Daniel heads South

Daniel waiting to get onto the plane.

Relaxing on the plane ride, as long as he has his sippy and his Cheerios he is a happy boy.

All new toys here at GG's house!

Daddy and Daniel hanging out at Chuck E. Cheese

On his way to his first swim in the pool

Wow, this is a lot more water than my bathtub!





Getting ready to go to the club for dinner.

Peek a boo Poppop

A wonderful dinner at Boca Pointe, Daniel ate his weight in meatballs!

Mommy and Daniel having a great time swimming.

Family portrait

Daniel was scheduled to head to Florida last February for his first vacation. Due to my fall just 5 days before our departure we had to delay. We finally made it to Boca Raton this week. It was so nice to get away to the warm weather. Daniel enjoyed having his Daddy's full attention for a whole week. Daniel had his first airplane ride (where he behaved like a perfect gentleman and charmed all the flight attendants), his first trip to Chuck E. Cheese (one of Daddy's favorite spots) and his first time in the pool which was fun for both Daniel and I. We stayed with GG for the week and had several visits with Poppop Joe and Mommom Ev as well as a dinner with Uncle Stephen and Aunt Cheryl who were also on vacation in Florida. We also got to visit with some friends who live in the area which was fun for all. Daniel ate more restaurant meals this week than he has total up til now and was so well behaved (as long as he was being fed the whole time), I was so proud of him! Daniel did a great job blowing bubbles in the pool and kicking his feet a little bit and we got to see a little lizard right by the pool which he thought was pretty cool. We all had a great time and can't wait til our next family getaway.

We will miss you Great Bubbie

This week Daniel's great grandmom Great Bubbie passed away. She was 93 years old and we are going to miss her but are so grateful that Daniel got to know her for a little while.

Congratulations Aunt Rebecca and Uncle Steve

Daniel would like to announce that he is going to be a cousin again! Aunt Rebecca is expecting her first baby in August. We are so excited and can't wait to meet our newest addition.

14 Months

Yet another month has flown by. This month Daniel started clapping his hands, popped through the rest of his one year molars and learned to come down the stairs all by himself. Daniel moved up to the young toddler room at daycare which he seems to be really enjoying. In this room there is a lot more structure and they do lots more fun activities. Daniel is now truly a toddler, throwing tantrums when he doesn't get his way and thinking that he is in charge (which he kinda is!) Daniel loves to read books and he has his favorites. He brings them to me and gets up on my lap to read. He is starting to learn how to color with crayons which I'm sure will lead to a refrigerator full of new artwork! He has also started to recognize people in pictures. We have a picture cube with all his grandparents pictures and he likes to carry it around with him. Every day Daniel learns to communicate better with us. He is learning new words and other ways to get across what he wants. Each new stage is more fun than the last!

Fun with Avi and Alys

This month Cousin Avi and his parents Jeremy and Alys are moving to Seattle. We wish them all the best in their new home but we will miss having them so close. Alys and Avi came to visit one last time before their cross country move and we had so much fun. Daniel and Avi are finally old enough to really start interacting and I think they had a great time with their sleepover. Avi was excited to see a whole array of new toys and the boys had a good time wrestling, sharing toys and sharing snacks. We can't wait to see you guys in April!!

Animal sounds

I have been making animal sounds for Daniel for many months but I am never sure if he really gets it. Well now he has starting saying 'woof' when he see's a dog and yesterday he quacked like a duck at a toy duck in his room. It is only a matter of time before we are singing Old MacDonald together:-) Today he got to play with a golden retriever who is bigger than he is and he had a great time woofing at her and getting his face kissed.

Hibachi

After a few days cooped up in the house over the holidays I was itching to get out this weekend. So Saturday I suggested that we go to Hibachi for dinner. I figured it would be a dinner out for Kyle and I and entertaining for Daniel. We got there nice and early since that is Daniel's dinner time. I wasn't sure how Daniel would feel about the performance but he loved it. When the guy had the fire volcano Daniel just stared and then looked at me and said "Ooooooh". When he was tossing the eggs in the air he was pointing and saying ball. Then when the guy threw shrimp at us (to catch in our mouths) Daniel looked at him like he was nuts for throwing food at his parents. I brought Daniel his usual dinner foods but he had some of Kyle's noodles and steak and some of my fried rice and chicken. He seemed to enjoy all of it. It was a nice evening out for all of us and we will definitely go back again.