Hide 'n' Seek

It was bedtime.  I was in Daniel's room arranging blankets and stuffed animals calling for Daniel to come and get his pajamas on.  No response.  I called 3 times then went to find him.  At the bathroom door, I saw the hamper from Mom & Dad's room on the floor, jiggling.  "Where's Daniel?" The hamper rolled and giggled.  "It's time for pajamas.  Where did Daniel go?"  A foot shot out then was quickly drawn in again.  I stood there quietly for a moment.  Daniel peeked out, spotted me, squealed with delight and tucked himself back in the hamper.

It was hilarious.

Ten Count

As I'm tinkering w/photos from our trip to the Colorado Tartan Day Festival in McIlvoy Park, Daniel is in his crib. It's naptime, and he's talking to himself, counting...

"1... 2... 3... 4... 5... 6... 7... 8... 9... 10!"

A full ten count! I'm not sure if he knows exactly what the pattern means, but... thanks, Public TV!

The Whine of Death

Daniel is perfecting the high-pitched toddler whine of death. He employs it throughout the day against his Mom & me when we are wanting him to do some routine thing that he doesn't want to do anymore, like diaper changes, putting on clothes, putting on shoes, turning off the TV, etc. It's just a whine, no usually any specific words, although it often morphs into, "nooooo..."

It's like fingernails on a chalkboard after a long day. I think the whine can peel paint off the walls, and it's probably harmful to animals with high-pitched hearing.

More Daniel-isms

Toddler-speak, decoded:

"Jokey-Joes" - Tokyo Joe's, the restaurant
"Green Place" - Larkburger, next to TJ's
"Owl-Car" - A Mazda-brand car or truck (the logo looks like the eyebrows of an owl)
"Button Car" - A Ford car or truck (the blue logo looks like a button)
"Mommy Bathroom" - The women's bathroom in any given public location
"Daddy Bathroom" - The men's bathrooom...
"Logo grocery store" - Target, Daniel's first ever (?) logo-association
"French Fry Place" - Usually, McDonalds
"Tot Place" - Sonic, where the tater-tots are.

Night, Night

When Daniel was really small, just starting to talk, his Mom would take him in his room and he would say, "night, night" to me.

But that stopped months ago. It was more like this:

Jarl: "Night, night, Daniel!"

Daniel: "..."

Christy: "Say night, night to your father."

Daniel: "...cookie!" "...milk!" "...tofu!" "...egg-grop soup!"

It was a battle for wills.

So, I am quite overcome to report that I have been honored, once again, with a "night, night" from my son for the past two nights in a row.

You Funny / "Anyway!"

When I was changing Daniel this morning, I was making silly faces at him, and he was laughing up a storm. He just looked at me, shook his little head, and said, "funny!"

He's been laughing quite a lot lately. Mindy & Tom were watching him this afternoon, and I met them for dinner @ Larkburger. Mindy was talking to me, and after a momentary Daniel interruption, she said, "...anyway!" Daniel thought that was the funniest thing he'd ever heard, and he started endlessly parroting "Anyway! Anyway!" while laughing his head off.

He also thinks it's hilarious that people say, "cootchie-cootchie-coo" to babies.

Colorado Railroad Museum

We visited the Colorado Railroad Museum in Golden on Friday (3/30).  Daniel's love of all things "Thomas" was Daddy's inspiration for the trip.  It was a lot of fun! We saw engines and cars of various vintages and sizes.  We went inside a mail car complete with mannequins sorting mail.  We sat in the cab of an engine, pushed buttons, pulled levers and fed it a quarter to make realistic sounds.  We saw people repairing trains in the shop and the turntable with all sorts of engines in the roundabout.


Inside the main building, there were model trains and a massive train display.  The display had several towns, a carnival, a drive-in movie theater, a cross-section of a mine complete with miners and lots of other fun details.  Each section could be run (for a quarter).

While we were walking around outside, a man and his daughter asked me if Daniel could have a Raisinet.  I said sure.  Daniel was delighted.  Days later he is still talking about "chocolate" and "raisin" he had at the Railroad Museum.

So Polite

Today we went to Target for groceries.  There Daniel can get a free cookie at the bakery, but he always reminds me by saying "ask cookie" as soon as the bakery counter is in sight.  For several weeks, I have been asking Daniel to say thank you when he's handed a cookie.  Today was the first time he did.  He looked the woman in the eye and said "thank you!" very clearly.  I was so proud!

April Fools!

Daniel and I decided to play a trick on Daddy for April Fool's Day.  Daniel had just spent some time with Grandma Denise and was still talking about "joke with Gramma Neece".  So when he woke up from his nap, I asked him if he wanted to joke with Daddy who was finishing a nap of his own.  Daniel was still a little bleary eyed as I explained we'd tell Daddy that the potty was broken and the was poop on the floor.  Then when Daddy said "Oh no!", we would tell him "April Fools!"

Daniel ran to our room and when I put him on the bed, I asked him if he wanted to tell Daddy what had happened.  It took a little prompting but he finally said "Poops everywhere!"  I added that the potty was broken.  Daddy said "Oh no!" right on cue, but it was up to me to tell him "April Fools!"  It wasn't until bedtime that Daniel said "April Fool's Day!" He was still talking about it the next morning.

"Mommy spilled the milk!"

We decided to pick up dinner at Larkburger a few nights ago.  Daniel calls Larkburger the "Green Place" because their logo is a green square with a white flame in the middle.  He likes to go because he can see "Jokey Joes" (Tokyo Joe's aka "Lunch Place"). 

I decided to order a milkshake, which I rarely do, because it was hot and Daniel so loves ice cream.  With Daniel on my hip, a bag of food in one hand and milkshake in the other, we headed for the car.  One of the Larkburger employees opened the door for us (so nice).  When we got to the car, I set the milkshake on the roof.  Guess I didn't set it far enough back because whoops! the milkshake fell to the ground splashing me and Daniel.  Daniel was startled and started wailing!  I was so surprised by his reaction I wasn't sure what had happened.  We went to the other side of the car and calmed down.  By the time I got him buckled into his car seat, he had stopped crying and was talking about how "Mommy spilled the milk". 

He told his dad about it when we got home and still talks about the incident when we drive past the parking lot or if he brings up fries at the "Green Place".  Definitely made an impression.