Friends

Friends

There is just nothing in this world that is better than sitting on a motorcycle.

Nothing, I tell you.

This particular ride was at the Cherry Creek Arts festival, which the parents keep going to every year, despite the fact that the prices make them feel poor (or cheap).

Now, I'm not a snob, really - I'll take just about any kind of motorized vehicle, as long as I can "drive" it - as in "I control the steering wheel".

Harrison Jr recently turned 2, and there was a lawn tractor to pull the "train". Here we are co-driving the thing. Harrison and I actually are pretty remarkable in how we play together. At this age, it's typical that kids play around eachother, but we actually play and problem-solve together. On the 4th of july there was a wagon that was too heavy for either of us to push uphill, but with me pulling and Harrison pushing, we conquered that park. Then we traded off. It was pretty amazing to watch.

Skills - really it's all about sentences these days. I can string together these perfect requests: "Papa, can we go for a walk? I need to go for a walk." - sure it's all about what I want to do, but I also understand just about anything said to me.

My teeth have been bothering me. A lot. It's not trivial to have 4 molars pop through at once, and I'm not very happy. Some nights I wake up screaming, and I don't like to eat. Given my overall skinnyness, this stresses Papa out a bit, but I'm such an energetic guy that he has to acknowledge that it doesn't seem to harm me that I'm living on air and water.

Ah. Pirate's cove. I've talked about it before, and we keep going. It's just a fantastic place for me right now. It's close, it's reasonable, and I love to float around the river and see the pirates, the cannons, the treasure, the ship and then we repeat the process. All my buds like to go there with me.


We're only 3 weeks away from the scandinavian tour of Danielpalooza 2007. This year the trip goes to Norway, Sweden and (a first) Iceland. I get to hang out with Sean for the first time, as well as the scandinavian side of the family.

Unca Dave is threatening to eat a puffin in iceland. Only you can stop this gruesome plan.

And that's about it for now.

Love, D.

Biker Chick, or aunt jemima?

People!

So I have this new bandanna, and depending on how I wear it, I can look like a biker-chick or aunt jemima. Cool, no?

I have some neat new skills, really I do, but first of all, the editors would like to apologize for the short "nothing new" posts of late. For an embarrassing contrast, check out the beautiful 5-month post that Claire's parents wrote for her.

Now, the editors could hide behind the fact that this first-person style is a little harder to write than the third-person style, but that doesn't really make up for all the things they forgot to talk about. Like the fact that I've started liking Papa after several months of only liking Mama. Or how my big smile and beautiful blue eyes can really cheer up the room. Or that I have outstanding head control, or that I blow the best raspberries. It's not fair that the second child should get compared to her brother, but that's the way it is sometimes. I'm pretty amazing for my age. The one thing I've gotten too little credit for is how "easy" of a baby I've been - no colic, no tummy-aches, very little stress, really.

I like baths, I like being bounced around a little. I LOVE my brother. Yes - it will probably be embarrassing to find this in a few years, but there's just nothing that makes me smile more than if Daniel does something funny. And if he cries, I cry too.

Skills -well, the big one is that I can now transfer an item from one hand to the other. I also stand up more, can *almost* sit stably, and we're not going to focus on the whole rolling over thing - which I could probably do, but I don't see the point in yet. I have done a full 360-degree rotation on the back of my head, and yes, I'm losing a little hair because of it.

I have slept through the night, just to prove that I can, but that's not always what I feel like doing. Sometimes I might wake up and want to use Mama as a pacifier -> the parents think I'm literally milking their affection. I can get SO MAD if they try to let me "cry it out", so I usually win that battle.

I have a bit of a rash - probably from the heat. Or the sunscreen. Or possibly the chlorine at the pool. Or maybe a little bit of everything.

And THAT is about it for this time.

Love, R.

Five months old

Friends

I'm five months old today, which means that the paparazzi were out in force. Aren't I cute?

No real updates of significance around here, really.

Love, R.

Rocky Mountain High...

I sort of look like John Denver, don't I?



Anyway - it's a video - you know what to do with a video, right? I might not be completely in-tune at all times, but I think I do a pretty nice two-song set.

I have four new teeth - all molars, which may have something to do with my recent grumpy mood and occasional temper.

More Pirate's Cove today - I went with Harrison.

Hope everyone is well.

Love, D.

I *want* it... I *need* it.

A quick, pictureless update for y'all

There has been a remarkable vocabulary explosion over the last couple of weeks. Partially, I've learned how to say that I *want* something, and if I don't get it - that I *need* it. Also I'm picking up on "this vs that" and possessives -> mine, Daniel's, Mama's, Papa's, etc.

Every now and then, I'll just spit out a sentence that has the parents staring at eachother like "Did he really just say that?". A couple of examples from the last week are:

"Mama, can you open this door, please?" and
"I'll go get the weedwhacker, I'll be right back"

(In case you're worried, the "weedwhacker" is a cardboard tube that I use as a weedwhacker... Ususally while saying "I'm a lawn guy"). I also take on the personalities of "Garbage man", "firefighter" and "Mail man".

I am displaying some typical two-year old behavior -> I say "NO" a lot, and if I don't get my way, it's the end of the world and I might just break down in hysterics. In fact, my default answer to everything is "no", then I think about it for a second. This leads to funny interactions like: "Daniel, do you want a strawberry?" "No! .... yes..."

This weekend we went to Pirate's Cove again with the Finches. No pictures this time either, but I had fun.

That's it for now.

Love, D.

Thrones

Peoples!

When I sit, I like to do so in comfort - in fact, I'll remind you with great volume if I'm not happy. These are the two favorites right now -> the "bumbo", which basically forces you to sit upright, and the carseat.

I'll hold onto an object, and will even stretch to get one that's out of my range. I still haven't figured out this "rolling over" thing yet, but it's coming. Tummy time is not as annoying as it used to be.





I like making little raspberry noises and squeals. I think "goo'" is for sissies. No hard consonants or complex sounds yet.

I now have my passport, so I'm set for seeing my cousins in about a month.


Until next time.

R.

Summer's here

Friends!

Hello? Friends? Anyone still there? My bad for not keeping a regular schedule on the blog.

I have been going on field trips a lot in the last couple of weeks, and that's been fun. There's a firefighter's museum in Denver, and they let you dress up in the right gear and drive a real fire truck. That was fun. It's not too often you see firefighters who are my size, but they still had an outfit for me.

In a bit of really poor planning, we didn't bring a camera to The Pirate's Cove which is the fantastic outdoors pool and water park in the area. I had a blast just floating around the river, and enjoyed all the different areas of the park. My only problem is that with 1% body fat, I get cold too fast. Brrr. Next time, we'll bring the camera.

In the meantime, I do have a picture of me and the boys at Meg's. This has become a Friday activity. Not as crazy as the Pirate's Cove, but also less chance of getting the camera wet.

My last "activity" that I enjoy doing is going to Monkey Bizness which is an indoor area where they have a lot of blow-up slides and the like. You've seen a picture of me there before.

Skills-wise, I don't know if there are a huge number of developments since last time - except that I will now sing entire songs. Want me to sing the Alphabet song? Done (though I muddle through the ellaminnowpea part). Old MacDonald? Got it. Others too.


Rachel likes it when I tickle her toes....

More to come - there are some cute videos of the above. Other than that - hang tight, friends. It's summer!

Love, D.