Bubble bath buddy

I was doing the normal stay-at-home mom thing, taking a mid-afternoon bubble bath, when I was so rudely interrupted by Daniel. (: Only kidding--I think this was like the third bath I've taken since we've moved in; Zach was home early from work and he was supposed to be watching Dan. At first, Dan wasn't so sure about the bath, probably because the water was way deeper than what he's used to, plus he didn't know what to do with the bubbles at first. As you can see, he quickly figured out how to make a bubble goatee!




In other news, we had his 18-month appointment today. He's 32 inches tall (long?) and weighs 23 pounds 13 ounces. Just a little guy! He's right on track for where he needs to be in every department except verbal skills. I guess he just doesn't have much to say yet! But I'm sure he'll be talking like crazy soon enough and we'll never get him to shut up....

More reading

This time, Dan didn't have to read all on his own. He had some help from Daddy! Dan likes to prop himself up against the pillows while listening to his favorite stories. He could hear the same ones over and over and over again and not get tired of them, but the same cannot be said his parents. Personally, I would not be sad if Digger Man somehow got lost and we never found it again. But Dan loves it, so we'll keep reading it! He has branched out, though, beyond construction-themed stories, so that has been a nice change. If you ever want to know what happens when you give a moose a muffin, I can tell you in detail. HA!




Finding his button:


Finally, this joker decided that he likes cow's milk:

My little reader

After showing no interest in books for the first 15 months or so of his life, Dan has become a voracious reader! He loves being read to and he even just loves flipping through books on his own. His favorite place to read is in the car, which makes running errands very easy, as long as I have a selection of books for him to choose from. The other morning, I looked over from the kitchen and he had managed to climb (with a book, of course) into one of our side chairs and he was just quietly reading to himself. I think one of the most important things a child can learn is how to entertain themselves and Dan seems to be well ahead of the curve on that one!

Happy 90th, Great Aunt Helen!

Last weekend, after we woke up to a snowy Saturday, we hit the road for the short trip to High Point. Most of my dad's family got together to celebrate my great aunt Helen's 90th birthday. My dad and his two sisters drove from Kansas, one of my uncles flew in from Iowa, and my dad's cousins came from Colorado, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Virginia. It was great, but kind of strange, to see second and third cousins that I hadn't seen since I was a kid.

Aunt Helen lives in a really nice retirement community with lots of friendly people who didn't mind a curious 18-month-old exploring their hallways (and golf courses and ballrooms). We all got together on Saturday night for a casual dinner and then again on Sunday afternoon for the official party. Everyone had a great time catching up and Daniel was a big hit, as usual. He did great in the hotel as well, which was a pleasant surprise, after our Myrtle Beach debacle. (: All in all, it was a great weekend and we're looking forward to getting back to High Point to see Aunt Helen again (and to do a little furniture shopping!).

Working out some energy on the golf course:




Hanging with various family members:



Helping Aunt Helen with her walker:

Delicious desserts:


Aunt Helen was a nurse in World War II and served on Guadalcanal in the Pacific. She has a lot of great stories, including how she earned her Air Medal (Zach was impressed). I wish my Grandma and my great uncle Barney could have been there to help us celebrate, but they were definitely there in spirit!

SNOW?!?! I didn't sign up for this!

Yes, we awoke this morning to a world covered in snow! Here, in coastal Carolina, just 3 miles from the beach, we have snow! By the looks of our porch, we got about 3-4 inches last night and I don't think it's just going to melt away because it's pretty cold and the sun is nowhere to be seen. We're leaving for High Point in just a few minutes but I wanted to get some pictures up before we go. Beautiful!




Sophie, the neighbor's dog, wanted to make an appearance:

Catching up with Dan...

So what's Dan up to these days? Well, he still loves playing with anything with wheels--trucks, cars, cement mixers, etc. He will push them up and down the couch or the coffee table for a long time. He even gets frustrated when I'm sitting on the couch because that means that he has less surface area for his cars to maneuver on. So he points and grunts until I find another place to sit! He is also very into reading books, mostly about trucks, cars, cement mixers, etc. He likes to find a book and sit quietly and page through it by himself but he also likes to be read aloud to. I'm glad that he's branching out into new subjects because I was getting a little bored of the same books. He now likes Big Red Barn, so I've read that about 8 times already today.

When the weather cooperates, we love to go outside for our morning exercise walk and our afternoon mailbox walk in the wagon. After the wagon walk, Dan likes to throw small rocks down through the sewer grates because he loves the Plop! sound. He also loves to push his race car push toy up and down the driveway and all through the neighbors' yards. Today, we're stuck inside because it's pouring rain. It seems like whenever Virginia and DC are getting pummeled by snow, we get cold, dreary rain. Which I'll take any day of the week, so no complaints!

Since we're inside this afternoon, Dan is rearranging the laundry basket by taking out each dirty item, putting it on the floor, then placing each one back in the basket once it's empty. Why? Who knows and who cares? He's quiet and entertaining himself, so I'm happy!

My mom is coming tomorrow for a few days so we can all go to High Point, NC (about 4 hours away), this weekend for my Great-Aunt Helen's 90th birthday celebration. It should be lots of fun to see long-lost relatives and just to have a night away from home. High Point also happens to be the furniture capital of North Carolina (which is the furniture capital of the US), but I don't think we'll have much time to do any shopping. But you can bet I'll be looking around for ideas in case we need another trip there....

Some random pictures of Dan:



And some random videos (and now I'm all caught up!):

Visiting Zach at work

When Lauren and Jesse were still here (last week, I know, I'm trying to catch up!), we visited Zach at work so that they could see his helicopter. In Hawaii, he flew the CH-53D and here he is learning how to fly the CH-53E so that he can be an instructor pilot. The 53E is a bigger version of the 53D, with one more rotor blade and one more engine. Zach's moving his way through the training syllabus and should be instructing very soon.

Lauren and Jesse were very impressed with the big hulking gray machine with oil leaking from every surface. (: Dan was also very impressed with everything, but we couldn't let him get down and explore, much to his disappointment. I just didn't feel like de-greasing him afterward!