In the past month Dylan has become very interested in himself. He loves to look at himself in the mirror, loves his toes & has become very aware of our dog Shelby. He constantly watches & laughs at her. He likes to "pet" her. I have to keep a close eye because poor Shelby usually gets more of a grab! Luckily Shelby is very relaxed & doesn't seemed too bothered by Dylan.
Right at 8 months Dylan began to sit on his own with no support. For the longest time he never seemed stable enough so we were constantly putting pillows around him or holding one of his hands. It seemed like overnight he gained the confidence & strength to do it all by himself. We still struggle with tummy time but we have come a long way & he does seem to enjoy it more. He hasn't shown much interest in crawling & his lack of interest for being on his tummy doesn't help :) Since Dylan was a preemie, he has been a bit of a late bloomer on some things but I know he will get to each milestone when he is ready. I have been told to enjoy this time because once he is mobile its a different world!
Dylan went to his 1st Louisville football game on October 1st 2011.He looked so adorable in all his UL gear. It was a 3:30 game & we ended up having great weather. We got there a couple hours early & tailgated in the parking lot. Dylan had so much fun "tailgating" in the back of the truck with all his favorite toys. Once we went inside the stadium the excitement quickly wore off! The first 10 minutes or so of the game he was in awe of everything but then all the noise of the crowd & music from the band started to bother him. Dylan & I headed back to the car after the 1st quarter. Once we got back to the car, Dylan was back to his happy self. By the 3rd quarter Ryan came to meet us & we went out to dinner to finish off our night. I know there will be MANY Louisville games in Dylan's future & I am sure he will be ready to try again next season.
We had our first family vacation a week later. We drove to Jacksonville FL to see our good friends Jon & Megan get married. Ryan & Jon have been friends for most of their lives so Ryan was happy to be apart of their special day.
Dylan did great during our 15 hour car ride ( we made a lot of stops!). When he wasn't sleeping we kept him entertained by watching episodes of Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He loves Mickey! We stayed 4 nights in Jacksonville. Unfortunately the weather wasn't that great( rain & 40mph winds) but we still had a great time. The first couple nights we spent with all of our friends at all the wedding festivities. The wedding was beautiful. We danced, laughed & had a wonderful time. Dylan stayed up till 10:30!! On Monday all of our friends headed home. The weather calmed down so Ryan, Dylan & I spent the day as a family going to the beach, eating & shopping. Dylan didn't like the beach too much. He would only touch the sand if it was in my hand & then of course he ate it!!The next day we headed back to KY. I wish we had had more time to enjoy FL but I am glad that Dylan did so well on his 1st vacation. Cant wait for our next family trip :)
A few days before we left for vacation, Dylan & I were waiting at a local restaurant for my mom to join us for dinner. all of the sudden I heard "mama"..I quickly looked & kept asking him to say it again...of course he didn't. While we were in FL the same thing happened a few more times. Each time he would say it, Ryan & I would look at each other.. " Did he really just say that"? It wasn't until we were home from vacation, I was getting ready to go to work, my mom was holding him and I heard the most precious words come from his mouth clear as day "Mama"!! I was so excited!!
A few days later, we were all sitting at the diner table & clear as can be Dylan said "DaDa". Ryan was a very proud daddy. From that moment on Dylan has been "talking" like crazy. He definitely says dada more than anything, along with a bunch of jibberish with Mama & BaBa thrown in the mix.
I can now say there are 2 sounds that have melted my heart. The first was hearing Dylan's heartbeat for the first time & now hearing him say his first words :)
8 months old has been so much fun I cant wait to see what the next month brings :)
