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. =)