Haircut

Not sure about the new do....will have to put some product in it and style it a bit as he had a little bit of hat head.

Christmas 2010

You know how Dash loves balloons...

Santa brought a classic toy: Mr. Potato Head.

And a new tent



He's in heaven with his new "pad" and broom.

Opening another present

It was the game Elefun. It provided hours of entertainment. The butterflies come out of the elephants trunk (not sure why an elephant) and there are nets to catch them. Dash and the cats enjoyed watching the butterflies come down. Neither of them was so great at catching the butterflies. In Dash's defense, the game did say 3 and up. Not sure what excuse the cats have.

Had to add this pic because of Dash's hilarious expression. Not sure what that's about. A couple of captions come to mind: "Oh, not again! Stop fretting over my dirty hands!". "Oh, that was the worst meal of my life (so what if I finished it and even licked the plate). ".

Here are a few photos from Christmas day. It was pretty much a day like any other for Dash as he isn't into Santa just yet. He did learn to say "Santa" though, after receiving a balloon with Santa on it.

Mr. Guitar Man

This is a photo of Dash at his part time job at Azteca (chain Mexican restaurant). We are putting him to work early.

Actually Estela, Dash's nanny, sent this gem of a pic to me a few weeks ago. I've been meaning to post it, as I think it is pretty cute. Dash is so serious as he plays his little guitar, and you just have to love the enormous sombrero!

17 Months (and 11 days) Old

So I'm just a bit late in posting Dash's 17 month old pics!! I will try and capture the essence of Dash at 17 months here in some handy bulleted points. Since I have been horrible at recording his milestones in his baby book, luckily we will be able to refer back to the blog!

• I will cover the major things first: eating, sleeping, and pooping.
  
• Dash used to be a more adventurous eater and seems to be more picky now. He will usually give most foods a try, but some of them end up getting spit back out! Love it when I find pieces of half chewed food on the floor! Or now he will shake his head no when he doesn't want something. He has had a bunch of new teeth coming in so he has been wanting softer, pureed foods (applesauce, baked squash, etc) but can be unpredictable from one day to the next. He used to like avocados but now won't always eat them; same thing with bananas. He is able to use a spoon to feed himself but tends to be hit and miss. He likes to share his food and feed mommy and daddy by hand.


• Sleeping....that is probably our biggest challenge. Dash is super easy going during the day and generally non fussy. But we could sure improve with sleep. He goes to bed between 6:30-7 most nights (I know it sounds early but we've tried pushing it back and it doesn't work for him) and usually stays in bed until 7-7:30. That sounds like good news until you hear that some nights he may wake a couple of times. He had been doing well (only one waking) for a few weeks but then the molars starting coming in. He does still go to sleep without much difficult. We have developed our nighttime routine of taking a bath and reading, and he usually goes down without much fuss, and minimal crying. He also seems to nap better than in the past now that he has moved to one nap. Today he napped for two hours solid! I will be happy one day when I can sleep 8 hours solid. I will admit that part of my problem is staying up too late!


• Pooping. Well, we bought a little potty and have it sitting in our bathroom. Dash has shown mild interest in it and will sit on it every once in a while. He hasn't actually successfully pooped or peed in it yet, which is fine. Kevin tried to put him on it one day when he thought D had to poop. Apparently there may have been poop already in the diaper or something like that because before Kevin knew it, a turd was on the bathroom floor and Dash then had it in his hand. Needless to say, Kevin was a bit traumatized because he thought said turd may have made it up to and in D's mouth.


• Dash continues to learn new words and loves to imitate things we say, causing me in particular to be more careful about the words exiting my mouth. Dash has been asking to be picked "up" or "upease" (up and please combined) for weeks and he now finally knows "down". However, he has been mixing up and down the last two days and asking to be "down" when he wants "up". I am not sure if he is messing with us though as he sometimes has a grin on his face when he is doing it. A couple of other words he now uses are: yes (everything was no for a looong time), brush, sock, outside, doggie (no cat or kittie even though we have two cats, so sad).Dash is finally able to sign some! We had wanted to introduce signing to him but we were never super consistent with it partly because we weren't sure if he was picking it up. But he just started imitating Kevin one day and now will done the signs for "all done" and "more".


• Dash seems to still enjoy reading (us reading to him). He will sit in bed with us in the mornings and bring us books. He will say over and over "a book" when he wants to read. The two books that we seem to be reading every morning are Baby Animals and Where's Spot?. I honestly wouldn't mind rotating those....they may have to get lost for a while since we have quite a library and Dash (well, Kevin and I) could use some variety.


• Dash has really gotten into crayons during the last month. Right now we have to watch him like a hawk though because he will draw on the wall when we are not looking, or when we are looking (with a smirk on his face to see what we will do). Luckily they are washable, or so the box says. I havne't tried to remove them from the wall or carpet yet. I tried to introduce some watercolor paints to him but it was a little soon. He wasn't so interested in the paints and/or colors but was just happy dipping the brush in water.


• Dash is definitely starting to test the limits more. He can be mildly mischievious and usually wants to see how we are going to react (so he does things he shouldn't while he knows we are watching like standing up in his high chair and putting his foot on the tray table with a big grin). He can typically be redirected easily. At least so far. But I will be doing some reading for sure!


• Dash doesn't seem to be the biggest cuddler but we do love it when he gives us unsolicited hugs or pats of endearment. Kevin seems to get these more! When I ask for a kiss, Dash looks at me, laughs, and shakes his head no! Of course in the morning he wants "upease" with me constantly and wants to be held or close to me. So we do our little routine. He sits next to the sink and we brush our teeth together, and then he sits on the vanity while I blow dry my hair and he plays with the brush and looks at me and himself in the mirror. Good times.

Thanksgiving in Colorado

Dash with Grandma

Dash trying to help Grandma cook

Dash playing with Grandpa

Dash exploring around Grandma and Grandpa's house

Dash and his Uncle Mike and Aunt Linda (and Little Bit)

Thanksgiving Day

Dash with some of his cousins

Dash with Amy, his oldest cousin, and her two daughters.

Dash with his cousin Keely, who did great with him!

Once again I've been a bit of a slacker with updating the blog. I only managed to post one update for November. I am not sure where the month went! We made it back to Colorado for a week over the Thanksgiving holiday. And we managed to miss the first Seattle snow. Apparently the snow created massive problems for people, and there were reports of drivers abandoning their cars along the freeway, as well as people walking home to West Seattle from downtown due to major gridlock. Crazy.

It was warmer in Colorado, and didn't snow at all while we were there. We had a great time, although we didn't do much other than eat and visit with Kevin's family. Thanksgiving Day brought together 25+ family members!

Overall the week was very relaxing, with the exception of the plane travel. That is the last time we will travel with Dash on our lap! Nothing like having a squirmy toddler on your lap for 2+ hours while sitting next to a stranger that clearly does not like children. Well, as a small consolation, our neighbor did compliment us on how well Dash did during the flight. I think she was expecting much worse. He wasn't crying hysterically or loud even. But he didn't sleep much or read a book or trashy magazine!

Anyway, we booked our tickets to Hawaii for the end of January and bought Dash a seat. That way we can bring his car seat on the plane, and he will hopefully sleep a little.

16 Months Old

Dash is now 16 months old....how the time flies. I feel like I say that each month. It seems like Dash changes and learns new things every day!

Some of the highlights:

• Dash is learning a lot of new words. I just read something about how toddlers typically understand many more words than they can say. But at approximately 18 months a toddlers spoken vocabulary explodes, and a toddler will supposedly learn one new word for every two waking hours! Dash will definitely try to repeat words we say sometimes (of course not when we want him to necessarily). New words he has been saying in the last week: apple, dirt (after putting some in his mouth), Breezy (a dog we know), bye, and shoes. He certainly understands more words than he can say, and he is able to follow simple directions such as when we ask him to sit in his high chair (yes, he has started to stand up in it so we have had to start strapping him in).
• Dash loves to help and imitate things he has seen us do. His latest thing is to get the wet cat food packet out of the trash and then try to feed the cats. He also likes to unload the dishwasher. We just have to be quick because he hands us plates, silverware, etc over his shoulder and doesn't hold on for long!
• Dash finally discovered balloons. We were at QFC on Halloween and they were giving out orange balloons so he got his first one. He is obsessed now. We were at QFC again last night and got him another one. He wouldn't let go of the string when we got home. I had to pry it from his fingers to take his cloths off. He even had the balloon during bathtime. Of course when it came to bedtime, he was a bit upset when I wouldn't let him have it in the crib. Then this morning, when he woke up and saw it he was super happy. He has been calling the balloon something that sounds like "Elmo" or "momo".....not sure what that is. He gets a kick out of me jumping up to try to get the balloon down he lets in go in our living room (which has high ceilings).
• As you can kind of tell from the pics, he doesn't exactly like to sit still....it was hard to get a pic of him sitting on the couch because he is constantly on the move! Our trip to Colorado later this month should be interesting.....I anticipate a lot of walking up and down the aisle.
• Dash remains a very social child. Around 15 months we did see a bit of separation anxiety but there hasn't been too much of that this month. He doesn't seem to have much stranger anxiety though, and is quick to warm up to new people. He loves new faces and is quite the flirt with the ladies (and the men) when we are out. This morning at the coffee shop he went over to this older man at a table who was reading something on his Blackberry and Dash kept peering at him over the table, trying to get his attention. He then offered his beloved balloon to the man.
• A favorite pasttime of Dash's is putting various things in his diaper genie/pail. He seems to like how it works. Earlier this week he was carrying around some grey sweatpants I planned to dress him in. Well, he was running around the house and by the time I was ready to dress him, I couldn't find those pants. So I finally proceeded to look in the diaper pail beacause I couldn't find them anywhere. And lo and behold, the pants were in there, along with his swimsuit and a pair of socks. Who needs toys!

It has been a great month....while I sometime feel exhausted at the end of the day and do like my quiettime in the evening, nothing can compare to the fun of watching Dash grow and develop! He is just such a fun and funny kid, and luckily easygoing! Nothing like his momma!

What's this next month going to bring us?

Happy Halloween!

Trick or treating at the neighbor's

No one home, but I found a watering can!

Pre Halloween-first attempt at the mustache!

The Frenchman....though he wasn't a fan of his baguette!

The Frenchman and the Piglet (Alex)

Thank you Auntie M for sewing the beret!

A Day of Culture

We took a trip to the Soundbridge Seattle Symphony Music Discovery Center (http://www.seattlesymphony.org/soundbridge/about/) yesterday with Dash's friend, Fergus, and his mom, Adrienne. Dash had the chance to try out various instruments including xylophones, a keyboard, a cello, and a guitar. He had a great time and seemed to enjoy the big drum the best!

We also went to the Picasso exhibit at the Seattle Art Museum with the kids. Adrienne is a member so we were able to get in for free. We had to make a quick trip through the exhibit since the boys only had so much tolerance. But they did remarkably well. I just had to watch Dash as he wanted to try to touch various pieces of art that were within reach!

Afterwards we went over to Fran's Chocolates and had the best hot chocolate ever!

Our Little Picasso