A Big Announcement

The Dix-Hirschenfang Family is expecting a new family member around January 20th, 2012. Little Dayton will become a big brother when he is 2 1/2 years old. We have not told Dayton about the excitement yet but plan to once we find out the gender in the coming month.

Of course, we are very excited.

California Dreamin'

Namie, Bebop, Dayton & his 'rents at Hess Winery
Dayton at his first wine tasting at Sterling Vineyards with Namie & Bebop
(he's drinking water....)

On the trolley in San Francisco!

Dayton loved the 'baby cows', 'baby cows say hi to Day Day'...he says.

CHHHHHEEEEEESE!

Dayton could not get enough of train town! He also went on his first Ferris wheel ride. He said he was scared to go at first but with his Mom and Dad on either side of him, he loved the 'up-high, down-low and around-and-around'.

Some Jill and Mike time....pretending not to be parents for awhile.

At Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco

On the boat to go under the Golden Gate bridge and around Alcatraz. Dayton passed out on my lap about 2 minutes after this picture was taken. With a blanket wrapped around us, I endured endless splashes as everyone else moved to the other side of the boat. I would not move due to the risk of waking him. He slept the entire boat ride.

Our Little Boy with his 'baby cows'

We climbed a tree at one of the wineries

The boys taking a break at Hess Winery

We had a wonderful family vacation to Napa, Sonoma and San Francisco in late July. Our friends Shaniece and Mike gave us the excuse to go when they decided to get married in Napa. At the time, we asked my parents to come to Texas to watch Dayton while we attended the wedding...they were not excited about coming to hot/humid Texas in July but suggested meeting us in Napa. With this idea, a wonderful adventure for all unfolded.

Dayton got to spend quality time with Namie and Bebop while we enjoyed wine tastings with our friends in the Napa area and attending other wedding festivities. Dayton went to his first wine tasting with Namie and Bebop which included a gondola ride (Sterling Vineyards). He even had a few sleepovers in Namie and Bebop's room which was endlessly appreciated by Dayton's Mom and Dad. Bebop taught Dayton how to play 'Angry Bird' on the iPhone and enjoyed splash time in the pool together. Namie was up early every morning with Dayton to watch the hot air balloons float over the valley. Needless to say, Dayton's Grandparents kept him very busy and the kid caught a nap when he could.

After a few wonderful days of wedding festivities, we continued to hop around wine country together. We visited Train Town in Sonoma, Imagery Winery, Benziger Winery (tractor ride - - - super cool for Dayton), Hess Winery and more. We came home with a case of wine and endless memories.

On Thursday, off to San Francisco we went. In the end, we really only got to spend one day in SF but it was a productive day at Fisherman's Wharf which included trolley and boat rides. While it was a bit brisk, we enjoyed every second of it compared to the 100 degree plus humid heat that is relentless in Houston.

At the conclusion of the trip, Dayton had literally been on almost EVERY form of transportation...to his utmost delight! Planes, metro train (BART), SF Trolley, tractor, gondola, boat.

Dayton's 2nd Birthday!!!

Dayton celebrated his second birthday on July 3rd. Unbelievable! I brought cupcakes into his class on Friday. On Saturday, we went to Discovery Green in downtown Houston and watched the dock dog jumping. It was amazing and Dayton was mesmerized watching. He cooled off by running through the fountains and it was hysterical to watch him. We treated all of us to a night at a local resort and enjoyed the pools and an evening away. After a morning of swimming at the resort on his birthday, Noah and his family came over for dinner and birthday cake. It was great seeing the kids play together including Noah's older brother Isiah.

Do not miss the videos at the bottom.

Mommy, Daddy and Dayton on his 2nd Birthday
Dayton and his class having cupcakes

Dayton and Daddy watching the dog jump into the water

Speaking of jumping into the water, here is Dayton jumping into the fountains

He LOVED running through the fountains

Just LOOK at that face!

Dayton and Noah

A Visit to Jersey

My parents threw Dayton an early low-key 2nd birthday party at their house with the family when we visited in June. A bit of my 35th was sprinkled in too. It was great to have the family together. Dayton also visited the Museum of Natural History in NYC for his second time but this time Daddy was able to come too.

Bebop, Daddy and Dayton at the park under the GW Bridge
A funny picture of Aunt Phyllis with Dayton

Mutual Admiration

After the morning at the museum...he could not make it the 2 blocks back to the car

Dayton in the half shell...order it up! Picture in the Giant Clam Shell at Museum of Natural History

Canadian Geese...watch out for the poop!

Annabel and Mommy helping Dayton blow out his bday candles

Dayton and Annabel in bday attire

A Thomas the Train cake for Dayton

Dayton checking out the really cool frogs at the museum

Yummy dinner with Annabel, Aunt Sandi, Aunt Jenna and Uncle Dave

Dayton pointing out the animals at the museum

Dayton's last plane ride on our lap...at 2 years old, he needs his own seat! While it's expensive, it's definitely time.

Dayton and Daddy and a GRANDDADDY of a dinosaur

Jill's 35th Birthday

Yes, it happened. I turned 35 years old. We invited the neighbors over for a pizza party. An added bonus, Nan was in-town for a visit too. We had a great time.

Dayton and his BFF, Noah

Noah - - - Dayton's first friend that he truly made on his own. They are two peas in a pod at Daycare. Dayton had been talking about Noah for a month or so when I finally decided to leave a note in Noah's daycare backpack for his parents. These kids had to get together to play on the weekend. Dayton would wake up in the morning singing 'Happy Birthday to Noah' and it was months away from Noah's birthday. "How was school, Dayton"?...his response, "Play Noah".

Our first play date was at the arboretum on May 30th. Dayton still talks about Noah and the turtles because we saw a lot of them that day. We're excited to get to know Noah and his family better as I'm sure these kids will be good friends for a long time.

These are pictures of their first play date together as well as the one above from Noah's 2nd birthday party in June.

Dayton Loves to Swim

I have not updated the blog since March...apologies to all you fans out there...I say, sarcastically. I'm sitting here on the couch on a Saturday praying that Dayton will nap so I can take the next hour to play 'blog catch-up'. He's rolling around in his crib right now and no longer screaming in protest that it's nap time so hopefully, things are heading in the right direction. Over the past couple of months, he sometimes fights nap time on the weekend and it's not hugely uncommon for him to skip the mid-day shuteye. Instead he plays in his crib for about 90 minutes when finally his Mom and Dad cave in and go get him. I hope today is not one of those days. The kid needs a nap and really, Mom and Dad do too.

Dayton has always loved the water. He loves to swim. Has no fear. On his two year birthday, he officially began pushing Mommy and Daddy away from holding him in the pool and instead began swimming between us. Only a couple of feet but we are proud parents, of course. When he jumps into the water, he is completely competent swimming back up to the surface. This picture was taken in May at our friends Madeline and Ronnie's house. Dayton climbed to the high ledge of the pool and began jumping off. He set the stage for the 5 year old little girl to follow.

There is no doubt that Dayton will be a good swimmer but we can't help but have flashes of him being the next Michael Phelps. Luckily, he's not oddly proportioned like Mr. Phelps. In fact, at his 2 year doctors appointment this week, Dayton was 90% for height and 50% for weight. He weighed 28 1/4 pounds and was 3' 1/4" long. These percentiles have been his trend since he was an infant and will hopefully continue as he grows.

Dayton's Birth Story - Published!

Perhaps to the future 13-year old Dayton's dismay, his birth story was published in the April issue of The Journal of Perinatal Education. We are very proud to share our journey and lessons learned with the world and hope to help women and their families take back their birth experiences. Only members of JPE can access the journal on-line, if you are interested, send me an email and I'll send you the PDF.

Hello Mexico!

A dream come true. My cousin Jenna reunites with her high school sweetheart, Dave, and they marry one year later in Cancun, Mexico. This dream results in another dream come true, a vacation to a tropical location with the entire family. Thank you, Jenna and Dave, for giving us a reason to celebrate together in Cancun! This story will be told in pictures! Refer to facebook for the videos!

Dayton and Mommy got upgraded to first class while Daddy was back with the 'common folk'. This child is spoiled....I did not get to ride business class until I started working for Accenture. Daddy was a good sport and happy for us. Dayton was often up before the sun came up...on Daddy's morning to be on 'Dayton duty', they went exploring on the resort...before Dayton even got out of his pjs.

Dayton learned to ask for a 'tahwool' and to beheld like a 'baby' after his swims. In this pic, Bebop got the honor.

Another pic in Dayton's PJs exploring the resort as the sun came up.

Dayton's first water gun fight with Bebop and Annabel in the back of our villa overlooking the beach.

Dayton dressed for the 'Rehearsal Dinner' BBQ

The children of honor - - Annabel the Flower Girl and Dayton the Ring Bearer

Dayton, Mike, Jill (me), Namie, Bebop, Cuz Annabel, Aunt Tara and Uncle Alex

Dayton and Daddy having a blast

at the beach BBQ Dayton loved the splashing of the waves

Dayton ready to go in his ring bearer outfit...well, almost ready.

"Geez...what is with all this waiting around?"

Bebop, Dayton, Uncle Alex and Daddy

The girls...Namie, Mommy, Aunt Sandi, Annabel and Aunt Tara

Picture perfect

Dayton held Mommy's hands as we approached the aisle. But something about

those scary flower petals that Annabel dropped freaked him out and he had to be carried the rest of the way. Everyone thought he was cute anyways! This was the ONLY thing Dayton was scared of during his vacation...the boy is fearless.

Jenna wrote in Dave's HS yearbook, "I'm so glad you are in my life, maybe someday I'll be your wife"....wow! Joey led the ceremony and did a wonderful job. Very proud of my cousins!

A wedding pic with the Grandparents

Lovely picture...but we missed Danny!

Dayton loved the mariachi band!

The Mother of the Bride and Flower Girl. Thanks Aunt Sandi for endless playtime with Annabel and Dayton.

Dave and Jenna dancing the 'Hora'

I love my family

Dayton on the ride to the airport...I tried my best to keep him awake on the 20 minute drive but my efforts failed. Poor kid was exhausted. We were amazed that both the nights of the BBQ and wedding, he told us it was time to go home to bed. Once home, he literally tried to climb into his crib.