Mama's Little Potted Plant Piggy

At last!! Dane LOVES to eat solids!! He now eats three times a day and is eating like a champ! I even have to mix rice or oatmeal into his fruits and veggies because he prefers his meals on the thick and lumpy side....go figure! It was just like one day - all of a sudden - he decided it was time to eat like a big boy!! I do miss nursing him all those times, but I still get to a couple times a day and at night, so all is not gone....yet. :o( He is getting so big so fast!!

He does this funny thing when he eats, he holds both of his arms out to the side and twists his hands around. He also kicks his legs up and down. It is the funniest weirdest thing....I will definitely have to get it on video one of these days before he grows out of that. He also tries to talk with food in his mouth and on more than one occasion I have ended up wearing his dinner! ha!

He hasn't mastered crawling yet, but he rolls around everywhere he wants to go - it is so funny!! He looks like a little steam roller rolling from one end of the living to the next! I think it's only a matter of time before he starts to crawl. He gets his legs up underneath him and pushed forwards, but hasn't figured out what to do with his arms....all in good time buddy - and no rush please!! I am enjoying the potted plant stage.....hee hee!!

Face down in the toy pool

Here's my Dane, face down in the toy pool! That's how I found him at daycare last friday.....What a goof ball! He must have been super tired!

This picture is of Dane on the bathroom floor (we had company and I needed to take a shower and didn't want to leave Dane in the living room all by himself and the company we had was still asleep) while I took a shower. I love how Pooh Bear is "hugging" Dane's head! Ugh, my little man is so stinkin funny sometimes!

The Story of the Traveling Jeans

Not so long ago, God gave a beautiful little baby to Richard and Ann in a rural town in the middle of Pennsylvania. She was born with lots of hair and a great big grin. Her loving parents named her Linda.

About the time Linda turned 6 months, her mommy bought a pair of bib jeans for her to wear. This pair of jeans was blue in color, had little straps that went over her shoulders and secured in the back with little buttons. The conventional snaps adorned the inside legs of the jeans. As Linda eventually grew out of those jeans, Ann carefully packed them away in hopes of God sending her another little baby to love. As the years went by, the jeans were content to lie comfortably in a cardboard box with numerous other outgrown baby clothes.


Because Richard and Ann prayed to God to give them another baby for them to love, Linda’s sister Janet arrived approximately 9 years later. Everyone was ecstatic! Even the jeans in the cardboard box. When Janet turned 6 months, her mommy opened the cardboard box to sort through the clothing. She was hoping there would be a few articles of clothing that could be passed down from Linda to Janet. Well, sure enough, the jeans were on top of the pile! Ann washed the jeans and dressed Janet in them. Janet wore those jeans for a little while, but eventually grew out of them, too. Alas, the jeans would have to be discarded.

But wait,,,,mommy put away a few articles of baby clothing in hopes of needing them for another baby to love. Well as time went on, the cardboard box was moved the back of the attic and forgotten. Then, the family moved to a little town not too far away. As you may have guessed, the jeans were happy when the cardboard box was not forgotten when they moved.

The cardboard box was again moved to the far end of the attic in the new house, the jeans were hoping someone would remember them and perhaps they could be worn again.

When Linda was old enough, God sent a young man named Mike into her life to love. They married and settled down a few miles north of where Richard, Ann and Janet lived. When the time was right, God sent a beautiful baby girl into Mike and Linda’s life to love. Cindy arrived with just a few wisps of golden hair and a big smile. As Cindy grew, she needed larger clothing. Grandma Ann remembered the cardboard box tucked way back in her attic. She retrieved the cardboard box and gave it to Linda. As you might have guessed, when Linda opened the cardboard box the jeans were on top of the pile.

You see, the jeans heard about Cindy’s birth and was really hoping someone would remember the cardboard box that was home to the jeans for over 20 years! Linda took a few items from the box and put them in Cindy’s dresser. A cold day in December, Linda was looking for something for Cindy to wear was warm and cozy. Sure enough, when she opened the dresser drawer, there the jeans were laying. The jeans were folded at their very best and looking so regal. Linda couldn't resist having Cindy wear them. As Linda was dressing Cindy in the jeans, she was telling Cindy the history of the jeans. Of course, Cindy was too young to understand, but she loved listening to mommy’s stories.

In a few short weeks, Cindy outgrew the jeans and Linda had to put them away in the cardboard box, along with other clothing Cindy had outgrown. The box was stored in the attic. Again, the jeans were waiting to meet another little baby to wear them. Linda and Mike prayed for another little baby to love and sure enough, two years later, Nicki arrived. Nicki arrived crying at the top of her lungs. Her head was covered in soft, downy-like dark brown hair and she had big beautiful eyes. Cindy couldn’t wait to hold her baby sister.

As the days went by, the jeans heard a little baby cooing and laughing just below. Remember, the jeans are in the cardboard box in the attic – just above Nicki’s bedroom. The jeans were hoping someone would remember them, so they could enjoy another little one again.

Soon, Nicki was growing out of her clothing and in need of more. Linda remembered the cardboard box in the attic. The jeans were so excited! Mike brought the box down from the attic and as Linda opened the flaps, the jeans almost jumped out! They couldn’t wait to see the new little person that joined the family.

Nicki wore the jeans and looked absolutely adorable. She would crawl as fast as she could trying to catch up with her big sister. And I am sure you can guess what happened next. Nicki couldn’t fit into the jeans anymore. So Linda carefully packed them away in the cardboard box and placed the box in the attic. Linda and Mike enjoyed Cindy and Nicki so much, that the jeans were soon forgotten. How sad the jeans felt. Who knows how long they must stay in the cardboard box, in the attic, in the dark this time????? There they were, lying on top, just waiting for someone to pick them up and just hoping Linda would not pass them up for another article of clothing. Well how could she? Those jeans were in the family for over 40 years and earned the right to meet all the babies joining our family.

Sometime later, the jeans heard Cindy and Alan presenting a pizza box to Linda and Mike. Now this pizza box didn’t contain pizza, as you probably thought it might. Inside were two baby bibs, one pink and one blue. Cindy and Alan were soon going to welcome a little baby into their lives. Linda and Mike were so excited to become Grandparents. They could hardly wait, just like the jeans. The jeans could have jumped for joy, but the box flaps were closed. The jeans could hardly control their excitement and joy at the prospect of loving another baby! Linda remembered the jeans she so carefully packed in the cardboard box and stored in the attic. So, Linda gently washed them so they would look their best and presented them to Cindy.

Cindy understood the significance of the jeans and was happy to be included in this family tradition. The jeans were so proud to meet Kyle, then Caleb, then Meghan. The jeans loved each and every baby they were privileged to hug.

When the last of Cindy and Alan’s babies, Meghan, grow out of the jeans, Cindy carefully packed them away in a cardboard box and placed it in the attic. The jeans were very said to be packed away again. As they lay in the dark box, they listened very carefully for the laughter of yet another baby. But nothing. Then, suddenly the cardboard box was taken from the attic. The jeans were confused. The cardboard box was moved, but no one opened it! The cardboard box had a new home on Charles St. and still, no more baby laughter. The jeans were so sad. They were beginning to feel they wouldn’t be needed anymore.

Then late in 2008, the jeans were delighted to hear Nicki and Darren were going to welcome a little baby into their lives. God was sending Dane into our family for us to love and nurture. Dane arrived in May. He was a beautiful bundle of joy! How excited the jeans were to know they weren’t forgotten after all. The jeans were just “itchen” to get out of the cardboard box and wrap themselves around Dane. But there was a slight problem. The jeans were in a cardboard box, in Pennsylvania and Dane was in Minnesota! How could this be? Mema Linda rescued the jeans from the cardboard box and gently placed them in an envelope addressed for the Hartenstine home. The mailman carried them all the way to Minnesota just for Dane! Wow!

All family traditions are marked with something very special, so it is true of these jeans. Family traditions grow out of love. It is an honor to be a part of a tradition, especially one that endures year after year. When the jeans were purchased way back in 1955, little did anyone know just how important they would become? With each little baby born into our family, the jeans have had the privilege to be worn by them, even if only for a few moments for Daddy to take a few pictures. How special! Dane is the 8th little one to wear the jeans. Along with this tradition goes a tremendous amount of love for this young life. It is almost like the jeans are a symbol of the Yeagley love, prayers and dreams for yet another new life God has sent to us. And, the strong fibers of the fabric from which the jeans are made, represents the strength of this family. What a wonderful life we have.

And, as time marches on, Thanksgiving 2009 is only a few weeks away. We will again give thanks around the harvest table, remembering all we are thankful for. And this year, we will remember to add to our lists, these jeans that stand to the ready for number 9.


written by Linda Shay - November 2009

Nope....not gonna do it!!

Dane sure is a stubborn little fella!

I had the ladies at daycare start to feed him cereal during the day right before he gets his bottle and he will not open his mouth for them either! I feel kinda good about this because I thought maybe it was something I was doing, but since he wont open his mouth for them either it makes me feel better! I know for sure it's the cereal, he just doesn't like it. Doesn't matter if it's rice, oatmeal, apple flavored rice, or banana flavored oatmeal...he wont eat it.

He does however LOVE love LOOOOVE applesauce! I gave him his first taste of a fruit last night (up to this far he has only had veggies) and he ate the whole darn jar! He opened his mouth just like he is supposed to and moved his head towards the spoon...so I KNOW he knows how to eat, he is just stubborn when it comes to cereal!!!

He still loves his apple puffs (they melt in his mouth) and strawberry yogurt bites and really enjoys chewing on his biter biscuits....(they taste like graham crackers....yummy!)

Sleeping is still going great!! He only wakes up once a night now and it's usually close to 4am....

I however have been woken up by our motion alarm twice each night for the past two nights. We have this sensor pad that attaches to the crib and if it doesn't sense motion (i.e. Dane stops breathing) it sets off a really loud alarm. Well, Dane somehow manages to always sleep somewhere in his crib that his breathing wont register on the sensor - so it keeps going off and I dash into the nursery and all is well...(thankfully!)...it's funny, the alarm is incredibly loud and Dane sleeps right through it! All we have to do is change the sensitivity on the sensor pad and all will be good, but I only remember to do that after he is already in his crib sleeping.....ha!

Back on Track!!

Dane is back on track with his sleeping schedule after it being uprooted whilst he was sick! Yay! For the past two nights he has slept 9 hours in a row! He sleeps from around 7pm till around 4am, then he eats and goes back to sleep till I wake him up for school at 6:30am. I kinda wish he could make it till 5am because that is when my alarm goes off, but hey - I'll take what I can get!!

I feel like a new woman and am so happy I decided to do this sleep training bit. WHY didn't I do it before? Oh, I know...because I didn't think I could live without cuddling with him every two hours....but I did survive and we both are so much better for it! He has always been a happy baby, but he is a SUPER happy baby now that he is sleeping well. Yahoooo!!!

6 Month Check Up

Whoah!! Dane sure is growing!!

He weighs 18.7 lbs (was 15.1 lbs at his 4 month check up) and is 27 1/2 inches (was 26 inches at his 4 month check up) Whoah!! He is in the 50-75 % for his weight and 75-90% for his height. No wonder he doesn't fit into 6 month and some 9 month clothes!

The doc said he is right on track with everything. He commented on his two bottom teeth and how nicely they are coming in, and even showed me that his four top teeth are soon ready to pop through (NO!! We finally aren't dealing with drool....not ready for all that drool again!).

Apparently I am not feeding Dane enough solid food. He should be eating solids 2-3 times a day. Ooops! Breastfeeding is just so darn convenient (and not to mention free and no cleanup!). I should also be giving him yogurt bites and baby cereal (it literally melts in your mouth) so he can practice putting food in his mouth. He did pretty well! He even new to chew!

Poor little man got four shots today too...he was a champ though! He only cried a little and I started making funny faces and noises and was able to get him to laugh and get him mind off of the ouchy. I am learning that if I run to him and sooth him when he falls or whatever he cries more than if I just act like nothing has happened and try to "change the subject". I think babies look to us for our reaction and if we act like "OH MY!!!!" then so will our babes....yah know?!

Anyway, enjoy the photos. The one to the left here is the first time we gave him strawberry yogurt bites and they are a little sour...ha!

Bloody walls and a stash of chocolate

Cora and Chai had a visit to the vets this weekend. Originally it was only supposed to be Chai's yearly physical and shots. I called to see if Cora could tag along too because one of the cysts on her back seemed to be inflamed. (For about 2 years now Cora gets this sebaceous cysts on her body. They will get big and and eventually fall off - gross I know) Poor Darren....he agreed to take Chai to the vet for me since I was going away that afternoon and didn't want to be away from Mr. man twice in one day - but now he had to take both of precious pups! He didn't complain (too much) and did a great job. Of course he met with the most annoying high pitched vet in that office (she is about 5 feet tall and I swear she sucks in helium right before she enters the room). $300 dollars later here are the results...

Cora: 111 pounds....we thought she was losing weight. We drastically cut back on her food consumption, but she weighs exactly the same. We now have to cut back even more, but instead of feeding her twice a day we have to feed her three times a day. The vet cut off the infected cyst and Cora is on 1250 milligrams of Cephalexin and some sort of pain killer. She was bleeding pretty bad and we've had to put a warm compress on her. It looks like someone was murdered in our living room because Cora sat up against the wall and now our wall is all bloody! Hot soapy water should do the trick. Now that isn't bleeding anymore......

Chai: 14 pounds......she gained a pound from last year! Ack! We cut her food back too! I don't get it. Either the people at work are feeding her without me knowing, or she has a chocolate stash somewhere......The vet asked Darren if Chai thinks she is a german shepherd because when she took Chai into the lab to take her blood Chai started to growl and bark at a really big dog that was back there too. Ugh, this little dog certainly thinks she is a big dog!! This behavior is exactly why we were kicked out of puppy training class! Ha!

We are going to be more adamant about getting these dogs on the treadmill or taking them for walks. Its just so hard when you have to time it right with Dane's eating and napping schedule. If I would feel comfortable taking Dane in the stroller and walking Chai and Cora at the same time I would, but I can just see it now - Chai wanting to chase after the biggest dog in the neighborhood and Cora trying to protect us from the scarecrow in the neighbors yard while I am being pulled along and hanging on to the stroller for dear life! Ha!

Kisses!!!

Our little squirt has learned to kiss! I am sure he has figured it out because I am CONSTANTLY kissing his cute pudgy cheeks, hands, toes, tummy - well, lets just say I love to kiss my little man! A couple of days ago I heard him making this noise that was pretty distinctive of the kissing noise. He would look at me and make that noise and pucker up! So, I decided to hold him up to my face and kiss his cheek - and put my cheek right in front of his lips and he leaned in and kissed me! We do this all the time now, it's pretty cool!

He has been feeling a lot better. Thursday afternoon his temperature finally broke and ever since then he has been back to his bubbly self! He is still a little stuffy but only when he first wakes up in the morning. Thank goodness I decided to switch him to Motrin. I think he started feeling better once I made the switch from Tylenol.

While he was sick I did not work on sleep training. When he cried I went to him and most every night he slept with me in bed. All bets are off when a little one is sick in my opinion. They need all the TLC you can dish out! Well, because of this I was pretty hesitant on starting up the sleep training again. I was thinking that all the sleep training that we went through before he got sick went right out the window, but I was wrong! Last night monkey slept 4 hours in a row then another 6 hours! He did wake up an hour after I put him down but that was because he flipped himself over and was in a really weird and uncomfortable position. I flipped him back and he calmed down. Yay!

Tomorrow is his 6 month check up - YES - he is 6 months old already! I can't believe all that he has accomplished so far. I looked up "6 Month Milestones" online and here is a list. Dane is able to check them all off!

- Turns towards sounds and voices
- Imitates sounds
- Rolls over in both directions
- Is ready for solids foods (Dane has been eating solids for a few weeks now)
- Sits without support
- Mouths objects (ummm, everything is going in this child's mouth!)
- Passes objects from one hand to the other
- Lunges forwards and starts crawling (he does lung forward, but not a crawl yet)
- Jabbers and combines syllables
- Drags object towards himself
- Able to bear his weight when put in standing position (he has been able to do this for quite some time now)
- Able to hold own bottle
- Teething (his two bottom teeth are so cute!! they are getting bigger and bigger!)
- Makes sounds to mirrors and toys (he is always talking to his animals)


I am excited to see how much he has grown since his 4 month checkup. I know he already weighs around 18 pounds from our doc visit last week, but i want to see how tall he has gotten. He doesn't fit into any 6 month pants or sleepers anymore and even some of the 9 month pants and sleeper are too short! He takes after his momma with these long legs!!

Sick little boy :(

My Mr. man has been sick for the past few days :( It started off this past weekend with just a stuffy nose and coughing and a low grade temp (99-101). He was having a hard time nursing because of his stuffy nose but we made it through.

On Sunday night I had him sleep in bed with me because his temp was going up and he just wanted to cuddle...When we woke up on Monday his temp was 102, so I decided to keep him home. He slept pretty much all day and I kept him pumped with Tylenol.

On Tuesday he seemed to be doing better, so I let him go to daycare. The ladies said he seemed tired and out of it, but all in all was in good spirits. His temp was steady at around 100. He didn't really nap at all Tuesday after I picked him up and was uber cranky. I wasn't able to put him down without him screaming for me to pick him back up and cuddle, so cuddle I did!!

Wednesday is a different story....Since Darren has been in Chicago I've had to take Dane to and from daycare. I took his temp in the morning and it was 100, but I decided he could still go to daycare. He was laughing at Blue's Clue's (his favorite show BTW) just like any other morning. He fell asleep on the ride to daycare and when we arrived he was shaking. I attributed it to being cold, so i cuddled with him a bit before i left for work and he seemed fine. 2 hours later I get a call that he is shaking uncontrollably and his temp is 103! I raced to pick him up and took him right into the peds office. They looked at his ears (clear) his throat (clear) his chest (clear) his CBC (good) and WBC (good). Basically I have a healthy child that is sick....ha! The doc said to not worry unless his temp goes above 105....and to expect a lot of puking (because he is swallowing the mucus because he doesn't know how to blow his nose yet) and possibly diarrhea (because of the mucus again) but to just keep him pumped full of Tylenol and give him lots of TLC.

They don't test for the swine flu at my peds office....I am not sure why but I can only speculate because really it's a waste of money to test for it. It's just like any other flu and there isn't any particular treatment for it anyway. (The media has blown it way out of proportion in my opinion)

I am glad I did take him in because now that I know how much he weighs (18.1 lbs!!) I can give him the proper dose of Tylenol and/or Motrin (I was only giving him half as much as he needed, and I switched to Motrin because i think it works better)

Our little monkey isn't allowed back at daycare until he is fever free without Tylenol/Motrin for 24 hours....which means he wont be going to daycare tomorrow either......

I shouldn't point this out because it will only make me mad, but I've paid for a whole week of daycare and he was only there for 1.5 days!! Ugh...i wish we could pay for only the days he is there and not whether he is there or not....especially when the facility is actually closed for holidays. I don't think we should have to pay for holidays!!!

A little bit of this and a little bit of that

It's been a while since I updated you all on our progress with sleeping and other fun things, so here we go:

Dane has been doing really great with sleeping! His body got into a routine for a couple of nights where he would wake up at around 10:30 and then again at around 2:30. I really wanted to break him of waking up at 10:30ish, so for the past two nights I've let him cry (it's not a harsh cry by any means, it's a whining cry) for about an hour, then I will go in and wrap him back up in his blanket (he has moved around so much in his crib that his blanket is at one end and he is at the other), put him back in the center of the crib, and pat his tummy and hum him a lullaby. I do not feed him as I want his body to get used to not eating at this time. He has been doing great! In fact, last night he fell back asleep until 4:15 - which leads me to my next update:

When I went to check on Dane at 4:15 this morning he was on his tummy in his crib playing with his stuffed animal! HE WAS ON HIS TUMMY! This means my little monkey can now roll over! Yay! I don't know if he did it on his own or he used the crib for help, but either way he was rolled over and that is a big step! He was just playing in his crib and probably could have gone another hour or two - but I really REALLY needed him to eat....he didn't eat anything since 7pm and I am used to nursing every two hours - and here it is 9 hours later and I hurt so bad! I was so full that little man couldn't suck fast enough! It was a messy endeavour but we made it through...hahah!!

I had to change him because there was milk just everywhere - and since he was wide awake i brought him and some toys into bed with me so I could cat nap till I had to get up for work at 5:15 and he could play....but he fell asleep right away! What a good little man....He let his momma sleep for another 30 minutes! Hey - I will take what I can get!

Another update - I packed away almost all of his 6 months clothes! He still fits into some onsies and pants if they are soft and stretchy, but for the most part he is wearing 9 months clothes! I just cant believe this because I just feel like I unpacked and washed the 6 month clothes!

And yet another update: Dane's teeth are popping up more and more each day! They sure are sharp and he has bitten me a couple of times. I tap him on the cheek and say "no!" and he stops biting....He hasn't bitten me in a while so maybe he learned?

And YET another update: Ha! Isn't this fun? Dane can sit on his own now! Every once and while he will topple over, so I keep the boppy around him - but for the most part he is sitting on his own! Yay! Go Dane!!

And the final update: He is eating about 2.5 tablespoons of rice cereal each night. He doesn't like the normal plain rice cereal, it has to be the apple flavored...and he will not eat the sweet potatoes anymore either....I think I have a picky eater on my hands!! After his check up next week we will probably add another meal into his daily diet - so he will get cereal mid morning at daycare and then again at night. "Yay" and "Boo" at the same time...."Yay" because he is getting to be such a big boy and "Yay" because then I don't have to pump as much at work....and "Boo" because this means less nursing time for us.....I plan on nursing him till he is around one year old, but I am already missing the one time a day he eats cereal....:o( But - it must be done and I am sure every nursing mom has gone through this feeling. I am just glad I have been able to do it this long and it has been such a great experience for both of us.

OK, I think I am done with the updates.....wait...one more....nope, nah - just kidding...I am done.