Sunday Adventure

This last Sunday we went to visit Dan's parents in Hermann. Daniel was really excited.

He spent almost all day outdoors. He rode the 60 year old pedal tractor, pulled a wagon around, played pop rocket, took a gator ride, watched a fire in the pit and found things to put inside it to burn, visited both great grandmas, and avoided eating all foods except for cake. He so threw rocks in the creek with his sister, dad, and grandpa.

He took a bath and grandma Becky scrubbed the smoke smell and grime off his body. Because he had no clean clothes he wore an extra polo shirt found in a closet... A men's size medium. He was so exhausted on the way home that he made himself ridiculously upset about not getting to see the MO river (not paying attention) and forgetting to give his grandma a hi-five goodbye. Later on he ride home he ripped off a toenail and was very depressed that he dropped the clipping down into his carseat because he wanted to "keep it forever".

What a trip!

Weekend in STJ

Daniel went to St James with his sister and had so many things to share about his Saturday. It was warm and pretty, so they were out all day playing on swing set, on four wheeler with aunts, flying a kite, and taking a tractor ride with Poppy. Aunt Jessica did Lincoln logs with him and he rediscovered all the Grandparent toys.

Sunday was rainy, but I think Daniel still had a nice time because he was able to use scissors and glue dyeing an Elsa nap... And those are two of his favorite "toys" these days!

Quick Hermann Trip

Gator ride
Seeing passenger train go through town
Playing in basement with grandpa
Singing for grandparents
Seeing cows
Playing in pink play castle
Eating four muffins and four pieces of pizza for lunch
Short nap, upset that dad and grandfather left to do man work without him
Playing with pump-rocket outside
Visit GGMA Haid
Visiting GGma Landolt
Sad to leave

Report From Grandma Nanny

Dear Daniel,
   You've stayed for extended weekends with your Douglas grandparents now several times, and I wanted you to know that we miss you during this time, but we also know you are having a good time.  We have a good time doing non-toddler things like eating in quiet restaurants or watching movies with kissing and explosions (instead of cartoon mice and puppets!).


Here is an excerpt from and email your grandma sent to me:

Daniel just went down for his nap.  He ate a good lunch today.

Hotdog, pretzels, applesauce and 2 cookies

He likes

Bob the builder.  He watched about 20 minutes before he went down for his nap.

We went to play with his trucks at the school playground this morning.  Nancy Hall was there and invited us in

To see her new pre- school set up and Daniel got to play with some of the pre-school toys.  He had a fun time.

She invited him again to play.

We went to the grocery store and then came home.  He played a while then ate lunch and watched a little TV then went down for a nap

He did want to go outside last night when we were talking to you but I just talked to him about it being dark and we had to wait for the sunshine to come out and he was ok with that

He wanted me to rock him for a few minutes then went right to sleep and slept until about 7:30 or closer to 8:00.   He may have slept longer but Grandpa heard him and went up to get him.

He was pretty groggy and may have slept a little longer if left alone.

We use the computer to chat with you, and you really seem to enjoy the face to face interaction.  Its so good to see your face and hear your giggles, and its fun to play with you through the screen.  Last night you and I joked around about sharing a drink with a straw through the webcam.  You were so happy to see your sister's face too, and tried to kiss her.  It was great.

I wish I had the same opportunity as you did to spend time with your grandparents like this, but when I was your age, my grandparents were very old or very busy or sick, so I didn't get to.  Your grandparents are younger, less busy, and healthy, so I think you and EK can do this more often!  You'll get to know them well.

Love ya, little 24 month old!

Favorite Hobby: Water Play

While we visited my parents, Daniel got the chance to use a new sink to do some of his favorite activities:  pouring and filling.

These are some new jammies.  He is adorable in them!

So focused here.

I was cleaning up some of our mess in the house and every so often, Daniel would call for me.  "Mama! Mommeee! Mommeeeee!".

I'd come to him and he'd point and say, "Bup!"

"You want another cup, baby?".

"Uh-huh!"

Aside from his soaked shirt and a bit of water on the floor, it actually not that messy of an activity!  I prefer it to sandboxes and mudpuddles!

Playing at Nana's and Pop's House

We visited my parents' home in St. James on the first weekend of April.  The photos progress in level of enthusiasm.  Daniel REALLY had a great time running outdoors and we could not keep him away from the tractors!  

Stomping on acorns.

Collecting acorns.

He always tries to figure out these solar lights.  We have several of them in our neighborhood and he tries to dash into other's yards to do the same thing.  He points at those lights and says, "Nana's!!!". 

 This is Daniel's current favorite photo.  He looks at a copy of it that we hang on the fridge while he eats.  He jabbers away in tractor noises and talks about Pop.

This is a thrilled face.  He was too excited to yell or talk or even smile!

He immediately went to shift the gears.  He hasn't really had practice driving tractors, but from the way he is so comfortable on one, you'd think he'd been mowing fields for years!

This is a 1939(?) Farmall tractor that was my grandpa Tom Cooley's tractor.  My dad fized it and restored it and babied it over the years.  When Daniel is old enough to drive it... or tall enough to!... it could be easily 75 or 85 years old!

My dad often jokes about how his tractors are red and better than Daniel's other grandpa's green tractors.  I don't think Daniel cares about the color, just the fact that BOTH his grandpas have tractors.  He gets so excited when we talk about visiting either grandpa and their tractors.

We went away from the tractors and back to the house.  Daniel had another idea and needed to run back to look at the tractors again!

A Creative Game of His Own Device

I was preparing a meal at my parents house and using their computer as a cookbook, so I admit that I only had one eye on my son, and at times, only half.  He was walking around their dining room table and peeking into their pantry.  There were no loud noises or mysterious lack of sounds, so it sounded like normal play time.    I realized about five minutes later what he was doing.

He was so serious as he transfered their canned items from a lower shelf on the pantry onto the table top.  He even stacked some of the cans!  It was his own arrangement, and as you can see from the photos, he was taking his work very seriously.  

Once all of the cans and jars had been moved to the table, he closed the pantry and began to play with some trucks.  It was if his work was done!  I left the cans there for a few hours, then put them away so as not to confuse my parents.

Visit with Cousin Kayla, G.Aunt Sheila

This weekend, Dan's Aunt Shelia and only Haid cousin Kayla stopped by for a visit.  We'd like to assume they were visiting us, but we understand that Daniel Henry is probably the main attraction.

They brought thoughtful birthday gifts.  He received a bath time turtle (with wheels!) and a new MU Tigers outfit.  Daniel seemed to like the turtle better than the clothes.  He took no notice of them... can you imagine? I didn't realize that love of clothing was passed on the Y chromosome!

He also liked the gift bag itself.  We kept it for him to play with and he pokes the monkey illustration and jabbers to it.

It was nice to see our family and while we have a hard time believing that Kayla is a senior (with senior photos!) we understand they think our little boy is growing up quickly, too.  They offered a night of babysitting, which we gladly look forward to!

Another Visit To the Library

He crawled in to this arm chair by himself!

And he watched Asante and Aly play puppets and me read to Taylor.

He climbed up on the chair to get a better view of story time.  He loved watching the other children laugh and sing.

Taylor came with us.  She ate his baby snacks and made Daniel laugh!

Daniel and Winona met.  Their parents worked in Graham Hall!