playing peacefully!

Dylan and his cousin Everest were sometimes caught playing peacefully together (Horray!). This was nominally Dylan's present, but it was just too easy for him. He took it apart and put it back together twice in something like 30 seconds. So we left it behind for Everest, who had found several ways to enjoy it.

Discovering autumn

Dylan had his first real opportunities to play with the leaves this year.

The county fair

Dylan enjoyed the county fair, beginning in the parking lot(!) -- where he saw a school bus! He grabbed my hand and pulled: he wanted to go see that bus! The driver was very nice to let him get inside, where he sat right down in the front row.

Once inside, he may have enjoyed the petting zoo the most. I got video of him looking at pigs and quacking at ducks:

More see-saw!

A friend has been installing a dog obstacle course in her yard to practice with her dog. What fun!! Notice Dylan is starting to repeat (and say) phrases! He started doing that in the last few weeks.

Animals at the OKC Zoo

I took several other videos at the Oklahoma City Zoo, but these are the only two with Dylan in them.

Bats inside the Oklahoma Trails exhibit:

And as we were leaving the giraffes:

2009 Sept 12 Dylan plays in our reservoir

It's not lake Thunderbird, rather a home made reservoir in our driveway. Dylan loved playing in the water. Afterall, it's a novelty around our yard where the water drains so fast we don't even get puddles after a flood.

freak Daddy out, why don't you?

anything you do, he'll do... or do better

We were pretty shocked and astounded at how this little girl imprinted on Dylan. He watched her carefully and copied a lot of her behaviors. Yikes! She doesn't like bugs. Too bad. We tried to teach her otherwise during our interactions. In this video, she picked up a small bit of rock (charcoal, actually), and he immediately went to pick up a BIG ROCK and copy her. Daddy stepped in to intervene. We also stopped her so that only one rock went into our friend's pool.

truck month on our street, take II

Dylan had a blast with the ramp after the guy unloaded the few things sent from Grandma's house. That is one BIG TRUCK, by the way. Our driveway is a generous 16' wide!

visit to the Wichita Mountains National Wildlife Refuge

Museum buttons are designed tough because they have to withstand things like this:

The visitor's center also had a lot of hands-on displays with steps Dylan loved. We'd just seen a tortoise by our front door that day or the day before which was probably just a hair larger than the shell he points out in the next video.

We took a short hike that involved some trail mix:

While driving through the refuge we ran into a large herd of bison on the move.

chicken interactions

This is a rooster, actually. Dylan had a blast screaming at it, and luckily it didn't attack.

swim lessons

They sing Ring Around the Rosies for one of the activities. The climax is the hard part: parent is supposed to blow hard in the kid's face so they naturally close their eyes and mouth, and then dunk 'em!

Jim and Dylan also had fun playing with the squirting turtle.

can I see your rocks?

Dylan loves rocks. Just loves 'em! But not more than watching video of himself. :-)

fire truck!

A severe storm knocked a tree limb into a powerline but the line stayed alive. So Norman FD came to sit by the line and make sure no one got hurt before OG&E turned the line off. Took many hours. In the mean time, Dylan got to play in the truck and we enjoyed talking to the firemen. Every time Dylan watches this video he does the same tongue thing at the end.

'Nite 'nite, moo!

We sometimes catch Dylan reading to himself.

getting in the car seat all by himself!

Big boy won't always do this, of course, but he's clearly capable!

New sandbox!

The new sandbox is an instant hit!

And it doesn't take long before he's properly inside, covering himself with sand.

Do you wan to see your video? Uh, huh!

Playing with rocks at Clear Bay, he's suddenly distracted by the camera.

Outdoor music by The Coolers

Our next door neighbor just retired, so set up his band for an afternoon party. Once again, Dylan was transfixed! Eventually he wandered around a bit, but remained focused on the music. At one point a band member said they try not to pay more than $250 to play anywhere. Ha ha ha! 

Dump 'em out, put 'em back

Dylan will entertain himself like this occasionally, whether it's coins in a box, chalk in a box, etc.