DanBear is TWO!

Can you believe it? I certainly can't. Time has flown these past two years and looking back, these have been the most challenging and most rewarding years of my life. It's like everything you do and learn and experience leads up to being a parent. I learned from the best (and so did Mark!) and I'm glad I did because I have needed all the expert advice I can get!

Friday I took cupcakes to Daniel's school for the afternoon "celebrate the birthday" snack. Two hours after I dropped him off I got the phone call that I needed to come and look at him. It was his teacher who called (not the center director like last time) so I knew it was bad, but not as bad as it could be. Apparently he had hit his mouth on "something" and had bitten into his lip. I decided to let him stay for his naptime so the swelling could go down and I could see if he needed stitches -- not a pleasant thought. I sat with him while he ate lunch and he ate the whole thing, so I figured it couldn't be too bad. I of course called Lisa (thanks Lisa!) who kindly swaps pharmacy advice for legal advice when needed and she told me what to do to keep it clean and keep the pain down. After naptime when I got there for his cupcake snack, the swelling had receded and he looked ok. He kept pointing to his "booboo" (new word) and telling me it "hurt" (also a new word). Before we could sit down for cupcakes they had a fire drill -- they march these two year olds out better than privates in the Army! Then we got down to business. The kids were so funny I had to include some pictures of them too!

On Saturday morning we were supposed to go to the zoo, but both Mark and Dan woke up sick, so that was out. Instead we played all day and then had pizza and cake to celebrate that evening. Here is the birthday song...

and the pictures that followed.

Dan got a tricycle, an easel to draw on, lots of magnetic letters and numbers to play with, the little people garage, the Pooh and Friends leappad book, and many many other books -- lots of TinTin from Daddy and Eric.

I guess next year will be the year that we start having parties. By then he will have figured this whole present thing out and want more. Yikes.

Eric is doing very well and really likes the fourth grade. He did his book report on the Mouse and the Motorcycle by Beverly Cleary (C'mon... you all remember her books) and seemed to really enjoy reading it. He and Daniel played all weekend and Daniel followed Eric around the house like a puppy. What a good big brother Eric is.

The floodgates have opened for Dan when it comes to words. "DiDi"
(Daniel) and "Gergey" (Eric) are among his favorites. He also can clearly tell you when something "hurts" and is trying to figure out the difference between "hot" and "cold." (good thing). He is pretty sure that the "sun" is "hot." He is very into "turns" as well. "My turn" is his favorite, but then "mama's turn" "daddy's turn" "gergey's turn" and "pooh's turn" are all running distant seconds. Ownership is another new discovery. He recognizes "Didi's cup" "Didi's shoes" "Didi's stick (a walking stick they have to go down to the lake) and "Didi's anything else he can say." He calls a beer bottle "Daddy's cup" which has me slightly concerned he will grow up confused! Finally, he is the counting fool. He counts EVERYTHING! The teachers at school were impressed that he can recognize and name numbers when they are not in order, but that is nothing. He counts to 15 by himself and walks around counting everything in his path. And counting it correctly. I bought him the Hooked on Phonics set for naming the alphabet and it was kind of a waste b/c he already knows all of his big letters and most of the baby ones. He can even say the ENTIRE alphabet himself. Sometimes he misses the letter "E" but rarely. I also got the letter sound one as well, so hopefully he'll get more use out of that. Grammy does sign language when she says the alphabet and Daniel tries with all his might to arrange his fingers in the right way. Who knows, he may even be doing it right!

In other news, lots of baby kicks. This biscuit is definitely a mover! The word comes this Thursday if it is a baby brother or baby sister for Eric and Daniel, so we'll keep you informed. That's all for now. Must go off to bed...Have a great week!