Picture of the Week

It's a cheat, but it's legit. This video was taken the 25th, right before bedtime.

Dane's latest obsession is brushing his teeth. He LOVES it. First Mommy brushes them and then gives Dane control. He goes at it, shaking his head and the toothbrush simultaneously. So cute. Hope this video makes you smile too. =)

Stairs

Our old house did not have stairs. Our new house does. Dane pretty much loves them. It's the cutest thing, we'll tell him it's time for night-night or a "dipee change" and he sprints off to the stairs (crib and changing table upstairs). It's been his obsession since moving day. And he conquered them his first time. His record is up the stairs in 23 seconds. The video you're about to watch shows him up in 29, but there's a little slip-up in there. It was taken on our 3rd day in the new place.

If you watch closely, he goes up each stair with his right knee followed by his left foot. I tried climbing up this way and it's pretty awkward! But he does it with such ease and agility. He's a fast learner alright!

Dane-Proofing

Dane has free run of the house, for the most part. He'll do circles around the house, his castle, and I really think he needs the exercise. Like if he didn't move around enough, his little body would explode. So we close doors to rooms we want to keep him out of, and there is a gate on the stairs. We've covered the basics in toddler-proofing, and we are comfortable with Dane's freedom in the new place.
But Dane isn't the typical toddler. He does take advantage, as young ones will, of our focus being concentrated elsewhere when laundry/ spills/ the doorbell/ etc. calls. But he has managed to learn with practice at 14 months old how to maneuver the baby-proof cabinet latch. Now he takes up occasional residence in his own cave. He opens the door to the kitchen cabinet, crawls in and just hangs out. He is quite proud of himself and when we catch him, rather than run away he climbs out, closes the cabinet door... and does it all over again!!! He's showing off! Here's some pics in succession of him in the act. Notice the child-proof latch on the inside of the door!

Picture of the Week

We have been spending a significant amount of our free time at the pool lately. Dane really enjoys the water and it's refreshing in the summer heat. The only downside is Dane is a little adventurer and misses no opportunity to explore everything in fine, intricate detail. He often runs off (and he's fast!) and has come closer than we'd like to falling in the pool. So we strapped him up with a life vest while poolside. Here's a shot of him running around in his little life jacket, ready for action!

Roughing It

Moving is always an ordeal. Throw in a toddler, two dogs, another house, and non-professional movers, and you've got yourself a full-on fiasco! We fortunately received a lot of help from friends and family, and the move (well, so far. Eeek!) was fairly smooth. We can say that now.

The transition was pretty rotten.

• We had to move in the hottest part of summer with no power. So no lights and no air conditioning.
• We had to wait to get our gas turned on (requires power be on), so no stove. We've eaten enough McDonald's to last us our lifetimes.
• Getting Internet service was a nightmare, so blogging, emailing, online banking, and fun webstuff was a distant fond memory for some time.
• We didn't get our washer and dryer over until two weeks after we were sleeping in the new house.

All is well now for the spoiled 21st century Americans. We're considering applying for Survivor...

Weekend Wrap-Up

Daniel had been on "vacation" since Wednesday. Only that meant more moving and taking care of a bunch of things around the new place. Packing, unpacking, painting, mowing, mounting, installing, connecting, and so on and so on. That was our weekend.

On Friday night though, we dropped Dane off with his Gramps for their first overnighter. That's him waving bye to us from the front door as we were leaving in the last post. Dane had not stayed the night away from us before, but it was much less scary than we anticipated. When we've left him with family to sit in the past, we always ask each other "Do you miss him yet?" and "How about now?" every 15 minutes. This time we didn't ask. This time, we went out to dinner and a movie and came home to have the house to ourselves. We slept in (8:00 is the new sleeping in) and enjoyed a much needed leisurely morning. We were however thrilled to see Dane when we went to pick him up. He did well; went to bed a little earlier than usual and slept in a little later. And when we got him home, he took the mother of all naps - 3.5 hours!!! There was evidence that Dane Thomas and Gramps had enjoyed their time together snacking and playing, so we all had a great time!

Thanks again, Gramps!

Picture of the Week

Goodbye Mommy & Daddy. (We'll explain later)

A Maytag Hallelujah!

I don't believe that ANY mom has ever been so grateful, so happy, so excited to do laundry as Jackie is now. We have been without a washer and dryer since packing before moving to the new place and dirty clothes are piling up all over the place! *Literally, piles.* Dane isn't exactly the neatest kid, plus the dogs can be messy, on top of regular daily outfits and linens. Bobby and Danny heroically got the washer and dryer from old house to new house today and Jackie's got her work cut out for her - sorting, washing, drying, folding, hanging, and putting away weeks worth of laundry.

BY THE WAY, it has finally happened. We have always had many more bibs than we knew what to do with. But more than two weeks times bibs used for 3 meals and 2 snacks a day (at least!) comes out to over 70 bibs and we've finally managed to run out! Jackie was this close to unpacking bibs put away with clothes outgrown for baby #2. There's always room for a little patience and a little mess.

Still Waiting...

Sorry the blog has been slow (and with so much to share!),
but we're told we'll have Internet tomorrow. We've got our best guy on it. =)

Picture of the Week

While we're getting settled in the new place, and still waiting on Internet service, we've managed to get a few pictures up to share. Take your pick of pics for your own custom PotW!