Pediatrician Visit May 26, 2009

This morning we went to see Dr. Morton and Charlie. Daniel weighed 18.9 pounds and measures 29.5 inches long. He is a small, healthy boy. Here are some of the many great things about Daniel.

He has 12 teeth. Top and bottom four in front and all four molars (top and bottom left and right).

He walks well and can bend over, straighten, and pivot (Dr. Morton said that is advanced).

He eats a wide variety of food. Pasta, raisin bread, wheat bread, graham crackers, rice crackers, wheat crackers, green beans, black beans, kidney beans, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, oatmeal, avocado, tofu, kiwi, pears, tomato sauce, veggie burgers, veggie chicken burgers, carrots, turnips, sunflower seeds, okra, cheese pizza, blueberries, watermelon, blueberry toaster waffles, peaches, mandarin oranges, strawberries, cheerios, rice milk, raisins, grapes, white rice, frozen mixed vegetables, asparagus, snap peas, sweet peas, squash, zucchini, bananas, banana pudding (only Ruby Totty's), and cooked apples. There are probably a few more things, like dumplings, that he's tried once or twice.

Even though he is small, he is healthy. Dr. Morton said, "You are doing everything right. Don't worry about it one bit. He gets an A+." That is exactly what he said. G.G. was there to witness it.

We will go back in three months for his 15 month visit.

Daniel struts his stuff

Little Foodie

What Daniel ate for lunch April 28, 2009

one black olive
one green olive
part of a bread bunny from G.G.
about 10 Easter pasta shapes
cheerios
4/5 of a kiwi
6 big peach slices
3 grapes
2 sheets of graham crackers

I guess he might have eaten more, but we all got ready to move on to something else!

What we meant for him to wear on Easter

It was too cold on Easter to wear his special outfit that a friend from Centerville gave us, so we wore it last Sunday. His hair is so long now that I am usually keeping his bangs up in a ponytail so he can see (but not for this picture). I am waiting for it to grow long enough that I can stick it behind his ears. We'll see if that works... Either way, I'm not ready to cut his hair yet.

UNC Arboretum

We visited the UNC Arboretum on Saturday. We saw lots of fiery azaleas and several trees of different varieties. We saw daffodils, iris, trillium, and a new blue flower we hadn't seen before, called Japanese Cleyera. Daniel rode in the Ergo backpack we borrowed from our friend to try out.

Easter 2009

We had a great day yesterday, but forgot to take any pictures. These pictures were taken a few days ago in front of the azaleas in our yard. They show a range of emotions he had about having his picture made. I posted the happy ones first. Yesterday we couldn't decide whether or not to go to Sunrise service, so I said we would let Daniel choose. If he woke up on his own, we would go. If not, we'd stay home. We needed to get up by 5am to make it to the 6:30 sunrise service. Daniel woke up at 4:54 am, so we went! After that we had a continental breakfast at church. We still had 2 hours to kill between breakfast and Sunday School, so Joseph went to work for awhile, and we drove around so Daniel (and G.G. and GrandDaddy) could take a nap in the car. After church we drove through the Sunrise Biscuit Kitchen (one of our favorite places so far here) and took our lunch to the park with Jenny. Daniel LOVES to swing now. We go by the park after church most weeks for at least a few minutes. He is SO tired by that time (he doesn't take a morning nap when he's in the nursery because it's too much fun to play with other kids), but he still wants to swing. It's hilarious. He laughs and laughs when we first start swinging him. Then, after a few minutes, he starts to fall asleep in the swing. But, he doesn't want to get out, so he tries so hard to stay awake and it makes him look drunk.

After the park, we came right home and took a long snuggly nap. Then we went to the park for awhile with our neighbors. He ate a few woodchips, dirt, and grapes, and played on the slide. Then, at dinner we did his Easter basket. His favorite things were an Easter book from Mrs. Faye that plays music and a chicken Easter basket and change purse from Aunt Jenny. G.G. brought a Peter Rabbit book and a bunny pillow that Mrs. Leathers made for me when I was about five years old. I made Daniel a "D" in grass seed in a box lid full of dirt. I wanted the grass to sprout in a "D" shape. It had only sprouted a tiny bit by last night, but we will keep watering it.

It was a great Daniel's First Easter. Today G.G. wants to go to Target to look at the after-Easter sales. Right now Daniel is playing with his four-wheeler and saying, "Dada? Dada?" which means, "Where is my Daddy?" He does this a thousand times a day. I always answer "Dada is at work. He will be home at dinner time."

Garden?

I am going to "try" to have an organic vegetable garden this year. I am not known for my ability with growing plants, but I am interested in trying it this year. My neighbors have a nice garden, and they are encouraging me. Also, GDaddy is coming back soon, so he will be able to help me. Already, I have learned a lot from library books and trips to Home Depot. Yesterday I learned that there is no one at Home Depot who can help me figure out how much compost to use on a 4' by 8' plot. Today I will call True Value. Surely they will know. I am reading a book called "Lasagna Gardening" by a woman who grew up in Crossville, TN. In the book, she tells you how to make a garden without tilling or digging. You build up a raised bed from the ground, starting with layers of wet newspaper. I am contemplating trying this method. I started my tomato, cataloupe, basil, and parsley seeds inside today.
Let's see what happens! Let me know if you have any gardening tips.