Dylan at 11 months

Dylan's first birthday is just around the corner and we are definitely soaking up these last few months of babyhood before he transitions into a full blown toddler. He is able to stand unassisted for several seconds and just yesterday morning he took his first steps- they were literally two baby steps but I think he will be walking around in the next few weeks. He was so proud of himself when he took those steps and has the biggest smile on his face whenever we notice him standing unassisted. He's really starting to actively communicate with us as well. Just this week Evan taught him how to give high fives and he finally started clapping if we prompt him. He is still into EVERYTHING and loves exploring his little world. This week I took him to his first Gymboree class and he seemed to love it. It's not too often he is around other babies his age so he really lit up when he saw all the other babies he could "talk"to, and man does this kid talk- he's constantly babbling and seems to know exactly what he's saying :)

First train ride with big brother at Busch Gardens

He was completely in awe of the new roller coaster rides at BG

Dylan's first time on Santa Claus' lap

My little elf and my little santa on Christmas Morning in Texas

little Santa

After Christmas Eve services, Dylan charmed all the old ladies sitting behind us during the service

The sprouting of his first teeth- he got 4 at once, 2 on top, 2 on the bottom

Hugs with Aunt Vicki and Cousin Kyndall

He still loves to eat everything we put in front of him!

Goofing around with big brother

Halloween week

Double trouble

Dylan loves to EAT!

This boy loves to eat! 

From the beginning I offered Dylan more table food than baby food, which makes things a lot easier and more fun! Here's a peek at his typical meals:

Breakfast: banana cut in small pieces to feed himself

Yogurt or cottage cheese mixed with banana that gets left on his tray while he eats it

Smashed up sausage from Colin's leftover breakfast

Scrambled eggs

Lunch: 

If we are out for lunch, I feed him anything I'm eating, just mashed up a little. For example on Tuesday I was out with my mom for lunch and she was feeding him her chicken salad from the sandwich she had, and I was feeding him part of my soup, that had a cream base with rice, veggies and turkey. He also will eat lunch meat like turkey, ham, of roast beef of whatever sandwich I have. 

Dinner:

He always has smashed avocado as his 1st course ( he really likes it just like Colin) and then tonight I tried giving him a jar of sweet potatoes & corn baby food Evan got from the store but he started turning his head away and fussing so I pulled out some leftover pasta with ground beef and he was much happier! I think the consistency of the baby food is starting to not be as appealing and he prefers to feed himself vs. spoon fed. As you can see in the video, he's almost mastered the pincher grasp ( a little tough with the slippery pasta). I don't think Colin had the pincher grasp until 9 months and Dylan's been doing it at least a month. I think it might be because we let Dylan feed himself 

much earlier than we let Colin. 

Oh and this is all with no teeth!!! 

Captured on video...

Dylan at 7 months

What he's eating:
2 solid meals a day, breakfast and dinner...most days we are out of the house for lunch, if we are home, I'll feed him lunch too. On his 6 month birthday we started him on solid foods. Since he still doesn't have teeth, it's mainly puréed baby food, but we are also doing table food such as smashed bananas, avocado, cottage cheese, yogurt, pasta...I'm pretty much letting him try everything now, and so far he is a great eater!!

What he's drinking:
Still nursing and taking 1 formula bottle a day. He nurses or has a bottle 4 times a day.

What he's doing:
Unassisted sitting at nearly 6 months.Crawling started at 6 months, pulling up to standing the last week or two. He's on the move!
Chewing on anything he can get his hands on, and like his big brother he loves the Sophie giraffe chew toy and teether
Playing with big brother , his favorite person in the world.
Always giggling and smiling

Teeth:
None yet!

Sleeping:
Erratic. He goes to bed anywhere between 7:30 and 8pm, and wakes up anywhere between 7 and 7:30am. Sometimes he will sleep through that entire time, some times he'll wake and giving him his paci will put him back to sleep, sometimes he's hungry. Usually if he wakes up, its only once. Naps are also erratic as he sleeps his longest nap in the afternoon. At this age, he should be on a 2 nap a day schedule, but since we are on the go so much he'll take cat naps but take one good solid nap in his crib usually from about 3:30 to 5:30 everyday. Colin has transitioned to napping only 2-3 times a week, so I try to coordinate them napping at the same time. If Colin doesn't nap, I set a timer in his room and tell him he has to have "quiet time" in his room until his time is up, so far it works like a charm!

Dislikes:
Taking a bath
hmm...pretty much that's it, he's an angel baby!

Trip to the Aquarium

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Feeding himself his bottle

Morning snuggles

First time riding in grocery cart with Colin

Breakfast of cottage cheese and bananas

Go Gators!

Happy Boys!

They love to play in the crib together

Sorry to include this but look at that tush, I could eat him up! and he totally has his Daddy's booty!

Playing the piano at Baby Bungalow

Reddish hair

Playing with big brother

Baby smiles

This is my current favorite picture Dylan right now and shows his personality perfectly. He is the sweetest,happiest baby. Always smiling and giggling. When Dylan wakes up in the mornings, he will coo in his crib about 10-15 minutes before it turns into a cry for me to come get him. If I'm awake before this happens, then I try to get him before the crying and when I walk into his room to say good morning I get the biggest smiles. So cute! I remember Colin doing the same thing when he was this age and loving it then too.