Vegas Weekend

Over this last holiday weekend, Dane and I flew together to see my family in Vegas. It was just my brothers and my parents, the spouses stayed home. We obviously missed them and wish everyone could have come, but we had such an amazing time! We played games (nertz), had our own little Minute To Win It tournament and spent time different hotels and walking the strip. It was also Dane's first plane trip and definitely not his last. (We are planning to go to TX, CO, NY and hopefully CA all before he's 1) He did surprisingly well on the plane. I was nervous because he only falls asleep for naps if I'm walking around with him, but he fell asleep both ways and I was just sitting down and rocking him. Phew! I was so anxious about the flight, about forgetting something and about him being awful at nights and he did great in all areas! I was so relieved. Of course, it totally helps when I have 5 brothers and my parents there to help out, since Dane was the only kiddo who came.

Our flight, Dane's first

Minute To Win It Tournament

Family Picture and Games

Playing carnival type games at Excalibur, just like when we were little

Fell asleep on grandma :)

Walking the strip

In the casino

Not our trip, but Dane has found his feet and holds them any time I change his diaper. It never fails.

Also, he loves to sleep on his face (Don't worry, I only let him sleep on his tummy for naps, and when he's like this, I'm constantly checking on him)

Just some pictures of my handsome boy

4 month check up

Dane had his 4 month appointment today. I love these well baby visits to see how my little guy is doing. In the dr's words, "he's thriving." So, he's doing just wonderful.

He's 50th percentile for height (24 1/2 inches) and head, and 70th for weight (15 lbs 1.5 oz). Our little chunker. He's also a really tough baby and cried for a total of 5 seconds for his shots. (He did the same thing at 2 months). Which is great for him of course, but also me. Then I don't get so sad.

I had a laundry list of things to ask the doc. Dane wakes up in the middle of the night sometimes, with his head up against the crib. I double checked about crib bumpers and the dr. said no. Which is fine, cuz we never bought any for suffocation risks. Poor boy will just have his head up against the bars every once in awhile. (It's not bad, so don't worry). I let him know that Dane takes 30 min. naps and we rock him to sleep every night, because he can't fall asleep on his own. So, we had the "cry it out" talk. We are going to do the Ferber method, where we check on him every 2, 5, 10, 15, 20, etc. min. but don't pick him up. Just go in to let him know we're there and we haven't abandoned him. Hopefully, after 2-4 days he'll be able to fall asleep on our own and be able to fall asleep in the middle of naps when he wakes up so he can extend those too.

Next, Dane has 2 teeth! But they still haven't started growing in, you can just see them through the gums. Dr. said he thinks they still won't come in for another month or so though.

Last, solid foods. Dr. said it's totally fine if we wanted to try it out. He even said we could skip rice cereal because there aren't any nutrients in it. If Dane didn't want anything to do with it, then don't push it. If I were breastfeeding, I would probably wait until 6 months to start solids, but for some reason, since I'm formula feeding I was much more excited to start him on solids. So, he had his first bites of avocado today! He didn't push it out of his mouth at all, swallowed and then... gagging. He spit it up, haha. We'll try again tomorrow though and see if he likes it anymore.

He's now laughing (hence the video below) - he loves when we rub his hands on our cheeks and say "cheeks" - silly boy
He loves to "stand" while holding our fingers
He is SOOO close to rolling from his back to belly (already goes the other way)
He grabs at everything and chews on it
He's just such a happy baby overall.
Love him.

First Laugh

Here is Dane's first laugh caught on video. I think it's the cutest thing I've ever heard. Of course, I sound funny, but I can't help it. It's just adorable. He was slightly over 3 1/2 months when he really started to laugh. Everything before that was just squeals and cute noises. I love each new thing he does and look forward to all of the other fun videos we will get. I hope you like it.

New blog

I just started a new blog about food, etc.

Cookbakeandmake.blogspot.com

Orange Julius

Here is a homemade recipe... tried and true for an orange julius:

6 ounces frozen orange juice concentrate
1 cup milk (lowfat is fine)
1 cup water
1/4 cup of sugar (which is a lot, and you can reduce this if you want. You can also substitute powdered sugar if you wish)
1 teaspoon vanilla
9-10 ice cubes

- Combine all ingredients, except ice cubes, in a blender
- Blend and add ice cubes one at a time until it's the consistency that you are looking for
- Enjoy this delicious drink

Time to jog

Here's my new gem I got off of KSL. Can't wait to try it out!

3 months... really?

Things have been crazy because of the holidays, but I'm back and have a little bit of time to give an update.

Dane is 3 months tomorrow! It feels like he has been part of our family for a very long time, but also that he was just born. We love him so, so much and feel so lucky to have him as part of our family.

He is so different already than last month. He's growing a ton and fits into his 3-6 month clothing just perfectly. He rolls over from front to back, he is laughing and cooing up a storm, and he's starting to laugh! When we hold him up, he can put weight on his legs and pretty much can stand on his own. (Of course with our hands there). He's sleeping in 6-9 hour stretches and really only wakes up once a night. Hurray!

Christmas and New Years were so much fun and great having Dane to spend it with. My side of the family came to town and we got to enjoy a week with them all! We also got to see Josh's brother and his family, and Josh's sister. I'm so glad we got to see them all. It was lucky we didn't have to go anywhere and everyone came to us :) But next year, we're planning to go somewhere for Christmas before Dane is big enough to want Christmas at home.

We didn't take enough pictures and didn't get any of New Years :( But here is a recap of our last month in pictures:
(Mostly Dane of course)

We spent Christmas Eve at our amazing friend's (practically family) house, the Grows. They always cook amazing food and we play games and have fun. Why I didn't take any other pictures, is beyond me.

 Christmas morning... Dane looking through his stocking:

 Opening presents:

Christmas with all of his gifts:

We had a nice meal, just the three of us. Including a huge ham :)

One of my amazing Christmas gifts from Josh. He printed out these photos and put it on the wall. LOVE IT!

Josh's sister, Hally, and Dane

Dane lovin' his Auntie

Meeting cousins

Hally, Josh's brother Steve, and Steve's family

Josh, Hally and Steve

Playing in his car seat

First time swimming! He loved it! After he got out he fell right to sleep. I think he wore himself out. I didn't really get in (I was kind of cold, haha)

(love this picture)

Playing with dad

The next post to come will be my New Year's resolutions...get excited.