Life With a 1-Year Old...

...is crazy! Dan has been a lot of fun these past several weeks since my last post. He has been working on some sign language with the sitter and can now sign "more," "all done," "milk," and "food." Although "food" isn't extremely clear at all times, we get the picture. Also, "more" is more like clapping than the actual "more" sign. It works. We know what he's saying. We're working on "please" and "thank you" right now. I still can't say enough good things about our sitter. She has been doing a fantastic job with Dan. She brings him and her son to the park when the days are nice, does art projects to keep them busy, plays with the neighbor kids when they're home. We are definitely lucky to have found her.

So, what have we been up to since Dan turned one. Let's see, the day of his birthday Dan came down with Hand, Foot, and Mouth disease. No, not the same thing deer get. This is one of those childhood rashes like chickenpox or measles. Typical symptoms start with a fever followed by a few days without eating followed by the spots/blisters that center around your hands, feet, and mouth (hence the name). Dan caught it from the sitters son, who caught it from a neighbor kid who had just gotten over it. While the sitters son expressed your typical symptoms - fever, little appetite, blisters - Dan only developed the blisters. There are several reasons why I think that was the case, but the two big ones are that he is still breast feeding and that he hasn't been vaccinated. Strong immune system that hasn't been compromised due to vaccine ingredients plus the extra boost from breast milk makes for mild diseases. If you would like to know more why I haven't vaccinated Dan, please comment below.

We had Dan's 1-year pictures taken just over a week after his birthday. Here are some of my favorites.

The look he has in the last one is priceless! If you are a fan of the show "Friends" you can almost hear him saying "How you doin'" just like Joey.

That was September. In October we celebrated the end of football season. Jason's team won a few games this year which is a vast improvement over last year. I don't think the varsity or JV teams won a single game last year. Congrats to Jason, the rest of the coaching staff, and the players for a successful year!

Towards the end of October we also spent the day at a local pumpkin farm. They had a bunch of activities for the kids and you got to go pick your own pumpkin. It was a pretty nice set up. A little pricy ($10 per adult), but it looks like Dan had fun.

Playing in the corn pile

Sliding down the big slide with Mama

Time to pick out a pumpkin!

With fall also comes leaves. Now for those who have seen our house, you know how big our trees are, and how many we have. For those who haven't visited (and why haven't you?!?!?!), we have 5 very mature silver maple trees and one mature Norway maple tree. That equals a LOT of leaves. Here's pic of our first fall at the house. The pile of leaves spanned the entire front of our property.

Fall 2009

That is me standing in the street! And yes, we can rake our leaves into the street as the city picks them up for us. SO thankful for that! I can't imagine how many bags we would need to use to pack all that up! This year Dan decided to help out. That's Daddy's empty can he's lugging around with him. Working like a true 'Sconie already!

Fall 2014

 The local fire department had their open house mid-October. This was Dan's second trip to a fire station. Here's a few pics from that.

I think the coolest thing that happened during October was I got to attend a birth as a doula! This mama was pregnant with #2 and wanted a home birth like she had hoped for with her first before the doctor played the "dead baby" card despite her healthy pregnancy and baby. After a lot of hard work getting into a steady labor, she delivered a healthy baby girl in the early morning hours of October 22nd. It was extra special not only because it was my first birth, but October 22nd is also the anniversary of my Dad's death. To witness new life coming into the world the same day my Dad left was incredible.

Of course, with October we can't forget about Halloween! Jason really wanted Dan to go as the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. I really liked the idea, but never found a way to get the costume without spending a fortune. I probably could have made one, but the time just wasn't there. So instead he went as a minion. All we had to do was buy the hat. As you can see in the picture, he didn't really like the hat. So we went around trick-or-treating in just the overalls and shirt. The second picture is from a house down the block from us. I thought it was pretty cool that they set up the skeletons on their bike!

Otherwise, we are working on getting Trooper's allergies under control. We went ahead and did the skin test to see what he's allergic to. Turns out a lot of trees, some grasses, and dust mites. Oh, he also came out positive for human dander. I'm going to try and see if we can't manage the symptoms using essential oils and other supplements before we do the injection treatments. Not only are the injections expensive, they are life-long. The first month alone you need to inject them every other day, and you won't start seeing results for up to 3 months! Yeah, not fun.

Anyway, I hope one of these days to get pictures of our basement put up. All the big stuff is done, just need to get some pictures hung on the walls and find a desk and rug for the office. The bathroom is still under construction, but with all that we've been doing, plus me now having a regular yoga class, time goes by much faster than what we would like.

I hope to get back into regular posting here as the holidays are upon us. I hope fall has been treating you well!

Happy Birthday!

We officially have a 1-year old! Where has the time gone? Well, when you're busy learning how to hold your head, roll, sit, crawl, stand, and walk, time certainly flies by! So here are the stats:

Dan currently weighs in at 25.8 pounds and is 31 inches long. He can wave, clap his hands, and raises his hands up because he is "So big!"

I'm 12 months old!

Along with turning a year old, he also caught his first "big" bug - hand foot and mouth disease. Our sitter had a neighbor watch her son the previous Saturday. The neighbor's daughter had just gotten over her case of HFM that she got from daycare. Well, the virus was still in the house so our sitters son caught it, who then shared it with Dan. Isn't that nice of him, sharing at such a young age!

Thankfully, HFM is a pretty harmless virus. You can read more about it HERE if you like. I'm also thankful that Dan hasn't developed sores inside his mouth. Our sitters son didn't eat for almost 2 entire days for that reason. However, because Dan has an active infection, we couldn't go to a birthday party for my friend's daughter "L" who also just turned 1. She was born 2 days after Dan was. It has been fun watching the two of them grown and develop at the same time! It is also crazy how big the "normal" range is with infants. Dan is towards the head of the curve while "L" is towards the middle/back of the curve with certain milestones. For example, Dan started walking at 10 months and one week. That same week, "L" started crawling. All normal!

Dan over the last 12 months

We are just about done with the basement remodel. Just a few more paint touch ups, some hardware on the closet doors, hanging pictures, then moving everything back into place. My Mom and Jeff will be coming down this weekend so maybe we can tackle some of the to-do list. Our downstairs bathroom is mudded and ready for paint. Tile is mostly picked out, as are the fixtures. Anyone want to come watch an adorable 1 year old so Mom and Dad can finish the remodel? Anyone? By the time you come he should be healthy again!

Oh well, you will just need to wait a little bit longer to see the after pictures. Take care, stay healthy, stay warm!

Dan is 11 Months Old!

Eleven down and one to go! Dan is now 11 months old. He didn't gain any weight over the last month (thank goodness! He's already a solid kid!) so he still weighs in at 25.4 pounds. He did grow a little and is now 29.75 inches long.
 

11 Months Old!

 He is walking almost everywhere now and only gets down to crawl when on uneven surfaces or to go down a flight of stairs. I don't think I mentioned last time but Dan is really good and going up and down stairs! He is so aware of where stairs are, too, which is super nice. He will tumble if he doesn't focus on what he's doing, but as long as the dogs are behaving we are in good shape :) It is super adorable when he gets ready to go down stairs. He knows that he needs to go down backwards so he'll sit down, turn around, and start crawling backwards anywhere from 1-3 feet away from the top stair. The farther away he is, the cuter. Also, the farther away he starts, the more correction he needs to make as he doesn't quite turn completely around all the time before he backs up. He does really well knowing which direction he needs to turn when he does run into a doorway or wall before the first step. Our sitter has a baby gate with a cat door in it. She leaves the cat door open so her cats have free reign of the house. Just this last week Dan sat himself down, turned around, and tried crawling through the cat door! Lucky for our sitter, he was too big to fit through.

Daddy teaching Dan how to use a whistle.

Getting it to his mouth, but not making any noises yet.

Dan is also playing peek-a-boo with himself now. It is super cute watching him pull blankets, shirts, or whatever he can get a hold of, hide his face, then "peek-a-boo!" He gets a kick out of it. When I change him I sometimes need to distract him to keep him still long enough to get a clean diaper on. That includes singing, dancing, and blowing on his feet or belly. Well, now he is placing his hand to his mouth and blowing on his hand! Just last night Dan was placing a ball into a cup (it's not a cup, but we'll call it that) then dumping the cup so the ball would run down a ramp on one of his toys. I thought it was pretty spectacular. Jason wasn't as impressed. It is all a part of the learning process of how things work on their own and in unison with other objects.

So with all this movement comes with even greater opportunities for mishaps. Dan has fallen down the stairs twice now, which is a rare occasion. This second one was just yesterday when he wanted to go down the deck steps like a big boy. One step and he caught himself on the cement driveway with his head. He now has a nice scrape, but after some cuddles he was off to his next adventure. He's also pulled the dog crate on top of himself while he was trying to pull himself up to see over it.  I know there will be many more bumps and bruises in the future. I have told him that bumps and bruises are okay, just no broken bones. I hope he's listening!

Take care!

Family picture :)

We Have a Walker!

For the last couple of weeks, Dan has been able to take a couple of steps here and there on his own. Most of the time is when we "tricked" him to walk unassisted. As of last night, I think it's safe to say that Dan is getting more and more confident with walking on his own! As you can see in the video, Dan needs to work on his listening skills (as does Trooper!).

Other than this exciting news, not a whole lot else to update. We are very close to finalizing the sale of Jason's Grandfather's house out in Las Vegas. We also purchased a half season worth of tickets for the Milwaukee Bucks. For those of you who don't know who the Bucks are, they are the professional basketball team here in WI. Hopefully they do well this year. This last year they were bottom of the pile. Only direction they can go is up!  So along with a few pictures from the open house at the arena, I'll leave you with this video of some great belly laughs from Dan. Take care!

Trying on a Bucks player shoe.

Playing with the streamers.

Picture with Bongo, the Milwaukee Bucks Mascot.

Dan is 10 Months Old!

Man has time flown by! Dan is now 10 months old as of Saturday. Here are is current stats:

He's 29.5 inches long and weighs in at a whopping 25.4 pounds! He now has 4 teeth, is getting better feeding himself finger foods, and has now taken 4-5 steps on his own on a handful of occasions. He still prefers to hold on to objects (hands, furniture, walkers) when he walks, but given a bit of encouragement he will walk on his own. Give him a couple more weeks and I bet he'll have the confidence to let go of the furniture and cruse everywhere.

Dan is also in the "I must be by Mama at all times" stage. While leaving him with the sitter in the morning seems to be going well still, when I'm at home and there is an inkling of me leaving the room he starts crying. He sure loves his Mama! While it is rather frustrating at times, it does lead to many cuddles and kisses :)

Checking out the moose after it fell over.

Making it difficult to get a picture of him.

Trying to distract him to sitting still with my phone.

Other than that, there isn't much to report. Football season is just about to start. I'm teaching a prenatal yoga class starting tomorrow. Plus, I have my first client as a doula!

I hope everyone is doing well. Take care!

39 weeks, 7 days

So while I sort through all the pictures from the cabin, I thought I would write this post. The title 39 weeks, 7 days was chosen for a reason. I delivered Dan when I was 39 weeks, 7 days gestation. Last Wednesday, June 18th marked 39 weeks and 7 days since his delivery. To mark this occasion, here are a few pictures followed by Dan's birth story.

39 Weeks, 6 Days - Day I went into labor. Dan arrived the following morning.

39 Weeks, 7 Days old!

Dan’s birth story:

Tuesday morning (September 10^th), I noticed what I thought were contractions as I was getting ready for work. I decided not to tell Jason since I wasn’t sure if these were just stronger Braxton Hicks contractions, or if it was the beginning of the real thing. I kept an “eye” on them all morning, but they had disappeared by lunchtime. That evening, I got a few more, but they didn’t bother me at all. Before heading to bed I made a mental note that I may be going into real labor soon, despite me thinking I have at least two weeks to go.

The next morning, I felt the contractions again. I told Jason this time that I was feeling them. I don’t think he quite understood what I was telling him because he replied “OK,” and kept on getting ready for the day. By lunchtime I had noticed that the contractions were still there and becoming quite regular. I sent a text to my midwife, Jan, to let her know that I thought I was in early labor. Once we got back from lunch, I opened up an Xcel file and the clock on my computer and started tracking. For the next hour I tracked my contractions. They were coming regularly at 5-7 minutes apart and lasting for roughly 30-45 seconds. I told my coworker that I probably wasn’t going to be in the next day.

By the time I got home, I knew that I was for sure in early labor. I told Jason this and this time it registered that things were happening. I needed to get a few things from the grocery store so we headed out soon after I got home. While we were out I took my blood pressure, since it had been getting closer to pre-eclamptic. The top number was over 140, but the bottom number was still okay. I made the mistake of telling my Mom this when I called to let her know I was in labor. She of course freaked out, as I knew she would. I, on the other hand, knowing that freaking out wouldn’t do any good, was calm and collected. I obliged and called my friend who has her own blood pressure cuff and stethoscope. She checked and my blood pressure was still borderline. Using her knowledge in acupuncture, she hit a few trigger points to help labor along and to reduce my blood pressure.

Jan at this point was with another mama in labor. She would call every few hours to check on my progress. I tried to take a nap around 9pm, but after an hour that proved to be fruitless. I drew myself a bath, but only stayed in for about a half hour. Finally by 11 things were really moving along. While I could still talk through contractions, they were starting to become a bit more of a challenge to work through. I called Jan and told her where I was and how I was feeling. She called Pam, her midwife assistant, to let her know to start on her way to my place. While waiting for Pam, I was on the exercise ball working my way through contractions.

Pam arrived around 12:30am. She checked my cervix and I was about 5cm dilated and roughly 75% effaced. I threw my fist up in the air, happy that I had progressed that far. Pam then got to setting up the birthing tub. While I never planned on a water birth, that’s what ended up happening. Before getting in the tub, however, we needed to check my blood pressure. I ended up laying on my left side in the bed for 30-60 minutes. When Pam took my blood pressure, it was normal! So into the tub I got. It was such a relief! I didn’t like laboring “on land” let alone on my side. Around this time we called my Mom again, letting her know that I was in active labor. She was coming from the Minneapolis area so she had quite the drive ahead of her. Not knowing if she wanted to be there for the birth, we wanted to give her plenty of time to make the trip.

Jan finally showed up around 5 or 6am. I wasn’t paying attention to the clock very closely. I do distinctly remember Jason sleeping on the bed while I was laboring in the tub though! At this point I was close to transition. Jan checked my cervix around 8am. I was just over 8cm dilated and almost 100% effaced. Dan’s head was right there at about zero station, waiting to come down. The sac and amniotic fluid were in the way. I decided to try and break the sac on my own, but gave myself a 30 minutes time limit. I didn’t want to work too hard before the real work came! After 30 minutes came and went, Jan ruptured my membranes. Nice and clear! Back in the tub I went. I started pushing around 9am. Jason was smart and took his ring off before giving me his hands to help with this stage. With Jan, Pam, and Jason by my side, Daniel John arrived at 10:10am on Thursday, September 12^th: a hefty 8lb 2oz, and 21.75 inches long. It was absolutely incredible! About 20-30 minutes later, I delivered the placenta. I handed Dan off to Jason while I got out of the tub. Dan was nursing soon after. Latched on beautifully on the right – took a couple weeks to get a good latch on the left. While Dan was technically 1 day early, Jan placed him at 41 weeks gestation based on physical indicators. As a side note, she kept on talking about how big his hands and feet were! 

Moments after Dan's birth

Dad and Mom checking on Dan while skin-to-skin.

 About and hour after Dan arrived, my Mom and her boyfriend got to the house. They had brought Subway for lunch. So after Jan finished up with me (only 2 “skid marks” that were glued up – perfectly intact perineum!), the five of us had lunch in my bedroom. 

The homebirth was everything I thought it would be and more! I can’t wait to have another little one. 

First family picture :)

Dan is 9 Months Old!

Sorry that I haven't written anything the last week or so. At lot, and yet not much has been happening. We're still plugging away getting the lower level finished. We have now demolished the downstairs bathroom and waiting on getting some wires moved. Apparently the electricians who were part of the construction thought that it was a-OK to run an electrical wire under the shower pan. I think he has a lead deficiency. Or a temporary moment of insanity. We picked up the new doors for two of the openings. Jason wants to make the bathroom door a pocket door so we are still hunting for the best deal for that. The closet door in the office is a weird size so that will need to be special ordered - YAY :/ We also picked up a new area rug for the family room downstairs. The main thing that needs to be done right now is finishing up the baseboards so we can start moving furniture back into place. Too bad both Jason and I work 40+ hours a week, otherwise this would have been done already!

At Menards

Outside Steinhafels after looking for a new office desk.

Anyway, now onto the most important point of this post. Dan is now 9 months old!

9 Months Old!

He is weighing in at 24.6 pounds and 29.25 inches long. He has two teeth that are fully cut with one more up top that is partially cut. The fourth one, also up top, is close behind. It's amazing that in just a few short weeks he has gone from no teeth to 3! He's still crawling everywhere to get from point A to point B. However, give him a walker and he will cruise until he bumps into something. He will probably be walking on his own in the coming weeks. We were in trouble before. Once he's walking we're really in trouble! His mobility also makes is quite difficult to get a decent picture of him next to his moose. Here are a couple "outtakes."

I don't want to take pictures.

I'm going to get you Mama!

In less than a week we will be at the lake. The last time Dan was there he was 4 weeks old. This time it should (hopefully) be warm enough to take a dip in the lake! We'll have to see. He's really enjoying spending time outside, and we try to get out as much as possible on nice days. The only problem now is that he is putting everything in his mouth! Before it was only rocks and other hard objects. Now it's sticks, Maple tree seeds, grass...

Not a fan of Maple tree seeds.

Bear crawling around the yard.

In preparation for the mosquitoes (can you ever REALLY be prepared for them?) I'm making our own insect repellent. The last few years I have become very interested in natural and holistic health for a number of reasons. One of which is that going more natural is not as harsh on the environment, the other is that it is not as harsh on our own bodies. So I'm using THIS RECIPE to make our own. I recently became a Young Living Essential Oils distributor so I get the oils at a discount. One 4oz solution is costing around $12, including the spray bottle which I can reuse. When we get back I'll let everyone know how the solution worked.

Things we're looking forward to:

• Dan's first Brewers baseball game this weekend for Father's Day
• Heading to the lake for the first time this year
• The 3rd Annual FOP (Fraternal Order of Police) Golf Outing
• A finished basement!

Take care!

Dan is 8 Months Old!

I already got a text message from Rachel asking if I was going to do an 8-month update on Dan. Well, here it is! Last week was rather busy, with Dan hitting the 8-month mark on Monday, me being home from work on Tuesday, having my supervisor out on Wednesday and Thursday, then my on my own in the lab on Friday, I didn't get a lot of time to write. Oh, and weekends are filled with family time. So, here are the stats:

Dan is now up to 23.8 pounds and is 29 inches long. At just shy of 25 pounds, I certainly don't need to get to the gym! He's still crawling around like crazy, pulling himself up onto anything he can get his hands on, and babbling away. Mostly he goes on and on with "da, da, da, da, da, da..." It seems only when he's upset and wants me to pick him up does "ma, ma, ma" come out. Silly boy!

He still enjoys eating pureed foods, and is not quite sure what to make of finger foods yet. So at this point he is still nursing about 90% of the time. He'll get solids at lunch time and maybe supper time depending if he seems extra hungry. Sippy cups are just fun toys to him. However, put a regular glass in front of him and he knows what to do! On Mother's Day, Jason was teasing him at the restaurant with his beer glass. I ended up dipping my pinky into the beer and had him taste it. Well, he's a true 'Sconie - he used his hands and tried to get my entire hand into his mouth! It was rather comical.

He also figured out how to climb up and down small landings. I have a feeling he will be climbing up the stairs pretty soon. No signs yet of him walking on his own, but he is cruising along furniture rather well. My Mom said that I was walking by 10 months or so. We'll see if he is cruising on his own by then as well.

He does have two teeth that are trying to poke out. They are his bottom central incisors. Last Thursday I left work early as I had received a text from our sitter letting me know that Dan had a fever. Luckily the fever broke over night, but he's been cranky off and on since. I'm going to miss his gummy smile, but those toothy grins are equally adorable! We'll see if he has any teeth by next month!

Dan is 7 Months Old!

Saturday marked Dan's 7th month. He weighed in at 22.4 pounds and is now 28.75 inches long. This puts him in the 95-99%ile for his age. Not only has he grown quite a bit, he's also gaining better control of his body. He's crawling around everywhere and pulling himself up on anything he can get his hands on. His "vocabulary" is also evolving. We are hearing la, da, ma, ge, and ba. When I mimic him I get a big smile and lots of laughs. He's such a happy kid!

With Dan on the move, getting his monthly pictures are becoming more and more challenging. This shot above was the best one I got with him sitting still. As soon as Jason or I sat him down, he was off crawling towards the camera!

Jason is back down in Las Vegas to clean out his grandfather's house. Normally this isn't a big deal. I just have to contend with taking care of Dan and the dogs on my own making my day a bit busier. Yesterday (Sunday) I went to go and put a load of laundry in. As I stepped onto the basement floor I also stepped right into a puddle of water. Oh no! The night before we had a huge thunderstorm so my first thought was that our sump pump failed yet again. We had hoped to avoid a pump failure this year by diverting the output from the normal output pipe to the floor drain instead. I couldn't take care of Dan PLUS the water in the basement so I called our sitter. She graciously was able to watch Dan while I worked on the pump.

Thankfully the pump was fine! The hose we used to divert the water had backed up into the well and had gotten tangled up with the floater. Since the floater got stuck the pump didn't turn on like it was supposed to. Hurray for simple fixes! I spent the next three hours moving stuff out of the basement and vacuuming up the water. I got most of it taken care of before I decided to call it quits. There isn't much left and it should dry pretty quickly with no issues. Dan and I had fun last night playing and relaxing before heading off to bed.

Dan and the Boys

Dan on the Move - Video Link

Then I got a surprise this morning. More water! Except this time it's not in the basement, but in the family room. Uh oh! Wet carpet, probably wet drywall/paneling. So today I get to make lots of phone calls to get the water cleaned up and see if we need to fix any issues in the foundation. Definitely not how I planned to spend this time with Jason gone, let alone on a Monday morning. I have concluded that our next house will not only be on a very tall hill, but also on stilts! I'm so looking forward to heading to the cities this weekend for Easter. I need a vacation!

This smile makes everything seem so much better.