My FIRST Mother's Day

My first Mother's Day was WONDERFUL. Initially, Mike was supposed to continue travelling. I had expected Mother's Day to be like any other Sunday involving me and Dayton spending quality time together.

My Aunt Sandi was greatly disappointed by our cancellation the weekend prior to go to Florida for my Grandpa's 90th birthday. To protest, she bought a plane ticket using miles to come visit Dayton and me on Mother's Day weekend. We would not be alone afterall for Mother's Day.

A day or so later, Mike called with good news. His Middle East/Europe trip was ending early and he would be home in time for Mother's Day.

Things were quickly shaping up!

Aunt Sandi arrived on Thursday evening and Mike on Saturday afternoon. It was a lovely weekend with great weather, Houston's famous Art Car parade, lots of walks in the neighborhood, Dayton/Aunt Sandi bonding, a Father/Son reunion, Mother's Day brunch at Benjy's, bouquet's of flowers and lovely gestures from friends and family.

Dayton continues to take up to 3 steps on his own and will walk and walk and walk as long as he is holding or pushing ANY object (see video at the bottom of this post). He now loves to walk up and down the stairs...yes, I said 'walk'. He holds our hands and takes the steps up and down with a big smile.

Thank you to Aunt Sandi for the last minute trip to Texas to make sure I was not alone for Mother's Day. Thank you for showing your love by simply being here - - let alone the gifts and cooking (yummy)!

10 Months Old!

We've reached double digits.

In this photo session, Dayton discovered that the glider rocks. He began leaning forward and throwing himself backwards to make the chair go back and forth. There is a series of four pictures below where you see him leaning forward and throwing himself back as his feet go in the air and finally leaning back against the chair.

After a couple minutes of rocking, Dayton discovered the '10 months old' piece of paper and quickly tore it apart.

Luckily, I got two nicely posed pictures before all the activity began.

Thankful for Friends Like Them

I am so thankful for my friends in Houston for treating me like family. This is especially important when Mike is on the road week after week as he has been in 2010.

Ashley, Josh, Faith and Hudson had Dayton and I over on Sunday. Dayton got to put his bathing suit on for the first time to enjoy the splashpad with Faith. Dayton wasn't quite certain about the cold water until Faith started laughing which immediately led him to laugh too. He sat on the edge with his feet submerged and enjoyed splashing in the water.

While Faith could have stayed in for the rest of the day and night, Dayton opted out after 15 minutes or so.

Faith and Dayton get on wonderfully. At the end of the day, they both leaned in for several kisses. Josh joked that he may need to meet Dayton at the door with a shotgun next time as he seems to already be making a play for his daughter!

Full of FUN!

Dayton came down with a fever on Thursday which kept us from going to Florida to help celebrate Great Grandpa Hershey's 90th birthday. His b-day is in June but the party was Saturday. We were soooo disappointed not to go but I suppose these type of last minute changes are expected when a baby is in the house. He is feeling all better today.

Instead of going to the party, Dayton decided to take his first 3 steps on May 1st. Just shy of 10 months old. We were playing the 'standing game' and instead of falling forward into my chest, he took three steps towards me. He has done it one other time since then but we're sure consistent independent walking is just around the corner. Lucky us!

Dayton is full of activity. He only gets more and more active and interactive as each day passes. For example, he climbs stairs, attempts to go down them too, climbs to the highest point of every object, walks easily while pushing a cart, walks next to me when holding onto one of my fingers, loves using Mikki as an object to hold onto when he stands up, and more. He loves to chatter too. We can't wait until we understand what he is saying.

He is so much fun. His newest game is to hold onto my knees when I am sitting down and let go with both hands while he is standing up. Hence, the 'standing game'. He looks up at me with a sparkle in his eye and a big smile while he waits to fall. More recently, he has decided to go from that position to launching himself into my chest. He loves when I chase him on the floor and he loves to climb all over me when I lay on the ground. He giggles and giggles and loves to clap.

He loves music. The daycare reports that he loves to be right next to the stereo when the music plays. I also catch him dancing from time to time. He bops up and down and side to side. He also loves animals...and it is a good thing given that we are an animal friendly home and our neighborhood is crawling with four-legged pets. Dogs are always making him laugh including when Mikki kisses him.

Here are a few pics from the past few weeks. Dayton is getting harder and harder to take a picture of as he is constantly moving. For the first time this morning, he stopped what he was doing 3 times to smile at the camera. Super cute.

Texas Wild Flowers

We can't deny it. Dayton is a Texan. His birth certificate bares the truth, he was born in Texas. Who would have ever thought that this New Yorker would have a child in Texas? I suppose some would argue that I'm officially a Texan now too as I've now lived in Houston longer than I've lived anywhere in my life. It will be 12 years in September. Mike was inaugurated years ago since he moved here for graduate school over 25 years ago. It's time we embrace the truth. The Dix-Hirschenfang Family are Texans. Ah veh!

Why all this Texans talk? It's wildflower season! Our good friends, Andy, Kathryn, little William (2 years old) and baby Michael (4 months) invited us out to their family's farm about an hour outside of Houston. Sadly, Mike is away travelling but Dayton and I packed up and hit the road. It was well worth the trip that ended up being almost 2 hours long due to all the traffic caused by flower-peepers (a.k.a. people slowing down/pulling over to the side of the road to look and take pictures of the wild flowers). Dayton and I really enjoyed spending time with the Principe family. It was a day of firsts for Dayton. The first time he met a horse, pet a horse, met a chicken, got pecked by a chicken. Those little chickens are quick!

We also got our token photoshoot in the wild flowers. Kathryn, Dayton and I went on an adventure in a go-cart-on-sterioids type vehicle into the 500 acres of land to find the perfect patch. Since neither of us knew where we were going, we cut the the trip a bit short as we did not want to get lost in the woods. It's funny how our risk-taking behavior has dramatically decreased since becoming Moms. Nonetheless, we found the perfect patch and many of the pictures below are the result.

In other news, Dayton was caught standing on his own several times this week. Last night, he found it hysterical as he tested himself standing with no hands as he let go of the edge of the tub (outside the tub, not inside...I'm not crazy). He would lift both his hands, look at me, and let out a squeal before his hands hit the edge again. In other discoveries, he found my teeth last night and thought my pearly whites were a cause for great laughter.

I love being a Mom.

A Very Good Friday

On Good Friday, Dayton's daycare was closed. We got together with friends Ashley and Kimberly at Ashley's house to have a playdate for our kids (and adults). Matthew (6 weeks older than Dayton), Faith (1 1/2 years old) and Dayton had a great time. Hudson, Ashley's dog, and Dayton bonded as you will see from the pics. We even went by MAMs House of Ice at the end of the day for some snowballs! Dayton loved it!

9 Months Old!

There is just so much to post about! At 9 months old, Dayton is walking holding onto any stable (or semi-stable) object he can find. He is so sweet with every being he encounters - - people, children, babies and animals. He remains inquisitive, observant and smiley! When he sees me put on his baby carrier (the bjorn) he races over to me and stands up between my legs and looks up with anticipation that we are about to go on an adventure (most of the time, a walk with the dogs). I don't know what I'm going to do once I can't carry him in the bjorn. I need my two hands free to walk the dogs. I think we may need to find a carrier that has Dayton riding on my back. At his 9 month appointment, Dayton was 19 lbs 6 oz (50%), 28 1/2 inches long (85%) and 18 1/4 inch head circumference. Thank gosh for my personal trainer and pilates that have allowed me to continue carrying Dayton for this long.

Below are Dayton's 9 month pictures as well as a video of him walking behind his wagon. You will see that it's a lot harder to make Dayton sit still! The picture of him crying was taken right after his 'photo session'. I love it because he's wearing the t-shirt Jamie Pete gave us for Dayton's baby shower, Albert Einstein's Superior Genetics.