shirt.
Dylan: I got it from Mexico.
Aunt Leslie: How did you get it all the way from Mexico?
Dylan: My girlfriend Jayda brought it back for me.
Aunt Leslie: Who is she?
Dylan: Just one of my girlfriends.
Aunt Leslie: How do you know her?
Dylan: Oh, just from up by Grandpa's house...She lives by him.
*FYI: Dylan knows nobody by the name of Jayda, his shirt came from the Gap...And, well, I guess, being how nothing is made in the USA anymore...the shirt could've come from Mexico!!!!

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder...

...Just a quick story demonstrating Dylan's personality...I wanted to share (I'm getting old and probably won't remember tomorrow!). So last night as Dylan was trying to avoid going to bed (like he always tries to stall) he decided he needed to play beauty shop. I was lying in bed and he began combing through my hair and putting clippies in it; he was concentrating so hard. Anyway, I said, "Dyl, are you making Mom beautiful?" Dylan responded with, "Ya...but it's really hard work and it's going to take me a REALLY long time!"

Deep Thoughts by Dylan Findlay...

"People don't like to be called 'hot pants.' If you try trick or treating at their house and you call them 'hot pants' then they will slam the door in your face and you won't get any candy!"

Happy Valentine's Day!

Dyl had a Valentine's party at school...His candy was all gone before Mom could get off work and pick him up!

The only girl Mom will let me kiss besides her...

We made Valentine's sugar cookies...Hey, wait...Where are the cookies?

Grandpa LOVES to sleep!

...Making it work!

So I've been working from home since Wednesday of this week and I LOVE IT! I'm cutting down on an hour and a half drive to/from work and feel like I have so much more time in my day! I thought it would be weird and that I'd get lonely---But I can still IM my friends at work. Right now the working at home thing is just a trial (They picked the top 12 in the office and I was #3)--But, hopefully it will turn into something permanent! Yippity skippity!

The Big Top 10...

Here is a list of the top 10 things I love about Dylan today:
1- I love how Dylan giggles and laughs till he's about ready to bust a gut. Usually he's laughing at himself for a joke or something HE did that he thinks is funny.
2- I love how Dylan gets excited about the simplest things, like moving up on his chart or spending the day with Mom.
3- I love how, when Dylan is sleepy, he cuddles up to me and wants me to hold him...He only does this when he's tired.
4- I love how Dylan mixes up words, ie: spinachios (pistachios), churky (jerky), or O'rock Obama (Barack Obama)
5- I love how Dylan is so gentle with kids who are younger or smaller than him. He plays with his 2-year-old cousin, Shaylee, and lets her pounce on him.
6- I love how, every morning when I drop Dylan off to go to work, he stands at the top of the stairs and blows me kisses as I turn around to walk out the door. Sometimes he waits till I'm halfway out the door and then stops me by saying, "Wait...You forgot your hugs!"
7- I love reading books with Dylan every night. That's our "wind-down" time when we can just relax and enjoy the moment with no distractions.
8- I love how, when we're in the grocery store or out and about, Dylan stops people just to chit chat. He doesn't care who you are...He just wants to talk!
9- I love Dylan's big brown puppy-dog eyes!
10- I secretly love that Dylan's a "mama's boy." I wish he'd always think I'm his hero!

Frickin...

The last 2 days as I've asked Dylan what he's done all day while I've been at work he's replied, "Watched Frickin' Dora!" He says, "That's what we call it 'cuz me and Chase don't like it but we have to give Shaylee a turn to watch what she wants to watch...So that means it's frickin'!"

Head, shoulders, knees and toes...

How in the world did he get so big?

Big Foot!

Dylan's foot now spans the length of my hand...He now wears a size 1 shoe.

Spooky!

So Dylan said today, "Hey, Mom...This is what you do when you see a ghost!" The marking on Dyl's head has nothing to do with scaring ghosts off...That's just his artwork!

Red and yellow and pink and green...

Periodically Dylan analyzes the color of his skin and compares it to who he knows with the same color skin. Grandpa Findlay and Dylan are about the same color so Dylan relates to him and Grandpa being the "same." He knows that Chase is white and Dylan is brown...nothing good nor bad...but just different. The other day we went to leave swimming lessons and a black guy walked past us. Dylan yelled and pointed, "Hey, Mom...That guy's the same color as my daddy!" The guy smiled and said, "Alright!" This isn't the first time this has happened...Once we were in the grocery store and, as we walked past a dark hispanic guy Dylan said, "Hey, Mom...Is that my dad?" I just kept walking the other way! Embarrassing...but something to chuckle at! Since then Dylan's spent a little more time with his dad so at least he knows what he looks like.

Wrestling Buds...

Dylan has always been so kind, gentle and loving towards his younger cousins. Today, Dylan let Payton (or Pay Pay as he calls him )wrestle him to the ground...

Don't Be Hatin'!

When Dylan's cousin, Chase, didn't put his scooter away, Dylan tripped and fell on it. With frustration, Dylan yelled in a gruff voice, "Chase...put your scooter away!" Chase's feelings were hurt and he told Dylan he hated him. I told them to just be friends, commenting, "You don't REALLY hate Dylan." Dylan replied with, "Mom, Chase isn't hatin'...He's just a little shy!"

Grandma's 'lil Engineer

Grandma & Grandpa always seem to come up with the best gifts! One of Dylan's favorite things is the stick horse they gave him for Christmas last year. The other...is this...A good 'ole fashioned train hat! All aboard!

Whipping Cream!

Anybody who has a toddler knows how hectic bedtime can be. For us...it's even more hectic! When Dylan was about 5 months old he would throw up...not just a little...but a lot...and there was no pattern as to when it would happen. Dylan was tested for a lot of things but the doctors couldn't ever find anything wrong with him. Sometimes he'd be sleeping and all of the sudden throw up all over the place. Being a first-time and paranoid mom, I was worried that Dylan would throw up and put his head in it and not be able to breathe--Which began the habit of sleeping with Mommy! I'm embarrassed to admit this but, because I get up so early for work and, by bedtime, I'm tired...I haven't ever put forth enough effort to get Dylan to sleep in his bed. A few weeks ago I asked Dylan when he was going to start sleeping in his own bed and he told me he would when he got as big as Uncle Anthony (Anthony's 29!). The radio station I listen to in the mornings has a parenting expert on there weekly and 1 day a lady called in and wanted to know if it was weird that her 12-year-old was still sleeping in her bed...argh! Is it weird? Are you crazy? After visions of having a 12-year-old sleep in my bed I realized it was time for a change! Thus began the task of getting Dylan to sleep in his own bed! My sister, Tracy, made up a bedtime chart. Dylan gets to put a checkmark after each task he completes (Go potty, wash hands, brush teeth, read books, say prayers, go to sleep). This has been a great tool because Dylan can put a visual on when it's time to go to bed. I'm happy to report that we've made progress! Although Dylan usually comes in my bed sometime in the middle of the night I've at least got him convinced he must fall asleep in his own bed. I don't always notice but when Dylan comes in my bed I take him back to his. Last night we were reading a new book called "Panda Bear, Panda Bear, What Do You See?" This book is like the "Brown Bear, Brown Bear" book but a little more complicated. Anyway, the first time through I read the book and then Dylan wanted to read it the second time. When it got to the part that said, "Whooping crane, whooping crane, what do you see?" Dylan paused and said, "Whipping cream, whipping cream, what do you see?" A few pages later we got to the part about the macaroni penguin and, just as confident as ever, Dylan read, "Mac & cheese penguin, mac and cheese penguin, what do you see?" Oh, how I love my little guy!

Wheelin' & Dealin'!

Bad idea to get your kid a "summer" toy for Christmas! All Dylan asked for for Christmas was a "my size 4-wheeler." On Christmas morning all Dylan cared about was getting on his 4-wheeler and riding it around the house, bumping into and scratching up my walls! Aunt Kathy came over and visited on Christmas day and Dylan had her ride in the passenger seat while he escorted her around the house. We got bombarded with snow the week of Christmas. Every day Dylan would ask if enough snow had melted for him to be able to ride his 4-wheeler outside...He was so anxious! One day he even had a couple of the older neighbor boys push him around on the snowy and icy sidewalks. Finally...the sun came out and melted enough snow to be able to go on a 4-wheeler adventure! Dylan had a blast!

2009...New Beginnings

So I've always believed in the importance of recording your life with a journal or scrapbook but have rarely taken the time to actually do it! Four years ago when I found out I was pregnant with Dylan I had so many plans to keep a record of his life so that when he was older he'd have something to treasure from his childhood. Needless to say...I'm a huge procrastinator! I guess I never thought about how little time I would have for such stuff as a single, working crazy mom! Over the past year I've really been thinking of blogging so I thought this could be a start! 2009 is going to be a fantastic year! I'm looking forward to making positive changes in my life. I'm not really one for New Year's resolutions as I believe your life should be about resolving to be the best you can be. Sometimes I get focused so much on work, life, etc...that I forget to focus on the little important things that make such a big difference. One of my main focuses this year is to be more organized. I don't know if that's something that you BE or something that you LEARN, but, either way, I'm gonna do it!

Dylan is growing like a weed! I never thought I could ever love a human being so much! I love his giggle, his boisterous little personality...and even the way he throws tantrums and tells me I'm mean! Yesterday when Dylan got in trouble I asked how come he was having such a rough day. With a big pouty face he replied with, "Because Aunt Leslie always tells me you're gonna be REALLY mad at me! I'm not gonna be your mom anymore!" I told him it's a good thing that he's my son! He's so picked on!

Dylan is in his first year of preschool at Sunshine Square and absolutely LOVES it! I'm amazed at how such a little mind can take in so much information and retain it! He's learned such things as the"Pledge of Allegiance," his ABC's, how to be a good friend ,and lots and lots of songs. Dylan has so much fun with his friends at school. Miss Leslie is his teacher and she's wonderful! I took the day off work today so I get to go pick Dylan up from school for the first time! Yeah! It's the little simple things that I miss out on because I work that I really treasure when I actually CAN be involved! Sometimes I sit back and look at Dylan and wish he could just stay little forever. Then...before I know it he's outgrown all his clothes. At the first of fall I bought about 10 pairs of jeans for Dyl and all but 2 pair were huge on him. The other day I was watching him button up his pants that were previously huge and he was sucking in his belly just to get them done up! My baby just keeps growing and growing!

I have so much more I wanna say but at least this is a start!