Danny Mows the Lawn

Well, kind of...

Danny at the Window

Danny has becoming quite the climber. He really enjoying climbing on top of his toy chests (which makes Mama nervous to no end) to play with the blinds and look out the window.

Danny at the Pumpkin Patch

This morning we headed out to Priddy Farms for our friend Faith's 1st Birthday party. It was a beautiful day- a nice change after a week straight of rain. The ground was very muddy, but it certainly didn't bother Danny. We took a hayride out to a field with lots of little pumpkins growing so all the kids could run around a pick one out. Danny did more running than picking.

Hmmm... which pumpkin shall I choose?

I want this pumpkin!

I guess this one will have to do.

Danny Our Sweetie

Paul and I agreed that Danny has been extra sweet lately. We are really enjoying him enjoy the world. We are learning to love him more every day. What a blessing in our lives!

Danny Goes to Play Group

(Almost) every Thursday, I've been taking Danny to open gym at a local church. The idea is to wear him out so we sleeps really well so he'll be good for Paul while I'm at class in the evening. Danny loves play group, though he doesn't really get the concept of playing with other kids quite yet. He's mostly happy just to run around in circles, push the little cars, and chase after balls, occasionally running back to me to give me a big hug before running off again. Today he decided it was his mission to make sure everyone had a ball. He would find a ball and carry it over to another child or mom and try to give them the ball. One little girl started crying. Most of the moms kept talking, but once they saw him graciously took the ball with a "thank you". The only dark spot in the day was when one of the bigger kids (actually, all the walking kids are bigger than Danny) did a full out push over on my little boy. Then, as I charged over, the other kid decided to "jump over" Danny, which was unsuccessful. He landed both feet stomping in the middle of Danny back, which of course, threw off his balance causing him to then fall on top of my little guy. I didn't even know what to say as I scooped up my now wailing son. His mom made him apologize, but it was still really upsetting to me. Danny was fine after a minute of cuddling and ran off to do whatever it was he was trying to do in the first place. What a trooper.

Danny the Model

Friday morning, before all the ER excitement, Danny did a photo shoot for his first birthday pictures. We drove about 30 mins. away to historic downtown Colliersville. It was a lovely area with a train, neat old buildings, and lots of fun places for Danny to explore. Plus it was a gorgeous day. Brandie did a great job photographing as Danny ran. She liked him so much she added him to her "model list", if she needs to try out a new prop, lens, or scene. But then again, who wouldn't love our little cutie? Brandie posted a few of the pics on her website. http://www.delisiphotography.blogspot.com/. They look so good I can't wait to see the rest! (And she thought it was easy- LOL!)

Danny's 1st Trip to the ER

No, Danny didn't do anything crazy... yet. He and Paul went to the ER with me last night. I managed to cut my finger open while cutting bread for dinner. We spent 2 1/2 hours at the ER waiting for them to put me back together. Fortunately, I didn't need stitches, they actually glued me back together. It looks a lot worse than it is (though it does hurt pretty bad). The splint is to make sure I don't bend my finger too much and reopen the wound. Please pray for a quick recovery and no infection!

Danny's Camera Smile

Lately, whenever Danny sees us pointing the camera towards him, he gives us a posed smile- great big grin and closed eyes.

Danny's Birthday Toys

Danny got a whole bunch of new toys for his birthday. Our apartment has become even more cluttered with brightly colored plastic, light up, noise producing things. But Danny loves them! We're really amazed at how quickly he has learned to play with the toys- trying to put duplos together, putting shapes through the correct holes, "talking" on his toy phone, and begging us to turn on the music for the little guitar. Danny is one smart (and determined) cookie.

Danny's new "tool kit". Complete with light up, noise making hammer.

Reading with Uncle Ben. Nate the Great books were his favorite growing up.

Danny and Dada play with the duplos- they've made robots, houses, towers, cars, airplanes, and of course, guns.
Danny loves the sound of his new xylophone.

Future rock star for sure.

Danny's 1st Cake & Icecream

Since I couldn't get the candle lit outside at the party, I decided we needed to sing "Happy Birthday" again with the candle burning. Danny even blew out the candle himself, though there's still some debate as to if it was intentional. Tonight, I let my dad feed Danny some icecream. He was a little skeptical at first because of the cold, but by the end, he was very upset that it was all gone!

Danny's Party

We had a lovely, warm day for Danny's birthday party on Saturday at a local park. Many friends joined us, along with both my parents and Paul's. Paul's mom helped cook a lot of Filipino food, and we ordered some from a local Filipino restaurant. Everyone had a lot of fun visiting and eating, and the kids ran around and played on the playground. I tried my best to do a turtle theme- green napkins and table clothes, turtle bowls with candy, turtle books for gifts, and even a turtle cake. Danny and I also wore turtle outfits. Danny had his own, special cake that he could eat- and he loved it! What a fun day.

The Big 1!

We can hardly believe our little boy is 1 year old! Maybe we can hardly believe that we've survived these past 12 months. It's strange looking back on how much our lives have changed... but amazing. I've had fun all day remembering the awesome experience of birthing Danny. It's as though today has been more important to me than to him (at least this year).

Danny has grown into such a loving, strong-willed toddler. He loves reading, music, nursing, being outside, and flirting with little (or not so little) girls. This year he certainly has grown a lot, but I think we have too. We can hardly imagine what the next year holds.

Now
Then
He's still the most beautiful thing we've ever seen.