Infamous updates and milestones

Since it has been a while that I have updated this blog, I thought it best to let you know just how far Dylan has come in his developmental milestones...and boy, are they big!

First of all, Dylan is learning to sign! Milk is very popular these days and he is constantly asking for milk. At first, I would run and get him a bottle every time but now I realize he is just so happy with being able to communicate that he is just practicing. I'm pretty used to his feeding schedule so I know when to take him seriously although I acknowledge each time he signs for me.

Dylan is also understanding quite a few other signs as well such as "more, out, drink, all done, and eat." And though these aren't actually officially a part of signing, Dylan is also clapping, waving hello, and our favorite...."SO BIG". For "so big" he holds his arms and hands outstretched high above his head! Very cute and I promise to add a picture of it soon.

We also love how vocal our little guy has become. He is mimicking sounds such as "aah" and "daa" although we are still waiting for actual words. One funny thing he does is that when Dylan is mad, he rolls onto his tummy and repeats "da, da, da" over and over. Ray (daddy) isn't sure how to take this. I have also been trying to encourage Dylan to say "mama" which he will do but silently...he hasn't figured out how to vocalize that yet. We'll keep trying. One of Dylan's favorite activities is to talk to himself in a mirror that we have set up on the floor for his viewing. He will talk to himself for quite a while and makes sure to give himself plenty of kisses.

We are also excited to say that Dylan is mobile! He isn't exactly crawling yet but he has learned to creep backwards. He pushes himself around the room and calls out when he gets stuck. While this is very exciting, it was also very unexpected. We were told by various therapists that he really wouldn't be mobile for a while longer so you can imagine my surprise one day when I was cleaning the bathrooms upstairs. I had just finished cleaning the tub and looked over to see how Dylan was doing when wham! He was gone. I found him at the top of the stairs about to tumble down. Fortunately, I caught him in time but as you can imagine, the baby gates were up right after that! Besides the backwards "creeping", Dylan is also rolling from one side of a room to another.

So as you can see, Dylan has made HUGE accomplishments since his heart surgery. We are very proud of how well he is doing and he continues to amaze us every day.