Dad's Day at Preschool

Daniel's nursery school hosted a Dad's Day last weekend where they got to bring their dads into school to do some fun activities. Since Brian was working, Daniel brought Grandpa. It's questionable who was looking forward to this morning the most- Daniel or Grandpa!

Daniel's Brazilian Girlfriend

Daniel has a new girlfriend. Her name is Luisa and she is from Rio, Brazil. At 19 years old, she has a few years on Daniel, but he doesn't seem to mind. Luisa is the daughter of one of my dad's friends from graduate school and she is here to study English at City College. She stayed at my parents' for a few days before moving in with her host family and Daniel was devastated to say goodbye to her!

Mandarin Tree

Daniel and Daddy planting our new mandarin tree- a special gift from Papa and Nonna! Can't wait to enjoy the delicious sweet fruit!

Baby Bun in the Oven

My talented photographer friend Phil had some time at the photo studio at SBCC and no model- so I volunteered my baby bump.

Practicing

The benefits of rain

Today when I picked up Daniel from pre-school the director told me that Daniel really enjoys playing in the mud puddles. They gave him a pair of rainboots and let him go to town!

32 weeks

The baby bump at 32 weeks!

Trains Part II

Last weekend Art Sylvester (owner/creator of Daniel's Dream Backyard) invited us to his friend's house to see an amazing train layout that was about five times bigger than his.  The men were playing "railroad" meaning they were each given a sheet of instructions that specified where they had to go and what cars they had to pick up and where to drop them off.  Art described it as similar to a treasure hunt, but really what real railroads do. There is even a dispatcher from whom the men must obtain clearance to go from one place to another on the main line. Notice the real live trees are all kept to scale with the railroad!  

The owner of the house even has an indoor train layout that we were fortunate enough to tour.

 

Thanks, Art for inviting Daniel and the family to another great train display!

First Day of Nursery School

Daniel had his first day of nursery school last week. He is going to be attending half days two days a week. I love his new school- it's in our neighborhood and many of the teachers are people we have known for years, emphasizes learning through play, has tons of hands-on activities and warns that you shouldn't send your child to school in good clothes because they will be getting dirty. Of course, my stubborn son wouldn't let me take any of the traditional "First Day of School" photos so this one of him racing around the tricycle track will have to suffice.

When we picked him up from school, the director came out to greet us and said Daniel was definitely ready for preschool and had participated in all the activities!

Daniel's Dream Backyard

Yesterday Daniel got to visit what I can only describe as his "dream backyard." My parent's good friends the Sylvesters have awesome train tracks set up in their backyard and were preparing to host the local train club for the afternoon. They graciously invited Daniel over to take a look at the trains earlier that morning.

Yep, you are seeing correctly- the train tracks are embedded in the deck!

Chasing the train.

Daniel was very sad to leave the Sylvester's but they lessened the blow by presenting Daniel with a very special "Shell" oil tanker train. When Daniel woke up from his nap that afternoon, I found the train in bed with him!

Busy Day

Today was a busy day for our little bug. It started out with his first dentist appointment with Dr. Mascagno. Dr. Mascagno was my pediatric dentist too and he remains to this day the only dentist I ever liked (it may have helped that there was a free Pac-Man game to play in the waiting room!)

Dr. Mascagno's office sent Daniel a personalized book to read before his appointment featuring a "dentasaurus"- and who wouldn't love a story about a dinosaur with a toothbrush tail?

At the appointment, Daniel got to take a photo with Dr. Mascagno and Daddy to put in his book along with a special sticker.

Daniel was so excited after his exam! He loved getting a balloon and picking out a prize (a mini skateboard) and a toothbrush. I'm guessing I would be a bigger fan of my dentist if I got prizes after exams too. We were so proud of Daniel and celebrated by going out for a smoothie.

Later that morning, Daniel helped Brian take apart his old crib to move into the baby's room.

Showing Charley-Boy some love after dinner.

Capping the day off with an intense coloring session.

First Wetsuit

We bought Daniel his first wetsuit in preparation for many upcoming beach days. He wasn't so stoked about trying on his wetsuit- at least not until Brian put his on too. Daniel will do anything to be just like his daddy!

ZOOM!

Cost of well-used mini trike (found by Brian at Goleta Beach dumpster): $0.00
Joy on Daniel's face when riding: Priceless!

Daniel has been loving riding his bike around. He prefers to push with his feet instead of using the pedals. Last week he rode 1.4 miles round trip when we went to drop off paperwork at his future preschool.

Bookends to Sickness

What have we been up to in the past month? Mostly being sick! Daniel and Brian both caught a nasty cold/cough that left them at home to snuggle, watch shows, and drink smoothies. Before Daniel even fully recovered, he caught the flu which he generously passed on to me and my mom. We did bookend the sick days with some fun. Daniel and Brian hit the harbor together at the end of January a couple days before they got sick.

While I was inside with the yucky flu, Daniel was a big help to Brian in the front yard with his shovel and wheelbarrow.

It feels so good to finally have everyone healthy again! It takes a while to get back to steady days after being sick. There are always piles of laundry and stacks of dirty dishes and bills waiting to be paid. The hardest part for me is weaning Daniel off his "sick schedule" which includes a lot of hanging out on the couch, watching TV and getting to sleep in bed with us. Sayonara runny noses and upset tummies!