Asher's B-day

We are still in the midst of the spring/summer birthday celebrations. Today we celebrated Daniel's buddy Asher's 2nd birthday at Padaro Beach Grill.

Singing "Happy Birthday" to Asher. Check out the amazing car cake our friend Kaeley made.

Our little ohana.

Daniel had his first taste of Cheetos. I think they were a hit.

Wearing Daddy's slippers.

Memorial Day Weekend

In one word, our Memorial Day weekend was amazing! Val and Jeff came to town and we had an awesome time hanging out with them. We went to the pool, had bbq's, Charley and Barley played together, we spent two days at the beach, swam, surfed, drank caipirinhas and ate fresh corn.

Daniel, Jeff and Sequoia at Goleta Beach. Daniel was enamored with the "big boys", a.k.a. Sequoia and Kai.

Val and I about to embark on a chilly ocean swim at Goleta Beach. Val is training for an olympic distance triathlon that will take place in June.

Daniel practicing his surfing at Campus Point. This is before he got knocked over by the incoming tide and was completely submerged in the cold ocean- one of the highlights of his weekend.

Barley the San Francisco native, getting a taste of living life at the beach.

Favorites

Since this blog is actually my feeble attempt at documenting Daniel growing up- yes, that's right I'm no Martha Stewart Scrapbooker- I thought I'd record some of Daniel's favorites at age two.

First, here are his recent stats courtesy of his two year old checkup:
Weight- 23 pounds
Height- 32 inches (almost catching up to me!)
Head Circumference- Hmmm, I can't remember.
As usual, Daniel is just barely on the height and weight chart. No worries for us though, Brian likes to point out that most of the world's most talented surfers are small.

Some of Daniel's favorites:
Daniel LOVES anything having to do with transportation- cars, trains, planes, and boats. He enjoys eating homemade waffles for breakfast and likes to help stir the batter. His favorite foods are always changing, but in general he is a big fan of fruit and pasta. He loves to wrestle with us on our bed and hide under the covers. Daniel also loves the beach (did he really have a choice with us as his parents?) At night he sleeps with his construction truck blanket that Granny made him and his Elmo doll from Grandma and Grandpa. Daniel sometimes sleeps the whole night in his crib but often he joins us in our bed halfway through the night, hence our recent upgrade to a king size bed! He loves to snuggle with us and is very affectionate. He still uses a pacifier but just for naps and bedtime. Daniel loves being read to and has favorite books he wants to hear over and over again. I will admit that Brian and I are guilty of hiding the books that we are tired of reading to him.  Daniel loves to dance to music and listen to his favorite songs in the car. Best of all, Daniel is a truly joyful and happy child and he loves to laugh. Even though I attribute the five gray hairs I recently had to pluck to parenting a toddler, I love being Daniel's mom.

Daniel relaxing while he watches his favorite movie, Disney Pixar's "Cars." Brian and I have without a doubt seen this movie more times than any other.

Enjoying a smoothie made especially for him by Dad.

The artist.

Using his tape measure (just like Dad) to hang some new frames.  Daniel wants to be just like Brian and he imitates everything he does.

Sunday

For the first time since Brian began his job as a ranger, he has Sundays off. I don't know how long his schedule will continue to be like this but I am really loving having him around for part of the weekend. One recent Sunday we rode our bikes to the lake to feed the ducks.

Daniel also fed a squirrel.

 

On the way home, we stopped by John and Mary's to pick some berries.

Later that day, we discovered that one of our "mystery trees" in our backyard is a cherry tree!

More birthday cake!

Daniel's "birthday week" celebration ended with a spaghetti dinner at Brian's parents' house. By this time, Daniel had the birthday rituals down. When he saw presents lying around he assumed they were for him and went right ahead and started tearing off the wrapping paper. Hopefully he won't do this when we attend his buddy's birthday party this weekend.

Cheryl made a cute Thomas birthday cake that Daniel LOVED!

"Look Mama, it's Thomas!"

"Whaddaya mean take a smaller piece of cake?"

"YUM! Sugar!"

Daniel with his great grandparents and grandparents.

(Left to right) Papa, Nonna, GG Joey, Daniel coming down off a sugar high, Granny, and Gramps

2nd Birthday PEP party

Our PEP group has been meeting together since our kids were just a couple months old. Since most of the kids have birthdays all within a few months of each other we have a joint birthday party for them. The mini bounce house was the huge hit of the party (at least with Daniel). Man, I need to get one of those. I'd just plop Daniel in every day before nap and bedtime and let him bounce away until he was ready for a LONG sleep.

Daniel and Mason (who is soon to be a big brother!).

Daniel looking for dolphins with my dad.

Drew with Rocco, Mason and Izzy.

Will looking stylish.

Daniel bouncing with Caleb and Natalie.

Group photo. 

By the way, the majority of the moms in our group are now pregnant with their second. 

Don't get any ideas! I am one of the few that isn't!

Asher (Also going to be a big brother soon!)

Happy 2nd Birthday

 

The birthday celebration continued at my parents' house. Auntie Mary and Uncle Randy joined us and my mom made Daniel's favorite foods- artichokes for appetizers and risotto for dinner.  There were presents opened and played with and Daniel even got a balance bike from my parents (though he still needs to sprout a few more inches before he is big enough to ride it). I served angel food cake topped with fresh whipped cream and strawberries from the farm and Daniel blew out his two candles all by himself. We ended the night with Daniel watching his name announced on KCET for the birthday kids club. It was TiVo'ed so we replayed it again and again with Daniel pointing to himself and cheering each time.  Happy 2nd Birthday, Bug! I love you.

Birthday Buddies

Daniel's 2nd Birthday was on the same day our PEP group gets together so I suggested we meet at Padaro Grill in Carpinteria. My very talented friend Kaeley is taking a cake decorating class and had just made a cake the evening before which she offered to bring. Daniel thought the cake was delicious and even appreciated the fancy fondant frosting! It was a gorgeous day and Daniel had a great time playing in the sand, running around with all his buddies and watching the train go by. It was the perfect way to spend his birthday.