Picture of the Week

That's one hot little man.

Three Naps!

Huge napping success today. Dane resists his naps with the greatest determination you have ever seen in a baby. He doesn't even like his swing anymore, and I'm pretty sure it's because he knows it will eventually and inevitably lull him to nap. I've been putting him down in his crib at regular nap times anyway, hoping for the best. If he doesn't want to sleep, fine, but he'll stay in there for thirty minutes anyway. He has been playing the first half and crying the last. But today he took 3 naps in his crib! 2 thirty minute naps and a fifteen. Plus he napped in his swing for about an hour. I'm hoping that this is the beginning of a pattern and that this napping pattern will affect his sleeping for the better.

Could this be our nightlight at the end of the tunnel?

Rocked The Vote!

We packed up the stroller today and braved the crowd at the library to cast our ballot early for the 2008 Presidential Election. We waited in line for two and a half hours and Dane was a champ. He only got whiny when it was time for him to eat and he became the unofficial mascot for the precinct. It was important to us that he was there. He won't remember it when he grows up, but we will be able to tell him that we took him, that we voted, that it is not only a right but a duty. We were continuously reminded by fellow voters, campaigners and volunteers that if we could stand in line for two and a half hours with a four month old, then nobody had an excuse to not vote! So a big congratulations to Dane (like his "I voted early" sticker?) and Daniel today, as this was their first time voting. Early voting continues through Saturday in NC. Thursday and Friday from 11-7 and Saturday from 10-1. You can even register on location.

Better get out and ROCK THE VOTE!

The Daily Dane will be right back after this commercial from EMILY.

Our oldest niece is doing a bang up job on student council at her middle school. Right now they are selling those great Citipass coupon books (2009 edition) for the Charlotte and surrounding areas (S. Charlotte, Ballantyne, Matthews, Mint Hill, Indian Trail, Weddington/Waxhaw, York County/Lake Wylie, Lake Norman, Uptown, University City, Cabarrus County and Gaston County). We bought one and there are great coupons like BOGO Free & BOGO 1/2 Off among other great discounts. Participating restaurants include some of our favorites like Arby's, Boardwalk Billy's, Brixx, City Tavern, Fuel Pizza, Good Ol' Days, Jackson's Java, Jersey Mike's, Kabuto, Krispy Kreme, Mayflower, Mexicasa, Monterrey, Orange Julius, Papa John's, Papa Pino's, Pike's Soda Shop, Pizza Hut, Quaker Steak&Lube, Quizno's, RJ Gators, Rock Bottom, Salsarita's, Shane's Rib Shack, Uno, Wild Wing Cafe, Wolfman Pizza, Zapata's and Zaxby's.
There are also coupons for fun stuff like Build-a-Bear, Charlotte 49ers, Charlotte Checkers, Dave & Buster's, Dick's Sporting Goods, Discovery Place, Home Depot, Laser Quest, Lazy 5 Ranch, Lowe's Speedway, NC Zoo, Northcross Lanes, Office Depot, Regal Cinemas, Sport Clips, and The UPS Store.
That's not even close to a tenth of the participating restaurants/businesses! Books are $25 dollars and the proceeds benefit Northeast Middle School Student Council. It's well worth the money and they're only being sold for a limited time so let one of us know if you want to buy one and support Emily.

How's this tie in with Dane? Two-fold as I see it. One - Emily just took and passed the Red Cross's 6 HOUR LONG babysitting class. I figure exploiting our loved ones interest in Dane entitles us to at least a couple of free hours of sitting. Reason two - when Dane is in seventh grade, Emily will be exactly our age... Can you even imagine all the fundraiser crap she's going to have to buy from Dane? You owe us, Em. Better start saving up NOW! ;)

Weekend Wrap-Up

Dane's weekend was full of action. Not eventful, but action-packed. Friday morning he woke up EARLY and ready to play. He rolled over for the first time. And the second time. And the third. He is now a professional roller-overer. He woke up early every morning and frequently every night. He was loud and mobile and a bad sleeper all weekend. To the point where if it was your kid, we would think it was obnoxious. But on Dane it was adorable.

The highlight of Dane's weekend, I am sure, was Saturday night. Dane got to spend some time with his pal Cole and Aunt Jenny while we went out on our first baby-free bona fide date in over 4 months. Dinner and a movie without having to change a diaper, nurse, rinse a passy, put a sock back on for the 48th time, etc. We were very much overdue for a night out and we had a great time. Dane played nicely and went down to bed easy. Hey Jen, want to come put Dane down every night?

On a side note, we and Dane would like to wish his Bobby Pops and Granny K a very happy anniversary. Congratulations on another happy year together! We wish you many more.

(Can you believe this is the most recent picture we have of you both and Dane?! Shame on us all.)

Picture of the Week

We're training Dane young to be a carnivore.

Wait, does penguin beak count as meat?

We're Pregnant!

Are you shocked? Don't be. We aren't pregnant. But it was this day last year that we found out we were. It truly was one of our happiest, scariest, craziest days. It was a short while before we told people, but our lives were already changed. From that moment on we thought like parents, planned like parents, protected like parents. We would forever more be a mommy and a daddy.

Jackie told Danny she was pregnant by presenting him with a "forgotten birthday present", a photo album timeline of their relationship thus far, with the final page being the positive pregnancy test.

The best part - the "album" was the infant photo album toy "Who Loves Baby?", now Dane's.

Favorite Things: Halloween Night

Dane has a LOT of books, thanks in large part to the huge success of our baby shower raffle. He has books that range from the youngest reader, to Seuss, to Shel Silverstein and he actually very much enjoys story time. We are always interested in expanding Dane's library and recently discovered a gem.

We picked up Halloween Night from the dollar bin at Target. That's right, one dollar for a cute little board book that Dane is currently loving. I'm not really sure why he seems to like this one so much, but when we read it with him he flips the pages himself, stares very attentively, and grasps at the pictures. He could read it over and over - and he does! Something tells me this won't be packed up when the season is over.

Pick it up for the little one in your life. It comes with Dane's high recommendation.

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Today is Danny's birthday; his first birthday as a dad. What does a new father get for his birthday, this cherished and memorable rite of passage? A gun. Yeah, that's right. Gun.

Dane met Dan at work to have lunch with him. He was the talk of the office and lunch was great.
Ignore Dane's daydreaming. He's thinking about tonight - we're celebrating with a big dinner and a German Chocolate cake.

Happy Birthday, Daddy. We love you!

Weekend Wrap-Up

We had a pretty productive weekend. We cleaned out the garage (And by we, I mean Daniel did everything) and packed up Dane's bassinet. This was not nearly as sad as we thought it might be. Getting together all of Dane's outgrown clothes, on the other hand - very bittersweet. The newborn size has been packed since about two months, but I've been clinging on to the 0-3 month size. There are sooo many outfits Dane has yet to wear that he has already outgrown! So I've allowed myself the closet space for fifteen 0-3m outfits I'm hoping to get him in. The rest are off hangers awaiting the rest. I just might cry when we get them all together and have to pack them up.

They really don't stay little for long, huh?

Picture of the Week

This is Dane watching tv and playing with the remote.
It looks so big next to him!

No More Naps!

Dane is fiercely revolting against naps lately. What the heck?! He is still sleeping great through the night but during the day he is determined not to nap, especially in his crib. He will occasionally catnap in the swing or cuddled with Mommy in bed, but in general he fights it. I let him cry in his crib a good while today. After several attempts at soothing him and putting him back down, he just wasn't having it. It became a battle of wills.

He won.

PGS

Babies get on their own schedules, regardless of convenience. If you track him carefully, you'll see that Dane has his own schedule for eating/pooping/sleeping/etc. Dane also has a growing schedule. He grows mostly through spurts and he has a growth spurt about every 3 weeks. I've noticed over time that you can tell when he is about to go through one, not only by looking at the calendar, but by looking at Dane.

The couple of days leading up to a growth spurt are nasty in the Howard House. Dane can be a little grouch! He's fussy and bored - not satisfied with the jumperoo, the swing, tummy time, the bouncer, the bumbo, books, toys or tv. He's also restless. He wants to be held but wiggles incessantly! When the growth spurt hits, he eats on average every 3 hours AND wakes up during the night demanding to eat (usually just once).

Of course, we want Dane to grow and understand this is a normal part of the process. The growth spurt is just fine, its the pre-growth spurt that's a pain. When Dane begins "his cycle", we call it PGS, his pre-growth spurt. And he could take on any hormonal teenage girl out there!

Speaking of growth, Dane is 15 weeks old today. Here's a picture of him at 1 week old and one of him today.

Hunk's in a Name?

You probably don't know that we picked Dane's name out months before he was born. We were waiting to be sure he looked like a Dane to us. Jackie was still very displeased to be naming her son a one syllable name (What do you call him for short?). She also wasn't happy to continuously answer "Yes, Dane. D-a-n-e" every time paperwork was to be filed. We have heard countless compliments about his name, and are finally at the point where we couldn't imagine him as anything else.

Jackie recently heard her favorite comment on his name. She and Dane were visiting Dane's cousins for lunch at their school. A teacher came to admire Dane (as they often do) and asked his name. Upon hearing it she says "Ooooh, I like that name. It's so dreamy". Jackie had not thought of his name like this and asked for elaboration. The teacher said that it's the kind of name you think of when you reminisce about going gaga over the high school quarterback as a girl. "It makes me think of a hunk".

How about that? There you go, Dane. You have a leg-up on all the 'Bernard's out there. You're welcome.

Weekend Wrap-Up

Saturday we had lunch with Nana & Papaw and Uncle Brian & Sophie. It was the first time Dane and his cousin Sophie, only a few months older, got to play. I think we all really enjoyed it.

Dane and Sophie (Daniel's brother's daughter).

Later we took Dane to his first Fall Festival at Mint Hill Baptist Church. Our nieces, Emily and Katie, were working it with their Girl Scout troops (they did a great job, by the way). After Dane threw back a couple of candy apples, he jumped for a while in the moon bounce, pet the goats and bunnies in the petting zoo, and ended the day with a pony ride.

Dane and Jackie's sister's kids; from left: Katie, Tyler, TJ, Cole, and Emily (holding Dane).

Picture of the Week

What is this? Well, it's 100 Danes. Why? Because our little baby is 100 days old today! Looking at how many 100 actually is helps to put it into perspective. We can't believe how fast the time is passing. We absolutely cherish every day.

Spotlight On: Grandpas

In honor of Grandpa Kyles who today turned 21 (... times 2... plus 10), we are showcasing Dane with all of his grandfathers. Happy Birthday, Papaw!

Larry, the Birthday Boy with Dane (early days). Larry is Danny's Step-Father.

And this is Dane with Danny's dad, Bobby.
And this is Dane with Jackie's dad, Jimmy.

Daddy's Home!

Daniel returned from his business trip in Nashville today. Dane had a particularly fussy day and the only thing that soothed him was for Daniel to hold him, so he had the majority of Dane duty. It's thrilling to see him form such attachments to us both and not just mommy. He wore us out today, so we're too mentally depleted to post much, but here is a pic of Dan and Dane in his new favorite toy (more to come about that).

Bedtime

Dane has been sleeping through the night now long enough that I don't think posting it will jinx us. He's been sleeping in his room three weeks now and we've been working to get him into a bedtime routine for about as long. This is how our night goes:

7:00 - story

7:10 - bath, pajamas

7:35 - feeding

7:50 - prayer
8:00 - bed

We used to take turns reading him a story right before bed, sometimes with his feeding. Only Dane wasn't getting drowsy at all. He gets so wrapped up in story time he will fixate on the pages or our faces as we read to him, and does not get sleepy! It actually took us a while to realize this only makes him alert. He gets his story earlier now and goes down great. He sleeps until 7am, eats and goes back down until 9. At 4 months, most babies wake again during the night due to new brain developments and a growth spurt... We aren't looking forward to that.

Weekend Wrap-Up

Saturday, we all hung around the house for a while and Jackie went out leaving Daniel to tend to Dane ALL ALONE for the first time. The house didn't burn down, nobody died, no broken bones.

Rather than give you all the lazy details of our boring weekend, I'll tell you about Dane's cousin's weekend. Our 5 year old nephew Tyler had a fall and cracked his head open. He had to go to the Emergency Room and got NINE STITCHES! It was a pretty yucky wound, but he was a trooper. He didn't even cry! Tyler, we love you and we're praying for you to heal quickly. You will have to teach Dane to be brave like you when he gets big!
Here are a couple pics of Tyler with his bandages.

Picture of the Week - (Cheat)

Okay, so this was taken last week but I love it and wanted to share. What a beautiful head! Thanks to Nana and Opa for the cute jammies!

Colder Travels

Mommy was excited for the cold weather today. Dane has a lot of clothes, and he's outgrown so many outfits without ever having the chance to wear them! We got him in his cute sweatsuit today before taking him out.

You can see how excited he wasn't.

7 Years and 13 Weeks

On this day 7 years ago, Daniel and Jackie went on their first date.
First came love, then came marriage, then came Dane in the baby carriage. On this day 13 weeks ago, our beautiful son was brought into this world.13 weeks ago we became parents. 13 weeks ago we became a family.
So at least for the Howards, and at least for today, 7 and 13: not so unlucky.