Happy New Year!

Goodbye 2008, Bring on 2009. We had a fantastic year and we're ready for another. We celebrated a little early as Dane couldn't last til midnight (he's such a baby). He enjoyed playing with his noisemaker, but not so much the camera. Still, we were able to snap a few final pics of 2008. We found a list of resolutions in Dane's pocket while we were doing laundry. Enjoy.

Dane's 2009 New Year's Resolutions:

* Talk

* Sleep through the night again

* Eat solid food (not that mush they call solid)

* Call my parents by their real names - Mommy & Daddy

* Train the dogs to keep out of my face

* Move to the big-baby nursery at church

* Put on weight to fill out my diaper a little more

* Toddle

* Put everything I come into contact with in my mouth

* Stay cute

FOOD!

Dane got his first taste of solid food on Christmas. We skipped cereal and Dane has been exclusively breastfed up until now. At feeding time, sweet potatoes beat pears by one vote and our little man loved his sweet potato, as we expected he would. A good typical first feeding for an infant is about half a tablespoon. Dane gobbled three tablespoons easily and would have kept going had we let him. The meal went beautifully and Dane was a natural. His excitement made for a little mess, as he moved too quickly into the spoon or decided we moved too slowly and grabbed at the food.We fed him sweet potato once a day for four days (as recommended to watch for negative reactions) and then moved on to pear sauce. He loves that too. We are not surprised.

Jackie's making all of Dane's baby food and she's hooked on this site: www.wholesomebabyfood.com/. It's got recipes, nutritional information, storage tips and more. Check it out if you're looking to make food for your little one.

Christmas: Wrapped Up

We had the best Christmas imaginable. In the morning we opened presents at home and Dane's favorite was all the wrapping paper. We went to Gramps and Granny K's to visit with some of Danny's family we don't see too often and we were fortunate enough to have a visit from Santa. He must not have worked too hard Christmas Eve because he was looking sharp! Dane got on Santa's lap without all the crying we expected and we got a couple of good shots.

After that we went to Aunt Jenny and Uncle Travis' to have Christmas with Jackie's family. When the madness of presents was over, Santa visited there too! I bet his lap was tired having to seat all those kids! Contrary to what we figured, they were on the nice list and Santa brought treats for all! If you haven't had the pleasure of meeting Santa, he is absolutely as jolly and fun as he is rumored to be. Should you happen to see him, please let him know that he made our day!

Dane got lots of great presents from everyone and we spent the whole weekend at home playing. Our first family Christmas was everything we could have asked for and we are thankful.

Picture of the Week

Christmas Edition

Picture?! Yeah, right! We had the best Christmas ever yesterday and we'll tell you now that a picture simply will not do. Pictures now, words next week. Enjoy.

Our Christmas Eve

We've all had a wonderful Christmas Eve and we're all TIRED! Here are a few pics of our day. We were not at a Blue Man Group concert, as it may appear. That's actually our Christmas church service. We rocked out Belk Theater at our Uptown Christmas special, worshipping and celebrating with more than 5,000 of our closest friends. We went to the 7:00pm service. 7 is Dane's bedtime, but when we picked him up from childcare, they said he had not slept the entire time. He's probably too excited about Santa! He's down now and we're praying for a silent night.This is Dane and his dinosaur ornament. He absolutely loves the tree. Can we keep it all year?

Help our little man eat!

The polls are open!

Feed the baby. What does he want? He actually wants everything, anything that gets close to his mouth is going in unless we take it away. But for fun we thought we'd let all the readers decide what Dane will eat FOR HIS FIRST FOOD! How exciting! There's a voting gadget that will be at the top of the page (it's hard to miss), your votes are totally anonymous...so Daddy can't track you down for picking avocados. Once you're done you can view the results, check back often, we will post the results!

VOTE SOON, he wants to eat on Christmas day!

Weekend Wrap-Up

Autumn has passed, winter at last. The weather outside certainly is frightful; nothing you want to take your baby last minute shopping in. So we spent the weekend enjoying Christmas preparations at home. We've thought about giving TDD the week off for Christmas, but then we wouldn't have an excuse to talk about how cute Dane is eating his feet! We might have discouraged feet in the mouth earlier on, and although he loves playing with his feet and putting things in his mouth, he really didn't combine the two much until this weekend. It's the stinkin' cutest thing ever, but of course when you grab the camera to snap a picture this is what you get:The ultra famous drop-what-you're-doing, deer-in-the-headlights Dane. Try, try again, Mom.

Picture of the Week

Video Edition

Dane attended his first concert this week, "Journey to Bethlehem", a Christmas production put on by Hickory Grove United Methodist Church's Pre-School. Between all of the beautiful decorations, the children's props and musical instruments, Dane had much to entertain him. His favorite though, was of course, the theater lighting. He spent as much time looking straight up as he did watching the show. But he enjoyed himself and told me that Tyler did a wonderful job.

Here's a snippet for those who missed it. Listen closely and you'll hear:
"Some gifts are big and some gifts are small,
Some gifts are short and some gifts are tall,
Big, small, short, tall,
They're all given with love,
And that's best of all!"

That IS best of all.

ONE WEEK

and counting. In just one week Dane will open presents for the first time. He'll get his first Christmas stocking. He'll meet Santa! I don't think we have to tell you just how excited we are. Dane's pumped too. It's all he talks about all day. It may sound like baby babble to you but trust us, it's Christmas chatter.

Could you even baweev it?

When Dane is cranky, a sure-fire pick-up is to get close to his face and whisper in a low, exaggerated tone "Could you even baweev it?". I have no idea where this came from, but we do it all the time to Dane. He giggles and grins. It's quite precious.

And speaking of "could you even believe it?",

how about Dane is 24 weeks old today. We can't believe it either, Dane. Our little boy is getting so big!

On A Roll

Several nights ago, Danny awoke, looked at the video monitor and in a panic rushed across the house to rescue Dane. He kicked out of his sleep positioner and rolled onto his tummy. He was waving his arms and bobbing his head like he was a turtle stuck on his back. Danny put him on his back, in the sleep positioner and returned to bed. But it wasn't long before Dane was "stuck"again.

The sleep positioner now does nothing more than provide exercise and entertainment as Dane wiggles out of it and kicks it around in his crib. We knew he was experimenting with how his body works by rolling. It took a little longer to discover he was experimenting with how WE work by rolling. During the day, Dane plays contentedly on his floor gym, rolling from side to side singing and playing. But during the night and naps, Dane flips onto his belly, gets stuck and wails. He's told on himself many times now. We walk into the room and say his name, and he smiles a huge grin and flips himself over. He isn't stuck; he's playing us! You had us going, Dane.

Women love babies.

First ever Daddy posting...

Well Xmas is rolling in around the corner, Jackie updates me hourly on how long it will be until Santa comes by. It's exciting. Dane's first Christmas, also his first time buying mommy a gift. So over the weekend we (Daddy and Dane only) set out to find a good gift for a first time mom. I think it went well, although I ended up driving...contrary to what Britney Spears thinks, babies can't drive...therefore they don't sit in the drivers seat. Anyway...So after arriving at what Dane thought would be the perfect spot to find a cool present I was instantly greeted by what seemed like every female in the Charlotte area. Dane was immediately the talk of the shop, and suddenly the 4 person table we sat down to rest at became a 10+ person table of all baby lovers alike. More than once Dane was voted the cutest baby ever by several teenage girls. I was asked about two hundred and eighty four questions about him. It was great to spend time with Dane and he was really happy to be out and about (no hussafusses) until he passed out while I was holding him and drooled all over the gift he picked out. We got home and tried to hide the evidence as soon as possible, but Mommy quickly caught on and I've been telling her that Dane worked very hard to pick out the perfect present so she's not allowed to guess what it is or even think about it. But in all I think this was good training for Valentine's Day gift hunting, so next time he won't be giving me any confused looks, wondering why he can't put everything he sees on the shelf in his mouth.

Picture of the Week

Dane loves the tree. He's fascinated by the lights, but then again, almost anything shiny can capture Dane's enthrallment. He enjoyed exploring the lights and ornaments (under a watchful eye)

as he helped us decorate this week.

Sleep Training Update: I'm a Believer.

A week ago we posted about Dane's horrible sleep habits (of NOT sleeping!). The past week we have been sleep training Dane and it has completely turned Dane's sleeping around. He got to the point where he was waking every 2 hours all night long! Now he lays down around 6:45pm and Jackie "dream feeds" him before we go to bed. He then wakes between 3 and 4 to eat. That's it! His day starts around 6:30am, but if Jackie's lucky, he'll eat and go back to sleep for another hour or two. Either way, we're just so happy to be sleeping at night again!

Another Rough Day

Dane wasn't feeling well today. He napped 6 times, but the longest nap was for 30 minutes! For the better part of the day he did nothing but alternate between nursing and napping. He wanted just to be held and with him feeling so yucky, we want just to hold him. No temperature, no gas, not too hot/cold/wet/bored/tired/hungry. Late afternoon he began feeling better and we even got some great laughs out of him. Dane feeling blah plus the cabin fever from the rain made for one lousy day.
=(

Favorite Things: Teething Tablets

Dane has been teething now for weeks and weeks, but his mouth is still empty. I am pretty sure that teeth are fast on their way. Today was pretty rough on the little guy. A slight fever and major clinginess! We know all the tricks, and are employing the age-appropriate ones. The best help so far have been these little mini-marshmallow looking homeopathic tablets that go under Dane's tongue and dissolve almost instantly. They're called "Hyland's Teething Tablets". I got them behind the counter at Target (because the pharmacy sells them, but not Target) and I paid $5.05 for 125 tablets. They settle Dane down pretty quickly and he takes them just great (although he gets uber-excited to put anything in his mouth). It's a nice alternative to Tylenol, which we treat as a last resort for now. This teething nonsense is a mess and poor little Dane is so uncomfortable. Here's hoping his tooth pops soon and this can all be over with.

Wait. What? This goes on for another 2 years?! Nooooo!

Weekend Wrap-Up

This weekend we got our butts into Christmas gear. Our tree has been sitting in our house all week - UNdecorated. We finally took care of that and got our lights up outside. A few presents are wrapped and under the tree, stockings are hung and cookies are baking. Not since we were children ourselves have we been so excited for Christmas. Dane isn't getting tons of gifts, but he's really going to love what he gets and we just can't wait to spend our first Christmas together as a family. And we're happy to be adding a couple of new books into the reading rotation. Now we can give Mickey a break (Yay!).

By the way, Daniel's first day at his new job was today. We want to thank everyone who congratulated him, wished us luck, and prayed for our family during this stressful past month. We really appreciate your thoughtfulness. God has provided, as he always has and as he always will.

Picture of the Week

You get two this week because we each liked a different one.

Tell us which one you like.

To celebrate Danny's new job, we thought we would post a pic (or two) of Dane at work. Here are a few of him at his desk, doing what he does best: playing and looking adorable. Dane's at such a fun age (albeit the sleep deprivation). He's so alive and fun. Every day is something new and we are loving being the lucky parents of this little munchkin.

Sleep Training: Round 2

In Dane's early weeks, he'd only sleep if we held him. We could eternally alternate sleeping while the other held Dane, or we would have to condition him to sleep in his bassinet. So we turned to sleep training. It took only a couple of nights (a couple of the longest nights of our lives) and we used a modified cry-it-out method called the Ferber method (Google it). It goes like this:
Get him drowsy and put him down. When he cries, wait 5 minutes to console him. Get him drowsy (but awake) and put him down again. Next time wait 6 minutes, then 7... until he's asleep. It took about 4 days and he learned how to put himself to sleep and back to sleep.

He started sleeping through the night at 10 weeks. When he turned 4 months old, and we were good and spoiled with sleep, he began waking again. He gradually woke more as the days progressed and before we knew it he was waking to nurse every hour and a half. He isn't hungry; he eats for a minute and passes out. Mommy is not a pacifier! And so begins our second round of sleep training. He will be fed once in a specific time window a night, should he need, and that's it. This time, we're going cry-it-out all the way. We have one of those super cool video baby monitors, so we don't have to worry about whether he is all right or not. We get to watch him kick and scream and pull at his crib bumper and push himself sideways in the crib without having to go in his room.

We've actually been sleep-training him for a couple of days before Jackie screwed it up. It was going very well until last night. We put Dane down as normal and when he awoke 30 minutes later Jackie figured "well, if I feed him now and get him full, he won't wake to eat later...". Whoa, wrong! He was up all night yelling. It was the worst it's ever been! So all that you hear about consistency being key is TRUE, as well as the fact that once you screw it up, the "sleep training week" resets itself. We'll stick to it (We will, we will, we will...) and hopefully we'll get some sleep in a week. Root for us. We'll keep you posted.

Built Tough

Dane's got a busted lip. We don't know how it happened and it's nothing so big that it would even show up in a picture. Our first instincts said to feel sorry for him, but it doesn't bother him at all. You could tell Dane was going to be fierce when you watched them poke and prod him when he was born. If you consider that in addition to the couple of times we dropped him (just kidding), his early defenses against ferocious(ly loving) dogs, and the way the repercussions of the wild flailing of his limbs go unnoticed, you know he's tough. All of this plus crazy, invincible, adventurous genes and we're all in for it.

Our Little BruiserHe's a stubborn, scratching, hair pulling, kicking ball of energy and his only mode is ON. Is this a curse or a blessing? Probably a little of both. If one thing is for sure though, it's that --- Ahhh! Dane, stop banging that on your head!!!

Done with Dane!

With his Christmas shopping, that is! We actually have been for a while. Dane has so much that we decided a while ago that we would only get him one big thing and a few smaller things. Our living room has been so overtaken by toys and baby play stations that to bring more in would mean we'd have to ditch the furniture. So we got Dane some books, a few necessities, a couple of small toys, and a very cool Santa gift (good luck getting this down the chimney, big guy!). We're excited for him to have it, although we can't really wrap our heads around him playing with something geared toward babies 6 months and up. He is 5 months old (today) and it just doesn't seem right.
We're spending some of the money we're saving not buying out Target's baby toy aisles by participating in the Salvation Army's Angel Tree, buying and donating a few toys for babies Dane's age that could really use them more than he could. It's a pretty cool way to give back, and we want to instill the values of generosity and compassion in our son. The rest of the money is going into the bank in an account for Dane.

Dane really doesn't need anything for Christmas, but we now understand the burning desire to buy things for the little ones we love. If you would like to get Dane something, he'd love a new book, a travel toy, or anything monkey. He does not, does not, does NOT need clothes, and while the thought is appreciated, it just doesn't feel right to accept clothes that many other babies actually do need. Maybe buy some cute things (or take the money you would spend) and donate them to a children's' charity, shelter or hospital in Dane's name. It's the thought that counts, and that would certainly be thoughtful! But please do not feel that you have to get him something. He needs nothing and wants for nothing other than membership into the "No More Naps For Life" Club (and don't you dare get him that!).

Weekend Wrap-Up

Thanksgiving has come and gone and we are geared up for Christmas. Here's a few words about Turkey Day before this blog becomes entirely about Christmas.

We went to Uncle Brian and Aunt Jeannie's in the morning. Sophie is really getting to be something. She gets cuter by the minute and she's definitely got spunk. I think we'll all be in for it when she and Dane start getting into stuff together. Dane was surprisingly mellow there, and for the rest of the day actually. Maybe he was just out of his element.

We next headed to Aunt Jenny's. It was pretty much a fiasco with a million kids in the (HOT) house and adults running in between trying to set things up. Dane did NOT have Mountain Dew (despite that it was diet. Somehow that makes it better for infants? No.), but this is why you may see a post soon about how WE are not feeding OUR child food yet. By the way, Danny and Bobby were both sick this weekend, Jen. Did you poison the turkey? I'm suspecting fowl play...

And then Jackie broke out at 3am to get in line at Wal-Mart for the sale. Her hurdling shopping carts and aisle navigational skills would have made you proud. She got what she wanted, then went home to find Danny desperate for the sleep he'd lost while Dane kept him up all night. Maybe someday, Danny.

That was Thanksgiving. It was fine. Now can we move on to Christmas already?!