Videos...finally...

After resolving some technical difficulties, we wanted to share some fun videos of Daniel over the past few weeks: doing dishes, box-boy, ball bopper fun, and little drummer boy.

Ah, the domestic life. Daniel and Cora play kitchen.

There's nothing like runnning around with a box on your head!

In the spirit of Christmas, we present "Little Drummer Boy".

BALL BOPPER!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMERICA!

Pictures from our Fourth of July at the O'Leary Annual Party on Shady Lake. It was quite the adventure. Happy Fourth, everyone!

Three Amigos: Cora, Nick, and Daniel

Daddy and Daniel had some fun playing in the water. He could have done this forever, but not Dad's back.

Lake Shady pre-start fireworks. Emphasis on "pre". Things got pretty amazing.

This video shows just how intense the fireworks got. And this wasn't even the most active part of the night. Bonus points if you can catch the errant bottle rocket that flies into the video around second 22. No one noticed, and we didn't notice until watching the video. Close call!

Celebrate your country's independence by blowing up a small piece of it.

Fun

Daniel was able to see his friend Cora the other day. They did a great job playing nicely together, and even managed to squeeze in a hug for the cameras:)

Daniel and Cora :)



Daniel has enjoyed his time outside during the sunny days. His pool and soccer ball have been a big hit. And apparently so has eating Mommy's chives!

Christmas Kids

Another year at the Goff Christmas party proved to be even more fun than last year. Daniel got to see a lot of his friends and definitely played his little heart out. He loves getting to see other kids.

At last year's party Daniel and his friends were only about 3-4 months old and basically just sat around, drooled, and looked cute. This time they were now walking, learning to "share" and "be gentle", still drooled, and still looked cute. We loved it!

Christmas + New Toys + Friends + Limited Napping = FUN FOR EVERYONE!

Daniel's friend, Cora, graciously shows him how to use her new wagon.

Daniel got a little too enamored with the wagon so Cora decided he needed to cool off on the floor.

Cora decided that the boys had behaved themselves long enough that they could now use her wagon. Here, Daniel pulls his friend Nick around the house.

Cora and her Mommy and Daddy, Tom and Erinn, gave Daniel a very nice Jack-in-the-Box. Daniel and Cora get instructions on proper operation of the device from Erinn. They have no idea what's about to come...hehehe.

The most anticipated moment of the Goff Christmas party in the kid picture. This is the picture from last year; peaceful, beautiful, well behaved children doing exactly what their parents have politely asked of them. It took about 3-4 takes to get this picture last year. We're posting it as comparison to this year's photo shoot...which took over 18 shots with no identifiable success picture...enjoy:)

The moms and dads knew they had to act fast. Strategy: Place the children quickly, run away, and take a picture before anyone was the wiser. We underestimated how quickly the situation would deteriorate. Within milliseconds of putting Daniel on the couch he decided to show his friend Nick the backside of his hand. Notice Cora is a little angel. Things went downhill from here. Note: keep in mind that behind the camera are half a dozen moms, dads, and friends desperately attempting to get the kids' attention.

Nick politely voices his displeasure with Daniel's behavior as Daniel goes in for round two. Notice Cora is still an angel.

Nick makes a break for Dad. Daniel is close behind. Cora is still an angel.

Now Cora gets into the mix. The hand to the right is that of a desperate parent attempting to prevent futher meltdown.

Nick decides to give the picture a second chance but prefers to stand on his head. Daniel is attempting to dive off the couch. Cora wants her mommy.

Daniel takes great pleasure in having successfully brought anarchy to the situation.

Take 7. Nick is now diving off the couch, Cora is attempting to cooperate, and Daniel has been distracted by a light.

Daniel reconciles with Nick while Cora gets a pep talk from daddy.

Uh oh. It's a trap! Sorry, Nick!

Now everyone is distracted by the light. If they all gather by the light, perhaps they can all be turned around quickly for the picture.

No. Turning around leads to more chaos and falling.

With the light strategy having failed, it was decided to turn it off. Nick, distracted by something behind the couch, is oblivious to the fight breaking out between Cora and Daniel. Cora's daddy steps in to referee.

Desperate again, the light is turned on to end the fight. All is forgiven and forgotten.

A group hug is definitely in order. However, Daniel doesn't realize that you hug around a person's shoulder and NOT the neck.

Take 15. The group hug has fallen apart and Daniel now tries to kiss Cora (definitely not ok with Cora's daddy). Nick is disgusted.

Apparently this is just funny to Daniel.

The children grow tired of this "game" with all the moms and dads and make a break for it.

And then the heavens opened and an angel of the Lord appeared to the parents and said, "Do not be afraid. For today a picture will be taken, and there shall be peace."

But just in case the angel was wrong, the group decided to send in the Moms. Sensing the seriousness of the situation, the children cooperated.

(L to R)

Ashley and Nick, Michele and Daniel, Erinn and Cora, Heather and Caitlin.

What I Did This Summer

Daniel had a lot of fun adventures this summer. Here are just a few of the more memorable moments. Thanks to everyone who made Daniel's first summer so special!

Daniel joined FBFA this summer: Futue Baby Farmers of America.

SHIRPA!

I love my mommy....and sticks.

Daniel attended his friend Cora's birthday party this summer. He was unable to understand why all the parents insisted on squishing him in a wagon with his other friends. Here he is with his friends Lilly, Cora, Nick, and Nathan.

" Mother, I believe this soil is too arid."

Nothing like beating the summer heat by sucking on the unopened end of Mom's Otter Pop...that and air conditioning.

Daniel's great grandma celebrated 83 years this year!

Daniel earns his keep.

Though Daniel enjoys his bubble popping, plastic, push mower that doesn't actually cut grass....his real love is for 4-horses of good'ol gas guzzling, Japanese-made, grass eating machine!

A lot of new foods were introduced this summer. Results: Egg = bad....and for every bite that goes into the mouth, 2.3 land on the floor.

Grandma had a birthday this summer and Daniel had lots of fun eating the wrapping paper from her presents.

Truck. Sand. Man.

Inspired by the Olympics, Daniel became obsessed with Michael Phelps and trained 25 minutes every other week in his kiddie pool. We'll keep you posted on his quest to match Michael's 8 Olympic golds.

Here, Daniel trains with his relay team in Sunnyside, Washington. Training ended when the UFO (unidentified floating objects) count in the pool got too high.

Realizing that Mommy and Daddy do pretty much everything for him, Daniel started offering to help out with the laundry. Right now he's very good at unloading and still needs work on folding.

THANKS FOR A GREAT SUMMER EVERYONE!

Playdate at Greenlake

Recently, Daniel and his friends (Nick Marcu and Cora Goff) took a trip with their mommies to Greenlake. The swings were a big hit. Daniel was so happy his friends came to visit him!

Photo Credit: Ashley Marcu (thanks Ashley for taking pictures!)