Pull-Ups

Daniel continues to pull himself up, all over the house. It's the latest craze! Today, he pulled himself up in the crib (instead of napping), also on the coffee table & on the high-chair.

Stand Up!

Daniel pulled himself up to standing today, solo, by leaning on the music table he got for Christmas from Larry, Diane & Randy.

Uh, Duh, Bur, Nana, Buh, Kuh & Dah

We are starting to get protean "words" from Daniel, spoken with intent, and in context.

Some words we're getting: "uh" for up, "duh" for down," "bur" for burp, "nana" for banana, "buh" for bottle, and a guttural "kuh..." for cookie & kitty (we're also getting "dah" for Tashi, and also for dog, when he sees one).

In other news, he's started sticking his fingers up his nose. He has made a habit of trotting out this trick at Christmas gatherings and in restaurants.

It's also interesting to note that, despite the king's ransom in gift's he's received for his birthday and Christmas, Daniel spent a good deal of time today playing w/a plastic box of "Wipeez" in the nursery, ignoring the piles of toys altogether.

All I Want for Christmas

I've been singing a little song to myself for the last few weeks: "All I want for Christmas is a full night's sleep..."

...and I got it! Thanks, Daniel Claus!

Dude Humor

My son is laughing at burps. He can't speak yet, but he thinks burps are pretty funny.

When I burp, he points at me, laughing, and says, "bur! bur!"

Hands

Daniel "fed himself" this morning. I gave him a small bowl of oatmeal and he ate it with his hands and poked at it with his spoon. This is the first time I can remember him eating with his hands for any extended period of time.

StairMaster

Christy & I took Daniel to the Children's Museum today for his official 1st birthday. We spent quite a long time in "the Meadow," going up and down the carpeted stair-and-ramp by the entrance. Other big hits included the moving "gears puzzle" and a wooden teapot we found in the apothecary. Christy discovered a great gift for blowing bubbles with dry-ice "smoke," which mesmerized the li'l fella.

This time, a year ago, we were eating hospital food and wondering, "whuh happen?"

Daniel's #1 Party @ MusicTogether

We celebrated Daniel's 1st birthday party today @ MusicTogether (where Daniel and his Mom have been taking music & sign-language classes). We had two other baby guests, Ellie & Remy. Heaven made a banana-chocolate-chip cake just for Daniel, and cupcakes for everyone else, which were a big hit due to the banana-cream icing.

We did a conga-line, sang the "Tiny Dinosaurs" song, and even played with a parachute (apparently Daniel's great-Grandma Georgia has some experience with the "parachute workout").

You should have seen Christy and me, in the wind, trying to stuff three giant balloon bouquets into the back of my Jeep after the party. And then... the hair-raising "squeak squeak" of balloons all the way home.

Laffy

When a group of people are talking, and then they share a laugh, Daniel will now join in with the laugh.

It's quite strange, this social mimicry thing.

Cookies vs. Milk

I gave Daniel a choice between a bottle (of milk) and a cookie today. He chose the cookie over the bottle. The long supremecy of leche is beginning to crack.

Magic Beans

Today was the first shopping trip w/Daniel where I've come home to find a mystery item in the groceries (something I didn't put in the cart myself).

The mystery item was: "Star Wars Mighty Beanz," whatever the hell those are.

Shifting the Balance

On the heels of our success w/spaghetti last night, Christy was able (after much cajoling) to coerce Daniel into finally eating rice @ the Red Lantern restaurant today. And he appeared to enjoy it. I can't believe we got him to eat pasta and rice in two days. We've been trying for months.

As we were getting ready to meet Christy for lunch, I pulled him out of his playpen (where his muscial star-stacking toy is), and he sang me the melody to the first line of "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," eerily on pitch, words substituted with "Da-da's."

And a final epochal event - we lowered the mattress on Daniel's crib down to the lowest rung, because he's was pulling himself up over the rail of the crib. It's amazing how quickly that shifted the balance of power at nap time.

Monkey See

We got Daniel to eat (finely chopped) spaghetti tonight. The secret ingredient was love... and extra cheese.

He didn't want to eat it at first, and he repeatedly spit the noodles out, but once he watched Christy and I making fools out of ourselves, slurping long strands of noodles into our mouths, he gave in. And then he ate the whole bowl.

Beware

Sometimes, when a baby acts like they want to hug you... sometimes... they just want to smear boogers on you.

Want 2 Walk...

Daniel seems to be reaching a point where he would prefer to be "walked" (w/assistance) than held (he is not walking yet). Over Thanksgiving break, another 1st: he would stand, holding both of my hands, and then let go with one to reach for an object.

Right now, holding him is like trying to hold a bundle of energy. I'm also seeing the beggings of some mini-tantrums. He has taken to whinging w/a vengeance.

My back is aching from bending over 200 times a day to pick up various discarding Daniel-toys.

He is now pulling himself up the side of the crib, which fills me w/foreboding. And we are completely off the Mommy-milk now, for about the last 2 weeks or so?

Currently, items of intense fascination for the boy include: "Just Orange" juice bottles, the white noise machine, the router, lamps, remote controls, doorknobs, the TV cable line, the mouse on my laptop and (of course) electrical outlets - he threw a screaming fit at the electrical outlet in the main walkway yesterday, just passing by. It's covered with plastic doo-dads, so I don't know what provoked him.

And we had our first case of genuine diaper rash o'er the weekend.

Sick Boy

Daniel is in the midst of his third cold of the season. And it's not even Thanksgiving yet.

A runny nose on the boy is an ill omen. Usually means either Mommy or Daddy will go down the some kind of Superflu in days. It's Mommy's turn, this time, so far...

Taking the Bad with the Good

As Daddy-daycare, I wake up thinking I want to provide the best possible day for Daniel. I want him to be as happy as he can be. But sometimes it seems like it doesn't matter. He seems to need to cycle through his emotions, all of them, no matter how conscientiously I work to make sure he doesn't feel bad or get unhappy. I am reminding myself that he's probably learning his emotions now like he's learning everything else, becoming familiar with what they all are just like he's becoming familiar with the world around him. But it isn't easy, when I work so hard to try and make sure he has a good day, and he still gets angry or crabby.

At Long Last, Peek-a-Boo

Daniel is now playing peek-a-boo with us. He took the towel from me last night and actually hid himself, and then popped out at me, three times. Amazing.

He is also leafing through his board books, now, and looking at the pictures.

He is eating real oatmeal w/me @ breakfast.

This morning, he soldier crawled after me from the bedroom, to the living room, to the kitchen. 3 rooms! A new record.

However, he is having trouble sleeping at nights (so his Mom and I are, too), and he refuses to recognize the "fall back one hour" clock adjustment that just kicked in with the end of Daylight Savings time, so he's getting up now before 7am and konking out around 6:30pm (this is one of the million things they don't tell you in Daddy Boot-Camp). It's awkward.

And he has a fourth tooth coming in, upstairs.

Sick All Winter

I took Daniel to the pediatrician, Dr. Fudge-Erickson, today because he has had a rash on his torso for about a week. She told me it was probably viral, and if he's in classes with other kids, "he'll be sick 'til May."

Pointing

My Mom said, "Daniel has his pointing finger out!" And indeed he does. This week, the pointing has begun in earnest.

He has also become fascinated with all the lights in the house, and does his "magic hands" sign whenever he sees a light on. "Magic hands" is a general, all-purpose sign that he uses when he's too busy or too frustrated to think about what the sign really is. Or at least that's what I'm telling myself.

And Christy reports that the leche de madre may be running low.

Bleary...

Daniel decided on a 6:30am start-time this morning.

I almost put a scoop of baby formula in my coffee.

"That's Why I Creep, Yeah..."

This just in, from the nursery: baby-creeping has been spotted. Daniel creep-crawled across the room, in pursuit of his "magic ball" toy as it played the 'Mexican Hat Dance.' He then crept back across the room to where I was sitting.

Precious Moments

The butt-naked crawl across the comforter tonight was priceless.

A Train Makes a "Hoo-Hoo" Sound.

The wave of sickness appears to have resided. Some interesting developments in Daniel-land...

1. He appears to be "signing back" in ASL when he wants "MORE" and when he wants "MILK."
2. He is thumping his sippy cup, toys, or whatever is nearby, in rhythmic patterns.
3. Object permanence has set in - he is obsessed with the big silver Comcast remote. He will crawl like a Marine to get it, even if it's hidden, and if I move it to somewhere else in the room (even hidden inside a box), he will track it and then start to squirm to it's new location.
4. When the train goes by, he will attempt to imitate the sound of the train-whistle. I think he is also imitating the cat's "meow" sometimes when he sees her.

There is still a lot of difficulty with sleep. He only sleeps until midnight or one, then he wakes in a fit of rage, and cannot be consoled in any away unless he is held. He will fall asleep, but wakes within five minutes of being put back in the crib. He is also eating a lot during the night, probably at least 10-12 oz. of formula plus additional Mommy milk, but this only sporadically knocks him out enough for him to continue sleeping. He usually ends up back in Mommy & Daddy's bed between midnight and 3am.

2 Fronts

Daniel has become a squirm-worm on the changing pad. Diaper changes have been upgraded from quick pit stops to lengthy, raging engagements.

And the Battle of the Placemat continues, eternally...

Puke... Snot... Everywhere.

We endured a terrible round of sickness last week. One little runny nose eventually led to Daniel, Mommy and Daddy getting sick. Then Grandma & Grandpa Tidd came down, and they got sick too.

On a brighter note, Daniel has taken to clapping his hands together in the last few days. He also seems to be getting the idea about sign-language, because he often holds his hands up now and wiggles all his fingers, like he's trying to cast a magic spell.

Fan Goes 'Round...

Danny has been taking "sign language for babies" class w/his Mommy on Tuesday nights (and a music class on Fridays).

Today, he was "signing back" to his mom. He was pointing at the ceiling fan and making the "fan" sign.

Waves...

Daniel's waving now. He started yesterday, in Boulder. Today he said "Ai!" to me and waved at me from his dino-walker.

Da-da-da...

Everything is "Da-da" right now in Daniel-land. That cat is da-da. The blinds are da-da. Breakfast is da-da.

Grabbity

I have identified a new force in the physical universe, while observing the movements of my son: "Grabbity."

Daniel slept through the night last night, and didn't wake up until about 6:20am.

Christy reports that Daniel was stuffing trains in his mouth at the dinner party last night.

Icky Mouse

Daniel has fallen under the charms of Micky Mouse. The Mickey magnet on the 'fridge makes him smile and reach to grasp it, and when he sees his Micky doll, even from across the room, he smiles and laugh. I told him, "This is Mickey Mouse, that's his name." Daniel responded, "Ick! Ick!"

It's interesting that happy faces in photos and drawings are now making him smile. He seems to be understanding the representation of happiness, beyond just the colors and shapes of a person smiling. Some photos from our Jemez Springs trips, especially the one of him with his Mom in Taos, make him jump and cackle.

Daniel was not in the mood to sleep in his crib last night. At all. We took turns reading 'The Baby Whisperer Answers All Your Questions' while he howled in the next room.

Now we are preparing to try our first ever road-trip with the boy to Jemez Springs, New Mexico. We have no idea what to expect.

And we are preparing to gather with familia tonight to celebrate Christy's birthday, which is actually tomorrow.

Daniel managed to successfully navigate his walker from one room to another. Specifically, he rolled from the kitchen, through the narrow straits between the trash can and dog water bowl, over to the bathroom door. Then, after looking back as if to say, "One small step for man," he rolled confidently into the bathroom. He goes forth to conquer other rooms now, like Alexander the Great. The cat trembles in fear.

Daniel is steering his walker around the house more easily now. This morning, in the bathroom, he piloted over to the counter under the sink and started pulling on the cupboard handles. He would click his mouth thoughfully as he did so, as if to say, "so this is how these things work."

Daniel is now accepting the spoon when he eats. And he is opening his mouth in anticipation of the next spoonful. He even gets excited when he sees the food. This is a major accomplishment; previously, he was fighting the spoon in open rebellion, like Che Guevara. Christy spent several days feeding him off her fingertips alone.

I think Daniel is beginning to try and speak with words. Last night, during a walk to the water tower, he was unhappy to be in the stroller and spent 20 minutes protesting at me, "Deh-dee! Deh-dee!"

And today, when he didn't want to take his nap, he lay in his crib and chanted, "a-Deh-dee! a-Deh-dee! a-Deh-dee!" until I came. When he saw me, he switched to "Oo-Moo! Oo-moo!" which I think meant that he wanted me to go get his Mommy now, but Christy was at work.