If only he could DO the dishes. . .

Birthday Boy

I made Daniel a monkey cake since we often call him a little monkey : see my previous posts about him climbing all over everything!

So, a year ago, little Daniel was born weighing in at 9 lbs 1 oz and 21 inches long. Today, at his one year checkup, he is 27 lbs 3 oz and 32 1/2 inches long. Yeah, he's big, but have you seen the rest of us??
He is healthy as can be, babbled all kinds of indiscernible words to the doctor, showed off his little bow-legged walking, and exercised his lungs when he received his 4 shots. poor little buddy. The screaming didn't last long though. He is now full of tylenol and sleeping peacefully.
His birthday party was a blast, although he was very unimpressed by it all. I don't think he felt all that great so he cared nothing for the cupcake (actually he picked it up and tossed it off his high chair without even tasting it). Lovely.

None of my kids have been excited about their first birthday cakes. Isaiah cried, i mean, wailed, when he realized his hands had icing on them (yes, he continues to have these very interesting habits of wanting things very orderly and clean). Mercy tasted it but didn't do much else. Daniel didn't even give it a shot. Oh well.
I had told Isaiah and Mercy that after we sung to Daniel they could "help" him blow out his candle. They took this responsibility very seriously. Joab would light the candle and these two rascals would immediately blow it out. Isaiah did it because he was freaking out that Daniel was going to touch it and get burned (such a sweet protective older brother). Mercy did it because it was fun. Joab had to light it 3 or 4 times. Keep in mind that we didn't even get to sing "Happy Birthday" before one of them would blow it out. A bit frustrating. But, in the end the song was sung, shortly before the cupcake got pitched overboard. . . At least we tried.

Anyway, back to the party. . . Aunts, Uncles, cousins, grandparents, and greatgrandparents all joined us for pizza, salad, and cake and icecream. We all had a lot of fun visiting while the kids played.Daniel and Annie hanging out.

CJ gave Daniel a little musical guitar, which he LOVES. CJ and I have a little unspoken competition at each child's birthday party where we try to give the most obnoxious toy possible. isn't that fun!? :) It all started at Mac's 1st birthday when I gave him a drum that contained other loud instruments including cymbals. ha ha!
The guitar is actually not all that bad. It plays decent music, has lights, an OFF switch, and volume control. I'm thankful for that. And it is actually the perfect size for D to carry around. Unfortunately, his brother and sister like it as much as he does which is causing a bit of conflict. I am insisting that this is one of the only toys that actually belongs to Daniel. Poor thing doesn't really have any that are just his. :)

Probably the highlight of the evening was when Uncle Dick played with the kids. We gave Daniel a giant red ball for his birthday and Dick started playing a one sided version of dodgeball with Isaiah and Mercy and anyone else who happened to get in the way. Don't ask me why they squealed with delight as he pelted them in the face.

Fun night! Happy Birthday, Daniel!

Daniel Robert

Today is Daniel's 1st Birthday. I can't believe how fast this year went. I'm wondering if it just seems faster with each subsequent child??? hmmmmmmmm.
Anyway, Daniel wanted to celebrate his first birthday hours by crying in his crib half the night. what is up with that?!? not very celebratory for me! I think he is teething really badly but still. . . it was ridiculous. He also has double ear infections again (with the tubes!). They are draining (gross) so theoretically they shouldn't cause him any discomfort. But based on last night I am not convinced. Gonna call the ENT today.
Despite the sleeplessness, we are going to celebrate today. We will have a little family party at my parents. We have celebrated all of our children's first birthdays at their house which is fun. They have more room and we just generally love being there.
I am working on a little monkey cake to serve. i got the idea off a blog that i follow. We will see how it turns out. He is such a climber that i thought the monkey cake appropriate. Plus, for some reason, I have called him little monkey since he was tiny. Weird how some nicknames seem to become self fulfilling. . .
A year ago today I met my little 9 lb 1 oz bundle of baby boy. We didn't know what the sex was until he was born so that was so fun. He had lots of kinda wavy hair which was a first for our children. And it looked dark, at least for a while. Now he is a dirty blond with no waves and the biggest blue eyes and eyelashes. Seriously, why do little boys get such good eye lashes?!? Strangers comment on his all the time. They really are quite adorable.
We are entering the discipline/spanking age which is not so fun. He is starting to do things defiantly. Like when his sister is asleep and he repeatedly charges into her room, despite being told no over and over. Or when he tries to bang on the computer any time i am using it. He knows what no means. I am certain of that. He has even started shaking his little head back and forth vigorously when he doesn't want something. Even that is cute to me right now. I'm sure in the near future when it is accompanied with a verbal NO! in response to me telling him to do something that it will quickly lose its cuteness.
So many thoughts as I remember all that the last year has held. . . trying to pull memories out of the sleepless fog is sometimes difficult, but at this moment it seems like the whole year is crystal clear. I'm so thankful for this little boy.
More birthday thoughts later. . . gotta go wake Isaiah up for school. :)

He loves Big Guns and Women's Sunglasses

At least it's not just the women's sunglasses. :)

No More Baby Mullet

Well, I reached my thresh hold with the baby mullet. And Miss Carolyn did a great job, as always, hitting a moving target and finishing with adorable results. I wish i felt confident enough to cut my kids' hair myself, but i just don't. And they love Miss Carolyn! (and the suckers she gives!) They ask to go see her any time we drive by the shop and beg for haircuts on a regular basis. I hear about children who scream and have fits while getting their hair cut and i (thankfully!) have never seen my children be anything but delighted by the process. Even Daniel was relatively still and never made a whimper. He was fascinated by the drop down mirror and even more fascinated with the sucker we stuck in his little hand. Maybe fascinated is not strong enough. . . perhaps freaking-out-excited is better. As soon as he saw it, he started flapping his arms and squealing. He's a smart boy. :)
The result was a little (big) baby boy with clean edges and the cutest little sideburns. I did feel a twinge of sadness at how he lost his baby look, but alas, it is all part of the process. He will have hundreds of haircuts in his life. Gotta start sometime. And he looks stinkin' adorable. I love this boy, who shockingly is turning 1 in a week! Not sure how that is even possible. Fastest year ever. . .

Little Mommy

Mercy is quite the little mommy to her babies. She feeds them, rocks them, snuggles them, even "nurses" them. :) I love seeing how God gave her those instincts and desires, even at the early age of 2. What a joy to pray for her to grow into a Godly woman who nurtures children, both her own and others. Love you, Mercy girl.

A Little Monkey

Daniel never ceases to amaze me with his climbing abilities. Within a week of learning to crawl, he was scaling our large staircase, completely freaking me out! Now I regularly find him climbing onto stools, chairs, and any other platform that he can find. The other day I walked into his room and found this:
I just happened to have my camera in my hand at the moment and he flashed me the cutest, mischevious grin, completely aware that he was being a rascal! When I first walked in the room he actually had BOTH feet up on the arm of that rocking chair, balancing. Ridiculous. Isaiah and Mercy NEVER climbed things like this.

Speaking of those two, they are frequently playing together so well! Isaiah devises these elaborate secret missions for them and assigns Mercy one of any number of characters from Star Wars or Batman. He helps her dress up, equips her with whatever weapons she might need to defeat the bad guys, and off they go. Sometimes an hour or more will pass with them still deeply engrossed in their mission. I love it and sometimes find myself wrapped up in their play as well. Unfortulately, I am usually assigned the bad guy role. :) But this has its good side too, as i get to chase them and sneak up on them, which of course releases all kinds of joyful squeals and laughter. So fun!


This was one such occasion and the giant stuffed panda was their transportation. so cute.
And every once in a while, everyone slows down long enough for me to get snuggles from all 3! I love these times too.