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Wednesday, January 25, 2017

Daniel Quarterly

Daniel is growing up into such a wonderful little man. He is very observant and is learning so much- from letters and numbers and colors and animals, to correct speech patterns, to sharing and cooperating with others. He is pretty normal for a 2.5-year-old and has his tantrums and doesn't always remember to use his words, but he is learning to calm down when he gets upset. From other 2yo fits I've witnessed, I think he is still a very mild 2yo. He is such a sweet and loving boy and everyone says he's the best snuggler. At church and PWOC we is usually being held by someone and he just loves people. He is an instigater in our family and will sometimes purposefully play in ways to annoy his brother, but that comes with the territory of "little brother" and also having an older brother who is very, very particular. He is such a happy little boy and he makes my heart swell. He loves his big brother and he loves his baby brother and I am so thankful he is my middle mister.



*10/13 first haircut from someone other than Mumma ever! I went to a lady's, Michele, house who was recommended to me by a PWOC friend. She has her own little hair studio set up in her house. Daniel did so much better than I expected! He wiggled some and he would put his hands up under the drape to try to pull his hair while she was cutting, but he didn't scream or cry like he does with me. It's a little shorter than I have ever gone and I love the sides, but I think I will keep it longer in the front.
*he always ends up next to me in bed. I usually don't even remember him joining me. I'll wake up to feed the baby and he's snuggled against me. Sometimes he just crawl in on his own quietly, but I found out that about 1/3 the time Matt brings him in when Daniel is crying.
*10/15 we had our family photo shoot with Hayley Stell. Daniel was doing fine and we were walking through some tall grass to the next location. A couple grasshoppers and other bugs were jumping around and he would try to hide behind me if one startled him. Then suddenly he screamed, ran away, and was crying about a "scary monster bite me!" He ran to Matt who was walking with Jackson a little bit behind us. Matt carried him and it took a couple minutes for Daniel to stop crying. When he did stop crying he didn't want to be put down and he ran to Hayley and said "hup!" and just gave her big hugs when she picked him up. He did give us a couple more good shots thankfully.
*going through a major Word Party phase. It is a Jim Henson cartoon only for Netflix. There's only one short season and we've watched lathe episodes multiple times. He likes the animals (panda, cheetah, wallaby, and elephant) and sings and dances with them.
*very afraid of the wind and crunchy leaves. Every time a gust hits him he screams, cries, runs to the door shaking, and won't stop until we let him inside. Then he refuses to come back inside. When there's a leaf in his path he will stand in his tip toes and whine until we pick him up. He won't even walk around the lead if we're holding hands!
*when it's time for bed Daniel will say "Mumma hup", which is normally what he says when he wants me to hold him (up), but he means he wants me to lie down next to him. Specifically without the baby. If the baby starts crying in the other room Daniel will tighten his arms around me and say "no baby Chase. Mumma hup".

11/13-12/12
*Halloween created a little monster! He constantly is asking for candy. His favorites are "suckers... shock-lit (chocolate)... and smarties." We make him wait until after lunch and dinner or for a special treat if we need to do something (like clip his nails). 
*he'll often say things and end it with "k?" in an adorable little voice. He is such a great communicator.
*loves "sticky sticky bubblegum" song
*knows all about spankings now. I can threaten him with a spanking and it stops his misbehavior. If he does something naughty he runs away and says "no spanking!" We try to only spank when he does something dangerous or is being disrespectful and use time out when he does other naughty things. 
*11/26 first self prayer "dear Jesus. Thank you for this day. Thank you for brothers, Jackson, daddy, dory, and Mumma. Mumma. In Jesus name, amen." 
*Daddy has been praying with Jackson at bedtime and when they're done he comes over to kiss Daniel goodnight. Daniel hides against me and then says "no kissing!" One night Daddy started to just leave the room after praying with Jackson and Daniel's head popped up immediately like "what about me!" And when daddy came over he hid, said no kissing, and wipes his cheek, but was so happy.
*Daniel used to watch "gee gah" but now he calls it "pee pad". His little speech is developing.


*we've been having a bit of a rough stretch. Daniel is very hot and cold with little in between. He fusses, whines, and cries much more often than he used to. He constantly wants to be held but also tells us to "go away now". He is definitely growing in independence, so that is good, but the autonomous streak comes with some disrespectful behavior. We're working on teaching him to be respectful and to have self control when he gets frustrated or angry. BUT when he is happy he is just the cutest, sweetest thing! He loves being snuggled and he is so playful and imaginative.
*Daniel loves candy. He asks for candy constantly. We're at Grammy and Papa's for Christmas and there's candy everywhere and he is becoming a little monster! Throwing fits for candy and stealing candy. We're going to rid our house of candy when we get home to try to break him of his bad habit. 
*12/24 so patient for opening presents! He loved getting his pile of presents at the Bonnell Christmas but he sat there with some on his lap waiting to be told he could open them. He was very independent with opening them and didn't want any help "no! Daniel do it!"
*one of my favorite Daniel-isms is "Daniel do it too well" instead of "as well". He mixes "too" and "as well" and it is just adorable.
*1/1 at dinner we said we were going to pray and Daniel started praying on his own. I think he said "thank you for this food amen", but he said it quickly so I didn't catch it. But we told him it was a very nice prayer.
*1/3 started potty training! Daniel has been going on the potty for almost a year, but I wasn't pushing underwear or going full time. Now that Chase is playing more I can follow Daniel and try to catch accidents before there's too big of a mess. Here's hoping he catches on quickly! We're trying going naked on bottom today with the promise of a gummy bear if he goes on the potty. I set a phone alarm so we go regularly to sit on the potty.
*Daniel screams loudly when he plays. We remind him not to scream often. He ran by me screaming as Jackson chased him. He sat next to me and I told him not to scream. He got a very sheepish look on his face, held his hands in his lap, shrugged his shoulders, and said matter-of-factly "it scared me." He looked SO cute! I wish I could have that moment on tape so I could remember it.

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