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.