Playtime

Every day, Dylan and I have playtime, which mainly consists of him watching the hanging toys on his playmat and randomly moving his arms and me playing with the hanging toys. But this week he started to focus on them more and more, even taking what seems to be purposeful swipes at them. The zebra is his favorite, probably because it's black and white. Today his rattle (aka jingle bell cat toy) was laying on the mat next to him. He managed to grab it and jingle it for several minutes (though that may have been just because his arms were on the move anyways). We've also started to listen to music during playtime. Unlike most babies, classical music doesn't cut it most of the time. He likes The Rolling Stones.

Dylan's First Christmas

Dylan had such an eventful Christmas that he slept through most of it. Christmas Eve he spent with Mom, while Dad worked away in "Santa's Workshop" (aka the garage). We then had dinner with Jeremy's family. Christmas day we trooped over to Wilmington for breakfast and presents. Our little family of three decided that our Christmas would be a day late as we were too exhausted to be concerned with the presents under our tree. This morning was the best Christmas ever - we ate, opened presents, tried to calm Dylan - nothing out of the ordinary other than the presents. Obviously we were more excited about them than he was. He did, however, love his Sophie giraffe and all the books (most of which were read to him as they were opened). All in all, it was a good Christmas. We hope everyone had a great Christmas (or whatever it is you celebrate) and we wish you a Happy New Year!

Last Weekend

As you can probably tell, I'm getting caught up on posting today. We had the pleasure of seeing Nicole, Brian and Ellie this past weekend. Ellie wasn't quite sure what to make of Dylan but she sure loved Jeremy. We don't get to see them nearly often enough. Ellie is now 14 months old and about to be a big sister. We can't imagine (at this point anyways) that Dylan will be Ellie-sized in a year; that concept just blows my mind. It was fantastic to see them and we can't wait to meet the newest Schneider in March!

Ellie says: "This is MY Jeremy; back off, Ashley."

Dylan is fascinated by his Aunt Nicole.

One Month

If you're looking at it in terms of days of the week, Dylan was one month old on Tuesday. If you're looking at the dates on the calendar, he's one month old today. Regardless of how you look at it his one month check-up was today.

Weight: 8 lbs, 8 ounces

Length: 22 inches

The doc asked if he was very active. Dylan responded by squirming all over the exam table. She asked about his bowel movements. He responded by having one. It was kind of like show and tell for babies. What can I say... the kid is brilliant.

Crib Wars

Dylan and I are having an argument over his crib. I think it's a place for him to sleep. He thinks it's jail. Or at least, today he does. Yesterday he was fine and slept in it for an hour and a half. Today he's hating it. For the past couple weeks his preferred place to sleep has been Jeremy's chest. This doesn't work during the day when Jeremy's at work and Dylan's stuck here with me. We've been working on transitioning him to his crib, but he still sleeps the majority of the night on Jeremy's chest. I realize the kid is only a month old and for the first two months we're pretty much at his beck and call and have to do whatever it takes to make him happy... and we certainly will... we're just going to go slightly nuts in the process.

Weighing In

Today's weight: 7 lbs, 15 oz. Finally the doc says she's happy (of course followed by "even though he's not quite there yer" - meaning his birth weight). I can relax the feedings if he's sleeping but still have to make sure he eats every 3 hours, preferrably sooner. We may have to hit up Dartmouth again for an Echo if she hears his heart murmur still when he goes in for his one month checkup next week. Most important to us is Dylan is happy. He's starting to coo, which is awesome. Today I told him Nicole, Brian and Ellie would be here tomorrow and he replied "ooo." I realize the chances of him cooing in response to what I'm actually saying are slim... but I don't care. At least now I look like I'm having a conversation with him rather than talking to myself like a crazy woman.

Settling In

I was going to post the birth story of Dylan, but I think anyone likely to look at this has probably already heard it. So instead, I give you photos and a little bit of an update of what's been going on in the Bouchard household. We got home last Wednesday from Dartmouth and have been settling in since. Dylan's had two doctor check-ups and has lost some weight. Yesterday the doc told me that now he needs to be on a strict eating schedule... every two hours or when he cries, if sooner. Fun stuff, let me tell you, considering before this schedule got implemented the kid was eating all the time. Or at least, it felt like that to me. At this point every day kind of blurs into the next. Par for the course, right? However, that said, the alertness when he's awake, the frog-like position he likes to be in, the little smiles we like to pretend aren't just gas, and the "ooo" face (shown below, badly photographed) he makes that melts our hearts and reminds us who's really boss, are all worth it. The most exciting thing in Dylan's life so far, not that he knows it, other than eating, sleeping and pooping, is yesterday's arrival of his cousin in Tucson. They're only 17 days apart so we're hoping these two little boys will be great friends. Happy "Birth"-day, Keenan Craig Hollman. We can't wait to meet you in January.

Dylan Richard Bouchard

Born November 23rd, 2010 at 9:50 am. 8 lbs, 1 oz. How such a big baby came from Jeremy and I, I haven't quite figured out yet. 20 inches long. Same deal... we're not tall; how did our baby end up so big?? Either way he's here and he's ours and he's wonderful.

Baby Shower

Yesterday was awesome. Amy, Timberly and Deb threw us a baby shower... I say us because I'm clearly not a center-of-attention person so it was guys and gals and basically just a party. The cakes rocked. It was great to see everyone and I hope a fun time was had by all because we certainly enjoyed it.

My thank you moment: Thanks to Amy, Timberly and Deb for hosting and pulling off the baby shower. Thanks to Doug for his obsession with the plants and for humoring us with the balloon baby... I really wish I had those photos. Thanks to everyone who made the trip to Brattleboro from your various locations around the country, particularly Aunt Cindy and Stan, who managed to come out all the way from back home (it was fantastic to have a representation of my family present).

Also thanks to everyone for the gifts. I know I didn't open them AT the shower; I really appreciate everyone being okay with that. After all, I might have thrown them at people had I been forced to open them infront of a crowd. Plus the ooing and awing might have made me sick (it is the real cause of "morning" sickness you know...or maybe that's just me).

The Start of Our Family

Three years ago tomorrow, in my favorite place, we were married. A lot has transpired since then... we moved across country, Jeremy started his own business, and we're about to embark on our biggest adventure yet. Baby Bouchard will join our family in about 6 weeks (hopefully, as I'm starting to feel like a beached whale).