Dane is 26 months old

Dane has such an infectious personality. Ever since he was a baby he had the best laugh and still to this day he just knows how to make you smile. I am amazed at how he is communicating now. He is putting 3 to 4 words together and sometimes we understand what those words are :). The other day he walked up and said "ouch! head hurt!". Hurt is his new word that he uses quite a bit since he learned it. Another word he uses a lot is "eat". Some days it seems like that is all he says. Since the first of the year our family has been doing more of vegan diet so Dane is starting to eat much better. I was really surprised because he was really stuck in a rut of eating crackers and junk all day long. I wasn't sure how he would adapt since he hasn't eaten vegetables since he was a baby. Since we started eating pretty much only fruits and veggies he has become a much better eater. I guess it is true that they eat what you do. There are many times where I will sit down with a plate of broccoli or a cutie orange and he wants to share it with me. I tried for 2 years to get him to eat bananas and he wouldn't have anything to do with them. I think it was the texture because he would eat banana flavored food but not the actual banana itself. Now that Brynna and I eat bananas a lot he has become crazy over them. He will eat a couple a day. Although he eats a much bigger variety it still varies from day to day whether or not he will eat something. We make spaghetti and one day he wont eat it and the next time he eats more than one helping, he is always surprising me. The other night we had an oriental cabbage salad with a ginger dressing and a vegetable lo mein stir fry and he ate 3 helpings of each. I would have never guessed he would eat the salad. I just give him whatever we have and if he eats it great and if he doesn't I usually make a pb&j for him. There have been a few times when I put his food on the table and he walks in, looks at it, says NO!, and then runs to his room. I can't help but laugh when he does that. Eventually he will come back and give it a taste if we don't force the issue.

Naps are becoming more of a thing of the past too. I would say that he is napping about 3 days a week. Most days I still make him lay in his bed for an hour or so just so he can have some down time. I am not sure I will be able to keep that up for much longer though because I feel like the toddler bed is getting closer and closer. I am not sure how I will keep him in there then.

Another thing we noticed Dane doing is when he is watching tv or his dad play xbox he will say "oh no" when he sees something bad happened or went wrong. It is crazy to think that he actually knows somewhat what is going on and registers it is bad. 

Brynna is 7 months old

Brynna is now 7 months old and is really starting to show more of her personality. She is still super happy most of the time and loves to smile. I don't know if it is a phase or what but lately she is becoming more of a mommas girl. If she sees me and then I leave the room she will cry and there are times that she insist I hold her or she will cry too. I don't mind though because I am pretty crazy about her too :).

She has decided to change her bedtime so now she is going to bed along with Dane about 8pm. I really don't mind that because it gives us a little more flexibility when we go somewhere to not have to be back so soon so she could go to bed by 7.

This month Brynna learned to clap her hands. It is so cute watching her do it. She is also grabbing EVERYTHING, she is just like an octopus. She is also eating pretty much whatever we eat. I don't bother making her baby food I just cut up whatever we are eating and she chows down. She really loves bananas and puffs. On an occasion I can get her to choke down a couple bites of rice cereal before she starts screaming at me.

I know I will probably regret saying this but I am looking forward to her crawling because she wants to follow Dane everywhere but can't so she gets frustrated. She will kick and arch trying to move to get something see wants. When Dane was her age he was completely content running around in circles in his activity table but she is not. She wants to be on the go. I guess it is because she wants to follow him whereas he didn't have anyone to go after. Dane and Brynna are interacting quite a bit these days. Dane is really good with her. As soon as I go to stop him from being to rough she starts laughing really hard. I guess she doesn't mind him man handling her.

The boys

Here is a picture of all 5 boys again at age 2. We have not been able to get all 5 of them in a picture since they were first born. Unfortunately Dane was not excited AT ALL about taking this but I guess there always has to be one crying.

Christmas 2011

As you can see Dane was just as much a fan of Santa this year as he was last year.

love this silly face

Brynna is 6 months!

 

Brynna bear turned 6 months old on daddys birthday as well as Thanksgiving Day. She celebrated with some of nana's yummy sweet potatoes. We had a great time on Thanksgiving with family in Omaha and Lincoln. This month Brynna has grew in another bottom tooth so now she has 2! She also jabbers quite a bit these days. I think dada is the most common thing she says. She is also practicing using a sippy cup. She loves to chew on it more than anything. 

Brynna is so much like me from the way she looks to the way she acts. She already tries to act all grown up. She never would take a bottle or a pacifier, she is going straight to the sippy cup. She also doesn't want to eat any pureed baby food, she wants to go right into chunks. She reminds me so much of myself because as I child I always felt like I was so mature and I was an adult. I always hung out with my mom and did adult things. I can see Brynna being like this as she grows up.

It is so nice now because I finally have her on a good schedule. She wakes up between 8 - 8:30 and eats, eats cereal at 10, naps about 10:30 to 11, eats again at noon, takes another nap from about 1 to 3:30 or 4, eats again, eats cereal at 5:30, eats again at 6:30, goes to bed between 7 and 8. We usually sneak in some veggies throughout the day too. She seems to be doing really well with it and happy baby means happy momma. 

Right at the end of the month she started sitting up unsupported. It was like one day she couldn't and the next day she could. Being able to sit up and see really makes her happy. She will sit in the living room for a long time and play with the toys around her. Although if she tips over and bonks her head she screams bloody murder. I guess this is the difference between boys and girls because she just gets so upset whether it hurts or not. 

Grandparents are so comfortable