Little Things I Love About Dani

Besides EVERYTHING, here are a few of my favorite moments with her:

• When she gets so excited that she grabs a toy and just screams at it as loudly as she can


• How she smiles these big, gaping goofy grins


• That she always smells so sweet


• How those grins look like she is trying to laugh but no sound comes out


• How she loves to snuggle with your face


• When she tries to bite my face and slobbers all over my cheek excitedly


• How she intently and carefully reaches out to grab something, willing her difficult to control limbs to do what she wants them to


• How easily she smiles


• How she greets me with one of her big grins everytime I run into the room


• When she is finished eating, even though she isn't done with her bottle and looks at me and gives me this little stinker grin, as if to say, "You know I'm not eating anymore, right?"


• How she furrows her brow when presented with a strange or new situation


• How alert and in tune with sounds and people talking


• How she grabs my ring and index fingers as she drinks her nighttime bottle and falls asleep in my arms


• How lately, when drinking her nighttime bottle, she grips one finger and uses her other hand to grab my face.


• EVERYTHING

Hanging Out

Tummy Time!

Jack wants to get in on the Tummy Time too!

Dani can roll over from back to front like a pro now. In fact, it's sometimes almost like a reflex when you put her on her back. She often just can't help herself. She'll flip over and then whine because she didn't really want to be on her tummy, she just wanted to do the whole rolling over thing. I wonder if she'll just keep rolling around to get places when she figures out how to get from her front to her back?

Time for Rice Cereal

First try--Yucky!

Second attempt--Much better!

Happy Dani

Dani loves her Exersaucer!

Dani moved on to rice cereal this week. The first time, she did not enjoy it much. Then she decided that she thought it interesting. Now she screams happily until she gets some in her mouth. Why she likes it so much is beyond me--she spits so much out she can't swallow much. But I guess it's not terribly shocking that this girl likes to eat! Up next--T-bone!

Welcome to the Terrible Twos

So, I didn't believe that the Terrible Twos were going to happen to Jack. From the moment he was born, he has been the easiest, most agreeable and fun kid. And he still is but sometimes he just turns into this little mutant that I have never seen before. This MUST be the Terrible Twos.

He hates it if something doesn't go his way and starts whining and throwing things almost immediately. For example, the other day, he dropped a brown M&M on the floor. He started to whine. I said, "Jack, it's okay. Here's another one." Nope. He couldn't handle that the one was on the floor and I wouldn't get that particular one for him. It didn't matter that I was offering him another brown one. He threw his bowl (his favorite way to object is by throwing things) and the remaining was immediately removed from the table amidst even louder crying. I couldn't believe it. I mean a BROWN M&M. I would understand it more if it was one of the cool colors like a green. Then the other day, he wanted to "do stickers". This involves peeling stickers and sticking them onto paper in no discerning order or pattern. I let him pick out the stickers but when I would only give him one sheet and not hand him the entire pack, it was Meltdown City.

His tantrum throwing is annoying enough but couple it with the fact that sometimes everything is going great and he freaks out about something that he doesn't like and you have no idea what it is because everything was going his way. It's like he decided that he wanted me to say something or move a certain way and because I didn't read his mind, he throws a tantrum. It's really super fun.

Oh and he also sometimes doesn't like it if you touch, talk to or even look at his sister. Sometimes you can do it but other times it's a big no-no in Jack-Land. So we are now living with Mount Saint Jack, never quite knowing when he's going to blow his top.

However, even though he has been less amusing than usual as of late, there are still some gems in the last few days:

• I got home from work yesterday and we were playing ball. He then decided to race into my arms. On the way there, he jumped and gave me a Charlie Horse on my thigh. "Owwwww!" I said as I rolled onto my back clutching my leg. He turned to me and said, "Are you okay?" When I said yes, I got up and we did it again. This time I caught him and didn't fall backwards in pain. He looked at me and said, "Now fall down!" After I did what I was told, he said, "Now get up." Jack likes being the Puppet Master.

• Yesterday as he was running around, I noticed that his diaper was hanging low. So we had this conversation:

Me: Jack, let's change your diaper.

Jack: Noooooooo! (insert whining here)

Me: You can run a lot faster if you have a new diaper.

Jack: I don't think so. No ca-ca!

• Yesterday he also started to throw a tantrum over something silly. He went over to his blocks to begin to throw them. He grabbed three and half threw them back to the floor. When I yelled at him. He looked at the blocks and said, "Go have a blocks" which in Jackspeak means "Let's play with blocks." He was trying to scam me already, acting like he wasn't throwing them, that he just wanted to play with them.

More Recent Photos

My happy girl

Paul just told her a joke.

My little man

We decided right after this that he needed a haircut!

Dani's 4 Month Stats

Today was Dani's 4 month checkup, even though she is technically 4 1/2 months old. Weight: 17.8 lbs (97th percentile) Height: 25.5 in. (82nd percentile) Head: 88th percentile So, from this information and the doctor visit, we have learned a few things. 1) She is a big kid. 2) She is tall. 3) Unlike Jack, she does not have a puny head. 4) She's very strong. The doctor said that, from a physical development standpoint, she's the equivalent of a 6 month old. (The same goes for her size!) 5) She's perfect. (But we didn't need a doctor to tell us that one!)

How to Train Your Dragon

Dani is now sturdy enough to go in her Exersaucer. Sometimes she gets overwhelmed with all the stimuli and starts crying, however until that happens, she loves hanging out there, "standing" and playing with all the toys that surround her. Lately she seems to really be preoccupied with the attached hand puppet that is a dragon. She grabs it with both hands and screams excitedly in it's face. I can't tell if she loves it or hates him but it sure is fun to watch!

Juggling Two

I thought that having two kids would be like having two cats. You gotta feed one, so what's the difference if there are two? You gotta change one diaper, so changing a second isn't so tough. I thought that, in the beginning, it would be the easiest. Dani would sleep a lot and I could focus on Jack and when Dani wasn't sleeping, I could focus on her. Two things threw a wrench into my plan: 1) Dani is a crappy napper and 2) Eventually babies start staying awake longer regardless of how crappy they are at napping. I have now realized that having two children means always feeling guilty. It's so busy--we work all day, get home and Jack is demanding of attention right away. We cook dinner, give bottles, play, give baths, and read stories. After putting Jack to bed, we start Dani's bedtime. I often feel guilty that I am short changing Dani. I wish I could give Dani the chance to be an only child for a little while too so she could feel what it's like to get ALL of the attention.. I wish I could actually parent them both in parallel universes so that they could have both the benefits of being only children and the benefits of having a sibling. I feel like I read to Jack more and at a younger age. But when I bring Dani into bed to read, he attention span just isn't quite as long and she gets fussy faster. So she'll leave after a couple of stories. When I was talking to Jack, he was part of every conversation. Now Dani has to share. I am doing the best I can but when I'm with one kid, I always want to give the other some attention. And Jack takes up a LOT of attention. Until Dani, he only knew what it was like to have 100% of the attention. Therefore, he demands more now. He also can do more so he wants to do more with you. Dani has never known anything but sharing. Fortunately, she's an amazing little girl who seems quite content with her life so it makes things a lot easier. She is smiley and happy all the time. She loves to be talked to but is also happy to just sit where the action is. She's a pretty easy going unless she is hungry or tired and can't fall asleep. I remember being terrified when I was pregnant. First I was worried about her being healthy. After we found out she was fine, I was worried that she would be difficult, especially since Jack was such an easy baby. I thought, "there's no way we could get so lucky twice." But we have and I simply couldn't be more grateful. So if the biggest hurdle these kids have is knowing that there is another kid in their house that their parents also love and adore with all their hearts, I think we'll be okay.

We Have a Thumbsucker!

When Jack was born, I wanted him to be a thumbsucker. I just thought it was so cute. But he didn't. In fact, he didn't even like Binkys. He was fine with them until he started to get teeth and then he thought they were stupid. Even before that though, he wasn't all that reliant on them. Then he showed zero interest in his thumb. In fact, he never was big into putting things into his mouth. At least not as much as I have heard other kids do it. And then there's Dani. Dani didn't really think the pacifier was all that special either. I figured that my kids just weren't Binky babies. But since Dani has found her fingers, she likes to suck on them. As she has gotten more and more dexterity, she has become better and finding her thumb. Just tonight, I went to check on her and she was sound asleep, sucking on her thumb. It was one of the most adorable things ever. Now I am also excited because maybe I can blame the fact that I gnaw my fingernails down to nothing on heredity. I just hope that Dani gives up the thumbsucking before I did (I was 8!). But for now, I could sit there and watch my sweet girl look even sweeter all day!

Stranger Danger

Jack and Dani spent the night at Grandma's while Mommy and Daddy had a night out. When we went to pick up the kids the next day, Jack was sleeping and Dani was super excited to see us, greeting us with big smiles. We got some good quality time with her before Grandma's niece and her husband showed up for a visit. Sylvia was very excited to get her hands on Dani. But as soon as Dani was in her arms, Dani looked at us confused. Then the lower lip came out. About 2 seconds later, it was full on screaming. Sylvia handed her back to me and Dani still kept howling for a little while. She finally settled down and fell asleep a few minutes later. When she woke up, Sylvia figured she'd try it again, chalking up the previous crying to being tired. But no, same reaction. Looks like our little Dani is getting a little stranger anxiety and isn't shy about showing everyone who she prefers.

Sweet Dani

This Dani girl is really turning into quite the sweetheart. She is almost always happy (except for when she is wet, hungry or trying to fall asleep) and LOVES to be talked to and sung to. She is my little social butterfly and is always looking for interaction. She is rolling over now whenever she wants to. She goes from front to back but gets stuck since she can't make it back the other way. Sometimes she will wake herself up, wondering where the heck she is. She also laughed for the sort of the first time. She's been doing a lot of wide grins and silent laughing but every time she tries to laugh, it doesn't work. Today I said, "Shoot!" And she thought that was pretty funny. I wouldn't call it a belly laugh but it was a good effort, even if it sounded funny.

More and More Tidbits

Jack loves to try to make you laugh. His latest attempts work magically. After getting a time out the other day, the buzzer finally told us that two minutes had elapsed and it was time to spring him. I walked toward Time Out Corner and as I rounded the corner, he was sitting there with his eyes closed tight and a goofy grin on his face. He couldn't see me but he had been waiting since the buzzer went off, knowing I'd be there soon. I don't think you are supposed to laugh when you are releasing your kid from time out but how could you help it? --------------------- Today Jack looked at Paul and said, "I love you, Paul." Guess we are on a first name basis now.

Just Like Her Daddy

When Paul is in need of a haircut, he subconciously plays with his hair on the side. He will pull at the strands on the side of his head while he is working or just sitting on the couch. The last two days, Dani has been doing the same thing. She has had her right hand up against the right side of her head, petting her own hair. I now know I can't make fun of Paul for doing it anymore--it's in his DNA and beyond his control!