Sydni's Five Months Old Today

Five months already?!! Wow, that went fast!

Look at that smile!

Today, our sweet girl is five months old. This month, Sydni has grown so much and has achieved so much. This time last month, she was able to roll from tummy to back, but would then get stuck on her back, which she hated. Well, I'm happy to report that she can now roll both ways, so she's very happy about that, and I am, too, because she doesn't wake up in the middle of the night anymore from getting stuck. On top of that, she also has started to sit up some. She is pretty inconsistent on this skill as yet, but she is getting stronger and more coordinated every day.

The latest and greatest news in her life was the appearance of her first tooth on Monday. So, she was 4 months 28 days old to cut her first tooth. Dane was 4 months 3 days, so it was no surprise that she also is an early teether. Monday morning, when I went in to get her, she was her usual, sunshiny self and greeted me with a huge smile, and then I discovered her tooth a few minutes later. So, not even the pain of a new tooth will get her spirits down. No, she is still happy, but she has seemed a little more anxious this week, so I'm sure that her little gums are bothering her some.

This month, she also started eating her first solids, that being rice cereal. The first couple of times, she didn't really know what was going on, but she is getting the hang of it, I think. I may have ruined her for life, though, because I took them to Marble Slab on Tuesday, and Dane and I thought it would be a great idea to let Sydni try some, too. I wasn't sure how she would handle the cold, so I only gave her a tiny bit on the end of the spoon. She went nuts over it! So, her Uncle Shayne will hate that he missed her first Marble Slab experience. Every chance he gets, he tries to shove sweets in her mouth! Too bad she'll have to wait til next fall to get to share ice cream with her newly relocated Hawaiian uncle!

And, of course, she's still sucking that thumb! Lane caught her sucking her big toe earlier today, so I guess she's not that picky!

As usual, her smile is sweeter than ever, but it never gets old! Her personality is starting to come out, and I think that she's going to have a great, happy disposition to accompany that great grin! She adores her daddy and brother, and I guess her mother, too. It is so cute to watch her with Dane. He is always so busy, so it is a pretty tall order to expect him to slow down much to really get one-on-one with her, but he does pretty well at taking a few moments to play with her. A lot of the time, she just watches him and smiles eagerly, waiting for the moment when he will turn and acknowledge her - then she just wiggles and smiles even bigger at him! Dane is such a great big brother, and we talk a lot about his responsibility to protect her. I'm very proud of him and the adjustments that he's had to make these past five months. I'll end with a picture of my crazy kids!

More Christmas Pictures & Pictures with Santa

Stay tuned for a 5 month post for Sydni girl - she's napping and getting her beauty sleep so she'll look her best for her pictures!

I got a few sweet pictures of Sydni the other day before we left for the Kids' Christmas Party at the church. She's just so sweet.

As you can probably imagine, Dane was in fine form when Santa arrived at the party! He, along with a few of his friends, greeted and probably overwhelmed Santa with hugs and gift requests. I loved the instant line that formed in front of Santa - no one even told these kids to line up - it's just proof that with the right motivation, children are capable of just about anything! I thought it was cute.

Here's our little guy with the Big Guy!

Sweet little angel!

Merry Christmas, everybody! Just 8 more days!

Up way too late and guess what...I was tagged!

I knew I shouldn't have checked Joe David and Stefany's blog tonight and should have gone on to bed, but no...I was tagged. Oh well, for some reason, I'm not sleepy tonight and I'm wired, so I figured I'd put all of my extra brain energy to good use! Here goes...

8 Things

8 Things I Did Today
1. Worked in the church office this morning
2. Changed diapers
3. Went grocery shopping alone
4. Finally bought my cat, C. John, a Christmas stocking after 9 years.
5. Completed a secret shopping assignment...I can't say to where, it's a secret!
6. Successfully fed Sydni rice cereal
7. Laughed with Dane about who knows what
8. Made some weird beef, cheese, spaghetti sauce and corn bread roll up things for lunch-they were OK

8 of my Favorite Restaurants
1. Pancho's Mexican Buffet
2. Outback
3. Bodacious BBQ
4. The Cheesecake Factory
5. Freebird's World Burrito
6. Gaido's (Galveston)
7. Catfish Village
8. Wing Stop

8 TV Shows I Watch
1. Wheel of Fortune
2. Anderson Cooper 360
3. Larry King Live
4. Oprah (I can't stand it but I still watch it for some reason)
5. The Office
6. Texas Country Reporter (when I remember it's on)
7. Anything on the Food Network
8. Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (Every episode I see makes me cry and Lane always makes fun of me)

8 Things I Wish For
1. A house with a swimming pool and diving board someday
2. Healthy, happy children (I already have this one)
3. To live next door to my best friend Andrea, who lives too far away!
4. To be able to sew as well as my mother
5. To be able to play the piano like my mother (she's such an incredibly talented woman)
6. Be able to travel anywhere I want anytime
7. To lose 40 pounds this year
8. For Jesus to come back in my lifetime (I have always thought that would be so wonderful)

8 Things I Look Forward To
1. Helping to plan Sydni's wedding
2. Finding out what color Sydni's hair will be
3. Being a sports mom and going to my kids' games
4. The day my children are baptized and begin their walks with God
5. All of the fun that I have and will have with Lane in my life
6. Lane's graduation from Harding with his Masters degree
7. Not changing anymore diapers
8. Going skiing with my family in January!

Let's see...I'll tag Holly, Alicia, Melissa, and Joe David - don't y'all feel lucky?!

An Update on a Little Bit of Everything

Just in case you're wondering if we've surfaced out from under all of that dust (see last post), well, after a new air filter and way too much floor mopping and dusting and vacuuming, I think that we're back to our normal, livable level of filth!

Here's an update on what we've been up to the last couple of weeks.

We spent Thanksgiving with the Brown side of the family down at the farmhouse near Timpson, and it was so nice and relaxing and tasty, too. While there, after a fishing trip with Dad and PaPa, Dane got to enjoy his first bubble bath in the claw foot bathtub there. I think he liked it, and I'm pretty sure his friends will love to make fun of him for it someday. You can't beat a good bubble bath!

After we returned home, we got our Christmas tree put up, and I always like to get a picture of Dane helping decorate it.

The following Tuesday, we all dressed in our red shirts and posed for our annual Brown family Christmas picture, the first of many with our completed family. Growing up, I always dreamed about my husband and kids and what they would be like, and whether I would have boys or girls, and it is the neatest feeling to finally get to see how God put my family together - my wonderful, one-of-a-kind husband, and my sweet, nutty favorite boy and girl ever! Fun! So, this year's pictures are really special to me. Not exactly sure what was going on with Dane's smile that night - I guess the sticky candy cane mouth didn't make things any better!

After our photo shoot, we went to the Kilgore Christmas parade, the best small town Christmas parade around. Dane had lots of fun, and Sydni slept through the majority of it. After we got home, Lane took a few pictures of me and the kids together, and then I took some more of the two of them together. They were being so sweet.

This week, Sydni has made several big developmental strides. Last Friday, she sat up all by herself for about 2 minutes. She did slump forward to chew on her toes, but she didn't fall back or to the side for a couple of minutes. Then, Saturday morning, she finally rolled from her back to her tummy, so now she is able to roll across her blanket, which is so neat! Yesterday, we got the walker out, and Dane had fun pushing her around the house.

Also, yesterday, Dane and I spent a lot of the day working outside putting the Christmas lights up. Sydni was gracious and took two really long naps during the day, so we just took the monitor out there with us and were able to get everything done. I thought it was funny that, as we moved around the yard, we would carry the monitor around with us, and Dane said at one point, "I'll just put Sydni right here", as if the monitor was actually her. While we were out there, for some reason, I asked Dane if he wanted me to help him climb the live oak tree in our front yard. Of course, he said yes. Like most all live oak trees, it's got great branches for climbing and holding on to, so Dane was able to find a spot to straddle and hold on and feel pretty safe. Obviously, I thought that was a big milestone for him, so I grabbed the camera and took some pictures of him up in the tree. It was one of those really fun moments with him that, in the middle, I had to catch myself and keep from getting emotional about how big he's getting and how fast he's growing up. Wow, I love that little boy! I have a feeling that some really fun times are around the bend with him!

A Picture Perfect Family!

Wow - what a day! We were really hoping to get our Christmas card picture taken tonight, but this is the best that we could do! Maybe we can get a better shot tomorrow, but if not, I guess we'll just have to be happy with this one. And maybe Sydni will wake up and actually be in the next picture attempt.

Just prior to taking this picture, while I was sanding the walls, Lane and I found Dane in Lane's bathroom putting hair wax in his hair to spike it, and he was putting on deodorant because he said that he stunk. So, we thought that, since all three of us looked our best tonight, that we'd better take advantage of the opportunity to get a good family photo. Sydni is probably glad that she missed it!

OK - now for the explanation - I am in the process of painting the wood paneling in our living room this week, and today was the nastiest day of all. I finished filling in the cracks with spackle (or cracking, as Dane calls it), and I was ready to sand all of the walls to make sure that they're smooth before priming, texturing and painting them. I knew that the sanding would be the messiest step, so I made sure that I had all of the walls completely "cracked" before starting the sanding process. Man, by the time I finished sanding them, I know that I had dust in every inch of the entire house. The living room is in the center of the house, so naturally, the dust spread in all directions of the house. Wonderful - so it is now 3:00 a.m., and I just finished mopping and scrubbing all of the floors so that tomorrow won't be quite as nasty. Wish me luck - I'm getting really ready to get this over with! Here's some pictures post-sanding/pre-mopping. I'll have to post some after photos once I finish later this week.

Our New Playground - Stage 1

Yesterday was a great day - We have been wanting to get Dane a playground here at our house for quite a while now. We had told him that once he is potty trained, we'd get it. Well, that time had come, and yesterday was P-Day, Playground Day. There are so many cool playgrounds out there, but unfortunately, most are super-expensive. So, Lane and I got to looking at the different styles, and we realized that we could just buy the individual components and the lumber all at Lowe's. Also, doing it this way, we could design it exactly how we wanted it, make it exactly the size we wanted, make it affordable, and do it in stages, on our own time. Dane has always been a big fan of slides, so we knew that the fort and slide part would be the first stage to build. Also, everything builds off of the fort section, so it had to be first. Hopefully, next spring, we can add on the swings and the rock wall. We'd also like to enclose the lower part of the fort and make a playhouse for Sydni in a couple of years. Then, it will be complete.

Lane was off yesterday, so we headed to Lowe's to pick up the lumber and slide before lunchtime. The construction went very smoothly, and I have to say, I was very impressed with Lane and his carpentry skills. We both have dads who are amazing carpenters, and they both seem to like to help us out when we need any work done, so I've not had many opportunities to see Lane in action all on his own. I guess he must have paid attention to Skeetz and Daddy and learned a few things, because he did such a great job! I know that Dane and Sydni will always be proud to tell their friends that their dad built their playground. Enough bragging on Lane - on with the pictures!

The men in action!

Dane would measure the lumber, and then he would say a measurement out loud - most of the time, the number he would say would be something like 32.7, and he would say the "point"! My Accountant brain LOVES that!

The finished (for now) product!

A happy boy!

Four Months/Spiky Hair/1st Attempt at Cereal/Fur Coats/National Geographic

Dane with Mr. Monkey, and Sydni with Miss Monkey

It seems like just 31 days ago that I was telling you about Sydni reaching 3 months! Actually, it was 31 days ago. How strange! No, it really seems like time is flying by, and we are having so much fun watching both Dane and Sydni grow and develop. Over the past couple of weeks, I have captured a few moments on camera of my two sweeties that I felt I had to share.

One of Dane's best friends is Chase Mays. Well, Chase recently got glasses and starting wearing his hair in a spike. So, this morning, out of the blue, Dane told me, "I wish that my hair could be spiky like Chase's." You had better believe, I couldn't resist that, and we got his hair spiky right away. Angela, Chase's mom, and I had already planned to meet for lunch, so the boys had spiky hair together, which Dane pointed out to us all repeatedly.

Back in 2005, I had a year's subscription to National Geographic, and Dane has always been intrigued with one picture in one of the issues. It's a picture of a little child with its face painted white and its nose painted black. Dane has always referred to the little child as "the dog boy". So, the other day, I had set Sydni in the chair so I could fix her a bottle. Dane asked if he could sit beside her and read her a book, so I said "Sure". He grabbed his favorite National Geographic and proceeded to look for the picture of the dog boy to show Sydni. It was pretty funny. He is so sweet with her and is so protective of her. Also, if you notice in the pictures, Dane is wearing big boy underwear! I never thought I would live to see this day come, but we are officially calling Dane potty trained. He still wears a pull-up at night, just to be safe, but he has not had an accident during the day for at least two weeks now, and half of the time, he is dry in the mornings! So, we are staying true to our word, and Lane is building him a playground and fort tomorrow, as his reward for being potty trained. Luckily, we had a pretty successful garage sale Friday and Saturday that completely paid for the playground project. I'll have to do a post on that tomorrow.

Then, one day last week, I thought that I would let Sydni try a little rice cereal to see if she is getting ready to start solids yet. She really didn't seem very interested, so I'll just try again in a week or so and see how she's coming along. Of course, I thought it was a great opportunity to take pictures, so here's the result...

My parents recently went to Branson on vacation for a few days, and while there, they shopped at an outlet mall. My mom found the sweetest little fur coat at The Children's Place, and she called to confirm with me that Sydni did, in fact, need a fur coat. I agreed, so the purchase was made, and now Sydni's got a fancy coat. This past Sunday morning, it was pretty cold outside, so she got to wear it, and I think she looked so pretty in it. She also got to wear her red tights for the first time.

Now, for her 4 month report...

She weighs in at 14 lbs. 6 oz. (50-75th%) and measures 25 inches (50-75th%) long. Pretty proportional for a baby, I guess. I looked back at Dane's baby book, and he weighed 15 lbs. 9.5 oz., so he still has a pound on her at this point.

This month, Sydni has been busy doing a lot of things:

She now regularly rolls from her tummy to her back. Sydni is a tummy sleeper, so sometimes during the night, she will get rolled over on her back, and she instantly wakes up, so since she's been rolling over, Lane and I have had a couple more interruptions, where we had gotten a little accustomed to our full nights of sleep again. Soon enough, she'll be able to roll back to her tummy on her own, so our sleep issue should resolve itself again soon.

A huge development during this month is her sucking her thumb. I think it's the sweetest thing ever! She never has taken a pacifier, but she can't get enough of that thumb. She prefers her left thumb, and she immediately sticks that thing in her mouth as soon as she is laid down, if not beforehand. Lane claims that she sucks her thumb the same way that he did, except he sucked his right thumb (until the 3rd grade, I'm told, too).

She is not sitting up on her own yet, but she is starting to try to pull herself up into a sitting position when she is propped up.

No teeth yet, but from the amount of drool coming from her mouth, it can't be too much longer. Dane cut his first tooth at 4 months, 3 days, so we'll see!

She is now wearing a size 2 shoe, so she definitely has a firm foundation like her mother.

She is still very bald, but Lane and I think that she is starting to grow a little bit of hair, and it looks pretty blonde. So, it looks like her hair and eyes will match her brother's.

She smiles and smiles all the time, and she just has the sweetest expression on her face most of the time. I remember seeing her picture on a sonogram picture and thinking that it looked like she was smiling and that I hoped she would be my smiley girl. Well, she definitely is!

She started to laugh out loud this month, too. Sometimes, it's kinda hard to tell she's laughing because she just sounds like she's giggling a little bit. She mainly reserves her big belly laughs for her daddy, who can just about always get her laughing out loud. He tends to have that effect on a lot of people, so it doesn't surprise me.

Once again, I must report that she is just so sweet, and she is just such a wonderful blessing to our family. I just don't know what I'd do without my Dane and my Sydni, oh yeah, and their dad, too! I can't forget him!

And, for a recap...

At 3 months

At 2 months

At 1 month

Stay tuned for the playground construction post to come!