DDD for Feb 28

He loves to be helpful, even when there is no need for any helping.

Daily Dose of Daniel for February 27

Daniel is busy working in the snow, moving it from place to place.

DDD February 25

Daniel's first snowman! And the 5th snow of the winter! His dad was
a great sport for taking him out to play this morning, and Daniel was
so excited about being in the FOOF. (We still can't get him to say
SNOW!)

DDD for 2-25-11

Daniel got this hat and was pulling on the door handle, begging to go
"OWWWWt".

Since we have a few inches of snow and sleet slush, he did not get the
answer he was hoping for!

I felt impressed that he could get the hat on his head! It took a
while, but he did it!

DDD for February 24

This is what our son looks like as a sick child, plus gooey eyes and a
running nose. The really tired and grumpy look is basically what he
is like except for the first two hours AFTER ibuprofen. He is also
saying, "Oh. Oh." and whining a lot. I am looking forward to a
heallthy boy soon!

Little Laundry Helper.

Daniel can hear the words "wash" or "laundry" or "dirty clothes" from any room in the house.  He even picks up on these terms when they are used differently, like 'Wash my hair" or "We need more laundry soap" or  "Your clothes are dirty from the chocolate pudding".

He will run into the laundry room and shout, "UP!".  He will also make washing noises and say "Wsh".  He wiggles his hips and moves back and forth, a lot like The Twist, but we call this dance the Washing Machine dance instead.

His helping tower was in the laundry room, and it helped him perfectly reach to dump clothes in the washing machine.  He is also able to put only one full scoop directly into the machine, no spills (a lot of practice!).

Usually these days we don't have to watch an entire laundry cycle, but we do need to check in on the laundry a few times when he hears the rinse cycle or spin cycle begin.

DDD for February 23

Its 38 degrees and misty here... and Daniel has a cough and is less
energetic, so no park today! This is from Sunday when it was about 20
degrees warmer.

DDD for February 22

He is a great laundry helper! He thinks it is fun, not a chore.

DDD for Feb 21

Is it any surprise this monkey likes the monkey bars???

DDD for Feb 20

We went to the park on Sunday! It was so much fun for Daniel.

Working.

 Bath time is a serious time for Daniel.  He has a lot of work to accomplish, and usually just 20 minutes to do it in (we have to draw the line somewhere.  He just loves his baths and could go for an hour!)

 Most of his duties include transferring water from one container to the next.  He has been doing something like this since about 9 months old, but recently he has been more intent and much more proficient at it.

First Oreo.

Well, he takes after me in one respect... a love for chocolate that his father just does not share.  He could not get enough of these oreos for snack!  Fortunately for me (because there were not too many left!) he didn't realize that one entire cookie is made of two parts, so he only had 2 cookies total when he thought he was hot stuff for getting four!  

DDD for February 19

Lately Daniel has been Mr. Casual in his car seat. On this fussy trip
home from the library, he fell asleep a moment after I took the photo.

Valentine's Card From Daniel to Mom

Dan had him bring it to me while I was getting ready for work that morning, and he shyly handed me the card. I haven't really seen Daniel be bashful before, but he was about this! He showed me where he signed his name, too. It was a really sweet moment.

Brownie Helper

Daniel's learning tower is used very often during the times when we must be indoors and find something other than watching the washing machine or watching a Sesame Street DVD to occupy his time.

He can pour the batter mix into the bowl without spills these days, but he does prefer to pour in the (premeasured) water and oil.  He also points to the eggs and says something that sounds like the word egg.  He usually drops the whole egg in the bowl if I am not watching!  I always crack the eggs, but I think soon he will want this gooey job.

Daniel has been fascinated by sprinkles since his Dad let him put them on muffins a few months ago.  He gets into the cabinet with baking supplies (which is off limits, so then he gets in trouble) and carries around the containers of sprinkles (and cinnamon and etc).  I let him put the sprinkles on the brownies unassisted this time.  WOW.  There were a lot of sprinkles!

 He really, really loves chocolate, and while I have my qualms about letting him lick the batter (raw eggs! Salmonella!), the pediatrician said he lets his kids do it, and Daniel isn't immunocompromised....so... we'll follow his lead and let him lick the spoon and then expect him to grow up as healthy as we did as frequent-spoon-lickers, too.

Photos from Winter Weather Event #4... aka, the Blizzard of 2011

During the first week of February, we had a Major Snow Event.   Our yard easily had 18 inches of snow, and the piles Dan made from shoveling the driveway were over 6 feet tall.   We were cooped up in the house for three days unable to drive anywhere, and DHH himself stayed in the home from Sunday afternoon (we went to a grocery store to get some milk and etc... WOW we weren't alone!) until the following Friday morning.  He was cooped up!  He wanted desperately to spend time with his shovel in the FOOF, but wind chills only let him do this two or three times.   Here are photos from some of those times.

This is the blizzard.  Windy.  See the bird who camped out under our grill?

This is drifted snow... it came right up to his window!  Easily 3 feet!

He REALLY wanted to open this door.  He kept tugging at the handle.   

The fire pit is buried.

This is after the major snow event.  Dan shoveled half of the drive, but it was covered again with 10 more inches by morning.

Daniel watched his dad shovel.  When he got the chance, he brought out his shovels, too.

It went to his waist!

Can you find Daniel!?

One of my favorites.

Here he is begging to stay outside.  The only way I could get him in was to promise HOT CHOCOLATE!

He didn't really like having snow on his shoes.  He whined about it.

Snow on his head!  And in his mouth!

What a helper.

As you can see from these photos, Daniel became more adventurous with his FOOF.  He wanted to touch it, taste it, and look at it.  He still did not want to walk in it (more like wade in it!), and he preferred to reach over into the snow piles from the safety of the pavement.  He also had practice enough to know to leave the hat and gloves ON this time, instead of shouting OFF!!

The snow from this storm finally all melted on February 18th... two weeks of very deep snow was fun to watch!