Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy

It has happened.  Daniel is in a "Daddy" phase and that's pretty much the only word the kid says these days.  I feel like chopped liver.

Daddy is usually followed by "Peeeze" because he wants something and mysteriously at 18 months has already decided that Daddy might give him something that Mama won't.

The only time this really makes me sad is sometimes in the morning when Daniel only wants Matt and he screams if I try to take him or when Matt gets into the shower.  Man, it blows!

Daniel, please bring "mama" back into the picture.

Happy Birthday, Aunt Andi

Happy birthday to my sister.  Daniel's wonderful and amazing, Aunt Andi. 

We love you!

18 Months

Dear Daniel,
Today is your 18 month birthday.  18 months!  For some reason this, your 1 1/2 birthday, is monumental.  It's the time that my friends said would be the most fun.  The time before "they" say that you're going to turn into a little 2 year old toddler nightmare (not MY baby!).  The time that you're still kind of a baby but I can feel that slipping away every single day as you become more and more of a toddler.

Keeping up with the blog has proven to be difficult recently and since this is my diary to you, it makes me sad that I haven't been able to log my thoughts and your stories more frequently.  I can say that it's one of my New Year's resolutions but that would just be plain silly!

What I can do is tell you what you're up to right now.  This divine, special, split-second-long chapter will change every day, so I'll try to include it all:

1.  You are still one of the sweetest boys imaginable (this is not just an "I'm your mom, so I think so", this is a truth that people tell us all the time.  You love to hug and kiss.  You cuddle (for only a few minutes, but still!), you say "baby" in a much higher and sweeter voice than you say any other word.  You don't hit.  You love to share. (both of the previous sentences could easily end with "Yet").

2.  You are still pensive, like you were as a baby.  I love this about you because I can see your brain working and growing every time you look at a project and think about it  before you dig into it.  Every time you flip a toy over to see if you can take it apart and every time you squat in front of the cat and try to communicate with him before trying to touch him.
3.  You lay in your crib and sing to yourself and then you clap at the end of your song.
4.  Your babbling is nothing short of RIDICULOUSLY amazing and constantly keeps me laughing.
5.  You still don't say a ton of words, but the ones you are into these days are:
Baby (you say it in 3 syllables, "ba-beee-beee")
Mama (and now you're finally talking to me and not just needing something)
Dada and Daddy
Kitty
Uh-Oh
Peeesh (please)
Doggy
Up (I haven't heard you say this, but you apparently do)
The following animal sounds:  Mooo (cow), Uff Uff (dog), Snnnn (snake), Cack Cack (duck), Tsss Tsss while shaking your finger (this is what you say for Monkey because of the book "Caps for Sale" which is one of you favorites), Hi Kitty (for Kitty.. no joke).
Bus
Uckch (Truck.  This is our favorite)
Yay! (after clapping)
6.  You are a fabulous sleeper.  You sleep from about 7:30 to 7 and you take one nap from 1-3 (or later) every day.  We love you for this.
7.  Your favorite books are "Everywhere Babies", "Mike Mulligan and his Steam Shovel", "Caps for Sale", and "The Very Hungry Catepillar"
8.  You run to me and throw your arms around me and hug me tight before kissing me.  Oh my lord, there is nothing better.
9.  You still like to play with my hair like you did when you were nursing.
10.  You love to dance and have made some new dance moves over the last few months that are particularly groovy
11.  Music calms you down and you love it when we sing big musical-type songs to you (you often applaud us when the song is over)
12.  You have a lot of teeth now and they are sharp. 
13.  You love the snow which makes me hopeful that you will snowboard with me in a few years.
14.  You are randomly enjoying spicy foods.  On Christmas, you were loving super spicy Hot & Sour soup in Chinatown

15.  You love to wash your hair (and your tummy, tushy, hands, etc).  Here you are at the Liberty Science Center washing your hair at a bubble exhibit.  Nice.

16.  You are happy and loving and curious about life.  You are an angel.  You are my best buddy.  You have changed me and made me better in ways that I'll never quite be able to explain.

Happy birthday, Daniel Bing.

The Blizzard

The Governor has declared a State of Emergency for the entire state of New Jersey.  We headed across the street to our park to see how Daniel would deal in the crazy wind, snow and general fun.  If you remember last year's massive snowstorm, Daniel didn't know which side was up - so Matt and I were so excited to see how he would react today.  He was slightly cautious but started screaming as soon as we said "let's head home".  Guess he liked it!  Unfortunately we ended the snow excursion on a bad note:  we put Daniel on a slide (alone) that was covered in snow.  He basically shot off like a cannon ball and skidded on the snow on his flat back.  It was kind of hysterical, but not so much when he started screaming (luckily the snowsuit Mimi bought him cushioned anything that could have possibly hurt him - but the surprise launch was enough for him!

Check us out:

Daniel is amazed.  And warm in his snowsuit big enough for 2 kids!

Also, thanks to Wade Holsapple for handing down his snow boots.  Perfect fit!

Matt teaching Daniel to throw snowballs

And to eat snow (Daniel wasn't super into it)

Loving the snow - can't wait to see it when it hits 14+ inches tomorrow morning!

And, if the pictures weren't enough... here's a video.  Daniel loved it. 

Stroller Addict: Tales of Stroller Hell

Let's put it this way:  Matt and I bought a 2009 Jetta Sportwagen TDI (a diesel) last fall.  I have put more time, energy, research, agony and arguing into our strollers than I did over the brand new car.

As you all know, I have one son.  He is 17 months old.

Today I bought our 5th stroller.  Yes, our 5th.

Here's how it happened (I'm writing this to come to terms with myself but to justify my reasoning as much as possible to my husband):

Stroller #1:  2009 Uppa Baby Vista.  I love this stroller.  Daniel was comfy.  I had numerous random issues (turns out Matt was closing it incorrectly causing it jam) and the amazing customer service took care of us each time.  2 problems:  it's heavy and the seat didn't go completely upright so Daniel would kind of be leaning back which became an issue when he was about a year old.

Stroller #2:  Because our Uppa is heavy, we decided to buy a lightweight stroller to take in the car, on the subway, etc.  It was between a Maclaren Triumph or the City Mini.  We went with the City Mini and basically stopped using the Uppa simply because the City Mini was pretty much perfect and lightweight.  When we were in Atlanta in September Hertz decided to "upgrade" my rental car and gave me a huge SUV.  It was so big I could barely get into my parent's garage.  I hated it.  I ran over our City Mini accidentally (I literally bumped it while reversing but the SUV was so big that it literally popped the stroller in half).  I hate that damned rental.

Stroller #3:  In Atlanta with a snapped-in-two City Mini, I ran out and, being such an Uppa Baby fan, bought their lightweight umbrella stroller, the G-Lite.  I loved it.  So light, so easy to carry, folds up into nothing.  I thought I was golden.

Stroller #4:  I knew I would end up doing this, but I recently started running (my friend Lauren Stout signed me up for a 10K) and I wanted to run with Daniel.  I bought a BOB Revolution and it honestly inspired me to run and I've loved it.  Decided it's the best stroller ever made.  Handles like a dream.  Daniel is so happy in it.  Makes me run.  ALMOST perfect.  Bad part:  so heavy and very hard to get in and out of our brownstone as the doors are narrow (will be great when our renovation is done in a few months and I have a garage).  I decide that I should have just bought the BOB to begin with.  We use this every day.

Stroller #5:  Over the last 2 months, we've realized that Daniel HATES the G-Lite.  It's actually quite small and we can't adjust the straps so Daniel doesn't fit very well.  Now that it's winter and he's in his coat, we can't even get the straps around him.  UGGGGHHH!!!  So what do I do?  Refer to Stroller #2.  I buy the Maclaren Triumph and it's perfect.

And that's where we are today.  Matt totally annoyed with me.  I'm totally annoyed with strollers.  If I get pregnant again soon and need a double stroller I'm going to take a shotgun and shoot every (empty) stroller that I see. 

Oops! Looks like I misplaced this data card!

I knew I had some amazing pictures from October.  Good thing I finally found them.  Reminds me that our photo storage is totally out of whack right now and we must get this fixed.

We went to a really cute farm with our friends, the Kriegsmans, and that's really when Daniel started calling all animals "Kitty" (he's not really doing that anymore, by the way).  I also love the love-fest going on with Daniel and Benjamin at the end of the day.

Also found - the Halloween pictures.  Honestly, how on earth did I let this happen? In any case, here was Halloween in all of it's rockin' cuteness.  On top of the Daniel pics, there are a few that showcase the fabulous park that we live on and it's kind of obvious why I love my neighborhood so much (future post).

Better late than never, right?

Baby

Daniel loves babies and today he finally said it!

"Baby"

Damn cute.  Sadly, I think he knows the word not from me saying it all the time, but from Elmo asking what a baby does every morning.