Walka, Walka, What?!?!

 

Ready or not....we've got another walker in the house!

In the last 3-4 days, Haddie just decided she's ready to walk! She went from crawling crazy fast everywhere, to taking just a few steps here and there this week, to all out walking by Friday! It's crazy how she just stands herself up in the middle of the floor and goes! There is a video at the end of the blog this week of our little mover in action:)

 

Danika enjoyed some special time with her Bitty Baby in matching pajamas that Grandma Lynn made... they even got to have a movie and popcorn party together:)

 

 

Now that we have a 3 year old we had to do the quilt comparison... how time flies!

 

                      3 years old                                                                6 weeks old 

 

And Ms. Haddie past her final 'monthly' milestone that we'll keep track off... 11 months! She absolutely HATES laying on her back for changing, so why on earth would I expect her to lay still for a picture?!?! 

 

 

SO Happy! Showing off her 7 teeth:) 

 

She has started to really become attached to her blanket...we only let her have it in her crib or car during a nap/bedtime, but if she spots it, she wants it and immediately starts sucking her thumb. Personally, I think it's absolutely adorable, but I hope she grows out of it before she goes to kindergarten:)

 

A little Saturday painting with dad!

 

 

 Danika's had a couple opportunities to enjoy the snow with the warmer temperatures. Here's a couple pictures from being pulled around the sled at daycare...

 

 

This was the last day of daycare for her 2 best gal pals, sisters Anna and Allie. Allie and Danika are only 5 weeks apart and have been going to Amy's house together since they were just a few months old. As most 2/3 year olds, they have a love-hate relationship and usually spend most of their time arguing over toys, but overall, Danika really loved her time with both of them...

 

 

Well last week, they moved to Minnesota:( Danika had a really out of sorts week because it is SUCH a big change for her at daycare. There are lots of little kiddos, and 1 boy who is a little older than her to play with, but no doubt she has been missing her BFF's!

Today we got lucky and they came to town one last time to clean house, so the girls came over to play for the afternoon...

 

Anxiously awaiting their arrival!

 

 

The girls had a BLAST together. They were here for 4 hours and were non-stop on the go...from jumping on the trampoline, dancing, bouncing with balls- seriously, they were red-faced and out of breath the whole time!

 

Needless to say, Danika went to bed very early tonight...she was so pooped out!

It will probably be a tough transition to daycare tomorrow, when she has to again, face reality that they will not be there:/

 

I had a little time out to myself as well this weekend, thanks to daddy daycare:) On Saturday I enjoyed a brunch and baskets class with Lynn and Lori. We created a hanging basket and the gardening team at Down to Earth will nurture and take care of it until late Spring when it's 'grown-up' and beautiful:) (That's the hope anyway!)

 

Lori working away at her masterpiece... 

 

Here's a look at my creation...looks a little blah at the moment, but hopefully it will be colorful and full come May! 

 

 

 

 

 

Here's the video clip of the Hadster walking around the kitchen...

 

 

Have a Happy 1st week of March!!!! (Crazy that it's March already!)

Love,

The Dummer's

Could it be? Three!!!

 

Feels like yesterday I was sitting in my grad class with some 'stomach cramps' and just a few short hours later got one of the greatest gifts of my life:) And here we are 3 years later and my little 6 pound peanut is now such a unique little person! She is beyond any expectations I ever had about what my child would be like (good and bad!) The tantrums ... a little WAY worse! But the love...more than I ever imagined possible! She is like Daren and I in many ways, but is also very much just herself, Danika Jolee Dummer! She is creative, compassionate, and a wonderful big sister:)

 

We were able to have a few small birthday celebrations this week. The night of her birthday some of our Dummer family came over for cake and presents and on Saturday my mom, sister, & grandma came over for pizza and again, cake:) Hope she someday realizes just how lucky she is to have SO much love!

 

She got an art easel from us and has enjoyed using it. She has really been into coloring, drawing, painting, and anything creative! She tells me "I'm an artist" :) Aunt Lori should be proud!

 

The big boy cousins helping sing and blow out the candles! 

 

No, we didn't forget about Haddie this week...She got to partake in all the party fun and family love too:)

Hard to believe she passed the 11 month milestone this week! (Her monthly picture will have to wait until next week, we've been a little busy:)

 

 

Danika 'reading' to Collin 

 

More cake! 

 

 

The timing couldn't have been better for a snow day! I was lucky enough to have the day off thanks to 4 inches of snow:) So Danika and I had a special birthday together...we went sledding and to the Children's Museum, which she and Haddie both really enjoyed.

 

Snow angels... 

 

 

Our big 3 year old also had her very 1st dentist visit. She's getting over her stranger anxiety for the most part, but is sometimes still a little shy, so I was nervous about how she'd act.

Well, thankfully Daren was able to meet us there and of course, Dad can make any situation comfortable and safe:)

 

Talking about all the tools with the hygenist... 

 

 

Dr. Rosenberger checking out her teeth... She said it's looking good and that Danika should keep up the good work brushing and flossing! (Hopefully she continues to be so good and willing about doing it!)

 

Three year old Danika likes: DORA (I'm convinced it's a cult or something! How do they get so addicted?), PINK! art, quesadillas, blanky (as well as 5 others she has to have at bedtime), being the boss, being a helper, singing, dancing, reading, and her favorite person- her dad (surprise, surprise!)

 

Three year old Danika dislikes: being told NO! That's about it, but it's a big one:)

 

Thanks to any of you who sent birthday wishes her way this week...

 

Here's the big girl:

Newborn, One, Two, & Three!

 

 

Love, The Dummers

Happy Helper

Here we are again on a wierd weather sunday blogging about what we've been up to:)

 

This week's blog is all about my little BIG helper Danika...

 

She enjoyed helping me make chocolate velvet cupcakes. And Haddie wanted in on the action too..

Putting the liners in the pan...

 

Filling them with batter.... 

 

Topping it all off with sprinkles...

 

 

And the real test- getting to taste them! I think she liked it:)

(I will say Daren and I were NOT fans! I tried to be 'deceptively delicious' and made a bunch of foods containing beets, these cupcakes and frosting included. Danika couldn't tell, but we could and it just didn't quite taste like a normal cupcake)

Last weekend we had extra special visitors... Lori, Mike, and Miles came to spend the night. Danika was in baby heaven and was truly intrigued and a great helper with Miles. She would just sit near him and watch and talk to him, and if he started crying she would carefully put his pacifier in his mouth

 

 

He looks like a natural:)  

 

Danika didn't just enjoy Miles, but Auntie Lori and Uncle Mike too... She set up a full on tea party, complete with cupcakes and ice cream:)

 

 

Danika also continues to want to help with her sister... This is where I could use a little LESS help sometimes:)

For instance, at 5:15 in the morning when Haddie wakes up crying & talking and Danika feels like it's her 'helpful' job to go in to Haddie's room and turn the lights on to greet her sister (who of course smiles her biggest smile right back at Danika:) 

This has been happening a little too frequently for my sleep deprived self! They're lucky they are so darn cute!

 

 

Haddie the explorer!

I thought I'd let her play with the bag of potatoes while I made supper- not the cleanest thing, but definitely not the worst in the kitchen either!  She seemed to like how it felt on her gums since she's been teething... but

 

She wasn't so sure once she actually bit into one...

I don't think she'll be running back to it anytime soon!

 

Haddie has taken quite a few steps here and there, but she seems a bit lazy to really get at walking without support, and I'm OK with that:)

Her favorite thing lately is to walk from chair to chair, using her activity table on the way... she just goes from one chair, around the play table, and to the next chair and back again:)

 

 

We have a special day to celebrate on Thursday in this house... yes, of course Valentine's Day like the rest of the world, but I lost that 'romantic' day for couples three years ago when a spunky little girl came into our lives! Ms. Danika is very excited this year and when I dare to take her to a store with me she finds about 50 things she says she wants for her birthday. She keeps asking 'Is it Valentine's Day yet?!?!'

 

"How old will I be?"

 

 

"Oh yeah, 3, that's big!"

 

"Oh my goodness, that's only 4 days away!" 

 

 

Oh don't cry Haddie, your birthday is right around the corner too!

 

:)

 

 

Have a great week, filled with LOVE!

 

Love from us,

The Dummers

Danika Home-anika

If you didn't get it, the title is a knock off of 'Becky Homecky' :)

We had a fun week of doing activities in the house trying to stay warm! Danika helped make a cake, do some Valentine's Day art projects to decorate the house, and made homemade play dough....

But before we get to all that...Somebody not so little anymore turned 10 months old on January 16th!

 

My mom says she's starting to look more like me, but I'm still convinced that she is 100% a Daren copy cat, especially looking at baby pictures of Daren, but even her personality is him. Danika was more of a sassy pants from the get go, and continues to be a bit theatrical (no, really?) just like yours truly when I was younger:) But the Hadster is so mellow, and laid back with a giant smile on her face, just like her dad most of the time.

 Pat-a-Cake:)

 

So back to the Danika Home-anika (a.k.a Becky Homecky)

She has been very interested in being a helper and has a bit more focus to help from start to finish with things, so I decided that this bitterly cold week would be a good one to have some fun in the kitchen.

 

First off, when Daren was gone for a week in Iowa for work, we decided that we would make him a 'Welcome Home' cake.  

 

So we slung on the apron and got to work mixing and pouring:)

 

....and she was working so hard she ended up with a sleeve full of cake dough! A hazard of the job I guess:)

 

We also did some Valentine Painting. I only had red and white paint so the 1st job was to mix them to make her favorite color, pink. Luckily, it's a Valentine color so she went crazy with it and her art work turned out very seasonal:)

 

We did a version of 'marble' painting, but we used balls we had around the house and painted on doilies.

 

And then we rolled paint with various design rollers...She was concentrating so hard on making them just right.

 

Since Haddie isn't quite at the cooking/artist/helper phase of life yet, she just roams around getting into mischief these days...her newest favorite activity is to find the wipes, NO MATTER where I think I've hidden the container, she finds it, and pulls every. single. wipe. Then if I still haven't caught her, she proceeds to try and put them in her mouth. I'm onto her little game though and ruining all her fun! (Except when I get the camera before I take them away:)

 

Today we made some play dough for my classroom and as an added 'helper' bonus, we made extra for her to keep at home and I let her choose the color. I'll give you 1 guess the color she picked?

What's that? You think Pink? WOW how did you guess:)

I was told when I put the food coloring in that it wasn't pink enough, so we had to mix a bit more coloring and kool-aid to get the right color. The cherry on top, well actually the glitter on top, was getting to put pink glitter in the play dough too!

 

Kneading the finished product:) 

 

 

That's the latest and greatest happenings at the Dummer household.

We hope you are all staying warm and safe in this winter wonderland we've had lately!

 

Love,

Jamie, Daren, Danika & Haddie

Short and sweet...Just like Ms.D and Hadster!

I thought I better blog a little, but as I'm sitting here ready to upload, I realize I have 1 picture from our entire week...yep, just 1.

 

Having a Packer party with Grandma Lynn and Grandpa at the farm- Although it didn't seem to be very luck for the Pack did it?!?!

 

Oh wait...don't see a picture? As I've been trying to upload the ONE picture for 20 minutes, I decided to give up so I guess you get none:)

 

 

The time just gets away from me and I don't get out my camera as often as I want or should.

So I thought since I don't have much to blog about and we're getting way too close to Danika's 3rd birthday (how did that happen?!?!) I would share a few of her latest and greatest quotes. I usually write down the funny things she says in her baby book, but it's hard to keep up these days. She is really mocking what she hears around her either from us, or other kids at daycare. Luckily, it's funny coming from an almost 3 year old:)

 

"I can't believe it!"

 

"It's not fair"

 

"Coooome ooooon!"

 

When I told her we were going to watch my nephew wrestle at a wrestling match she very confidently replied back to me "Then it's you and me's turn to wrestle 'cause I'm strong" :)

 

 

"Is it for we (us)?"

 

"Mom/Dad, just stop"

 

"Hey, what's going on here?"

 

As you know from previous posts Danika is very into imaginative play, especially with her babies. While changing her babies diaper she said "Oh baby, that's disgusting!"

 

 

She never seems to surprise us anymore:)

 

Well, that's the short and sweet blog for the week-

Time for me to get something done around this house! Daren is in Iowa this week for work so I'm doing the single mom thing...wish me luck:)

 

Happy New Year!

Love,

The Dummers