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

Brynna is 5 months

first big girl bath with Dane

Brother Dane is so interesting

both watching Sesame Street

Ready for lunch

first time eating bananas

Brynna is learning new things everyday it seems. She is now able to transfer things from one hand to another
and also reach and grab things that are close by. Although she is excited that she can pick up toys that she sees around her, Dane is not all that thrilled about it because now she is always grabbing "his" toys.

Another milestone is she is actually starting to eat her cereal like a champ. It has taken her a while to get used to act of eating but now she pretty much has to have it to be satisfied. Right now she will pretty much only eat rice cereal even though I tried the oatmeal.

Naps right now are pretty much terrible. She may nap 20 minutes here and there even though she really needs a couple hours. I am trying to get her on a good schedule but right now she is moving to her own beat.

This month she is also got her first tooth! She looks so cute with one little tooth on the bottom.

Dane is 25 months

Dane is 25 months now and just a little man. He enjoys hanging out with his dad and the other boys. His favorite words are Joe, papa, and Luke. My mom is about to go crazy because he won't call her by a name. Every time he sees her he asks about Joe (my sisters boyfriend). Luke is Jacob's brother and Dane is crazy about him. There are times during the day where Dane will just ask "Where is Luke?". Luke always takes time to play with him and Dane thinks he is the coolest.

Music and dancing has become a daily thing for us lately. Dane loves to get his groove on. He is still big on reading too. I love to read him books with animals in them because he always makes the animal sounds. He can do a cow, frog, cat, lion, tiger, dog, goldfish, sheep, elephant, and bear. The elephant and frog is the cutest. For a frog sound he says "bibick, bibick" with a very big emphasis on the k at the end. When I taught him the elephant I put my nose on my shoulder and made a noise to pretend I had a trunk so to mimic me he puts his hand over his mouth and opens and closes it. Not sure how that quite translated into an elephant but it it sure is cute.

Our big struggles these days are usually regarding the television. I don't know why but since he was a baby he has been mesmerized by the tv. I really try to minimize the amount of television he watches but every time I turn it off, no matter how long it has been on, he throws a major fit. I find this to be more challenging now that it is getting colder outside.  He still loves his Baby Einstein videos and he does learn quite a bit from those but I want him to be more active. Electronics in general just seem to fascinate him. He loves to play with a cell phone or xbox controller.

Although we have our difficult times he also has such a sweet side to him. He loves to give kisses to all of us. It is the most precious thing to watch him walk up to Brynna and give her a kiss without anyone asking him to. He will also come sit next to you and put his arm around you and pat your back or your head. He is not much of a cuddler still so I really get excited when he does something like this.

Anytime there is a pair of shoes around he puts them on.

Grandma and Dane at the zoo

Hanging out with Papa

All sweaty from dancing and wrestling with daddy

fun fall day in the leaves

first bath together

hanging out with Papa Mike

Another thing he has been doing is helping around the house. He takes good care of Brynna by retrieving toys for her and pushing her around in her stationary walker. He also likes to help unload the dishwasher and the washer. I really encourage him to help me and I make sure I tell him what a good job he is doing because I want to train him to be a good helper.

2011 Halloween

This year Dane trick-or-treated for the first time. We took him to the YMCA to trunk or treat and then we went to two of the churches by our house for trunk or treat as well. The pics above are from the YMCA. He really enjoyed the bounce house that they had in the gym. We tried to get him to say trick-or-treat but he wouldn't. He sure was good at taking the candy and putting it in his bag though. We did get him to say thank you so I guess that was good enough. Brynna was just around for cuteness. She got lots of oohs and ahs from people over her costume. She was a candy corn fairy and Dane was a scarecrow.

2011 Pumpkin Patch