Lollipops for Breakfast

Daniel has a little fever and cough. He wasn't interested in a cough drop, so I thought a dumdum might do the trick. He did eat most of a waffle, which is odd because as a healthy boy he eats three waffles at least. He is also happy to plop on the couch with a Curious George movie instead if being rowdy and playing trains.

Sick on Christmas

Daniel had a high fever that he adamantly denied having on Christmas Day in St. James. He also had a bit of a sneeze.

Daniel threw a big for about getting his photo taken and was slightly disinterested in his Christmas gifts. He barely noticed the special Mickey Mouse wrapping paper Nanny used for him.

He took a three and a half hour nap in the middle of the day and went to bed at 5:45 pm. He also spent an hour on the couch cuddling with me.

The worst part of his day was when we force fed him Tylenol. It was unpleasant to say the least.

The best part was him talking about Jesus as our Savior. He also liked playing with his new dump truck.

41 Week Letter

Dear Daniel.

Here are some notes about your forty first week in our home, which happened during the month of May.

During this week, you began to point consistently. You point at your parents, the fan, lights, windows and outside, and a few other familiar things.  Sometimes you point with your index finger, but more than not, you point with your entire fist.  It looks really cute. I find it interesting that you are pointing at objects and people that you know very well instead of pointing at unfamiliar objects.  I think you are saying "I see this here!" or "That's my Dad!" instead of "What's that over there?".

You giggled a lot this week.  You laughed hysterically at nothing I could notice as being funny.  You must be thinking of funny jokes. 

Our friend Ann Hoemann visited us this week.  She played with you a lot and marveled at your growth in just one month! You have really taken great strides in your personality, crawling speed, and capacity to express your emotions!

I had your car seat properly installed this week at the fire department.  It was not installed correctly, so you've been riding in less safety than I'd have liked.  All is better now, and you are on the passenger side next to the window, which you seem to really enjoy.  The view is much better!  During the installation process, I let you play in the front seat. You love to play in the car almost as much as you love to play with the dishwasher.  I could tell that your silly giggles and shrieks made the car seat installer lady really happy.  You were just in such a good mood!

You gave me a good scare this week  Its been awhile since we've had a medical scare, so I guess its okay.  But this one... bloody stools... shudder.  Gross.  And unpleasant to consider the bacterial causes that could be behind such an unfortunate behind issue.  Dr. Wheeler took good care of us and made sure to get your poop cultured.  With any luck, it will have been some minor thing that your immune system made quick work of.

You follow me around the house each day while I am doing chores or just going into another room.  You get really excited when you "find" me, as if I've been playing a game of Peek A Boo with you.  I scoop you up and give you a hug and show you what I've been doing in that room. Sometimes I put you back down and go back about my business and you track me into another room and the game is repeated!  You really have mastered the floor plan of this small house.  Good for you!  I hope you will be very spatially oriented.

It was a very rainy week, so there was minimal outdoor play time.  Sorry, bud.  Instead, you did play one day in the rec center day care.  I think you had a good time and the nanny there told us you loved to stand up at the snack table and smile at the little girls.  She said, "He is such a happy baby!" several times!  You can add another member to your fan club, I suppose.

This week your smile changed again as your top teeth came in even further.  It looks sweet, though crooked.  I wonder why you don't want to chomp with those things... you still prefer baby food purees!  Textures and crunch are not fun for you for some reason.  And so you eat a lot of mush - bananas and oatmeal, mango smoothies, steak shakes  - really soft and mushy things!

As you can see from these photos, you are very cute.  We love you so much! 

An Unpleasant, But True Story.

Daniel had projectile vomitting today while sitting on his dad's lap on the couch.  It covered his father, who was shirtless, and the couch. It did not get me because I ducked.  

This was his grossest vomit ever.  It looked a lot like this cartoon, and also a lot like a fountain and fire hydrant.  

I don't think he is sick.  I think he drank too much water, has a sensitive belly due to trying cow milk for the first time this week, and had been doing several tip me over and pour me out singalongs with his dad.

40 Weeks

Dear Daniel,

You tried a few new foods this week, including watermelon and Colby cheese.  You didn't appear to enjoy either of them for the first few bites, but you quickly acclimated to the taste and gobbled them.

This week I heard you say Mom-mom several times.  You usually say it after you've woken up and want me to come get you.  This is really neat for me!  I knock on your door and say, "Mama is here, baby!".  You shriek in delight.  This is such a wonderful welcome into your room.  You could not do this a few months ago.  I like it so much!

We visited the library to check out a developmental play kit. I didn't realize that you hadn't been there in recent months.   The last time I went with you, I was looking for a book on infant sleep solutions.  You howled.  People seemed miffed until they noticed I was in the "Self Help Baby Section". You really enjoyed playing in the library. You crawled all around the children's section.  You were interested in the book shelves and all of the doors and windows.  One day I hope you will love the books, too!

This week you started to be a bit cling-y.  When you are tired, you want me to hold you.  I cannot put you down to do a few quick errands because you want to be on my hip, resting your head.  At morning nap on Wednesday, you wanted more cuddling.  I put you down in the crib and your lip quivered and you began to sob.  When I picked you up, you threw your arms around my neck. I gave you five more minutes of rocking and cuddles.  It made me feel warm and fuzzy that you like me this much, since its obvious I love YOU so much.  It is affirming to see outward affection. 

 You have started to have favorite things.  Like your toothbrush.  You love it.  You love us brushing your teeth. You like to try to brush your teeth.  You like to lick the bristles.  You like to hold your toothbrush and look at it.  When we take it away, you sob as if the world has ended and it is your parents who are at fault.  Good grief, baby.

We went to an auction in Hermann this week.  You were calm and stayed in a baby back carrier I wore during the morning.  Then we went to Great Grandma Landolt's house for a little while.  You surprised her by crawling up her stairs at lightening speed!  She did not realize you were such a fast crawler or stair climber! Grandma Becky took you for a tour of her flower garden, which amused you.  You tried to eat many of the blossoms! You did not like it when we sat you up in a patch of Columbine plants. I guess it was too scratchy for you.  You played at Grandma Becky's house and were so active that she said she needed a nap after you left!  You had so many things to explore.

I took a lot of photos of you this week, baby.  You were so patient during these times.  Often you want to grab for the camera, and you do not sit still like you used to.  It is difficult to get a good smiling shot.  As you can see from these photos, you are quite active and have a mind of your own!  You don't like me to tell you to sit still!

We went to Hermann another time this week for a special surprise birthday party for Great Grandma Landolt.  You were her only great grandchild present (well, you are the ONLY one).  Lots of your family was there, including your grandparents, Uncle Wes, cousins, and great aunts and uncles.  You were so popular, of course.  Everyone passed you around, which probably wasn't the best idea, since you started to get fussy.  It was a little bit chilly that day, so you wore a sweater that Grandma Landolt had knitted for your father (or your uncle) some twenty five years before.  You got a bit over heated and started to cry.  You rarely cry, so I thought that something was wrong.  When we got home and fed you, I noticed you were hot, so we took your temperature.  You were well over 100 degrees!  103!  We cooled you off in a lukewarm bath and with some cool water.  You were so unhappy and uncomfortable! the rest of the weekend you were miserable, but your fever lessened.  We cuddled you on the couch and gave you a lot of extra rest.  Two days later, your top teeth started to appear.

This week was a great week, son.  I love you, your father loves you, your family loves you, and your God loves you.

From Mama

Anywhere Can Be a Playground...

Even the waiting room of a laboratory!

Daniel had some blood and mucous in his diaper last week, so we had to take the soiled diaper to the lab for testing. 

Daniel played on the chairs and smiled at the other patrons while we waited.

Unfortunately, his "sample" wasn't large enough, so I had to take a paristology kit home to do at a later, more voluminous, diaper change. (EW)

No word yet on what bug has plagued him with less than optimal health, but the grossness of diaper change has ended at least. 

And he did have fun walking back and forth and over the rails of those chairs!

8 Weeks Old!

Dear Baby,

You are completing your second month in the world. The baby books don't officially call you a 2 month old yet... for some reason, they wait until you've lived 9 weeks before you get that title. So for now, I can still call you a one month old, which seems so odd! You are so much bigger, stronger, and happier than when you were one month old.

Even this week you are more cheerful, even though you and I have come down with the dreaded SWINE FLU. This virus has gotten so much publicity and is part of pop culture, so its fitting that I mention it to you. In short, we survived! I started to feel ill on Sunday night and got very sick very quickly on Monday. I emailed your pediatrician, thinking perhaps you'd get sick, too. Luckily, we were able to go in for a visit. You had rashes and a slight fever, which indicated we needed blood work to see if you were a sick kid or a VERY sick puppy. If you were very sick, we would have had to stayed over night in the hospital as you were given IV fluids and medicine. Apparently, children who are as young as you aren't able to recover from illness as well as adults are. It was a very good thing that I took you to the doctor!

I did have to watch you get your blood drawn, which was probably your least favorite adventure of your little life so far. You were placed on a table on your back, and it was my job to hover above you and hold down your legs and torso. Two nurses worked at getting a line into the crook of your elbow. You screamed, wailed, and shrieked. It was a very negative experience for you. As for me, I found it unpleasant, too. I had fever and chills and watching your blood leave your arm through an angel hair pasta sized tube was nauseating.

You did not have to be hospitalized, and we both were able to recover from the H1N1 virus in th comfort and privacy of our own home. Your father stayed with us on Wednesday morning and all day on Thursday. He gave us the extra cuddles and attention we needed to beat the flu! He was also in charge of suctioning the thick mucous from your nostrils. Its gross, but needs to be recorded... you had some adult sized boogers up there. YUCK. However, you were so sick that I think you were happy to have those things removed from your nostrils so you could breathe better. We both benefited from the installation of a humidifier in your room, especially when I added aromatic vapor drops to the humidifier tray. We turned a corner towards healthy that night!

While at the doctor's office, your weight was recorded. I was utterly shocked to learn you weighed twelve pounds, 10 ounces! What a drastic growth gain from 8 pounds just six weeks earlier.

Other things you did in your 8th week include wearing this very proper little boy outfit in your photos. Our neighbors Zack and LeighAnne bought it for you when you were VERY tiny. However, now it fits and is in danger of being outgrown. I hope you will be able to wear it again because you look so sweet and grown up in it.

Let's talk about your photo shoot. You started out so peaceful, calm, and somewhat zoned out. After about one minute of photos, you became disturbed. Which turned to whimpering. Which turned to sobbing. Which turned to wailing. Then you barfed all over your cute outfit and the chair. So I stopped taking photos and cuddled you. You feel asleep as soon as you calmed down and wearing a clean shirt.

We traveled to Hermann to visit your family members on Friday evening. It was probably a bit too soon for us to travel after being ill, but we were getting cooped up in the house and had many family members who were lonely for you. We visited your grandparents in Hermann, your GGmas, your G.Aunt Sheila and cousin Kayla, our friends the T-Bones and their son Lucas, as well as my friend Laura, who was preparing apple butter at the home of her in-laws and your grandma Becky's friends. You got loads of attention and hugs on Saturday!

On Sunday, you and I went to church alone because your father participated in a competitive shooting match. I wore you in a fleece sling baby carrier, which made you look like a little joey tucked inside a kangaroo pouch. You slept through nearly all of the service, except the singing. You made lots of noises, and though they were guttural and not melodic, I think you were trying to sing praises to the Lord, too. I hope one day you enjoy singing in church with us, too.

New developments for you this week in the area of motor skills are finding your hands and fingers. Occasionally you manage to get them into your mouth and suckle them. This is short lived, however, and you lose interest in them fairly quickly. You've started to gaze up at the fabric designs in your swing, and I think you'll be able to explore the mobiles soon. You have also started to smile socially, though you smile more to just me and usually only after I smile and chat with you. You enjoy listening to music, especially having people sing to you.

I enjoyed you this week, son.  I am looking forward to next week and the next and the next!

Love,

Your mom

When you are sick or tired or crying, you have tiny red marks that pop up on your forhead and brow bones. You've had them since you were born.

You started to raise your eye brows when you make eye contact with us.