Hey you.....yes, you.....LOOK AT ME!!!

Oh my, monkey has such a personality these days! The ladies at daycare say he is really opening up and is such a silly goose! They painted today with leaves, but I wont get to see the final product until tomorrow. I promise I will take pictures of it and post it for you all to see. One of his teachers told me he was so fun to show how to paint, he soaks it all in (the information, not the paint) and is really into learning new things. They took pictures of him painting and she said the he was making the typical "Dane" face...I am anxious to see what she means!

Today I had him in his floor gym and happened to look away at something that was on TV and I hear Dane making noises....louder, and louder, and LOUDER!! So I finally look to him and just as I do - he smiles....he was trying to get my attention! So, I looked away again, and he did it again!
I noticed he was doing this the other day when we were at the car dealership. He was in his car seat on the floor next to Darren and he was staring right at Darren with his tongue sticking out. He was waiting patiently for Darren to look at him, and when he did Dane started laughing and sticking his tongue out further! He knows that the whole tongue thing is funny...he even laughs at himself when he sticks it out!

Oh my, what a little goober...I can't wait to get to know my son even more...his personality is just priceless!

Dane decided to sleep really well last night, he slept from 8:00 - 12:30! He got up again at 1:30, but just as I was about to put my hand on his tummy to console him back to sleep, he turned his head and fell asleep on his own! yay!! He then woke up at 3:30 and then I had to wake him up at 6:15am....I stopped giving him anything but breast milk (we were giving him formula at night to see if it would help him sleep through the night) and the rotten gas he has had subsided (thank goodness). We will try the rice cereal again in a few weeks, but until then I am going to enjoy not smelling rotten eggs!!

Mr. Tongue-sticker-outer

Well, our little monkey man has learned a new trick! He can now stick his tongue out and it is the CUTEST THING EVER! Ugh, it is just so darn cute.....If I look at him and stick my tongue out he will copycat and do the same thing! Needless to say - this is all I did this weekend and now my whole mouth is sore for sticking my tongue out for hours on end...ha!

We also bought him a bouncer thing which he LOVES! We had to put a phone book underneath him so his little toesies could reach, but the little man goes crazy in it! It was neat to watch him learn how all the new playthings work....Just this morning I was watching him figure out how to get this one purple floppy thing to go where he wanted it just so he could stick it in his mouth!

2 dead spiders and an accident report

Yesterday was Dane's first accident at daycare :( He was playing in the toy pool and another child reached into the pool and scratched Dane on the forehead. He has 4 long scratches right above his right eye. I asked Brenda if he cried and she said that he was really startled and she picked him up and gave him lots of TLC. She washed the scratches with soap and water. I wish it were me that comforted him, but Brenda is such a warm and kind lady that I am glad it was her that was there to step in for me. The scratches are almost all healed today - gotta love super healing babies!! I had to sign off on an accident report that will be kept in his file....Imma gonna kick that other babies butt when I find out who scratched him....haha, I kid people!! I kid!! I know it was just an accident.... :o)

As I was cleaning today I found two dead spiders side by side. I said to myself "Self...have I stumbled upon Romeo and Juliet of the arachnid type? Were these two lovers that decided they couldn't live without each other and committed suicide? Or were they two arch enemies dueling to the death? Or were they friends holding each other close while they froze to death because we left the window open last night?" I guess I will never know, but as I scooped them up in 7 paper towels (I wanted a large enough barrier between them and my hand just in case they decided to come alive and bite me....yes, i am a little crazy when it comes to spiders....they freak me out) I had a moment of silence for whomever they were before I chucked them in the trash.....

On a happier note, I got some sleep last night! Dane slept from 9:00 -1:30! then from 1:45 till 4:30! then he was up till 6:30 (booo, but at least Darren got up to hang with him for a bit so I could go back to sleep) then he went back to sleep at 6:30 and slept till 9:00! I decided to give him 2 ounces of formula mixed with breast milk last night right before bed and crossed my fingers, eyes, and toes that it would keep him asleep so I could recharge my batteries, and it worked! Yahoooo!!!

Hitting a wall.....

So here I am in my sleep deprived daze I find myself in nowadays....Dane is still up every two hours....and the cry it out method doesn't work....probably because I really don't let him cry it out for very long (what seems like a very long time is probably about 2 minutes in reality). Don't get me wrong, I am not complaining one bit about cuddling with my monkey at all hours of the night, I actually like our little midnight dates....I am just taking the time to share some fun facts about sleep deprivation.....here we go:

• New research suggests the right amount of slumber might keep Alzheimer's disease at bay (great, now that is one more thing my hypochondriac self needs to worry about)

• Studies have shown that sleep deprivation is associated with increased risk of weight gain and obesity as well as type 2 diabetes.

• A chronic sleep-restricted state can cause fatigue, daytime sleepiness, clumsiness and weight gain.

• A 2001 study at Chicago Medical Institute suggested that sleep deprivation may be linked to more serious diseases, such as heart disease and mental illnesses, such as psychosis and bipolar disorder (uh oh, watch out Darren!! I may be going crazy!!)

• Sleep deprivation can be used as a means of interrogation that some believe will constitute torture when used to excess.

Hopefully during this weekend I can catch some Zzzzz's....but if not, I've made it this far without sleep - what's another couple of weeks? (Oh goodness I hope it doesn't last another couple of weeks....Ack!)

Rotten Eggs and Applesauce

Mr. Man has is 4 month check up yesterday - he is getting so big! He is 26 inches long (grew 2 inches since his 2 month check up) and is 15.1lbs (gained 2.7 lbs since his 2 month check up)!! He is in the 90th percentile for both - oh my! He was so funny during the exam. When you weigh a baby it's with the diaper off - so I instructed Dane not to poop....but he did feel it necessary to toot....and BOY did it stink!! It smelled just like rotten eggs. I started laughing but the nurse (who didn't have a funny bone in her body) just kept filling out paperwork and didn't even crack a smile.....her lack of humor made it even more funny to me!!....I was laughing so hard on the inside! Then when the Dr was listening to Danes breathing and heart with the stethoscope Dane kept pulling on it like a rope until the Dr's face was almost right next to Dane...it was too cute! At least the Dr has a sense of humor and was laughing right along with monkey....it was so adorable!

I talked with the Dr about Dane's heartburn - which has made an evil come back - and he just said to up his dose of Ranitidine from 0.67 ml to 1 ml....which we will do. He also asked if we started trying to feed him solids. He said he was big enough and has really good head control so there is no reason why we should wait. I told him that we have faithfully been trying for almost a week now but monkey just wont eat it. He said to mix in some baby applesauce and try that. Well, Mr. man still wouldn't eat it....for me or my mom anyway....but once Darren tried his hand at it he loved it! Why is that? What is it about dad's? Darren made it seem so easy and had Dane laughing....I try to feed him and he immediately starts crying....oh well...

Poor dude also got three shots, two in one thigh and one in the other :o( He is a little sore and is running a slight temperature :o( The nurse (who had no funny bone) gave him the shots and when Dane started crying I said to him jokingly "i think the mean lady with the needle is done hurting you now"and not even a smile from her....nothing....she must really hate her job!!!

He is also full force in teething mode! He has been chewing his fingers and trying to put both fists in his mouth - so much so he gave himself a rash on his cheeks from all the saliva....The doc said to give him Tylenol as needed. Once the Tylenol kicked in he stopped chewing on his hands...poor guy. I hate that he is in pain and doesn't understand why :o( Hopefully those teeth pop out soon. I've read that the first tooth is always the hardest, and then each tooth afterwards is a little easier. It's probably because they realize what the pain is all about.

My parents were in town this weekend - we had a really good time! This was the first time my dad got to meet Dane (they live in PA). Both my mom and dad got plenty of cuddle time in....Dane is such a cuddle bunny! My parents actually stayed and extra day so they could go to the Mall of America, but I really think it was to cuddle more with Dane....haha!!

Dane still isn't sleeping through the night...the doc said it's pretty normal but I should start letting him cry a little before I go into the nursery to console him. He said he is old enough that he shouldn't be hungry that often - especially if we can get him to actually eat his rice/applesauce concoction before bed. Friday night Dane slept for 7 hours in a row for the first time EVER! I was so mad at myself because I didn't go to bed when he did....if I had I would have had the same amount of sleep.... :( That was a one time thing of course because every night after that he has been up every two hours almost on the dot. Oh well, eventually he will decide to sleep more than two hours at a time...I hope!!! Until then I will wear the bags under my eyes proudly!

Trial and Error is the name of the game!

The very first day of giving Dane rice cereal he LOVED it, the next day - not so much....he didn't want anything to do with it AT ALL! It could be because i tried giving it to him at 6:45 - which is pretty late considering he goes to bed at 7:30...so tonight I will try and give it to him at 6:00 instead. I'll keep trying till we get the right combination of time, thickness, temperature, and the kitchen sink....

He is still sleeping from 7:30 - 11:30 which is great! But last night I could feel his tummy rolling as he had some serious gas (I've been eating a lot of fruit lately which I think is making him gassy, sorry monkey!) so he wasn't comfortable enough to go back to sleep after his 11:30 feeding....I tried and tried to get him back to sleep in his crib, but he wanted to cuddle so off to my bed we went. We slept snug as a bug till I had to get up for work (boo) at 5:30 and then he remained under the covers till 6:30.

He did really well at daycare today too - they commented on his hand-eye coordination and how just in the past week it has really developed. He can reach for toys and grab them right away instead of swaying his arms around for a while. Last night during tubby time he kept grabbing the cup I use to rinse him off and trying to chew it. Yes...we are at the stage where EVERYTHING has to go into his mouth! I am constantly running things under the water...with two dogs you just never know who licked what and where their tongue was just before they licked it....haha!!

I know I've said this before.....BUT

Could it be the start of something wonderful??? I gave Dane rice cereal last night (this time it wasn't so runny and he was able to keep it in his mouth) and he ate it like a champ!! He opened his mouth for the spoon every time!! Darren had to help because I had the positioning all wrong, but once he showed me how to hold the spoon for our baby button it was smooth sailing from then on! I was also eating a frozen yogurt popsicle and Dane kept staring at it, so I put it in front of his face and he moved towards it and opened his mouth and boy did he ever like it! He kept wanting more "tastes"!! Our little man was nice and comfy and full until 2:30am!! Then I nursed him and he went back to sleep until 5:30am! Oh I hope this is going to be a normal schedule for him, but if not - I am used to it and will live......I have so far!!

On another subject - our poor little guy hasn't had a BM in three days :( This isn't normal for him at all. He usually has a couple healthy ones each day. You can tell by looking at him he is really uncomfortable. Even the ladies at daycare mentioned it to me....I think it's from his digestive system maturing (we only gave him rice last night so it's not from that). I was thinking of giving him some prune juice mixed with water - but then I started doing some research and this is what I found out:

Breastfed babies start digesting better at the age of 3-4 months and use more if not all the nutrients in the breast milk so they just don't need to poop as often as a baby that is eating solids or a formula baby. A week can be very normal, but there were stories of babies that went longer without any issues.

So, what to do....what to do....he is obviously uncomfortable. Giving him the prune juice/water isn't going to hurt, so I think I'll give it a try.....

HAHAHA...I am proofreading this before I post and I have Dane on my lap and guess what he is doing???? That's right...HE'S POOPING! Ha! Too funny....he's got perfect timing that is for sure!!!

A big pat on the back for me please! and NO "I told you so's" from the peanut gallery....

Well.....last night was Dane's first night in his crib, and HE SURVIVED! Of course he didn't sleep through the night, but I wasn't keeping my hopes up for that, just crossing my fingers, eyes, and toes. He doesn't seem to mind the change in scenery, in fact I think he likes the crib! He has much more room in there to stretch out. He was kinda cramped in the bassinet. Even though my boy is growing up (can you believe he is 16 weeks old already?) he still looks really tiny in his big huge crib!! I slept really well (when I did sleep, he was still up almost every three hours) because i wasn't worried about making noises and waking him up. It's nice to have him in his OWN room too because now I can close the door to the nursery and not worry about waking him up while I am in the other rooms upstairs. Of course, nothing really wakes him up - but I still like to be quiet.

Another milestone, I let baby Dane cry himself to sleep today for his afternoon nap. Darren had to hold me back a couple of times because I wanted so badly to just go and comfort him. What seemed like an eternity was really only about 15 minutes of intermittent crying. Gosh, he is such a good boy I don't give him enough credit! I hear horror stories of some parents letting their kids cry it out for hours on end, so I should thank my lucky stars this is going as well as it is....(hopefully I am not counting my chickens before they are hatched either).

Tonight will be another big change - baby Dane will be getting his rice cereal right before his bedtime feeding. He wants absolutely nothing to do with formula (I actually tasted it and almost threw up - so I don't really blame him at all). We were giving him formula mixed with two ounces of breast milk in hopes that it would keep him fuller longer and he would sleep for an extended period of time. It only works if he eats it...ha!

So, I am going to give myself a pat on the back for today and last night...Go Nicki! Keep it up!! :o)

If you go to our pics and video's link on the right you can check out the video of baby Dane's first attempt at cereal. He did really well!!

Potty....errrr.....Poopy mouth

OK kids...sit down for this one because it is GROSS!

I was changing mr. man's poopy diaper yesterday and I am wiping away singing him a song oblivious to what is going on 1 foot above his hiney....when I went to bend down and give him a smooch I froze! His hand was covered in orangy sticky baby poop! YUCK! And to top it off, his hand was in his MOUTH....Ewwww!! He must have reached down and grabbed some of it while I wasn't looking...sneaky little bugger! I didn't make a scene (I promise) I just kept on singing a song and took his hand out of his mouth and wiped it and his mouth clean. Ugh....crisis adverted for yet another day!

Dane has also taken notice that if he sticks his fingers far enough into his mouth he gags....I keep saying "don't keep gagging yourself" but alas, he is too little to understand what I am saying! Hopefully he will stop it soon. He hasn't made himself throw up yet (Cindy...remember when Kyle did this at Red Robin???).

He has also started squealing! I don't know if it is still from his voice being gone from his cold or not - but it is the cutest stinking thing! When he laughs he squeals so loud some times it hurts my ears! I think he even startles himself with how loud he can get because his eyes get really big and he laughs and then does it again!

He is still doing really amazing at daycare. They just love him so much there! He takes really good naps (which I was worried he wouldn't with all the noise) and has been doing really well with two 6 ounce bottles. He plays with all the fun toys they have there and they say he is always smiling and laughing when he is there!

Sleeping through the night is still something we are working on. The 1-2 ounces of formula seem to help (when he eats it - he doesn't really want it, he'd rather be nursed and I don't blame him! Formula smells bad!). I know he will soon sleep through the night (or at least 5 hours in a row) soon, so that thought keeps me going! And I NEVER turn down an opportunity to cuddle with my little man! If he wants to wake up every 2 hours just for a snuggle I am OK with it! It wont be long before he thinks cuddling is out of season....

Here are some fun facts about kids that go to daycare:

Young children with older siblings and those who attend day care are at increased risk for infections, which in turn may protect against the development of allergic diseases, including asthma.

Exposure of young children to older children at home or to other children at day care protects against the development of asthma and frequent wheezing later in childhood.


Babies who attended daycare are much less likely to suffer childhood leukaemia when they grow older than those who did not mix with other infants

One pooped pup

Our neighbors little girl turned one this weekend and she had a HUGE birthday party complete with one of those big bouncy jumper things. Darren, baby Dane and I had a great time! The weather was nice, the food was good, and the company was pleasant. As you can see from the pictures, Dane really enjoyed it too - so much so he fell asleep!!

Today was the first day I had to take Dane IN to daycare. I usually am the one to pick him up. Boy was it hard to leave him there! After giving him about 3,000 hugs and kisses I put him down in the bouncy seat next to Miss Esther (she is new, she replaced Brenda) and he was all smiles and laughing and wouldn't let go of my finger. I didn't want to leave him! I told Darren I am never dropping him off again...it is too hard. I like picking him up better!

She did it!!!!

After almost 7 and a half years our dear Cora FINALLY learned how to roll over onto her back!! She has been struggling with this as long as I can remember. Chai (of course) has to rub it in her face that she can do it anytime, any day....So, with some cheers from the peanut gallery (that would be Darren, Dane, Chai and I) Cora pushed off from the bottom step with her back paw and viola!! Was on her back!! I am so proud of her! Her tail was wagging and she had the biggest smile on her face (yes, dogs CAN smile!) Way to go Cora!!!!!

Have we cracked the code???

Only time will tell, but as for last night both baby Dane and I slept for 5 hours straight! The secret "formula" you ask? Well....we are giving him a scoop of formula with his ranitidine/breast milk cocktail at night....He was on formula when he was first born until my milk came in, so we know it agrees with him. I only gave him one small scoop mixed with two ounces of breast milk (plus his ranitidine) and then nursed him as usual right before bed and viola!!! He (well, we) slept from 9:00pm until 2:00am! AND - he was a happy baby when he woke up at 2:00am! Usually he is so hungry when he wakes up that he wakes up screaming and crying until I nurse him, but when he woke up this time he just kinda wined....it was nice! Of course then every two hours after the 2:00am feeding he was up because of hunger, but c'est la vie!! We both awoke this morning nice and refreshed! We will try this again of course...hopefully it wasn't a one time thing. Poor guy - I hate to have him not get restful sleep because he is so hungry every two hours.
We will still keep up the cereal, but not before bedtime and not every day. Probably every other day during the week just to get his tummy used to it and get his mouth used to eating it as well. He does really good but it did nothing for helping him sleep, so we figured why give it to him now if it isn't really effecting him either way. The formula (cross your fingers, toes, and eyes) seems to work! Yay!


Dane is doing such a great job on tummy time! He can now do push ups and he lifts both his legs up in the air so the only part touching the floor is his tummy! He loves it! He also holds his bottles when the ladies at daycare give them to him and when I give him his ranitidine cocktail at night and his probiotics in the morning. It is too cute. I have to adjust it every once and a while, but for the most part he holds the bottle himself! Ugh...my little man isn't going to be so little anymore :o(

He STILL has the sniffles...and his voice is really scratchy. I miss his cute little voice so much....when he cries it is so pitiful sounding...hopefully he starts to feel better soon....he doesn't have a temperature yet - so we aren't too worried. He goes in for his check up on Sept 22 - cant wait to see how big he is getting!!

PS....still working on uploading the videos. Darren has to convert them first on his computer and he has been a little busy in the garage....soon though!! promise!!!

Hungry Hungry Hippo!

Do you remember that game? I used to love that game! Ok, that has nothing to do with anything, I just thought I would let you in on that tid bit... Ha!

I think my little man just might be related to a hungry hungry hippo!! He is still getting up every 2-3 hours at night famished...and it seems like when he is awake he is always hungry. The ladies at daycare said that he finishes his 4 ounce bottle and is obviously still hungry - so they wanted to try a larger bottle. I sent along 2 6 ounce bottles today and he downed them like a champ! Sucks for me because now I have to pump 12 ounces while at work instead of 8 ounces, but it is what it is.

We also tried giving him rice cereal last night mixed with breast milk and HE LOVED it!! We video taped the whole thing, so once I figure out how to get the video from the camera to the blog I will post it! We will be giving him 1 tablespoon of rice cereal every night before bed. Hopefully that keeps his little tummy full so we can both start getting some good night sleep. :o)

They have a special bond.....waaaaahhhh!!

If you recall a couple of days ago Dane had a major blowout at daycare. Ms. Lera was the lucky one to clean him up - poor girl! Well, today during my usual "10:00 am check on baby Dane phone call" into daycare, Ms. Lera let me know that baby Dane had not one, not two, but three blowouts today already! I told her he must be really comfortable around her and he gets all nice and relaxed and just lets loose! She said they her and Dane must have this special bond or something since he feels comfortable enough to share his blowouts with her...haha! I told her that she can change as many poopy diapers of his as she wants - I will try and train him so that he only poops at daycare! Ha!

Other than that he is doing great, he really doesn't have the sniffles anymore. He is eating a ton and sleeping a lot so I think he is either entering a growth spurt or just hungry and tired....He talks all the time and laughs just as much! He is such a good baby. He is still loving bath time! I am going to introduce some bath toys today during his bath to see what he thinks of that.

In the past couple of days he has really started to get interested in holding things and putting them in his mouth. It's pretty neat! Hopefully he doesn't find something gross to put in his mouth...with two dogs you just never know......blech.....