Danielpalooza in California

I went to Jan Robert and Lia's wedding in San Diego last weekend, and it was a blast. In case you weren't aware, seersucker is coming back. As a single, eligible guy I got to go to the bachelor party on Thursday. There are no pictures of that to protect the guilty.


We got to do some sightseeing around San Diego, and this is me with the goats at the Wildlife experience. I also really liked the zoo and hanging out at the hotel pool.


But my favorite tourist attraction was the USS Midway, where I got my own audio tour just like mom and dad, and got to practice driving F14s around the flight deck.

Zoe was at the wedding, and she kissed me, which all the grownups thought was cute.

Oh, I turned 15 months old in the last week, and today I went off to the pediatrician to be poked, prodded and measured. I'm still a short skinny guy with a big head. My weight places me in the 6th percentile, my height at the 40th and noggin is in the 70th percentile. The doctor says not to worry about being thin - that I'm "perfect" and that it beats being overweight.

What else is new? Well, I'm cruising around furniture with a lot more confidence, and I've been pushing my turtle and wagon around. I seem to pick up a couple of new words every day, but when I don't have any adults to impress, I speak my own language that goes something like "blabblelabblelabblenah!"

Later this week, I take the Daniel show to Europe, where we'll be touring major venues in Norway and Sweden, with brief stops in Frankfurt and Amsterdam. I'll be flying in a lay-flat bassinet again, while the parents tough in out in economy class.

That's about it for this time.

Love, D.

Boy performs tricks

Hey there, friends

Can you believe it? Two videos in a row.... (Dad decided to pay for some hosting space, which makes this SO much easier). Anyway, if you want to see me perform some of my tricks click on the link. These are some, but not all of what I know how to do. (ask me to wipe my mouth, it's hilarious)

As you can probably see, I got another haircut. It's amazing how different I look. I was starting to get a "Fabio" kind of appearance, which while flattering, just wasn't me.

Just in the last couple of days, I've really mastered the various shape-sorters that I have. These are toys that have blocks of different shapes and holes in which to put them. The cylinder is my favorite. Yesterday, I discovered that the same piece works with all three toys, so I showed Dad that, and he was very impressed.

OK, that's about it - I just wanted to share some of my skillz with y'all.

D

Fun, games and a video

Hey there, friends.

I just discovered that Crayons are fun, and made my first drawings. My artistic vision currently resembles Jackson Pollock - a little on the abstract side. I do know how to put the colors back in the box, but it's just so much handier to keep them available.

In the last week, I have gotten much braver with my walking. I will now walk for a while holding only one parental finger, which is big progress. And, I know you've been waiting for this -> video of me walking around the house with my little wagon. I really haven't believed that I could support myself on "things" until today, so this is just a little more progress.



Harrison Junior turned one last weekend, so I went to his party. Dad forgot to bring a camera, so you'll have to imagine what it was like. I had a lot of fun playing with everyone, and skipped my nap again. Whew, did I crash hard in the car on the way home?! Also, it's been nice out lately, so I've been playing with our neighbors. Oh, and Reid and I have been bonding lately - we went to their garage sale and sold off a bunch of my stuff so that we have room for more.

Speaking of which, I have some new toys that I'll tell you about next time.

Love, D.

Fourteen months, and lots of action

Hiya friends, and happy independence day!

On Sunday, I got to go to my very first wedding. Very exciting - mom and dad wanted me to sleep in the car on the drive up to Cheyenne, but nuh-huh, not me. So by the time the reception rolled around, I was pretty far gone. Don't I look good next to Elizabeth? I can't believe she married that Tim guy and didn't wait for me... Oh well. I was going to hit on some flower girls, but they weren't into a guy who's still crawling. I was sleeping before we pulled out of the parking lot on the way home.




I'm into hats and shoes these days. Here's an action shot of me making the sign for "Hat" while wearing a beret. As for the shoes - I'll sit in the living room and try to put on all of mom and dad's shoes. Sandals are the easiest, and it makes me so proud when I get one on.

Other new skills - I can eat with a fork all on my own. I can stack two blocks on top of eachother, and I now know where my ears, eyes, mouth, foot and nose are, and can point to them when asked.



About a week ago, I took my buddy Ethan to the zoo and showed him around. Yesterday we went to the pool with the Penas and Carlos taught me some tricks, and tonight Harrison is going to show me some pointers on how to walk.

In other news - Dave and Barbara have a fun announcement on their blog (woo hoo) and sadly, my buddy Bennett's Kidney transplant had to be cancelled at the last moment. He and his family could sure use some extra prayers around now.

OK, that'll do for now. Have fun, y'all
D.

Cousins!

Hey there, everyone.

I've been on the road again. I just got back from a quick trip to Houston where we celebrated Grandma Babe's birthday last week. The cousins turned her hair into a rainbow. But she got the last laugh by keeping it that way ALL day long. I had a lot of fun playing with my cousins Brayden, Kayla and Chloe. They're a wild bunch, and boy was I tired at the end of it. I was so tired on the plane home that I got a little fussy, and the woman in the seat next to me gave me "the glare". Sweet little me - can you believe it? She should pick on someone her own size next time...





We also saw aunt Teresa and Erin, as well as the Pastas on this trip. Short, but sweet.

Since last time, I have another tooth (another bicuspid, ouch) making 8 total. And I was sick for a couple of days with Roseola with meant I had a high fever at night and a nasty rash at the end which made me grumpy for 3 days.

What else? Let's see -> I can now point to my nose and foot if someone asks me to. And while in Houston I learned how to go down stairs, which is a very useful skill. Oh, and just yesterday I surprised mom and dad by climbing onto the couch from the floor, which means that those flowers in the living room window are no longer safe from me.

That's about it, really. We had a nice little summer dinner with friends last weekend, but this weekend is just mellow. Next weekend I get to go to my very first wedding!

Hope that everyone's enjoying their summer!

Love, D.

Two turtles in the back yard

Howdy, friends!

It's been really nice outside lately, and I love playing in the back yard. Here's me with my new friend "Tur-TUH" - don't we look like each other? As you might be able to see, I'm actually crawling around more these days - I was army-crawling so well that mom and dad thought I'd skip the hands-and-knees phase, but that's what I'm doing now.

We've started to go swimming at the outside pool at the rec center almost every afternoon. I like the water, and it's fun to see the other people. No matter how many toys mom brings, I always want someone else's ball - it's a little embarrassing...


Yesterday we went hiking at Roxborough again, and I saw deer and a couple of foxes. They looked like cats to me, so I called "ca, ca, ca"after it, but they weren't friendly.

My vocabulary has gotten even larger since last time - it's a mixture of signs and sounds, but they're consistent. This evening, I grabbed dad's hands and said "Go, go", but I knew we couldn't go out without shoes and a hat, so I said "shuus" until I got those, then slapped my head to get a hat. THEN we went outside to play with balls (bah! bah!) and look at birds (buh! with the sign for bird).

Let's see - I have another tooth (seven now) - it's further back than the others and much bigger. I seem to have skipped a few teeth in the front, but I'm sure they'll pop up sooner or later.

Oh, and I just started stacking my stacking rings, but I expect that the audience cheers when I get it right. Before, I would just throw the rings around.

There's probably more, but that will have to wait until next time.

Love, D.

Memorial Day

Hey there

Sorry about the delay in posting - I was trying to get my Album Number 8 up and running, and it just took forever to get it uploaded. All of my photos from January through May - 620 or so, so if you go looking, give yourself some time....

For memorial day, I went to Stu/Julie/Carly/Eli's place for a BBQ. It was fun - I discovered that hot dogs are pretty tasty, and there were a lot of other kids. I'm not the youngest, that honor goes to "Izzy" Gorelik who joined us about 2 months ago. Cutie...

Let's see - there's all sorts of updates. I turned 13 months old, of course, but I hardly think that's worth mentioning every month anymore -> it's not like Dad walks around saying that he's 437 months old (yikes, it's true!).

We have some little turtle-toys with bobbing heads, and they are my new best friends. When I want to visit them, I just say "Tur-TUH" and point to where they are. I get very upset if they've moved. Speaking of Turtles, I got a very cool toy from the Pastas - pictures to come.

I don't walk on my own yet, but I'm getting steadier and more confident. Probably several weeks out, still. If I have two fingers to hold onto, I can walk for miles.

The Dr. says that the rash on my arm is a mild eczema and that I need to keep it lotioned up at all times. I have a new shampoo and lotion that seems to be helping...

And that's about all for now,

Love, D.