hiking and belly buttons

dylan has been able to locate his cute little belly button these days, always pulling up his shirt and pointing to his navel, or pulling on your shirt to look at yours. when he hears the phone ring, he holds his hand up to his ear ("hello?"), point to his ears when asked, and is able to go and grab his favorite books (dylan, go get 'working on the railroad') and he'll go get it. here he is, being held up by his big buddy payton, as they hike 'burma road' in palos verdes. see all the wildflowers? apparently, these mustard grasses and yellow flowers are all edible, according to this latimes article about local vegetation in the peninsula.


here, mei mei and big bro payton give dylan a lesson in hiking.


'push!' says dylan, to mei mei, his newest bff.


if only all days were as clear as this, with sparkly views to catalina island that stretch as far as your feet, as high as the tallest oaks. here's to beautiful spring days, hiking, and belly buttons.

dylan walks (and does chores)

to contribute to household chores, dylan has taken to light tasks, seen here sweeping. it helps that the boy has been walking since taking his first steps at 8 months, 3 weeks of age! today, dylan is 10 months old and has been walking for well over a month. this video, taken two weeks ago, shows that dylan has absolutely no fashion sense (note one orange sock on left foot). deniro the cat makes a quick cameo too.

dylan walks the walk: videos

i shot this video of dylan practicing his steps at the playground in hermosa beach last week; here, you can see the little guy slowly teetering, tottering, putting one step forward, then another, and agin, but walking, nonetheless. all this, even before he hit nine months! he even manages to multi-task, the little straight-a-student! he grabs the ball, tries to bounce and chew it, and walk at the same time. i have difficulty doing this as an adult so go figure. just watch the video:

of course, as walking is a new curious thing, and dylan doesn't want to just tumble off into the sand, you can see that dylan uses caution here on a little slope down into the sandbox. it's too cute:

july highlights: nearly walking, standing, and fast crawling

july was a HUGE month for the little guy, punctuated with visits from lots of friends, uncles, aunties, and playtime at the pool, with daddy, standing, and crawling with the cats---and surprise to say that all this in dylan's sixth month! go dylan!!!

 

uncle gary from sacramento and katherine (dylan's irish clanfolk) came by to tickle dylan's little tumtum.

 

more swimming and frolicking in the pool with daddy.

 

hitting the beach! with dark shades, dylan and dad on the lookout for fresh waves, bra.

 

dylan now can crawl, with tummy off the floor, and can now compete in cat olympics. one minute he's in the kitchen, playing with wooden spoons, the next he's in the bedroom, playing bongos on the furniture. check out his little cowlick!

if you whip out a camera, dylan now darts for the camera in your hand. he is cellphone-camera-remote control-obsessed. listen to dylan making his monkey-primate noises.

five and a half months!

dylan: mom likes to sneak up on me with the camera.

at left: here i am, at five and a half months. i can now sit up on the potty, stand with help, sit in a high chair, and do an expert belly crawl. i can also do baby pushups and raise myself on my hands and feet, like a spider.

i can also do the 'side lean' to reach up and grab toys, that and mom's hair.

the 'ec' journey continues....

7 weeks old

hi harmony! sitting pretty in grandma june's arms.

7 weeks old.

one month, two weeks old

dylan started smiling at 5 weeks. here he is with deniro kitty. everyone agrees he looks smashing in yellow.

6 weeks old.
weight: almost 12 pounds, and over 23 inches.

my first month!