Dane at 5 Months!

What is it about 5 months that makes Dane look and seem so old? It just seems like overnight Dane has gone from a brand new baby I was staring at and snuggling in the hospital to the sweet, fun, happy little boy we have now. Dane is such an amazing and wonderful addition to our family. I feel so lucky to be the one taking care of him!

•Dane is up to approximately 18.5 pounds!
•Dane is around 26.5 inches tall!
•Dane is a very happy baby and loves to show off for everyone and will smile and "talk" and turn on all of the sweetness he has! It always makes me smile when we are out and he does this, it is fun to go back and forth because he is usually right in front of me in the Beco.
•Dane loves blowing raspberries. He is starting to move away from all the sweet little cooing noises and exploring what other noises be can make. He still makes some cooing noises but it isn't the same. The raspberries are fun though.
•Dane has his two bottom teeth coming in already, the first one started to poke through about a week ago and the second followed a few days later. It started so fast we didn't even see it right away. Dane has mostly been himself so hopefully we can make it through the various teething stages with minimal disruptions to his comfort and mood. We are very sad to see his teeth already coming in because we love his gummy smile and we don't want him to look older, we want him to stay a baby forever! Well, maybe not forever but longer than it lasts for sure!
•Dane is working hard on sitting independently. He manages a few seconds here and there but mostly he still either throws himself backward, to the side, or squishes himself by leaning forward. I'm sure he will be sitting before long and then I will have to cave and start giving him some regular food. We are skipping purees this time for lots of reasons, so we won't be starting solid food for at least another month, maybe longer. The rule for baby led weaning ("BLW", meaning you put small bite sized pieces of food on their tray/plate and let them figure out how to eat and try lots of different things, etc) is 6 months and sitting independently but we may wait longer than that. I am in no rush and Dane doesn't need anything other than what he gets from breast milk for now.
•Dane absolutely loves Gavin more than anyone or anything else. He just lights up when Gavin is around and now that he is interacting more, Gavin is starting to really enjoy Dane more. It is very sweet to watch and to see Gavin do things for Dane like bringing him a toy, repeating me telling him everything is ok, helping me to sing songs to Dane in the car, being patient that we can't always chat because we need to help Dane, and wanting to hold and give Dane hugs and kisses. Dane just loves all the attention and clearly wants to be around Gavin and watches him so closely!
•Dane has shown that he can roll (both ways) but doesn't have much interest in doing it very often. When he is laid down, he is generally pretty content to stay however he was put down. He is so mellow compared to Gavin, who never wanted to be on his stomach unless he was sleeping.
•Dane is such a happy little boy that we often get to hear him giggling, especially when Gavin is around being crazy. He is also very ticklish, like Gavin, which is a lot of fun.
•Dane loves to put everything in his mouth (of course it is normal developmental milestone and he is getting teeth in) but he seems to really be enjoying Sophie the Giraffe that he got for Easter. He is still figuring out how to really manipulate it, but so far it seems to be a big hit (like everyone raves about). I hope he continues to enjoy it and it helps with some of the discomfort of teeth coming in.


What a wonderful month we have had with Dane in our family, we can't wait to see what the next month bring!

Jumping Into Spring!

We had a few small glimpses of warmer weather the last week! It was absolutely wonderful! We enjoyed the sun, being outside without 4 layers on, more time walking to Valkill (most mornings and afternoons), running around the yard, and having windows open! Unfortunately, we have had a few colder and rainy days but the warmer weather gives me hope that we are heading towards nicer and warmer weather soon. We have a great new routine that allows us more time outside. Gavin started needing his nap a little later (so after lunch time instead of right before or at lunch time) and so I have been showering first thing in the morning instead of when Gavin naps so that we can have a couple hours outside before we come in for lunch and naps. Then most afternoons we have even had time to go back outside before we need to finish putting dinner together. Gavin has been loving all the time we have had outside and I think Dane has as well. It has also made it easier to run our errands in the morning before lunch and nap time and still have at least an hour or two outside after Gavin naps and before dinner. I am looking forward to having time outside after dinner, before baths, as well but it hasn't quite warmed up enough for that yet. Anyway, we have had a great time and are looking forward to some more warmer weather this week!

Errands and Fun!

The weather started warming up so we have been going for walks and spending lots of time outside but yesterday and today reverted back to cold and throw in some high winds and it was far too cold to be outside (despite an attempt yesterday before we found out about the winds, once we got to the bridge in Valkill we quickly turned back and walked as fast as we could home), today I decided we should run our errands so we can enjoy the forecasted warmer weather the next few days.

We headed to the mall to mainly go to Old Navy and Target for a few things we needed but since Gavin was doing really well and listening, we stayed longer and walked through the mall a bit more and got some pretzel bites and lemonade to share and Gavin tried out a few tractors at Sears. Dane comfortably snoozed in the Beco as Gavin and I walked the mall and had fun and ran our errands. It was great!

Gavin has become really good with holding a hand while walking (instead of just trying to break away and run), which gives him more freedom and he usually listens when he is given a bit ore freedom and told to just stick close. I am sure there will still be plenty of times he chooses not to listen but thankfully he listened today so we could be out and have fun!