Danny the Door Closer

Danny's new favorite activity is opening and closing doors- bedroom doors, bathroom doors, kitchen cabinet doors, etc. He has yet to close his fingers in them, though he did shut his fingers in the CD player. Danny isn't into taking things out of the cabinets yet, but it's just a matter of time, really. For now he's happy to push doors around.

Danny goes to Baltimore

While Paul was busy at a VS tournament in Towson, Danny and I met up with Rebbeca (my college suite mate) for a lovely visit. We spent several hours down at the Inner Harbor, including a yummy lunch of crabcakes, a long walk around the harbor, viewing the sand sculpture competition, and some wonderful dessert at Vaccaro's (in Little Italy).

Then we headed up to walk around the Hopkins campus. I think the phrases "was that building there when we were here?" and "why didn't we have something like this?" dominated the conversation. We spent a while sitting on "the beach"- a large grassy area in front of the library where people come to lay in the sun, play frisbee, or read. The whole day was beautiful, so Rebbeca, Danny and I really enjoyed all the time outside, not to mention the time together!

By the way, Paul finished in the top 8 of his tournament, and won the prize he really wanted, so we all had a full, fun, and fulfilling day.

Danny and his other Aunties

One of our top priorities in Wheaton was to visit some of my friends from high school. Fortunately, we got to see both Auntie Fern and Auntie Ariel. It was so nice to get to catch up with both of them. How time flies- 7 years since we finished at Wheaton North High School. Danny loves the new book from Auntie Fern and had fun giving kisses to Auntie Ariel! Thanks, ladies, for a lovely time.

Danny says "Dada"

After much coaching by Paul, Danny has finally started saying "Dada". While changing his diaper yesterday, he started babbling "dadadada". I was a little surprised, and not entirely sure it really was a "d" sound. But when he started doing is repeatedly for Paul, it was undeniable. He still says "ba" the most, especially when he first wakes up, but now he say "dada" a lot too.

Danny at Cosley Animal Farm

While in Wheaton, we had to take advantage of the beautiful weather and visit one of my childhood favorite spots: Cosley Animal Farm. Danny got to pet a goat and a horse. The horse even started licking his leg. We also saw lots of turtles, sheep, baby pigs, chickens, llamas, foxes, and many different species of birds. It was particularly amusing to notice the the turtles movements looked remarkable like Danny when he crawls. What a fun morning with Grandpa and Ah-ma!

Father's Day

Poor Paul spent his first Father's Day without his little boy. Danny and I took a wonderful trip out to Chicago for a few days. However, I thought I'd share this little wisdom about fatherhood that I found by Steve Farrar.

"If God blesses you with children, you'll be taking part in one of the most significant accomplishments a man can enjoy. Some guys head their own corporations by age thirty-five. Big deal. Some guys win five gold medals at the Olympics. Big deal. Some guys climb Mount Everest. Big deal. Some guys swim the length of the Pacific under water without taking a breath. Big deal In my book, none of those exploits come close to the man who has learned to change a dirty diaper without throwing up. That's what I call a big deal. Especially when you can do it without an oxygen mask."

Danny's Two Teeth

Tooth number two has made its way in. Oh boy are Danny's teeth sharp! Hoping he doesn't decide to start biting again. We sadly say goodbye to Danny's toothless smile and hello to his little pearly whites.

Danny the Little Monster

Danny is "Mommy's Little Monster". But he's the cutest little monster I've ever seen.

Danny's Tooth

I finally captured a shot of Danny's incoming tooth. It's pretty cute. The other one is starting to peek through. Please ignore the butternut squash all over his face. :)

Danny the Movie Star

Look out ladies! Danny's ready for a summer fling!

8 Months and Moving

Sunday, Danny turned an amazing 8 months. He now crawls all over and pulls himself up to standing on whatever he can get his hands on. His favorite is the entertainment center, so he can stick his hands into the VCR. We're not too thrilled with that. He is even starting to "cruise"- inching his way along the couch. Danny now has one of his bottom teeth... almost. He's still nursing well, but also likes to eat bananas, apple sauce, peaches, mangoes, squash, and peas.

I've been looking back at old pictures, and I'm amazed at how he's changed. If we thought he was cute back then, what do we call him now? It's been hard... really hard having Danny in our lives. As Paul said recently, Danny now takes 98% of our time, and we have to try and fit everything we used to do into 2%. It just doesn't work. It's certainly not easier now that he's moving. Danny demands so much. He needs so much. These 8 months have been quite the crash course on sacrifice and patience.

Danny the Bowler

Last week, Uncle Ryan dragged us out to the local bowling alley. It had been forever since we bowled, so we laced up our shoes to hit the lanes. Despite the rust, we did quite well. I bowled a 106 and Paul had some 10th frame heroics to score a 112. The second game I had 7 marks- all spares, but I was proud of myself for picking up so many spares. I dropped the ball (not literally) on the last two frames, allowing Paul to catch up. The final score was 124 to 126. It was a lot of fun.