The Stevens Family

Last Christmas Dylan looked like this…

And this Christmas he looks like this…

I am amazed every day at how much he has grown in one year. He is still as sweet and as handsome as ever! We look forward to all the Christmas celebrations to come. Until then, here are some photos from Christmas this year.

Dylan has been blessed to celebrate Christmas SEVERAL times, and he even has one more to go (with Uncle Chris). The first presents he opened were from his teacher, Ms. Luisa, who gave him a cute stuffed frog and his Uncle Neil and Aunt Amy who sent him a stuffed Pooh bear. He then opened the gift cards from his Aunt Dana and the Martinez family (we haven’t bought him anything with them yet because we have been so busy). I was bad and didn’t take any pictures of him opening any of these presents, but I can assure you that he enjoyed it!

For Kyle’s birthday and Christmas Eve, we headed to Kansas to celebrate with family there. Our first stop was Lawrence to see Uncle Anthony, Aunt Jessica and the girls. Here he is spending some time with Jasmine and Samantha before bedtime. The girls gave Dylan a cute Jayhawk sweatsuit, but again, I failed document the present opening. He had so much fun playing with the girls and getting their undivided attention.

Since we were in Lawrence, we had to go visit the KU campus for some shopping and photo opportunities (Warning - LOTS of photos to come).

Here is Dylan posing with the “mythical” Jayhawk outside of the student union.

And here he is relaxing from shopping and practicing his basketball shot in one of the stores.

Dylan could actually stand in front of the statue of Phog Allen outside the Field House for his yearly pose.

And here is yet ANOTHER photo of Dylan with dad in the Field House (I might have taken hundreds of such pics… or at least it felt that way).

After spending time on the campus, we drove to Kansas City to see Uncle Andy’s house and eat at Jack Stack’s Barbecue where Dylan tasted a little brisket and pork; he wasn’t sold on it.

Then, it was time to head to Wichita, Kansas, to see Nana and Papa Smith and spend some more time with Uncle Andy. Dylan took a haul of presents away from Wichita! One of his favorites is the beautiful wooden rocking chair they had made for Dylan (which was technically a birthday gift, but he opened it on the 23rd so I am including it in the Christmas post). He thinks he is such a big boy because he can move back and forth and rock himself.

And, here are some of the other photos from our trip to Kansas.

Dylan is taking a load off in his new Mega Blocks wagon (again, technically a birthday present). He loves unstacking the blocks and putting them back in to the wagon. He hasn’t actually gotten the hang of building with them yet.

Dylan was a little astounded after opening all of his Santa presents and seeing his pile of toys. So much to play with!

More presents upstairs (non-Santa gifts)! Dylan got a Sock Monkey!

Here is Dylan giving Nana Smith some cuddles after all the presents were opened and everyone got dressed. He loved seeing everyone, opening presents and getting TONS of attention.

We had planned to leave Wichita on Christmas Eve after dinner to be home for Christmas Day. We intended Dylan to wake up in his own bed and have Christmas morning at home with Mom, Dad and Abbey, but the snow in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas kept us in Kansas until early afternoon on Christmas Day. It turns out that it was okay because we got to spend more time with the Smith family and have a fun-filled Christmas!

More Christmas posts to come…  Christmas with Mom and Dad (and Papa and Grammie Stevens’s gift) and Christmas with Mamma and Pappa Stevens.

You can check out all of the Christmas photos (at least the ones I have posted so far) at Dylan’s Flickr page if you are interested.

I hope all of you had as wonderful a Christmas as we did! We are grateful to have you all in our lives.

Dylan had his first birthday party on Sunday, December 13th, and it was a hit! He got to open some presents and get some attention from friends.

He thought about sending out thank you cards for the gifts he received (and he still might eventually), but he has been very busy with Christmas shopping, traveling and opening Christmas gifts (there will be some Christmas posts up shortly). So, until he gets around to writing the traditional thank you cards, he will thank everyone here.

He received some gifts in the mail and/or from people who couldn’t attend, so thanks to…

• Papa and Grammy Stevens for the Leapfrog Learn and Groove Musical table. He LOVES it.
• Uncle Neil, Aunt Amy and Riley for the bathtub toy boat. He especially likes to chew on the anchor.
• Great-Grandma Stevens for the birthday money which went in his piggy bank.
• Aunt Dana and the Martinez family for the cute little Adidas track suit and Target gift card.
• Mammaw and Pappa Stephens for his big Tonka truck and Little People Farm.
• Ms. Luisa for the fun pull phone.

And thanks to those who attended!

• Sarah and Brynleigh brought him a fun Little People airport that he has enjoyed playing with (or chewing on the pieces).
• Jim and Laura for the KU wind suit. He made sure to wear this on his recent trip to Kansas.
• The Creegers for the fun Little People Bus. He likes to dance when it plays music.
• Phillip and the boys for his fun Caterpillar Cause and Effect toy. It makes awesome noises.

Here are some highlights from the event.

Opening presents…

Opening more presents…

Blowing out the candles.

And trying his first cupcake!

You can check out all the photos over on Dylan’s Flickr page. Thanks to all of you for making Dylan’s first birthday and his first year great! He is a very blessed little boy!!

Well, it is official - Dylan is ONE today! The year has gone so quickly. One year ago today Dylan was born at 2:17PM weighing in at a whopping 8 pounds 8 ounces and measuring 20 inches. At Dylan’s doctor appointment today he weighed in at 24 pounds and 5 ounces and measured a little over 30 inches. He sure has grown!

In case you need a refresher, here is Dylan one year ago today…

And here he is when we left the hospital. He was so tiny!

Today Dylan can walk, say a few words and get in to trouble! Here are some videos I took of him this evening before bed. Enjoy!

Walking and playing with Abbey…

More playtime with Abbey.

Dylan attacking the camera.

And Dylan unwrapping a book before bed.

Happy birthday Dylan! We love you!

So, I have decided having a toddler (yes, a toddler) does not leave me much time for updating Dylan’s webpage. After getting home from daycare, playing with Dylan, making his dinner, bathing him, putting him to bed and THEN making dinner for me and Kyle, I am ready for bed… or at least vegging out on the couch.

Today I have finally decided to take a couple of minutes to post some information about Dylan. Since my last post was about the visiting the pumpkin patch, I will start with Halloween.

I had initially intended Dylan to be a monkey for Halloween and had even purchased him a costume, but when I tried it on Dylan, he HATED it. He did not enjoy the “hood” that went over his head or the “mittens” that covered his hands, so I made a last minute trip to Target and fashioned a little construction worker costume for him… the mustache is my favorite part.

Here he is looking cute.

Dylan has been walking for awhile now (about a month or so), but we haven’t been able to get any video of him in the act. He sees the camera and sits down (I think it is his tiny rebellion). But, the other night, Kyle had his iPhone handy and caught a couple of seconds of Dylan walking to ransack his books before bedtime.

Here is Dylan walking it up…

I didn’t take any video at Thanksgiving because I was too busy eating, but I did get some cute video tonight of Dylan talking on the phone his Mamma and Pappa got him.

I think he is calling his Mamma to wish her a happy birthday.

Dylan will be a YEAR OLD in a little more than a week… I can’t believe how fast the time has gone!

Jim and Laura had their nieces for the weekend, so they invited us to go with them to the Pumpkin Patch in Flower Mound. We were all first timers to the pumpkin patch and I don’t think we chose the best weekend to go… it was muddy, cold (but still crowded). We didn’t stay very long but we did manage to get a few cute photos of Dylan with the pumpkins.

Here is Dylan sitting on a pumpkin. Since, it was so muddy, he didn’t get to walk/crawl around through the pumpkins… maybe next time. Look at all the pumpkins!

Sitting on a haystack with Daddy.

Snuggling with Mama (who was FREEZING).

Riding back to the car with the pumpkin he “caught”.

Apparently, I have decided to only post monthly lately. I guess we have been busy with work and keeping up with Dylan. He is pretty much all over the place.  He isn’t quite walking on his own yet, but he is close. He has begun to stand up without assistance and to stand without holding on to anything. He has taken one step by himself, but then sits down… it is only a matter of time before the walking begins.

He has gotten two new teeth, so he now has a total of eight. Four on top and four on the bottom. These new teeth have enabled him to begin trying table food. So far he has tried - peas, carrots, apples, biscuits, macaroni and cheese and pancakes. He seems to have liked them all pretty well.

Darren came in to town a couple of weeks ago and was gracious enough to take some family photos of us and some new pics of Dylan. You can view them all here. I have shared a couple of my favorites below.

Here is my cute little family!

Smiley boy!

Dylan is striking a pose!

Over the shoulder look.

Here is Dylan’s senior picture pose.

Showing his guns.

Dylan turned nine months on the 8th… so I am a little late in updating. For his nine month birthday he got to go to the doctor and get some shots. He actually did pretty well and only shed a few tears. At his appointment we learned that Dylan is 29 inches (60th percentile) and 20 pounds 5 ounces (50th percentile)… so it seems his growth rate might be slowing down a little.

Since my last post Dylan has been keeping us busy! He is getting in to pretty much everything. He says, “Mama,” and “Dada,” along with making other sounds that I am not quite sure are actual words. He is still having fun at daycare playing with the other babies and Ms. Luisa (who is great with him). Today he brought home to cute pieces of “artwork” that he made with little hand prints on them… so cute!

He is such a good baby and I can’t imagine my life without his smiling little face!

Here are some recent photos and videos of Mr. Dylan. I hope you enjoy!

This is a picture my mom took when Dylan spent the night with them. He apparently loves to swing!

Here is some video of Dylan playing on his 9 month birthday.

Dylan is apparently very particular about his blocks.

And here is Dylan taking a little stroll before bed tonight. He is getting so big!

We have been so busy lately with the start of school and moving to our new house, that I have not taken the time to post any news about Mr. Dylan.

I have taken too many photos and of Dylan since my last post to share them all, so I will just share a few of my favorites.

Here is Dylan with his walking toy. Yes, he is walking… he still needs some assistance for stability, but he is pushing his little walking toy as well as standing up around tables, etc. and then walking around them while keeping hold with his hands.

Dylan has adapted well to the new house and has decided that he likes swimming after all. Here he is enjoying the pool for the first time.

Dylan LOVES playing with his new ball.

And, here is Mr. Dylan enjoying the pool and his new floaty.

In my last post I reported that Dylan said Mama for the first time. Since then, he has said Da-da and bye-bye (really ba ba). Woo hoo!

He is getting so big!!

Monday, August 3rd, we were shopping at Toys R Us when Dylan said, “Mama,” for the first time (he then said it for about 20 minutes straight)! I was pushing Dylan in the cart and Kyle was off looking at bicycle helmets for Dylan (so he can start accompanying Kyle on his rides) when Dylan looked at me, said Mama and then smiled. I pushed the cart over to where Kyle was and told him what Dylan had said. Kyle gave me a look that said he clearly thought I was over exaggerating, but then Dylan said mama several times so Kyle could hear it as well.

We have tried to tape him saying it but every time any recording device gets near Dylan he stops and smiles instead. Hopefully we will get some audio or video of it soon.

It has been a busy couple of weeks and I haven’t taken time to post, so this is going to be a conglomeration of several days of photos and video.

Kyle had to go to the dentist the other day, so we took Dylan to meet Dr. Flesher (my longtime family dentist). Dylan enjoyed the dentist a lot more than Kyle did.

Dylan even got to sit in the dentist chair and let Dr. Flesher check his little teeth.

Dylan, Kyle and I drove to Houston to visit Dana and attend the baby shower for Maycie Grace (who is due to join us any day now). He was all smiles at the shower and loved getting attention from all the women.

Here is a video of Dylan playing with Kyle and the spatula after he ate his dinner. He apparently loves it!

And here is Dylan trying to attack me after his bath!!