Hot Tamale

"See my Violet that my friend Lauren Coakley gave me?? She sings songs, plays games, and talks to me."

"I think she's really cool!!"

"Whoa, did she just say my name?? That's one smart dog..."

"I have a fever tonight, post-vaccinations. I do not approve."

"But I can smile anyway, I'm such a good girl!"

We went to Aunt Katy's birthday party at her parents' house tonight, and we had a wonderful time hanging out with the Klingelhafer clan! It was baby city, and Dylan was eating it up. She loved the dance party and the other little kiddos. (And she always loves Katy.) But as the evening went on she started to feel a little hot, so I gave her a dose of triaminic and we headed home. She was good for her bath and managed to smile a few times afterwards for the photo shoot above, but she's definitely dragging a little. Her temperature is still 100.6 degrees, even with the tylenol, poor critter. :( I'm hoping she'll wake up all better tomorrow - I hate feeling helpless to make her better. I wish I could go through it for her. Darn vaccinations!

4 (&1/2) month check-up

"Oh no, I see those ick fairy hooligans (yucky, mint-flavored reflux medicine) in Daddy's hand - I better stuff my washcloth in my mouth so he can't give them to me!" (Actually this is Dylan's favorite past time these days: chewing on her washcloth or burp cloth. Well, or her fingers of course.)

"I was such a brave girl for my 2nd round of shots today! I had to drink something yucky and get 3 shots, and I only cried for 2 minutes after the last shot! Then I nursed, calmed down, and napped in the van on the way home. Mommy said if I was older we would've gone shopping for a Bravery Award for that one!"

"But you listen here, Mommy, I'm pretty sure 2 rounds of shots is enough. No more shots, thank you very much." (Mommy wishes!)

"And no more armpit washing either. :( Hmpf."

This is what Dylan & I look like at least 10 times a day, and that's why she had such excellent growth at her wellness check today. :) Dylan now weighs 15 pounds 6 ounces (50th percentile), is 26.5 inches long (90th percentile), and her head is 20 inches in circumference (95th percentile). Good growing Dyl! Go team!

Baby fingers are delicious

"I'm pretty sleepy - but I'm so happy to see Daddy when he gets home from work that I'll cheer up and play with him!"

"See my super cool exersaucer, Daddy? Those little monkeys like to slide across the bar - can you please slide them for me?"

"Oooh, the world toy is my favorite. I'm starting to understand that I could push the buttons myself, but I'm not quite able to make my hands do it yet, even though I try really hard. I'm getting close though!"

"Daddy - watch! I can actually stand up for one second all by myself in this thing!" (She started standing on her own in the exersaucer - for one second at a time - tonight for Chad! She's not really doing it in this picture, but that's what she's smiling about. She was soooo proud of herself and was all smiles. I was in the bath tub and am very sad I missed out on this cuteness, hopefully she'll do it again soon.)

"Mmm, mmm, mmm! My fingers are very tasty, and an excellent reward to myself for my new skill!"

Happy Birthday, Ruby! Happy Valentine's Day, all!

Happy 9th Birthday to my sweet, sweet Ruby, who's always been there when I needed a snuggle...

...who's been there for all the biggest adventures of my life...

...who's helped me figure out which way to go, and always led me in the right direction...

...and who helped me marry the love of my life and then proudly walked us down the aisle to show us off. You're the best dog anyone could ever ask for Ruby - we love you!

The Valentine's Day Apple Pie that Dyl, Grandpoppy, & I made today. It was most delicious, if I do say so myself!

My Valentines!

Aren't they the cutest? I'm a lucky girl. :)

Valentine's Day dinner - the first time we've had something other than North Market raviolis in years. It was very tasty, but I think next year (when we're back to dairy, hopefully) we'll have to go back to our old tradition. :)

Dylly being a good girl in her bouncy seat while we were eating our dinner.

"Mmm, Mmm Mommy - that dinner was finger-licking good!" (It will be fun when she can eat with us!)

Cards & flowers - I bet you can guess who got the most cards! :)

Stripping Miss Dyl down for her bath - goodness, gracious I love this little ornery girl! She's the best Valentine's Day present anyone could ask for! (Please excuse the fact that I am never wearing anything except pajamas when I'm at home - there's too much pet hair here for regular clothes. Plus, who wouldn't rather wear pajama pants all the time if nobody is going to be seeing you anyway? It just makes for poor photo-ops!)

"Who, me? Ornery??"

"Absolutely!"

The weekends go too fast

Poor Mimi. She is not an animal person, and this is what she finds in her bed at night when she wants to go to sleep. We have to do animal patrol and extract at least all the cats from her room before bedtime. Bianca has been sleeping on a big, luxurious dog bed in the room with her though - but she's not pesty at all (and stays on the floor) and Mimi doesn't mind sharing the room with her.

"What do you mean 'doesn't like cats'??" asks Forrest. "I make the best bed snuggler."

Dyl & Mommy - modeling Dyl's new 'ride'. I was paranoid to use slings in the infant position, but now that she can sit up like this, it's quite handy. We did lots of dinner prep this way tonight, and she almost fell asleep like that.

Snug as a bug in a rug. (Or a Roo in a rug, in Dyl's case.)

Playing in her bouncy chair after her dinner-time nap. We were making up rhymes for the animals that are hanging above her, along the lines of her 'Peekaboo Forrest' book. (Her favorite book. An example from the book: Who eats acorns under the moon? Peekaboo! It's the raccoon!) Our additions: Who eats grubs under a log? Peekaboo! It's the hedgehog! and Who chews fingers in her bouncy chair? Peekaboo! It's a Dylly-Bear!

I'm so glad Dyl has gotten to spend so much time with Mimi this week. She really loves Mimi already and will smile for her when she won't smile for anyone else. (And she laughs for her too!) I want Dylan to love my Grandma as much as I do.

Farrah-bean, caught licking her chops. She's still the best pet with babies, she lets Dylan pet her and she licks Dylan's hands. They like to check each other out.

The pets must have noticed that we think it's cute when Dyl sticks out her tongue, and figured they better play along so they can get some attention too. ;) Poor, neglected puppies & kitties.

I can't believe my oldest child will be 9 years old in 2 days, I feel old! I love you so much Ruby, I can hardly remember a time without you. I got her the weekend before finals my freshman year of college. She's been through almost all of undergrad with me, all of vet school, meeting Chad, getting married, she's lived in 5.5 different houses, and she's had 7 younger siblings. She's one wonderful dog, and she better live at least another 9 years!

Bianca - 6.5 years old - she really is a wonderful dog too. And I do truly love her & those crazy eyebrows.

Tucker-momo - 4.5 years old. He's the only boy dog & the youngest dog, so of course he's extra spoiled. But we do love our little beggar boy, even if he is rotten! :)

I can't believe tomorrow is Monday already. This weekend flew by in a blur of productivity. We are sad that Mimi is heading back to Wooster tomorrow, but we really had a fun visit with her and we appreciate all her help so much. Next it will be our turn to go to Wooster & visit her! :)

Is there anything cuter...

than a naked baby?? Look at that cute little butt! Look at those adorable elbow dimples! It's almost too much cuteness to bear!

We had a lovely snowed in day at home today. We were very productive, and we've decided that we should alternate between going to Katy & Greg's and having Mimi down every other weekend. That way we can catch up on sleep every other weekend at K&G's since Dyl likes to sleep there, and we can catch up on housework on the opposite weekends when Mimi is here to play with Dyl. :) Dylan thinks Mimi is the best - she's had big laughing spells for her twice today, like she did with K&G 2 weekends ago. She's had a few little laughing spells for me in between, but apparently Mimi & Katy are the funniest people Dylly knows! I'm hoping she's going to start laughing all the time now, it is just TOO cute!

Hopefully we will have another productive day tomorrow and then we might have accomplished everything on our immediate to-do list. Then, sadly, Mimi claims she is going home on Monday. We'll see what we can think up between now and then to trick her into staying longer... ;)

Copy Cat

I can't come up with nearly as cute of captions as I did for Dyl's photo shoot with Mimi last night, I think I'm too sleepy. I know this is just a copy cat of last night's series, but Grandma was here tonight and took these. I don't love this first picture of me, but it was too cute of Dyl not to post it.

I think this one looks like she's saying: "Stop it - you're making me blush!"

Grandma says this one looks like Dyl's had a little bit too much of Uncle Greg's homemade prison hooch! (Ha ha!)

Hi there, pretty baby. Do you know how much your mommy loves you? Sooooo much.

Blowing raspberries at me - she loves her new skill. I've never liked having someone spit all over my face so much! ;) It's amazing what you think is wonderful when it's your baby doing it!

My new favorite picture of the two of us. (Why on earth does this blog get possessed and underline things sometimes??)

We haven't been sleeping very well this week - so I apologize for my lack of creative writing. My brain feels like it's wrapped in a wool blanket! So I think I'll just quit while I'm ahead & say good night - sleep well, all!