Stereophonic Multimedia Event

Aww… Daddy and Mommy learned to use youtube. So cute. Anyway… make sure your speakers are on.

And in case you don’t speak toddler…
Me: “Weeeee Weee wee wee wooo woo. Daddy, HI Daddy! What are you doing, Daddy?“
Daddy: “I’m taking a video“
Me: “No“
Daddy: “Uh-huh“
Me: “Oh no, Daddy, NO. No, Daddy, No. Don’t take pictures of me. I, I go home. Taking pictures of me….” (seriously, what WAS he thinking?!)
Me: “Careful, Daddy. I careful“
Daddy: “You are careful“
Me: “I careful my cycle drive. I careful mine. I want my chalk. Sprinkler! I want sprinkler on. I want sprinkler. I want sp..“
Daddy: “Daniel, can you wave goodbye?”
Me: “Bye!“
Daddy: “Wave“
Me: “Daddy! FIRETRUCK“
Daddy: “Yeah, firetruck“
Me: “I hear it, I hear! Firetruck WOOOWOOO” (siren impression, of course)
Daddy: “Do you hear it?”  (Nope.  I was just guessing)
Me: “WooWooWoo” (at this point, I attacked the camera… and the cameraman.  Fire trucks excite me)

We found the camera!

So… things are good.  Mommy found a job!!  She’s going to teach French at a private school near our home, and they’re going to let me go there for free!  I got to check it out while Mommy was doing her interview.  There were a lot of nice kids there, and I’m excited about going.  And Mommy only has to work 5 hours a week, so it’s a pretty sweet deal.

Daddy and I took some pictures of the house…. but we’ll have to do this in phases because there’s a lot to show.  We’ll do outside right now, and I’ll post pictures of the inside later.

So here’s the front of our new house!  Some landscaping still needs to be done, but I still like it.  This is a very lucky angle on the garage.  The other half is still filled with boxes, but Daddy promises he’ll work on it.

 This is the back to our house!  The windows on the far left are Mommy and Daddy’s bathroom, next to those are Mommy and Daddy’s bedroom, then big ones in the middle are for the living room, and the ones on the far right are the dining room.  There’s also a door from the dining room to the back patio that you can’t see from this angle.

I’m really enjoying playing in the back yard.  We have water fights (mostly cups and squirt bottles with a sprinkler going nearby), which Daddy claims is not just for fun, but also helps keep the sod from drying out too much. 

And we have woods!  The woods you can see in the above pictures are actually really cool to play in, and since it’s technically a water retention area, they can never build back there.  Daddy cut me a little path so I can get back there, so here’s a pic of the path and what it looks like inside.

This is where I park my rides. Ok… part is the handle to a car and not the car itself, but the car is somewhere in the garage. After arranging my stuff like this, I just looked at Daddy and yelled, “I parked it, Daddy! I parked it!” Apparently he found this amusing.

And this is the overall layout of the house. Like I said, I’ll try to get some interior pictures up soon. A lot of the rooms still need some work, but we’re getting there. I’m doing my part by making sure to scatter my toys around whenever I play with them. It seems to be working.

 

Alright, Alright…

So where have I been, right?  ALL OVER.

Things have been really crazy this year, so I’ll apologize for dropping off the blogging.  Here’s what has happened to keep me away from my fans:

We prepared and sold our house
Daddy graduated
We had a house build in Huntsville
We moved out of our home in Cookeville
We’re now bumming around Grandmama’s and Granpa’s house until our new house is done

It’s been a lot of fun, but Mommy and Daddy have had a lot to do and haven’t gotten to help me blog much.

So what’s new? Well, I’ve said goodbye to my friends at daycare. I had a lot of fun there and they took good care of me, but I’m excited about the new house, too. While we’re staying at Grandmama’s and Grandpa’s, I’ve met some other kids on the trips to the park. They’ve taught me new games like “chase the ducks with a stick”, “stick my face in the dirt”, and “jump off the top of the playplace”. Funny… Daddy won’t let me play any of those games. He’s a party pooper. OH! Speaking of pooping..

I’ve been working on the potty training thing. I’m really good about going pee pee in the potty, but I’m still scared of pooping in it. Mommy says that she read that children are afraid to poop in the potty, because if poop can be flushed, the kids think they could be, too! Truth is, I’m mostly just scared of not being able to frustrate Mommy and Daddy so easily. So I’ll keep pooping in my pull-ups. Mommy and Daddy tell me that the characters on my pull-ups don’t like it (Tow Mater, Woody, and others), but I haven’t heard them complain yet.

I guess that’s a pretty good summary of what I’m doing at the moment. Daddy starts work next week and he’ll have to go down there Monday. Mommy will head down Wednesday for the final walk-through on the house (they did the initial one yesterday). I’ll come down Friday with Grandmama and Grandpa. I can’t wait to see my new room! I’ll have a bedroom AND a playroom!! Mommy and Daddy seem to be coping with the stress pretty well, despite having to try to deal with all the paperwork, phonecalls, and the purchase of all the stuff that has to go in the house.

There will be pictures once Daddy has an office again

Break is Over

Well, my break from daycare is now over.  I had to miss a week for a minor surgery (apparently the mole on my bum needed removin’), and then the daycare was closed for the holidays.

I had a great time over Christmas!!  I learned many important things.

1. Number of presents is inversely proportional to recipient’s size.  That is, I get more stuff than grownups.
2. Parents get excited all backwards.  For example, Daddy was more excited about Mommy opening the present he got for her than opening his own
3. Stocking stuffers sometimes just go near the stocking instead of inside.  I think it might be a dimension issue.
4. Mrs. Claus is very nice.  Santa, on the other hand, is a little scary.  I don’t mind him in ornament form… just the real dude.

 

I got some really cool stuff, too, including some great new toys, new Veggie Tales DVDs, markers, books, clothes and even my own laptop!  I also decided to start using sentences.  It’s mostly a matter of convenience, really.  If I announce “I hurt head”, Mommy knows immediately where to kiss.  Apparently I’m quite good at it.  It is unfortunate that I will have reduce my communication to what is generally referred to as “words” by the hoi polloi, but one must always consider his audience, I suppose.

We didn’t really do much for the New Year.  We had been travelling so much that I think Mommy and Daddy were exhausted.  By the way… I think Mommy and Daddy have a problem with projection.  The more tired they get, the more I end up being put down for naps.  Maybe I should have a talk with them.

And Mommy’s birthday was yesterday!  In the afternoon, Mommy and Daddy took me to Austin’s birthday party at Wiggle Time, and we had a LOT of fun.  There was a ball pit, a trampoline, and a bunch of slides.  There was even a sort of gauntlet where you dodged (or didn’t) the big kids playing on swings in the main walking area.  My head hurts.

But after that, we went out to celebrate Mommy’s Birthday.  Mr. Thomas, Ms. Summer, and baby Daniel came with us, as well as Mr. Jim and Ms Katie.  It was really fun.  We went to Cheddar’s for dinner, and then hung out at home.  Unfortunately, that evil cat pulled another stunt.  When Mommy and Daddy put me down for bed, Zeus slipped into the room.  I won’t tell you exactly how he scared me, but suffice it to say that Mommy and Daddy heard me screaming from the other room and rushed in, only to see my pointing at the kitty and bawling hysterically.  Luckily, this bought me 20 more minutes of play time, so it all worked out for the best.

Keepin’ On

Several things worth noting!

I bit my lip. Hard. So hard, actually, that they had to call Mommy into daycare. To be more precise, I kinda bit through my lip. It’s much better now, but it really hurt at the time.

Mommy and Daddy seem shocked by how quickly I’m learning new words. It’s really easy now! All I do is listen to what people say and figure out what they’re talking about. Then I can use those words whenever I need to. My new favorite words are pizza, play ground, videos, and pumpkin.

Other than that, things have been pretty standard. You know me… causing trouble, making messes, poking eyes, being cute… That’s just how I roll.

Weekend of Awesome

It really was.  Grandpa picked me up Friday morning and took me to Hendersonville.  We had a lot of fun.  I had Wendy’s for lunch, and since it was Grandpa, I actually ate some of my chicken nuggets.  I also got to have some Fries and a bit of Frosty, and we got to visit Grandmama at her work and see all the office ladies.

Mommy, Daddy, Uncle Todd and Aunt Sarah all came for the weekend, too.  Taking the rare opportunity to please such a large audience, I performed my famous sumersaults and pot-lid percussion routines.  I have also deduced that sticking fingers in one’s ears is a form of praise much like applause.  I mean, why else would they do it every time I brought those lids close?

Can anyone else hear that ringing?

And I got to go on a boat!  Daddy, Grandpa, and I hit the lake for some water fun.  I was a little nervous at first, but I was very brave and had a LOT of fun.  My favorite parts were the bumps… if they stopped, I’d just hop in Daddy’s lap until I was tired.  And there were ducks!  And BABY boats!!  Ok, so I think I heard Daddy call the baby boat a “Jetski”, but I’m pretty sure it’s just a baby boat.

 

Spirit Week

We’ve got Spirit
Yes we do!
We’ve got Spirit
So I’m blue!

Ok, so it needs a little work.

It was Spirit Week at the daycare.  Here’s what we had planned:

Monday – Pajama day
Tuesday – Crazy Hair
Wednesday – Wacky Tacky Clothes
Thursday – Favorite Color (our class was Blue)
Friday – TTU Pride

So on Monday, I wore regular pajamas.  The real excitement started Tuesday.  Daddy took me to Walmart, and we got some blue hair gel.

It.  Was.  Awesome.

I got to wear it Tuesday and Thursday, since one day was for hair and the other was for the color blue.  The first day, my hair was still a little too long, so it didn’t spike very well.  Still, it was cool:

 

Mommy and Daddy learned their lesson, though, and shortened it up for Thursday.

I think this hair says “That’s right punk.  Walk away.  Cuz I’m crazy and you know I’ll mess you up.”

And what of Wacky Tacky Day?  Well, let’s just say that we will never speak of it again.  I was so Wacky and Tacky, that no pictures will ever be released.  Just leave it alone, people.  We do not speak of such things.

And Friday?  Well, I wasn’t at daycare Friday.  Grandpa picked me up and we got an early start on our “Weekend of Awesome”.  But that, dear readers, is another post.

Happy Birthday to Me!

That’s right… I’m now the Big Two.  I don’t know why people keep calling it the “Terrible Twos”.  I’m having a great time.  Mommy and Daddy are finally learning to understand Danglish (Daniel English… I figure people would get confused if I shorten it Danish).  I mean seriously… I understand that they’re getting old, but is it really so hard to understand that Neos means Sandals, Beeboo means Paper, and Kahkoo means motorcycle, bicycle, circle, ring, finger, and sock?

I had a really fun party, too.  Lots of friends and family!  And I got some great presents… everything from some cool new books to a big car and motorcycle toy that are big enough to ride on.  Mr. Jim even got me some safety gear!  Plus he got me a blank license plate.  He said we can write “Daniel” on it if it’s going on the car, but if we decide to put it on the bike, we have to write “Snake”.  I, of course, prefer snake.  Unfortunately, having no riding gloves, I’m forced to wear Daddy’s motorcycle gloves.

The whole party was fun, though.  We hung out, played in the house a bit, and finally moved outside where I could enjoy my new riding toys.  I wonder what I’ll get next year?!  I think I heard Daddy mention a dirt bike and Mommy mention a giant inflatable bubble.

Back By Popular Demand

Alright, Alright… I know I’ve been gone for a while.  It’s not my fault, though!  Mommy has been teaching and Daddy has been taking classes.  I can’t exactly blog at daycare.

 But things have been pretty good… I’m gonna try to catch you up on the important happenings of the last few weeks.  And in case there was any concern… I’m still cute.

 

My Way or…

Throughout my life, I’ve learned many things.  An important lesson I’d like to pass on to all of you is that there is more than one way to accomplish most goals.  Take, for example, the goal of sleep.  I sleep a lot… usually about 12 hours at night and then another 2-3 hours worth of nap during the day.  Last week Mommy and Daddy took me to the store and helped me pick out sheets, pillows, and blankets for what they call a big-boy bed.  Well, it turns out that a big-boy bed is more of a fluffy slab of recklessness than an actual bed.  Where did my 4 walls go?!  How can I throw myself around in bed if there are no sides to keep me from toppling overboard?  Sure, the bed is in the corner and they got a bar/net system to keep me from accidentally rolling off the exposed side, but it still feels so open.

The first night we tried it, I wouldn’t stand for it.  They even tried taking the side off my crib and putting me there instead, but I just wasn’t in the mood for change.  Yesterday, though, Daddy put me in my big-boy bed for a nap and stayed in there with me, making me lie down whenever I tried to move around.  While annoying, I did notice that the bed was actually kinda comfortable and I like having all the extra room.  Even though I didn’t take the nap (just kinda laid there for an hour), it was enough to get me used to the bed.  Last night Mommy and Daddy put me in the big-boy bed again, and I slept in it all night.  I heard a rumor that Mommy and Daddy snuck in and made sure I was sleeping in the bed, but I find this unlikely since I tend to wake up when anyone attempts such a maneuver.

So I guess the moral of the story is that Mommy and Daddy might have a better way to do things… my new bed is cool.  I won’t complain.