Outdoor Adventures

We had fantastic weather this past Labor Day weekend, so we spent a lot of time outside enjoying that sunshine and fresh air!

Sunday we went to a flea market and had fun browsing and looking around. We hadn't been in years and it's so much bigger. Daniel was a good sport and of course fell asleep on the way home.

Monday we went to the Arboretum for a couple hours and had a wonderful time walking around and exploring the grounds. We haven't been there in a long time either and it's also changed quite a bit- so we had a lot of fun seeing some new things there, too. Daniel was so good for us again- he really is a trooper. We walked around the lake, found our way through a hedge maze, explored the new Children's Garden where Daniel got to sit in a little "cabin" (check out his curious expression!), took a break for drinks (doesn't Daniel look so cute sipping from his cup?!), and even had some "grass time" which Daniel still doesn't love. Did you notice the black hat Daniel has in his hands in most of the pictures above? He LOVES that hat- he will hold onto that hat for the longest time whenever we go on walks. It's so cute the way he's content to just hold it and wave it around occasionally. Who needs toys when you have hats? (and straws, plastic ketchup cups, empty water bottles, and so on...Daniel loves all of these "free" things!)

The rest of our week has been pretty busy with errands, family get-togethers, and our doctor appointment today. I'm actually looking forward to a day at home tomorrow- hopefully Daniel can catch up on his naps!

Now on to the doctor update for you: After eliminating all milk from my diet, we went in to see how Daniel's doing now, since he should be absorbing his food better- Daniel now weighs 16 lbs 4 oz, just a 5 oz gain from our last visit about four weeks ago. The doctor still isn't pleased with his weight gain, not too worried, but still not pleased- so we're on to see an endocrinologist to check Daniel's growth hormones, so we can hopefully rule out growth hormone deficiency (sounds really scary! but I'm trying to relax and wait and see- this is not easy for me). So not really much news for you. We hope to have that appointment scheduled soon, since I'm just anxious and really tired of all this "waiting" for test results and I'm sure much more testing lies ahead. In the end, I know it will all be worth it- anything to keep my little guy healthy. We did learn that the levels checked in his latest bloodwork were all normal- so that was good news. Daniel also got the first part of his flu shot- the next part will be in a month. He did great for the shot, but we did have a brief rough patch this evening where he was really fussy and did not want anything- Tylenol finally did the trick and he got a second wind of quite a LOT of energy! He was crawling everywhere and playing with everything for quite some time- hopefully he wore himself out for the night! :)

That's all our news for the week! Please keep us in your thoughts as we figure out our little guy!

ABC's of Our Very Busy Week

A is for an ADORABLE picture! Definitely my picture of the week- Couldn't resist sharing this gem of a picture with you all! I love the way Daniel is looking out of the corner of his eyes.

B is for BBQ and BRRR. Last Saturday, after all the fun with the scaffolding and painting, we went to a bbq hosted by some of our ballroom dance class friends. Daniel was such a good boy. It was pretty chilly (brrr!), so he got to sport his new jacket. He played on the blanket and met our friends and our fantastic dance instructor, Norm (who coordinated our wedding dance! Had to get his picture with my guys). And yes, Daniel needs a haircut!

C is for CAMERA and CURIOUS. The camera is always just out of Daniel's reach but still a major goal to try and get! Daniel has not been so cooperative for baths lately- he mostly just wants to stand up and gosh- who can blame him?! He has mastered the cool, fun skill of standing, so why would he want to sit?! So here's Daniel standing in his tub, with Daddy holding on tight, and trying to get the camera. Curious Daniel also finally figured out how to stand against the wall and hold onto the window ledge- he's just too short to see out the window, but he sure tries- check out the tippy-toes!

D is for DANCING, DOORS, playDATES, and DREAMS. It's really cute to watch Daniel stand up- he likes to boogie and wiggle about- looks like he's dancing! Daniel is also very interested in doors lately too. He likes to push them and pull them. We've enjoyed the great weather this week by letting some fresh air into the house- and Daniel loves that front door! We also had TWO playdates this week (and still another one tomorrow!!)- one with Sebastian and his mommy Coreen and one with my friend Dawn and her 4 year old daughter Kate. It was fun to watch Daniel and Sebastian "play" together. And we had a picnic lunch with Dawn and Kate at the park and played on the blanket in the shade, on the swings, and in the tunnel- Daniel was such a good boy for our picnic playdate and we were outside for 2 hours! Good thing that tree gave us such great shade! This morning we had more bloodwork done, and I actually had to wake Daniel up from his morning nap for our appointment- but not before I took a picture of my sweet boy sleeping away and utterly oblivious to what we were about to do. (I even took a video of him sleeping- 'course he's not doing a whole lot, but it's just bliss to watch him sleep and I couldn't resist- Daddy just rolled his eyes!) I'm happy to say Daniel was a good boy for the blood draw again! We should have those results next week and we go again for another weight check, too.

That's our busy week in a nutshell! Have a great Labor Day weekend! Our weather is supposed to be fabulous, so we're really planning on enjoying it!

Happy 11th Month, Daniel!

One more month to go and Daniel will be one! I'll say it again...time sure flies! Daniel is very busy these days, crawling everywhere, standing up on whatever he can get his hands on to pull up, sitting up on his own, and just really full of energy. It's so cute to watch him crawl and sit. I love the baby butt wiggle while he crawls...too funny. I've loved every minute of watching him grow up, but gosh do I love it now- I was waiting for the cute crawling. The slap of his hands on the floor, the noises he makes while crawling, the wiggles, the way he speeds up when something catches his eye. Guess walking's next...but we're in no hurry!

Lately, Daniel has been noticing the fine, small details in his toys. He will poke his finger at and study the screws, the little holes, and such in his toys or even on furniture. It's neat to see that he notices more now. And I love his expressions when he does find something- his eyes are just filled with wonder.

The newest activity for the week is that we've been playing ball- I'll roll the ball to Daniel and he will catch it. Then he waves his hands excitedly and the ball goes flying- so then I get it and we play again. And if he misses the ball (mostly if I roll it badly!) he will crawl after it and then sit back up and wave it around. We can play this way for quite a while- he has a pretty good attention span with the ball, as long as other more interesting things don't come along.

Daniel's eating lots more people food. His fave of the week- baked beans! We can't get those in fast enough! He also likes any kind of bread (totally gets that from his mommy!)- english muffins, toast, breadsticks, and whatever bread we might have with our dinner. We ate peaches one day- and that wasn't too bad. Considering he did NOT like baby food peaches, I thought it was interesting that he liked real peaches. Daniel still likes his baby food veggies! He will occasionally even eat half a jar of veggies- which, for Daniel, is really good, all things considered. Most of the time, if we can get several bites out of Daniel, I'm happy. Each week gets better and better, I think. We do go back for more bloodwork next week and then for another weight check the week after. We shall see how things are going then!

Daniel is mostly napping two times a day now (he was doing three up till a few weeks ago), and sometimes takes even just one nap- though this makes for a crabby baby by nighttime! But really, he does nap quite well most days. Nights are getting better...though I dare not say for fear I'll jinx it! :)

Daniel is just a joy each day! School started this week and though I do miss it, I'm completely thrilled to be home with my little guy every day. He does something new more and more now and I'm so excited to be here for it ALL! And I just remembered one more new thing he did yesterday- he finally stood up against a wall- he's been really trying. He palms the wall, thinks about it real hard and then yesterday, by the family room window, looked up, and just did it and then he had the window ledge that he could reach to hold on after that. He sits back down without hesitation, too. That was never a problem for him. He'd just flop/fall down and now he just sort of sticks his butt out and plops to sit back down.

Also, I mentioned before that Daniel likes to take all the books off of our end table. He will do this endlessly I think. The other day, he actually took a book in each hand and started to drop them both off the table and realized that he wasn't holding on to anything- I think he surprised himself with his bravery! He did end up grabbing the table back and just doing one book at a time. Still, I'm amazed at how brave he is!

Happy 11th Month, Daniel! Time to plan a first birthday party!

An Exciting Day and More Cute Pics

Today's an exciting day at our house...at least for Daniel! Daddy and Grandpa Larry are doing some really neat things in our front hall that involve lots of tools and even some really high scaffolding. We're finally painting our 2-story front hall walls and ceiling and changing the front hall chandelier. Daniel was SO CURIOUS about what was going on. He had the best ring-side seats at the top of the stairs where he could watch while holding on to the railing. It was so cute. He wanted nothing to do with his toys, or napping for that matter- he just wanted to watch all the excitement. And believe me- I hope this is the last time we have to do this, so let's hope he remembers it!


And below are some more cute pictures from this week: Daniel trying to blow his whistle (I love his smile hiding behind the whistle!) and Daniel at the park with Aunt Christina and crawling in the tunnel. He sure had fun going back and forth between Aunt Christina and Mommy in the tunnel!





And now for the fun new activity Daniel does: we're rolling and catching the ball! Well, I'm rolling and he's catching and then waving so excitedly that the ball flies in crazy directions. I get it and roll it again. And that's how we play ball. It's so much fun! And Daniel is actually really good at following the ball and picking it up. Enjoy the little snippet below!

No News, but Always Cute Pics!

Not much news for this week, but I always have cute pictures to share! Daniel's latest fun activity is to pull all of his books off of the end table, or even his bookshelf. Then he mostly wants to put them in his mouth, but he does think it's fun to slide around on the floor pushing the books, too. Check out the cute picture where he's sitting on his pile of books that he just dumped. We have had some really nice weather lately- so we've been going to the park and taking lots of walks around the neighborhood and the pond. We're loving it! Sunday, we were reading the shopping ads from the newspaper and Daniel got a hold of them and boy did he have a ball! He was crawling all over them and shaking them like crazy- for quite some time and without trying to eat them, too! In the bottom picture, Daniel had managed to climb onto this canvas tote, without it caving in amazingly (the lid is just canvas and soft and the tote isn't all that full) and then proceeded to play with the baby carrier- he does love that thing and all it's snaps and straps. He got back down just fine, too. Funny little guy.

Daniel stands up holding onto furniture and gets to a sitting position on his own so easily now. He's even trying to stand up against walls and doors, too. He goes up the stairs pretty fast and easily. And he crawls on all fours much more, too. Check back again soon for Daniel's next Mickey picture- can you believe it's that time again?!!

Fun in the Crib

Here are some cute pics of Daniel's latest crib achievements...playing with his mobile and standing up in the crib. I heard clicking noises on the baby monitor the other day and poked my head in to find Daniel kneeling and playing with the buttons on his mobile. It was so cute to watch him pushing the buttons and watching the mobile go on and off and listening to the different music playing. I loved that moment of watching him when he didn't even know I was watching! So sweet. So when I heard the clicking during yet another nap attempt, I grabbed the camera to capture this adorable moment. And more often than not these days, when I go in to get Daniel after a nap, he's kneeling, sitting, or maybe even standing- it's so weird for me to see, and so cute! And he's still always SO happy after his naps- he will just be playing, talking, rolling around, doing his headstands, or now even standing and such. He's just full of smiles!

Update from last week:
We had to get Daniel's blood drawn for some bloodwork that his pediatrician ordered. That was definitely a two parent job and not so much fun for any of us...but Daniel was a good sport. He did cry the whole time of course, but as soon as the gal was done, he stopped crying. I was proud of him. And of us- that was not easy to do or watch! The doctor called yesterday with the results and the biggest thing we learned is that Daniel is most definitely allergic to milk- highly allergic, actually. We'd tried some yogurt and "yogurt melts" a while back and noticed a rash around Daniel's mouth on both occasions and the same happened with the brief cool whip taste, and we mentioned it to the doctor so we tested that at the same time as all the blood work. AND yep, we were right- unfortunately. The milk allergy is affecting the way Daniel's body absorbs calories and nutrients and therefore affects his weight gain. SO, I'm on a very strict dairy elimination diet (not even a hint of milk in anything I eat!) so that Daniel gets no more dairy when he nurses. And we're working more and more each day on "people food" which he actually really likes so far! All that combined, will hopefully mean more weight gain for Daniel. We are going to do more bloodwork (poor little guy!) in a couple weeks after I'm all cleared of dairy for a while, to check and make sure his levels are up/down as necessary without the dairy. We are also going to go back to the doctor's office for a weight check in a few weeks, too, to see how this is all translating into weight gain. This will all take time and a lot of effort (my head is spinning- do you know how much milk there is in everything!?! I just spent an exhausting hour and a half at the grocery store buying not very much and reading every label I found!) but I'm learning a lot and it will get easier- I know- it will just take some time. We are still waiting for one more test result, but the preliminary results were negative, so the doctor thinks we should be okay. That's where we're at for now. There's a good chance Daniel will grow out of this allergy, but the doctor said since it's this high, it might be a few years. One step at a time for now...

In other news, Daniel has more teeth! His next two upper teeth are already visible to us, not just yet in pictures- but they've definitely cut through his gums now. I think maybe the next two bottom ones are not too far behind either. So cute! And Daniel's latest "thing" is to make really high pitched noises- he started this past weekend- and it's all we hear these days. You'd think he's going to lose his voice!

Enjoy the fun video below- Daniel loves to make these sounds with his hand covering his mouth. He will even do it if we're doing it- almost on demand! So funny. And I love the way he's "waving" at the camera, too! So sweet.

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.

Family Time

Daniel meets mommy's Uncle Keith (top pic), Aunt Karen (above pic), and cousin Maureen (top pic). We had a great visit with them!

More mini golfing with my family again and this time Aunt Christina and her boyfriend Jason came, too!

Daniel brought mommy some flowers after running errands with daddy!
What a sweet little guy!

This is how much Daniel loves his daddy! Ben was staining our deck last week and Daniel could see him out there but couldn't get to him and boy did he cry!


So those are just a few pics of some family time at home and out and about- we had a very busy week last week, running errands, playing mini golf (another hole in one and a tie for 1st place- yay!), visiting with family at our house and at Grandma Mary Kay's. Daniel was quite the trooper! I tried him in the shopping cart at one store- he was not a fan. Perhaps another time. Clearly, he prefers the baby carrier- which is great, for now. We went to the park district and got Daniel an ID card (yes, even infants need one!) so we could register for some fun Mommy & Me classes for this fall. Can't wait! We went to the library so Daniel could get his prizes for completing his Summer Reading Game Card- he got another blue egg rattle, an adorable stuffed monkey, and a very cute rebus storybook. Reading is a fun part of our day every day! Daniel pays much more attention to books now- when he's in the mood, since he's such an on-the-go baby these days.

Our week ended with some great visits with family. My aunt and uncle and cousin came in from out of town and we had a really nice visit with them. Daniel was such a good boy the whole time. Sunday we went to Grandma Mary Kay's house and saw some more family- Daniel met Cliff and Kathy, and again, was such a good boy. He even got a small taste of cool whip!

Whew...that was our busy week. I'm exhausted thinking about it again! This week is much calmer!

Crawling Action

Here's a little crawling action I captured Daniel doing yesterday. It's kind of a challenge to get Daniel crawling on video since he still only crawls for a few seconds and then flops back down- which you see in the video. But I was quick this time! He's getting better at crawling day by day. And boy do you hear him in the video- he's been very chatty lately! Enjoy this little snippet!

Fun at the Park

To cap off a beautiful day, we took Daniel to the park after dinner last night. He sure loved the swings. I think he liked kicking his legs while in the seat, watching the other kids, the wind blowing his hair and eating the seat! His face was so animated while he was in the swing. Daniel also got to crawl in the tunnel- which was fun to watch, and even more fun to hear since his crawling "noises" echoed in the tunnel! I even went in after him the second time (it was not easy!) and he liked having me chase him. We walked around the park, took him down the slide, put him in another playset that's a dinosaur (the cute picture where he's peeking out), and even swung some more. It was a nice evening and there weren't too many people there- even better. Then we headed around the pond and home for a bath and bedtime!