The Jumperoo

Our neighbors, Thom and Melissa, were nice enough to pass along some baby gear from their son, Jack, who is three months older than Dash. I must admit that I was a bit resistant to the idea of the "jumperoo" for a number of reasons: we have tried to keep the nonessential baby gear to a minimum (they grow out of a lot of things so quickly), and developmentally it isn't great to keep kids in it for long periods of time (the doctor says it is fine for 20 minutes a day).

But, of course, it has been a huge hit. Who needs a nanny or babysitter when you have one of these! Here is a short video.....

Christmas Morning

Dashiell's First Christmas was fun, although relatively easy since he isn't yet into Santa or presents. Kevin and I wrapped a couple of small gifts for him, and his Aunt got him a few things to open (they were more things for us....thank you!). Dash was more interested in putting his mouth on everything, including the wrapping paper, gifts bags, and gifts....and my feet! He did seem to enjoy the classic ring stacker toy. He isn't quite grasping the stacking concept, but did like putting all of the different rings in his mouth, as well as tossing then on the floor.

Grabbing his new tub toys

Happy Holidays!

Crazy Roscoe checking out the tree...

So we ended up deciding to get a Christmas tree at the last minute. It is the first live one we have had since Kevin and I have been together (10 years!). We were thinking we would skip it this year again, since we are going to be in Portland for the actual Christmas holiday. But, alas, we decided to get in the holiday spirit and start our own family tradition. We received several new ornaments this year that we wanted to use and display. Plus we are thinking that by next Christmas, Dash will probably be yanking the ornaments off of the tree. Kevin cut off the bottom half of the tree so it is a more manageable size. We didn't want anything super huge. We didn't get it decorated before Dash went to sleep. I will post some more photos once Dash has an opportunity to experience a completely decorated and lit tree.

December Update

I apologize for the length of time between posts. We have been busy on our end. Dash continues to grow and learn new things. As you could see from one of the videos I posted earlier, Dash has been rolling over. He first rolled over from front to back (I think that is easier) but now almost exclusively rolls over from back to front. He seems to like his tummy time more these days and gets less frustrated than he used to, especially now that he has good arm strength to push himself up. I swear every time i put him on his back he immediately flips over! Another new thing that he has started doing is sitting up (somewhat) by putting his hands on the floor to brace himself and to keep from rolling over.

So we have started doing some "sleep training" with Dashiell. He has been a pretty good sleeper since he was born, but he was sleeping in a cosleeper attached to our bed since he was born. (Honestly, he spent more time in our bed than the cosleeper because I would have to pick him up out of the cosleeper to nurse him....and it was just easier to have him right next to me). But with my having to return to work in January, and Dashiell getting huge, there are a number of reasons we decided to start getting him into the crib at night: concerns that he might never leave our bed, and a hope and a need that we would all sleep more and better.

Kevin has been gone for work but I started this "sleep training" last Monday. I had been dealing with a bad head cold and waited until I was feeling a little better. I am happy to report that Dashiell has taken to the crib pretty well. Some nights have certainly been better than others....there were two nights where he woke up every 1.5 hours and was pretty upset. Of course I don't think Kevin believed me when i told him that Dash was sleeping in the crib so I had to take some pics for proof!

First Rice Cereal Meal

I forgot to post pics from earlier this week of Dashiell having his first "solid" food a.k.a. rice cereal.

Dash Rolling Over

5 Months Old!

5 Months Old

Can't quite sit up on his own yet!

Dashiell is 5 months old today. I can hardly believe it as the time has gone by so quickly. Dash won't go back to the pediatrician until he is 6 months but were able to get an approximate weight while we were in CO. Dash is approximately a whopping 22 lbs!

Developmentally he seems to be right on target. He has even started rolling over both from stomach to back and back to stomach. He seemed to be a bit slow with this at the beginning, probably because of the extra girth. But over the last 10 days, he is moving around a ton. We will put him on the floor and within seconds, he will have either flipped over, or wiggled around 180 degrees.

We decided to celebrate the 5 month milestone with the start of solid foods. The pediatrician had said we could rice cereal around 5 months if Dash was showing interest in food. We have noticed that he has been interested in what we are drinking when we have cups in our hand more so than what we are eating.

Anyhow, Dash was all smiles during his first meal of "solid" food. We aren't sure how much made it in his stomach but we all had fun!