Dop

Each day I feel the dawn of toddlerhood breaking before my eyes. I've written about Daniel's mini-tantrums before, but he is starting to exert his independence in other ways, too. He has started making requests. For instance, he likes to eat many foods with "dop," which is dip to the rest of the world. I think this started in Canada when we dipped his sandwich and apple in clam chowder, and he really enjoyed it. At this point, I'll do pretty much anything to get him to eat foods with vegetables in them. Funny thing is that I love dip. I am game for almost any kind of dip and have been since I was a young child. I guess Daniel is going to be just like his mother.

I'm trying to think of which other Daniel-isms you might enjoy. Hmm... For the longest time, we would take a few minutes when we put him to bed and say prayers, cuddle, sing a song, and other relatively normal bedtime activities. A while back, Matt started saying, "shh" and blowing a kiss or two. Daniel is not the cuddliest kid around. So now when it is time for bed, he throws his blankies into the crib and tries to dive in. Then he will "shh" us and blow a kiss. I kind of miss the cuddling, but I like the quick goodnights.

Last story for today. We started Daniel at a day care a couple weeks ago. It is a really nice private day care at a local construction company. There are only 9 kids there and four are in the baby room (under 2). Daniel was really ready for more interaction with other kids and other activities. The staff there is so brave. They let him paint and use glue! Apparently he really likes using the glue, and he does not eat it. Hard to believe. Well today when I was picking him up, I witnessed a true oldest child moment. I'm starting to think that Daniel has a bit of a devious streak. Here is the scene - Daniel is playing with a doggie pull-toy and another girl is playing with a ride-on school bus. Well, we have been talking about sharing for a while, and I think he is starting to catch on. He sees the girl on the ride-on toy and immediately decides that he would rather be playing with the ride-on toy. So he goes over to her and somewhat forces the doggie pull-toy into her arms and gets on the ride-on school bus. She, being the sweet girl that she is, rolls with it, and Daniel gets away with it. But, I tell you what, I could totally see it in his eyes that this was not a fair trade.

Ok, one more. Daniel has a small obsession with golf carts. My grandparents have one at the cottage, and he loved it. Well, he is getting close to knowing how to operate it. He finds the key, puts it in, and pushes on the gas pedal. Thankfully, you have to turn the key before the cart works, and he can't do that yet. Next summer we are going to have to hide all the golf cart keys :)

Amherst Shore 2009

Here are some pictures from our vacation. We had a blast. I'll give more details later. If you want to see more pictures, check out my Mom's Facebook album. Enjoy!

Daniel loved his first Craig's ice cream, but...
he liked Dad's chocolate better.

He also liked the sand. What a goatee!

I promise he does not have a black eye ;)

Time to go up for a nap.

The giant bathtub provided days of entertainment.

Our little beach bum.

In heaven with two dogs and another boy!

So you just go beyond the point for a few miles...

Hanging with Grampie!

On the sandbars.

Daniel pulled these out of the ground daily.

This was his first experience with the water. He jumped right in and wanted to swim. It was absolutely freezing that day. What a nut!

This is fun!

Can we go swimming?

Bunkbeds or Lots of Pink?

Today we had the 20-week ultrasound, and after much debate, we decided to find out the sex of baby number 2. Matt still was not 100 percent sure if he wanted to know, but I really wanted to know. He capitulated, and let me find out. The most important thing is that the baby is healthy and looking great. The ultrasound technician actually asked if we thought the baby looked like Daniel. I don't have nearly enough experience reading ultrasounds to come up with that sort of conclusion.

Leading into today, I've kind of built up the sex issue down to a relatively simple equation. If it's a boy, we are getting bunk beds, and they are going to share a room eventually. If it's a girl, I'm going to have to beef up our pink and purple inventory. So it looks like we will be shopping for bunk beds in the upcoming months! Daniel is going to have a little brother.

This weekend we are headed to our cottage in Nova Scotia for a week. Hopefully we will have great weather. I can't wait to see Daniel on the sandbars. He will be able to run forever! Did I mention that he runs now? Well, he does. It is really funny to watch his little legs go. He can't really move them like an adult yet, so he sort of wobbles back and forth as he moves forward. Of course, there are the periodic falls that disrupt his running, too. Thank goodness it takes a big fall to make him cry.