28 November 2004 10:00 pm
Dylan's First Road Trip: Day Ten, the Final Day
Cleveland to Naperville
We left after breakfast again. The trip was smooth other than the usual traffic at the Indiana-Illinois border. Well, except for when Dylan wet his clothes while being changed at McDonalds and we had to undress and re-dress him in the middle of the restaurant. I don't think anyone else even noticed. Despite the traffic, we still made it home by 4pm. We traveled just shy of 2000 miles on the trip. Whew!
27 November 2004 10:00 pm
Dylan's First Road Trip: Day Nine
Bogota to Cleveland
We left after breakfast and had a smooth trip to Cleveland. We arrived early enough that we decided to stop at Skyline for chili. I had a four-way with onion while Carolyn opted for a four-way with beans. After checking into the hotel, we had a short swim before bed. The water was cool; so Dylan didn't swim too long. Once he got acclimated to the water, he seemed to enjoy himself.
26 November 2004 10:00 pm
Dylan's First Road Trip: Days Six, Seven, and Eight
On Wednesday, we left Cromwell and headed to Morris Plains to visit Uncle Tom and Aunt Maryann in their house. After dinner, we headed to Bogota to stay with Uncle Dan and Aunt Melissa. Dylan was very interested in Sunshine, their bird. However, Sunshine seemed to be scared of Dylan.
On Thursday, there were seventeen people for Thanksgiving dinner! Dylan took it all in stride even though he couldn't explore everywhere he wanted. Dylan really enjoyed playing with Uncle Dan and Aunt Melissa's phone (he almost called the mayor and did manage to store a new number in speed dial) and remote (he almost ordered the NBA season package for well over $100). He doesn't realize that the remote controls the TV, which is probably good, but, rather, thinks that it is a phone and holds it up to his ear and talks.
On Friday, Dylan met Vegas, Melissa's brother's dog. Vegas was incredibly well behaved despite being somewhat hesitant of Dylan. Dylan was quite comfortable and quickly moved from being held, to the couch, and to the floor to pet and crawl after Vegas. Friday afternoon we headed to the park where Dylan loved going down the slide. He got quite dirty crawling around in the grass and wood chips and had a great time.
22 November 2004 10:00 pm
Dylan's First Road Trip: Days Four and Five
Dylan did not have to enter the car today. He did get quite startled by a car, though. Great-Grandpa gave Dylan a wonderful little police car that is battery-propelled. When it went zooming toward Dylan, he wasn't real sure of the car anymore. He'll warm up to it in no time, and we'll need to watch our toes around the house.
Dylan also displayed his musical talents. He moved up from his small, one-octave, toy piano to Great-Grandpa's organ. He had a blast playing on the upper and lower keyboards and changing the orchestration. Dylan didn't manage to find the switch to change the organ from playing music to playing animal sounds.
On Tuesday, we visited Dinosaur State Park where hundreds of dinosaur footprints have been uncovered and are visible within the park's building. I thought it was quite impressive. Dylan didn't seem too interested in the footprints, but enjoyed crawling all over the carpeted floors.
21 November 2004 10:00 pm
Dylan's First Road Trip: Day Three
Cleveland to Cromwell
Dylan did well during our longest driving day of the trip. We left a bit later than hoped, but not as late as on Day One. And we arrived well before midnight, which pleased Carolyn.
An interesting moment during the trip was when Carolyn was driving. Geoff was sitting in the passenger seat, arm extended to Dylan's hand in the center back seat. Surprisingly, both Geoff (in a very contorted position) and Dylan (in a very comfortable position, holding his daddy's hand) fell asleep.
As daylight was waning, Dylan started to get fussy in the car. Once we realized that all he wanted was the light on to read his book, we continued to have a smooth trip. We were greeted in Cromwell by a set of excited grandparents and a set of excited great-grandparents.
20 November 2004 10:00 pm
Dylan's First Road Trip: Day Two
Cleveland
Today was spent in Cleveland. We met Shawn, Suzanne, Kristen, Sydney, and Matthew for breakfast. We had to wait for a while, but Dylan and Matthew had a great time playing. After breakfast, we retired to the hotel for a much needed nap (all three of us). We then headed to Sigma Nu for the Alumni, Active, Candidate (AAC) dinner. At one point during dinner, my table, consisting of the older Alumni, began to throw rolls at other brothers. I'm afraid some of my fraternity brothers may not be a good role model, no pun intended, for Dylan. When our table was under fire, Chris exclaimed, "Careful, there are children here!" Dan added, "add a baby too!" 'Nuff said. Unfortunately, Dylan may have learned too much, as he threw his toy keys from the back seat to the front seat (over his head) on our way back to the hotel.
19 November 2004 10:00 pm
Dylan's First Road Trip: Day One
Naperville to Cleveland
We left later than we planned, but earlier than might have been expected, considering everything that needed to be packed. Dylan did great, especially considering all of the new sights and sounds to absorb. Carolyn loved the GPS ("We're passing under a bridge right ... now!") It rained on and off all day. As soon as we escaped the rainstorm, it was time for another break which gave the rainstorm sufficient time to catch us again. At one rest stop, there was an empty room in which we let Dylan crawl. He's quite the floor buffer; when he was done, his socks were black! While the trip took a while, it went well; we even were able to stop for dinner at Friendly's. The hotel at which we are staying is wonderful. They have, what I assume is, a unique photo outside each room. For those of us that can't remember numbers, this an excellent idea.
5 November 2004 9:08 am
My Son, the Bobblehead
We had a visit with Dylan's doctor yesterday. It was nice to be in the office for a well-check, rather than the couple of sick visits we've had in the past couple of months. The sick visits have indicated only standard colds. The well visit indicated that Dylan has the proportions of a bobblehead.
The supporting evidence is the growth statistics. Dylan weighed in at 21 lbs, 5 oz which puts him just over the 50th percentile for weight. His length of 29 3/4" is between the 90th and 95th percentile. And his head circumference of 19" is above the 95th percentile. Thus, the bobblehead proportions. For those who are interested in looking at growth charts for children they are available in various file formats at the CDC website.
This past Tuesday, Dylan's third tooth - his left, upper front tooth - broke through the gums after a long wait. The right one is not expected to be far behind.
Dylan is also developing well. He has nearly given up the belly crawling that he was doing in the last video in favor of a true hands-and-knees crawl. He also enjoys pulling up on nearly any surface and moving laterally. Unfortunately, this means that almost all horizontal surfaces now have to be free of objects that are not Dylan friendly. It is quite amazing to watch how easily Dylan now climbs up stairs. We still need to be with him as he does, since it will be some time before he learns how to climb down stairs.
Dylan's next well check is scheduled for after his first birthday!
2 November 2004 12:26 pm
Adapt to Survive
An earthquake tilts a pin oak to the Earth,
Yet its toppled limbs continue to thrust.
The fire that transmutes a jack pine to dust
Stimulates it seeds for the wood's rebirth.
Flood waters flow from sky, river, and firth,
And yet a cyprus swamp remains robust.
A wind enraged shreds maple limbs; the gust
Is beaten by buds that increase its girth.
A skyscraper is toppled to the ground;
A cottage becomes a smoldering hive;
A steel bridge is buried beneath the sound;
A barn is tumbled in a windswept dive.
Man needs to learn from nature so profound.
That nature always adapts to survive.
Cazenovia, New York
1990
This is the first sonnet that I wrote. I think the second one is stronger. Like the second sonnet, this one is also inspired by Transcendentalism philosophy that I was studying in school at the time.
