lala

We are very lucky to have my lovely sister, Alyssa, living with us for awhile. Since Daniel refused to say "Aunt Lissy" or any other similar variation (he can be pretty stubborn), we went looking for alternate nicknames. Since he obviously says "Mama" and "Dada" with no problem, we decide to give "Lala" a try. He took to it immediately, so forevermore Aunt Alyssa shall be known as Lala to her nephews.

Daniel positively LOVES his Lala, to the point where I almost can't do anything for him when Lala is around because he wants Lala to do it. Now, this can be really great for me when it's diaper-changing time, however I don't think Alyssa would agree (love you sis!). She'd probably rather stick to reading books, building with blocks, and coloring. But Daniel can be awfully persuasive!
Benjamin's kind of fond of Lala too! Aren't they cute?

pennsylvania (summer vacation part 4)

We had a blast on the next leg of our vacation in the lovely state of Pennsylvania! It was a visit full of family, and we all had a lot of fun.

Benjamin got lots of love and snuggles from everyone - especially his two great-grandmothers! Once or twice I was afraid there might be a tussle over who got to hold him - he definitely got used to napping while snuggled up to his loving grandmas! What a lucky boy.

And at times he was doted on by a grandma and two great-grandmas all at once! Tell me, does it get any better than this?
Ben also had some quality time with Aunt Lissy (and Duke) and Uncle Alex.


Daniel had SO much fun during our visit, mostly playing outside. Daniel thinks the hose is just the absolute best toy in the whole world, so every chance he got, he dragged someone out to play with him. He also managed to shed his clothes just about every time he went outside - must be a guy thing? Anyway, I'd post more pictures, but he's naked in most of them and I just can't do that to him! He tried out the pool, but the hose was more fun.
Wrestling with Uncle Alex was also a lot of fun!
He even managed to drag us outside to play in the rain!

Daniel and his second cousin Samantha got together to play some tunes on Daniel's new guitar.
They were also forced by their moms to hug each other. I'm not sure they were happy about it, but they obliged! It was so much fun seeing them play together and interact with each other!

Of course, Daniel had another birthday party, this one shared with his Aunt Ashley. He got his own personal cake since he couldn't eat the cream cheese frosting on the big cake. He was getting pretty good at blowing out candles by this point! And he also learned to respond, "two!" and hold up two fingers when asked how old he was.


Before we left, we had to snap a couple of group shots! The proud grandparents...
And the whole crew (at least, the part of the crew that was still there when we left).
Finally, just a couple of photos of my sweet boys - Daniel trying to pull Mike up off the ground to play, and Benjamin just hanging out!

Can you tell they had a good time? I'm pretty sure we all did! We are so lucky to have such wonderful families.

new york (summer vacation part 2)

After Raleigh, we made the looooong trip up to New York, with a brief stopover in Wilmington. We had a fantastic time with Mike's family, highlighted by a birthday party for all of the July/August birthdays in the family - which I hesitate to list for fear of missing one! This was the first of three birthday celebrations for Daniel, and to say he enjoyed it would be putting it mildly.

"Mmmm, sugar!"

Meanwhile, Mike pretended to be taller than John...
... Joanne, Nana, and Grandpa enjoyed some cake too...
... Benjamin got some love from Aunt Cathy...
... and Daniel convinced Aunt Joanne to give him more dessert.
One of the most fun things about this trip was seeing how much fun Daniel had with his cousins. He absolutely idolized them, and just couldn't get enough time with them. This is one of my favorite pictures of Daniel with his cousins - he just loved being one of the big guys!
And of course we had to get a photo of all of the boys together: Richie, Joey (holding Benjamin), Andy and Daniel.

And Benjamin had a great time hanging out with Aunt Betty while Daniel played with the guys!
Trips like this make me realize how much I miss being closer to family. Can't wait for our next visit!

daniel's new room

With a new little one on the way, we decided to move Daniel up to a "big boy" room, complete with big boy bed, and let his little brother take over the nursery. Of course, we couldn't make this easy so it also involved moving our office (I won't show the before-and-afters of that adventure). Fortunately we were able to enlist the assistance of Papa Joe and Grandma Rita, otherwise we never would have finished (thanks guys!!).

After all the moving of furniture, the next step was painting! We decided to have a little fun and let Daniel get in on the act. He has kind of an abstract, modern art approach.

He's a very hard worker, though!


Daniel also delighted in helping assemble his new furniture.



Here's the final product. We still need some decorations, but overall we think it turned out great!


Daniel has adjusted pretty well to his new bed and the new-found freedom of being able to get in and out of bed himself. We've had a few battles of wills (i.e. putting him back to bed 15 times before he finally fell asleep), and most nights he still gets up once or twice before he nods off. But he seems to like all the space, and has an ever-growing collection of "friends" that he brings to bed with him (currently his dog, snake, and frog are the regulars). He's definitely turning into a big boy!

the zoo!

Grandma Deb and Papa Tony visited recently, and Daniel had a super time playing with them, including a really fun trip to the zoo. We now have a family membership, so we hope to take many more trips there this year! We planned it perfectly - it rained all morning, and we doubted whether we'd be able to go. But by afternoon it had cleared up, so we decided to go for it. I guess the rain kept the crowds away though, because it felt like we had the place to ourselves even though it was Saturday.

Daniel wants to walk pretty much everywhere on his own now. Strollers are for babies, apparently, and he is a big kid. Fortunately on this trip he had lots of hands to hold on to.
Watching the flamingoes with Grandma.
This elephant knows tricks! Daniel was a little freaked out by her though.
How cool is it to be this close to a panda (a sleeping panda, but still)? Not totally sure Daniel realized the panda was actually a real live animal. He wasn't nearly as enthralled as I was. Or maybe the tiredness was just starting to set in.
Okay, by the end of a long day, maybe a stroller isn't such a bad idea after all. Our tired boy eventually gave in.

christmas fun, part 4 - the aquarium

On the day after Christmas, we decided to take a trip to the world's largest aquarium. It was the first trip to the aquarium - ANY aquarium - for both Daniel and his Great-Grandpa. I think it's safe to say that both had a great time (as did the rest of us)!

From pretty much the moment we entered the building, this is the expression Daniel had on his face. He was fascinated. SO much to see!
This big tank of colorful reef fish was one of his favorite attractions. He just kept watching and pointing, and when we tried to pull him away to get a family photo, it was a no-go. He had much better things to do. By the way, I LOVE this picture with his reflection - thanks Rita!
The best family photo we could muster, this one in the tunnel under the tank with the whale sharks.
Papa's trying to tell Daniel about something, but the fish are too interesting to pay much attention!
The otters were another favorite of Daniel's (and I must admit, they're my favorite too). He had a great time watching them swim and play, and we were lucky enough that one of the keepers came in to feed them while we were there, too.
Finally, what trip would be complete without a photo with the aquarium mascot, Deepo? Daniel was so cute, he ran away the first time he saw Deepo, but then decided he was pretty funny and ran back to get a better look. You can see he's still kind of skeptical here.
We had a fantastic day. It was so much fun for Mike and I, as parents, to see the aquarium through Daniel's eyes - the wonder and amazement. We've been several times before, but this was definitely our best trip yet, and we look forward to taking Daniel (and eventually his little brother!) back in the future.

christmas day!

We had an absolutely wonderful Christmas, with Papa, Grandma, and Great-Grandpa all here to celebrate with us. Daniel is too young to really 'get' what Christmas is all about (or to understand why there was a pile of presents under the tree), but he was excited because we were all excited.

We went to church on Christmas eve, but somehow neglected to get a picture of Daniel all dressed up. Oh well! On Christmas day he pretty much stayed in his pajamas all day long.

Our lovely tree and stacks of gifts, before the destruction began. Yes, there were LOTS of gifts, and yes, most of them were for Daniel!
Daniel trying out his first gift, a table and chairs from Santa, just his size. He LOVES them. It took him no time at all to climb right up in the chair.
He got a rocking horse from Papa and Grandma. Another hit!
Coloring with Papa at his new table, with his new crayons. They're triangular so they don't roll off the table. I think this is brilliant and I wish I'd thought of it.
Helping Dad open a gift.
Playing with his new truck (and looking a little dazed at this point).
Trying on a sweatshirt.
The legos were another hit, as much with Dad and Mom as with Daniel (yeah, we're engineers, we can't help it).
Completely overwhelmed at this point. What a fun day!