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!