28 and 28!

Today, Daniel is 28 months old and I'm 28 weeks into my pregnancy. Pretty neat! Now we're both on to 29...

The neatest thing we've noticed this month with Daniel has been how much he likes to point out things that are alike. He's always saying "like Daniel's" or "like Mommy's" or "like red" when he sees something that is similar to something he has, or something I have, or even if two things are just the same color. Daniel is very observant and loves to find similarities and talk about everything he sees.

Daniel is still quite the chatterbox. Everybody is always saying how much he talks! He really talks nonstop from the moment he wakes up until the moment he falls asleep. I love every minute of it!

We're also starting to hear more "I" statements from Daniel. He started with talking about what his trucks are doing, "I go up", "I go dump", etc. A couple weeks ago, we got out a new truck DVD that we gave Daniel for his birthday and he LOVES this DVD! It's all real film of real trucks doing their jobs- fire trucks, garbage trucks, and city cleaning trucks. The trucks "talk" about what they are doing- which is how Daniel is really beginning to pick up the "I" statements. And now, we're starting to notice that he is using "I" to talk about himself and things he is doing, too. I've said it before- it's just so neat to observe the progression of his language development, and as always, he's progressing so quickly!

We talk about Baby Sister a lot these days, too. Daniel knows she's getting "bigger bigger". He points out her bedroom across the hall from his- "sister room". Baby's room was my office, so we've been working on packing it up and moving things in and out of there to get it ready for baby's arrival. We have some of the furniture and decor for the room already, so we're moving ahead little by little. Can't wait until it's all ready!

I had my 28 week appointment the other day- Daniel talked all week about how I went to see "baby doctor". Baby #2 is doing great, I'm feeling great. Feeling Big, but great! Baby's head is down, which was good news since she was still head up last time. Time is just flying by! I feel like this is the fastest winter I've known in a long time...and I know I'm the only one saying this, too, but I think when you count the weeks like you do when you're pregnant and you have appointments every so often, time just flies. In the meantime, I'm just chillin', enjoying baby's kicks & wiggles (it's the most awesome feeling! to me anyway...), having fun planning the nursery, having fun buying a few girly clothes, and mostly enjoying every minute of my time with Daniel.

Newwww Class: Toddlers & Toadstools

Daniel and I started a "newwww class" (this is how he says it- he draws out the "nnnneewww" part- so cute!) at the park district last week. We LOVE it! It's called Toddlers & Toadstools and it's an outdoor/indoor nature class located at the Nature Center here in town (we'd never been there- it's pretty neat and I'm anxious to check it out more when the weather is warmer!). The teacher is awesome and we've done some really fun things so far. I also like that it's a small group- it's just really a great class, one I'd really been looking forward to doing (we had to wait until he was two and we missed the cutoff in the fall).

When I first told Daniel about the class, I told him it was a new class, I told him what it was about, and I told him it was called Toadstools and you could literally see him thinking about this new word "toadstools" and he finally said, "footstool?" I loved the connection he made with another word he knew- it was so cute. We mostly just call it "new class" or even nature class- doesn't matter, he just knows how fun it is.

Last week I didn't take any pictures during class. I just wanted to enjoy it and see what it was like. I ended up wishing I'd taken the camera of course- but it's fine, because I just have the most wonderful memories of it and that will last me. We had so much fun and Daniel talked about it all week long!

We started class with each child telling what their name was- I'm proud to say Daniel was not shy and said his name all by himself! (There were a couple shy kids who wouldn't say their name) Then we headed outside for a hike in the beautiful snow-covered forest behind the center while the kids were all still bundled up- snowsuits, boots, hats, mittens, and all. It was even snowing- that's how fun it was. The teacher pulled out a parachute at one point and the kids got to throw snow on it (Daniel LOVED this part!!!) and then we shook it up and down and made our own "snowstorm". So cute and such fun. Of course, the first shake up we did, all the snow landed on Daniel! He just brushed it off, made some raspberries, and went on shaking- it didn't faze him one bit! Daniel spent the rest of the week at home using blankets as a parachute and pretending to throw snow on it and make snowstorms, just "like newww class" as he would say. Then we all got under the parachute, sitting in the snow, and made a cave while the teacher passed out mirrors for each child so we could make the steam from our breath, see how it makes a "cloud" and how that would eventually make snow. Daniel also loved the mirrors!

Then we got bags to collect sticks, leaves, and anything we wanted to put on our snowman craft that we would be making back inside. Daniel had a lot of fun finding sticks for his snowman. He really just participated in all these activities so nicely- I was so impressed and beyond proud of my little guy!!! After more walking around in the snow, we headed back indoors to warm up and make our snowmen. The kids spread some shaving cream & glue(?) mixture on their papers- Daniel, my little guy who does not like getting messy, didn't bat an eye and dove right in! It helped that they used craft sticks to smear the mixture on- he didn't like touching the stuff, that's for sure. They decorated their snowmen with the sticks and leaves they collected and the teacher gave them hats, cheerios, chocolate chips, and carrot slivers to put on the snowmen, too. Daniel had a ball decorating his snowman! You can see his awesome snowman in the first picture below! The teacher read a few books and Daniel sat so nicely and listened. He didn't want to go in the "cave" she made for the kids to go in, but he sat next to me very well.

I was thinking the whole time how awesome it was that Daniel participated so nicely in most of the activities. He was just really into the whole thing. And the fact that he role-played the things we did in the class and the way he could tell you all about what we did during the class and how he kept talking about "teacher" all week- it all just reminded me of how much he's growing up!

TODAY, we had just as much fun. We got to spread birdseed and popcorn kernels to feed the animals outside- Daniel kept saying "animals sad" because "animals hungry" ("sad" like our cats get sad and meow like crazy when they're hungry!) and he really got into throwing the birdseed around for them. I loved watching him. Then we looked for surprises the teacher had hidden out in the forest- bags with animals "hibernating" to keep warm. Daniel was excited to see what was in the bag we found and he carried it for a little bit, but then he wanted me to help. We walked around looking for footprints and possible animal homes, putting more food down near these homes. I was proud that Daniel went right up to his teacher to get some more birdseed to spread at the base of one of the trees. It's so sweet to see him doing things on his own and interacting with others.

Back inside, we made necklaces by stringing food on pipe cleaners for the animals we brought to class (Daniel brought one of his bears, and his lion, and Donald Duck- those were his choices of animals to bring)- so they would have some food, too. He did a great job of doing the craft project. It was cute- he didn't even try to eat the snacks, he just went about doing the project, until I told him he could eat them too, at which point he promptly said he was all done with the necklace and started eating. The teacher read more books under another cave. Again, Daniel wanted no part of the cave, but he sure listened to that book very intently, hugging his bear all the while and then it was time to head home.

Neither class session was rushed; you can tell by how busy we were! It's supposed to be a 45 minute class, but so far, each time, we've been there for over an hour! And Daniel seems to enjoy every minute of it! The teacher is wonderful, and I love how relaxed and fun it is. Can't wait to keep going back! Too bad it only goes for four weeks and only once each season!

These are pictures I took of Daniel's project last week (I didn't know how well the shaving cream mixture would hold up, it's supposed to last, but just in case- I snapped a pic!) and pictures from our adventures today, too!

Here's Daniel's snowman creation!

Daniel checks out the birdseed in the bucket!

Daniel gets right to work on throwing the birdseed all over the ground.

Getting some more birdseed

Daniel checks out the hibernating animal

Daniel helps carry the bag- for about two seconds!
But with a bag as big as he is, who can blame him!

Daniel goes up to the teacher to get more birdseed to put near the tree.
I was SO proud of him!

First thing Daniel did when we got back inside was hug his bear!

Daniel concentrates on stringing the food on his pipe cleaner...

Then, he concentrates on eating the food!
You can see the finished necklace on the bear, too!

Museum of Science & Industry

Yesterday we took Daniel to the Museum of Science & Industry for the first time and we had LOTS of fun! This was the last weekend for the limited-time Muppets exhibit and we'd been wanting to go. All week long, I told Daniel we'd be going to a museum and we would see lots of fun things there. It was cute to watch him processing this info, and he'd finally say "look it?" and I'd say yes, he'd say "play it?" and I'd say yes he could play with some things, and then he'd say "take it?" and well, no we wouldn't be taking things so much... it was a fun conversation to have!

I knew Daniel would LOVE the trains, the planes, the tractors, and the giant pinball machine. Daniel's favorite place was the Idea Factory play center for children- we spent a LOT of time here! And I loved watching him have so much fun. The Muppets exhibit was not too interesting for him- although he loved watching the clips on all the TVs and he enjoyed pointing out Kermit and Big Bird whenever he saw them, and he was very patient while we all made our way through the exhibit (it was the first thing we did), and he was super thrilled to finally go see trains afterwards. We were glad to have Grandma Mary Kay and Pop-Pop Larry with us, too! We had a great time exploring the museum with Daniel. He was beyond wonderful all day long- so patient, so interested, so easy-going, and just such a good boy. It was a long day for him with so much to see and do, but he pulled through as wonderfully as he he always does. He was VERY tired by bedtime though- since he never did nap. It'll be fun to keep going back as he gets older.

Ben and I both commented on how small Daniel looks when we go out and about, especially to large places like this. Daniel is certainly growing (I know this because his pants are starting to get short again!), but then we take him out somewhere and he looks SO small again! Just an observation we made...

Here are LOTS of pictures from our day! Enjoy!

Daniel checks out a real train...

and of course he LOVED the model trains, too!
He especially enjoyed all the buttons that did different things- he kept looking for more!

Daniel and Daddy in front of Chicago

Daniel reaches up to turn the crank

My awesome engineers!

Driving the tractor

More driving! Daniel loved checking out all the buttons!

Sitting on a cow

Daniel LOVED the balls in the Idea Factory play center!

Pop-Pop Larry helps Daniel put the balls in the tube- this provided endless entertainment!

I still have this image of Daniel in my head- walking around, with his bib on (so he didn't get too wet, and he was very agreeable to wearing the bib and actually kept asking for it back when he wanted to play with the wet balls more), carrying his two balls and just having so much fun. You can also see what I mean about him seeming SO small here!

Pushing the crank to turn the gears and send the balls up the ramp

Daniel looks through the kaleidoscope

Time to check out the magnets...

And the puzzles...before more fun with the balls again!

When we were looking at the model trains, Daniel noticed that people were "up there" (on the next level balcony) and he immediately wanted to "go up there", too. And once we got up there, Daniel was very excited to "ride airplane, go up sky". Nothing gets by him! He's super observant, even in large places apparently!


I love this picture because it shows how interested Daniel was in the watching the ball on the giant pinball machine. You can see his eagerness in the way he's leaning over to see better!


Here's a beyond cute video of Daniel having fun with the balls. You can also see how super patient Daniel was waiting for his turn, and again, how small he is compared to all these big kids! My heart melts when Daniel claps for himself and says "Yay Daniel!!"- he's absolutely beaming with pride in himself! Could he BE any cuter?!

Complete Randomness!

Daniel got his haircut the other day. He looks super handsome of course! And he did the BEST he's ever done for this haircut- he was so patient and so good the whole time. I was so proud of him! We'd been talking all week about how his hair was long and it was time to get it cut. He just kept saying "long hair" all week, and now that it's cut, he says "short hair". Oh, and he made sure the gal did NOT forget his balloon, very politely mind you, but still quite persistently!


Daniel LOVES to feed the cats every morning. He's so good about not dropping pieces of their food, too, and when he does, you can bet he cleans it up so "no mess" as he says.


Just another cute picture of his new haircut and his new favorite pajamas- Mickey pajamas from Aunt Wendy! Hooray for pajamas that Daniel is actually excited to put on!!


Snapped this picture of Daniel sleeping when I had to wake him up from a THREE HOUR nap the other day! And yes, I HAD to wake him, it was almost dinner time and we did actually want him to go back to bed at a decent hour later that night, the nerve of us, right?? Anyway, I took the chance to watch him sleep for a few minutes of course...and I absolutely loved it, as always. It was so sweet. And man, he was OUT; it took quite some doing to wake him up. Even Jack's meowing in the open doorway didn't wake him. I was able to go back down to grab the camera, snap a few pictures, all while Jack was meowing, and still he slept through all of that. But then, my little champ, ever the happy waker-upper (now, this, he doesn't get from me- he's ALWAYS been a happy waker-upper- from day one I swear!), finally opened his eyes, popped up with a huge smile and said "all done nap"!

Yes, Daniel really does have that many animals in bed with him! And yes, we've tried to take some out, but Daniel insists they all stay in there, so they stay in and keep him company- we're cool with that. Some of them come out to play with us throughout the day, but they always end up back in the crib- he is certain to ask for them before heading back to bed. But his lion is still the favorite, the one he's always holding and the one we MUST have in bed, no matter what!

Ben and I were staring at this picture for the longest time when I uploaded it and showed it to him the other night, and we both commented on how big Daniel is getting. He just looks so big in this picture. And yet, that's our little boy!


The snow is back!!!! Hooray! Of course we've been back out in the snow again!


What a GREAT smile!
I'll leave you with that!

Drawing Time!

Lately, Daniel LOVES to draw, thanks to some fun Christmas presents he received from Santa and friends. We also got out his markers for the dry erase board Aunt Christina gave him for his birthday. And Target had some awesome mini-magnetic erasers (gotta love their dollar section!!) that stick to the file cabinet nearby. So, Daniel's all set for "drawing time" whenever the mood strikes him and he has lots of choices now, too!

It's fun to see what Daniel is drawing, what he wants us to draw, and it's awesome to see his fine motor control getting better and better. He has this giant coloring book of animals (it practically takes up his whole play table!) that he loves to color in. Most of the time he just scribbles all over the page, exclaiming "Everybody messy". But one day, I asked Daniel to color in this one small flower that was about an inch big, and he actually surprised me by really trying to just color the flower. I was amazed by how closely he stayed in the lines, how he slowed down, and how he was able to stop his up and down coloring motions so well. This coming from my little boy who has just recently rediscovered how much fun coloring can be, and so, really, hasn't had too much practice. Scribbling huge lines all over still wins, though!

Daniel has a new drawing toy called an "Aquadoodle" that Santa gave him, too. You fill a "pen" with water and it magically draws on this special mat. We keep this upstairs and he loves that thing! Just another fun way to draw. Daniel is also even more interested in drawing when we go to our Wiggles class- he never used to go near the craft the table, but well, my little boy's growing up!

Yay...I got the cap open!

Drawing all over the board!

Daniel is showing me how strong he is
and how he can open the marker by himself!

One more awesome tidbit, not really related to drawing, but it started with a drawing. I always write "I (heart shape) U" on the board when I draw with Daniel and I tell him it says "I Love You". He knows the heart means love and he says it so cute, too. And while it's not like Daniel's never heard us say "I love you" before because of course we ALWAYS say it, but lately, since we've been drawing ALL the time and I always draw hearts, Daniel will pop the word "love" into his chattering throughout the day and it's the cutest thing! The other night, he went to bed chanting "I love you, I love you" over and over (sure wish I had a way to record his talking off of the baby monitor!)...I'd like to think he was talking to us, or perhaps it was just his animals, but it was definitely music to my ears!

Bathtime Fun

Just a few pictures from one of Daniel's recent baths. He's back to not loving them so much, on the one hand...but then, on the other hand, when we do get him in there, he'll play and have fun till he's shivering and the water's cold and he just does NOT want to get out! Go figure!

He's also very silly for his reflection again these days! It's too funny to watch Daniel when he's in front of a mirror. His bathroom has a small mirror cabinet on the side wall and Daniel LOVES to open it, stand between that mirror and the large mirror, and look at "lotta Daniels".

I also have to say, I've figured out a fun way to get Daniel to smile a little more naturally (as opposed to the fake "cheese" smile we often get), like you see in the first picture above. Daniel is all about silly and absurd things lately...so my trick is to say or ask him something completely ridiculous and he just thinks it's the silliest thing and smiles so big- I love it. For example- we were trying to shampoo his hair and he really didn't want that- so I asked him if Zoey, our cat, could wash it for us, and of course that's just very silly! "Silly Mommy" Daniel says!

A VERY Busy Day...At Home!

Today Daniel and I had a very busy day...at home! I loved every minute of it- he was just such a busy little boy and it was such fun to watch him and play with him. I decided it must have been "play with every toy" day, because Daniel played with a little of everything at some point today. And it wasn't like he was super distracted or anything, because he actually played with every toy very well and for quite some time. It was more that he was walking around and rediscovering old toys again and yet still quite excitedly playing with his new toys, too. Here are some pictures that represent just a very small sampling of all our busy-ness!

Daniel trick-or-treated...

He "liver"-ed packages (he told me he was the mailman)...

He played with his ice-cream shop...

He played with his mini-kitchen stove-top set...

Daniel modeled his new "oven mitten" and chef's hat...
doesn't he look too cute?!

He had fun with his reflection (something he's been doing again a lot lately!),
while sitting in a box...

He had "drawing time"...
(yes, he actually declares it drawing time, much like he
declares food time, or treat time, or play time,
but somehow never nap or bed time!)

And after all that playing time (and believe me when I tell you that wasn't all we played with...we played with blocks, his new train set, puzzles, his tent, his new kitty piano, his new Matchbox car garage, and we read lots of books, and you get the picture I think)...

He helped me prepare dinner by putting chopped ingredients in the bowl, while sampling the carrots and green peppers as he did this.

He was insistent on trying "lemmy" (lemon) juice. Yes, I made the mistake of actually naming it lemon juice (the word "juice" was the clincher) when he helped me measure it. I tried explaining that it wasn't really "juice"...but, well, he still wanted it, we figured what the heck and so he got a very tiny bit of it. I'm thinking based on his reaction that he won't ask for that again!

And finally, Daniel ended his super busy day with a yummy Santa "socker" (sucker).

Looking forward to what tomorrow will bring! Daniel is so much fun!! I'm back to squeezing every minute and pressing my precious one-on-one time with Daniel hard into my memories (like I did when I first found out I was pregnant)...because in 99 days (or really, most likely even LESS) life is really going to change. Things won't be the same and there'll be challenges, I know, but can this part pretty please stay just as much fun?!