9 months old!!!

Dane is already 9 months old! Can you believe it? I can't. At his 9mth check up they asked about his development and crawling. "Is he creeping, crawling, or cruising?" Cruising! He's so cute and so much fun. Here are his stats:
height - 27.5 inches
weight 18lbs 12 oz
head - 44.6cm
All still within the 25% range.
Dad workin and Dane eatin. My sweet little family! I love you both!

ketchup

Let me set the scene. Paul and Mieka in the kitchen, talking. Paul starts to make hotdogs. He opens the bun, grabs the ketchup bottle and starts to turn in upside down. He notices the annoying liquid that gathers at the top of ketchup when it hasn't been used recently. You all know what i'm talking about. Paul analyzes it. (Thought bubble: to pour or not to pour.) Slowly, he turns the bottle upside down and lets all the juice run onto the bun and then finally, normal ketchup.

Mieka: "Uh, you do know you can shake the bottle beforehand to get rid of the liquid, right?"
Paul: "Really? That's how you do that? I've always wondered.
Mieka: "Are you serious?" Chuckles.
Paul: "Yeah. Hmmm."
Mieka: "And how old are you?"
Paul: Laughs, "Uh, 12!"
Mieka: Yep, that's what I thought."

Reno

Paul and I just got back from the Xocai conference in Reno. We left Dane with my parents for the weekend and it was probably one of the hardest weekends of my life. I only cried three times but thought about him ALL the time. Paul and I had a good time and learned a lot of valuable information. We went on a dinner cruise on Lake Tahoe that was absolutely beautiful. That was one of the highlights for me and the other was hearing Robin Sharma speak. He's the author of "The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari" (I think that is the title). He was amazing and very inspirational. The next night we had a formal dinner. Paul looked handsome, even though he hates dressing up.

While it was nice to spend some good time with each other, I was so excited to get home and hold Dane. When my parents picked me up at the airport, Dane was very excited to see me but was mad when i didn't get him out of his carseat right away. I was hoping he would be so happy to see me that he'd just cling to me, but the minute my dad put his arms out to hold him he went right to him. I was crushed! At least he had a good time with my parents though. Thanks mom and dad!

Happy Birthday Paul

Last week was Paul's birthday and unfortunately for him it didn't turn out how I'd planned. We were going to have a small party at my parents and then go out to a movie. That all changed when my dad and nephew came down with the flu and then we took Dane to the doctor and found out that he had an ear infection. It was his first ear infection and i was really concerned with that because Dane was staying with my parents while we went to Reno and I felt bad leaving him while he was sick.
Sorry the day wasn't as good as i should have been, Paul. I love you and next year will be much better, I promise! :)

Crawling

I forgot to mention that Dane started crawling while we were in California (the first week of June). He still needs some coaxing to really get going but he's doing it. He will do the army crawl and also regular crawl. I'll try to post a video of him crawling after my hair; that's what gets him going the easiest. You'll see why I chopped my hair; he's obsessed!

K- this isn't the video of him crawling after my hair but it is one of the first attempts at crawling. Needless to say, we have since had to move the dog food and water.

happy father's day

Today was Paul's first father's day and I forgot to tell him Happy Father's Day until we were at church! He thought it was really funny. It was a crazy morning! Besides my absent-mindedness, Paul is an amazing father. Everyday I am more and more impressed with the role he plays in Dane's life. He is Mr. Mom in the morning and does it better than I ever expected. I've had people in the neighborhood comment to me about seeing him go on walks with Dane to the park and how shocked they are because most dads wouldn't think about doing that on their own free will. He loves spending time with Dane and will fight with me about who gets to get him up from his nap. I love to see Dane get excited to see his dad. He loves Paul so much, as do I. Thanks, Paul for all you do for our family. We love you!
We are trying to teach Dane how to drink out of a sippy cup. Paul was giving Dane a demonstration. I wonder if he is going to laugh at us everytime we try to teach him something new?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpS6l5NGogg

jared & kellie's wedding

Last weekend we were in California for Jared (paul's bro) and kellie's wedding. It turned out really nice and was great to spend time with family. We're excited to have Kellie as part of the family. Plus she gives great massages! Thanks again Kellie! :) Here are a few pics of the event and weekend.
Dane and his cousin Elizabeth enjoy some quality bath time. Elizabeth wasn't sure about sharing her bath toys at first but then she warmed up to the idea.
The two handsome guys in my life. Dane's tux was adorable!


If you look closely you can see Dane's two bottom teeth.
And giggles with grandma!

8 months and counting

Last week Dane hit his 8 month mark. I can't believe how fast time flies. I am loving every minute of this stage. He is so adorable and fun. He is still up on his hands and knees, rocking. But he is starting to skooch a little more, or else he'll roll in circles until he gets where he wants. We have a big basket of toys and every day I'll just dump them out and he'll have a ball playing. It's a nice break for me and paul!

In the last week Dane has started to get a little fussier. It looks like his top teeth could be coming in. He has been VERY clingy to me. And it feels like everytime I pick him up he'll crawl down me into "eating" position. Needless to say, I feel like all i'm good for is food. It's quite funny actually. He knows right where to go.

My friend Nicole told me about this thing that you can put fruit into and kids can suck on it. It was a lifesaver on the plane ride to Orlando. And he still loves it.

My sister, Emily, gave him a shirt. She's very proud of it. And we love it! :) You have to read what it says... Thanks Em!

Florida - part 1

A couple of weeks ago I had to go to Florida for a catalog conference. Paul also had to do some work in Florida (West Palm Beach area) so we decided to meet up after the conference and have an impromptu vacation. Since we have a timeshare we were able to get a great deal on a three bedrooom condo. My parents also came and were a huge help with Dane.

Here are a few fun pics from the trip. Isn't Dane the cutest? He thinks so too!
We snuck in a couple hours at Epcot. It was so hot and humid that we just go into gift shops and find where the AC was blowing.
You can't really tell in this picture, but Dane would slouch in the stroller and put one foot up on the tray and just look "so cool". Everyone that walked by would comment on how cute he was.

Then we slipped in a few minutes at the beach and pool. Dane LOVES the pool. I can't wait to take him there more often this summer.



Unfortunately my camera broke so I couldn't take pictures of our trip up to St. Augustine. I'm waiting for my parents to send them to me then I'll post those.