WEEEEEEE!

We are really enjoying outside!  Dylan loves to go to the park, he calls it the "Weeeee" b/c the slides and swings are so much fun they make us all say "WEEEEE!"  He is definitely a boy and a toddler.  He goes everywhere at full speed, he loves water and mud and wants to spend every minute exploring something outside.  He enjoys looking for turtles that like to sunbathe on logs in the pond behind our house.  He points at the pond all the time and yells "TURTLE".  He also enjoys seeing the ducks and geese.  We even have a Great Blue Heron and a Great Egret.  We so the heron pull a fishy out of the pond to eat the other day.  Lots of wildlife just outside our house and Dylan loves it.  Can't wait to see how he reacts to the zoo. 

Ready for family pics!

Taking a walk!  Loves to pick "flowers"

Dylan is 18 mos (in one day) now.  We have his check up next week.  He is really working on 2 word sentences these days.  Most common are "More Please" "Sit Down" "Get Down (to Niblet & Butters :))  "More Milk".  He also repeats a lot of what we say so it is cute watching him study our mouths.  He is also into music.  He loves to sing and dance.  It is very adorable.   

Dylan and Cole ready to go to the park!

We are looking forward to a fun and busy summer.  Matt and Cathy are coming in a few weeks to visit and do a 10K Mud Run with me.  Basically it is a 10K with five military obstacles one which is crawling through a mud pit :)  Looks like a blast! 

Spring is here!

We are so happy that the weather is getting nicer!  Dylan is loving all the outside time at school.  They usually go out to their playground 2 times a day if the weather is cooperating.  He really loves the slide and the sandbox.  He calls the slide "Weeeeee" so everytime we see a slide he starts yelling out "weee, weeee" and pointing at it.  It is very adorable.  We are very lucky in our neighborhood to have many parks within walking distance so Dylan gets a lot of time at the park!  We need to take some pics of our time at the park, we keep forgetting the camera. 

Out on the patio enjoying 85 degree weather in APRIL!

Loves his daddy!

Dylan now has all of his teeth, until he gets his 2 year old molars.  The canines have been the worst so far but they have all finally poked through so that is behind us for a little while.  He is growing up so fast and amazes us most days with how much he picks up.  He has started answering our questions with a "yes or no".  He doesn't always use them correctly but it is funny to hear him respond.  Today he was jabbering away in his high chair and he sounded like he said, "mama got no money".  Which Dennis and I thought was hilarious!  I'm sure that isn't what he said but it was so clear we had to laugh.  He is really starting to use his words to point things out that he sees outside.  His favorites are airplanes, birds and doggies!  We also have a goose nesting next to the pond outside our house and we keep telling him that the goose is sleeping.  He likes to say, "nigh nigh" and points at the goose. 

I have taken up running over the last 9 months.  I ran in my first 5k in March and ran an 8k today.  I have signed up for a 10k in May and this one is a little different.  It has 5 obstacles throughout the run.  I'm not sure what they all are but know that they include water crossings and an army crawl through a mud pit!  Matt and Cathy are coming to join me so it should be a great family event!

After my 8k in Chicago

We are heading home this weekend for Easter a week early since my mom has to work Easter weekend.  Dylan always enjoys his time with Grandma.  It will be our first trip since the car seat has been turned forward facing so hopefully he enjoys the view.  He is pretty good during the car ride all things considered.  Gives me hope for when we head to Maui for Travis and Molly's wedding. We hope all is well, we are really looking forward to a fun and exciting summer. 

A Boy and his Dog(s)

We have started to notice that in many photos of Dylan, a dog appears not far away.  Usually it is Butters but occasionally Niblet gets in the mix.  Dylan and his doggies are the best of friends.  He gives them hugs and kisses, he tries to ride Niblet like a rocking horse and much to the bullies enjoyment, he loves to feed them and tries to share his sippy cups as well.  We do have to remind him that he needs to have soft touches at times.  Luckily, all of our animals are very tolerant and patient with our little guy as he is exploring self control :)  

One of the MANY photos of Dylan and Butters looking adorable :)

Dylan is learning a lot of new things in his new room at daycare.  He loves singing songs.  His favorites are Wheels on the Bus, Bringing Home a Baby Bumblebee and If Your Happy and You Know it.  He loves to do all the hand motions and even is starting to "sing" out some words.  We are having such a great time with him.

We are at the conclusion of a rough few days with Dylan.  On Saturday afternoon he started with a fever which lasted about 72 hours.  After his fever broke, we found he was covered in a rash.  So it turns out he had Roseola.  So he has been home all week with Dennis and me.  We have been trying to work throughout the day while spending time with him.  He is feeling much better and we are hopeful he will be going to daycare tomorrow.  

Sick little boy, playing with blocks

We took a trip to Iowa the last weekend of February to visit Grandma.  Dylan had a great time and a great visit.  Mom and Dad were chopped liver compared to Grandma for the weekend.  We wish he could spend more time with her, he always seems to enjoy his time there so much. 


All smiles with his Grandma


 We are so ready for Spring!  Dylan keeps wanting to be outside and we have gotten out there for a few walks and to the park once.  He loved the slide.  Hopefully we'll be there a lot soon!  We are looking forward to a lot of outdoor time with our little guy!

Love,
Dennis, Angie and Dylan

Catching up

Hello Family and Friends!  Happy Valentine's Day from the Scavnicars!  We have been doing well.  It has been cold.  January was a disappointing month.  Our first season with Bears season tix and our beloved Bears made it to the playoffs.  But much to our dismay, we lost to the Packers in the final round.  Very disappointing.  It was a cold and brutal day at Solider Field. 


He already hates the Packers :)


Dylan has transitioned from the infant room to the toddler room at school.  He made a seamless transition.  He was reunited with his best friend Grant.  He is growing up so fast, I can't believe it.  He has continued to expand his vocabulary, some new words:  octopus (opoppo), bumblebee (buhbuhbee), bath, turtle, elbow, hippo, hot dog, snow, bull, bubbles, yogurt (yono).  He always knows a lot of animal sounds:  monkey, elephant, chicken, sheep, dog, duck, cow, horse, fish (Dennis made up a noise for the fish), lion, train, kitty, piggy....There might be more but it is hard to remember everything on the spot.  He is obsessed with the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse cartoon.  When he says Mickey Mouse it sounds very much like MaMa and when he says Donald Duck is sounds very much like Dada.  He really loves the songs in the show and so most of the time we DVR it and watch the beginning song and the end :)  He is still really into Elmo and Big Bird.  His favorite stuffed animal is a Big Bird who he snuggles with every night. 

Dylan continues to amaze us with his massive appetite.  He loves to eat and very rarely refuses food.  Two things that he doesn't appear to like are oatmeal and canned green beans (Frozen are good:).  He loves spaghetti the most and has seemed to really like potatoes recently.  He is a growing boy!  We find out Wednesday just how much he has grown, he seems so tall lately. 

New tracksuit!

First bubble bath

Bubbles and Bulldogs!

Dylan had his first snow day.  We got about 15-20 inches of snow.  We were able to spend a little time the day after the big storm in the snow with Dylan and the doggies.  We even found an old sled in our crawl space that we took out for a spin.  Dylan really enjoyed himself. 

Snow Day!

We can't wait for nice weather!  We were able to go for a walk today and it was so nice to get outside and not be completely frozen after a few minutes!  We hope you are all doing well!

Love,

The Scavnicars

Christmas/Winter Time

Dylan had a great 2nd Christmas.  He enjoyed his trip to Iowa.  We were able to spend time with family and friends.  Dylan loved his time with Grandma, he made sure to give her lots of snuggles. 

Great Grandma and Grandma

Dylan also got to spend some time out in the snow.  He had so much fun.  At one point I was swinging him up in the air and plopping him in the snow.  He really loved that, he kept laughing and laughing.  And the he points and says "Snow". 


Dylan enjoying himself in the snow!



Hanging with Uncle Matt at his home in Knoxville

We spent one night at Matt & Cathy's in Knoxville.  Dylan got to see his patrolman uncle in his uniform and also got to see the lights and hear the sirens of his car.  He got a little freaked by the sirens.

Dylan is officially a walker now.  He is toddling around all over the place.  He also has such a vocabulary.  I feel like he learns a new word everyday.  His newest words: nose, eyes, ears, belly,  applesauce, bath, Matt (uncle), Big Bird and Elmo, applesauce, I don't know (really don't know where he picked that up), milk...he also knows That the cow says moo, the horse neighs, the monkey goes Ooo OOo and the piggy snorts.  It is adorable.  He also has learned where his eyes, ears, nose, mouth, belly, hands and feet are.  He loves to show you where your nose is, it is adorable.  He is like a little sponge and learns so quickly.  I'm sure this is normal for this age but since he is my first I just think he is so smart!

Loves to share with the doggies

Vacuuming!  He loves it and everytime he sees it he makes a vrooom noise!

We hope everyone had a safe and happy New Year!

Santa

Dylan went to visit Santa last night!  He was very indifferent to Santa.  He was more interested in the Santa's work shop next to Santa which had Christmas lights and mechanical elves working on it.  He did check Santa out for a minute.  He really enjoyed the candy cane that Santa gave him.



Dylan really loves the Christmas tree.  We had to do some creative furniture arrangement around the tree.  The couches on either side and the coffee table in front so Dylan cannot get to the tree.  We are afraid he won't leave it alone b/c he loves lights and will probably try to pull on them all the time.  But he likes to look at it and is working on his climbing skills now to get to the tree :) 

He has a few new words to add to the list.  These are his new words: banana, apple, Niblet, Butters, ball, book, block, Moo, more, Elmo, balloon.  We are still only taking a few steps here or there.  He seems content with cruising on furniture and crawling for now. 

We will be heading of Algona for Christmas.  We hope to see a  lot of family and friends.  If you are in town, please let us know so we can get together. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  Love, Angie, Dennis & Dylan

1 YEAR OLD!

Hello Everyone!

Happy Birthday to Dylan!  He turned one on November 12!  We had a great birthday party.  We had family and friends, lots of good food.  Everyone was very generous and gave Dylan great gifts and a great party!  We appreciate everything!  Dylan dug right into his first cake!  He loved it! 

Eating Cake!

Last Picture with his bear!

He is working on taking steps on his own.  He is becoming a bit more independent but I think it will still be a few weeks before he is toddling around consistently.  He is still working on increasing his vocabulary.  He has started calling Niblet (na-na) Butters (bub-ba).  He loves his doggies very much.  He copies a lot of sounds we make so it is difficult to know what he knows and what he doesn't know.   He also is a big eater.  He has such an appetite.  He really enjoys all kinds of food and is very demanding about getting "more".  It is very cute.  He is also quite the bookworm.  He loves to sit in your lap and have you read to him.  He likes to turn the pages. 

In a camping chair from Uncle Matt & Aunt Cathy

We had a visit from Uncle Matt and Aunt Cathy and my friend Erin.  I think Dylan enjoyed his house guests.  Grandma was supposed to come Saturday but a early snowstorm in Algona delayed her for one day.  She came on Sunday night.  He enjoyed his time with Grandma.  They read a lot of books and took walks in his new push buggy which Grandma got him for his birthday.  It is by far his favorite present so far.  Too bad we can't use it for much longer since it will be turning much colder. 

We will be heading to Algona for Thanksgiving.  We leave on Wednesday.  It will be nice to see the family again. 

Hope you all have a great Thanksgiving! 

11 Months and Halloween

Hello Everyone!  Dylan has had a great month so far.  Lots of fun activities and firsts for him.  He turned 11 months.  He is getting very close to being a 1 year old!  We are planning his birthday party and I cannot wait to see him eat his cake!  He had two different Halloween Costumes this year, both were pretty cheap as well since we used things we already had which was nice.  He was a baby Mike Ditka for a Halloween party we went to last week at the Krygowski's.  He was not really a fan of the mustache or glasses so we opted to have him be Herky the Hawkeye for his school's Halloween party.  We got to go to the school and watch his the parade.  they put the infants in a buggy, a couple of strollers and wagons for the parade.  The costumes were all adorable.  Dylan enjoyed having us come to school.  We did sneak out when he wasn't looking so he wouldn't get too upset that we were going back to work.  Here are a few pictures from this month and the Halloween fun!



Best one, he did not want to sit at ALL!



+

Mommy and Baby Ditka

We don't really like the Chicago Bears at all :)

Many of the kids at the party, there were more but we couldn't get them all in one shot!

On the buggy, waiting for the parade, Go Hawks.  His best friend Grant is the skeleton beside him

Out on the playground on the parade route





Enjoying the ride!



I cannot believe it has almost been a year. I remember last year this time I was so anxious for Dylan to join us.  He has truly blessed our lives and we enjoy every day we get to spend with him.  He has recently started to take a few solo steps.  I hope he will be walking regularly soon.  He is a big boy and can make our arms quite tired :) 

Everyone have a safe and HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Fall Fun!

Hello Everyone!

We have been busy busy!  Dylan went to his first pumpkin farm!  It was quite the event.  We had 6 couples for a total of 6 boys and 1 girl all under 14 mos.  The farm was jam packed as well!  The kids enjoyed exploring the pumpkins.  Only two of us braved the animal farm.  Dylan and Cole really like the animals, especially the baby camel.  We fed some of the goats with carrot sticks and Dylan wanted to eat the carrots himself :) 

Look at all these pumpkins!

Checking out the baby camel!

We also made a trip to Morton Arboretum.  They have a children's garden which Dylan really enjoyed.  It involved water so of course he really enjoyed himself.  He got to play in a fountain with squirting frogs and in a stream with lots of pebbles and rocks. 

Playing in the fountain, loved the squirting frogs

Playing in the stream

Dylan is working on walking by himself.  He has been standing periodically and taking steps towards us.  Most of the time he falls on his bottom. 

He is also working on expanding his vocabulary and using sign language, he says several words now:
Mama
Dada
La (Light) (says and signs)

Duh (Duck)

Uppa (up)

All done (says and signs)

More (signs)

He also likes to mimic sneezes and barks when we walk by dogs barking.  He also likes to dance to music.  His favorite toys are soft toys when you press their belly they play music. 

He is officially 11 months.  Only 30 more days til his 1 year birthday!  We will post his 11 month pic soon. 

Love,

Angie, Dennis and Dylan

Time to Catch Up!

I've been slacking on uploading photos and writing this blog.  Things have been a little hectic for us lately.  So I have missed Dylan's 9 and 10 month updates.  This will have to serve as an update for both.  I've probably forgotten at least half of what we have done the last month or so as well.  I guess I'll blame that on Mommy Brain! 

Dylan is growing like a weed!  At 9 months he was weighing in at around 21 1/2 lbs.  I weighed him today and it seems he is almost 24.  I was holding him and subtracted so I would guess it is probably a little off.  He had his tube surgery, it went extremely well.  He was so brave.  He hasn't had an ear infection in two months so hopefully it stays that way! 

He is all over the place.  He is not walking yet but crawls, pulls up on everything and walks along furniture.  He is so busy.  His personality is really developing and it is so funny to watch him.  He really hams it up for everyone.  His favorite "word" is UH OH.  Everything is UH OH.  It is so funny.  He loves his bulldogs and his kitty very much.  They are all very patient and good with him, even when he is pulling their fur and ears!



Butters cuddling with us on the couch!



We had a busy September.  We went to Algona to see our family.  Trav was in a wedding so him and Molly came home and Matt and Cathy did as well.  Dylan got to spend time with them.  We also had a visit with Grandpa Struecker.  We then went and visiting Grandpa Wagner in the nursing home.  It was very nice to see everyone.  Unfortunately we had to come back the next weekend for my Grandpa Wagner's funeral.  We were happy we were able to see him the previous weekend.  Dylan was a trooper with all the travel. 



Visiting GPA Struecker



We got Bears season tickets so we are looking forward to a lot of football this year!  Dennis will be going to almost all of the games.  I think I am going to 3 maybe 4 total. 



Dennis and I at our first game with our season tickets!



Hope everyone is well! 

Love,

Angie, Dennis and Dylan

8 mos a little late!

Hello Everyone,

We are a little late getting the 8 months update to you since he will be 9 mos in a few days but better late than never.  Dylan is doing new things all the time!  He is becoming such a big boy. 

I'm 8 months Old!

No diaper!

He is now pulling up all the time.  He has even started his big boy crawl at times.  He still army crawls most of the time, I think he finds it more efficient. 

I think I can pull up on this pole!

He started making "Mama" sounds.  Not sure if he is really talking about me but I would like to think he is!  It sounds like "mommom"!  It is adorable.  He is so curious and getting into everything.  We are exploring finger foods.  Cheerios, bananas and watermelon are his favorites.  He has started eating his first "school lunch".  They provide lunch at school so he has been eating veggies and fruit while at school.  It is a great way to have him explore finger foods.  He is talking a lot more and starting to wave bye bye.  He also likes to mimic what you are doing which is hilarious.  In the car on the way home from school we talk back and forth he always has a big smile on his face.

I Love Graham Crackers

I went to Phoenix for work for a few days and got to spend some time with Trav and Molly.  It was great to see them.  Dennis went on his annual fishing trip so Mama and Dylan had a whole week on our own.  We had a lot of fun.  I am responsible for Dylan having about 8 bug bites on his head, the mosquitoes here have been ridiculous and we went to the park which was a mistake.  But they haven't seemed to bother him.

He now has 8 teeth!  Which is crazy!  But I guess we are getting them out of the way quickly!  The last two have really seemed to bother him.  He was having some trouble sleeping through the night while daddy was away.  I haven't had to be up with him in the middle of the night in quite some time and it was definitely not fun!

We have scheduled his tube surgery for his ears.  We have been battling these ear infections for a few months now and it sounds like it is what is best for him.  I'm sure I'll be a wreck the morning of the surgery. 

We have entered the world of cloth diapering.  We still use disposables for him at school but at home we are all cloth.  They are very cute and so soft.  I'm sure they are more comfortable than the disposables.  They have definitely come a long way since diaper pins and plastic pants. 

One of my new Diapers!

Trying to steal the birthday boy's cake!

Hope everyone is doing well! 

Fourth of July!

Hello Everyone,

I hope everyone had a fun and safe holiday weekend.  Dylan had a very busy weekend.  On Friday night we went to Ribfest in Naperville.  We met a few other couples and their babies there.  They were all a little young to enjoy the rides and such but I think Dylan just liked all the activity.  We ate some great BBQ. 

Saturday we went up to Dennis' parents condo and took Dylan to the swimming pool for the first time.  The baby pool was not open b/c of a broken pipe so we braved the big pool.  We had to rig some floaties on him so he could be in that pool.  He enjoyed it and did not cry at all. 

On the Fourth we went to a friend's party.  They have it every year.  There were lots of babies there this year (we were all at the party last year pregnant).  Here is a picture of the babies!  No we did not plan to have our babies wear the same shirt.  We just have good taste and shop at the same stores :)

Team USA

Trying to get them all to look at the camera, impossible task!

Dylan also went into the pool again at this party.  He is going to be a little fishy!

I love this thing!

Swimming with Dad

We went to Algona over Founder's Day.  Dylan got to see his first concert and stay out way past his bedtime.  He also went to visit Great Grandpa Struecker and Great Grandpa and Grandma Wagner.  I forgot my camera so no pictures from that visit.  We also went to the Algona Pool.  It was a lot of fun! 

Love,

Angie, Dennis and Dylan