Picture of the Week

Dane finally had his first big boy bath this week. He did so well and we were pretty surprised by how much he actually enjoyed it. We stayed in the tub until the water got cold, but we think Dane would still be in there if it were up to him!

Thankful

In celebrating Thanksgiving with our families today, we really see all that we have. We are thankful for each other and our beautiful baby, Dane. We are thankful to have everything we have ever wanted and more. We are thankful for our families and friends. And we're thankful that God saw it fit to take these two friends and make a family.

Turkey Tomorrow

The Howards have big plans for eating tomorrow. Two meals. Jealous? We're trekking out to Uncle Brian and Aunt Jeannie's to enjoy a Thanksgiving breakfast. We'll see Sophie, Cindy and Larry, Uncle Marcus and Aunt Trina. Then we're heading out to Aunt Jenny and Uncle Travis' to eat dinner (at lunchtime) with the Spicer cousins, J-Pa, Uncle Jeff, Bobby Pops, Granny K, Great-Grandma, Aunt Linda and Uncle Joe. We Howards have overtaken Jackie's family's Thanksgiving!

We'll probably head out early as we have big plans for the following day as well. Jackie is leaving Dane to play with his daddy as she braves the cold and crowds at the Black Friday sales with her sister. So while the boys are snug in their beds at 4 am, Jackie will be waiting in lines are running through aisles. Hopefully she will be home in time to join Danny and Dane at Uncle Mike and Aunt Joanne's for brunch. And this is the day we start celebrating the Christmas season, so I suspect there may be decorating of some degree. Gotta teach Dane the holiday spirit. Yay!

Calling All Grandparents!

Or more like what to call all the grandparents. See, Dane has 5 grandparents and in the 4 months he's been around already it's been a chore to understand who was meant by the all too common "Grandma" or "Grandpa". I can only imagine how Dane will feel when he starts to actually grasp who you all are. So here's the deal. We and Dane will be seeing you all this week and we expect to hear what you would like to be called. The only rules are it mustn't be "Grandma" or "Grandpa" and no duplicates. We have picked names for you in the event you cannot choose for yourselves and they are as follows:

Bobby - "Bobby Pops"
Karen - "Granny K"
Cindy - "Nana"
Larry - "Papaw"
Jim - "J-Pa"

Don't like it? Change it. But you've been warned.
We look forward to seeing all of Dane's grandparents this week!

Weekend Wrap-Up

This weekend we all met with Bobby Pops and Granny K to have lunch and do some suit shopping (I hear those sleigh bells ring-a-ling...). The rest of the weekend we did all we could to keep Jackie's sudden cold germs away from Dane (success, we think) and we cleaned our house which was long overdue.

The highlight of our weekend was a nap. Yeah, a nap. Don't get me wrong, we had a fine weekend, but you wouldn't believe this nap. All this talk about it and you would think it was Dan and Jackie that caught the Z's. Actually, we put Dane down for his second nap of the day and .... *drum roll*... TWO HOURS. This was literally the longest Dane has ever napped. We couldn't believe it. Now if only this would roll over through the nights. More to come on night sleep later.

Picture of the Week

"What, Mom & Dad? Chewing is not a spectator sport."

Look at that mouth!

Sleeping on the Job

Dane falls asleep while eating. He has always done this, since his days in the hospital. Only recently Dane's growing body requires more food. To get this extra nourishment, he could take in more food per feeding or take in more feedings. We would rather the first way but it seems Dane would rather the second. He eats for about 7 minutes, then falls asleep! He isn't tired, he's just bored. The only remedy to the frustration is this adorable face:On a side note, Dane's napping has improved immeasurably. Unfortunately the extra daytime sleep affords him the energy to awake at 5 in the morning, fresh and ready to start the day.

Awesome

Dane's Spicer cousins got a new puppy recently so we hit the road to meet her. I asked Tyler what they should name the pup and after a thoughtful moment, he replied."Hmmm... I think we should name her 'Awesome'." The rest of the family decided on 'Chips', but we're going to continue to call her Awesome.

Our dogs have definitely piqued an interest in Dane when it comes to animals. He took to this puppy almost as well as the puppy took to him. Here's a pic of them playing.

Only Mommy didn't think Awesome chewing on Dane was as cute as they did. Here are the looks she got when she told them no (Awesome in the background to the right).And yes, those eyes are still blue...

Breaking out the Bibs

Dane has (thankfully) never been much of a spitter-upper. You could count the times he has spit up on one hand. So what were we to do with the literally more than hundred bibs we have? Some have been packed away with the clothes Dane has outgrown because we could never need or use them all. The rest remain in a bin in the closet, basically untouched, unless one happened to belong to an outfit Dane was wearing.




Until now. Dane still isn't spitting up, but he's drooling like you wouldn't believe! His clothes are sometimes drenched in drool and since there's nothing there to catch it, that means our clothes get soaked with slobber. So thanks for all the bibs, people. We'll make use of them after all.Danny picked out this bib immediately after discovering we were expecting and even Dingo joined in our excitement. But now only babyfriend Dane wears it.

What's Dane Up To?

Dane had a neutral weekend. We mostly ran errands and relaxed. We could go through the mundane details, or I could highlight for you some tidbits about Dane, too random and minuscule to make it in posts of their own. He's really coming alive and this weekend we noticed so much. Sooo...

What's Dane Up To?

• He tries to sit up from a lying position, but his ab muscles need work and he accomplishes nothing but greater levels of frustration.
• He grabs and pulls at everything - hair, earrings, remotes, drinks, the dogs, clothes, beards, necklaces, baby wipes, Blue, glasses, car seat straps, signs, buttons, curtains, books, blankets...
• He is laughing quite frequently now. It's adorable when he does a full-on belly laugh, although a little sad because it rarely fails to give him an incurable case of hiccups. He does not like this.
• He talks all the time as, if you have called the house lately, you have undoubtedly heard. Odds are you thought this was hilarious. That's because you don't call at 6 am, and because you get to hang up.
• He is as sociable as any 4 month old can be. Aunt Jenny was the first to point out his tendencies to flirt. Then moms, our neighbor, waitresses, his doctor, nursery workers, friends, and strangers. He gets your attention and then plays shy. It is un-be-liev-a-bly precious. And while adults may give him the most attention, he absolutely loves socializing with other youngsters.

Every day is a new adventure in the world of Dane.

Picture of the Week

It seems that every leaf on every tree in our yard fell this week. All of the neighborhood kids had fun with the leaves, and we snapped some great shots of Dane enjoying them.

Bubbles, Books, and Babies

Oh my! Today Dane took Jackie to a Books and Babies event at Morrison Library. It's an adorable program geared for pre-walkers 3 months to a year old. We read a couple books, sang a couple songs, and Dane's favorite, blew bubbles! There was a community room full of women with babies on their laps, singing and dancing. Dane very much enjoyed, as he always does, interacting with other little ones. Next month, they're only having one Babies event, but it's a Christmas one!

Here are some of the other youngsters enjoying the bubbles.

Dane was in my lap, so no picture of him.

The Guitar

Dane has taken a liking to the guitar. Nope, not playing it; listening to it and watching it. Daniel has been playing for him since he was a fetus and now he plays for him as we get Dane ready for bed. Dane will sit contently watching, sometimes singing along and sometimes reaching for it. His interest in it is the cutest thing to see and it's such a great way for Dane and his daddy to bond. Maybe down the line he'll get some lessons

because I'm pretty sure 4 months is a little too young...Look at those little fingers next to Daddy's!

Favorite Things: Snacktime

Dane has quite an impressive cd collection for a baby. One of all of our favorites is Snacktime by the Barenaked Ladies. It's this great kids cd with music that adults can actually stomach. It's not just tolerable, it's enjoyable! Dane has two favorite songs because of the whistling in one track ("raisins") and the repetitive popping in another ("popcorn"). I don't care that you don't believe we could possibly know for fact that Dane likes them. HE DOES.
This is the opening track of the album, called "789". It's not long (less than 2 min.), but really cute and absolutely worth your time, so check it out. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1cnJ_pOAdQ

Weekend Wrap-Up

Our weekend was pretty mild.
Daniel was laid off. Our GPS was stolen. We partied with a 3 year old. We visited Mom. We went to church. We were lazy.

Seriously, I think that's it. When there's nothing to say, there's nothing to say.

Picture of the Week

Did you even know it was possible to be this cute?!
This is where we are at right now. It's all about the feet for Dane.

Stop Scratching Yourself!

Dane has 3 boo-boos on his face right now, and he's gotten them all within the past week. The first one was the scariest. I look at him while he's playing (safely, of course), and notice a glob of blood on his cheek. As expected, I freak out. "Oh no! The dog ate his face! He's got a terrible flesh eating virus! His skin is literally exploding!".
It was just a scratch.
I clip his nails and go on about our day. A couple days later, Dane has a scratch between the eyes. No blood, just a scratch. Hmmm... I clip his nails again. Another couple days and there's a scratch on his other cheek! I go to clip his nails - but there's no more there to cut! A face so handsome shouldn't be a scratching post.

We may have to de-claw him...

Sleeping Through the Night: A Baby's Point of View

This is NOT an original Howard work. The author is unknown, but I am sure he is one adorable baby.

OK, here's my situation. My Mommy has had me for almost 5 months. The first few months were great--I cried, she picked me up and fed me; anytime, day or night. Then something happened. Over the last few weeks, she has been trying to STTN (sleep thru the night). At first, I thought it was just a phase, but it's only getting worse. I've talked to other babies, and it seems this is pretty common after Mommies have had us for around 6 months. Here's the thing: these Mommies don't really need to sleep. It's just a habit. Many of them have had some 30 years to sleep--they just don't need it anymore. So I am implementing a plan. I call it the CrybabyShuffle.

It goes like this:
Night 1--cry every 3 hours until you get fed. I know, it's hard. It's hard to see your Mommy upset over your crying. Just keep reminding yourself, it's for her own good.
Night 2--cry every 2 hours until you get fed.
Night 3--every hour.

Most Mommies will start to respond more quickly after about 3 nights. Some Mommies are more alert and may resist the change longer. These Mommies may stand in your doorway for hours, Shhh-ing. Don't give in. I cannot stress this enough: CONSISTENCY IS KEY!! If you let her STTN just once, she will expect it every night. I KNOW IT'S HARD! But she really doesn't need the sleep, she's just resisting the change. If you have an especially alert Mommy, you can stop crying for about 10 minutes, just long enough for her to go back to bed and start to fall asleep. Then cry again. It WILL eventually work. My Mommy once stayed awake for 10 hours straight, so I know she can do it. Last night, I cried every hour. You just have to decide to stick to it and just go for it. BE CONSISTENT! I cried for any reason I could come up with. My sleep sack tickled my foot. I felt a wrinkle under the sheet. My mobile made a shadow on the wall. I burped, and it tasted like pears (I hadn't eaten pears since lunch - what's up with that?). The dog said 'woof' (I should know. My Mommy reminds me of this about 20 times a day). Once I cried just because I liked how it sounded when it echoed on the monitor in the other room. Too hot, too cold, just right--doesn't matter! Keep crying!! It took awhile, but it worked. She fed me at 4am. Tomorrow night, my goal is 3:30am. You need to slowly shorten the interval between feedings in order to reset your Mommy's internal clock.

P.S. Don't let those rubber things fool you. No matter how long you suck on them, NO milk will come out! Trust me.

For The Record

Dane had his 4 month check-up yesterday. He cooperated very nicely for his doctor. He measures at a healthy 26 inches tall and weighs in at 14 pounds. He is a happy, healthy little boy.

He received his vaccines, and has certainly been irritable since. We were very unprepared for his crankiness because he has never really been a cranky baby. After his 2 month shots, he slept a little extra, so that's what we were expecting. WRONG. Today he was nursing, being rocked, or screaming for the majority of the day. We're really (really really really) hoping Dane gets to feeling like his old self soon.

Weekend Wrap-Up

What a fun weekend we all had full of Fall festivities. Saturday we trekked out to Derita Presbyterian Church to meet Granny K for a festival. Dane didn't partake in the activities, but he very much enjoyed being out in the nice weather and spending time with (and being shown off by) his grandma.
He was definitely a hit.
Sunday afternoon we met some family at a farm for some Fall fun.

Dane had so much fun visiting the animals in the petting zoo...

and riding on the hayride...And playing with Sophie in the pumpkin patch.

It was a long day for him and he was a trooper.

He slept really great after such a big weekend!

And today we'd would like to wish Aunt Jenny a very happy birthday. You've already done so much for Dane

and we love and appreciate you every day.

So Happy Birthday Aunt Jenny. 7 years and you'll be 40. =)