Monkey Madness

Dylan See No Evil
Dylan Hear No Evil
Dylan Speak No Evil

Summer Swimming

The weather started out with some June gloom, but it has become so fabulous this summer. I have been looking forward to finding an excuse for getting Dylan into the swimming pool. I bought his swim trunks and matching sun hat over a month ago. I was out shopping for diapers and such, and I saw them and just couldn't help myself.

Dylan's first time in water that was not a bath or shower was on June 27th. Dan was working on cleaning the backyard and trimming the plants, and he also swept and cleaned the filters in the swimming pool. He was admiring his handiwork and thought the pool looked so great that he just jumped in. That was all it took for me. I checked to see that the shade had spread to the spa area and had Dylan in his swimsuit in no time.

I didn't really have a plan. I thought I'd just put Dylan's feet in the water and see what he thought. We hadn't turned on the water heater, so the water was only heated by the sun, and still much cooler than the surrounding air. We didn't think that Dylan would last very long in the water, so the water would not have enough time to heat up. That's what we get for spontaneity.

I put my feet in the water and rested them on the step in the spa, and held Dylan in my arms like a swing. Dan moved from the pool to the spa to help and watch. I slowed dipped the bottoms of Dylan's tiny feet in the water and took them out. He flinched at the cool water, but he didn't scream or make angry faces. I did it again, but held him so his feet dangled to just barely touch the water. He started kicking at the water. That was very exciting! A few minutes later, I lowered him so the water was up to his knees. He just relaxed in my arms and let his feet hang in the water. I dipped him down to his waist and he didn't like that so much. I picked him up out of the water and he calmed down right away. He was still fine with me dangling his feet in the water.

Dan was already in the spa and he thought it would be fun to hold him above the water. He reached out and held Dylan around his ribcage. Dylan yelped. Dan had forgotten that his hands were wet and cold. We quickly took Dylan out of the water. He calmed down, a little. I took the opportunity to dip him back in down to his waist really quickly, just once for my personal satisfaction, before wrapping him in a towel and drying him off.

We took this family photo to commemorate Dylan's first swim in the pool. Note to self: take pictures before tormenting the kid, not after.

On July 3, cousins Ashley and Hannah and Uncle Daryl came to swim in our pool. When Dylan woke up from his nap, there was shade over the spa area, so I changed him into his swim trunks and brought him out to play. This time, Dan heated the water. If Dylan didn't last long enough in the water to enjoy it, the cousins would for sure. We started out like we did before, with my feet resting on the step and Dan in the spa. Dylan was great with just his feet in the water. The water warmed up a few degrees pretty quickly to a comfortable temperature. Dylan loves the warm water in his baths and showers, so we knew he was happy. I lowered him into the water a little at a time, just like last time, but the water was warm and Dylan stayed relaxed. After a while, I had him propped up, sitting on the step in the spa.

I couldn't resist trying to get him out in the water again. I told Dan to take him. Dan remembered about his hands this time and dried them off quickly before taking Dylan. Dylan let him carry him into the middle of the spa and move around the water with him. Dylan was so relaxed. At one point, Dan laughed and said that Dylan was about to fall asleep. Here are a few pictures from Dylan's water adventure when he was just about 3 months old.

Cute Crying Baby Dylan

Unfortunately for little Dylan, we think it's kinda funny when he makes pouty faces or cries at people. Here is some evidence that he is not always a happy baby, but when he is unhappy, he's awefully cute at it!

This is the best picture of his pouty face that I could get. He sticks out his bottom lip and does Sad Sam eyes. He started doing this spontaneously early on, and it is just the funniest face! The expression is fleeting, though, and quickly changes to smiling or crying. You just never know which way he'll go.

Dylan crying at my mom.

Dylan crying at my dad.

Dylan crying at Uncle Dave and Cousin Alyssa.

Dylan in the Magic Front Carrier. Puts him right to sleep. I use it for doing chores around the house, for shopping, for going to the bank and for going out. I pretty much bring it everywhere we go out in public. Keeps my hands free and keeps him happy.

These two pictures we had to take because he reminded of us of a movie star...

... The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man from the movie Ghostbusters! Can't you see the resemblance?

Colicky Baby

As everyone can see from our many pictures, Dylan is a happy and healthy baby. He is growing strong very quickly and has a lot of cute, happy awake time. We have a lot of fun playing with him and trying different outfits on him. Dylan wakes up in the morning as the happy baby you see in our pictures. He eats voraciously and spends the morning practicing his latest skills and playing. He takes some of his best naps in the morningtime. But these past few months have not exactly been easy ones.

As we progress into the afternoon, though, his belly becomes more and more distended and he becomes more and more uncomfortable. Friends and family who have visited us in the afternoon have experienced first hand Dylan's strong lungs and vocal range. Dylan's unhappy time was 4:30pm to midnight. Sometimes it even started as early as 3pm. Sometimes it went as late as 2:30am. Dylan's little belly would puff out and he would burp and pass gas often. We could tell that something was really bothering him, specifically in his belly. He would arch his back and start screaming his head off. Putting him in the crib on his back would stir up the gas and his eyes would pop open, no matter how tired he was. The tiniest little gas bubble in his belly would set him off. Once he burped every last bubble in his belly, his little body would finally relax from exhaustion and he would go straight to sleep. Then his belly would wake him up for the next feeding time because he was hungry from all the activity.

The pediatrician told us that we have a "borderline colicky" baby. I think she said "borderline" because he was quite happy during the morning doctor's appointment, so he obviously wasn't colicky all day and all night. Colicky babies are known for smiling less and scowling more. Dylan was very happy to see the pediatrician and was smiling, cooing, kicking and blowing bubbles for her. The pediatrician said that when it seems to be gas-related colic, then it tends to focus on a certain time of day or night, usually the evening hours. Because I emphasized to the pediatrician that the scary time was 4:30pm to midnight, she told me that's colic, not gas.

Colic is a nebulous condition that has various causes, depending on which source you read. The main criteria for its diagnosis is at least three hours of crying, at least three times a week. It doesn't specify if these are three hours in a row of constant crying, or cumulative hours throughout the day. All the books and Internet sites say there are many different causes and all of those causes have scientific research that disputes it. We think Dylan's colic is due to an immature digestive system trying to work itself out. Neither Dan nor I have observed other colicky babies, so we really don't know if our experience is the same or different than theirs.

Essentially, there is nothing to do to cure colic. It just goes away with time, usually by the time the baby is around 3 or 4 months old. The pediatrician told us that pretty much holding him and comforting him until the colic disappeared was probably the best we could do.
In previous blog postings, Dan and I both mention hours spent trying to burp and calm the baby. At first, I attempted a flexible, loose scheduling for Baby Dylan. I wanted to make sure that he ate regularly and that we had the best opportunity to successfully breastfeed for as long as possible. I hoped that if he ate well, then he would automatically sleep better. If he slept well, all the rest would come somewhat naturally. The more upset he became in the late afternoons and evenings, I focused even less on the activities and even on sleeping and more on the feeding, cuddling and comforting.

I have considered the possibility of having a spoiled baby. But one look in the exhausted eyes of a baby with serious pain in his tummy at 2:00 in the morning convinced me that he would otherwise be happily sleeping. I also came to the conclusion that this crying baby doesn't know what is going on or who is coming to help him. He just knows that he hurts in his belly and he can't make it stop. He doesn't have the psychological capacity yet to cry just to get what he wants. He doesn't even know what he wants yet. After the gas is expelled from one end or the other, he always goes to sleep quickly and soundly. He still always wakes up generally happy, but hungry, just like any other normal, non-colicky baby.

The colicky time has diminished quite a bit now. He has been sleeping from four to six hours in one span at night, save for periodic growth spurts. He enjoyed the Fourth of July afternoon barbecue and evening fireworks show. However, he still has his sudden colicky times. Last night, we happily noted how quiet and calm Dylan was at 8:00pm, even though he was awake at the time. However, at 10:00pm, Dylan spontaneously shot from zero to sixty. His belly was distended and he was crying his poor little lungs out. He was uncomfortable when he was held and he was uncomfortable when he was put down. He burped large loud burps a few times, but even that did not seem to calm his belly discomfort. Dan and I tag teamed holding him and comforting him until late into the night.

Dan and I are hanging in there and doing what we can to keep little Dylan calm, especially in the evenings. This evening as I'm writing this, he is napping nicely and hasn't yet had a colicky incident today. Since Dylan is obviously growing out of this phase, we are not worried about it. We think that the best result from this experience is that we have the confidence that we can handle some of the worst discomfort and Dylan knows that he can trust us to take care of him. We're good with that.

Father's Day video

This was Dylan's video that we sent to the grandfathers for Father's Day. It became such a viral video hit with friends and family that I thought we should post it.

Burnett Great Grandmas

Dylan just barely missed meeting his three Great Grandmas on Dan's side of the family. Great Grandma Pearl Glerup passed away on June 22nd of this year, 2009. On her last visit down to California on September 18, 2008, Dan and I decided to announce to the Burnett family that we were expecting a baby. As we were posing for a family picture, Dan announced, "Hey, everyone, did I tell you that Marci's going to have a baby?" We tried to take video of the moment, but alas, as we were new to using the video camera, we accidentally recorded over it. I think Dan's brother Dave has a digital picture somewhere, though.

Here is a picture of Grandma Pearl and Dan at our wedding in 2002.

Grandma Pearl was a firecracker and had the typical Burnett sense of humor. After the announcement, Dan and I spoke with her again, to make sure she had heard the announcement. Dan asked her if she had heard what he said. She said, "Well, sure I heard! Another squalling brat, eh?" Dan was quick to respond, "Well, it may not be your best great grandkid..." Grandma Pearl didn't miss a beat. She said, "Well, it surely can't be, because it's gonna be yours!" Now, of this moment, we have video, so we can prove that it was all said in good humor. Grandma Pearl was thrilled that we were going to have a baby and honored that we chose her visit to announce our news.

On November 1, 2008, Grandma Maria passed away. She was an interesting woman, too. I found this picture of her from her obituary online. She was a very talented crafter and knitter, and she is responsible for various knit doilies and potholders and other knitted and beaded crafts that we have around our house. She had saved a baby blanket and a burp cloth for our baby, but she passed away a month before we found out the gender of the baby. Dan's mom brought them to us. It is nice to know that she was excited for us to start our family and we will always imagine her planning which crafts to start for the baby as soon as she found out what the gender was.

In private, I nicknamed her "Worm Grandma." When I first met her, we were visiting her house. She was out in front of her house with a car battery with two wire probes attached to the poles. She put it down and ran into her house to wash up and change her shirt before she came out to meet us. We went inside and talked with her for a while and when we came out again, we continued talking. She hadn't brought up the subject of the car battery, so we didn't, either. Before we left, though, she saw the battery on the ground and told us that she had better remember to bring it inside. Then she asked, "Do you know what I use this for?" Of course, we really wanted to know, but we nonchalantly nodded. She explained to us that she used to do a lot of fishing. We continued to politely nod, even though we hadn't made the connection. She said she still collected and sold worms to use for bait. She explained that she would put the probes into the ground a certain distance apart, and the worms would jump out of the ground, still wriggling and alive. She would catch them before they were able to dig back into the ground. As she was miming her worm collection, she rolled up her sleeves and we saw that she had some decorative tattoos. We never got the story behind those. But we will always remember her as a very interesting, intelligent and funny woman.

Grandma Bevie passed away on December 3, 2007, at the age of 94. To differenciate this grandma for me from the other two, Dan called her "Cookies Grandma," because she looked like a woman straight off of a package of homemade cookies. She was soft spoken and she always looked after everyone. Dan's mom said she especially loved taking care of children.

I was looking her up on the Internet, and I found a news article about her. I remember Dan's dad telling me this story. When she was 81, she was still active and bowling. She bowled a 234, which is excellent by anyone's standards, but particularly for an 81 year old. They wrote up an article about her in the newspaper, and they couldn't really get a good quote out of her, because she thought it was silly to talk herself up like that. I think it's a good representation of how active and yet how sweet and humble she was.

I found this picture of Grandma Bevie when she met Alyssa as a baby in 2004. We put Alyssa's hat on Grandma, and put Alyssa in her lap.

I just wanted Dylan to know what fantastic people and interesting characters his great grandmas all were. It's very sad that they couldn't be here to meet him in person, but we know they will be watching over him all of his life.