Saying Goodbye to My Little Scooter

Dylan is now 19 months old! He has gone through so many changes in just a few short months. He is officially on the move & is WALKING :) Ryan & I were so happy for him. We always knew he could do it, but because he had a bit of a slow start, it was pure joy to see him accomplish this milestone. I hated seeing him still be in the"crawler" class at daycare & watching younger kids move up to next class before he could. When he was moved up to the "walker" class, I hated that he was the only child that couldn't walk. Dylan never crawled, but he had the cutest little scoot I have ever seen. He was the fastest scooter I've ever seen too!! A tiny part of me is sad to say goodbye to my little scooter.

 He took his first steps on July 15th (17 months old) & started walking on August 3rd ( 18 months old). He is unstoppable now!! I spend a lot of my day running around after him. I'm not complaining one bit. To see him happy makes me happy!!!

Here are a few of my favorite pics of Dylan walking :

Cruising before taking his 1st steps

Walking with Nonna & GG

Walking with Aunt B

At 17 months Dylan got to the point he wanted nothing to do with his crib. We had about a month of restless nights trying to get him to sleep in his crib. Then we started letting him sleep with us. He slept better, but having a child, a dog & 2 adults in a queen bed made for restless nights for Ryan & I. It was also a habit we didnt want to start. Although it was earlier than planned, we decided to move Dylan to a toddler bed. To our surprise it solved all our recent sleep issues. The first few weeks he did wake up several times during the night. I hate to admit it, but during that time, either Ryan or I  would end up sleeping on the floor next to his bed. He never tried to get out, but knowing one of us was there helped him sleep through the night. He now sleeps all night ( without us by his side)  & I think the whole family is sleeping better:)

Putting together his big boy bed with Daddy

Back to sleeping all night

His physical therapist mentioned at our last session that the more mobile he became, the more he would talk. I was a bit skeptical of this at first, but she definitely was right. It is amazing how many words he has picked up in just a few weeks. He will try to say anything you ask him to. He says juice, drink, car, dog & bye the most, but is picking up on others very quickly. Being UL fans, we are very excited that his favorite phrase is "Go Cards". Its adorable. Sounds more like "Go Car" but he likes to say it a lot :) He doesn't quite understand the meaning, but today a man wearing a UK shirt walked by us in line at the store. Dylan smiled at him & said GO CARDS!! Dylan instantly became a hit with all the UL fans in line & even the UK fan.

He likes to imitate anything you do. He knows most of his body parts ( Head, eye, ear, belly, fingers, & toes) & knows the sounds of a few of his favorite animals ( dog, cow, duck & cat). It just amazes me how quickly children learn. I feel like my life is in fast forward. He changes & is doing something new daily. I love watching him grow & change each day, but cant help but wish he could stay this age forever.

look what Aunt B taught him!!

Shopping with Daddy

For Father's Day, we gave Ryan a gift certificate to visit the KY Speedway & take 3 laps around the track in a race car! On August 18th the 3 of us had our first Nascar experience. There were several people there so by the time Ryan checked in & actually got to ride we had been there a couple hours. Dylan did great & enjoyed watching the cars go around the track. I was a nervous wreck knowing Ryan would be going so fast! Ryan had a blast &  I enjoyed the 3 of us spending time together.

Ryan climbing into the car!!

August 21st I celebrated my 31st birthday. I am a huge birthday person & normally start counting down the days a month before. This year was different. I'm not sure if becoming a mother or your 30's change how you feel, but I just didn't care to make a big ordeal this year.  I stumbled across a blog of a lady who decided to do 35 random acts of kindness to celebrate her 35th birthday. As soon as I read this, I knew I wanted to do the same. I thought this will be a great tradition to start & although Dylan doesn't understand now, it will set a great example for him in the future. I started my random acts a week before my birthday. After reading the inspiring blog along with suggestions from friends, I was able to complete my goal. Some were very small & common, some where bigger & a few unique, but they all made a stranger smile & me as well. I was hesitant to post about this on my blog. I felt like I was defeating the purpose of RANDOM acts of KINDNESS if I was telling everyone all the "nice" things I did.  So many people have asked what I did, so I realized that by telling, hopefully it would encourage all who read this to do the same. Kindness is contagious. The best part of doing this was not only helping unsuspecting people, but the fact that Ryan, Dylan & my sister all helped & became a part of it.

Our Random Acts:
1. Surprised the morning crew at a restaurant with breakfast
2. Paid for the person behind me in line at the drive thru
3. clipped coupons, went to Kroger & placed the coupons next to the product they were for
4. Taped change to the vending machines at the hospital ER
5. Baked cookies for Dylan's physical therapist & co workers
6. left 100% tip to our server at a restaurant
7. brought the trashcans in from the driveway ( Ryan's job which Ive never done)
8. Mailed a friend who I haven't seen in a while a letter
9. A fan at a reds game loved Dylan's Reds outfit & wanted one for his child, he gave us his email if we ever wanted to sell it, I emailed him, got his address & sent him the outfit with a note that said "Enjoy, from one reds fan to another"
10. While out in a busy place, I let a big crowd of people go ahead of me
11. Smiled at EVERYONE I saw for an entire day
12. held the door open for someone every chance I got
13. let a person ahead of me in line
14. bought a small toy at the gift shop & gave to a random boy as we were walking through the zoo
15- 17. Mailed cards to a few of my favorite people just because
18 & 19. Mailed a card to 2 soldiers to Thank them for all they do
20. Picked up trash in the parking lot at the YMCA
21. took the time to have a conversation with a total stranger
22. left candy on the desk of coworkers
23 - 27. bought 5 scratch off lottery tickets & gave them to the employees working at a restaurant I was having lunch at
28. baked & brought dessert to new parents
29. put coins in the washer at a laundry mat
30. donated to the Humane Society
31. Donated shoes to a program through the YMCA

I hope we all look for ways to make a stranger smile each day. I promise it will make you smile too!