First Visit with Santa

Daniel went to visit Santa for the first time this week.  Santa said he would bring Daniel some diapers for Christmas, so that made Mommy happy!

Daniel likes Santa's beard

Merry Christmas!

5 Months Old

Daniel turned 5 months old on Tuesday.  He now easily rolls from his back to tummy, and is getting closer to sitting without support.  He also smiles at the dogs almost any time one of them walks by him - it's pretty cute!  He is a great eater and doesn't like waiting for his bottle if we have to warm it in the bottle warmer.  His sleeping patterns have not been so great lately.  We shouldn't complain, because he's such a great baby, but we do.  :) We still treasure every moment with him.  He's five months now; it won't be long and we'll say, "Remember when we had to get up six times a night with Daniel?"  He is so worth it!

Videos!

I let Daniel play on the computer for the first time the other night.  After a few minutes, he must have been tired of it because he turned it off.

Today, Trixie ran by Daniel and he started smiling and laughing.  We grabbed the camcorder as fast as we could and this is what happened:

Sleepy Time

Here are a couple of pictures Amy snapped yesterday.  One while he was asleep, and one just as he woke up and was stretching.

Sound asleep in his crib

This is the "I just woke up, what's up?" face

Playing in the jumperoo can wear a little boy out!

Picture and Video Update!

What a cutie:

Being silly with Daddy:

And a couple of videos:

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving family and friends!  This is what we're thankful for:

Feed me turkey!

Seattle Invasion

Last weekend we traveled to Seattle to see Chris, Amy, and Anya.  The trip was much too short (as they always seem to be), but we all had a great time.  Thank you for hosting us Seattle family!  We look forward to the next visit soon!

Aunt Amy and Daniel

Uncle Chris and Daniel

Cousin Anya was very gentle with Daniel!

Cousin cuties!

Smiles and Laughs

Two videos for your viewing pleasure:

Four Month Pediatrician Visit

Daniel turned four months old over the weekend, and yesterday he had his checkup.  He weighed 13 lbs and 13 oz; 25 percentile.  His length was 24.5 inches; 31 percentile.  And his head circumference was in the 38 percentile.  There were more shots, but much less crying this time.  He cried for a few seconds afterwards, and then immediately calmed down, so that was much better than last time.

Developmentally, he's doing great.  In fact, he's 'advanced' - doing things that the doctor wouldn't expect him to do for another month or two.  A few things he's started doing that are early for his age are: he's now able to reach and grab for things (and then usually put them directly in his mouth), he tried to push the doctor's hands away when he was looking in his nose and throat, and he's developed stranger-danger.  We first noticed the stranger-danger last week when Amy brought him in to see me at work.  He was very apprehensive when my coworkers held him.  This has since turned into full blown crying, accompanied by the saddest little face ever, if someone he doesn't know tries to hold him.  Hopefully this phase will pass quickly!

Daniel is much more talkative and interactive, smiling and and making happy, screeching noises all the time.  He currently has a cold, so his coos and squawks sound very congested.  But, despite his cold, he's still mostly a very happy and content baby.  And, either due to the cold or perhaps the '4-month sleep regression', or both, he's been waking much more frequently at night.  We're anxious to get through this, because we are very tired parents these days!

Overall, life with this little boy is amazing and wonderful and we consider ourselves to be incredibly lucky!

Grandparents Visit!

Daniel's Grandpa and Grandma May as well as his Great-Grandma Munyon came to visit from Iowa over the weekend.  We hung out around Portland and also made a trip to the Central Oregon Coast (Lincoln City).  Here are just a few of the photos we took from the visit:

A little pre-beach activity

 The dogs had a good weekend too

Grandma & Grandpa love Daniel!

Four generations

Great-Grandma Munyon loves Daniel too!

 Grandma reading Daniel a book

Napping with Grandpa

Thanks for visiting Grandpa, Grandma, and Great-Grandma!  We all had a fantastic time and look forward to our next visit.

Talking

Daniel had something he wanted to get off his chest:

Happy Halloween!

This post is a bit late.  Daniel was a tiger for his first Halloween.  My sister, Aunt Carrie, was here to help.  Daniel did a great job of relaxing while we handed out candy to trick-or-treaters!

Our little tiger

Giving out candy is hard work!

Thanks for visiting, Aunt Carrie!

Pumpkin Patch

Aunt Carrie is in town visiting, and today we all went to a Pumpkin Patch.  It was great fun!

Grandmommy Visit

Last weekend, Daniel's grandmommy came out to visit!  We had such a great visit.  On Friday, we took Daniel to the zoo for the first time.  He mostly just took it all in, until we got to the penguins.  He was fascinated!  He'd watch them swim back and forth, following them as they swam by us.  So much fun!

Here are a few pictures and one video from the weekend:

Grandmommy reading to Daniel

New coat from Great-Grandmommy and Great-Grandadddy! 

All ready to have fun at the zoo

"Look how big I am!"

Watching the penguins

And one bonus video from today:

First Trip to the Ocean!

On Saturday, I turned 30.  My birthday wish was to spend the day at the Ocean with Bobby, Daniel, and the dogs.  This was Daniel's first trip to the Ocean, and we think he enjoyed it.  We learned it is much more time intensive to take a baby and two dogs to the beach, but it was well worth it.  It was a great day and I had a very happy 30th birthday!

Picnic lunch  :)

Happy boy with a happy Daddy

3 Months Old

Daniel is three months old today.  He continues to grow and change on what feels like a daily basis.  He smiles and 'talks' frequently, especially during tummy time and when he's trying to shove his whole fist in his mouth (just like his Aunt Danielle!).  Last Saturday, after being a perfect baby at our friends' wedding, we brought him home and heard him laugh for the first time!  He has laughed a couple of times since then, but so far we haven't had any luck getting it on video.  Hopefully soon.

Every day with Daniel is a joy and a treasure and we are so lucky to have this little boy in our lives.