Wednesday, December 31, 2008

Merry Christmas!




God Bless Us Every One!

It is hard not to feel overwhelming joy, excitement, blessed, Merry, [insert your favorite happy, emotional adjective here] during this Christmas season.

We have a healthy family, both the Chiock and Snodgrass families were in the same city (Atlanta). And we all rejoiced with our newest, cutest family member.

we had a great Christmas and Santa and friends were overwhelmingly generous to Dylan. He is so excited to have so many new toys to play with and learn new tricks while Abuelita and YeYe are visiting from LA.

The Christmas Season did not pass without new milestones from Dylan, but more to come on that...

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Making a list...

We're preparing Dylan for his visit with Santa Clause today! He was so excited that he started telling us everything on his list...take a listen!

Hope you're having a great Christmas and Holiday Season!

Thursday, November 27, 2008

We're going to eat what?!?!? Oh...thats cool




Dylan reacts to the statement "that Butterball sure smells good" and then realizes that he is not the Butterball we're eating for dinner tonight.

Happy Thanksgiving!








We have a lot to be thankful for this year. At the top of the list, is the birth of our beatiful son Dylan. Even with the extreme exhaution of a newborn :), we found a true joy and pure love with him. We thank God and our family and friends for all of the love, prayers and support during this blessed time in our lives.


We hope you are with loved ones today, enjoying this Thanksgiving holiday.
Love,
Alison, Mike, and Dylan

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Turn Up the Volume

Hello fellow Americans! Listen closely and you can hear me express joy as only I can.
Love,
Dylan

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Happy Halloween!


Dylan's first Halloween. Question: Why did the chicken cross the road? Answer: To get away from mom and dad! (As you can see, mom and dad support eating more chicken!)

Sorry!











A thousand apologies...we have been missing for a little more than a month. No excuses. Well since the last post a lot has happened, including Dylan's third doctor's visit (the two month visit). Dr. Roe was very happy to see Dylan's growth! Our little guy is now 50th percentile in length and weight, starting to overachieve just like his parents. And Abuelita and Tio Johann came to visit! Here are a few pictures from the last month....enjoy! More to come...

Thursday, September 25, 2008

El Hombre Mas Guapo Dice Dylan!

Dylan wants to send Happy Birthday wishes to his YeYe in Alhambra. Dylan says that he is the most handsome man alive!

Salud!

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Dylan's Corner II - Boys Night









Hello Friends!

Dylan here checking in on the latest news. I went to the Doctor this week and took my second shot like a man! Mother and Father were very proud of me.

But last night was the best night yet. Mother went with Aunt Kerrie and Aunt Sloane to see Les Miserables. So, it was just the boys last night and all of my homies, Gino, Leo, Cassidy...

Father was cool enough to throw us a little party. It was what some might call "off the hook" some drinking, some dancing (my favorite right now is the latest instrumental remix of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star - it has a nice techno beat to it). Father explained that it was in celebration of my Uncle Hamoon who moved into his dorms at UC Santa Cruz...apparently he will probably be attending a few parties these next few years. And I need to start training because in 18 years I will go to college too!

Well we were having a great time at our little party, until Gino (remember he is always the instigator) decided it was time to take it to the next level. (Cue Mariachi Band) Who always shows up at the end of the night to cause problems? Not Tequila silly people! Gino brought out the Whole Milk! Shooter's all around!!!

Well, the pictures you see here are the result of our first Boys Night. I am so embarrassed ;)

Love,
Dylan

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Dylan +1 Month







Our boy is GROWING!!!







We visited Dr. Roe on Monday September 15th for Dylan's one month check up. He is so BIG! Well bigger than he was one month ago. Dylan is 8 lbs 14.9 oz, 21 inches tall, still with a full head of hair and a smile that grows every day.






Sunday, September 7, 2008

Dylan's Corner


Hello World! 

In my three short weeks in this world, I have quickly learned that I will need to update this Blog so that I can tell my version of the story and the truth as I see it.

So, I have started to learn about the intricacies of the World Wide Web, English, Spanish, how to type, and, of course, I had to hack the site so that my parents can not distort any of my posts.  It has been a lot of work but worth the effort to write the truth.

On August 14th, I decided that I had enough of the womb, and the world needed to see how cute I really am. To do this, I helped mother (there's a rumor that she would prefer that I call her mother and not something more endearing like mommy, momma, Alison, etc.) support her beliefs.  Mother "just knew" that she was going to have the worse of pushing and then need a C-section.  Though it was a tough task to turn myself around, I did it so I was "sunny side up"...I really hope mother told all the disbelievers, "I told you so".

The first few days were okay.  My parents were learning how to change a diaper, how much to feed me, and what my sounds mean.  I don't blame them...I couldn't smile yet, I liked to scream, and I had no idea what cooing was.  I was very ready to leave the hospital on Day 3, and I am so happy that mother and father wanted to take me home.

Home has been AWESOME!  I have my own room with lots of fun friends.  There's Gino the Giraffe, Leo the Lion, Cassidy the Cow, Maggie Moo, PB the Bear, and we all have play time most of the night.  After my nightly bath and bottle, mother and father put me down for my late night nap and I let them think that I'm sleeping, but not a chance.  Typically, Gino is the instigator and gathers all our other friends.  Right now, our favorite games are "Fake Crying" (mother or father come in to check on me and I cry for no reason whatsoever), "The Amazing Dylan" (I'm still working on my stage name and am accepting suggestions, but I like to undo the tight swaddle my parents wrap me in), and, of course, my favorite game "I Miss My Mommy" (sometimes I just want to hang out with mother and so I cry for a long time until she decides to feed me, then I fall asleep several time during the feeding so that it takes more than an hour for me to feed).

I've had a lot of visitors too!  I appreciate all of them and look forward to meeting the rest of our family and all of mother and father's friends.

From my family I have learned...my ABC's from Grandpa Snodgrass, Abuelita Chiock is teaching me that Pollitos dicen "pio, pio, pio cuando tienen hambre y cuando tienen frio", Ye Ye Chiock took me on walks and showed me around our neighborhood, and Grams Snodgrass tells me all the latest gossip in our world.

So, that is the latest from here.  I hope everyone is having a great September.  Go Deacs (the Pride of ACC Football)!

Love,
Dylan

Abuelita and Ye Ye Visit




September 6 was a sad day...after nine days, Dylan's Abuelita (grandmother in Spanish) and Ye Ye (paternal grandfather in Chinese) returned to Alhambra, CA.  It was a great week full of smiles, tears, laughs, spit up, dirty diapers and all the GREAT stuff that Dylan brings to our family.  Dylan can't wait for their next visit!  Here are a couple of picture highlights from their visit.

Ciao!

Dylan is so COOL


Aunt Janie remembered that Mommy Alison LOVED her sunglasses when she was a little one.  So, she gave Dylan his first pair...we think he likes it!

The Chiok Family Visits



With Abuelita and Ye Ye visiting from Alhambra, Dylan had more visitors!  Some of our family from Peru who now live in Gwinnett County came by to visit and meet our beautiful little Dylan.  Nikolas was very eager to meet the newest family member! 

P.S. The name is spelled correctly, another side of our family spells it Chiok and not Chiock...crazy we know!

Happy Labor Day!




Dylan's first Labor Day was a well deserved day off for him.  Mom and Dad have been very persistent that Dylan eat around every three hours, then sleep for a couple of hours, play for around an hour, then do it all over again.  It is very stressful and can take a lot out of Dylan, so Labor was a day of leisure and family!  Our visitors included Abuelita and Ye Ye from Alhambra and Great Aunt Janie from Indianapolis.

Thursday, August 28, 2008

Happy 2 Week Birthday Dylan!



It is tough to believe that we were in the hospital two weeks ago and waiting for our little guy to arrive. Here are a couple of favorite pictures from the last couple of days...

Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Dylan's BIG Debut



Day 12 (8/26) was a big day for Dylan. Lee Patterson, our wedding photographer, came to our house today to take pictures of our little man. Dylan was in top form! He was awake, aware, posed perfectly and every once in a while flahsed his bright pink/red gums. Here are a couple of pictures from the "shoot".

Friday, August 22, 2008

Gino the Giraffe says Happy Birthday


We started Dylan's one week birthday with one of his room mates, Gino the Giraffe. Gino can't wait to play with Dylan all the time!

Happy 1 Week Birthday





We celebrated Dylan's one week Birthday by drinking milk, changing dirty diapers and doing anything that Dylan wanted. To our surpise Dylan wanted a special hair style on his big day. Who are we to deny our son? Dylan...Business in the Front...Party in the Back

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Splish, splash I was taking a bath...

The first splash at home was wonderful! We wanted Dylan to be clean before his first doctor's visit tomorrow morning.

Lazy Baby ;)


Dylan Michael sleeping the day away...what a lazy little baby ;)

Picture Highlights







We're going home! Dylan here in an outfit WAY to big for him...









We're Home


We’re Home!!!

We left Sunday night and introduced Dylan to his home. He was so excited that he slept all the way home and into the Pack n’ Play (the interim napping spot). After Mike went to the Pharmacy to pick up the wonder drugs for Alison it was time to feed him…again. How much do these little people eat?!?!

Sunday night was quite an adjustment. We were sleeping with our son through the night for the first time. We couldn’t believe that we were setting an alarm to wake up in the middle of the night. Since Dylan is with us in a bassinet, we needed to create a make shift changing station and kitchen in our room so we could have all the supplies we needed to change and feed the little man in the middle of the night. Mike is in charge of waste management and Alison is the Executive Chef of Chez Chiock.

We can’t believe that we’re home with Dylan and that we’re watching our boy change every hour of every day. Some highlights…he is starting to feed very well from Alison and also from the supplemental bottles that are pumped and then when absolutely necessary with some formula. The good news is that Dylan has been able to tell us when he’s hungry with his small but mighty lungs.

Some concerns…he sleeps very well between feedings (can this last long?), his hair does not automatically pop in to a faux hawk, he hasn’t eaten enough to look like a little Michelin man, but we’ll be there soon.

Sunday, August 17, 2008

Hola Abuelos!

Good Morning Dylan! Say Hi to your Abuelos in Alhambra! We Love You!

Our Little Boy


Contrary to what most people might think (because of Mikey's smallness) Dylan was a little guy. But, in day 3 his he starting to fill in much to his parents happiness. And according to the Piedmont Hospital professionals he maintained his 6% loss of his original birth weight and that's good. Here's a newer picture of him looking all cool with his crooked beanie hat.

Day 2 - Our Family


With some rest and relaxation we start to see the changes in Dylan. It is amazing to think that he is with us now. We can hold him, feed him and love him outside of the womb! We are very excited that his cheeks are starting to fill in...all we want to do is pinch him! We hope you will get the chance to do the same soon.

Day 1 Picture Hightlight


Our little guy in the transition nursery and then meeting mom in the Post Op Recovery Room

Oh Happy Day - August 14, 2008

Dear Family and Friends,

It is with great pleasure that we announce the arrival of our son, Dylan Michael Chiock. Born August 14, 2008 at 4:16 PM Eastern. Dylan weighed 6 lbs. 11.4 oz and measured 19.5 inches.

Our experience started early on Thursday morning (12:00 AM to be exact) as Alison started to feel early contractions, but contractions strong enough that she had to breathe through. So, we called our doctor who instructed us to go to the hospital. After a nice 1.5 mile walk (one of the many recommendations during early labor), more sporadic contractions and a cervix dilated only 1 cm (for those who don’t know, the basic object is to start at 1 cm and end at 10 cm for the baby to come out), we were kindly sent home…time 6:30 AM.

On our way home, half asleep but with keen awareness that today (8/14) might be THE day, we stopped for gas and noticed that traffic going towards the hospital “sucked”. While at the gas station, Alison decided that she needed to vomit (we were later told that this was Alison’s body telling her that something “changed”). Well at 7:30 AM (approximately 5 minutes after I was comfortable and Alison was still un-comfortable), I heard “Oh, my water broke”. That is that I call “change”, as so termed by our wonderful Labor and Delivery Nurses at Piedmont Hospital. Alison went from 1 cm dilated at 6:30 AM to 4.5 cm at 8:00 AM, then 7.5 at 10 AM and finally to 10 cm (aka Open for Business) by 12:30. Apparently this was “quick” and she started pushing Dylan out of his comfortable habitat.

Rightfully so, Dylan did not want to cooperate or leave his warm and cozy home. And as the labor and pushing wore on, the doctor decided that Alison had done enough and that Dylan was not going to come out. So, we opted for the Cesarean Section and Dylan arrived shortly there after. It’s been a long day and a couple of nights, but mom and son are doing very well!

A brief introduction to Dylan…he looks like Alison and Michael…the transition nursery already called him “very strong”…he loves being with his parents…and we certainly love him.

Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers. We hope to connect with each of you soon as we start this wonderful phase in our lives.

With Love,
Michael, Alison and Dylan Chiock