Happy Birthday, Dylan...Chicago Style!!!

First off, happy 13 month birthday, Dylan! I took a vote and everyone unanimously agreed that I needed to keep doing the "month" pics! It might not last forever, b/c it's awfully hard to get the little man to sit/stand still at this point. He's way more interested in walking around, exploring and pretty much getting into all sorts of trouble! So, here's 13 months. SUPER BABY!! Dylan has gotten the nickname, Super Baby because he's been such a rock star through all of his surgeries and is such a great, happy baby! A big thanks to Erin for the adorable shirt for his birthday :)

We tried to do a few pics in the morning before daycare...Dylan has just gotten 2 more teeth in and has been a bit edgy and very drooly. He's also had a bit of a cold (which he very sweetly gave me as well) so wasn't much in the mood to hold still for a picture. Luckily, we got the outside one up above after daycare and before dinner.

We actually had scheduled Dylan's surgery for his undescended testicle for May 5th, but because of the cold we rescheduled for June 14th. Hopefully, D will be healthy and we can get that surgery behind us! Aunt Nicki still came in town for a visit (even though surgery got cancelled) and Annie O. and Dorian are in town this weekend. We went to Deanna Rose (the petting zoo) this morning and Dorian and Nicki are building Dylan's car that Aunt Beth and Uncle Dennis got him for his birthday while he naps. I'm having fun supervising from the couch, while I type :)

And now, the long awaited Chicago birthday pics! (For the record, I actually posted these over a week ago...I'm just now getting around to writing the story. Work has remained crazy and it's been hard to find the time to update the blog.)

We flew into Chicago on Thursday night. Dylan did great on the plane. It was bedtime, but Dylan decided it was way more fun to people watch on the plane than it was to sleep. He was enamored with the lady behind us across the aisle and played peek-a-boo with her for almost the whole trip. He also sang (and by sang, I mean screeched) a few songs for the whole plane to hear :) Aunt Nicki picked us up from the airport and we headed to her dorm (yes, that's right people, we stayed in a dorm) in Evanston. D went to sleep fairly easily and Nicki and I had fun catching up. I had a call on Friday morning so I went to Borders while Nicki played with D and he took his nap. After the call was over, we met Erin and Carrie Mac for lunch downtown. We had a great time and both got Dylan some adorable presents. It was so much fun seeing them both and Dylan loved all the attention!

Having fun with Erin :)

All smiles with Carrie Mac :)

After lunch, we went condo shopping with Aunt Nicki and Grandma Toni. We successfully found a place, she put in a bid and as of mid-June she'll officially be a homeowner! It's a great place in Old Town and we can't wait to visit her often!

On Saturday morning, we had breakfast with Richard and Rhonda in Oak Park. We had a good time at breakfast (Dylan ate an entire pancake) and then we had fun in the park for a few minutes afterward.

After breakfast and a nap for Dylan; Nicki, Toni and I went on a great walk to the park and Dylan had a blast on the swing! After the park, we went back for another nap before the big birthday party.

We had the birthday party at an Italian restaurant close to Grandma Toni and Grandpa Karl's house. Toni had reserved us the party room and we had a great time! I was very touched at the number of family and friends that came to help celebrate Dylan turning a year old. D was a bit overwhelmed at first (he's had a bit of stranger anxiety lately), but once we got him in his high chair and had people feeding him, he warmed right up! It was wonderful getting to catch up with everybody! We also got to meet the newest member of our Iowa posse...Beck, Steve and Heather's adorable new baby boy.

Dylan loved all of the attention from everybody!

Let's Go Hawks!!

I get to eat more cake?!? Hooray!!

Fun with Aunt Beth :)

Heather and Beck

Hanging with the fam :)

Fun with Aunt Nicki's friends!

After the party, all of the Iowa gang came back to Toni and Karl's place so we could hang out a bit longer. It was great getting to spend a bit more time with everybody and catch up some more!

I can't even remember Dylan being that little! Fun with Beck :)

Fun with Grandma Toni and Grandpa Karl :)

As always, I want to give a huge thank you to Grandma Toni, Grandpa Karl and Aunt Nicki for being great hosts! Travelling with a 1 year old can be a bit overwhelming but Toni, Karl and Nicki make it so it's just like being at home for us. They buy all of our favorite foods (not just Dylan's) and take amazing care of us! A special thanks to Grandma Toni for throwing Dylan such a great birthday party. We had a great time and everything was perfect!!

Here are a couple of cute pics...

Playing with sidewalk chalk :)

Dylan says, "check out my new big kid car seat!!"

I'm so cute!