Toddler Questionnaire What is your name?  Daniel How old are you?  Three and a half When is your birthday?  October 4 Can you tell me about it?  Eat cake.  Just like a regular big cake so other people can eat it too. How old is Mommy?  I don’t know?  5 inches tall How old is Daddy?  Uh, 6 What is your favorite color?  Red! What is your favorite food?  Macaroni and cheese Who is your best friend?  Colby What is your favorite show?  Ummmm.....Wild Kratts! What is your favorite song?  The Dinosaur Song (AL: a song we made up) What is your favorite animal?  A giraffe, it has a loooong neck What are you scared of?  Not the dark.  I used to be scared What makes you happy?  Kisses (AL: awwwwww!) Where is your favorite place to go?  Tom Thumb and Spring Creek for barbecue and eat dinner What do you want to be when you grow up?  A firefighter … [Read more...]

Daniel, you are now two years old!  I can honestly say that this past year has been a great year with you.  You’re so fun to be with, and I love watching you grow. Here’s a little summary of the things you’ve been doing lately: Speech – You talk all the time and speak in small phrases.  You love learning new words and are willing to repeat it over and over until you know it.  You’re all about things that move, and the bigger the better!   Airplanes, cars, trucks, excavating equipment, tractors, trash trucks, buses, trains, and more.  You will yell out these things when you see them.  For example: “semi-truck,” box truck,” “pickup truck,” “race car,” “Jeep,” “helicopter,” “crane,” "front-end loader." You also love to talk about your people.  Not just Mommy and Daddy, but also Uncle Benjamin, Grandpa, Grandma, Papa, Nene and your best buddy, Nolan.  If you’d doing something, like going to bed, you’ll ask if they’re doing it as well.  Each one, separately.  And I reply, … [Read more...]

Here’s a little update on how things are going lately: The evolution of your communication amazes me.  At the beginning of May, you could clearly say 15-20 words and had another 30 or so that were harder to understand.  Now, just a month later, I cannot keep up with all the words you know! It’s so fun to observe you learning a word.  We were at dinner recently and there was a buffalo head on the wall (we are in Texas, after all).  Buffalo.  That was the word of the night.  All through dinner you’d point at it, smile and say “buffalo.”  Over and over again. It’s been funny to see what words really stick with you.  Trash is a good example.  You will point out every trash can you see and announce IN FULL VOLUME, while pointing, “TRAAASSSSSSSSSS!!”  Did you know that Costco has over 15 trash cans in their warehouse?  Of course you did, you pointed them ALL out!  Even the ones that were on the shelf for sale.  LOL You will do the same with any school “BUSSSSSSSSSS!” you … [Read more...]

Now that you’re walking, park play dates have become so much fun.  Whether it’s just you and me, or we’re meeting friends, you absolutely love to run and play.  You spend the whole time moving, often just running around the park, picking up pieces of wood chips, acorns, or sticks.  And since Daddy had already taught you to use the slide at home, you easily climb the stairs and push yourself down the slide.  Swings aren’t really your thing right now.  You’ll sit for a few minutes and then you’re done.  Honestly, who can blame you – you have to just sit there and let me push you back and forth.   ;) I’ve found that you need active play time almost every day.  Usually, you get an hour at the gym three days a week, and I try to take you to the park once or twice a week.  It’s been cold lately, so we’ve started going to indoor play places.  Many of the large churches in our area offer free play in their kids’ center.  We went to one last week and you had the best time running … [Read more...]

December…..the most wonderful time of the year!  We don’t have any specific traditions yet, so I wanted to try a few different things and see what you liked. We started out by taking you to see Santa at the Witherspoon Distillery in Lewisville.  It wasn’t busy and you seemed to think that Santa looked pretty interesting.  You weren’t really convinced that sitting on some bearded guy’s lap was the best idea for you, but you didn’t cry or yell.  However, you would not look at the camera.  Not once.  But you sure did go to town on the milk and chocolate chip cookie they gave you afterward! Next up, we went to the Roanoke Christmas parade.  Now this was an activity you could support!  It was in the evening, so all the floats were lit up.  And they threw candy, which Daddy and I appreciated.   ;)  It was cold that night, so we bundled you up for the first time in a coat, hat and gloves.  You looked totally adorable and you happily kept your hat and gloves on all evening.  And oh, … [Read more...]

Here we are in the first part of 2016.  So much has happened in the months since your birthday.  Let’s start with October and November 2015. Once you turned one, it seemed as if you grew older overnight.  You started climbing the stairs the weekend of your birthday.  Daddy quickly taught you how to safely crawl back down and it’s opened up a whole new world for you.  Besides the stairs, you can climb on or off of the couch, bed, chair, etc.  You’ll even sit down and climb backwards off the street curb!  It’s rather funny to watch, but I’m proud that you’ve realized you can use your climbing skills in other places. The week after your birthday I took you to get your first haircut.  It had been getting really long, and Daddy kept telling me to get you a haircut, but I managed to wait until after your birthday.  We went to a cute place with lots of toys.  You weren’t sure about what was happening, but you sat still in your little chair and didn’t cry or fight. … [Read more...]