going for a swim

These photos are actually from a couple of weeks ago, and I never got around to blogging them. So here's Daniel's first trip to the pool! As you can see he's got a great little float, complete with sunshade to protect his poor pale delicate skin. In addition, he was lathered up in SPF 30, of course. And it was 5 pm. Not taking any chances.

He adores that red ball. Endless entertainment for $1.99, what could be better?

All in all, a very successful first trip to the pool! Hopefully there will be many many more to come.

happy (belated) father's day!

Every night before Mike and I go to bed, we check on Daniel, asleep in his crib. We almost always comment on how amazing he is, and how blessed we are to have this wonderful little boy. What I don't say nearly often enough is how blessed I am to be married to such a wonderful husband and father. My joy in being a mom is paralleled only by my joy in watching Mike be a dad.














Happy father's day!

anniversary

Has it really been three years already? They've been an awesome three years, that's for sure.

It was a rainy evening, just like June 11, 2005. The summer thunderstorms are nice though, especially when they help to break the 90-degree heat. We had a low-key celebration at home, with a toast to many more years (Daniel even participated in the toast with his sippy cup), and we topped it off with an ice cream cake from Cold Stone (mmmmm).

Mike, thanks for a wonderful three years. You're the best husband I could dream of, and I can't wait to see what the next three (and the next 30) will bring.

sunday brunch

Meals are so much more fun now that Daniel can eat a lot of what we're having. Here's Daniel having waffles, eggs, and blueberries for breakfast (made by Daddy).

"Hmmm, what should I eat first?"

"What are you guys having?"

"Blueberries are better when you squish 'em first."

"Great breakfast, Dad!"

friends and fun

We had a fabulous time last weekend visiting our dear friends Holly and David and their adorable little boy Matthew (who may also be the smartest 2-year-old I've ever met!). Daniel survived his longest car trip to date - 6 hours. Thank goodness for Cheerios, they got us through the last 30 minutes when he had finally had enough of sitting in the car! He had a great time playing with Matthew, who has lots of fun toys to get into. I'm not sure Matthew enjoyed the companionship of the pesky little toy-stealer quite so much, but I'm sure as they get older they will have lots of fun getting into trouble together - at least I hope so!
Holly and David's new house has a fabulous swingset in the backyard, and Matthew was kind enough to let Daniel have the baby swing, while Matthew took the big boy swing.
Matthew is such a handsome little kid!
Our friends Kristin and Sam and their baby boy, Brady, also came over for an afternoon while we were there. Holly and Kristin and I have been friends since our freshman year of college, when we all lived on the same hall - almost 14 years ago (yikes). I'm sure 14 years ago we never imagined that today we'd be sitting around a table together with our husbands and our little boys. As a side note, how did we all end up having 9+ pound babies? Was there something in the water?
Our lives now are a far cry from the nights we spent back then, studying calculus and chatting into the wee hours of the morning - now we're ready to drop by 10 pm. Those were some great times, but life just continues to get better.

double digits!

"I'm 10 months old! Woo hoo!"

Yesterday Daniel turned 10 months old. It's hard to believe - only 2 more months until he's a year old - can it be that close already?

We celebrated his birthday by going out for Mexican food. Daniel had fajitas. You think I'm kidding - no, really. Well, actually they were my fajitas, but yes, he did enjoy his fair share. Our boy who used to not want to put anything with any texture in his mouth will now eat anything and everything we put in front of him. So for dinner last night he had tortillas, steak, and black beans (we topped him off with a jar of baby food too, just because he's not quite efficient enough yet to get full feeding himself).

At 10 months, Daniel is a very accomplished crawler and cruiser - he can make it just about anywhere if he has furniture to hold onto. Favorite pasttimes include emptying laundry baskets and drawers, knocking down towers of blocks, and chasing the cats. Cheerios are his new favorite food, he gets excited every time he sees that yellow box. He has also learned to clap and he's learning to wave, too!

We're so proud of our amazing little boy.