Danny the Swimmer

While at the hotel, we decided to take Danny for a swim. The problem was the water was SOOO cold. Danny started crying as soon as we got him in. I took him into the whirlpool for a minute, but not for long so he wouldn't overheat. Maybe next time it will work better.

Danny and Auntie Patti

On our way home, we stopped for a night in Cleveland to visit Patti- one of by best friends from high school. We spent the afternoon at the Botanical Gardens. It was beautiful. The first room of the glass house was the desert of Madagascar. It included a turtle, hedgehog, and chameleon along with a giant Baobab tree and other desert plants. The other room was a rain forest of Costa Rica. My favorite part was that the room was filled with butterflies! It was just beautiful- everywhere you looked, more butterflies.

Later, we sat in on one of Patti's rehearsals- Bach's piano concerto in D. Danny loved it, he even tried to sing along. We went out to dinner in Little Italy at Patti's favorite, authentic restaurant. It was a lovely day and a wonderful time to visit. Thanks Patti!

5 Generations

After Toledo, we headed up to Detroit to visit my Great Auntie Butta, Great Uncle Henry, and Great Grandma ("Taipo"). Taipo will be 91 this year, and she's still quite a firecracker. While her memory may be failing, and she's moving slower, she still smokes and makes not-so-appropriate jokes. Auntie Butta is one of the strongest women I know, and cares for Taipo and Uncle Henry (who has stomach cancer). We had the privilege of taking a picture with 5 generations on my mom's side of the family. It was so wonderful for Danny to meet them.

Danny and "Unkie Hien"

We spent Saturday evening and Sunday afternoon with Hien, Paul's college roommate and good friend. They reminisced over the old days by playing some Street Fighter on Playstation2. Then we spent Sunday at the Toledo Zoo. Yes, this is Danny's 3rd zoo in a month. What can I say- they're a lot of fun. It was so nice to catch up with Hien and drag him away from the med school books for a few hours.

Danny the Egyptologist?

We went to Toledo to attend the annual Egyptology conference. I presented a paper on the animal bones from our digsite. I received a lot of complements. Danny sat in on a number of papers with me, including one entitled "Pinch pots and Diaper Rashes: early childhood in Egypt". Everyone there loved him. I firmly believe that if seeing babies in professional settings like this, maybe women wouldn't have to feel that they had to choose between a career and raising children.

Danny the Traveler

Danny did pretty well on our long trip to Toledo (Mapquest said 8 hours). He slept for a large part of the trip, that new carseat appeared really comfortable for him. Of course, when we stopped for gas, we discovered he had pooped... out of his diaper and all over the brand new carseat. Yikes! Life with Danny is always an adventure.

Roadtrip

We're getting ready for our first big roadtrip with Danny. I'll be presenting a paper at the annual ARCE (American Research Center in Egypt) conference. My parents will also be there, so Danny will (hopefully) play with my mom so I can sit in on a few sessions. We'll also get to visit Hien, Paul's college room mate, who is in med school there. Then we're heading up to Detroit to visit mt great aunt and great grandma. Finally, we're spending a day in Cleveland with Patti, my dear friend since middle school. This should be a lot of fun!

Allergies

Danny if officially allergy free! We went to the doctor and he got tested and all of the most common food allergies were all negative. That, however, doesn't rule out "food intolerance". So now I'm back to were I started... eating not much of anything. It does mean that he's not going to have problems breathing if I eat something he doesn't like. That's reassuring. I'm just hoping he'll hurry up and grow out of this. I miss my milk and cookies.

Danny the Reader

Danny seems to have developed quite the love of books. At first, he just ate them. He still likes to eat them. But now, every night before bed, Paul reads him a book. Danny gets all excited and starts waving his arms around and kicking his legs (that's what he does when he's really happy). He looks at the pictures and listens, or sometimes talks along with the story. I'll take it all as a good sign.

Happy Easter

He is Risen! He is Risen indeed! Easter is such a wonderful reminder of the new life we have through Jesus Christ.

We had a nice, relaxing Easter together as a family. After church, we met up with some family friends for a great sushi/Chinese buffet. At home, we took a long, family nap. Paul was happy to play some online poker after having given it up for Lent. Nothing extraordinary, but enjoyable none the less.

Danny is sporting his Easter- Hedgehog outfit from Lola, and digging through the Easter basket from Ah-Ma.

A Message from Danny

zdxc , mnb gfvgfbv vb vc brl,/./.../ mn zt

(Translation: I love Mommy! She lets me play with the keyboard sometimes. She makes me stop when I try to eat it.)

6 Months Old!

Well, we've made it through half a year with our little boy. He's not so little any more. Danny is now weighing in at 16 lbs. 2.9 ozs and measures 26 3/4 inches. He has almost outgrown the 3-6 month clothes, and we're starting to pull out some new outfits (oversized though they are).

I think the thing that surprises me the most about being Danny's mom is how fiercely I love him. I think he is both the sweetest and most horrible baby in the world. As much as I may complain (he's been waking up every hour the last few nights- I'm a zombie), I can't imagine life without him. Paul has completed me in one way, and now our son completes me in another. God certainly has a way of knowing what's best.

Another Day at the Zoo

Danny and I had so much fun at the zoo last week that we decided we should take Paul to the zoo with us. We hopped into the car, got stuck on 76 for a while (don't you people have somewhere to be?), took a little detour, and finally got to the Philly Zoo, only to discover it was really crowded. We had to park kind of far away. Once we got in, we had a nice picnic lunch. Danny liked seeing the pigeons flying around.

We got to see a number of animals that we didn't see last week, such as zebras, penguins, a polar bear, snakes, a rhino (which Paul said is built like a tank), lions, a jaguar, giraffes, snow leopards and the family favorite- giant tortoises. We also got to see a lot of animals we enjoyed last week, such as monkeys, naked mole rats, and flamingos. As usual, everyone admired Danny, even among all the other babies there. One woman spent more time looking at Danny than at the jaguar. He obliged with his most charming smile. It was a wonderful family outing.





When the zoo closed, we drove downtown and dragged "Unkie Ryan" away from his work long enough to have some Chinese food. It had been a while since we saw Ryan, and Danny enjoyed the attention. Thanks for dinner, Ryan!

Ode to a Sling- Part 2

After how much I've used our other sling, Paul gave me the OK to buy another one. I wanted one that was easier to wear on the back now that Danny's getting so big. I love this sling, and we've been using in on the front and back. Danny likes to chew on the straps, so he likes it too.

Danny the Scooter

Danny is now quite mobile. He doesn't exactly have the crawling thing down quite yet, but he can really scoot. I'll put him down in the middle of the floor only to turn around and find him on the other side of the room. He particularly likes to scoot under the coffee table and try to eat an atlas. He also goes after a cardboard box, and unfortunately, the wires around the TV. It's time to stop leaving him alone for a second, and take the effort to baby proof the house.

Our 2nd Anniversary

It's hard to believe we've been married for two years now! In fact, Paul thought it was three! We've had some ups and downs, and a lot of major changes, but God is Good. Here's our family then and now.