One Year Ago Today

Last year on August 28 I received a call from my caseworker at Gladney. She had a potential situation with a birthmother who already gave birth to a little baby boy. I told her to send out our book. In the evening Michael and I went on a walk and I told him that I had a very good feeling about this one! Little did we know that Daniel would join our family two weeks later. Daniel has brought so much joy into our lives - we never could have imagined. We are so blessed.

First Step

Daniels was too cute this morning as we were leaving the house, he waived Bye-Bye to Daddy! I took him to daycare and he kept crawling to the window to look at the cars and people going by - he is fascinated with cars and now looks out our front house window when he escapes out of the kitchen.

As Daniel was looking at the window at daycare with his Little People, he suddenly turned around and took a step! This is his first step all on his own and I got so excited that I scooped him up and gave him kisses. Of course, everyone else in his daycare room heard me and gave Daniel lots of smiles. I am sure Daniel had know idea what was going on other than everyone was clapping for him and Mommy stayed longer at daycare!

Game Day

It is Raven's Game Day so we all wore our jersey's to Nana and Grandpa's house! Michael's cousin, Andy, was in town and he got to meet Daniel for the first time. Plus Daniel had a great time saying "Hi" to Nana and Grandpa. He was very good sitting at the dinner table eating lasagna (and blueberries - his favorite).

We also took a few pictures of Daniel eating pasta for lunch (as you can see above). He gets the food everywhere and has a great time.

Daniel's One Year Pediatrician Visit

Daniel had his one year pediatrician visit today. I picked him up from daycare where he was happy playing outside and crawling around with his friends and took him to the doctor :( Plus he has a cold so he is not happy anyway. Needless to say there was lots of crying, especially when he received 4 shots.

Daniel is now 29 1/4 inches tall and 21 lbs. 10 ounces (both in the 25-50%). So it appears that the last height reading at 9 months was incorrect or else our son is shrinking (the doctor assured me that he is not shrinking and checked the height measurement himself this time). He asked whether or not Daniel is walking yet and I said that he walks on his tip toes with support - apparently this is a very NORMAL part of process in learning how to walk.

I really enjoy reading some of the developmental milestones that you are supposed to observe in a 12-15 month old. Here are my favorites: #1) Expect messiness. Throwing food is very common at this stage of development (Daniel could win an award here). #2) Does your child help do things around the house like helping to clean up? - - Are they crazy? Daniel's favorite activity is getting every single one of his toys out in the family room so he can play with them all at the same time. He hates putting the balls back at Little Gym (they even have a song that goes "It's time to put the balls away" and that never works). #3) Loves an audience and applause; imitates behaviors - - yes, Daniel is a ham and flirts with all the ladies! #4) Teach your child to be cautious when approaching dogs - - well we blew this one b/c we say, "Daniel look at the doggy" and Daniel loves them (Robyn and BJ's dogs lick Daniel all over when we visit). My personal favorite is an idea they recommend for Stimulation = Describe things to your child in lots of detail (of course they have no idea that Michael is the king of detail and Daniel is in for sports, Stars Wars and other useless trivia for the rest of his life!)

The great news is that Daniel is perfectly healthy and normal. We get to switch from formula to whole milk!!! Of course, I have to send Michael out to get whole milk tonight.

More Fun with Gram and Pop-pop

We played outside with Daniel on the swing and slide! Pop-pop took Daniel on a ride around the yard in his new car. After his nap, Gram and Pop-pop wanted to take Daniel out for a walk. So we headed to the park and Daniel LOVED the swing. He cried every time we tried to take him out of the swing. Daniel has been saying "Hi" to Gram and Pop-pop all weekend - it is just so cute! We all had so much fun!

Daniel's First Birthday!

We can hardly believe that Daniel turned 1 year old today! We had such a special celebration with our family and friends. We have so many blessings to be thankful for since Daniel is in our lives. The last year has been more incredible and joyful than we ever thought possible.

Daniel got a car from Mommy and Daddy and he played in it all afternoon! Cars are one of his favorite things to watch when he is outside. Nana and Grandpa brought Daniel a swing set and slide that all the kids loved! Of course Gram and Pop-pop brought Daniel a puppy and ducks (duckie is one of his favorite words). Daniel loved opening the presents - mostly he liked the paper. Michael and I also gave Daniel a horsey and a TX boot balloon since he is a TX boy!

We were so happy that Robyn, BJ, Brandon and Tyler all joined in Daniel's birthday celebration. I made two cakes for the party (one for Daniel and his friends and one for the adults). Daniel loved everyone singing to him (not so thrilled with the birthday hat though) and got some help from Mommy to blow out the candle. As you can see from the pictures he took several handfuls of icing - yummy! Looks like he might have Mommy's sweet tooth.

What a wonderful day full of love and many blessings.