Front Facing & Football

Dayton has been holding his head up really well. We have about a 10% bob rate currently which is down from a 100% bob rate three weeks ago. To celebrate this moment, we put Dayton in the baby bjorn carrier facing forward for the first time the other night. He loved it! It was so cute to have him looking every direction in front of him, to the sides as well as up at the sky. The picture you see here was taken after a 30 minute walk and one-minute to meal-time. He lost it! But we love the photo.

Dayton also played with a mini-football this weekend. He is starting to put his hands together and was able to hold onto the football for quite some time...and look at that smile! Maybe there will be another Dix quarterback in the family. Edith and Jim, we greatly apologize that the Jaguars football was not available for the photo op! Blame Mike - - - he brought this Corona football home with him from a bar on Friday night and it was in closer proximity then the Jaguars football you so graciously sent us.

Finally, a complaint. I carried Dayton William Dix in my tummy for 9 months yet he is the spitting image of Mike. I hear it all the time from everyone...."he looks just like Mike"! Yes, I agree. I'm sure you can see the similarity from the photo with Dayton on Mike's lap. Eh....I'll take him anyways. Proudly.

Me - - - Against the Bee

Dayton and I just came back from our second morning walk of the day. As usual, Dayton was in his Bjorn carrier with his face towards my chest. A few minutes into the walk, a bee dive bombed us and landed directly on my chest - - -one inch from Dayton's face (and I'm not exaggerating). There was literally no warning. It's not like he was buzzing around my head and then decided to land. He came from stage left across the street and bam....landed on my chest! My first thought was, "could this be real?...come on, of all places for this bee to land!".

After looking down at the bee for a moment or two, it was clear to me that he was quite comfortable sitting on my chest and was not planning on departing. I weighed my options.

- I could swat the bee away. No...Dayton may end up getting stung.
- I could let the bee hang for awhile until he happily decided to fly away. No...Dayton may end up getting stung.
- I could invite the bee on our leisurely walk and perhaps he would recognize my hospitality and decide not to sting either me or Dayton. No...Dayton may end up getting stung.

Ultimately, I realized the only way to truly avoid Dayton getting stung was to reach down and grab the bee....and yes, likely get stung. So I did...I held Dayton's face away with one hand and grabbed the bee with the other and tossed it like I was pitching the World Series. Yes, I got stung...but Dayton did not and that is all that matters to me!

I took a deep breath and kept on walking. It has been a very long time since I'd gotten stung by a bee and I'd never been allergic...but I couldn't help but check in with myself from time to time to make sure I was not going into anaphylaxic shock. A few minutes later and nope, still not allergic. A sigh of relief.

I just watched 'The Bee Movie' literally last week and really enjoyed it. The movie reminded me of the importance of bees in our world. It's really too bad this particular bee happened to cross my path at the time and manner that it did. If that bee was in my house, I would have tried to find a cup to put over it, slide a piece of paper under it and release it outside. But no, it had to dive bomb Dayton and I on our walk this morning. Tisk tisk.

I get extra Mommy stripes today.

Playgroup!

Dayton and I are members of the Heights Kids Group which is a fabulous network of local Moms and their children. Not only does the group have an incredible online forum but also facilitates the local Moms and children getting together. As any new Mom can attest, it is wonderful to have a support group of Moms and an excuse to get out of the house time to time.

Today, Dayton and I hosted our playgroup (babies born between March and September of this year) at our gym, Crew Health and Fitness. Crew recently opened a daycare room to offer for free to their members. They are trying to build up their family memberships so I thought it would be a good idea to begin introducing the Heights Kids Group Moms to the gym. The members of Crew were wonderful. They provided us with drinks, food, gift baskets, one week free memberships and a great facility to host our playgroup. http://www.crewhealthandfitness.com/

At the event, Dayton had his first opportunity to 'spoon' with his fiance, Brianna. Brianna is one of Denise's identical twin girls. Dayton proposed to her when they first met when he was 5 days old.

Please check out these pictures from the event this morning. We had a great time.

Dayton and Mommy Chatting

Dayton was quite the conversationalist this afternoon. We chatted for 30 minutes or so and I was able to capture parts of it on video. Make sure your volume is turned on.

And yes....I am using my 'baby voice'....you caught me.

Maybe A Little Too Much Fun

It was a busy yet wonderful week. Namie (my Mom) came in for her second visit and bonded with Grandson, Dayton. We wrapped up the week with a christening of Denise and Jeremy's identical twin girls (Brianna and Sophia) this morning and a one-year old birthday party for Josh and Ashley's daughter, Faith, this afternoon. If having our own son was not enough to make us feel like parents, today did it. With all these kid-focused parties, we officially feel like we are in the world of being parents. We had a great time.

Enjoy the pictures - - - take special note of the final one of Dayton taken a few hours ago after his BIG day partying.

Aunt Phyllis' Visit and More

It has been awhile since our last blog update so we're going to overwhelm you with pictures!

We had a great time with Aunt Phyllis. Dayton and the animals really bonded with her. We began calling her the Kitchen Warrior because she spoiled us with wonderful meal after meal. She truly inspired us to start turning on our oven from time to time.

Dayton has continued to grace us with smiles and we're doing our best to capture the moments on camera to share with all of you.

Dayton visited the doctor last week and he is now 23 inches long (90%) and 10 lb 12 oz (75%)! Wow! He is also doing so well with sleeping at night. He is regularly asleep in his crib by 10:15 PM and is sleeping to between 4 and 5 AM when he awakes for a middle of the night snack and then back down until around 7 AM. I am VERY happy, to say the least.

My Mom is now visiting and we'll be posting pictures of her visit soon.

Dayton Smiling!

Dayton has been smiling in response to prompts from time to time but today we had a GREAT smiling session that lasted quite some time. With the help of my Aunt, we were able to capture a bit on video. Enjoy!

We also went to visit Aunt Phyllis' partner Jackie's sister, Betty in Sugarland! Betty was so excited to hold Dayton and hear baby sounds for the first time in a long time since she now has a hearing aid! It was super cute.

Aunt Phyllis Visits!

Dayton's Great Aunt Phyllis is in town to get to know her nephew. She arrived on Saturday and has been spoiling us with love, great food, and an extra pair of hands.

Phyllis came with us to Dayton's doctor's appointment yesterday. He is 23 inches long (90%) and 10 pounds 12 ouces (75%). Dayton is starting to hold his head up a bit more consistently and is definitely connecting with the objects and people around him. He is having a lot of fun in his bouncy seat right now as I write this. His cooing sounds crack us up as he connects with what is going on around him. We hope to get a video of his 'talking' out to you soon.

We've continued to hit the local restaurants and bars with Dayton. Over the weekend, we went to a new bar called 'Taps' that just opened on Washington as well as the Block 7 Wine Bar/Restaurant that also just opened on Shepherd. All in walking distance from our house! Dayton has been so good on our 'travels'.

Dayton had a play date with this new friend Bryce that was born 3 weeks before him. His Mom, Jamie, was in our childbirth class with us.

Enjoy these pictures of the events of the past week or so.

Dayton's One Month Birthday

Thanks to all our friends and family that called over the past 24 hours to wish Dayton a Happy One Month Birthday. Could it really be?

We had a little impromptu photo session with Mr. Lamb yesterday to capture the one-month milestone. Enjoy the pics!

Weekend Fun!!

We cannot believe how big Dayton is getting. We're betting he is at least 10 pounds now. We'll find out next week when he goes in for his next Pediatrician appointment.

We had a great weekend. On Sunday, Dayton went to a local brunch spot called Chatters. He hung out in his car seat and our sling while Mom and Dad ate and enjoyed being out as a family. We then went to Target to do some shopping (ouch - - - diapers and wipes = $$$$$). Dayton really enjoyed looking around while he was in the sling. When we got home, Dayton was EXHAUSTED and slept thru his typical 'bewitching hours' (early evening).

Some more excitement this weekend was that Dayton had his first feeding from a bottle. I've just started pumping (how glorious) so now Dayton can be fed by someone other then his Mom. Mike enjoyed his first feeding session with Dayton and Mom is elated that this will give her more flexibility to leave the house.

We've also started to use a pacifier from time to time. This helps delay Dayton's demands for food as we're trying to get him on a bit of a schedule during the day. Yesterday, Dayton found that his hand could hold the pacifier in. Super cute.

Both Mike and I have noticed that Dayton does seem to smile from time to time in reaction to what we are doing with him. For awhile now he has smiled in his sleep or while feeding but now he will smile while looking at us, while we're talking to him, etc. Of course, usually this results in Mom or Dad stating, "You are smiling!!!!"...said with utter elation.

We had our first play group thru the Heights Kids Group last week. Dayton slept most of the time. We have another today and I'm hoping I'll be able to find the time to shower before we attend....we shall see!