Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Check out Daniel's resolutions on his shirt!
And don't you just love his smile and the way he's holding his hands?!
Too cute...
That's my handsome boy!

3 Months Old

Daniel is 3 months old today! Wow! And look at that great smile! His shirt says "fun to be around" and he sure is... he smiles and coos all the time and is a happy baby. We had a very near, close as can be kind of almost laugh yesterday- the closest one yet...it was too cute! Can't wait for more real laughs. We have now had two weeks of 6-8 hours straight of sleep at night which is great- mom and dad sure love this. Tummy time for Daniel...not so much- we're working on that. He holds his head up great when being carried or from a "sitting" position, loves to watch and look at the world and things going on so we often have him sit in our lap now. He can get to his side but is not quite yet rolling over. Baths are fun; he's happy in the water. He was kicking the water the other night and I think surprised himself- it was pretty funny. And the last two weeks we've noticed that his hair has gotten a little bit longer- there's more soft fuzz there which I just love to feel against my cheeks!

Today was also the day Daniel finally met his Aunt Wendy from Florida. He was so good with her and enjoyed looking at the new face. We're so happy he's finally met her.

So, happy 3 months, Daniel! We're enjoying every minute of it!

Daniel's Christmas week

Christmas Fun

Enjoy a few pictures of Daniel's Christmas week!

Daniel's 1st Christmas: A Memory Book

I made a book for Daniel's 1st Christmas using Christmas songs and cute pictures to go with each song. Since I had so much fun making the book and it turned out great I think, I wanted to share it with you...so I uploaded each page and made into a slideshow for you to enjoy!

A Very Merry Slideshow

Enjoy a few pictures of Daniel ready for Christmas!

All Christmas-ed Out Already!

9:30 Christmas Morning and Daniel is already all Christmas-ed out! (and this after sleeping 8 hours straight AGAIN last night!)

We wish you all a Merry Christmas!

Thank you, Great Aunt Kathy, for this adorable bear!

Still Adorable!

We've sure had a busy past few weeks with lots to post...this week is much calmer, which is nice since next week we will be busy again for Christmas! So, I just have a few sweet pictures to share today.

The top one reminds me of Daniel's first few weeks- he still looks so cute, cuddly, and peaceful when he sleeps. I never tire of just watching him. Speaking of sleeping, Daniel has been sleeping in at least one 4-5 hour chunk during the night just this last week- it's been great! Then it's usually 3 hour chunks after that. Last night we actually had two 4 hour chunks- LOVED it! Time will tell if he keeps this up...hope so! He's doing SO well.

The middle picture was an attempt to get a picture of Daniel eating his hands (well, I should say his fist). Daniel has taken to putting his fist in his mouth rather often in the last week or so- it's pretty cute. It's not really at any particular time just yet (not necessarily when he's hungry, tired, or needing comforting)- just whenever he feels like it. So we have slobbery hands now!

And I have to say that I love the swirl on the back of Daniel's head, so I tried to capture that in the bottom picture. You can also see all the darker hair he still has at the base of his head in the back- this is pretty cute, too. I love nuzzling my cheek again his "fuzz." Never tire of this either!

Other news...Daniel has started really cooing- especially when he's smiling or happy or looking at us. It's so fun to get "verbal" responses out of him. And we're excited to say that we think Daniel is very close to laughing and may actually roll over soon, too. It's such fun to watch him and see the new things he does each week, sometimes each day!

Eyes for Mommy!

Daniel sure knows who his mommy is...his eyes are often on me when I'm nearby, even with other adults around. It's so sweet. These are cute pics from his bathtime the other night. He really doesn't mind the water in his tub and he even smiled for us the other night, too. Very cute!

A Smile for You!

Got it! We've been trying to capture one of Daniel's smiles and I finally caught one! :) Isn't he too cute?!! He's really been smiling a LOT lately. He started around Thanksgiving week- at about 8 weeks old, but really started smiling more last week and this week- weeks 9 and 10. He smiles in response to Mommy and Daddy talking to him and he smiles like crazy when he's on the changing table which is pretty funny (especially considering how he screamed when we changed him those first few weeks). He also smiles at his mobile on his swing and in his crib- it's like he's talking to the animals or listening to them. We're having so much fun! Enjoy this precious smile of Daniel's!

Daniel Meets Santa

Daniel met Santa Claus for the 1st time today! He was so good- awake and no fussing at all. He looked so handsome in his red plaid pants and his white polo shirt onesie and he wore that cute Santa's helper hat, too! Here are some cute pictures from the occasion...Enjoy!

We Survived!

We had our 2 month well-visit at the doctor yesterday. Daniel did a great job! He weighs 11 lbs 4 oz now and is 22 inches long- he's getting to be such a big boy! They gave him his shots- 4 of them- poor thing. He sure screamed and turned the reddest I've ever seen- it was heart wrenching, but he got through it just fine and managed to calm down after just a few minutes in mommy's arms again. So now we've survived the 24 hours since the shots with minimal side effects- he's just been sleeping pretty much nonstop since the visit...see today's picture above.

Funny side note about the shots...Ben kept telling Daniel it was my idea to get the shots...haha daddy, not so funny. Ben also asked the doctor how we could keep Daniel this small...don't we all wish- babies do grow so fast!

Also, the doctor was telling us things to expect for the next couple months till his next visit and one thing she said we might see more of is drooling. Well, let me tell you, it was like she gave Daniel permission to drool...he just all of a sudden turned on the waterworks for drooling since we left the doctor's office. (yes, I know part of it's probably the shots and his working through it- it's still pretty funny how immediately he started drooling!)

Daniel's 1st Play Date

Today was Daniel's 1st Play Date! My friend Coreen (whom I've known for about 20 years) came over with her 4 month old son Sebastian. Daniel pretty much slept the whole time. We took a cute picture of the two of them sleeping when she arrived. Sebastian was then awake the rest of the time. We enjoyed having them "meet" for the first time. Perhaps next time there'll be more playing!