Sit. Stay. Wobble.

Quick post--here's a little video of Dashiell attempting to sit by himself! I'm the headless body in the background providing support. :-) This is from our new camera so I hope it works!! He's actually gotten much better at it in the past couple of days but this is the only video we have so far. Enjoy!

2 steps back

So much for improved sleep habits! 3 am seems to be Dashiell's new favorite time of day. Most of the time we can get him to go back to sleep but sometimes we aren't so lucky. Ah well. Someday I'll get a night of uninterrupted sleep again. Maybe once he's in college.

I posted a picture of Dashiell and his second cousin Kayla spending some quality time at the mall on Monday. Kayla's mom (Jen) assures me that K had a blast though from the looks of it all that bumming around wore both our kids out!

We went apple picking this past Sunday at Smolak Farms in North Andover, which was fun (sorry no pictures--we forgot to bring our camera). My later attempt at making pureed apple sauce for Dashiell was met with the same reaction the green beans got (a very sad, disappointed face followed by a full-body shutter). I thought for sure he'd like apple sauce but maybe the apple I used was too tart or something. We'll try the store-bought apple sauce and see if he likes that any better.

And in exciting developmental news, Dashiell sort of sat up by himself last night! We were playing on the living room floor and I sat him in front of me and let go of his arms to see what would happen, and he sat there for a good 30 seconds before he lost balance! He was sitting against my leg so I think that gave him the confidence to sit up--I tried to get him to sit without touching me and it didn't work so well. I'll try to get a picture (or video from our new video camera!) of this accomplishment to post soon.

Hope you're all doing well!

-Suzi

So unfair...

Why is it that when I'm the one taking care of Dashiell for the day, he is awake and ready to go at 6:30 am, but when Rick's taking care of him he sleeps in until 8:10? What I wouldn't give to sleep past 8 am!! Yes Dashiell did wake up at 5-ish, unhappy and wanting to eat, and yes Rick was the one to feed his so I could sleep, but how many times have I gotten up with him to let Rick sleep or because he's working overnight? Hmmph. Just not fair--I think they're plotting against me...

Actually I can't complain much--In general Dashiell's sleeping is getting much better. He was waking up at least once a night, usually around 4 am, babbling to himself. We were getting up with him and feeding him then, but realized that usually (besides this morning) he wasn't unhappy when he woke up. So last weekend we tried coaxing him back to sleep during the early morning hours with a quick belly rub and a pacifier. It worked! For about 5 mornings we were able to get him back to sleep easily--I can't tell you how much more rested I've been feeling! I'm hoping the 5 am unhappiness this morning was just a fluke.

His napping is better, too--he's not on a set schedule yet, but he pretty consistently takes a short nap (45 min - 1 hr) in the morning, a long nap (2-hour) around noon, and another short nap in the late afternoon. If we could somehow convince him to just take 2 long naps that would be ideal but at this point we'll take what we can get! He's been much less prone to crankiness the past couple of weeks since he started napping more. Not that he ever gets overly cranky but we're so used to the smiley, happy kid that he is that it's just so apparent when he's overtired!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

-Suzi

Ham it up!

No this post isn't about feeding Dashiell salty pork products! We had uncle David take some head shots of Dash last week and he just sent me the link. Had to share since they're so dang awesome! I love having a professional photographer in the family!

www.winthropphoto.com/DASH

Next stop: Baby Gap ads?

Blech! Green beans!

Well, our first attempt at veggies was a bust. We tried to give Dash some "yummy" green beans on Sunday and man did he not like those at all! Actually shuddered and gagged. I think it might have been a combination of taste and texture--the GB's are a little thicker than the rice cereal, and definitely not as sweet. Unfortunately we didn't get a picture of the attempt--his expression was priceless. He was so disappointed that this food wasn't as tasty as the cereal!

Thinking we might have to try the green beans again at a later date, after he gets used to other veggies. Maybe we need to try out sweet potatoes next...

We're not bad parents, really!

Ok after posting Dashiell's WT photos yesterday I started having my doubts about whether or not I should have. I'm pretty sure most of our friends and family would realize that the "drinking" photo was staged and meant as a joke, but since this is a public blog any humourless person could stumble upon it and be offended. So here's a couple of photos showing what great parents we are! See, we play with our child! And look, we make sure he has a hat on when we take him out!

Whew...think we just dodged a bullet there! :-)

Comments on a 5-month-old

Our little guy turns 5 months old tomorrow! Many people have told me that now is the time when babies are the most fun, and I have to say that so far I agree. Dashiell is so active and responsive and genuinely happy to see people, plus it seems like every day he discovers something new which is pretty cool to witness. He is a fun kid to be around, and I definitely look forward to seeing what's to come.

I thought I'd include a couple of the pictures Aunt Lisa orchestrated from this weekend. I think she wanted to make him look all white-trashy. I've been assured that Dashiell did not actually drink anything from Lisa's glass, which I can safely believe since Dash didn't nap any better than usually (that is to say, hardly at all) that day. The cleavage shot just proves that Dashiell is all man. Guess he knows what he likes!

Dashiell's big day!

Our little guy was baptised this past weekend! What a big day it was! The ceremony was lovely--the deacon was enthusiastic, interesting to listen to, and had a great sense of humor (which made it easier to look past the fact that he stood us up on Thursday night when we were supposed to have the baptism class/rehearsal). You could tell that he really enjoys what he's doing. And Dashiell did so well! Granted he slept through the first half but he only squirmed a little when he had water poured on his head (mostly because he was still sleeping!). He was wearing a gown that his great-grandfather wore for his baptism, and that has been used for many babies in Rick's family since then. Of course it was a bit short on him but he didn't seem to mind.

My mom, my sister Lisa, and her girlfriend Denise were in town to help us celebrate, and it was so good to see them! Dashiell warmed up to them instantly and greeted them with big smiles whenever he saw them. We all had a wonderful weekend!

Here are just a few photos from the baptism, the post-baptism bbq (baby Owen, being held by his dad Chris, was born a day before Dashiell!), and some cute ones of Dashiell hanging out with mom and Denise out on the porch. Sorry for the haphazard photo placement--I still haven't figured out the best way to format things here!