Getting Older!

I can't believe Dane is getting so big. He is learning so much and everyday he amazes us!
Some things we have noticed lately:

• He doesn't want to sit in his highchair. We even tried to trick him and not use the tray, but pull the highchair up to the table. He either wants to sit on a regular chair, but he can't reach the table, so he kneels (we need to get a booster seat this weekend) or he wants to sit at the island on a bar stool, which makes me a nervous wreck.



• It used to drive me crazy because I would pull up to Tracey's in the morning to drop Dane off and he would have taken his shoes and socks off on the way there. I would have to get everything back on him before I would take him in. Today I look back and sure enough, shoes and socks are off. I told him we were almost to Tracey's house. When we got there he had put his shoes back on. We are still working on the socks, but I will take what I can get.



• One of Dave and Dane's favorite activities when Dave picks Dane up from daycare is a trip to DQ. Now when I pass DQ, doesn't matter if it is 7 a.m. or 3 p.m., Dane yells, "Ice cream, mommy, ice cream."



• When I pull into Lake Forest in the afternoon he yells, "Home!"



• When we pull into Mama and Papa's driveway he yells, "Yay!, Papa!"



• Dave always calls Dane, "Buddy". Yesterday when Dave was leaving for work Dane said, "Love you Buddy" to Dave.



• He will say, "Baby" and give him a hug or a kiss on the stomach.



• He says, "Thank you" to Tracey every afternoon when we leave her house.



• He will let Max in and out for me. If he is ready for Max to come in he will go to the back door and yell, "Max" and pat his leg for Max to come to him.



• Dane loves to go up to the Lake Forest Post Office and get the mail. Whenever we pass the post office he will yell to us, "Mail Mommy."


• I was making dinner and Dane was playing with his trucks. He hit his elbow on the table and started crying. When I asked him what was wrong he said, "Elbow Mommy, elbow." He has learned so much at Tracey's.

We are so excited that summer vacation begins Friday afternoon. We are ready to have a fun, fun summer together!

On Saturday we went up to Kirkwood for a Homemade Pizza Birthday Party for Tom (Aunt Katie's boyfriend), Aunt Katie, and Aunt Amy. My dad used to make homemade pizza for us all the time when we were little. Amy and Katie requested it for their birthday meal. Everyone was so excited. Even Dane walked around saying, "Pizza, Pizza" while he waited for dinner to get ready.

Aunt Amy and her cake.

Aunt Katie and her cake

Katie and Tom with their cakes (Tom's is kind of hidden)

We also had Turtle Ice Cream cake which was delicious!

Aunt Katie with her three little ones!

If Things Come in Threes.....We are ready for SUMMER!

I told Dave right before Easter that one of the craziest times of the year was getting ready to start....the last month of school. Little did I know we would have a couple of surprises to deal with as well........needless to say we are ALL ready for summer vacation.

If things come in threes Dane should be good to go for a while!

The day before Easter Break started Dane had a little fall on the concrete. He had a trip to the Urgent Care Center and they glued his forehead together. He was really happy when they gave him stickers of Thomas the Train.

Two weeks after that happened I was taking him to daycare and noticed his face getting red as we drove into town. When we got to Tracey's I thought he felt a little warm. Tracey took his temperature and he had a low grade fever of 100.1. Thankfully Dave was able to come get him. After lunch and a very short nap Dave took Dane's temperature again and it was 101.9 even after having Tylenol only 2 hours before. He called the Dr. and they headed to their appointment. By the time they got there Dane's temperature was 103.7 Turned out the little guy tested positive for Strep Throat. He spent the rest of the week home with Dave.

He looks so cute, but you can tell he doesn't feel well.
After two days of Amoxicillian he was feeling better and he was so happy. We continued the antibiotic for the next week and had about one dose left on Wednesday night. When we were giving Dane a bath I noticed some spots on his belly. It was right at his waistband, which is where he always gets heat rash so we assumed that was what it was. I even called Tracey to see if she had noticed it and she said she saw it when she changed his diaper right after coming in from playing outside and thought it looked like heat rash as well. So we put the little guy to bed. Thursday morning he woke up totally speckled! We called our pediatrician and they wanted us to bring him up right away. Turns out Dane had an allergic reaction to Amoxicillian.

Our speckled little man.

By Friday morning he had already started to fade a little. The rash didn't bother him at all. He was so happy. Friday afternoon I got off work at 12:30, picked Dane up from daycare, met Dave, and we headed to St. Louis once again, but this time it was for my Dr. appointment. Aunt Kara met us and Dane went to go play with Claire for a bit. My Dr. appointment went great. Our next appointment is on June 3rd and we have our big ultrasound. Dave, Dane, and I went to Target to pick up a few necessities and then went to have dinner at Chevys.

Right next to Chevys was a hair salon so we went over after dinner and got Dane's haircut.

He looks so cute!

Dane fell asleep about 7:15 as we headed home. We had a relaxing afternoon and evening together. Now only 9 days of school left! Boy are we ready!!

Mother's Day

We had a wonderful Mother's Day! We started off the day at the St. Louis Zoo for brunch with family. The food was delicious. Dave took great care of Dane and I, getting our food so we didn't even have to go through the buffet line!

After brunch we walked out into the zoo for a bit to get some pictures.

Kara, Tammy, and I with our babies.
My sweet boy was so busy looking at everything and everyone it was hard to get him to look at the camera.

Tammy and Baby Joe

Dane giving his littlest buddy a hug.

My mom, my grandma, the kids, and grandkids.

We haven't been to the zoo this year, but definitely need to go back, probably several times. Dane loved it. He could have walked around all day. He grabbed Mama's and Claire's hand and off they went.

He loved to climb onto rocks.

Dave and Dane looking at some birds.

Heading out of the zoo with Aunt Katie and Tom.

He has so much energy these days.

Hanging out with his Godmother on Mother's Day.

He gave her a hug, a kiss, a high five, and said, "love you."

We went back to Mama and Papa's house and after a nap Dane was ready to play some more.

When he woke up he was excited to see that Taylor, Delaney, Trey, and Claire were all over to play.

Playing Lacrosse in the backyard.

Swinging before dinner

We bar-b-qued and hung out outside.

After dinner we headed over to "Yo My Goodness" for some frozen yogurt.

Dane loves it!

He sat on Aunt Katie's lap and begged for some of Papa's yogurt after he finished his own.

It was a wonderful Mother's Day with my sweet baby boy.

All last week I said all I wanted for Mother's Day was a chance to get a haircut, get my eyebrows done, and maybe if I was really lucky get a massage. Last night when we got home I was laying in bed watching the news and it hit me that I didn't do any of the things I wanted to do. Funny thing, I didn't even think about any of that all day on Sunday. My little man keeps me busy!

Some Play Time Outside

Saturday morning was beautiful and we hung outside for a bit. Dane ran and played in the backyard. He played with sidewalk chalk on the patio. He loves to be outside.

Mid-morning Dave and Dane went down the street to visit Troy, Tyler, and Aiden Deters. Dave said Dane had a great time playing. He rode this little bike.
The Deters just got a new playset and Dane got to play on it for the first time. Dave said that they had a great slide. Dane loved it and would just crack up as he went down. On their first visit down to play on Saturday Dane wasn't able to climb the ladder to the slide. Today when Dave and Dane went to get gas in my car they saw the boys outside and stopped to play again. Dave said Dane went right up the ladder this time.

We are excited for summer vacation that begins in just 19 short days! The next few weeks are crazy busy, but we are ready for it all to be over and just enjoy playing, swimming, and enjoying our days. We already have lots of fun things planned to look forward to. CAN'T WAIT!!