mom's weekend out!

I am a lucky woman. I have the best husband in the world, one who is more than willing to let me go away for a weekend of rest and relaxation while he stays at home chasing after a very busy 18-month old. (Okay, the boys may have had a pretty good time too, but I'm still very lucky.)

I'm also lucky to have the best friend in the world, Holly, who I was fortunate enough to live next to our freshman year of college, over fourteen years ago (holy cow, can we possibly be that old?). Fortunately Holly has a pretty great husband too, so when I suggested that we leave our little boys at home with their dads and meet up for a girls' weekend, she was all for it! Holly is pregnant with her second baby too, so we figured it was a perfect time to get together and catch up before our lives get significantly more complicated again. Here we are with our pregnant bellies - can't wait for our new little ones to meet!

We had a fantastic time last weekend in Greenville, South Carolina, conveniently located halfway in between our homes - which was our prime reason for choosing it as a destination, although I think we were both pleasantly surprised at what a great little city it is. We went to the spa for massages, relaxed at our hotel, walked along the river, and just generally enjoyed spending time together. Such a great weekend!

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.

18 months

Happy birthday-and-a-half, Daniel!

Is it really possible my little guy is 18 months old already? He really is turning into such a fun little person. More and more personality emerges every day, and it's so fun watching the changes take place.

He went to the doctor for his 18-month checkup the other day (no shots - hooray!) and he is 26 lbs. 13 oz. (60th percentile) and 33 3/8 inches tall (75th percentile). He also has a big old 90th-percentile head (he got that from Daddy).

Daniel is such a busy boy - it's go, go, go all day long, but when it's time for a nap, he crashes. Fortunately he's a really good sleeper and still takes 2 naps most days, otherwise I'm not sure how I'd keep up with him! He loves to run around the house, and loves it even better if someone is chasing him (or if he's chasing one of the cats.)

He still eats like a horse, we're definitely going to go broke feeding this kid by the time he's a teenager. He's gotten really good at feeding himself with both a spoon and a fork, and he's getting pretty good at drinking from a regular cup, too, although we still use sippy cups most of the time (less cleanup).

Somehow he's acquired a neat and orderly streak, we're not sure quite where that came from. He insists on going to hang up his coat as soon as we come in the door, and he frequently picks up microscopic crumbs from the floor and hands them to me to dispose of.

His favorite word lately is "uh-oh", which he finds any excuse he can to use, even if he has to throw something on the floor just so he can say "uh-oh!" He doesn't quite get yet that it's usually used for accidents, not when you do something on purpose! He certainly understands just about everything we say, and his speaking vocabulary is growing every day. We suspect he's saying more words than we're able to understand.

Daniel definitely does have a stubborn streak as well (I'm pretty sure I know where that came from). We're doing our best to ignore the occasional tantrum, and so far that tactic seems to work most of the time. I'm sure we have many battles of wills in our future, though.

This is such a fun age, I need to remind myself more often to enjoy Daniel just as he is right now - he changes so fast. I have a tendency to want him to do the "next" thing, but really I need to just savor these days, because soon enough he will be onto something else.

I love you, little man!

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!

christmas fun, part 2

After a fun day at the tree farm, we followed it up with a day at home. We started decorating the tree, and spent the rest of the day playing with new toys.

Daniel supervised the placement of lights on the tree by Daddy and Papa Tony.
He was also in charge of the garland.
Daniel thoroughly enjoyed all the attention lavished on him by his Grandma and Papa. Lately, he's been doing an adorable thing where he backs up into your lap when he wants to sit there. Grandma was more than happy to oblige and provide him a lap on which to sit while they read some books.

christmas fun, part 1 - the tree

Our Christmas celebration actually started a couple of weeks before Christmas, with a visit from Grandma Deb and Papa Tony. While they were here, we had a fantastic time going to pick out and cut down our tree! We were also lucky enough that Santa happened to be visiting the tree farm on the day we were there.

Our first order of business was to sit down with Santa. Daniel was not overly excited about the opportunity. He had just woken up from a little nap in the car, and had a look on this face the whole time that said "who is this guy with the beard and why am I sitting in his lap?"
After a few animal crackers, we moved on to our search for a perfect tree. Daniel had fun tromping around the field looking for one to bring home.
With some help from Grandma and Papa, he found the perfect one!
Daddy played lumberjack (he was even dressed appropriately!) and chopped it down.
They had a neat old tractor there, which Daniel had a great time pretending to drive!
He's a natural, don't you think?
We even managed to get Santa in on the action and get a family photo with him.
What do you think Grandma and Santa are talking about??
All in all, we had a fantastic time and will definitely be going back to the same place for our tree next year!