Christmas Eve

I made cutout cookies for Daniel and Santa - just like the ones I used to make with my mother! Except this time we have Christmas cutouts and trains, planes, rockets, trucks, etc. with the fun cookie cutters that Uncle Scott and Aunt Erica bought Daniel. Daniel loves the cookies with icing and sprinkles.

Gram and Pop-pop and Uncle Scott and Aunt Erica arrived late due to delayed flights so we ended up having Chinese food for dinner. Daniel was so happy to see everyone!! Then after Daniel went to sleep, we went to church for Christmas Eve Service.

Daniel cannot wait to see what happens tomorrow. All he knows is that all his toys have disappeared downstairs for some reason (b/c I had to make room for the presents and new toys).

We Wish You a Merry Christmas

Daniel wants to wish all of you a Merry Christmas! Blessings to all! Holly, Michael and Daniel

Visiting Nicole

We went to visit Nicole (our goddaughter), Cathie and Bobby today for holiday cocktails! Daniel loved playing with Nicole and her toys (including Thomas the Train). Nicole even sang us a Christmas song in Spanish!

Daniel was so happy to get out of the house and go to Little Gym this morning. He is feeling much better and back to his normal self.

Last night Michael and I went to Tosca for dinner to celebrate my birthday and had a delicious meal. We highly recommend Tosca for anyone who wants a great dinner in DC.

"football"

Daniel said "football" for the first time this week and Michael was very proud! Plus Daniel used sign language for "Mommy" and "please" - he just keeps saying or signing new things every week.

Unfortunately, Daniel has been running a fever several days this week. Michael took him to the doctor on Wednesday, but his lungs and ears were fine. However, Daniel spiked a 103 degree fever today so Michael took him back to the doctor while I met Marsha for lunch. As I was coming home Michael called and said meet me at the ER b/c Daniel's temperature went up to 104.9 degrees. Daniel was so warm and totally red in the face. They gave him a super dose of motrin when we arrived. Then the doctor recommended a chest X-ray (which required me and Michael to hold him still) and it turns out that Daniel had a small pneumonia and a double ear infection. The poor little guy just fell asleep on me at the ER. We finally got out around 5pm and need to keep Daniel on antibiotics and keep his fever down. He gave us a few smiles before bed and did not have a fever, so we are all feeling much better.

Update on Sunday: Daniel is doing a little better today! The fever is down which is the most important thing! Daniel managed to only take 3 ornaments off the tree today (Michael and I decorated it last night). The first ornament that he went for was a large Raven's ornament - he was fascinated with it.

Plus I have 3 snowmen (baby, Daddy and Mommy) who sing, "Oh, Christmas Tree" and Daniel keeps asking for me to push the button and play it over and over. He even tries to dance with the snowmen - it is very cute.

His Advent train is an even bigger hit this year since Daniel is now big enough to move the train all over.

Nativity

I got Daniel the Little People Nativity set this year! It is adorable b/c Daniel can push the angel to play Away in the Manger and he is fascinated by the Star. I am trying to teach him about baby Jesus. Of course, after about 10 minutes the manager is cleared out and the Wise Men end up all over the place.

We went to a lovely Holiday Party at Jane and Greg's place last night. It was fun to catch up with so many folks from RESOLVE and our adoption support group. We are very blessed to know such wonderful friends.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our blog readers. We have so much to be thankful for this year - especially Daniel. We hope you all have a wonderful holiday with many blessings.

We drove up to Nana and Grandpa's house for Thanksgiving. Our gameplan was to drive up in the morning so that Daniel could take his full nap before everyone arrived for dinner. Unfortunately, Daniel fell asleep in the car and then did not want to take a nap all afternoon. He had fun running around outside, but got very tired when we were ready to eat. He loved ALL the delicious food and then finally collapsed from exhaustion. Nana and Grandpa made a wonderful meal for all of us including Valerie, Eric, Emily, Rick and Sam. AND Daniel said car for the first time when Nana gave him a toy car.

Visit with Santa

Well, we decided to head to the mall for our annual picture with Santa. I had a plan that the line would not be busy during the week and I was correct. We went through the Polar Express display and Daniel flirted with the girl behind us in line! Then I put him on Santa's lap and he had no idea what was going on - no crying at all. He really just wanted to get off Santa's lap after several pictures so that he could run around! (I do have to say that Santa was much better last year - where is his smile?) Daniel looks like such a toddler now!

Daniel had his 15 month checkup today and he is now 31 inches tall (40-50%) and weighs 23 lbs. (35%). He is doing great on all the developmental milestones other than I am supposed to let him now use a spoon and fork which should be interesting. He was very brave for his shots and only cried a little bit. That is why I decided to risk going to the mall to see Santa.