Two Growing Girls

I had an ultrasound yesterday because I'm still measuring a little small, and baby girl is still measuring a little big. Actually, she's measuring a lot big, if you ask me. She was 6 lb., 8 oz. yesterday! Seriously? That means that she gained an estimated 2 lb., 2 oz. in 3 weeks. Yikes! The perinatologist assured me that she'd be under 8 pounds when I delivered, but he also said she should gain between 1/4 and 1/2 pound per week from now on. Either he's really bad at math or he knows something I don't.......Any bets on how big she'll be?!

I'm getting big too - or at least my (c)ankles are. Tonight I propped my feet up to show David that my ankles were swollen from working all day. David said, "Daniel, look at Mommy's ankles!" Daniel looked and said, "Mommy, where are your ankles?!" Lovely.....

Brown Sugar Bandit

Late this afternoon Daniel told me that he was feeling really tired and that he was going to go rest. He even put his pajamas on over his clothes, then went to his bedroom and shut the door. He does this sometimes, especially on days like today, when he didn't take a nap. No big deal. I stayed in the living room, folding laundry, and then started making dinner. Fifteen to twenty minutes later I still hadn't heard from him. Usually he only rests for 5-10 minutes, so I went to check on him, fully expecting to find him asleep in his bed.

What I actually found was him sitting in the middle of his bed with an open bag.....and fingers, face, and blankets covered in brown sugar. I wasn't even sure what to say at first! I managed, "What on earth are you doing?!" to which he replied, "I was hungry!" Yeah, right.....

I do think he actually intended to go rest in his room. What I had forgotten was that earlier today he had been playing "groceries," a game in which he loads up his truck with actual groceries, and he had left his grocery-filled truck in his room. Obviously he knows that he's not supposed to open the groceries, but I guess the temptation was too much behind closed doors.

New rule in the house - no opening the pantry for any purpose without a parent's permission. Ugh!

A Boy's Nativity

We decorated for Christmas last week, including our nativity scene (sans Jesus and the wise men). We have one of those Fontanini sets that are made of plastic - perfect for Daniel to play with. He asked if he could play with the "barn" the other day, so I took it down for him, thinking it was a good opportunity to talk more about the Christmas story. We went over the cast of characters - he's pretty good with Mary, but is confused about Joseph's role. He keeps asking if Joseph was Mary's father.

Anyway, I walked away to do some laundry yesterday, and this is what I came back to:

Joseph, Mary, and all the animals going for a ride on an 18-wheeler. Not in the photo is the fact that Mater the Tow Truck and another monster truck had taken residence in the manger, and Jesus' bed was now on top of the roof.

Baby Girl Update

Today I had my 32 week check-up appointment. I was measuring a little small - not sure how that's humanly possible as I'm gaining about a pound a week, but anyway - my doctor decided to do a quick ultrasound to ensure that my amniotic fluid levels were okay.

Everything looked perfectly normal - yay! Baby girl is weighing in at a whopping 4 lbs., 6 oz. Apparently that's at the 50th %ile for her gestational age, so I'm still hoping that she's going to be under 8 pounds when she's born!

The exciting news was that she has hair - lots of hair! I figured there was a good chance because Daniel came out with a full head, but you never know! I'm excited to put a bow on that head of hers!

Boys' Weekend

I spent this past weekend in Amarillo for my sister-in-law's baby shower. I left Daniel and David here at the house. In anticipation of the weekend, they had this conversation:

David: You know what this weekend is?
Daniel: What?
David (in a tough sounding, deep voice): It's boys' weekend!
Daniel: Yeah!
David (using that same voice): And what are we going to do on boys' weekend?!
Daniel: Play Candyland!

I don't think that's what David had in mind.....

Genesis

Daniel: Did God make Daddy?
Me: Yes. God made everybody, remember?
Daniel: Well, he didn't really make everybody.
Me: Yes, everyone!
Daniel: Who did he make first?
Me: Do you remember that story from your Bible? About who he made first? Who was the first man?
Daniel: Uncle Brian?

Not quite!

Halloween

Daniel dressed up as a TTU football player for Halloween. This was really his first year to do the whole 'Halloween thing.' He absolutely loved it! We first went to a carnival at my work place where he got to play little games like bean bag toss - his definite favorite. There was even one of those inflatable slides. We convinced him to go down once, but that was enough for him. He won all kinds of good junk - food and prizes.

We then went trick-or-treating in our neighborhood. He did a good job of saying 'thank you' at all the houses, but we did have to remind him to say 'trick or treat!' Sometimes he would get confused and go up to an adult that wasn't handing out candy (like one with another trick-or-treater) and say "trick or treat!" The only thing he didn't like was one of the other kids we saw trick-or-treating who was dressed up in this black devilish costume with beady little red eyes. Daniel would steer clear of that kid and preferred to go to houses where that "monster" didn't go. We ended up with more candy than he has probably consumed in his entire first three years.

It's all in the Wording

Lately our Sunday routine has been for all three of us to go to mass at 9:00. Then at 10:15, Daniel can go play at the nursery while David and I go to Bible study. Knowing that we were going out to eat after Bible study and knowing how the nursery ladies love to feed Daniel animal crackers, we had a little talk beforehand. I told him that he should probably not eat any animal crackers today so that he had room for lunch at the restaurant. He agreed.

Conversation after Bible study:

Daniel: I didn't eat any animal crackers today!
Me: Oh, good!
Daniel: Not even one animal cracker!
Me: Good! You should be hungry for lunch now.
Daniel: Yeah, I just ate a pancake, but no animal crackers!

Guess I should have been more specific, or maybe more vague.....

Pumpkin Patch

First of all, when did my baby boy drop the "baby" part and become a little boy?? Look at these pictures! He looks so much older than he did last year during our pumpkin patch adventure!

For the last several years we have gone to the Pumpkin Patch with our friends, the Calvo's. This year, since they have brand new triplet girls, we just took their daughter with us. Daniel and Riley had fun running around the pumpkins. Apparently this year's cool thing was to roll the pumpkins because that's all Daniel wanted to do. He rolled the heaviest ones he could find, moving them from one pile to another. We did the hay ride again, and they both seemed to enjoy it. This year, the pumpkin patch staff put various "runaway pumpkins" for the kids to spot during the hay ride - that was the big highlight! We're planning to carve a jack-o-lantern this weekend and cook some little ones to have pumpkin treats all year!

Abilene State Park

We took our first trip to the Abilene State Park yesterday. It was a gorgeous day - not even too hot for this pregnant mama! We took a picnic lunch and spent time going down various trails. Daniel really enjoyed doing all the hiking and was proud to lead us down the trail. He was really funny about listening to every little sound he heard - from blackbirds cawing to ducks quacking to cars driving by on the not-so-distant freeway. Every time he heard a new sound, he would stop, crouch down, and put his hand to his ear, listening intently. He'd say, "What was that?!" Here are a few pics of him listening:

The park was actually quite pretty - better than I expected! Daniel would have made Grandpa proud. He looked all around for "signs" of animals. He found deer tracks and scat and identified both of them correctly! We saw two small deer on our way into the park, but the only other interesting wildlife we saw was an armadillo! Daniel was intrigued by that!

Daniel stopped in the trail to play in the sand. He might have played here for hours if David hadn't pretended to see an animal run by. We then had to go check that out!

Here's the pic of the armadillo!

Learning the Social Ropes

When we were shopping in HEB the other day, there was a rather large man near the check-out line. Daniel commented (thankfully, not loud enough for anyone to hear) on the size of the man's stomach. I talked to him about how it wasn't polite to talk about how big a person's stomach was and how it might hurt that person's feelings if he heard a comment like that. Daniel didn't have too many questions and seemed okay to drop it.

Then today we were outside playing in some mud puddles. A teenage boy rode by on a bicycle, and Daniel commented to me that the boy wasn't wearing a helmet. Then he asked, "Does it hurt a person's feelings when someone says that he isn't wearing a helmet?"

We don't have the rules figured out yet, but at least he's thinking about others' feelings!

Reading

Daniel's babysitter, Ms. Sarah, is teaching him to read some sight words. He's learned about six words or so - like, and, the, we, see, etc. She made him a little book that has sentences like, "I see the ______" or "I like the _______." He drew pictures to fill in the blanks so that he could read his very own book. It's pretty cute to watch him "read."

I think it's more fun to watch him read one of his real books though. We checked out a book called "The Rain Came Down" a couple weeks ago from the library. Because we read the same books over and over and over and because Daniel has an impeccable memory, he can recite this lengthy book almost word for word. It's so sweet to hear him read to us for a change! I'm thinking maybe he'll read to baby sister in a few months! Either that, or he'll grow tired of her in about two seconds and ask me to take her back to the hospital. We'll see......

Chocolate Chip Tree

We spent the weekend in Amarillo for a wedding. My mom and sister-in-law did a lot of babysitting for us - thank you!

Here's a story that my mom relayed to us when we got home:

Daniel told everyone that he had a chocolate chip tree outside. Uncle Brian asked how he managed to keep the chocolate chips from melting in the sun. Daniel responded, matter-of-factly, that the tree was in the shade, of course!

He's always got a "logical" reason for everything.

100 degrees

Abilene had 80 days over 100 degrees this summer. A little hot for us, especially those of us who are pregnant..... I guess I used it as an excuse too often though because today Daniel asked if we could go out on his trike. It was almost 5:00, and I was feeling tired, and I let out one of those long sighs. Knowing I didn't want to go, he said, "Mommy, is it 100 degrees again?!" Looking at the thermometer and seeing that it was actually only 88 today, we went out.

We Did It!

I've been hesitant to post this as I hated to jinx myself, but I think Daniel is finally potty trained.

He's not night-time trained, but is finally, finally pooping in the potty! He learned how to pee in the potty within just a few weeks of training, way back in January - that's right - January - 8 long, long months ago. We've struggled with pooping in the potty since that time. He had been telling us over the last few months that he would poop in the potty "when he was three." We figured this was just a ploy to delay our requests, but it appears that that really was his plan.

He turned three a few weeks ago, and he just started pooping in the potty. Just like that! We had started a sticker chart a few weeks before his birthday, and he's filled it up already, winning a prize trip to the frozen yogurt place (where he got caramel flavored yogurt with chocolate chips, reese's pieces, m&ms, gummy bears, and candy sprinkles).

I think my friend, Wendy, was right. We should have celebrated his birthday about 3 months ago and started telling him he was three then!

Farmer Daniel

Daniel has a farm. Well, Daniel thinks he has a farm.

In the weed-filled field behind our house, there is an area that Daniel thinks is his farm. It has many different purple and yellow flowers, and he likes to go check on it as often as he can. He goes to the same area each time and knows how to find it out there in the big field.

Usually David takes him on this excursion, but I went along yesterday because it was actually fairly cool out in the morning. He treats all those weeds like they're really his precious garden plants! He carefully steps over each plant to make sure he doesn't hurt any of the produce. He lifts the leaves to look for ripened vegetables or fruit. He pulls some of the flowers when he thinks that they're "ripe." He showed me how he puts the soil around the various plants. He talked about this year's crops - he's planted "squash, corn, melons, tomatoes, and wheat." He even asked me to carry around some of the "produce" as we checked other areas of the farm.

We had fun playing farmer!

Riding Horses

Daniel: I think we should ride horses on our way to the wedding.
Me: Horses? I was thinking we'd probably just go to the wedding in our car.
Daniel: No! Horses would be so much better!
Me: Why?
Daniel: Because I like to ride horses.
Me: Well, I think we'll probably take the car.
Daniel: But why??
Me: Well, we don't even have any horses.
Daniel: Maybe we could borrow some.
Me: Do you know anybody with horses?
Daniel: Yes. Farmers.
Me: Do you know any farmers?
Daniel: Um........well........yes!
Me: Who?
Daniel: The farmer that milked the cow at the county fair!
Me: He has horses too?
Daniel: Yes!
Me: And he's going to let us borrow them to take to a wedding?
Daniel: Yes!

County Fair & Parade

Here are some pics from the county fair and parade.

We let Daniel pick two rides, and he chose the motorcycles and the ATVs. He liked both of them a lot! He even wanted to go on the bigger roller coasters - he's still too little, of course. David thinks we might be a "Six Flags" family versus a "Schlitterbahn" family, considering Daniel's current phobia of anything water.

It was raining, as it does every year at fair time. We spent some time indoors, watching a cow being milked and checking out the tractors.

Daniel has been fascinated by these toy tractors every year that we've been to the fair. He could spend an hour there.

He liked the petting zoo, especially the goats and bunnies.

He was really cute at the parade and waved to everyone that passed by. He got particularly excited with the firetrucks!

Disappearing Act

We had our follow-up ultrasound today. Dr. Maberry, the perinatologist, had not been able to see everything that he wanted to during the first ultrasound. The cyst (choroid plexus cyst) that he had seen on our baby girl's brain during the first scan had disappeared! He said that they frequently disappear on their own (for unknown reasons), and that our baby looked perfectly healthy. Phew! She weighs 1 pound, 4 ounces now and is 12 inches long. No more worries of scary amniocentesis or other scary things! Thank you for all the prayers sent our way.

3 Year Check-up

Daniel had his 3-year check-up yesterday. He wasn't scheduled for any shots, but I had requested that he get the flu shot. I figured that I should warn him about the shot because he understands a lot more about doctors and shots than he did at his 2-year check-up. Anyway, I told him about it the day before, explaining that it was just a pinch and then it would be over. He'd get a band-aid and then a treat. He seemed okay with all this. Then the morning of the appointment, I reminded him that we'd be going to see Dr. McClatchy that day. He got all worked up thinking about that shot and was bawling before he even got out of bed. I finally got him calmed down, and he walked into the doctor's office confidently. I had assured him a treat would come as soon as he settled down after the shot and that it was okay to cry if he needed to. To my surprise, he didn't even cry! He took it like a champ! And then, logically, asked for his treat.

3-year stats: 3'2" and 32 pounds.

Big Boy Bed

Daniel moved to his big boy bed (a full size) on Saturday. He switched rooms from the baby room to the guest room and never looked back! He loves the dinosaur comforter set we got for him, and he's slept well two nights in a row. (He hasn't napped in it yet, but I think this is just because he's been trying to give up his nap - boo!) He stays pretty tucked in, so I'm not too worried about him falling out. We put a pillow on each side of the bed just in case. We had, obviously, been planning to put baby girl in his crib, but I wasn't planning to tell him that for quite some time. I thought he might be upset about that, but yesterday he said this:

Daniel: Mommy, what are we gonna do with the brown crib?
Me: I guess we'll just leave it there for awhile. I don't think we have anywhere else to store it.
Daniel: Hey! We could give it to my new baby sister!
Me: What a good idea!

3rd Birthday

Daniel had his 3rd birthday today. Three years old!

We had his party last weekend in Lubbock with Abuelo, Abuela, Aunt Cristi, Uncle Brian, Alejandro, and Carolina. We started with another pinata because he liked the one last year so much. He got several little goodies in there and especially liked the cars. He's still a little afraid of the wind-up teeth - he thinks they might bite him!

We opened presents, and he got a lot of things that he already loves.
*Play-Doh accessory set from Aunt Cristi & Uncle Brian
*Elmo slippers, Highlights magazine, and bathtub organizer from Abuelo & Abuela
*Candyland and a new outfit from Grandma and Grandpa
*two monster trucks from Aunt Pam, Uncle Josh, & Bryson
*a Cars VTech toy and a Cars racetrack/crash set from Aunt Heather & Uncle Brian
*popcorn and other goodies from Mr. and Mrs. Gonzales
*money and a really cool card that makes car sounds from Grandma Fox
*a remote control truck from Mr. Calvo, Mrs. Calvo, & Riley
*dinosaur comforter set and Lightning McQueen car from Mommy and Daddy

We had just planned on getting him the comforter set, but all morning he kept running up to his presents, trying to figure out which one had Lightning McQueen in it. He couldn't wait to play with that car and just knew there was one in there somewhere! I broke down and went to Toys R Us to buy the $4 car. Needless to say - he loves that thing.

Daniel has been insisting on an M&M cake for months now, so we finally got to celebrate with one. It was ridiculously sweet, and he loved every crumb. He kept trying to "share" with everyone else - which basically meant that he got them to share with him. He didn't even cry this year when everyone sang 'happy birthday' and clapped for him!

Today was his actual birthday. Fridays are work days for me, so I got up early and made him blueberry smiley face pancakes. Ms. Sarah had fun things planned for him today and made him a cool birthday hat to wear all day. I sent him with snickerdoodle cupcakes to share with his friends there. He got a new book and another toy truck from Ms. Sarah too. The only thing he didn't like was the silly string they used when he blew out his candle at her house. I guess that scared him! All in all - I think it was a good day!

Crazy Parrot

This morning when Daniel woke up, he came out of his room, and I turned on the bathroom light so I could rinse something in the sink. He said, "Are you trying to drive me crazy?!? That light is too bright!"

Do you think I may have said that before? :)

Hair Bows

Daniel's take on his little sister:

Daniel: Can we put a bow in her hair?
Me: Yeah, I think that's a good idea!
Daniel: Can we use one of those bows in the guest room?
Me: Um, those bows are for presents. We'll probably get her a hair bow.
Daniel: Ohhhh!

It's A..........

We had our 20-week ultrasound today. I had been looking forward to this date for so long, it's not even funny. I hardly slept last night because I was so excited.

So to keep you in suspense no longer.......

It's a GIRL!

We're super excited, and now I can finally get David to start talking about names with me!

Baby girl is measuring 10 inches in length and 14.5 ounces. Apparently, that's right on track for January 15th, so that's good. I guess she was sleeping during the ultrasound, and she refused to move around much. The doctor shook my belly around and had me lie in three different positions, to no avail. (I'm hoping that's a good sign for when she's sleeping outside of the womb!) Anyway, because he couldn't get her to move around much and she was all curled in a little ball, I have to go back in a couple weeks. He wasn't able to adequately view her spine since she was curled up, but he hoped that in a couple weeks she'd be more stretched out. She also had some kind of cyst or soft spot on her head. There was an actual medical term he used to describe it, but I completely forgot what it was. He assured me that as a single symptom, it meant absolutely nothing. I should have asked more questions, and I'm looking forward to seeing my OB-GYN on Tuesday and my follow-up ultrasound to reassure me that everything's okay with this little girl. Any prayers you could offer up would be appreciated!

Hooray for the first granddaughter on both sides of our family!

It's Grillin' Time

Yesterday David was grilling shrimp for our dinner, and a miraculous thing happened. It started to rain! We haven't seen much rain lately, so the three of us gathered on the back porch to watch. The wind started sweeping the rain sideways, and it was getting us a little wet.

Daniel: The rain is making me cold!
David: Well, good thing we can just throw you on the grill to warm you up.
Daniel: NO! NO! NO!
David: You don't want to get on the grill?
Daniel: NO! I would be on fire!
David: What about Mommy? Should we throw her on the grill?
Daniel: NO!
(I smile smugly.)
David: Why not?
Daniel: Because she's too big!

So much for my son being a mama's boy!

Whack-A-Mole

When I picked up Daniel from the sitter's today, he was playing whack-a-mole with Isaac and Aubrey. Discussion as we walked to the car:

Me: Were you having fun playing whack-a-mole?
Daniel: Yeah.
Me: How do you play?
Daniel: You just whack-a-mole. Isaac whacked it every time it turned green.
Me: Oh yeah?
Daniel: And I whacked it every time it turned red.
Me: So when did Aubrey get to whack it?
Daniel: When you came and picked me up.

So much for giving poor Aubrey a turn! Luckily, she's the oldest of the three, so I'm guessing if she had really wanted a turn, she just would have taken it!

Majalca

We visited Majalca, Mexico, last weekend for a family reunion. It was absolutely gorgeous there, and we had a wonderful time thanks to all of David's family for organizing everything!

Daniel had his first airplane trip, from Dallas to Chihuahua. He was a champ - sleeping both the way there and the way back! I thought he might enjoy seeing the plane take-off and everything, but he was much more interested in the grapes I gave him to eat. He had been a little leery of the plane when we had first told him about it. When we told him we were going to be flying to Chihuahua, he replied, "We could just take a car instead!" The plane trip was without incident though.

He loved Majalca. What's not to love about a place that has a trampoline, sandbox, and swing set all in the front yard? He also got to go for a ride in the ATVs, and he liked that a lot too. He even went on his first hike, and he handled it like a champ! He enjoyed scooping up minnows from the stream, touching fuzzy caterpillars, and even holding a little snake by the tail! Fearless! He watched all the older cousins play soccer and pushed a big dump truck all around the town, dragging either Aunt Cristi or Buela everywhere. By the end of the trip, the aunts and uncles got a kick out of asking him where he wanted to live. He'd reply, "I want to live in Majalca!" The only thing he didn't like was the water fights. Daniel continues to live in fear of getting wet (outside of the tub), and he was fairly freaked out when two water fights broke out at separate times! Luckily he stayed close to me. Noone dared to get the pregnant lady wet.

He tried his best to say some Spanish phrases, learning to say "mucho gusto" when he shook everyone's hand. One morning he even ran to me and said, "I'm going to go tell Ana Sofia 'buenos dias!'" and took off running to tell her! He was surprised when we crossed back into the US to hear English again. He pointed to the lady scanning our passports and said, "That lady's speaking in English!"

Say Cheese!

Today I was sitting on the big chair in the living room with Daniel. He suddenly grabs me by the head and swivels it around so that I'm staring straight ahead. Then he stares straight ahead and starts smiling with a big, cheesy grin. I look at him as if to say, "What are you doing?" And he says, "No! Mommy, look at Tacky! He's taking our picture!" (If you'll remember, Tacky is our imaginary friend.....) Anyway, Daniel held still and smiled for a good little bit, much longer than he'll ever hold still for my pictures. I guess Tacky has an advantage over me because he doesn't have to worry about Daniel running up to "see the picture" before it's even taken. Even Daniel's imagination isn't that far-fetched!

Zens Reunion

My dad's side of the family had a reunion last week in Mountainair, NM. This meant a lot of time with Grandma and Grandpa, as well as Aunt Pam and Bryson.

Grandma dancing with Daniel

(live music that Daniel couldn't get enough of) Grandma and Grandpa with the two grandsons CousinsBryson could not get enough corn in his mouth fast enough!

There was a luau on Saturday night. This was Daniel's favorite part of the trip, maybe because there was sand to play in. They even roasted a whole pig - a fact Daniel has mentioned to many people we've encountered since then!

Bryson in his leiGrandpa MonkeyGrandma MonkeyDaniel monkey

Cousins in the Bath

I'll post more about our Zens family reunion soon, but I have time for one quick story.

Daniel shared a bath with his younger cousin, Bryson (8 months old), on Friday night. Daniel got a glimpse of Bryson's "goods" when he laid back to get his hair wet. He said, in surprise, "Bryson has a little tiny penis!" He paused, looked at his, and said, "I have a big huge penis!"

I had no idea this "measuring up" would start so early! Daniel better hold on to his claim now - I'm pretty sure Bryson will pass him up in all aspects of size in just a few years!

Movement

I felt the new baby move for the first time yesterday. It seems incredibly early to be able to feel that, especially considering I didn't feel Daniel move until after 20 weeks sometime. They say you can feel the second one sooner because you know what it feels like, and I guess they were right! I felt it move during church and again when I laid down in bed last night. That has to be my absolute favorite thing about being pregnant - ever. So amazing to know that something (someone!) is really in there, and I'm not just simply getting fat!

Abilene Zoo

We took our second ever trip to the Abilene Zoo this weekend when my mom was in town. Daniel enjoyed it quite a bit - much more than last time when he was more interested in watching the people than the animals. His favorites seemed to be the flamingos, giraffes, lions, and oddly enough, snakes, but none of the animals (even the giraffes you can feed!) came close in comparison to the zoo train. This hokey little train that could hold maybe ten people captured his heart like none else.

The New Bully in Town

Daniel's imaginary friend, Tacky, is sort of a bully. I guess my kid likes to play the part of the abused. Here are some of the things that Daniel says about Tacky:

*Tacky won't let me eat my snack.
*Tacky said that I couldn't go outside and play.
*Tacky hit me and scratched me and kicked me.
*Tacky said that I can't have any breakfast.
*Tacky won't let me up on the couch.

Daniel frequently asks me to intervene and tell Tacky, "No." Instead I've been trying to teach him to stand up to his imaginary friend. So I tell him things like, "Well, Tacky's supposed to be your friend. He's not supposed to boss you around all the time. Why don't you tell him that you'd like to go play outside and that he can join you if he wants?" I figure that will help him in the long run when a real bully picks on him! Or maybe he's just destined to be bullied.....

This Day or Tomorrow?

Conversation during tonight's bath:

Daniel: Are we going to Ms. Sarah's today?
Me: Not today. Today we're just taking a bath and then going to bed. We'll go to Ms. Sarah's tomorrow though because I have to work.
Daniel: This day?
Me: No, not this day. Tomorrow.
Daniel: Is tomorrow this day?
Me: No. Today all we have left to do is bath and then bed. Then we'll go to sleep, and then it will be tomorrow. And we'll go to Ms. Sarah's.
Daniel: We'll go to sleep and then go to Ms. Sarah's this day?
Me: Well, not this day. It will be tomorrow when we go to Ms. Sarah's.
Daniel: Is it tomorrow already?
Me: No. It's today. It becomes tomorrow while you're sleeping at night.
Daniel: So are we going to Ms. Sarah's this day or not?

This went on and on for awhile. Though he couldn't understand the difference between today and tomorrow, I think he finally figured out when he would be going to the sitter's! The questions this kid asks are incessant!

Breaking the News

We broke the baby news to Daniel tonight. I was expecting one of two reactions - either excitedness or extreme anger. We got neither - it was really more like indifference! He asked a couple questions and wanted to see my belly (which, he commented, looked like a "roll"). Then he said that he had a baby in his tummy too! So now there were two babies! He seemed more excited about his baby than mine. He also mentioned that he thought the new baby should have Grandma and Grandpa as its Mommy and Daddy. As in...."Then the baby could go live in Albuquerque with Grandma and Grandpa." I think the grandparents will be more excited than he was when they find out in the next few days!

I have to add that the next morning I told Daniel, "Maybe you can help us call Grandma and Grandpa later tonight and tell them about the new baby." Daniel replied, "What baby?" Apparently it hasn't even phased him.....

FYI - I went back and published a few posts I had written about the new baby if you're interested!

Teeth Brushing Buddy

I loathe brushing Daniel's teeth. It is, by far, one of the most stressful things I have to do with him everyday - twice a day. He wiggles all around, won't open his mouth, swallows the toothpaste instead of spits, spits it onto the counter instead of in the sink, etc., etc., etc. until it drives me absolutely batty. Lately I've been asking David to handle the night brushing. I can't get away with him doing the morning one too because Daniel and I are usually too lazy to get out of bed before David leaves for work. I had tried everything to make this job easier on both of us (singing songs, dancing, threatening).....or so I thought.

I stumbled upon a dog puppet that Uncle Luis gave us in a towel set before Daniel was born. I had used it a couple times in the bath, but it seemed to freak Daniel out at the time, so I put it away and hadn't thought about it since. I pulled it out the other night and had the dog brush Daniel's teeth. I have never had a more cooperative child. The dog has that child wrapped around its little paw, and Daniel will comply to any request, including opening his mouth at all the right times, spitting the toothpaste into the sink, and not wiggling like a monkey. Thank you, God......and dog puppet.....and Uncle Luis.

Uninvited

Yesterday afternoon while I'm helping Daniel in the bathroom:

David (talking to both of us): "Who wants to come with me in the car to look at roofs?"
Daniel (running to David with his undies and shorts still at his ankles): "I do! Mommy, don't be sad. Don't cry. We'll be back in a little bit."

Guess I wasn't invited.....

Multiplying Bunnies

Daniel continues to have his imaginary friends. His most frequent visitor is Tacky, who does things like pee on the floor. He also morphs into a chimpanzee, dog, etc., depending on Daniel's mood. A group of bunnies has recently joined our household too - luckily, all imaginary. We can find them in the window blinds, under the table, and in the crib. I frequently get asked if I remembered to bring them in the car with us or if I remembered to give them water. I think they're well taken care of - Daniel spends a lot of time petting them gently.

My Budding Chef

Daniel loves to help me cook - maybe just because I'm in the kitchen a lot. He helps me most nights to make dinner, although his specialty is "trash boy," and he busily takes all the scraps of veggies, etc. to the trash for me - one piece at a time. He really is getting more and more helpful. Now he can open the fridge or pantry and find things for me, though it usually takes longer for him to find it than it would for me to get it. I try to give him jobs throughout the course of cooking to keep him interested.....and busy. He's learned a lot about food and cooking.

He likes to make pretend food too. The other day he had a pan out in the living room. He filled it with pecans, covered it with a towel and then asked me to help him put it outside so that it could "rise." (Can you tell that's where I put dough to rise sometimes?) He's also turned the entertainment center into his own little kitchen center. One of the cupboards is the refrigerator, and the area where the DVD player goes is the oven. I can frequently find pans, bowls, etc. in the "oven" where he leaves them to bake.

He helped me make David chocolate chip cookies for Father's Day. His favorite thing to do is stir the dry ingredients. I catch him sticking his fingers in the flour all the time. The chocolate chip cookies were supposed to be a secret, but David told me later that Daniel spilled the beans several times the day before Father's Day. That was too good a secret to keep quiet!

Uh-Oh

Tonight we were talking about who was whose mommy and daddy. (Is that how you'd say that??)

Anyway, we were teaching Daniel that Aunt Cristi, Uncle Luis, and Daddy all have the same mommy and daddy. And that Uncle Brian (with hair), Aunt Pam, and Mommy all have the same mommy and daddy.

We told him that someday, if he ever had a brother or sister, they would share the same mommy and daddy.

He said, "No. When I have a brother or sister, I will still have Mommy and I will still have Daddy. They will have their own mommy and daddy." He repeated this multiple times, assuring himself that it was true.

Of course, we haven't told him yet about the new brother/sister. He would spill those beans in approximately 2.5 seconds. He's in for a surprise!

Buzzing Bees

Last night Daniel had his first nightmare - or at least the first one I know about.

I woke up at 11:49 pm to the sound of his voice on the monitor, "Mommy! There's bees in here! Mommy! There's bees in here!"

I jumped out of bed, but before I even got to his room, he was high-tailin' it out of there with blankets, teddy bear, and pillow in hand. I picked him up quickly and said, "What's wrong?" He said, "Mommy! There's bees in my room!" I said, "Baby, it's okay. That was just a dream. You're okay. You're okay." He said, "No! I saw them! They were in there!"

It took me awhile to convince him that there were no bees and to lie back down in bed. I tried to explain that it was a dream and that it was all in his head, but I don't think he quite understands that abstract reality just yet! He kept saying this morning, "No bees are coming out of my head right now, Mommy."

Slow-Poke

My son's the kind of kid (so far anyway) that takes awhile to "warm up" to new things. Sometimes this frustrates me because I want him to enjoy the new fun thing we're trying to get him to do instead of sitting on the sidelines watching, but I'm trying to be patient with him. Here are a couple examples of his reticence.

Last weekend we were in Lubbock. Abuelo & Abuela took Daniel to one of those jump-around places with all the inflatables. It wasn't a huge one - it was aimed for kids under nine years of age, so there was nothing super scary. But Daniel refused to get on any of the jumping things for probably an hour - instead choosing to play on the little toys in the corner, meant more for little siblings (maybe 1 year olds) that weren't big enough to play on the inflatables. He spent far too long spinning the hands on the little clock in the pretend house versus jumping like a wild monkey in the inflatables. He finally warmed up to it an hour later and played on one of the inflatables. He wouldn't go on any of the others, including the really cool looking slide, but I felt like it was at least a small step.

We've been going to the library almost every week, probably since Daniel was about 6 months old. They have some great programs. Anyway, we've switched classes a few times, and we started going to the pre-school age class about 6 or 8 months ago. They play some of the same songs that were played in the younger class, but there are a lot of new ones too. Daniel refused to take any part in the songs (though he knew the songs as was evidenced via the monitor at nap time) while at the library and would instead sit on my lap and watch all the other kids have a good time. Finally, today (after 6-8 months, remind you!), he joined in the fun. He jumped around, carried a bear on his head, and even fell on the ground at the right spots. I hope he realized how much more fun it is to join in than to sit on the side and watch!

Pray for my patience as my slow-poke picks up new things!

First Ultrasound

I went in for my first prenatal appointment today. My official due date is 1-15-12. My doctor did an ultrasound, and everything looks great! The little baby was moving around a lot, and you could see him/her flapping his/her little stubby arms. I got to hear the heartbeat - 193 beats per minute - which is just miraculous. Can you believe my tiny baby (1.97 cm - just under an inch) has a heartbeat? Crazy how God works!

Not much else - just the basic "dos and dont's" of pregnancy from the doctor. She also said at the end of my visit, "So I guess you're hoping for a smaller baby this time, right? Wasn't your baby over 8 pounds?" I said, "Yeah, 8 lbs, 6 oz." She said, "Well, usually 2nd babies are bigger, but we'll watch you closely." Bigger, bigger?? Now I realize that there are many women (my mom and my sister included) who have had bigger babies than mine, but it's just not right! Here's hoping that we come in under 8 pounds!

Can't wait to share the big news with friends and family. This is the hardest waiting part now. After seeing that sweet little baby and hearing his/her heartbeat, I want to share with the world! But I think we'll wait a few more weeks.....

Aggie Love

Daniel: Who does Jesus love?
Me: Jesus loves everybody.
Daniel: Does he love Abuela and Abuelo?
Me: Yes.
Daniel: Does he love Grandma and Grandpa?
Me: Yes.
Daniel (smiling and laughing as if the idea was absurd): Does he love Aggies?
Me: Yes, he even loves Aggies.
Daniel: Jesus loves Aggies?!? That's silly!

Best of Cousins

So I found out this morning that my sister-in-law, Heather, is going to have a baby! Hooray! She called to say that she was pregnant, and she's due January 23! About a week after my due date! We haven't told anybody about our pregnancy yet....for some reason that always makes me nervous. So I had to work really hard during the whole conversation to not spill the beans! I'm so incredibly excited that we're going to get to go through this together and that we're going to have two little cousins that are so close in age! I think that Heather will be excited when we announce it in another month or so!

She told me that her first prenatal appointment is this Thursday - the same day as mine! It's going to be fun sharing this experience with her. :)

What Did You Say?

Two quick stories about word mix-ups.

This weekend:
Daniel was on the phone with Aunt Cristi. Abuelo and Abuela were trying to get him to tell Aunt Cristi that we'd see her on "the 4th of July." Daniel said, "We'll see you before your life." :)

Tonight:
Daniel: Do you have any M&Ms?
Me: No, we don't have any.
Daniel: Do you have any penis M&Ms?
Me: What!? No!
Daniel: Do Abuelo and Abuela have any penis M&Ms?
Me: Oh! Daniel, it's peanut M&Ms, not penis. Peanut M&Ms.

Mother's Day

A late Mother's Day post:

We spent Mother's Day weekend in Dallas with David's side of the family. We had a really good time at one of the outdoor malls in Allen on Saturday. This place was amazing! It had one of those water areas where the fountains spray up (my kid wouldn't be caught dead in there!), and it also had a huge sand area that was just like a beach. It even had buckets, shovels, etc. to play with. Daniel could have stayed there all day long. He loved it! He was buried in the sand up to his neck - literally. We met up with the Brady family while we were there too and got to spend some time with their adoable baby.

On Mother's Day, Aunt Cristi organized a brunch for Norma and I. She put all the men to work: cutting fruit, baking muffins, and making a yummy braid of sorts. Norma and I relaxed on the couch and watched everyone work. Thanks, Cristi! She was also sweet to help Daniel make a Mother's Day "card" for me with his handprints. Too cute! Daniel (and David) helped me enjoy a little shopping spree for my Mother's Day gift. Lots of fun! Enjoy the pics. :)

Birthday Switcheroo

Today we were playing with Daniel's piano. I was pinging out a few songs that he might know, and I ended up playing the "happy birthday" song.

Daniel: Is that the happy birthday song?
Me: Yeah.
Daniel: Is it my birthday song?
Me: Well, it's everyone's birthday song. We're going to sing it to Riley on Saturday.
Daniel: I want it to be my birthday. I want a cake.
Me: Your birthday will come in September.
Daniel: I want a cake before September!

(He proceeds to scream and cry, repeating this mantra.....)

(He finally settles down.....)

Daniel: I want it to be my birthday.
Me: Well, first we'll celebrate Riley's, then Mommy's, then Grandma's, then Grandpa's, and then Daniel's.
Daniel: I want to switch with you and I have your birthday and you have my birthday.
Me: Well, I promise to share some of my cake with you.
Daniel: Will Riley give me cake?
Me: Yes, I'm sure she'll share her cake with you.
Daniel: I want two pieces.

That child loves him some cake!

Enchiladas y Mas

So Daniel's been taking off his clothes after we put him down for a nap or bedtime. This wouldn't be a big deal, except that he also takes off his pull-up and has had quite a few accidents. He falls asleep naked, then wakes up screaming because he's wet. That's fun for everyone.....

The strange thing is - this process of getting naked in the crib - is known as "enchilada" to Daniel. As in, when we ask him, "What are you doing naked?" He consistently replies, "I'm an enchilada."

No idea where he comes up with this stuff.....

Figure 8's

We spent an hour outside this afternoon (in the upper 90s I might add) doing figure 8's on the trike. You see, Daniel found two large puddles - must have been someone's sprinkler drainage. The puddles were on either side of a street in our neighborhood. He went round and round through them - loving every second. He eventually got going too fast and tipped his trike, landing himself into the puddle. After a few tears, he was back on the trike, at it again. I had to drag him inside when his cheeks finally started getting red!

Good Morning!

Yesterday morning Daniel woke up, and I heard him yelling, "Go away, morning! Go away, morning! Go! Go!"

I guess he hasn't figured out that he can just close his eyes and go back to sleep if he's still tired. It's not like there's a demanding 2 1/2 year old begging him to get out of bed and make him breakfast! He is his mother's child.....

What's that Smell?

David went to check on Daniel tonight after he'd been in bed about an hour. He came out and asked me, "What did you put in Daniel's room that smells so good? It smells like perfume or a candle or something." At first I thought it was a trap and that I would walk into a stinky pull-up situation, but I went to check anyway. I immediately recognized the smell of Daniel's wipes. I figured the wipe box had been left open, so I was feeling around in the dark to close it when I hear Daniel say, "No wipes." I turn on a light and put the pieces together of what took place after "lights out."

1. Daniel climbed out of his crib.
2. Daniel got his box of wipes from his changing table.
3. Daniel threw the box of wipes into his crib.
4. Daniel climbed back into his crib.
5. Daniel proceeded to empty the entire box of wipes, making some of them into "wormies" by wadding them up and throwing others behind his crib.

And then there were four...

We found out last night that we're expecting our second baby! We couldn't be more excited! I think the due date is somewhere around January 17, 2012. I called and made an appointment for my first prenatal visit which will happen 6-9-11. I'm excited for that day because I know my doctor will do an ultrasound, and I'll, hopefully, be able to see that everything looks okay. I read online that my new baby's heart will start beating this week. Yea!

It was a strange feeling to know that our family is now four. I can't wait to see how things turn out for all of us! Praise God for blessing us with another baby!

Climbing Monkey

Tonight Daniel threw a fit when Daddy was going to put him in his highchair for dinner. He wanted Mommy to do it. We've had this argument before.....anyway, we told him he could wait to eat until he was ready for Daddy to put him in his highchair. He paused a moment, then climbed into the highchair himself and sat down. He said, while giggling, "I got in my highchair myself!"

Then later tonight, we put him to bed in his crib without a bedtime story.....(long story).....anyway, he came waltzing back out into the living room about 5 minutes later. He sure did climb out of that crib! He proceeded to do it two more times before he got the picture that he'd just have to get right back in.

It's amazing what anger will push a kid to do! He's quite a little monkey! And we may be switching to a big-boy bed sooner than we thought.....

FAIL

No more poops in the potty. I think it might, literally, be another four months. Maybe not.....but it definitely wasn't today.

Daniel had to poop so badly tonight. He would come running up to me, shaking his hands frantically and whining, "I need to go poop!" So I'd get him on the potty. He'd sit there all of 1 minute and say, "I feel better now. I don't need to poop." We made at least 5 trips to the potty in this same manner with no results.

He went back to his "hold it until you have to" mode, and he made it. When I put his pull-up on him tonight after his bath, he started giggling excitedly as if to say, "I knew I could make it 'til the pull-up!" I put him to bed, checked on him 10 minutes later, and changed his pull-up. Bummer!

Gimme the News

David's been teaching Daniel some older rock songs.

Daniel's been singing:
"Doctor, doctor, gimme the news.
I have a bad case.
I love you!"

He's close!

Alleluia!

After four very long months of potty training, he did it. Daniel pooped in the potty today! Hooray! I realize anybody reading this that's not a mother is grossed out - and I apologize for that - but it's a big deal around here!

I wouldn't say that it's a done deal yet, but we're definitely on the right track now! He actually even did it twice today, but I think he really needed to go more, and he was just holding back because he's still a little freaked out about the whole idea.

Here's hoping that it's not another four months before we have a repeat performance!

Easter

We celebrated Easter in Amarillo this year with my family. Aunt Heather and Uncle Brian were such gracious hosts, and we had a really good time! Daniel got to drive the riding lawnmower with Uncle Brian, and I don't think he'll forget that anytime soon! They were pretending to try and run us all over, and Daniel thought that was hilarious!

We dyed Easter eggs this year. Daniel picked a "monster" kit so we had stickers, pipe cleaners, and fuzzy hair to make all the Easter eggs turn into monsters!

Here's Daniel and Bryson pretending to be monsters with stickers and pipe cleaners for themselves! Poor Bryson didn't get a say in the matter! Isn't he the cutest baby you've ever seen?! He smiles like that all the time!

Daniel enjoyed finding his Easter eggs on Sunday morning. He was super excited to find M&M's, crackers, and peanut butter chips in some of them! His basket was filled with new stickers, a lizard pen, a Buzz Lightyear notebook, an Easter book, a baseball hat, two eggs with candy, a toy submarine, and a new shovel. The shovel was by far the biggest hit, and he spent the rest of the afternoon outside, digging in the dirt. Aunt Heather hooked him up with a wheelbarrow, and he was in heaven.