Just Cute

We just think he's so terribly cute. We can hardly stand it!

Always at the Park

These pictures are from the park near our church. We went on a picnic a few Sundays ago.

We have had several warm sunny days lately. I've tried to get Daniel outside as much as possible. Our area seems to have lots of parks. We have two great parks near our house. One is near enough for us to walk with the stroller. The other is about a three minute drive. There is also a huge park about twenty minutes in one direction and another good park near our friend's house in another direction. We keep hearing about other nice parks we want to visit.

Daniel likes to slide. Sometimes he likes to swing and other times the swing makes him very unhappy. His favorite activity is playing with woodchips or crawling in mud (we haven't found any muddy woodchips yet; that would be the ultimate). He is getting over his leaf-eating phase. He likes to taste the woodchips, but he doesn't eat them up. He almost ate a marble on Thursday, but I caught that just in time. He tasted a pine twig and a big stick, but chose not to eat them. It takes all the restraint I have to allow these "tastings." However, I have found that if I let him taste, he often decides not to eat and moves on. If I prevent him from tasting, he gets focused on putting the item in his mouth. All the way. I still end up taking things out of his mouth constantly. I have gotten really good at the "finger sweep." I can't count the times I've found "book" in his mouth when I've noticed him chewing at home at a time when we've not been eating. Aunt Angie's lift the flap books from Christmas are his most delicious ones. Unfortunately, he has learned how to tear the flap off and chew it up.

Noodles and Tomato Sauce

The other night we tried letting Daniel eat noodles and tomato sauce with his hands. He had big fun. It was messy, but he ate a ton, so it was worth it. Just when we thought he was full, he wanted to eat grapes.

This week he has eaten noodles, bread, pears, grapes, and sweet potatoes as his main food. During the last week he also tried a veggie hot dog, sauer kraut (loved it; he is Joseph Watson's son), a veggie burger, okra and tomatoes, dumplings, green peas, and apricots. He likes kiwi now, but doesn't get it often because his Daddy doesn't like to share.

First Swim

We took Daniel to the Campus Hills Recreation Center in Durham today for his first swim. He enjoyed it so much. He giggled, splashed, and kicked. We look forward to swimming with him as much as possible.

Messy Eater

Lately Daniel has been refusing food by spoon. He wants to eat with his hands and do everything by himself. So, I cooked Aunt Judy and Uncle David's butterbeans and some baby carrots in the crock pot for hours and hours until I could mash them between my fingers. I also boiled whole wheat macaroni noodles until they were large and soft. I can put those things on the high chair tray, and he can eat them all by himself. I pinch off small pieces of carrot, and I smoosh the butterbeans in half. He enjoys this a lot; these foods, along with whole wheat bread, cheerios, and avocado have been his meals this week. On Monday Daniel visited our neighbors while I was recuperating from my sore back. He came home with a container of sweet potatoes they had shared at lunch. He LOVES sweet potatoes. If you follow this blog, you know the mess we got into earlier with sweet potatoes. I decided to give him a small portion and watch the results. He ate them from a spoon with no problem. He loved them, of course, and his output seemed fine. This morning I was going to give him some more for breakfast (from a spoon). When he saw the container he started making his happy food sounds. He would not touch ANY of the other food after he saw the sweet potatoes. I offered him some from a spoon, but he wanted to do it himself. I knew we would be in for a mess, so I stripped him down to his diaper and plonked a big spoonful on his tray, in the midst of the noodles, butterbeans, and carrots. HE LOVED IT! He used his hands to make a big glob of everything, and he ate it all. Cleanup took longer than usual, but I eventually got him clean. Here are some shots of our food adventure. I can't WAIT for warmer weather; I'll just put him in the yard and hose him down at the end of the meal!

Da-Da-Da-Daniel