Getting Brave and Learning SO Much!

Daniel is learning so much these days and really getting brave. Last week, he went up the entire staircase- all the way up. It helped that Daddy was at the top- his ultimate goal! :) Daniel is letting go while standing up much more now- he's done it before, now he does it quite often. He can even stand and scoot from the footstool to the couch, and will especially do this if there's an interesting "toy" there, such as the tv remote! Daniel also likes to try to feed himself more. I have to use at least two spoons when I feed him now, because he will grab the one I'm using and put it in his mouth himself, and won't generally give it back, so I fill up another spoon and give him that one and get the other one back and fill that one and so on. Such a big boy! Still loves his veggies, oatmeal and fruit not so much but we try. We've been giving him bits of bread and even pasta since he's so interested in what we're eating now. It's so cute. And I'm getting kisses from my little boy! It's more like he's going to eat me with his mouth wide open, but I will say "kiss" and he'll turn to me and open his mouth and give me a kiss on the mouth! So cute!! LOVE it! Another new trick- Daniel has figured out that this one set of toys he has can whistle if he sucks in- it's quite funny (see blue toy he's staring at in a picture above). I've even got a video for you. He really seems to get a kick out of doing this! I just like to watch him suck the air in- his body just looks funny doing it! If I can just get him to blow out...we might see a birthday candle blown-out someday soon! :) I can dream...

Daniel's newest trick- and one mommy and daddy are NOT liking- We discovered today that Daniel must be able to stand up in bed and chew on his crib (his VERY nice crib)! I woke him up after a wonderful 2 1/2 hour nap this afternoon and took one look at the crib and I was just shocked (not so much upset- I knew there'd come a day when this happened, just hoped not)! And I'm thinking, that wasn't there before- was it?! He's certainly getting stronger! So after a quick run to the baby store this evening to find something to protect the crib with, we decided to order one I'd seen online and Ben rigged up a towel tied down tight for now. We shall see how this newest adventure goes. Aiyiyiyi!

In other news, we went to the doctor again yesterday for a weight check. The doctor wanted us to try the feeding therapy and then come back after six weeks to see how he's doing since she didn't want to wait until his one-year old well-visit. While we all think my little guy seems to be doing fine and looks great and is eating a lot more than before, it was heart-breaking after all our hard work to see that he'd only gained 4 ounces in 6 weeks. He weighs 15 lbs 15 oz. He did get longer though- I thought he did! Daniel is 27 inches now. I'm trying really hard to relax, it's so hard not to worry- my instincts tell me he's fine and he will pull through this. The doctor is really inclined to believe this as well- but to be safe, she's ordered some bloodwork to make sure things are all okay inside. So many possibilities- we'll cross those bridges as we come to them. We go for the tests later this week and should have some results within a week or so. We'll keep you posted! Please keep us in your thoughts- thank you! :) On the brighter side, we agreed, and the doctor was supportive, that we don't need to go to therapy any more- Daniel really is eating more and eating better, we just need to get him to eat more calories! We're keeping at it!

That's all for now! Enjoy the adorable video below! Daniel is so expressive and such a happy baby! We are so blessed...I think of this every day.