catching up, part 1 - wedding

Long time no blog... we've been busy! I've got lots to catch up on, including a trip for a wedding and visits with family, a new tooth, Mother's Day, climbing stairs - whew!

Our trip last week started in New Jersey, where we had the pleasure of attending Heidi and Ben's wedding. The wedding was beautiful, the food was amazing, the company was great, and Daniel even got to dance with the lovely bride! He was captivated by everything there was to see, especially the dancing.
We also got to visit with Grandma and Papa, and Daniel apparently shared some jokes with them. Something was awfully funny, that's for sure!
Had to include a family portrait - we don't get this dressed up very often!
To be continued!

five generations

This past weekend, Daniel had the honor of meeting his great-great-grandmother (that’s my mom’s mom’s mom, if you’re keeping track). She’s a spunky 93-year-old and she couldn’t have been more excited to meet her first great-great-grandchild. Also making the trip were my mom, my grandmother, my Aunt Steph, my cousins Nicole and Karen, and Nicole’s 2-month old baby Samantha, who is the second great-great-grandchild. We got some great five-generation pictures, which will surely be treasured for a lifetime. Not many people are lucky enough to know their great-great-grandparents.

Five generations.
Moms, babies, and Great-great-grandma.
Sweet little Samantha - check out those beautiful baby blues.
Daniel and Grandma.

first (real) haircut!

Daniel went for his first real haircut today. After attempting a trim at home a couple of months ago (a nerve-wracking experience for Mom involving scissors and a wiggly baby), we decided this was one area best left to the professionals.

Here's a "Before" shot showing the need for a haircut.We had a very nice gentleman who had a lot of patience and was very quick with the scissors. Daniel sat on Dad's lap, while Mom played photographer and tried (mostly unsuccessfully) to distract Daniel.
The hair dryer at the next station proved to be the best distraction, along with the special cape covered with animals that he got to wear (Dad was jealous, he had a plain black one).

Overall, Daniel did great. He was a little rowdy and wanted to bounce on Dad's lap, but he managed to stay calm enough to get the job done. By the time we got home, he wasn't really in the mood to cooperate for an "After" shot, but here's our best attempt. He looks like quite the grown-up little boy now.

It's funny, Daniel's hair seems to be constantly changing color. When he was born, it was practically black, but it's gotten gradually lighter and the newest layers are almost blonde. People pay lots of money for the awesome highlights he has!

work and play

Just a few random photos - helping Mommy with the laundry, and playtime in Daniel's room.

adventures in eating

We've had a lot of success so far giving Daniel baby food - he's a big fan of purees of just about any fruit or veggie we've tried, with the possible exception of green beans. However, he doesn't like chunks of anything in his food - even bananas mashed with a fork get rejected because the consistency is not quite smooth enough.

Anyway, we decided to start branching out and gave him a 'biter biscuit' tonight. He thought it was interesting, banged it on his tray a few times, and decided to sample it.
He gummed it for awhile, and thought that it tasted pretty good. Eventually, a few small pieces (we're talking crumbs here) broke off in his mouth. This he was not a fan of. Chunks of food in his mouth? Nooooooo! Get them out!
At this point he was sure we were trying to kill him. Hopefully he'll forgive us.
It looks like we'll be sticking with pureed food for awhile.

if this doesn't make you smile then you are made of stone

There's nothing better than a baby laughing. Daniel thinks sneezes are hilarious. Even fake sneezes (or maybe I should say, especially fake sneezes). Please forgive our messy office.

In other news, Daniel had a nasty cold which morphed into an ear infection over the weekend. He is now recovering thanks to antibiotics. I'm starting to think that most children's first introduction to the taste of candy is really in the form of medicine, with the cherry-flavored Tylenol, grape-flavored Motrin, and whatever this amoxicillin is supposed to taste like (apparently it is quite yummy, he slurps it down). But it does the trick, I guess that's what counts.

the "ouch" report

With crawling comes falling. Daniel got his first "Ouch" Report at daycare yesterday - apparently he was exploring and he slipped and fell. He does have a small bruise under his eye, but the incident seems to have been forgotten and it has certainly not deterred him from further exploration.
It's a good thing we don't have to fill out ouch reports at home, he would have had a few of those already too. He's hard to keep up with!