Happy 1st Birthday to Dylan!

Dylan officially turned one on January 10! We had his first birthday party a few days early, and it was a lot of fun. Ariel really enjoyed helping at the birthday party, and she got a few gifts too. Here are the photos:

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At his one year check up, we found out Dylan weighs 25 lbs 12 oz, and he’s 30 in long. So, he is now in the 85% for weight & 95% for height for his age. He’s able to eat most foods now; we just have to watch for choking hazards. He tried chocolate, cake, peanut butter, oranges, scrambled eggs & chocolate chip cookies for the first time in the past week! He’s always coming back for more food—loves trying new things.

Ariel is doing well too—she loves doing her artwork, and she has gotten so good at drawing people & painting. We decided to take her out of preschool since she was not adjusting well at all & it didn’t seem like the right program for her. We’re going to try a cooperative preschool in the fall, which is a more traditional preschool in which kids are dropped off & picked up at the same time with lots of parental involvement. We hope that suits her better.

It’s been quite cold here but no snow, so we’ve been trying to find indoor things to do like arts & crafts, visiting the library, going to stores & pet shops, and seeing friends. Here are a few photos of the kids playing with Livie & Carson, my best friend’s children.

We are all looking forward to spring & the warmer weather. Winter is not the best time for young children with endless amounts of energy! If only we were given that same energy level upon entering parenthood…

Hope you are all doing well.

Lots of love,

Tammy, David, Ariel & Dylan

Holiday Recap & Winter Celebrations

Hello! Happy New Year to everyone! I cannot believe how fast the year went by! We are getting ready to celebrate Dylan’s first birthday this weekend, and he’ll officially be one on the 10th. He’s getting so heavy, so it’s a good thing he’s walking now! He still falls down a lot, but he is so proud to be walking. He took his first steps near the end of November & has really started taking off the last few weeks.

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Ariel started preschool Dec 27 & did awesome for her first day! She hugged & kissed David & I, simply said a quick goodbye & was ready to participate with the other kids. She had a bit of a rough time later in the day though wondering where we were & feeling kind of sad. So we decided we’ll pick her up a little earlier for the first few weeks until she adjusts more.

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We’ve had lots of celebrations the past few months. We celebrated Thanksgiving twice, once at my parents & once at David’s grandparents. My family has a tradition of putting the Christmas tree up on Thanksgiving, and Ariel really enjoys helping to decorate. My cousin, Jonathan, moved here from Iowa to serve in the Air Force, so he got to be with us this year too, along with his girlfriend, Janelle. And of course Angie’s friend, Steven, was with us too.

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We also had a combined birthday party for David & I here at our house with my family. It was the big 3-0 for David on Dec 28, and I turned 31 on the 18th.

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We had a total of four Christmas celebrations this year. We celebrated early since our tree was dying, but Ariel was sad when we took our tree down since she wanted it to still be Christmas. We went to my parents on Christmas Eve, David’s mum’s on Christmas day, and David’s grandparents’ house on the 26th. It was lots of fun, and the kids enjoyed unwrapping their gifts (probably more than the gifts themselves!). My family always plays pranks on each other, so enjoy the goofy photos—I received some flattering pajamas, David got a nice blouse & we all got mustaches to wear! Oh, and Ariel & I made cinnamon rolls this year (my dad’s delicious recipe), and they turned out great—so we’ll be making that our tradition every year!

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We had another combined birthday for David & I at Janeen’s house after all the Christmas festivities, and Ariel was excited to help blow out our candles.

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And for New Years….well that was very low key. David & I simply had a glass of wine & watched some t.v. But after all the activity the past few months, it was quite nice to just relax!

We’ve done some other fun things lately too. I took Ariel to a “Around the World” holiday fair at the college, where she got her face painted for the first time; I also took her to a farm to feed some of the animals; we went to the Holiday Parade; and we took the kids to see Santa at the mall. Here are some extra photos:

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And finally, here is a link to a video of Dylan walking:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0LK87Isu-4&feature=youtube_gdata

We are looking forward to Dylan’s first birthday party & hopefully some snow to play in later this month. It’s been a very dry winter so far, so we will see. Hope you’re all doing well.

Lots of love,

Tammy, David, Ariel & Dylan