Month Five

Posted on October 15, 2015 by Mdfrisco

I can’t believe I am starting to get caught up here! At least with his weekly photos, I still have lots of other pictures/stories to share, but regardless, I am seeing the light at the end of the tunnel and it is motivating me to keep at it!

Last week Dylan turned five months old, again, I find myself saying, how did that happen? This past month we still struggled with the nighttime sleep, every once in a while he gives us a break and we get a decent nights sleep, but the norm is we are up several times during the night. And Jacob has decided to stop napping altogether (but that is a story for another time) so we are all a bit sleep deprived here, Justin and I have found ourselves going to bed at the same time as the kids sometimes in hopes of getting a few hours in before Dylan wakes up. The problem is our bodies are not used to going to sleep that early so we end up staying up later anyway…Our mantra has been, This is just a phase!

The most fun thing about this month is Dylan has found his feet, I just love it when I put him down on his back and he immediately pulls his knees up and plays with his feet (except when I am trying to put a clean diaper on him!) I wonder how long it will be before he figures out how to put his foot in his mouth?

He has been sleeping with his knees tucked under him and butt in the air like a stink bug, he likes blowing raspberries and he is absolutely in love with his brother! For the last few months whenever Jacob is around Dylan is fixated on him and you can’t distract him at all. But lately, they have really started interacting and Dylan craves the attention that Jacob gives him. Dylan will smile and giggle for anybody but he saves his best belly laughs for his brother and I love hearing them both laugh together!

Dylan is definitely our independent child. He is a fun, happy baby, but if something is not going the way he wants it to he will let you know. His wardrobe is always evolving, I put something on him and find myself saying well this is the last time you will be wearing this…Justin has been calling him One and Done, since he wears something once and then he grows out of it. I have a feeling that he and Jake will end up wearing the same size clothes someday in the not too distant future.

And here are the weekly photos

Week 18

Week 19

Week 20

Week 21

Picasso

Posted on October 7, 2015 by Mdfrisco

Still playing catch up here…

We had such a warm summer. Actually the heat is pretty much expected since we moved inland from where we were, but it has been SO humid, which makes it seem much worse. Needless to say I am thankful for air conditioning (not necessarily the bill though!) We did have some nice ordinary warm days, and on those days I tried to come up with a fun outside activity. Jake has been getting in touch with his creative side during arts and crafts at Preschool so on this August afternoon when I said lets go paint, he was all for it! I put some paper on the art easel that my mom got him and put some paint in some cups and gave him some sponge paint brushes. Actually it was finger paint, but we’ll keep that our little secret, I wasn’t up to the task of cleaning up after a finger painting activity so I told him to use the paintbrushes.

This is the look I get when I ask them to look and smile at the camera…seriously mom can’t you see we are busy here…

At first he was keeping the red on one side and the blue on the other, I kept encouraging him to mix it up.

Which gave us a lovely shade of purple

Then he decided that it needed some chalk to liven things up

And I love the look on Dylan’s face in these pictures.

He was so proud of his work

Then he started telling me all about the colors he was using. This one is red…

And this one is blue…

Just look at that face…with or without paint splattered on him, I think he is one handsome dude!

And my plan to keep things relatively “less messy” started to backfire when he began wiping his face with hands that had paint on them.

And it was then that he realized that he was getting paint all over him, and for being a rambunctious little boy, he does not like his hands to be dirty/sticky.

When he started coming at me (and my camera) with those paint covered hands, wanting me to get it off of him, I knew this activity was over and it was time for me to get this little Picasso cleaned up.

Month Four

Posted on October 1, 2015 by Mdfrisco

This month was a bit of a challenge…he was still his cute smiley self, but nighttime sleep became a bit of a battle. It was more like a series of short naps all night long. Which was frustrating because he was sleeping so good the previous month and we got spoiled.

For naps I put Dylan down on his side or tummy to sleep and he really likes it and sleeps better. But at night since I couldn’t keep an eye on him while I was sleeping, I was still putting him down on his back, because of my fear of SIDS. He got used to sleeping on his side/tummy for naps and came to prefer it, at the end of this month, he started waking up at night frustrated because he couldn’t roll over onto his tummy yet. So I bit the bullet and started putting him to sleep on his tummy at night, and he slept great, for a little while…then he started waking up again…

He wasn’t waking up to eat or play, but because he is so strong and is now on his tummy, he really began discovering his mobility. He was scooting, squirming and wiggling his way around his crib at night and gets himself wedged into a corner and can’t get himself out. So I have to go in his room and readjust him and move him back to the other end of his crib which buys me a little time (and sleep) before he gets himself stuck again. I remember this phase with Jacob and I can’t wait until he truly masters rolling around by himself so this phase will be over, and we start getting some sleep again. Since he is so big, sometimes I think I forget that he is really just a few months old and feel like he should be acting older. When I get frustrated about his nighttime sleep habits, I often find myself reminding myself that “he is only 4 months old!”

During his awake time he is still our happy little boy. He is really starting to discover what his hands can do and reaches for things. He started sticking his tongue out all the time and continues to grow like a weed. By the end of this month he grew out of his 6 month clothes and into 9 month clothes!

He had his 4 month check up and his pediatrician was very pleased with his progress. He weighs 18 lbs 2 oz (97th percentile), he’s 27 inches long (89th percentile) and his head circumference is 16.5 inches (52nd percentile). Overall his pediatrician said he is indeed a big, strong, healthy boy and he is proportioned well with his height and weight. He got his shots and didn’t flinch with the first one and then cried for about 10 seconds with the second one.

Here are this month’s weekly photos

Week 14 – so my idea of taking pictures in the morning before daddy leaves for work to get the smiley baby look backfired on me this week, he was tired and just wanted to go back to sleep (hence my previous mention of our lack of sleep).

Week 15 – then he was back smiling with his tongue sticking out

Week 16

Week 17

Month Three

Posted on September 21, 2015 by Mdfrisco

Dylan really became more vocal and talkative this month. He is a smiley, giggly baby who sucks air in when he laughs instead of out, it is so cute! My mom said I did the same thing.

He is ferociously chewing on his fists, my fingers and anyone’s hands who happen to be nearby. If you just reach across him to get something he will open his mouth and follow your hand hoping to get something in his mouth. He’s like a snapping turtle!

He is continuing to grow and gain weight at lightning speed. And unlike his brother did, he really enjoys his tummy time and it amazes me how strong he is.

One day when Dylan was 11 weeks old, after a trip to the grocery store, I had him on the floor for tummy time while I was putting away the groceries and after a few minutes I looked at him and he was on his back. So I flipped him over onto his tummy again and stood there and watched him roll over onto his back! So I flipped him over again and this time I got my phone out to get a video of him. So the rolling process has begun.

Here are this month’s weekly photos.

Week 9 – Justin’s parents got the boys SUPER little/big brother shirts with capes on the back. Both boys were going through growth spurts this month so I put these shirts on hoping they could wear them a few times before growing out of them completely. But it ended up being the first and last time they wore them since they were pretty snug, you can see Dylan’s tummy stretching out the shirt. I can’t keep up with these boys!

Week 10

Week 11

Week 12

Week 13 – I started realizing that when I was taking Jake’s weekly pictures, I had daddy behind me making him laugh so he is smiley in most of his pictures. I am solo most of the time when I have been taking Dylan’s, so he is usually just chill and it is hard to get him to smile when my face is hiding behind the camera. I decided to start taking the picture before daddy leaves in the morning so he can help me by getting Dylan to smile. Here’s our happy boy!

Fourth of July

Posted on September 17, 2015 by Mdfrisco

For the past few years it has kind of been a tradition to spend the 4th of July on the Bay with some good friends of ours who live there. Before we left we took some patriotic pictures of the boys with some flags that Justin bought for Jake to hold while he marches (one of his favorite things to do around the house now).

Then we headed to the bay. It was a fun day of food, games and friends. If you are a regular on this blog then you will probably recognize Jacob’s friend Kennedy, born only a month apart, these two have shared lots of fun times together over the last two and a half years. It had been a little while since these two saw each other though and they picked up right where they left off. They got ahold of some flags and started walking down to the water. My heart melted when I watched them and I knew I needed to capture this sweet moment.

They just stood there on the sand right where the water came in and waved their flags,

pointed to things out in the water,

discussed something very important,

laughed and marched around,

and they were the cutest all American kids on the beach!

Julia and I took our traditional picture with our newest babies who are 4 months apart.

And here are the boys in their matching camo shorts.

That night after getting the boys in bed, we walked out through our backyard onto the golf course and met up with our friends (who are also now our neighbors) and watched the fireworks. It was pretty cool since we could see two different shows from the comfort of our own home. Next year I think I may try to master taking good pictures of fireworks…

Father’s Day

Posted on September 14, 2015 by Mdfrisco

Justin’s family came to celebrate Father’s Day with us. I thought it was the perfect time to get the Frisco men/boys together for a picture. These days it takes a bit of work and coaxing to get Jacob to cooperate for a picture, so Justin was working on getting his giggles going by throwing him up into the air.

And then we went for it…With a two year old and a baby, this is as good as it’s going to get, but I think they are pretty cute and I love seeing all these generations together!

I am truly thankful for this man and everything he does for our family. He is such a blessing and a great daddy to our two boys.

And I had to post this picture too because I love Jacob’s smile and Dylan looks like he’s getting ready to punch his big brother (which I am sure will be happening a lot over the years with these boys)!

Month Two

Posted on September 10, 2015 by Mdfrisco

The fact that I am getting a post out about Dylan’s second month on the week he turned four months old, tells me I am getting somewhere and making progress…It also tells me that I have two more months of stuff to get caught up on…and I can’t believe he is four months already! Okay, time to rewind time again.

The second month Dylan really started packing on the pounds and putting on the baby chunks. Even though he was not due back to his pediatrician until July, we ended up there in June for Jacob (when Dylan was 6 weeks old). So while we were there I asked the nurse to weigh Dylan since it was obvious that he was gaining weight and I was curious how much he weighed, and the answer was 11 lbs 14 oz. When we went back for his two month follow up he was a whopping 14 lbs and 11 oz and grew to 24 inches long! His pediatrician said he checked out great and then he got his shots, during which he cried for about 30 seconds then was back to his smiley self.

He grew out of his 3 month clothes and started sporting his 6 month clothes. For a little guy who got a slow start at the beginning he is definitely making up for it now! In fact, we had a family wedding to go to when Dylan was 5 weeks old and he had gone through a growth spurt a few days before. When we were getting ready to leave for the wedding I realized that the outfit I bought for him to wear was a bit snug and it took some work to get it on him, I actually had to cut some slits in the arm holes to keep from cutting off the circulation in his arms! Later that evening when changing his diaper, I couldn’t get his clothes off of him. I ended up having to borrow some scissors from the front desk of the hotel to cut him out of the outfit! Thankfully, I had some extra clothes with me for him to wear!

Dylan really started to coo and smile with recognition.

Around 6 weeks, he started loosing his hair and new hair started growing in. So far he still has pretty blue eyes and dark hair, I am hoping it stays that way.

The best part about this month is at the beginning he was sleeping longer stretches (5-6 hours) at night and by the end of month 2 he was sleeping through the night! I am praying that he will be as good of a sleeper that his big brother was/is.

We started giving Dylan a bottle every once in a while, to give me a break and to give Justin some one on one time with Dylan.

He really has been an easygoing baby and adapting to whatever situation he is in, going with the flow and sleeping whenever he needs sleep, including during the middle of mom trying to pay bills.

And I leave you with the weekly photos for month 2…

5 weeks

On this day Jake wanted in on the action. So here are a few extras…

6 weeks

7 weeks

8 weeks

Dylan’s newborn photos

Posted on August 31, 2015 by Mdfrisco

From a photographers standpoint you want to take newborn photos sometime in the first 11 days of their life, before they start getting any baby acne, dry skin or become too alert and it gets hard to do those sleepy pictures. Well the first 11 days of Dylan’s life were kind of chaotic and full with us being sick and the whole remodel/move thing. I kept trying to pick a date and something would come up and we would postpone it, again and again and again. Finally, after we actually moved, I was determined to get these pictures done before Dylan was a month old. So on his 3 week birthday our wonderful photographer came over to our house about 10 minutes before the flooring guy arrived to start laying our hardwood floors. They both worked around each other and got the job done, so now we have some beautiful pictures of our newest boy and a few with big brother too!

And since the flooring was not installed and the entire house was concrete we couldn’t move our furniture in, except in two of the bedrooms where we had carpet. So the only place we could all sit together for a picture was on the blow up mattress we were sleeping on until the flooring was finished in the master.

Month One

Posted on August 25, 2015 by Mdfrisco

The first month was such a blur. Dylan was so good through it all. He rarely cried, except when you changed his diaper, he choose to let the world know he was alive and well during those diaper changes, regardless of what time of day or night it was. I found myself silently apologizing to our neighbors during those middle of the night diaper changes. During that month a nasty sickness went through our household. The day we came home from the hospital with Dylan, Jacob started throwing up. He never had a fever, runny nose, cough, etc…just every time he ate or drank something he would throw up. That lasted for about a week with him. Just a couple days after he started getting sick, I got it. It only lasted for 24 hours with me. Then Justin got it, he had it for a while. Then my mom got it and it was only 24 hours with her. Then Jake got it again for 24 hours. It was a vicious cycle of sickness, and for people who very rarely get sick, it was quite a curve ball thrown at us in the middle of our remodel/move/newborn baby life. During that time we were also taking Dylan to his check up appointments. The doctor was concerned at first because he didn’t seem to be gaining back the weight he lost as fast as he would have liked. Dylan was 8 lbs 3 oz at birth and at his first check up 3 days later he was 7 lbs 11 oz. His second check up 4 days after that he was 7 lbs 6 oz. Then 3 days later at his next check up, it started going back up when he weighed in at 7 lbs 9 oz. Although the weight loss is completely normal at the beginning, I think maybe Dylan may have had a touch of the sickness that was going around, and all the stress with the remodel/move, it took a little longer to get a good nursing routine down, so it took a few extra days for him to start packing on the pounds. Two weeks after he was born (and the day we moved!) Dylan had his circumcision and he weighed 7 lbs 11 oz. A week later at his circumcision follow up appointment he had gained a pound and weighed in at 8 lbs 11 oz. His doctor was very pleased with his progress and said we didn’t have to come back until his 2 month check up. Through all of this Dylan was a trooper! Since the day he was born he has been proving how strong he is, his pediatrician noticed the same thing.

I love this picture of my boys snuggling the day we came home from the hospital.

After Dylan’s first bath

He has never been a fan of being swaddled and has been sleeping like this from the beginning.

The first few weeks are just a big cycle of sleep, eat and poop, with some brief moments of alertness and smiles. I am not one to take pictures of poopy diapers or breastfeeding so here are some of my favorites of him sleeping, snuggling or awake.

I know it was pretty ambitious of me to take weekly photos of Jacob during his first year, and I am so glad I did. It is fun to look back on those pictures and see the gradual change in him. My mom asked me if had planned to do the same for Dylan. “Yes, I am!” was my reply. So I started the weekly pictures. I kept the same giraffe but replaced Jacob’s blue elephant with a brown woolly mammoth for Dylan.

1 week

2 weeks

3 weeks

4 weeks

Mother’s Day

Posted on August 20, 2015 by Mdfrisco

This year Mother’s Day was extra special with the arrival of Dylan just 3 days before and my mom was still here and my Aunt Heidi and grandma came over to meet Dylan and spend the day with us.

It was not anything fancy, just a day spent together, with some yummy snacks, a little champagne and the joy of seeing Oma with her newest great grandson.

I’ve learned a lot from my mom and grandma over the years, growing up. But now that I am a mom myself I really appreciate these women for who they are and all they have done and I couldn’t ask for better role models.

I can only hope that I will be as good of a mom to my boys as they have been.

The Frisco Project

Adventures in life, pregnancy, friendships, family & a little photography