Visiting with Friends

My friend Taz moved to Maryland earlier this year. She also had a baby girl, CiAiris, on July 6th. Dylan & I had yet to visit so we decided to drive up and spend some time with the two ladies. This gave Taz an opportunity to have a little me time and also to see how Dylan would react to a baby. Dylan was pretty helpful! At times, a little too helpful but overall he was a lot of help. I nicknamed her CiCi months ago so that's what Dyl & I call her. CiCi was amazed by Dylan, she would just stare at him constantly. LOL!

As for me, I still have the touch! We didn't have any crying fits which surprised her mom. I do need to improve on my diaper changing time, I was extremely slow. I remember being much faster with Dylan caused he'd spray me in the blink of an eye. Otherwise, I LOVE the baby smell! She was a great baby and we enjoyed visiting them, but I can hold off a little while longer before giving Dylan a sibling. :) BTW, Dylan said he'd like a baby sister, baby brother, and a baby cousin. Yeah right, he doesn't like to share me with his classmates.

Dyl reading CiCi a book

Here's your upside down pacifier CiCi
Sooo cute!

"Will this girl be still?!"

Bedtime

Earning Your Keep

It was a Saturday afternoon, Dylan played soccer earlier that morning. I gave him his lunch, turned on the tv, and decided I must cut the grass. Uggggh! Don't sleep on my yard! It's a LOT of work plus I have a push mower. So, it takes about 1.5 to 2 hours to mow both the front and back. I'm mowing the grass when Dylan runs out and says "Mommy, can you give me some chips?" I look at him like he's lost his mind. My thoughts are "Do you not see me doing anything? I'm out here trying to get this done and you're asking me about chips?" I ignored him and kept on mowing....well about five minutes later he comes and asks me again.

I suddenly had an epiphany. As a child, my parents were never outside working while I watched tv inside. Also, since Dylan isn't taking this work seriously maybe he would if he was out here with me. I went inside, turned the tv off, and explained to Dylan why. Oh he cried and whined. That made me even more irritated. I told him that it was selfish to ask me to stop what I was doing when I asked him what he needed/wanted before I went outside.

I told him to change his clothes and shoes and come outside to help. He had an irritated look on his face. I told him he'd better fix his face or that would be bad for his business. Bad for his business could equate to no tv for the rest of the night or next two days. It could be more things included. I gave him the rake to get up the excess grass and leaves. He ended up doing a good job. He became very helpful and was constantly asking "Mommy, can I help you with this? Mommy, do you have anything else for me to do?" It turned out to be a good afternoon but I think he's learned that he might not want to do that again. Plus, that's going to be the rule from hereon, do your part. Everyone has a role and he's no different. He can do small things to help out.

Raking up grass-yeah the rake's bigger than him

Small Trip

We took a trip to the Midwest last month. Part of the trip included visiting the City Museum, Aquarium, and the Zoo. The Aquarium was a big disappointment. I envisioned the Atlanta Aquarium but it was more like an Aliceville Aquarium. We walked in to the scent of birds and water, not very welcoming. They did have some cool animals though, like stingrays, sharks, snakes (UGH!), sea turtles, and etc. However, we viewed the entire Aquarium in less than an hour. Somewhat shocking! In the City Museum, there was this massive slide that descended from the 3rd floor to the bottom floor. Of course, Dylan HAD to try it!


The slide was creepy looking to me. One of my friends even commented that it looked like a sewer (LOL) but a child, especially my child, loves a thrill. So, we had to go on it. Dylan ended up going on the slide 3 times, the last of which was on his own. He enjoyed every bit of it. Afterwards, Dylan played outside with other kids. Followed by a short visit to a local park. We ended the night by attending a high school football.

On Saturday, we visited the zoo. The zoo was awesome! We saw all types of animals and ended the day by riding the train across the zoo. All on all it was a good weekend! Over the summer, Dylan asked could we go to see the Statue of Liberty. My parents told him that I'd been before and he wondered why he didn't go. Ahhh, you weren't even thought of back then! So, we'll see, I think it'll be a while before we take that trip-I'm not sure he can appreciate it.

Dylan trying on a mask

Elephant

Bear?

Anteaters

Two Headed Turtle

Shark

Stingray

Sea Turtle

I can't remember what this is-a shark?

Albino Turtle (creepy!)

Playing around at lunch

Dyl & I getting ready to ride on the slide

Us going down

Dyl getting ready to go alone

Us at the Zoo

Fantasy Football

Can you believe I'm playing fantasy football?! Actually, this is my second season doing it. My girlfriend and I are the only girls in an all boy league. So, we hear a lot of smack and some sexist jokes. Nothing we can't handle and we (ok I) LOVE to talk smack when we win. For those of you who don't know how fantasy works, you participate in a draft and select players for each position. You also select backup players. Each week, you setup a lineup of players who score you points based on how well they play. Last year, we absolutely sucked and finished in next to last place. This year, we're in the running to make the playoffs. Since I was in grad school last year, I couldn't devote time to it like I wanted to. This year, I'm watching ESPN, reading news on NFL.com, watching the games-you name it, I'm doing it. It's crazy! However, that's what the men do-they live, eat, and breath football. So, I have to do some of that! Stay tuned to find out how we perform as the season progresses.

Day of Fun

Yesterday was a day out for us. When don't we have one? Yeah, I know. Dylan asks on weekends "Where are we going?" On weekdays, he knows we're getting up for school and work but the weekends start out slower. I would sleep in if I could but Dyl is up and about by 7:30 at the latest. I decided to take Dylan to see "Puss in Boots" this week since he's been doing well in school and at home. So, we left home around 9:45 a.m. to see the 10:30 show, it was PACKED!


After that, we attended the Hampton University vs. Howard University football game. Our friend Kevin had tickets to the game, so we met him there. It was cold yesterday and sooo windy, so I loaded up everything I thought we'd need. It felt like I was traveling with a newborn! I had Dyl's coat (bulky), hats, gloves, and two blankets. Then of course at the game, Dylan acquired more stuff to carry around. A girl walked up and gave him a pirate sword, he received a Hampton U football, some other type of toy, a hotdog and chips (that he didn't eat completely). I hate to waste food so I kept it covered up until he was ready to eat it. Was Dyl watching the game? Not really, he was always intrigued by the cheerleaders. He played around with his toys and randomly walked down to talk to us.

I was so thankful Kevin was there, he took Dylan to the bathroom at least 6 times! Then whatever Dylan wanted to do, Kevin would take him to do it. All I did was enjoy the game and the halftime show. I realized that I miss college! :( We ended the day by stopping at Sweet Frog for yogurt. Soo yummy! Dyl fell asleep around 8ish since he didn't get a nap. We had a long but fun day!

Dyl with the Hampton Pirate

Dyl & I

Howard's Cheerleaders

The Scoreboard

Hampton's Band

Eating ice cream at Sweet Frog

Halloween

We didn't do our usual activities for Halloween, like trick or treating or attending the Fall Festival at Dylan's school. Why? Well, Dylan had to learn a lesson. You see he's been having a hard time listening, following directions when 1st given, and talking back. So, I took away his trick or treating and attending the festival. He was doubtful that I would do it but of course after telling him it would happen, I had to deliver. His job was to pass out candy but no one showed up. LOL! He was pretty disappointed in that but I think he learned a hard lesson. Last week at school was better and he's been more attentive to my directions. NOTE: I didn't say he wasn't still being mischievous. :) I took this picture after I bought his costume in early October. He's Andy from Toy Story.

Remember how Dylan talked for six months on how I didn't go on his field trip? Well, ever since then I've been going on his field trips. The latest field trip was to the pumpkin patch in Matthews County Virginia. Can you say out in the country?! For lunch, Dylan asked, "Mommy, may I have a pork chop and hot dog, carrots, juice, grapes and strawberries, chips, for my lunch?" Sorry son, there won't be any pork chops sent on the trip. SMH......Dylan rode the bus and I followed the bus along. Surprisingly, there were quite a few parents in attendance. The trip went well, the kids looked at different types of plants and animals. They went on a hayride and picked a pumpkin. Dylan had a great time! He was happy that I went on the trip.

Looking at the baby chicks

Keeping up with class & hating the animal scents

A pig

Dylan & his friend Cameron

On the hayride

Carrying his pumpkin

Eating lunch

Forced to tear away from friends and juice

Back on the Scene

Well, we're back!! The privacy settings on my previous blog weren't a good fit for our viewers, so I decided to create another blog. :) Believe it or not, I've missed writing up Dylan's funny stories and just updating everyone with what's going on with us. So, prepare yourself-I have plenty of updates.