Disneyland...Finally!

I think we've been hyping up Disneyland for quite some time, and so it might not have seemed real when we were finally on our way there!  We finally made it to Disneyland (or California Adventure!) and had three days to spend in the parks.  The last day we spent a little time at the beach, which you LOVED!  In a way, it was sad when you were trying to get us to go out the door on our last day...so we could go back to Disneyland...

(But the beach was better that day...having to go home...well, not so much :) )

Yet Another Daniel Funny...

Just had to jot this quick one down...

In the bathtub tonight, Jared had just climbed out (and was feeling particularly rambunctious), grabbed a sock and shoe and ran into the toilet area, pulled open the lid and plunked both into the toilet.  As both your mom and dad went "NO Jer-bear!!!", you yelled at him too, adding in "no birthday for YOU"

OK that was pretty darn funny (and repeated a few more times)...now since Jared was naughty, he can't have a birthday today... :)

Daniel Funny Again

Before I put another update (which, sadly, I've been a bad mommy...no updates for HOW long???) I'll mention the latest Daniel funny. This was pointed out by Mike (daddy!), but all of the pieces were there over the past week or so.

Daniel and I were watching a little bit of TV for the evening, and I told him that I was getting up to go to the bathroom, that I would be right back. In that time after my departure from the couch, he got up and went to visit his dad in the computer room.

"Daddy, I want to drive the car...turn the wheel"

(insert amused, perhaps confused look from the daddy)

Daniel proceeds to put one finger up to his mouth, thoughtfully, before continuing "Hmm...but how?"

After relaying this to me after I emerged from the bathroom, I realized that Daniel has been showing us his best "thoughtful" look for the past week or two. The finger by the mouth. The "hmm...". The eyes looking up, as if the answer is written high up on the wall. The random subjects come to him at equally as random times. But it's so funny! We love you, little buddy!

Another Daniel Funny...

I'm not sure if you were doing this as of the last blog post...but here's another quirky thing that you've done lately...

Giving my hair back to me! If you find a stray piece of hair (in the shower, on the floor, on my shirt, or whereever), you offer it to me, and sometimes try to reattach it to my head. Oh Daniel, you are too much!

You Are Funny Because...

...you are Daniel...you've been funny, but now you're even funnier, and you're much more verbally funny.

A few things that you've said or done recently have really either melted my heart, been hilariously funny, or just so dang cute!

The first thing took a little bit of interpretation. We'd heard you saying something (a phrase) that sounded like it had the word "tool" in it. But that was about all we could make out...and we figured that maybe you were just saying a word, not an entire phrase. Then this past weekend it occurred to me exactly what you were saying.

We were up in our bedroom, and you went over to Jared's pack-n-play (he wasn't in it). You peeked in, almost looked like you were wanting to climb in yourself, but then you stopped. Staring right at me, you said "Hmm...I know!"...insert pause and index finger to the chin in deep contemplation..."We need a Mousekatool!". At that point, I wasn't quite sure of what you'd said with any certainty, but you continued with "Everybody say OH TOODLES!". Oh geez...you silly silly boy! Trying to do the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse thing!

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and you've been imitating the things we say too. You're a goofy little backseat driver "Come ON cars...GO!" or "Dad...green...GO!". Yes, you're super cute. The funny imitation from last night was when we were picking up pizza and we parked and your dad ran in. Jared started fussing a little bit, so I spoke in a calming voice to him, saying "It's OK Jer-bear...it's OK...". No sooner than I stop talking, you start in with "It's OK Jer-bear...no cry...Daddy be right back". So cute :)

And lastly (for this post at least), the interaction with your baby brother. You're still very possessive of your toys (the ones you are playing with at that moment), and Jared tries to grab things that you have sometimes, quite innocently. The cute thing that you did, beyond trying to take your toy back, was to provide Jared with another toy..."Here Jared...play with this!".

I hope that I continue to write about these little Daniel-isms...they're so darn cute!

Games!

Well, I figured it was about time to do another blog post...it wasn't that I was particularly inspired by anything, but rather that I just felt like I wanted to write something.

So the topic at hand is games. Specifically, I could say, video games. You've always been interested in electronic gizmos and gadgets, but it was a bit random and haphazard (how you handled things). Sure, you could use a touch screen to draw. And you could flip through pictures. You could even, through lots of random trying, start videos on the phone. But this was different.

Last night, out of lack of better thing to do at the time, I handed you my phone with one of the games I'd downloaded on it. It was a "memory" type card game, and looking at it I figured that at the very least you'd like the animal noises that one of the sets of cards made. Both me and your dad showed you how to find the two cards that matched. Pretty soon, you got the hang of it...and even won the game. You've gotten better and better, and tonight you did a couple of games on the phone all by yourself!

After that, I wondered if you would enjoy your MobiGo that you got for Christmas a little more. I pulled it out (it hadn't been touched for a few months) and looked for a game that you might handle. Luckily, you took pretty well to two of the games. One was matching shape outlines to blocks, and another was controlling a Buzz Lightyear to jump over things. It was so much fun to see you actually play with intention like that.

In some ways, I find it funny, since a lot of parents try to keep their kids from playing video games...and there might come a day where we might want you to do your homework or go outside and play instead. But for now, it's exciting...it gives you something else to do too!

A Belated Happy Birthday!

A much belated happy birthday! As always, so many things have happened, so I'll go through them one by one!

Birthday: You turned 3 on July 9th! It seems unreal that you are actually three...not that the two's were bad, but so many things have happened since your second birthday.

The festivities started on the 4th of July weekend, when we went to visit your grandparents (Coon) and you had a small birthday party then. You love blowing out candles, but were a little shy when the big moment came.

After that, the 4th of July came, and your other grandparents (Stone) arrived. You got a second birthday cake, and a second round of presents. It was so funny once you realized what was going on...you'd see your cake, and say "my birthday...my birthday" or "cake cake!".

Potty Training: You had a major breakthrough recently! After months of just "trying potty" at daycare, you finally went! In grand style...like 5 times in one day while you were there. You've had pretty good success since then (July 21st was the "big" day) and you've been going here and there at home.

Things You Know: You are so good at figuring things out! Puzzles...computers...new toys...you name it. Colors and shapes are coming along quite well, and you know so many animals and names of your friends. You're very aware of what goes on in your TV shows, and you have so many of them memorized...it's so cute to watch you recite the words.

How Big You Are: At your doctor's appointment, you were about 29.6 lbs, and 36 inches tall.

And with that...a few pictures from your birthday set!