Just got back from the ultrasound...

And it's a

I know Woobie will really be happy about this!

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!

It's been a while...

Between both of our jobs, pregnancy and chasing Daniel around the house, daycare, neighborhood, you name it, we have been remiss in putting up a post in a while. Lots has happened around here though, so don't be fooled by our silence!

Uncle Ken came to visit Daniel. He was a joy to have around the house. Especially when he cleaned my laundry room on his hands and knees. Daniel had a great time and they were two peas in a pod. They played together in the bounce house, painted together at the Children's museum, and read books together at night.

Unfortunately while Uncle Ken was here, there was a fake deli meat incident where I perhaps tossed a piece of play food at Kenny a little too hard and injured him... Sheesh, you'd think he wasn't used to having a big sister. Here he is recreating the incident.

Eric and Dan have been great helps around the house too. They helped me to clean the house last weekend.


We bought Daniel a helmet to go with the new tricycle Grammy and Grumpy bought him for his birthday coming up on Friday (Shhhh!) and he loves it. He walks around with it all the time much to our amusement. He even brushes his teeth in it...
More next week...

The First Haircut!!!

Last weekend Eric, Mark and I took Daniel to get his first haircut. To be fair, it was a few hairs that needed trimming and the rat tail at the nape of his neck. We took him to where we get our hair cut and we expected him to cry, cry, cry. He didn't cry once! He actually laughed. Apparently the comb tickled him.



Daniel has been working really hard on his alphabet and numbers. When he is in bed we can hear him saying the alphabet to himself. He knows all of his letters (Maybe not in the right order but he knows them by sight) and his numbers in the right order up to fifteen! Pretty good. Here he is trying to correct me when I can't find the letter "D."

And finally, for those of you who have ever had to share a bathroom with me (you know who you are) and have accused me of having TOO MUCH of everything (Hair products, bottles in the shower, etc) -- well, it is hereditary. I think it came from Grammy, to me and now to Daniel. He cannot go ANYWHERE without every single one of his stuffed animals. In the morning he gathers them all up and walks them out of his room. Frankly, I don't know how he can carry them all. Can you count how many he's holding? He's annoyed with me here because he wants me to take them and put them on the kitchen table for him while he eats.

Mark started his new job two weeks ago and really likes it. Here he is hitting the books!

The Great Cookie Caper

I made cookies the other day and set them out to cool. I was surprised when I came around the corner and found that one of my cookies had a bite taken out of it...

Mark was at the range, I knew I hadn't done it, and Wallace the stuffed bear, my usual suspect, was serving time in Daniel's tent for prior misdeeds, so I posted a sentry to keep watch on the cookies. Sorry the surveillence tapes are a little grainy -- they usually are in this line of work...

Notice as the suspect approaches the cookies and looks around for any watchful eyes. Finding none, he makes his move. Assuming that the perp was walking away with the goods and wouldn't be so bold as to return to the scene of the crime, the taping stops.


However, after further surveillence, the perp is observed returning to the scene of his crime and surveillence begins again.

This month we went to visit Grammy and Grumpy in Ohio and they visited us in Virginia. We went to the local farm and had some corn and tomatoes. We also went to the Clermont County Fair... an interesting people watching event indeed. Little Bear had his first ride on a pony -- it didn't go as well as we'd hoped.