Happy Halloween

Mickey and Minnie! Our friends, the Wilners, dressed up 10 month old Sammy as Minnie (obviously Erin and I planned it) and it turned out cuter than we hoped! Pluto fell over but he's there too. Daniel preferred to hold Sammy's Minnie Mouse doll.... Sammy didn't mind. :-)
Our friends, the Devines, had a Halloween party and Daniel was the only boy among many girls who all think he's just so cute! He got chased around and "petted" a lot. Good ol' Dodge here let Daniel pet him :-)
Tail included
Taking charge of the remote!
Maile Devine was a Washing machine this year... so cute and creative!
Grace Devine was a Box Jellyfish. Again, super cute and creative!!

We also had Hannah Montana and Cinderella running around the house too! Like I said, lots of girls giving Daniel lots of attention! We all had a fun Halloween and we hope everyone else had a happy and safe Halloween too!

Do I have something on my face?

A messy moment during Daniel's finger painting yesterday :-)

18 Month Doctor Appointment

Daniel's appointment went really well. The doctor was so happy to see such a large tummy :-). He said his weight gain has been awesome! Daniel is 22 pounds 14 ounces and is back up to the 15th percentile in weight. He is 30.75 inches tall and is up now to the 10th percentile in height. His head circumference is 18.5 inches and is the 25th percentile. (Big noggin, lol)

He was happy to hear about his eating progress and said that its completely okay that I supplement still with puree to make sure he's getting the vitamins he needs and he's happy to hear he's taking to new table foods and textures.

We did another scored evaluation of his developmental progress like the one we did at 9 months. They have you fill out a pamphlet of questions just because there's so many changes in development to cover. As last time, Daniel is either where expected or above in all areas of his development. The area he scored the lowest this time is problem solving but the doctor and I agreed that its because the activities they asked about are ones I haven't thought to try with him like putting a small item in a bottle and seeing if Daniel will tip it over to get it out. They gave out a great pamphlet (they do at every check-up) with some good activity ideas to try so we'll start working on those.

Dr. Thakkar was also impressed with his verbal communication. When he tried to look in his ears, Daniel told him "no no" and when he came in the room, Daniel told him "hi" and babbled loudly through most the appointment. He did discover that Daniel has a mild ear infection so we have to wait to do flu shots till after a week. I was surprised since Daniel has been displaying absolutely no signs of being under the weather. The doctor said its just because we naturally produce more phlem in the winter and its harder for the little ones to naturally get rid of it so it can build up and cause an ear infection. He said since Daniel knows how to blow his nose, to use his nasal aspirator right after he blows so we can get more out. And to maybe try increasing his baths since pouring water over his head is a great way to help but since Daniel still struggles at bath time, the doctor said do what we can there. Anywho, the nurses are doing evening and weekend flu shot clinics at the office so after a week, we'll make an appointment and they'll do both the regular flu shot and the H1N1 vaccination.

I don't have any new pictures of Daniel for today but here's my latest painting. I tried to do a more modern floral print. This one's a dandelion. I like it :-).

18 months today!

Daniel is 18 months old today. I can't believe he's already a year and a half. He is definitely trying to assert himself as all toddlers do and is also packed full of tickly giggles. He is very interested in art time and trying to master new toys and exploring EVERYTHING. We love it! He can let you know what he wants and doesn't want pretty well. He's fitting nicely in his 18 month clothes now and I can tell is about to go up a shoe size :-). He still hasn't mastered using his own spoon or going down a flight of stairs but we're working on it. He'll repeat most words or attempt to anyway however still seems to babble moreso than use those words. His 18 month doctor appointment is tomorrow... and I think that Dr. Thakkar is going to be very pleased with his eating/gagging progress! I'm hoping they'll be distributing the flu shots then too. If not, I'll make an appointment at a clinic I know is doing it near home.

After nap today, I took Daniel out to play with all the leaves in our back yard. He REALLY enjoyed it. It was hard to get a picture of him looking up since he kept looking down at the leaves. When he was looking up, he was "talking" excitedly all about them so he has a funny look in most pictures.

He decided to give climbing the hill a try...
And then sat at the top as king! :-)


I took a bucket out and put leaves in it so he started adding leaves as well. Then he had to of course empty them back out.
Off they go!

Las Vegas 2009!

This year we stayed at Wynn Hotel and Casino. It is beautiful! It appealed to my artist senses too with all the designs in the floors, walls, ceilings...everywhere! We knew we were staying in a nice hotel when you walk in and the first thing you see to the left and right are Dior and Cartier! Most the shops actually were designer brand. We even walked into a store because we had never heard of it and were curious. It was strictly cell phones starting at $4000 bucks! And they did nothing special, just looked fancy... we couldn't help but laugh thinking some one actually pays that price for a cell phone! Anywho, the hotel was beautiful and our room equally so.There was a tv in our spectacular bathroom. You know you're in a nice place when you open your room door to marble :-).
I thought it was cool how the phone, tv, etc all had Andre's name on it.
Here we are enjoying poolside leisure :-)


Fun at the Wax Museum!


They look like Armenian brothers! :-)
I'm not gonna hit ya... I'm not gonna hit ya... the hell I'm not! -John Wayne
The Rock and I doing the same eyebrow move. I made a few people laugh with this pose :-).

The view in our room was nice. We were towards the middle of the strip and could see Treasure Island, the Mirage, and Palazzo (the new addition to the Venetian) from our window.
Trump has made yet another tacky gold tower... this one we could also see from our window.Right next to the Wynn is a gigantic mall... literally bigger than any other mall I've ever been in. It was fun to go in stores that I've heard of but haven't gone in before like Neiman Marcus and Saks 5th Avenue. The crazy thing was while I was there, Edward and Jacob (from Twilight) were at the Nordstrom for publicity! I keep kicking myself that I didn't go try to get a picture or something. I just figured I wouldn't be able to get close or something, I don't know, I wasn't thinking :-).

At the Venetian, they have these actors who stand as if they are statues. If you tip them, they'll do something like hold your hand for a picture or make a face but the rest of the time they are still like a statue. I don't know how they stand like that. We really enjoyed ourselves and had an easy going and fun vacation. Andre played some poker and did pretty well. I got to do some shopping and we both did some poolside relaxation. We had some good food at some great restaurants and spent our last lunch out by this beautiful waterfall that sits at the Wynn's golf course by the clubhouse. It was so nice and much needed for us.
We were so very excited however to come home and pick up and Daniel and Millie from my parents' house. Daniel got so excited when he saw us he kept laughing, and hugging and making excited babbles. (I did too, lol!) He was very good for them and seemed to have had a good time. He was pretty tired when we got home so we both took turns snuggling with him. It feels good to be home!

Finished!

After much frustration and cursing, Andre finally got the shed all done! It looks great!I happened to have the camera in the car on the way home from dropping off Daniel and Millie at my Mom's. I have been noticing the pretty fall trees around and thought why not take a picture. I love how they canopy over the road too, it makes it so pleasant to drive around the neighborhood :-).
Well, I already miss my little guy and its only been about 5 hours. We leave for Las Vegas early tomorrow morning and will be back late Sunday. I think it will be fun and relaxing for us both and good for all of us to have a break. I will definitely be eager to pick up Daniel from my Mom's when we get back though! We'll post some Vegas photos when we return home! :-)

Today's Fun

We had a shed delivered today from Home Depot and it came with MANY pieces however after opening and beginning to assemble, Andre discovered it is missing pieces so back in the boxes it went!Daniel "helping" in the boxes...
Tonight Daniel has been trying to stand on or in all his toys and thus resulting in lots of falling and crying... oy!

Daniel for months now has known how to blow his nose when you hold the tissue to his face. He would most of the time do it, sometimes it was no dice. Today he started blowing his nose with a diaper wipe so I gave him a kleenex and he just kept blowing his nose with it. He doesn't have a stuffy nose or anything so I don't know what made him think to do it but its pretty cute :-).

Pumpkins

We figured we could get away with not carving our pumpkins this year since Daniel is too young to care. I just used a paint pen and drew faces on them. As you can see I did a happy person and a happy dog :-).

Silly Daniel

This is just a minute video of Daniel at his best. He's like this pretty much every night about an hour before bedtime. He proceeded to run back and forth for another 10 minutes or so after this. We have been hearing a lot of his new word, "no", lately. We will hear him say it to things he knows he's not supposed to have or get into. He'll see the tv remote or Andre's PS3 controller and say, "No no" as he's pointing to it. This however doesn't stop him from then picking it up. He had gotten into my side table in the bedroom and the whole time kept repeating his "no" as he pulled things out that he wasn't supposed to. I've been trying to use other phrasing lately like, "That's not for Daniel" or "walk away." Those things work but he still loves his new word a lot! He's also getting pretty good now at pointing out people and objects when I ask where they are. We were putting away clothes in his room and were looking at his photo frame with all our close friends and family. He could point out Millie, Daddy, Pabik, Maile, Grace, and Auntie! (that's what we call my friend Alena) Its such a fun time right now seeing his brain developing so quickly and saying more, understanding more, and just processing his world differently!

The Newest Top Gun Stud

I tried on Daniel's pilot coat he got from his Pabik a while ago. We knew it would be a while before it fit him but its pretty close! The sleeves are a little long but the rest of it fits great. He wore it out and about this morning since his coat he had on yesterday is still a little damp from the downpour we had last night."Highway through the... danger zone!" Hmmm.... maybe the new Iceman....

What a stud! :-)

Puddles, No, and a good boy!

Today, we got all geared up for the wind and rain and went out to run some errands. While out, Daniel learned the joy of splashing in puddles :-). He was having so much fun with it that I had to pick him up and carry him away! We also got complimented in the store. The ladies at our local Fred Meyer know Daniel and I since we do 99% of our grocery and miscellaneous shopping there. They told me today that Daniel is always so good when he's there and so happy. They said they see other kids in here that not only are opening and getting into everything but are screaming and yelling and the mom is just turning a deaf ear to it. They then started talking with Daniel and in return he flirted... that's my boy! :-)
Daniel has also mastered the word "No". I knew this day would come and at least so far he hasn't directed it at me in a defiant manner. He tells Millie no if he's eating and she comes near. The rest of the time its just random "no" babbles.

Big eater!

I finally bought a few meat finger food options for Daniel today and tonight we tried chicken breast nuggets. He liked it and had no problem eating it. We want to go slow with the meat textures but this is a great step! He is also really into apple or blueberry nutrigrain bars lately and is less interested in his baby puree stuff. I still give it to him so he can get the vitamins he needs since he's still pretty limited with table foods. We keep trying actual cut up (soft) veggies and fruits and he'll chew on them but then spit them out. At least he chews on them though :-).

Daniel is also getting pretty good and putting a good sized dent in crisp apple slices... yay!Mouth filled with chicken :-) No gagging, no funny faces!

Pumpkin Patch

My friend Erin and daughter Sammy joined us this year at the Pumpkin patch by our house. It was a nice day for it and Sammy seemed to enjoy watching Daniel more than anything else :-)
Daniel checking out the hula-hoops.
The family
Daniel liked riding in the radio flyer with the pumpkins.

Right next to Stocker Farm is the little airport so Daniel kept stopping to point out the airplanes and the skydivers.
Trying out some fry bread with cinnamon and sugar... yum!
Riding a horse :-)
Daniel really liked the sections they had set up to bang on pots and pans.
Enjoying the corn again... last year he liked this too.
He looks a little concerned here :-). We were happy with our pumpkin picks and love that they have activities for the tots. We rode on the tractor train again too but we only have video of that, no pictures. I'll see if it turned out and maybe post it. It was nice this year to just let Daniel walk with us and not even have to lug a diaper bag! Yay for getting bigger!