First Easter and Beyond

I plan to eventually finishing writing about my Great Grandma's house, but I clearly have lost my motivation right now.

Yesterday Daniel celebrated his 1st Easter! It's fun getting to celebrate these new milestones with him. We got up yesterday morning and got ready to go to Villa Grove, but before we left home, Daniel got a surprise from the Easter Bunny!



Doesn't he look handsome!?

He enjoyed playing with the basket and with an Easter Bunny that he got from one of his Great Grandma's.





We went to church, where Daniel was "oohed and ahhed" over. I always enjoy Easter services. We made it though most of the beginning of the service and then I had to go to the nursery to feed him. I brought him back into the service with me and he did great!

Then it was on to Grandma and Grandpa's house for the rest of the day!

We grilled burgers (and by we, I mean Kent) and enjoyed a yummy meal.

Daniel got a stuffed bunny, which he chewed like crazy until it was soaking wet!



And we had a family picture taken before we changed our clothes.



Daniel with Grandma



And with Grandpa



And one of them all together.



We spent the afternoon watching the Cards game, napping and watching The Master's (blech!) I'm out numbered when it comes to watching golf though. We got pizza for supper and then headed back home.

One last picture to end the day. Daniel with his loot from the Easter Bunny since he didn't get much time to see it in the morning. (He enjoyed eating the outside of the puffs container the best)



In other news, I am amazed each and every day how much Daniel is learning and growing. Some days it makes me happy and other days it makes me sad! Only sad, because it's already going by too quickly.

He coos and talks quite a bit. I know he isn't really saying it, but he mimics the sound of us saying, "Hi" sometimes.  He giggles sometimes, but instead of laughing these past few days he's started to do this high pitched happy squeal. It cracks us up!

He still isn't rolling, but gosh he sure gets close. I know he could do it, but I know it will happen whenever he's good and ready. He tends to do things on his own terms.

The Jumperoo is a favorite in this house. We both knew that once he figured out what he was supposed to do, he was going to LOVE it. I mean, the kiddo did jumping jacks inside of me the whole time I was pregnant and hasn't stopped moving since. Lately he's been going nuts in there.  He also enjoys his play mat a lot still. He lays under it and plays for quite awhile and scootches his whole body around. One day I found him completely off the mat!

Sleep seems to be our biggest hurdle. Some nights are good. Other nights are awful. I've had a few nights where I've started crying too! Those are the nights that the swing comes in handy. I always said I wouldn't let my baby sleep in the swing at night, but now I've learned it for Mommy's sanity! I refuse to make a habit out of it though, so we always start out in the crib and go from there. Most nights are spent in the crib, which is good.

I'm fairly certain teething is in full force. He may not actually get a tooth for months, but the excessive drooling has begun, along with gnawing on EVERYTHING. That kiddo can bite down HARD!

I'm planning to start solids sometime this month. Probably right around 5 months.  The recommendations now are between 4 and 6 months depending on the doctor you talk to. Daniel's pediatrician recommends 6 months for breast fed babies as long as it's all going well, but he also said it's really up to the parent and to use my best judgement. Well, from working with infants for so long, I know he'll be fine to start. As much as I enjoy exclusively breastfeeding (for the most part anyway), he is terrible at taking a bottle and pretty much just chews the nipples now and won't drink. Jacob and I are leaving him with Grandma and Grandpa while we go on an all day trip to Chicago in May, and I want him to at least be eating some solids well if he's not drinking well.

Anyway, I could go on and on about that little guy, and I'm sure I will again in the next post. I just couldn't be a happier momma!