Thanks Katie!

Last night Dave and I headed to St. Louis with Jesika, Mark, Tonya, and Rob for the Jimmy Buffett Concert! I had been soooo sick all week, but really took my medicine and went to bed early Tuesday and Wednesday so I would be in good shape on Thursday.

The weather was absolutely beautiful and we were so excited about the concert! Aunt Katie came down to hang out with Dane while we were gone. We left about 3:30 p.m. so she had Dane for the entire evening. She "said" he was perfect, didn't cry once, and was his usual adorable self. They took a walk before dinner, came home, ate, and then headed out for a post dinner walk as well. He must have sweet talked her into letting him have the remote control for the TV because this morning some of the settings were changed and we couldn't watch TV into Dave got it figured out. Aunt Katie had Dane snuggled in his bed by 8:00 p.m. and he slept all through the night. He woke up a little earlier than usual, 5:45 a.m! Sweet Aunt Katie got up with him and they played until I got up at 7:30 (the latest I have slept in a long time!)

This morning we had some hang out time together before Aunt Katie had to head back to St. Louis.

Dane sure loved his time with his Aunt Katie and Dave and I sure loved our night out and our night of uninterrupted sleep!

Standing!

I usually have to wake Dane up for daycare every morning. I keep the monitor on the bathroom counter as I get ready just in case he awakes early. Every so often I will hit the camera button so I can take a quick look at him.

Tuesday morning I hit the camera button and the little guy was laying in his crib. For the first time he had pulled himself up on the side of his crib. He has been pulling up on the coffee table and couches for a few weeks, but not in his crib.

He was pretty happy! I walked in and he had a big smile on his face. When I left to get the camera he broke into tears, but quickly recovered when I came back into the room.

A Busy, Growing Boy!

Friday morning I took Dane for his 9 month checkup at Dr. Andersen's. He was so happy and smiley. I think everyone we passed said something about his smile. At 9 months Dane weighed in at 21 lbs. 15 oz (75th%) and 28 inches long (45th%). Dr. Andersen talked to us about starting table food. Dane has had little bits of table food here and there and he is always grabbing at our plates and forks so I don't think it will be too hard to get him to try some new things.

I had some cottage cheese in the refrigerator today and I have talked to a lot of people whose babies eat cottage cheese so I thought I would give it a try. He ate quite a bit, but made this face with every spoonful. Well Dr. Andersen did say to try a food 5-7 times before we decide Dane doesn't like it so you never know he may be eating cottage cheese by the tub in no time at all.

Dane has gotten quite brave pulling up lately. He has taken a couple of tumbles, but always recovers quickly and is ready to try again.
I love it when I get in front of Dane and hold out my arms and he crawls right to me with a big smile. However, this is what I see more times than I can count during the day. My little baby in hot pursuit of something, that he is usually not supposed to have!

When Dane hurts himself or I take something away from him that he is not supposed to have he will get a big, pouty lip and look down, trying not to cry.

Sometimes he can hold it in and other times he just gets so upset.

Dane's new game is for someone to throw a blanket over him and say, "Where is Dane?"

You can see him wiggling around under the blanket trying to get it off himself.

Sometimes we have to help a bit.

When he is uncovered he laughs so hard!

Dane's been hanging out with Daddy too much lately. He looks like he is dreaming of having a boat of his own. I may be in trouble. I can resist Dave's pleading, but not Dane's.

Dane is 9 months old today!

9 Months Old!

Dane is so much fun these days. We have been very busy keeping up with our little buddy. Lots of changes this past month.

**Dane's 9 month Dr. appointment is Friday so we will have his latest stats then.

**This month Dane went to his first annual Easter Egg Dying at his Great Grandma's house with all of his cousins.

**Went to his first Easter Egg Hunt at church and at Kirkwood Park

**Even with his allergies Dane LOVES to be outside.

**Loves to swing on the swings at the park in Lake Forest, Mama and Papa's house, and at home. He also had a few trips to Kirkwood Park with his cousins.

**Now sits forward facing in the stroller and LOVES our (almost daily) walks. He looks all around and talks nonstop.

**Likes to look out the sliding glass door

**Very curious-No matter where we are he is constantly checking out the scene.

**Had some of his first "real" food at his Great Grandma's house on Easter. She made it special for him-mashed potatoes, watergate salad with no nuts, and applesauce.

**Already loves Papa's weekend breakfasts-pancakes and french toast

**Says Dada and Ma Ma

**Constantly talking (motor boat noises and blowing bubbles)

**Waves his arms around when he talks

**Had his first boat ride at Lake Forest

**First "Cousins Night" at Uncle T.J.'s and Aunt Ashley's house

**Claps his hands

**Loves his daycare- When I tell him he is going to Miss Sue's house he smiles really big. He loves to watch the kids play and they love to entertain him.

**Loves balls

**Has started to pull up on anything he can get near

Started crawling forward

He is soooo busy I can barely capture a picture!

We love him so much! He has made the past 9 months the best ever!

Our Day

Well the end of the school year craziness has started. There are a ton of meetings, awards ceremonies, banquets, and LOTS AND LOTS of paperwork. To add to the craziness Dave is working a TON.

After working on school stuff until 1:30 AM and then getting up at 5:30 when I went in to wake up my little man this morning and saw him sleeping so soundly I could really almost have called in a sick day. Reminding myself that I only have 25 more school days I woke my little guy up. He seemed to want to go back to bed as much as I did.

Dane and I play nonstop in the evenings. It keeps him happy and keeps me awake. He likes me to read to him, but then it turns into a game. He will then take the book from me and reach for more and more books until they are all in the chair with him......

then he throws them all on the floor and tries to lean over the edge of the chair to pick them up.

I usually end up picking them up for him and the game starts again and again...........

Bits and Pieces of Our Weekend- April 16th

Wore his new sandals for the first time!

Went for a walk and to the park with Aunt Katie and Mommy
Went swinging at Mama and Papa's house.
Forgot his hat so he had to borrow one of Papa's.

He now holds his bottle from the bottom.

Since starting to crawl he has now discovered the sliding glass door.

He loves to look outside and bang on the window.

Also discovered the dog's water and food bowls.

We are looking for a new place for these.

Pulls up all of the rugs around the house now that he can get to them.

While mommy and daddy had guacamole and chips Dane had a snack of water and puffs.

He had a long nap in his crib,

but after playing a bit he needed a power nap on the living room floor.

Got a ball at Walmart

Loves to bang on his buckets

Read a few books in his chair

Took a walk with Mommy

WOW!! The Week of Stages!

This week has been crazy! Dane is doing something new literally everyday! It is so fun to watch, but I just can't believe he is getting so big!

The first stage he seemed to have entered is one I don't like so much. The Scream For No Reason Stage. My mom says he is just talking, but I am not so sure. He especially seems to like to scream when I lay him down to change him and when I put him in the highchair. If I don't change him fast enough or start feeding him fast enough he will scream. Hope this stage doesn't last long.

I am hoping the next is just a stage that doesn't last long as well. If he isn't screaming when I change him he has decided he will pull the pictures above his changing table off the wall. They have fallen behind the changing table and have hit us both in the head. If this stage last too long I will have to redecorate.

Now on to some fun stages....

Lately when Dane has been playing on the floor he will start pulling on my clothes and trying to pull up on me. The other night he pushes his BIG basket of toys over and then pushes on it and next thing I know he is standing up looking at me. Gosh he looks big in this picture.

Dane has been scooting around for quite some time now. First he was scooting on his stomach and was not able to get back into a sitting position. This was tiring because he would scoot around and when he wanted to sit back up he would cry for one of us to set him back up. He would sit up for a couple of minutes and then go back to his stomach and scoot around until he was tired, then cry again. Then he was able to get back into a sitting position and starting sort of crawling backwards. He ended up in all sorts of areas...legs under the couch and under the entertainment center, but he couldn't figure out how to come forward to get out of those areas. Once again we would get him and sit him back up and 5 minutes later he was back under the couch.

Well today I was giving the MAP Test (the Missouri State Assessment-The BIG test of the year) and I get a text from Dave. DANE IS CRAWLING FORWARD. I couldn't believe it. I really wanted to leave school right then. Well when I got home from school, sure enough, the little guy crawled right up to me. Dave said he has really picked up speed even from just this morning. Oh my little man! Check out his crawling skills!

After Dave text me I was walking around monitoring the test and was thinking that last year during the state test was when I felt Dane kick me for the first time. Crazy, two exciting things happened when I was giving the test and I was locked in a room with 20 third graders and couldn't even tell anyone. Well both last year and this year I was quick to spread my news as soon as the test was over!

Let's Go Cardinals!

Dane is ready to cheer on the Cardinals this year!

We tried to take a picture before heading to daycare,

but he was too excited about the game to even look at me!

Can't wait for the game to start!
Daddy told Dane that they will watch the games together on the big screen in the basement and maybe even go to a game or two together!

A Wonderful Spring Weekend

We had a wonderful spring weekend! It was lots of fun and makes us have to remind ourselves that it is not summer quite yet and we do have to go to work and daycare tomorrow!

Dane had the biggest plans of the weekend. Saturday night was the first "Nieces and Nephews Night" at Uncle T.J.'s and Aunt Ashley's house. All 5 of the nieces and nephews were heading over for a night of hanging out and a sleepover. Dane didn't sleep over because his allergies have been so bad that he has been waking up coughing during the night. I didn't want them to have to worry about that so we just picked him up about 9:30 p.m.

He was still so excited!

After we dropped Dane off Dave and I headed out for the night. We went to dinner at the Cheesecake Factory, walked around Galleria finding a few summer outfits, then we went to Lowes to get landscaping stuff, and ended up at Dairy Queen before picking up Dane.

Dane was sleeping when we got there. We know he had a great time! He sure hopes Uncle T.J. and Aunt Ashley want to do it again, especially if he can spend the night next time!

The Whole Crew

Uncle T.J. and Claire

Uncle T.J. and Dane playing

Hanging out with Taylor

Ashley's sister came over to hangout as well.

Wow, sleeping bags and toys everywhere!

Delaney and Claire

(They look like they have matching outfits on)

Dave, Dane, and I came back to Mama and Papa's house. Dane only woke up once and I patted his back and he went right back to sleep...he could have totally stayed at Uncle T.J.'s and Aunt Ashley's house. Sunday morning we got up and Papa made pancakes for breakfast, which Dane loved!

We headed back home about 11:00 because we had BBQing and boating plans with friends.

I looked in the backseat to see if Dane was asleep and his feet must have been hot because he was sound sleep with his socks off! What cute little feet!

It was funny because on the way home I told Dave how excited I was about our first summer at Lake Forest. He told me that it was not our first summer, we moved in last April. Well, yes we did. I got to thinking about why I don't remember it. I remember lots of rainy weekends, I remember having baby showers and doing lots to get ready for our sweet Baby Dane, and I remember being very tired all the time. Also our very good friends, Troy and Vicki, that live in Lake Forest as well had a baby boy last May. So at the beginning of the summer she had a newborn and at the end of the summer I had a newborn, we just didn't do much.

This year we have already started having fun! Friday night Dane and I went down to Troy and Vicki's house because Dave had worked a double and had to sleep. Aiden and Tyler entertained Dane while Vicki and I hung out and talked. Then Saturday morning we met at 10:00 and took a long walk with the boys. We also made plans to meet Sunday for BBQing and boating. We all had a blast and can't wait for many more days like this!

Dave, Dane, Tyler, and the dog Zeke. Dane loves dogs!

Even with his allergies, Dane loves to be outside.

Troy and Vicki live on the water and have a boat so we got ready for a boatride. We laughed because Troy and Vicki said just a couple of years ago they would have been flying around the lake with no top on the boat and suntan oil on. Today we putted around and had the top on so the babies that we had lathered the highest SPF sunscreen we had on kept shaded.

It was a wonderful afternoon and it was beautiful out!

Our first boat ride as a family!

Playing with Daddy

Watching the water

Aiden, born May 6, 2009 and Dane, July 21, 2009

The boat ride totally relaxed Dane!

What a great weekend!