We've Got a Walker!

I guess it's official...Dane is walking! He's been "two-stepping" since Christmas, however he continues to get more confident each day and is taking closer to 5 or 6 steps at a time. It's quite comical...he looks like a drunk chimpanzee with his hands in the air and this goofy grin on his face, you can tell he's pretty proud of himself. As always, we're proud of him too. As much as I hoped we would have a later walker in our house, I have to admit it's pretty fun to watch him get around on two feet! I've tried to get some video footage of this, but of course when the camera is rolling he isn't as focused on walking. I did get a couple clips and there is also a couple pictures of his incessant climbing and video of him smacking his lips. Enjoy!

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Things That Make You Go HMMMMM....

A friend of mine did a similar post a couple years ago and I borrowed her idea because I liked it so much. So...thank you Sara for the idea for this post!

There are things I see around my house that a year ago would have made me cringe...but now they just seem part of the normal landscape of our home. There are days that I miss my pretty things a little but I also know that someday I will have them displayed again. There are days that I miss the clean, organized house I used to live in but again I will have it back one day. For now, this chaos is my norm and for this former "type A" personality who at one time had to have everything "perfect" I will gladly accept this with open arms because it means I have a healthy, active child:

Things he could play with:
Instead...
Responsible Party:

11 months!!!

Wow! I cannot believe our little munchkin is on the verge of turning 1 year old!! At 11 months old, our little monkey is incredibly close to walking and I finally got his "two step" on film to share! He takes a couple steps and sits down, but he's right there. He also gives big, open mouthed, slobbery kisses on command. His first tooth is finally poking through and the doctor said one of his top ones is working on breaking through too. His new favorite "toy" is his Cubbie baseball cap. The first tantrum I've really seen Dane throw was because I took the hat away from him to eat. He was kicking, crying, making quite a fuss until I set the hat next to him. It was just out of his reach so he wouldn't get food all over it, but he had to be able to see it and be near it. Here is a little video of Dane "growling" (he thinks it's funny) and Dane taking a couple steps all while holding his dear Cubbie hat!

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Playdate!

One of the benefits of taking Dane to the mommy & me "classes" is that I meet other moms that stay at home. In swimming, we met 2 little guys born within a month of Dane and we decided to start a weekly playdate. There is one little soldier girl in the midst of these 3 boys. Another benefit of these playdates is that I get to see all these other toys to find out what Dane likes and possibly get some ideas for his first birthday.

Finally...A Tooth!!

After all these months of waiting and what we thought were symptoms of teething, Dane is FINALLY cutting his first tooth! We quit checking in his mouth with our fingers because it just made him mad, so we figured we would know when he got one and until then - no checking. Last evening Cameron was feeding him and the metal spoon kept "tinking" on something. Once he was done eating we definitely felt around in there and what do ya know...a tooth (barely)!! Bottom middle should be through soon! We will post pictures when this momentous occasion happens!

Dane's Newest Trick

Dancing??? We're not really sure but this is the newest "Daneism" happening in our house!

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Two Weeks In Pictures

Wow! What a whirlwind couple weeks we have had...between Christmas, a little getaway to Mexico and the New Year's holiday we have been rockin'! We had a great first Christmas with Dane, however our day was jam packed from morning until about midnight. Dane wasn't very interested in opening presents, however he did like the wrapping paper and boxes. His favorite toy seems to be his little cop SUV that flashes lights and makes all kinds of noise. He did wobble a couple steps on Christmas day, however he hasn't really done that since. He definitely stands without holding onto anything for about 10 seconds at a time, but he's not going anywhere yet without holding onto something.

Cameron and I drove Dane to Indiana on Christmas afternoon to stay with my mom while we were in Mexico. I am happy to say that I successfully left him for 4 days, however it was definitely not an easy thing to do. I cried on the way back to IL and by the 3rd night my mom said Dane was having a bit of a rough time with all of it. She was up with him for a while in the wee hours and he just kept looking around thinking "You're not my mom and this isn't my house and when are my parents coming back?" (Her words, not mine). Saturday was a travel day and Sunday was relaxing for me, however by Monday I was starting to really get the itch to get back to see Dane. Thankfully we landed a half hour early on Tuesday and made it back before he went to bed. Despite missing our little man, we did have a nice time in Mexico with our friends Luke & Nicole.

We spent a couple days at the Zehring house and celebrated the arrival of 2010 with them. So...here is a montage of some pictures from Christmas and our trip to Mexico (I won't bore you with all 89 pics). Enjoy!

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Happy New Year!

So we've closed the books on 2009 and moving into 2010!! We wish you all a wonderful year ahead! May you and your families be blessed more than you could ever imagine!