Daniel at 15 Months

I believe our last Daniel update was when he was about a year old, so I think we're about due for another. Daniel is quite the little character. There are so many funny little things that he does and says, and he often has us in stitches!
Daniel's favorite word/phrase right now is "uh-oh." He says it repeatedly multiple times a day. Most of the time he really does have a reason for saying it. If something doesn't work quite the way he expected it to, we hear "uh-oh." If he falls, we hear "uh-oh." If he hears ominous music, we hear "uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh, uh-oh." Just yesterday the kids were watching a Curious George video in the van as we were traveling. Every time George got in trouble, we would hear a repeated "uh-oh, uh-oh."

Daniel loves to look at books and be read to. Often he will get a book then go find a comfortable corner to settle himself into and just look through the book on his own. Other times he will pick up a book and run to an adult with an excited look on his face saying "Boop! Boop!" If you (the reader) are sitting on the floor, Daniel will turn around and back into your lap.

Just recently Daniel started "cheesing" for the camera. This isn't something we taught him, although I admit, with as many photos as we take of him, it was probably only a matter of time! The other day I was taking a picture of Nathan reading to Rebekah and her cousin, and Daniel stepped in front of the camera, said "cheese!" and gave me a big smile. I'm sure his cheesy smile will get old eventually, but right now it's pretty cute!

Daniel loves to be tickled. When someone tickles him, he will squeal and giggle "tickle, tickle!" Sometimes even when no one is tickling him, he will try to tickle himself. He will giggle and say, "tickle, tickle!" while he tickles himself. Such a silly boy.

Another of Daniel's little quirks are his sympathy cries. He started doing this a couple of months ago. He and Rebekah were in the same room, and Rebekah got in trouble and started wailing. Daniel had been playing nearby, but when he heard Rebekah cry, he immediately began to cry as well. He matched her, cry for cry, tone for tone. Nathan and I were sitting there failing in our attempts not to laugh while both of our children cried. I know it sounds like we are very unsympathetic parents, but you just had to be there. It was hilarious! I did have to explain to Rebekah afterward why were were laughing though.

I still haven't gotten around to putting up a post about Christmas, so I'll put a couple of photos up here. Daniel's favorite part of Christmas this year was the tree. There were some jingle bells on the tree that he loved playing with. Grandma Eileen allowed the kids to play with the ornaments on the tree, and Daniel could almost spend hours sitting by the tree, taking ornaments off, inspecting them carefully, and then attempting to put them back on the tree.
Daniel enjoyed the gifts as well, but he really didn't get into opening them this year. Rebekah usually ended up opening his gifts for him!

Of course the Christmas goodies were a hit. He always loves watching things bake in the oven. In fact, the oven door (just about any door, in fact) is another of Daniel's little quirks. If the oven door is open , Daniel seems to consider it his sworn duty to make sure that all doors (whether it be the oven door, the dishwasher door, the fridge door, or a cabinet door) remain closed. He is so obsessive about this, in fact, that if someone opens the fridge door, Daniel is right there trying to close them into the fridge before they've had a chance to do whatever they needed to do. Then he gets annoyed that the fridge won't close because someone is in the way. Such a nutty boy.

Just before Christmas, Daniel was diagnosed with pneumonia for the second time since September. He has had cold after cold ever since we have been in the States. Twice it has turned into pneumonia. His doctor thought that there might be some underlying reason why he kept getting pneumonia. After some tests and a chest x-ray, they concluded that he is perfectly fine.... his colds just occasionally turn into pneumonia. We are hoping that won't happen again though!

Daniel is really a very happy little boy, even when he is sick. He finds great delight in almost everything. He loves to tease and be teased, loves to be chased and tickled, and loves to play rough with his sister.

Daniel also LOVES food. He eats far more than Rebekah does these days, but then he is also much more active than his sister. He is 22lb now, after being just over 20lb at his first birthday. It is hard to describe how excited he often gets about food. Oranges are currently a huge favorite, and I think he would eat as many as we offered him. Just today at lunch I had to hide a plate of oranges behind a bag of chips because he was so eager to get at the oranges that he wouldn't eat the rest of his food.

Daniel is walking and running everywhere now, but is also very cuddly. He is down to one nap a day, but when it is time to sleep, he will lay his head on your shoulder and just cuddle until you lay him down. We truly couldn't ask for a sweeter little boy. Those of you who have been the recipient of his charming little smile that lights up his face understand what I mean!