Little Swimmer

We try to get to the pool with Dane as often as we can. We went last night and brought the camera again. Dane has gotten so big and more fun since the last time we took photos. Here are some pictures and a video of the fun.








Just a quick observation following the video. In a bit less than 2 minutes, you just saw Dane: 1) talking, 2) starting to doggy paddle, 3) flopping into the pool, 4) clapping on command, 5) kicking on his back, 6) doing a pull-up, and 7) dolphin kicking. Kind of describes the little man's busy life. He keeps that pace up all day. No wonder he is sleeping so well most nights!

Happy 1st Birthday, Dane!

When we asked Dane what he wanted to do for his birthday, after staring at us and drooling onto his onesie for a moment, I'm pretty sure he said he wanted a bowling party with all of his parents' friends. So, we did what he wanted and threw a party at Middleton Sport Bowl. It was pretty awesome.

Slightly overwhelmed by all of the excitement and things to look at, including some funny faces from grandpa.

When at the bowling alley, your cake would need to look like a big bowling ball, right? And the little cupcakes for everyone at the party should have tiny bowling balls and bowling pins on them...all made out of fondant by mom. :)

Looking happy just prior to opening presents (but, looking back, you can tell that this smile is the smile of a dude nearing the tired breakdown point)...

Excited about the birthday present that makes barn yard animal noises.

Blowing out the candle...

Starting to eat the cake, by the handful. Following this photo, Dane got extremely unhappy and ended up wearing most of the frosting.

A week home

On our recent trip home to WI, we got to spend some great time with both sets of grandparents, and Dane had a blast being spoiled like the firstborn he is:) Here are a bunch of photos and videos from our time there.
Hanging out with Kenzie, who was SO patient.


Lots of flying with Dad.

Spending time with Great Grandma Karin.
How old are you, Dane? ONE!
SO big!
Loving his new wagon from Grandma and Grandpa M.

Photo shoot

Just a few pictures from the end of me trying to take some nice updated photos of the Dane. He wasn't having it. You can probably imagine the screeches that go along with the various faces.

Hanging out with Dad in between vacations

Photo update for the spring

Here are some of our favorite photos from recently. The Daner is sure growing up!

Snoozing in the car on the way home to Wheaton.
Facing off with Grandpa using his new hands and knees position.

Flying Dane!
So fun to yank on mom's hair during breakfast!
Now that Dane's crawling and working on standing up, he's sometimes getting stuck in places he's not sure how to get out of!
Dad swinging Dane in the Badger Bag; think we need a real swing?!
The first walk of spring, wearing Havianas from B-mo!

So much can happen in a week!

While Mark and I were on vacation, my parents took Dane (VERY gladly, let me tell you!) While we were gone, for a total of about 10 days, Dane grew up! We came back to a not so little boy who can now tell us how big he is (SO BIG!), can wave hello, can crawl on his knees, can walk with a walker, and can feed himself finger foods. Not to mention the long hair, and weight he seems to have gained in such a short time. I got to spend four days with him and then dropped him off at the Anderson's for the weekend of St. Patrick's Day. All in all, Mark didn't see him for over two weeks and it was a beautiful reunion to see both of them bask in each other's company again!

Message from Cancun

Posts for an on-call kind of night

Dane is staying with my parents while Mark and I go on a short vacation to Mexico starting on Wednesday this week. We left him with them over 24 hours ago now, and I was really struggling. Fortunately, we took these videos last week and they cheered me right up. Mark is on call tonight, so I'm going to throw a few videos up for him to enjoy as well:)

Sharing

Dane's recently started to hand us things, sharing his exciting finds with whoever's around. We've started practicing saying, "Dane, can I have (blank)?" and watching his eyes light up as he proudly understands and hands it over to us. We had a great weekend that included attending a one year old's birthday party, and it was so much fun seeing what we have to look forward to. Walking, being more interactive and keeping themselves entertained, among many other fun things! We continue to see growth and maturity with each new day, and have to remind ourselves to enjoy each current moment.