First Day of School!

Dylan turning 3 meant all kinds of new changes for him education-wise. We've had 2 speech teachers meeting with him once a week for an hour for about the last year and a half, and there hasn't been a huge improvement. He's stopped saying some of the things he was before(backpack, map) but I think that's because we've cut down on his tv time. He's mimicking much more now which is a wonderful surprise every time. 'Walk' was the most recent. He picks the strangest words to hold onto. 'Owl' is the best. Talk about a difficult word to say! He has learned all his letter, numbers up to 30, and most standard colors. He's been making the sounds for each letter when they're pointed out, so alphabet play is a really fun thing for Andrew and I. Anything we can do to hear his little voice!

Anyway, turning 3 meant we could stick with the same teaching setup or bump him up to a full on school schedule. He qualified for 5 days a week, 3 hours a day. Well guess what Tuesday was!

Doesn't that face just say it all?

Me being the crazie I am just had to have him out waiting for the bus 15 minutes early.

Problem is, it's been about 35 degrees during the day, so outside playtime didn't last too long.

This brings us to 'Inside the new-ish car' playtime. Not my favorite, but he really loves climbing into the trunk space. It was kind of funny when I opened the back hatch to get him out for the bus!Thankfully there weren't any issues with him wanting to get on the bus. Getting him to come off the bus, not so easy. The dude did not want to go home. He tried twice to get back on! Good thing I had some nice distractions for him at home.

Puzzles and Cookies!
It's been a standing tradition that on the first day of school you get some kind of treat, usually cookies. In fact, when my sister went to college, she got cookies on the first day too. I love the tradition and hope to keep it going for Dylan!

I hope to have some exciting progress reports for you soon!

3 Year Doctor Appointment

Pretty much every time we've had an appointment with the pediatrician I end up taking pictures of Dylan while we wait for the doctor. This usually mean the little dude is stripped down just to his diaper. Here's a little recap.

{First Year Appointment}

{Second Year Appointment}

This last visit ended that. He's now officially measured against the wall and weighed on a regular scale. He's such a big boy now! 38 lbs. and 39 1/2" tall.

{That's his 'You know you're kinda crazie, right Mom?' look}

Having to wait is no problem for a problem solving kind of dude when Mom has her travel size Barrel o' Monkeys!

We're so proud of our big boy! This next year is going to be wonderful!

Our Long Awaited Vacation

Seriously, we've been waiting for most of the year for the first week in November to come. It meant 7 full days in our previous home, the state of California! One week stuffed with family time, 2 additional birthday parties for our new 3 year old, a trip to the Jelly Belly Factory, and waaaay too much time in a car. There was lots more thrown in there too. Here are a few of the highlights.First off, the Wedding!!! This was the main reason we headed out to sunny ol' Cali. From what I heard, this captured all but 2 of the Slazas side, and had 5 generations. Amazing!Carousel Ride #1 with Dad

A quick trip to a Lego store. I'm sure the little man would love a bunch of these gigantic ones!

Friday we hit up the Jelly Belly Factory. I've been there plenty of times, but what kid can go wrong when they're surrounded by candy? I think Dylan thought he was going to be able to drive this home. Cute car huh?

Our jaunt over to San Francisco wouldn't have been complete without chowder bowls. Yum!

We went by this guy twice and both times had the little dude give him a dollar. He reached into his pocket both times and gave his a little bag of Sweet Tarts back(we threw them away, don't worry). Totally cute watching Dylan just stare at him. And if you don't know who these guys are, they get all silver painted up and dance robot style to music. It's tons of fun to watch. This guy had a quirky personality-He'd move his cup around when people tried to tip them, so they were really working for it. He was super sweet with kids though.

Yeah for the Hard Rock Cafe!

Barking Seals-These suckers are nuts! You could hear them all around the pier.

Carousel ride #2 with Mom.

Thanks to my buddy Courtney I've got tons of pictures with the 3 of us, it's just a matter of going through them all. I'll post some of those soon. We're already missing our California family, but are so happy we were able to spend so much time with everyone. We love you!

Pumpkin Pickin'

I'm on a big time kick to make some more memories with my little family, and a hay ride with pumpkin picking was definitely on the list. Last weekend we made it happen, starting with successfully getting on the last hayride of the day!For a kid with an issue touching grass, you can imagine how well the hay went over when we first got up there. There were plenty of 'Dylan, sit down!'s heard before we took off.

He didn't quite get it, but he looks so darn cute. It was just me being counter productive again.

Andrew-'Sit down Dylan!'

Me-'But he looks so cute! Hold on, let me get another picture.'

Lots and lots of pointing at the pumpkins

And of course, plenty of displays of Dylan's manly strength
It was a gorgeous day. Pictures just look even better with pumpkins in the background.
I love my dudes.Back to the hay ride empty handed (we snagged a tiny pumpkin for the dude back near the entrance)Another wonderful memory with my little family.

Silently Counting

I have to give a little back story to this video in order for you to really understand why we(the parents) were amazed. First off, Dylan is just barely beginning to talk. Words like Map, Backpack, Up and Ball have started coming out in the last two weeks, and we're thrilled! We still don't know how many other things he associates with their actual words though. Tonight we ended up at the local mall to give Dylan some much needed run-around time. There is a board game kind of theme with a large multi-colored path and a gigantic 'spinner'(doesn't actually spin). Andrew looked up at one point and realized that Dylan was jumping from number to number. We quickly caught on to why he was doing this, and I pushed Andrew over to get a video of it. (Just so you know, there wasn't any coaching or counting. He did this on his own. This video was the 5th or 6th time he did it.)

Now to most parents this might not mean much for their almost 3 year old, but this is huge for Dylan! I hope you were smiling and cheering as much as we did!

Our Little Brainiac

Dylan=Little Einstein Lover

Here's the proof

(turn your volume way down-sorry it's so loud)

He's so into the closing scene of this show that I can sing the first few lines over and over again, and he does the actions with me every time. Then of course he signs for 'more'.

{Just in case you were wondering, Dylan shakes his head because at that point in the song the little Rocket ship shakes as it's form of a bow}

Remember Us?

We're back! Man, I've seriously neglected this blog. It's time to play catch-up. Here are some of the little highlights along with some great pictures of the little man and sometimes us, the parents!

Unlimited pancakes-Both my dudes scarfed them down.

{January}

He's had lemons before, but this one he seriously took a bite of. He hasn't had one since!

{February}

The blizzard had us all home in p.j.'s for most of the week. This was also about the time Dylan developed a love for the movie Cars, Mater especially.

{February}

We got these ears a few weeks before Easter and he wore them non-stop for weeks. By the time Easter rolled around, he was done with them. He moved to wearing them around his tummy!

{March}

After hitting the Hershey Factory, we were off to Sonic. The little man turns into a super stud whenever he wears Andrew's sunglasses!

{March}

This year's Egg Hunt was too fun. Dylan still has a bit of an issue with grass, hence the little pinching fingers. Things got a bit crazy once he learned they opened. Fun!

{April}I love my dudes!

{April}

Memorial day was the first swim of the year! He's turning out just like his Dad-Go Sox!
{May} After a much needed haircut a few days ago, this is the little man today!

The mini-trampoline we borrowed from my Mom has been one of his favorites lately. It's better than jumping off the couches onto the floor!

Within the last few days Dylan has gotten into the habit of climbing up behind me when I'm sitting on a chair and throwing his arms around my neck. That's his silent cue for a piggy-back ride, but I just love how it feels!

We've been quite the busy little family lately, and I hope to get more info up soon.
We love you!