Shane's Aunt Jeanne & cousin Danny also had birthdays this month. Happy birthday!!!
Shane is doing great! My future musician spends as much of the day as he can rocking and rolling across the floor. It won't be long before he crawls... He loves to roll his way over to Thunder and I though I do not know why (Thunder must be a glutton for punishment), Thunder does not seem to mind his new buddy at all. In fact, a few days ago I put Shane on the floor and got him dressed. When he was done, I sat him up and Thunder came over. Thunder laid down next to Shane and put his head in Shane's lap. I was in shock! My next thought was where is that camera? I quickly remembered that it was downstairs. UGGGGGHHH! I decided there was no way that Thunder would stay put while I went down to get it, especially since he had not been out yet. However, after 5 minutes of staying put through the torture - Shane grabs his nose, pulls the hair on his head, tries to open his mouth - you get the point. I ran down to get the camera and to my shock and amazement Thunder stayed put! Here is the bext picture I could get since Thunder does not like flashes, especially since our professional photo shoot... More on that later.
Before you get mad at me, I do not let Shane torture Thunder and we are already trying to work on make nice. It often just happens so fast that I can't stop it all. Having Thunder groomed before out photo shoot had the extra bonus of removing most of the hair that Shane likes to grab. Here are some photos of Thunder and Shane. Note, some are before Thunder was shaved so you will really see the difference.
On one of the nice November days, (where did those go?) we took Shane outside and raked a pile of leaves for him to sit and play in. OK, Dan raked the leaves, but I sat Shane in them. He loved it! He enjoyed splashing in the leaves, crumpling them up in his fist, and of course trying to eat them. Here is some video of him playing away.
And here are some pictures from the day! Dan was mowing the law while Shane and I were playing so Shane spent a lot of time with his head turned watching Dan. He was fascinated by the lawn mower, but mainly he is captivated by his Daddy! He even squeals now when Dan enters the room! As usual, I got sidetracked. Here are the pictures.
Here is Shane relaxing on our porch swing.
Oh and the little man can hold his own bottle. He will only do it when he is laying down, but he can do it.
Besides playing with Thunder and frolicking in the leaves, Shane has been reading! Yes, the little guy loves books. He gets so excited when I pull out his favorite book and all books hold his attention. One of Dan's good friends from work, Chris, bought Shane his first Springsteen book. Shane and I are slowly working our way through Bruce's life story. Here is Shane taking a crack at it himself.
I also finally got Shane some bubbles! They have them in our library class & he loves them! However, it is really hard to blow bubbles and take pictures at the same time so you really can't see the joy and the bubbles in the same picture. This was another nice November afternoon! I miss those!
Shane also loves to do lunch! We met Aunt Joan at Old Orchard last week. Unfortunately the restaurant is a little dark and my pictures are a little blurry. Shane is so lucky to have Aunt Joan. She is an amazing Aunt to me and to Shane! She brought him books which he loved to unwrap and then chew on! We are reading them at home and Shane loves the Lion finger puppet book and the nursery rhymes! He was the star of the restaurant and everyone loved how cute and well behaved he was! I am always amazed at just how great he is!
OK, we are almost updated. Now,the photo shoot. We decided to bring Thunder in for Shane's 8 month pictures so we could do some family shots for the Christmas/Hanukkah card. It was pretty laughable. Dan was really stressed, Thunder was even more stressed, the Christmas tree at the place was broke... It was quite the event. We had wanted to get a family shot with the Christmas tree and the dreidel. However, the tree was broke. The photographer had me hold the tree with my foot and then I had Thunder on the other side of me. Dan was on the other side of the tree with Shane. Well, Thunder was inching away and I was completely stretched out - legs apart, when she started shooting. I kept telling her that it must look awkward, but she reassured me it looked great. Great is not the word I would use. I look like I am posing for a football picture, legs wide apart, leaning over to hold the dog, one hand on the tree and one on Thunder... Not good. I was able to crop myself and Thunder out of the picture and give Dan a photo of him and Shane for his birthday so that was nice. However, you can be sure that you will not see that photo on any holiday card you will be receiving. We did wind up getting a nice family photo on the ground without any props. We also got a cute photo of Shane playing with the dreidel and wearing his Santa hat. Here are a few that did not make the card, but turned out great.
Finally, Shane wants to send get well wishes to his Grandma Carolyn who has been sick since she got home from her vacation! She is finally feeling better and we are so glad! Shane can't wait to see her this weekend!
