4 months

Has it already been four months? Sometimes in a five minute span he can seem so big to me and yet so small and just recently born all at the same time. He is still pretty small and new yet September seems so long ago, like Cade has been around forever. The boys are starting to enjoy each other a little more. He has started rolling over from his tummy to his back and it won't be too much longer and he will be rolling every where. He is getting more giggly and full of squeals everyday. He is still sensitive and likes things a certain way. He usually needs my hand on his face in order to fall asleep. Lately he has been squirming his swaddled self around in his crib until his face is up against his little stuffed monkey, or pressed up uncomfortably against the crib bars. I am debating on putting up a crib bumper even though now is when they should be coming off.

3 months

I still can't believe he is 3 months old already. He is officially in 6 month clothes. I am packing away the rest of his 3 month stuff as soon as I find time. He has entered into what I call the 'river dance' phase. That's where they kick their legs so fast and furious. The other night he surprised me when I got up to feed him and was not laying where I had put him. Hmmm.... maybe I am just really tired it is 2am, I thought. When we woke up in the morning sure enough he was laying sideways again, and I know I didn't lay him down that way, and he was still swaddled. All of that river dancing must be helping him scoot around. He is starting to grab for toys and all sorts of fun things. He just keeps getting cuter and more fun by the day. He still smiles easy and cries just as easy as he smiles. But we love him for it.

And because I didn't do a post for it, here is his 2 month growth picture with the giant bunny.

click here for the 1 month picture to see how much he has grown.

DPP - Day 7

He saw the nurses coming in with the shots.

We had our 2 month well baby appointment today. He is growing big, 13 lbs 4 oz, up 5 pounds from his birth weight. I am already putting him in some 6 month clothes.

All I have to say is 2 months have gone by way to fast. He is already getting such a personality, I love all his smiles and giggles and coos ok, ok, I love him when he cries too and that seems to be quite a bit but we are working through it and his happy days make up for it. I wish I could just sit and hold him all day. If you have ever read "Secrets of the Baby Whisperer" I would say he is the 'spirited baby' with a bit of the 'touchy baby' personality. I read this book when Dane was a baby and I really wish I would have made time to read it before Caed was born, or at least immediately after he was born. Maybe we could have headed off some these crying fits and misunderstandings sooner :o) He is just a boy that knows what he wants, and I love him for it.

2 years

Dane's first 'growth' picture from when we was only 6 weeks old. Look how much he has grown.

As you can see it was next to impossible to get a growth picture.

Today we sat down to color together. We were having fun and next thing I know he leaned over and gave me a kiss on the cheek. Oh how I love that sweet boy.

Recently we have been reading Love You Forever. The endearing yet very creepy children's book how the mother sneaks in the boy's room at night and rocks him clear into adulthood. Dane loves this book, we taught him how sign I love you and then on his own he said "love you forever mommy" How sweet is he? I do crawl into his room every night and check on him, but can you imagine me doing that when he is married? I promise I won't.

He is one of the funniest boys I've met. He still loves to tease me. Last night he started calling me daddy instead of the usual mommyjenn. His other favorite thing to do is grab my phone from me and start pressing all sorts of buttons and say "texting china" Sometimes he even puts the phone to his ear and says "hi china, hi people".

He can also do some 'chores' now. He has been helping with the dishwasher and laundry for a while. But now he is tall enough to open and shut doors. So I can have him put the dog in the basement before we leave and then when we get home he lets him out again. What a good little helper. The other day I sat down to nurse Caed, got all situated and realized I was thirsty. I could see a half full glass of water sitting on an end table about 10 feet in front of me. I asked Dane to help.

Me: Can you do Mommy a big favor?

Dane -nodded and jumped up excited to help

Me: Can you bring mommy that glass of water, I am really thirsty....

Dane- confidently heads over to the table

Me: ..with out spilling?

Dane: stops dead in his tracks - "Nope"

I guess the orders got a little to tall for him. He knows his limits.

1 month (ok 6 weeks)

I got a late start on the growth pictures, but I think that happened with Dane also. Six weeks old today. Can you believe it? He has settled in quite nicely. I already can't imagine life without him. He is a sweetie pie, he had a fussy couple of weeks but I think we are figuring each other out.
Like now that I understand when you are really upset, and are fed and dry it means you just wants to be laid down and left alone. Ok now that we have an understanding, things are better. I also have realized you really don't like your sleep to be disturbed. So having big brother come up and scream "eyes open" in your face is really not helpful and usually ends badly.
It's probably about time to move you into your own room but you always wake up around 3am and have a hard time going back to sleep after you eat. Usually because you have all sorts of mucus choking you up, and being so little you don't understand how to sleep with your mouth open. I lay awake in my own bed trying to help you you breath and clear your throat.
I love all of your smiles and coos and I respect your need for space, though I could hold you all day long. You are growing so fast. I want you to stay small forever, but I am looking forward to seeing you interact with your big brother. I think he will be thrilled once you start playing with him.

11 Months

Only 4 more weeks until that big first birthday. I had the realization last night that I have not rocked him to sleep nearly often enough. We usually just lay him down awake and he goes right to sleep. I held him a ton at the beginning before he figured out how to move. Now it is a rare occasion where he sits still long enough for me stare at that adorable little baby face. He had a hard time falling asleep last night so I went in and rocked him until he went to sleep, and then kept rocking a little more. I love holding a sleeping baby!
I can't even remember what he has learned this past month. Here are a few I do remember.

• We got him to try and wink and us last night. That was pretty cute watching those adorable eyelids flutter open and shut.
  
• He got his first 2 teeth this month.
  
• He does says 'sup' for whats-up and does the head nod thing that goes with it.
  
• He loves being read to.
  
• He loves playing with daddy. That is going to be so hard once Andy leaves for basic in 4 weeks.


• He signs please every time he sees me consuming food or drink, and if he really wants a bite he gets both hands signing please. I take that as meaning pretty please.
  
• He is climbing everything now. I had him at the mall the other day and let him loose in the play place. He was scaling a big rock think in the middle and he has mastered the slide. I get home and was organizing his clothes and found him on top the rubbermaid container reaching for the items on top of his changing table. Let me tell you he was oh so proud of himself.
• A few months ago he started switching sides on his own while nursing. You know, sit up, struggle to turn around, and then dive backwards. Now when he is done with the first side he stops and says 'done' and smiles cute, then we switch and repeat.
  

Well I am sure there are many more things he has learned lately I just don't remember them right now. It feels we have had a very busy month. Here are a few pictures with his bunny to mark a months worth of growth. It is getting to be fairly difficult to get these pictures. It has turned into a two person job. That boy does not like to sit still.

10 months

It seems as though it has been a busy month. I can't even remember what all he has learned this month. He is crawling much faster now and is walking behind and pushing toys around the house. He likes to push as fast as he can if he goes too fast and falls he slides on his knees hanging on for dear life then gets back up and keeps going, such a boy he has places to go. Oh yes and he climbs stairs , fairly quickly now, must remember to keep the door shut. He is adding to his already existing vocabulary of mama, dada, ni-night, num-num, Magnum. Most of the time the things all sound fairly similar but he attempts to say thank you and duck. We tried to teach him to sign thank you but he decided it was easier to say it, but he can sign it now as well. Still working on signing please, he has done it a few times. He still has such a sense of humor, loves to tease and really cracks himself up sometimes. The biggest thing this month was learning to walk behind and push his walker around and walking behind anything else that slides across the floor. He is getting to be such a bugger. He loves to wiggle away from me and laugh his bald head off at his escape. Trying to get these pictures this time was a workout. By the time I laid him down, stood up, and got the camera ready he would take off for underneath his crib laughing the whole way. He is a ton of fun and we thank God for him!

9 months

It's that time of the month again:o) That is probably what Dane thinks every time I get that bunny and the camera out. Another month is down and he is 9 months old. Though I never get this posted on the actual day, the 31st, but at least I get close. I can't even remember all the things he learned this month. He started clapping. He claps all the time now. Like when we say good job, for pat-a-cake, to get the dogs attention, when he is throwing a fit. It is sorta funny when he starts kicking his legs in anger then starts clapping while he is turning red in the face and crying. I don't let him see me laugh though. I am not sure if he claps to be cute so I will change my mind about the nap or if he is just expressing his anger. I also know it won't be cute when he is 2. He does like to make me laugh though. Last night before bed we both got the giggles and just laughed at each other for like 20 minutes.

He has even started saying a few things lately. Awhile back he said 'hidad' for awhile and usually when Andy walked into the room. Just the other day he started saying 'Magum' fairly clearly. He can also say mama and dada.

8 months

Yup another month has past and Dane is 8 months old! I wish time would slow and this baby phase would last forever, but it is equally exciting watching him learn new things. He can now sit up on his own, has taken a few crawling steps but finds it much faster to just flop to his belly and army crawl across the floor. We have even found him standing in his bed the last couple of days. And boy is he proud of himself! I don't really know sign language but I looked up the sign for 'more' last week and tried teaching it to him. Just a couple of days ago he signed it back to me! He still loves to tease and he definitely gets that from his dad. Still no teeth but we are working our way through all the new foods and flavors. Each time we try a new one he is pretty skeptical and makes a grimace face but a few bites in he is usually enjoying himself. The other day at Walmart I had picked up some more baby food. Dane was pretty zoned out and sleepy, but as we were checking out he noticed the jars floating by on the conveyor belt and got pretty excited. He was reaching for them and saying 'nah nah nah'. (maybe for num num?)

7 months

My little guy is getting big so fast. I am trying to enjoy every moment with him, though he is getting more vocal about his likes and dislikes. He is getting around much faster by rolling and even a little scooting across the floor. I have even seen him on his hands and knees a couple of times, though briefly. He has learned to babble and has been practicing all his new sounds quiet and loud. One of them happens to be the 's' sound. It is so cute to watch him in a whispery voice going 'thssss' 'thssss' maybe once he has teeth the lisp part will go away. Someone has told me that putting a baby in a different environment will stimulate growth and development. Last week while we were in Colorado he learned to wave for ni' night and goodbye. Right now it is an entire arm flop but definitely a wave. He did a remarkable job sleeping through the night the first 7 nights we were gone but that next night he was up every hour just to be held. We finally put him in bed with us, he eventually stopped crying but was wide a wake. Next thing we know at 3 am he kept hitting Andy and saying psssst, pssst. tap, tap, tap, pssst, pssst, pssst. We both busted up laughing. The little guy had something to say. I think it was "hey dad, I'm not tired."

Six months

So when does he officially turn six months if there isn't a 31st in the month? I guess it isn't really important. Six months have gone fast. He gets everywhere now by rolling and squirming, he is getting really good at sitting, and he loves his dog Magnum. He will roll and roll and try and get close to the dog so he can grab a handful of hair. Magnum is still a little unsure but will sit around for a few seconds and let Dane touch him then he jumps up and runs away. We are still working on being gentle.

I would love for Dane to stay little forever, but it is also fun to see all the new things he is learning and watch him figure out new things. The other day at the Dr. he was 18 pounds! He doesn't have is official 6 month well baby until June, so it is more like a 7 month well baby. I am not good at writing all my feelings down especially for the world to see. I am just trying to keep record of his milestones. All I can say is I just love him a little more each day!

Here he is trying to escape from the pictures

Month 5

Five months already. Actually it was yesterday, but today is close enough. Last month he went to Colorado for the third time, had his first plane ride and just 2 days ago figured out how to roll from his back to his tummy, now he can make it across the room by rolling over and over. I am going to relish these last weeks of slow mobility. When you are holding him he is so squirmy he looks like he could just get down and crawl. But he is just not strong enough. It reminds me of Princess Bride where Westly is trying to hold off Humperdinck off while he is still getting strength back into his limbs after being mostly dead all day, and he sorta flops around unable to stand.
I am really trying to enjoy each phase as it comes. I have to admit though I loved the newborn stage, but I love this stage too where I am seeing a bit of the sense of humor peeking through. This afternoon he kept grabbing for my face and I would grab his hand to stop him and he was just belly laughing. He likes to tease his momma I guess.

Month 4

The months are flying by way to quickly. Where is that little newborn I had not so long ago? This past week I felt like he grew up a bunch, all of a sudden more observant. He even started noticing that I am holding him, by craning his little neck around to see who is up there. He also found his feet last week. And he is laughing so much easier now. I put him in a walker this month and it seems like every time I put him in it he would figure out something new, like how to turn the steering wheel, he was oh so proud of himself. One evening I put him in it while I was trying to make dinner and he backed it up about fifteen feet through the dining room. Really I didn't expect my little guy to be able to move so far. I love watching him learn new things and to see the wheels turning as he is figuring out something new. It really is amazing!
-A week ago he was weighing in at 15lbs 9oz.

Month 3

I can't believe it has been 12 weeks already. He is getting so big, I love watching him learn how to do new things. He is getting so much better at grabbing things, and mimicking the faces I make at him. I even saw him roll over a couple times from tummy to back, though it did seem like a fluke, it won't be long. He is not sleeping well at night, though one night the problem was he had gotten his arm out the neckhole of his sleeper. Don't ask me how, I will never know. He thrives on one on-one-attention, it is not good enough to just hold him, you need to be talking to him and paying him some attention. Last night towards the end of the super bowl party we were at, yes the intense moments before it ended, he was laughing at me the hardest I have heard him laugh yet, and all I did was talked to him and asked him what was so funny. I love that boy. It did end in hiccups.

When you think your kid is cute how do pick which pictures to use? SO I picked a lot of them.

Month 2

This month he is on the verge of laughing everyday. We still haven't quite got the full laugh though. He is talking and cooing and so happy just to lay on the floor and look around. What a sweet little blessing. Today we are leaving for his second road trip. This one is shorter though.