17 months

We are now just one month short of the half way mark for Daniel's second year. He is doing great. He now knows many of his body parts, a bunch of shapes, some more animal sounds and all sorts of other objects. He is getting good at brushing his teeth every evening after dinner in preparation for his future career as a dentist:-) His latest obsession is cars and trucks. He especially likes to make the trucks zoom across the coffee table and crash onto the floor. He has been having a good time going outside with his Daddy and riding up and down the sidewalk on the Segway. We have gone to the playground, the please touch museum, the zoo and lots of other places. Now Daniel is getting ready for summer and some weekends down the shore! He is definitely getting more assertive about what he does or more often doesn't want. He will say no and vigorously shake his head. He is learning more words although he hasn't started putting them together into phrases yet. His comprehension of what he hears is great though. Once in a while he even does what I ask him to! He already thinks my "mean" face is funny though so I'm not sure how effective my discipline will be. Daniel is now a master at getting up and down the stairs now which makes life much easier for mommy! He is even starting to learn how to go up and down like a grownup rather than crawling!

Welcome Suzy Faith

Daniel would like to announce the arrival of his cousin Suzy Faith Venit. She was born to Aunt Francine and Uncle Gabe on April 23, 2009 at 11:05 AM, 7 lb 11 oz 20 1/2 inches. Mommy and Daddy rushed right down to Delaware to meet little Suzy but Daniel had to wait until she arrived home from the hospital. So today in the gorgeous summerlike weather we went to introduce Daniel to his new cousin. He was less interested in the baby than I thought he would be although the minute she started crying he was quick to grab a pacifier and hand it to her which I thought was very sweet. Hopefully he will look out for her like that when they are older! We are looking forward to lots of time for them to play together growing up!

Daniel drives the Corvette

Daniel of course is not allowed to ride in his Daddy's Corvette yet since there is no back seat and it is not safe for him. However, Kyle and Daniel did ride back and forth in the driveway so that Daniel could get the full effect of Daddy's favorite toy. He had a great time pushing all the buttons!

Please Touch Museum

The new Please Touch Museum opened in October at Memorial Hall in Fairmount Park. It has gotten rave reviews from everyone (including Aunt Debra who is getting married there in October) but we hadn't had the chance to take Daniel there. This week Daniel's GG was visiting from Florida so Mommom and I took this opportunity to make our first trip to the museum. It was fabulous. Tons of cool things to explore and in each area of the museum they have a special section for kids under 3 so they don't get trampled by the big kids. As with most new places Daniel wasn't so sure he wanted to be there at first but once he warmed up he had a great time. He really enjoyed the little slide. He would go down and run as fast as he could back to the steps clapping the whole time. We plan to take him frequently so that he is at home there when October and the wedding arrives.

Passover

We were so happy to be able to join the entire Wylen family for this year's Passover seder. Daniel was in attendance last year but without his Mommy and Daddy as I was still in the hospital. Daniel especially enjoyed his reunion with cousin Avi who was back from Seattle for the holiday. Now that all the kids in our family are so grown up it is nice to have a new generation of little ones running around during the seder. plus a flashback picture to show how far we have come!

16 months

Daniel loves his bathtime

having lunch at Poppop's office meeting

Wow, another month has gone by. We've been busy this month. I am getting around better so I am trying to get Daniel out more. He has been enjoying trips to Rittenhouse Square to see the doggies and other babies, we went to our first library story hour, the zoo and Sesame Street Live. He has really perfected the art of throwing himself screaming to the floor when he doesn't get what he wants. I try not to laugh but it's hard. Daniel had his first Purim. We went to the Purim parade at Daniel's daycare which was really cute although Daniel needed his daddy to walk with him in the parade and sit with him during the songs. He wasn't so interested in his King crown either but maybe next year. He has learned how to high 5, and will clap for himself whenever he does something he likes. Daniel likes to arrange his toys, he will carry them from one place to another and then back again, over and over and over. We are doing really well with the shape sorter, it is one of Daniel's favorite activities. He does have some shapes that he likes better than others, his favorite being the circle. He is working on a few new animal sounds, cow, monkey, and cat. He likes to climb now also. He thinks the most fun is to step up onto something and jump off. I of course shudder every time, not sure how I'm going to survive this whole growing up thing. He still loves to read stories, his current favorites are The Very Hungry Caterpiller, That's Not My Bear, and My Fuzzy Little Valentine (featuring Elmo).

Our first zoo trip

I've been dying to take Daniel to the zoo since last spring/summer. Finally we made it there on the first day of Spring this year! It was a little chilly (there were even some flurries) but we didn't mind. Daniel had a great time, his favorite thing was the children's zoo where he spent a lot of time petting the goats. We may need to get him one of his very own! He was also pretty interested in the monkey's and the giraffe's. I was especially glad he got to see the elephants before they are all moved from our zoo. He had a great time running around and seeing all the animals. After we were done at the zoo Poppop was hungry so we headed to Pat's for a cheesesteak where Daniel greatly enjoyed his french fries and his first sip of soda. I already can't wait for our next zoo trip!!