YUM!

Matthew started eating "solids" a little while ago. He is a much better eater than Daniel was, already pulling the spoon into his mouth (which makes him a much messier eater than Daniel was). He also hasn't met a food he doesn't like. Here he is after enjoying some yummy butternut squash.

Urgent coloring update

Daniel has lost interest in the "ink pencils" and we've gotten out the chalkboard instead. He's been coloring by himself for a few minutes, but then came running into the room yelling "Mom! Come quick! I drew a rainbow!"

Ink Pencils

are what Daniel calls pens.

Reason 234,578,994 Why Daniel Can't Go to Bed

"An octopus came into my room and put a cold booger on my leg, now I'm too cold to go to sleep."
-Daniel

I'll make you a deal

In the last few months, a relative gave us a copy of the movie "The Land Before Time," which I remember watching when I was little (and older than Daniel) and I was scared in quite a few parts. However, we foolishly did not put the movie away before Daniel saw the cover and now every few days he tries to convince me that he can watch it without being scared. This was today's attempt:

Daniel: Mom, trust me, I wont be scared if we watch that dinosaur video.

Me: I don't think so, Daniel.

Daniel: I'll make you a deal. We'll watch the video and I wont be scared.

Me: We've been over this before, Daniel. I've seen the video and it was scary. You'll be able to watch it when you're older.

Daniel: No, you haven't seen this video before!

Me: Daniel, the movie came out in 1986. I was born in 1982, that means I was four years old when it came out and I remember watching it. How old are you?

Daniel (defiantly): I don't know how old I am!

Me: [silent]

Daniel (to himself, in a whiny, defeated voice): It takes too long to be a grown-up...

Sweet

Matthew loves snuggling with his lovey (named "Saggy Baggy" by Daniel, inspired by the Saggy Baggy Elephant story). Too bad he hasn't slept this peacefully for a few days since his not-yet-showing teeth and a cold have been bothering him.

Crime Prevention

We have had our cars broken into/stolen a few times, and since then have been well aware of the protection a "club"-type device provides. Being the astute observer that he is, Daniel now takes precautions when parking his vehicles, too. In fact, I think his method would be more effective. Who would try to steal a car being guarded by a dinosaur?

Our little huskies

One of our favorite pictures of Daniel as a baby is of him wearing a fleece husky hat in the winter while out for a walk one day. Of course we had to recreate the photo with Matthew, now that the weather is chilly enough to wear thick hats and mittens. What cute little huskies!

Happy (belated) Halloween

Here are some of our Halloween pictures. We were out of town on Halloween, so we trick-or-treated the following week at Great-Grandma Eva's house.

Our little fireman and his dalmatian puppy.

Daniel was worried that Grandma wouldn't have any candy left for him.

We stopped by the Newman Center's Halloween party before heading to Yakima for the weekend. We couldn't get Daniel to stand still long enough to get a good picture.

Matthew and Fr. Jordan hang out.

The fireman and dalmatian spend some time with the cast of The Office.

In Yakima for Halloween, Daniel and his friend Noah had a great time handing out candy all night. Then Daniel got to come up to the door to trick-or-treat, too. (Looks like we forgot to put his boots on, though...)

Who turned off the lights?

A mystery developed the other night at dinner.



While we ate, I made an off handed comment about how I've noticed the back porch light being left on at night for the past few nights.



The only conclusion I had come to was that Michele had been turning it on (rookie husband mistake) since the nights had been getting darker sooner. I assumed she didn't like how "spooky" our back yard looked. I don't know why I came to this conclusion, but since I certainly wasn't doing it, I thought that's how Michele would rationalize it.



"Hey Honey, I wanted to ask why you were leaving the back porch light on at night?"



"Um...I haven't, and actually I thought it was odd that you were leaving it on."



"What?! It wasn't me! Its been turned on each night for a few days now so I thought it was you doing it."



At this point we both look at Daniel who was in the process of putting a crouton in his mouth. He says nothing. Michele and I now both get the same idea.



"Um, Michele, I haven't been turning the back light on at night. Have you?"



"Nope, I haven't turned it on." (we look back at Daniel)



"Daniel, have you been turning on the light at night?"



"No, I didn't turn it on!"



At this point, Daniel turns to the only person left in the room that hasn't professed their innocence. This person is also barely able to hold his own head up.

(Daniel) "Matthew, did you turn the light on?"

Matthew babbles some baby talk and drools. We believe he said 'no'.

Daniel finally cracks under the pressure...

"Yes! Yes! It was me!"

Case solved.

Another day with Daniel...

Michele: "Daniel, we really need to trim your nails again. They're getting too long. They're like claws now."

Daniel: "But I need claws to be a tiger!!"

------

Daniel: "Mom, what did you buy at the store today?"

Michele: "Oh, the usual grocery items. Things like canned tomatoes. Do you like canned tomatoes, Daniel?"

Daniel: "Um....no, but I do like cans."

Pumpkins

It's been awhile since we've shared any pictures...we've been busy! We'll try to update more in the next few days. Here are some pictures from our trip to the pumpkin farm in Nisqually with our good friends Erin, Ryan and Bridget Simmons. (Can you tell which pictures were taken with our little camera and which were taken with Ryan's super-nice camera? :)

Wagon ride to the field.

I've got one!

These are ALL my favorites!

Dirty hands!

It was a rainy day at the farm.

Hayride with our friends!

Oh, Daniel...

Some tidbits of conversation with Daniel over the past few days:

#1
"Daniel, you did a great job eating your dinner and you were a good boy all day! You can now have that cookie we promised you."

(in an excited voice)"YAY!" (in a mellow voice) "...um...but how big is it?"

#2
"Daniel, tonight we're having Chinese food for dinner!"

"Good, but it will make me fat."

Nachos

Today we had nachos for lunch. Daniel specifically requested that his nachos have only un-melted cheese on top...

More birthday fun

Here are some more pictures from Daniel's birthday week:

Birthday pancake for breakfast!

Cool birthday glasses from Aunt Bea -- and a chocolate doughnut, too!

Helping to make birthday cake #1.

Eating said birthday cake.

Cool! Soccer shoes!

Soccer shoes, PJs, birthday glasses.

Daniel's first kick in his new soccer shoes.

Helping to make birthday cake #2 -- chocolate cupcakes!

Playing his new guitar from Grammy and Grampy.

Daniel's first date

This is what Daniel knows about dates: Mommy and Daddy leave, Daniel stays at home and is sad because he misses them, somebody else comes and watches him while we're gone.

This morning, I overheard Daniel saying this to Lovey (his lovey), while setting up some of his toys around her (yes, Lovey is a she):

"It's okay Lovey, I'm just going to go on a date so I can spend some time with some of my friends. Don't worry, Lovey, you wont be here alone. You'll be here with the dinosaurs and crocodiles--they'll take care of you while I'm gone."

Sweet, but I'm not sure why he picked the most menacing of his toys to be Lovey's babysitters. Does he think we do the same? Hmmmm...

Happy Birthday, Daniel!

More to come later...

Husky Marching Band

Daniel and I made it down to the Husky Band fundraiser the other day (Dad was in the band), and we had the chance to see Daniel's favorite instrument (right now), the sousaphone!

Daniel also made some new friends in the cheer squad:)

Daniel recounts the events of the day

At dinner tonight, Daniel went over the events of his day. Here's a snippet of his narrative of naptime (note: Baby Ava is a doll):

"Baby Ava took her clothes off, but I just had my socks off. Then I took my clothes AND my socks off and I was like, 'aaaaggghh!' Then one of the guys from Aladdin came in I was like, 'Jafar! Jafar!' And then we fell asleep and I couldn't see anything anymore."

Devoted Husky

This is Matthew's first Husky Football season. I must say, I'm pleased with his devotion thus far.

College

Daniel and I have some interesting conversations while waiting for him to do his business in the bathroom. Today he made some of his first comments on his preferred college .

"Daniel, you're growing up so fast. Soon you'll be driving and going to college!"

"Ya!"

"Do you want to go to college someday?"

"Yes, I do."

"Daniel, what college do you want to go to?"

(Chris crosses his fingers and prays to the patron saint of the University of Washington, Don James (not an officially recognized saint.....yet).

"Ummm...the University of Alpa!!"

What? I had never heard of the University of 'Alpa'. At that point I was just hoping 'Alpa' was some way of saying 'Swiss Alps', in which case we'd have to do a campus visit soon.

"Daniel, I've never heard of that school. Can you tell me more about it."

Daniel got a concerned look on his face and then said,

"Um, Daddy, I'm not interested in talking about this right now."

He then proceeded to deal with the business at hand.

"It's nice having a little buddy around!"

Daniel announced this morning about his cousin. Matthew agrees.

5 Years

5 Years ago today...

The ceremony


Driving away to the reception



Dancing



Time for a picture

Sailing away into the night

It's 8:45pm at night. We're home late from a party...

Daniel: "I can't go to sleep tonight, Daddy."

Chris: "Why?"

Daniel: "Because I'm too weak to go to sleep."

Chris: "Why are you to weak?"

Daniel: "Because you don't give me enough food."

Chris: "Are you trying to say you need more food, Daniel?"

Daniel: "Yes, I need a peanut butter and jelly sandwich."

Don't worry, I have everything under control

Eusterzelishror 2010

For the past couple of years we've had the opportunity to vacation with our good college friends, the Eustermans and Stamschrors. We had a great time this year - and doubled the number of kids from last year's trip! Enjoy some fun pics of the gang.

Eusterzelischror

The kids.

Nothing like Mommy time.

The Mommies.



Daniel experiments with inverted swinging.

Daniel, Elizabeth, and Noah.

The dinner picture.

Crab hunting with Matt.

Cheese!

The Moms...er...two moms with Casey.

The special cake the men baked and decorated in honor of the women.

Daniel and Matthew.

On the ferry to the island.

Six hand piano: a masterpiece.

The babies: Maximilian, Cecilia, and Matthew