Mad

Daniel was mad the other day.

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!

Talking Baby

Daniel and I were walking to the lake the other day and happened to pass by a dad with his 3-4 year old daughter. As we passed each other the little girl accidentally dropped one of the toys she was carrying. Daniel noticed this and, just as we went by, he exclaimed, plain as day, "UH OH!"

We continued to walk by and I heard the little girl turn to her daddy and say, "Daddy, I didn't know babies could talk!" I could only imagine the interrogation the dad got later as the daughter questioned why he never told her babies could talk:)

Fr. Daniel?

It's been fun seeing Daniel get to know the priests at our church, Blessed Sacrament. In fact, Daniel has taken quite an interest in the religious life.

Here's Daniel during his first discernment meeting in 2007 with the Dominican Vocation's Director, and good friend, Fr. Steven - the priest that married us.

Daniel: "Fr. Steven, how much time do you get for naps when you're a priest?"

Here's Daniel getting a run-through from another good friend, Fr. Jordan, on how to operate the confessional.

Daniel: "Now which one of these switches gives people their penance?"

Bearded Baby

Daniel had some fun in the bath with Mommy's shaving cream the other day. We knew Daniel was growing up fast, but we didn't think this fast!

CON-NIP-TION FIT

CON-NIP-TION FIT [kuh-nip-shuhn fit] -noun: the sound you hear the moment your wife looks out the window and sees you doing this with your son.

See also: dog house.



Follow-up: it’s probably important to mention that…

1) No, it's not Photoshop’d. That's real.
2) Yes, my wife approved the post.
3) Yes, my wife made me promise never to do it again.
4) No, even though Daniel loved it, and my brother and I are extremely fit and adept athletes, this ultimately was not the wisest choice of activities with Daniel – so we won't be doing it again:)

Koffee Kid

This morning, like most mornings, I was making my essential cup of coffee. Daniel has become obsessed with smelling the coffee (he's not allowed to drink any, of course) and always asks to take a quick whiff before I grind the beans. Usually, he puts his face close to the beans and says, "mmm...yummy" - I kid you not.

This morning he stuck his face so far in the bowl of coffee beans he came up and had one stuck to his lip--which he promptly licked and swallowed before I could stop him.

Mom doesn't know yet...but I'm guessing in about 30-45 minutes she will.

Milestone

Daniel has been showing interest in the toilet lately. Sometimes he acts on his curiosity in ways we do not agree with (like the 2 times we've caught him standing--or about to stand--in the the toilet). Yesterday he wanted to sit on the toilet, so I took off his pants and diaper and put him on the toilet. He sat there for a minute then said "all done" and I took him off and put his clothes back on. Thanks to some good family friends who donated tons of child-raising equipment, we are ready for this next step in Daniel's fascination with toilets. I brought the potty chair up from the basement, cleaned it up, and put it in the bathroom. Tonight before his bath, Daniel asked to sit on the potty chair. So, we sat a naked Daniel on the chair and he sat there for a couple minutes. Then Chris asked him if he was all done, Daniel said yes, so we took him off--totally expecting to see a dry bowl. But, as usual, Daniel surprised us and we had the ceremonial first emptying of the potty chair bowl into the toilet! Yay, Daniel! Watch out Mommy and Daddy--here comes a new phase of parenthood!

PUMP UP THE JAM!

Daniel loves to dance. Any song with a strong beat he likes, though he's particularly fond of folk rock right now, namely Brandi Carlile. However, if he's in the car it needs to be classical.

And apparently he has an affinity for loud techno music like his father. When this song came on he ran into the kitchen and started dancing. Naturally, we grabbed the camera.

Take note of the attempted break dancing mid-video and the “broken sprinkler” arm moves - he even turns up the volume half way through. And no, we haven't taught him ANY dance moves. He comes up with everything himself:) This one had us laughing for a while.

At least he's honest

We've been working on Daniel's manners for a while now. You know, the usual stuff: "please", "thank you", etc. Normally, Daniel does really well. But I think it's still sinking in. For example, the other day...

Daniel: "Raisins. Raisins! RAISINS!!!"

Michele: "Daniel, do you want some raisins?"

Daniel: "RAISINS!"

Michele: "Ok, Daniel. But what do you say?"

Daniel: "PLEESH!!" (translation: please)

Michele: (hands Daniel a raisin and he eats it)

Michele: "Daniel, now what do you say?"

Daniel: (chews...pauses...looks up quizzically...)

Daniel: "Yummy?"