Time flies...

Sorry it's been awhile! Between Thanksgiving, decorating for Christmas, Christmas shopping, work, Daniel preparing for Test Block, and me playing with my adorable son I haven't had much time! Well Dax was 3 months old on November 30th!  Three months, already! It's crazy how fast time goes by. The past week has been so much fun with him. He's really starting to interact a lot and has started reaching for toys... needless to say most of my time is now spent dangling toys over his head and giggling at how hard he works to reach it... he loves this game :)  Also in the past week his love for his feet has grown tremendously... and I'm just waiting for the day when I walk in the room and he has a toe in his mouth.  If he's laying flat on his back you can pretty much count on his hands being in his mouth (or bib or whatever else he can grab and stick in there) and his feet being straight up in the air... it's pretty funny.  With that said his clothes and bibs stay wet most of the day... and if he has a hold of your hand you can pretty much count on that becoming drool covered in no time at all :)
Well Dax has been in his crib at night for a little over a week now!  It was such an easy transition for him... and I think he really likes it!  The first couple nights we were in there quite a bit reinserting the binky but that has dwindled down since then. Hopefully with his new love for his hands he'll realize how to soothe himself with those and the need for us to give him his binky back throughout the night will go away. And p.s.... I LOVE my video monitor.. best invention EVER. Its so comforting to just be able to hit the button on the top and see him whenever I need to throughout the night. The first few nights I think I spent most of my time watching it... but I've gotten better :)
So onto life besides Dax accomplishments (there is a such thing... sometimes anyways). Thanksgiving was great! I'm reminded at every family gathering how special my family is! We have a bond unlike many families and I am so, so, so very thankful for that! The weekend before Thanksgiving we had Thanksgiving dinner with my grandparents at their new "full service apartment" as we're calling around them (aka, assisted living center). That was very special and I think it helped a lot in making the transition a little better for them. I also got to see my adopted mom while I was there (my bff's mom who lives in Kentucky) and she got to meet Dax for the first time! That was pretty special.  Actual Thanksgiving day was spent at my moms house with my parents, all of my siblings and my 50 nieces and nephews (okay.. only 6... but at times.. like when Christmas shopping... it feels like 50). We ate wayyyy too much, took way too many pictures, passed around Dax, and played some chicken foot. I'd say it was a successful Thanksgiving!
Now Christmas decorations are up, complete with Dax's first Christmas ornament and new stockings with each persons name on it. I've always been a big fan of Christmas time, but now with Dax it makes it even more exciting! I've got him one gift so far (a book of course) but have def. done my fair share of online browsing for him. Daniel and I decided that since Dax is really too young to enjoy the surprise of Christmas presents that we are each going to get him something and keep it a surprise for the other. That way on Christmas morning at least someone will be surprised when we open the gift! I'm really excited about this! lol. With Christmas comes traditions! My best friend who has a little one a month and a half older than Dax had a wonderful post on her blog the other day about traditions they want to start now that their family has truly began. This got me thinking... and I'm sort of a sucker for holiday traditions... so I've come up with all sorts of ideas that I can't wait to start as soon as Dax gets a little older. One thing that I started last year with my niece and nephew was baking and decorating homemade Christmas cookies Christmas Eve morning. We had so much fun watching a Christmas movie in our pjs with a fire in the fireplace, Christmas tree lights on, and making cookies and I would LOVE to continue this tradition. Maybe I'll borrow my niece and nephew again and do it again this year... since I don't think Dax would be much help in the kitchen :)

 Notice the "mouth of concentration"... it's hard work playing with toys :)

yes... that's a thumb in his mouth!  Forgive the crazy hair... mommy was having fun playing with it during bath time!  He rotates between fist, rag, and thumb during bath now!