dylan's birthday party

The temperatures dipped from the previous weekend and there was a minor threat of rain, but the rain stayed away and it was warm enough for folks to enjoy hanging out in the backyard at Dylan's party.

Ellie and Luke (and his older siblings Dean and Monica) came, and Sienna, Amirah and her little brother Elyas, Justin, Taliana, Jason and Tyler (of course!), and even Teacher Tiffany (Dylan was just THRILLED) and Ajrien and DeMarkus, Uncle Steve, and the Taylors (Jeff's sister and family) came to celebrate.

We made the invitations and had the cake decorated with the same design and put up colored printouts of train pictures on the walls. Auntie Christina brought a balloon bouquet, and we had a train pinata for the older kids.

The party went later than scheduled, so Dylan missed his nap, but as usual, he was ready to stay up and par-tay!

He talked about the party and all of his guests all week long (no joke!)!

sometimes we picnic in the backyard

Day 77: picnic lunch in the backyard
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

This picture was taken on one of those days when Dylan refused to change out of his pajamas. Note that, prior to bedtime, he refuses to get into them!

That day's lunch included seitan, tofu cubes, strawberries and avocado. But it seems Dylan is tepid on the 'cado these days...!

Dylan's bday!

We think Dylan had a nice birthday! It started with a banana muffin topped with a candle at breakfast. He liked blowing out the candles so much, we re-lit them until we had to leave for Music Together.

Then, we met Heather and Taliana for breakfast at Zachary's. After Music Together, he went to daycare where they sang happy birthday repeatedly (Dylan likes the song quite a lot and is still singing it!) and gave him a nice bday card.

Once Tom and Dylan and I were all reunited at home for the evening, we took him to Bangkok West for some of his favorite cuisine. We had tom khar artichoke soup (he loved the broth), pad thai (loved the noodles and tofu), panang curry (devoured the tofu and broccoli) and mango with sticky rice (this was some of the best mango with sticky rice I've had here in SC, but Dylan pretty much ignored the rice and focused solely on the mango!).

He was in great spirits all day. At dinner, he loved running around the garden and the fountain in front of the restaurant and, of course, he loved seeing Buddha! At the end of the evening, he fell fast asleep in less than 15 minutes.

Today, he was still singing Happy Birthday and requesting candles to blow out....Hopefully, he'll enjoy his bday party this weekend.

almost 2

Justin
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

Hey! That's not Dylan! That's Justin! He's 3 days older than Dylan and he just celebrated his birthday this past weekend!

Many guests commented on how similar Dylan and Justin are, both in terms of looks and (seeming) disposition (I have a hunch Dylan is probably a little fussier than Justin, though!).

Dylan had a great time playing with Justin's trains and playing at the water table! He had a nice nap once we left the party!

wet sand
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

After he woke up, we headed to New Brighton Beach, where Auntie Christina and Dre were hanging out. They apparently had a very active day (riding bikes, jogging along the beach, tossing the football back and forth, etc.)! But, luckily, they were still camped out by the time Dylan and I got there!

About 30 minutes later, we turned around to see Heather, Taliana, and Assaf! We hadn't seen them all week due to Dylan's cold, so it was a nice coincidence to see them there!

Day 79: at River Arts Festival
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

On Sunday, we had brunch and then spontaneously decided to check out the River Arts Festival at the nearby park.

Dylan wasn't all that keen on going until he heard the words "see ducks", then he wanted to hustle on over there as fast as his chubby little legs would carry him!

Anyway, he's grown a lot...Today at gymnastics was actually the first time he was able to swing on the rope swing all by himself (he actually held on where before he'd just fall right off) and he expressed a lot of interest in going over the bars. He's still talkin' up a storm; in fact, he's very, very opinionated and quite vocal about his preferences (for food, clothing, where I should sit, where he should sit, where Tom should sit, which color spoon, plate, bowl, cup he needs, etc. Despite this, I guess we're glad he talks.). He is very solid on his colors -- red, blue, green, purple, orange, yellow, white, black, and pink (pink for drawing and blue for clothes are current favorites) -- and shapes -- triangle, square, and circle -- now.

He's also quite empathetic. Lately, he's been going around with both hands behind his hips saying his "back hurts" (Tom hurt his back!)

He is so much fun (and quite a handful!), it's amazing to think he'll be 2 tomorrow!!!

the furrowed brow and OfficeMax

at Mother's Day brunch with Lola
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

We've been getting a lot of the furrowed brow lately. Dylan makes this face when he's listening intently to what you are saying or when he's trying hard to persuade you to do his bidding. In the picture here, I don't know which it is. Maybe it's both!

In any case, we went to Office Max the other day to pick up some envelopes and while we were walking up and down the aisles,
we passed a lady who was so charmed by Dylan, she started cooing at him.

Lady: "Oh, you're so cute! Aren't you cute?"
Dylan (giving furrowed brow look, presumably listening intently to what she was saying): ...
Lady: "Oh, but what do you care?"

And with that, the lady turned to walk away. As she did, Dylan un-furrowed his little brow and shouted "I CARE!" loud enough for her to hear. We both had to laugh (me and the lady)!!

bay area mother's day

family photo
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

Well, up here in the Bay Area, we had a nice Mother's Day celebration. We met up with my family for brunch at a place called The Ranch. True to its connotation, there was not much in the way of vegan food. Luckily, my family had a bad experience here last year, so not only did we all eat for free (and bad experience was not repeated), they actually accommodated mom's request to have them bring out a vegan version of their pasta salad!

After taking some pictures, we headed back to Cindy's house to relax.

Dylan, of course, had a blast. While Cindy and I worked on a project, he blew bubbles outside with Auntie Christina, played upstairs with Lola, Jason and Tyler, and he ate a LOT of food!

We hope Mother's Day down south was equally nice!!

"awethumb" and other new developments

Day 69: Doctor Dylan treats "Melmo"
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

Well, of course, we think cuteness abounds when it comes to Dylan. Today, he saw his Doctor's coat hanging in the laundry room and he had to put it on. All morning, he was "doctor dy'n", treating Hankie Mouse and "Melmo." Also, he's spouting all sorts of words these days -- repeating much of what we say -- and he's improving his noun-verb sentence formation ("I fix it", "I do it", "I tired", "I hungry"). It seems he is also really into participles ("I sittin'", "I eatin'", "I drummin'", "NO CHEESIN'" aka "no more pictures!", etc...)....And he sings! Oh, let the sunshine in...I'm a bell hear, me ring (a music together song), ashay, ashay (a mothersong tune), and so many other songs.

Of course, there are Dylan "downsides," too. 1) when it's time for a diaper change, he often responds with, "no. dryyyyy."; 2) he's been falling asleep at 10:30pm lately; 3) he doesn't want to sit in his booster chair anymore and prefers to stand on the stepladder in the kitchen for his meals; 4) he's going through an anti-brushing and anti-flossing phase; and 5) he often gets attached to the clothes he's currently wearing which makes it difficult to change out of pajamas in the morning and change back into pajamas at night. All things considered, though, this ain't too bad.

Yosemite

Day 66: family shot at the Vista Point
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

We just got back from a weekend in Yosemite with Ellie, Mark and Yu-chen. The kids had great fun playing together and we all had fun hiking!

Dylan was a stellar car passenger. We had to stop for a smidge to give him some out-of-car seat stretch time (and walk around time), but after that, he sacked out and left us in peace for a good 2 hours!

Once we arrived, he was really excited to see Ellie AND the lingering snow at the side of the road near the rental!

"cheese!"
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

We loaded Dylan up in the backpack carrier we borrowed from Heather and Assaf and did short hikes to Bridal Veil Falls and Lower Yosemite Falls (Friday) and Mirror Lake (Saturday), and the brink of Vernal Falls (Sunday).

the kids
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

Dylan thoroughly enjoyed all of it! He loved picking up rocks, walking sticks, acorns, and pine cones, checking out Dylan-sized trees, driving through the tunnel from the rental to the Valley, watching the fire in the fireplace every evening, and seeing all of the waterfalls and squirrels and steller jays. He is still yammering on about the fireplace and the tunnel!

the kids are playin'
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

Every evening, Ellie and Dylan played together...

chillin' in the cooler
Originally uploaded by coffywoman.

...and chilled together! They ate together, held hands and kissed boo boos and hugged.

It was such a fun weekend, I'm still relishing the time we all got to spend together.

And, Dylan liked the outdoors so much and got along so well with Ellie, we're hoping we can all squeeze in a camping trip once it gets warmer!

More photo highlights on flickr.