A New Set of Vocabulary Words

Shooting
Go Hunting
Dee Dee Pow Pow Pow Shoot a Gun!
Go hunting with Poppy
Go hunting with Poppy Zekey
Go hunting with Daddy in the woods
Deer hunting
Shoot hunting
Shooting a gun
Shoot Pow Pow!


Daniel learned these tonight at dinner and tried the words out on a phone call to his Haid grandparents.  Its the first time he's talked about hunting ever, and the first time in a few weeks he's talked about firearms.  As he was saying these phrases excitedly and quickly in a loud voice, his father's face lit up with a smile.

Something Poppy Taught You

(and you think its so cool)

You beg for syrup (choc seegrup) in your mouth when we make a chocolate milk for you.  My dad, your Grandpa Douglas, taught you this bad habit / annoying request/ little trick when we visited him last month.

I usually indulge you, but your dad doesn't.  (I like chocolate more than he does, so perhaps that's why!)

I also tolerate messes better than he does.

I bet Poppy wouldn't like a sticky face like this either.

Visiting Easter Bunny at Bass Pro

Daniel's paternal grandparents took him to Bass Pro to see the fish, boats, and the Easter Bunny. The Easter Bunny was the least impressivet thing at Bass Pro that day. He would not sit up by the bunny without his Grandpa, and the professional photo they had taken shows Daniel jumping from Grandpa Zeke's lap with an angry look on his face. So this is just not the year for larger than life holiday characters at Bass Pro for Daniel.

Exploring Pop's Shop

Daniel loves mowers, ATVs, tractors, trucks... anything with wheels and a steering wheel that he can climb on and pretend to ride.  He often tries them out at hardware stores, but this time he got to see some in action in his grandpa's garage.

He knew where the keys should go and how to turn on the headlights.  

What a funny face.  Maybe this is how he thinks all drivers look?

Maybe one day we'll never have to do any lawn maintaining again!

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!

42 Week Letter

Dear Baby,

This week you had a chance to be around many, many children.  We went to the PAT Spring Carnival, and there were dozens of babies, toddlers, and pre schoolers there for you to watch and interact with.  Mostly you watched them.

We took a mid week trip to visit my parents in St. James.  You really enjoyed playing at their house! You wanted to explore all around your Grandpa Douglas's chair.  This meant you tried to topple over the floor lamp, eat pens, knock over his books, and get into his business.  These things seemed like more fun than your baby toys here!  You enjoyed playing peek a boo, pulling up on all the furniture, climbing the couch, and moving from room to room.  You also climbed the stairs several times.  One time you climbed them so quickly and quietly that I only noticed when you were upstairs laughing!  I am suprised that you can do things like this since we don't have stairs at home to practice. 

Nana's students wrote you more letters and were excited for you to visit their classroom.  It was a rainy day, so we stayed inside.  They sang a song for you, petted your head as if you were a dog, and were enamoured by you. They really loved you and loved to show off for you.  You stayed there all afternoon and missed a nap, but you didn't fuss too much. 

You threw up in my hair this week.  You threw up on my pillow, too.  Gross.  Can you stop this, please?

You continued to enjoy playing in the Jeep this week.  You think its so fun to crawl around and pull on all the handles.

You also started to drink from a straw this week.  You lunge for any cup with a straw and a lid these days!

We love you so much, little Daniel.  Thank you for being so obedient and playful.

Love
Your parents

He LOVES Grandpa Douglas!

My parents visited us this weekend and Daniel was again transfixed my by dad. Any time my dad spoke, Daniel searched for him and then fixed his gaze onto him. When my dad would buzz his lips or make silly noises, Daniel shrieked in delight. This was a good visit for Daniel, and I think it was also for my Dad.

Thankful For You, 17 Weeks Old!

Dear DHH,

This week celebrates 17 weeks of you in our lives and sharing our lives.  Hurray!

The theme of this week is visitors.  You were surrounded by extra ones who love you all week!  You basked in their attention, though you did get a rash on your face from all the extra cuddles.

Aunt Rachel came for a quick visit on Sunday and Monday.  She arrived in time to play with you for a long time on Sunday evening, which was fun for you.  You played and showed off your talents of talking and standing.

On Monday morning, my best friend Ann Hoemann came to visit.  You can call her Aunt Ann, if you want, because she is like a sister to me.  She had never met you before, but has looked at your photos daily.  She reads your baby website, too, as well as listens to you talk on the phone when we are having a conversation.  It is my hope that you will be quite close with the Hoemanns because they are excellent people. I also hope you are BFFs with their kids!

Aunt Rachel watched you on Monday afternoon while Ann and I shopped.  I think she enjoyed holding you, but you were a stinker and didn't want to take a nap for her.  I bet it is because she is so much fun you just wanted to be awake!

On Tuesday, you spent a lot of time shopping.  Yes, you were out all day shopping!  And you were good and peaceful and lovely.  I was happy to spend time with you and my friend.

The rest of the week was spent getting ready to meet and greet family members for the Thanksgiving holiday.  We went to Hermann first, where you spent time with your grandparents and then at G.Grandma Landolt's.  Most of her family was there, so you had an overabundance of cuddles and "hook me"s.  We planned to visit your Douglas family on Friday for lunch, but you had other ideas.  You wouldn't go back to sleep at 5 AM, so we left Hermann earlier than planned and surprised your other set of grandparents.

On Saturday, we all attended a Cooley reunion at Winkler church. My maternal grandfather was Thomas Maxwell Cooley.  He passed away when I was in first grade.  You are his third great grandson and fourth great grandchild.  It meant a lot for my grandmother, Sherry Cooley, to have most of their grandchildren and all of their great grandchildren there.

This week we started reading two new books to you: Doctor Dan the Bandage Man and Little Gorilla.  You enjoy turning the pages of the book. 

Another thing we started to do this week was have you sleep with a space heater on in your room.  I was concerned about the chill in the air and the coolness of your skin at night, so I bought one for your room.  We keep it toasty in there!  You seem to sleep much better through the night, and I sleep better not worrying about your warmth.

Yet another new thing for you is rolling over.  You have started to roll from front to back.  You have been rolling from side to side for about a week now, and occasionally you get enough momentum to roll all the way over.  You seem very surprised when you get onto your stomach, as if the whole world has changed, and I suppose it has!  You don't spend much time rolling over onto you belly, but when you do, everyone around you is impressed.

We are also impressed by your time in the exersaucer.  Nana bought it for you a few months ago, but now you are strong and tall enough to enjoy it!  From the moment we put you into the plastic exercise toy, you were in curious amazement.  Your faces were so cute, ranging from shock, to giggles, to glee, to intent focus.

Even though you enjoy independent play time, you still love being held close and rocked.  You seem to need more comforting when you are around "strangers", and you cling to me.  Its nice to get your hugs.  After extended time with family, thoes "srangers" aren't so strange anymore and you warm up for them.  However, when we get back home, you seem to think that I can give you the same amount of attention as five people, and I can't, so you become a bit whiny and sullen.  That's okay. I understand you are just lonely.

Two other things about this week... both are random facts.  1) You haven't pooped all week.  In fact, its been twelve days.  2) We keep Christmas music playing in your room all day and plan to do this until the end of the year.  You especially love when your Daddy sings Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer to you.

That's all for now!
Love your Mama Bethany