15 months old

Dane had his 15 month appointment and everything went great. He is growing right on schedule and weighs about 25 lbs. It is really true about what people say regarding each stage. It seems like each month just gets better and better. I would really have a hard time saying which one is the best. Since Dane was born we have been doing play dates with five little boys and now they are starting to interact with each other. They are starting to play with toys together and take each others toys away too. It is so much different than watching the girls play. When the girls get upset with each other they scream but the boys just poke, tug, hit and yell as well. I can't imagine what it will be like when they are 3 and they just beat each other up instead. I just say let them go for it for now. We have been enjoying playing at the indoor play place at Zona Rosa while it is so cold outside but soon enough we will be able to go to the park. As far as inside the house Dane is really into watching Jacob on the laptop or on the XBOX 360. He also love to push anything around so we got him a lawn mower that makes lots of noise. He also likes to ride non-motorized toys around the house. He got a motorized 4 wheeler for Christmas but he just wants to push it around instead of ride it. That boy is going to have some muscles! His communication is getting so much better as far as what he understands. He still talk A LOT about nothing in particular though. He is not so much interested in repeating as he is in just babbling. I think he has always been way more focused on motor skills than verbal skills but he is still soaking it all in. Lately the frustrating issue is eating. I was really trying to feed him a balanced and nutritional diet when he was a baby so that he would eat anything, especially veggies. For some reason he has become the most picky eater. It is like he has entered a texture crisis. The only thing he wants to eat right now is basically fruit and crackers. He doesn't want to touch any meat or veggies. Although it sounds easy I have the hardest time making him lunch and dinner because I really want him to eat something nutritional. I am just hoping that this blows over soon.

Alabama 2011

Last week Dane and I surprised my friend Lauren in Mobile, Alabama. I was crazy enough to take Dane on a flight all by myself while being 5 months pregnant. I admit it was probably not the smartest thing I have done but it was sure worth it when I got to see the surprise and excitement on Laurens face when we knocked on the door. Overall considering Danes age and his activity level he did really well. If we would have had direct flights it would have been much easier but overall I am so glad we did it. The weather was so much nicer than here in Kansas City. We were able to go to the park and take walks most every night. Dane really enjoyed all the attention and affection he got from Chris and Lauren while we were there. Chris tried his best to wear Dane out but quickly realized it was not going to happen. Dane is like the energizer bunny, he doesn't get tired. The two of them did sit down a couple times to play some playstation 3 but Dane was a little confused by the controller Chris gave him because it had a cord. He was like "what is this???", he is used to carrying a wireless xbox controller at home. It is funny to think our kids wont even remember controllers having cords on them that will be so old school. Chris did his best to get Dane to watch some football but it is going to take a little more to convince him. One of Danes favorite things to do was go up the stairs over and over and over. It wouldn't be so bad but I can't seem to get him to understand he can't just walk down them. He will just step right off the top step like he knows what he is doing. I finally got him to just go up and down the bottom 3 or 4 and he still thought that was cool. Now that I am updating the blog I realized that Lauren and I didn't make it into any of the pictures :( but here are some of Chris and Dane.

The big news is ITS A GIRL!!!

Well as most of you know we are having another baby at the end of May and on the 17th we found out we are having a baby girl. The ultrasound looked good but we have to go back in 5 weeks for another one so they can get all the photos that they need. I guess she was sitting right behind my belly button and just refused to move no matter what the sonogram lady did. She said that she was stubborn but I was really hoping she was just lazy. I could use one with a little less energy than Dane has. It took us a while to get over the shock but we are very excited about her. I guess we were just really in boy mode so when we heard we had to stop the wheels from turning and switch gears. We are working on a name for her but are torn. We like the names Keira Marie and Brynna Marie. For some reason we just can't commit to one over the other.
I have started picking out bedding and paint for the nursery so now I just need to get the office cleaned out (where oh where will all this junk go??). So far I am thinking the bedding will be pink, green, brown, and white and the walls will be green. I have yet to go out and buy a cute girl outfit and I think I am scared to because once I start I wont want to stop. Girls just have the cutest clothes and I am so excited about getting to put cute little tights on her. Jacob and I are excited about having the opportunity to raise one of each. Here is to praying for a healthy, laid back, sweet baby that loves to sleep just like I do! (no really God that is what I want ha ha)

14 months

Dane is running full throttle these days. It amazes me how much he understands what you say to him. He talks all the time now. We can't seem to make out much of what he is saying but he sure has a lot to say anyway. He has started saying "Joe" much to my moms annoyance because he loves his good friend Joe (sisters boyfriend). Joe plays with Dane all the time and when you mention his name Dane will just repeat his name over and over.

Danes favorite thing to do these days is read books. I am really trying to encourage him to like reading because I think it is so good for him. Every night we read 3 to 4 books right before bed. Goodnight Moon and Cliffords Animal Sounds are by far his favorite books but we also read a night time bible too. The night time bible has a little song and hand motions that go along and he gets really excited when it is time to sing the song but he is not really into the bible stories yet since they are really for a child a little older. I figure it is never to early to start such a good routine right?

Here are some pictures of Dane in late December / early January.

Playing on the fireplace in our neighbors house instead of helping daddy rake leaves.

Outside to finally go help daddy get some work done.

Resting after a hard days work. This picture is just the best!

Christmas Time 2010

We had a pretty busy Christmas this year. We started off our celebration in Omaha with Jacob's family. It is always so nice to spend time with the extended family. Dane did so well with the traveling.

When we got home we celebrated with all of our close friends. Dane even got a visit and present from Santa. Lets just say that he seemed less than excited about it. I think he knew there was something not quite right about that Santa.


On Christmas Eve we went to my moms house and Dane got to open his gifts. He had a blast with this ball popper that she got him. He seemed to be a little interested in unwrapping the gifts but I know that next year will be even more exciting to watch him.

Christmas day we were with Jacobs parents. Jacob ended up having to work so we were not able to stay long. Dane got a really cool push / ride toy that he really enjoys.

Fun with the ball popper.

Dane on his power wheels 4 wheeler. He will only ride it if you push the button. If you are not there to do that then he will just push it around the room.

Daddy helping Dane open up his gift from Grandma.

This would be the "not so excited about Christmas" that I mentioned

13 month update

Story time with daddy

He likes to listen to the Halmark toy sing Jingle Bells.

Jacob said we had a good picture of Dane by the tree, obviously not! haha

It seems so crazy to think that Dane is starting to understand things that I say. Our parent educator said that his vocabulary should really start to build now and that we would notice more by what he understands than what he actually says himself. Just in the last week or so I have noticed that he understands when I say lets take a bath, do you want to lay down? and are you hungry? I just didnt expect him to really understand me already. Sometimes I wish I could just push pause you know?

Right now we have our tree up and it has not been the challenge I thought it would be but he does like to test me by touching it when he knows he is not supposed to. I figured he would really think the tree was neat but so far he doesn't seem to care too much about it. He does like to look at the lights people have on their houses though.

13 months old

Dane is now 13 months old and hallelujah he is sleeping through the night!!!! I wasn't sure the day would ever come that he would stop waking up at 5 am to eat but he finally did. Unfortunately I can't get my body to stop waking up then. He is now walking all over the place and almost running. He is completely off of the bottle too. He has about 8 or 9 teeth these days but it is hard to get a good count because he has no hesitations when it comes to biting you if you stick your fingers in there. He does like having his teeth brushed so we are taking care of them. He is talking like crazy too. Most of what he says I can't figure out but I think he is using the words milk and more correctly. Tonight he talked for like 45 minutes and I have no idea what he was saying. His new thing is social laughing. He will just bust out with a big fake laugh. I just can't help but crack up when he does it. Most of the time he will get this big ear to ear cheesy grin to go along with it. He is also mocking people too. Jacob has been sick lately and in the morning you can hear him in the bathroom clearing his throat. When Dane hears him he will start making the same noise. This is a really fun age. Dane loves to play with his dad no matter if it is with toys, wrestling around, or assisting him on his xbox. It is one of the most heart warming moments when I get to sit back and watch the two of them play and laugh together.

Taking a good pic of Dane these days is nearly impossible. The little guy always blinks!

That classic cheezy grin I mentioned before.

Dane playing with his favorite toy outside while daddy raked up leaves.

Styling in his awesome hat that our talented friend made him. Thank you Susan so much!