Random Thoughts

No real news here...just some random thoughts...

Daniel is too cute with these red-decoder glasses. He looks in them, takes them off and looks around without them, puts them on again and looks again...like he's comparing. And he gets the cutest silly squinty face, too- I kept trying to get that picture but no luck. Thanks to my friend Wendy for the glasses!

Daniel likes to take his shoes off in the car now- every time we reach our destination, his shoes are off. Silly boy.

Thanks to the gods who created KneeBouncers, we clipped Daniel's nails tonight completely fuss-free!!!! (Have I ever told you how much Daniel HATES to have his nails clipped? It's SO frustrating! I would not wish the struggle we have with clipping Daniel's nails on anybody. Tonight was bliss!! But, hey, I don't want to jinx it...just wanted to share a moment of bliss!)

We re-organized our front hall closet a couple weeks ago. Daniel now has his own hook stuck low on the wall where he can reach it to put his coat away and he has a shelf for his shoes. It is so cute to watch him go to the closet when we ask him to get or put away his coat and shoes. I think he is so proud of himself that he knows where his things go and that he can help. And he can even close the bi-fold door- pinch free so far (again, no jinx wanted!).

New words: dum (for dump, as in dump truck), ha (for hi and hat), bebe (for baby), and key.

Daniel actually WANTED his diaper changed today. While playing this afternoon, he pointed to his wet diaper (this isn't new- he's been doing this for about a couple weeks, as if indicating he's just gone to the bathroom- a great first step toward potty training), I asked if he needed a new diaper, he went to the stairs, climbed up them, walked to his room, grabbed his lion (at this point I thought he'd get distracted from the diaper change), pointed up at his changing table and proceeded to lay perfectly still while I changed his wet diaper. Weird. The kid never wants his diaper changed- that's another typical toddler struggle lately. Hey, I'll take it. (update: he just wanted his diaper changed again this morning...while I think it's neat, I think I'll keep an eye on this to make sure something else isn't up, if something is bothering him...hmmm...he's a puzzle sometimes!)

Daniel went almost 22 hours without seeing his Daddy...he missed his Daddy (and Daddy sure missed him!). I think that's probably the longest Daniel's gone without seeing Daddy, granted most of that was nighttime, but still. Ben had a business dinner last night and then was asked to go into the office today for a meeting (this is rare- mostly he works from home). So Daniel didn't see Daddy until after he woke up from his nap this afternoon. When he saw his Daddy, he had the BIGGEST grin on his face I'd ever seen. But I mention Daddy's absence because Daniel seemed to just know Ben was gone- he kept saying "dada" and waving bye (almost like another 2-word sentence, he's really been working on connecting words and signs) as if to say Daddy is bye-bye. So, although we really missed Daddy, we had a wonderful morning, just the two of us- I don't get that very often, since Ben does work from home and Daniel quite loves his Daddy, meaning Daniel always wants to be with his Daddy (but don't get me wrong- I LOVE having Ben work from home- that really has its perks). I guess it's just that...I love that I get to spend my day playing with my little guy!

Daniel knocks on Ben's office door so cute when he wants to go in. How can you resist such a cute knock? You don't, or at least, not easily.

Today Daniel drove his car forward. So now he can go backward and forward!

Daniel sits in our lap so cute for stories. He actually snuggles more now- he shifts until he's right where he wants to be. Oh, how I melt.

We've been practicing the stretches that we learned in gymnastics. Daniel actually requests them! I should explain- We sing songs while we do them and then we drum on the floor at the end just like in class and that's the part he loves, and thus, why he requests them. He's so cute doing the stretches- I love it because he's so little and so much more flexible than I am!

Recycling is so much fun. What did moms do to entertain their toddlers before recycling bins? We literally save bottles, boxes, magazines, etc. for Daniel to take out to the recycling bin- he is always so excited to be able to recycle.

Daniel can almost walk down the stairs holding only one hand. He likes to try and he's got pretty good balance. We're practicing, and of course I'm still right there. It's good practice for when he can use the railing...someday! He usually does the first set down with one hand and will then request both hands for the rest of the way. He's such a good boy and getting stronger!

And I promise this is the last random thought (this turned out longer than I planned!)- Daniel gives the best hugs! I got so many of them today!