One of my favorite pictures of one of my favorite little boys. Happy Birthday Monkey Man!
My little man turned 2 on June 23rd. I can't believe how fast these two years have gone. In so many ways Dan has always seemed older than he is. He was born with a ton of hair, which has always made him look older than he is. He's definitely our most serious kid and this has also made him seem older. Then, of course, he has a little brother 13 months younger than him and having another baby so close, sadly, made it so Dan had to grow up quicker than was fair and quicker than Kenny and I would have liked. I guess, considering his serious personality, of all the kids, he was the best one to have to grow up quickly. (Another sign Heavenly Father knows what he's doing.) Even with all that, I still can't believe it's been 2 years since I first held him in my arms at the hospital. I remember that day and that moment vividly. He was born with a figure 8 knot in his umbilical cord and he was sooooo purple when he was born. Our doctor told us he'd heard of 13 births with figure 8 knots and of those 13 births only about babies 3 lived. Dan is our miracle baby and, still, 2 years later, I look at him and count my blessings that he lived through delivery and is such a healthy little boy.
Our purple faced little boy, after he got some color back to his face.
Dan is unlike any of my other kids in so many ways and, of course, like them in many ways. I've always thought he was very intelligent (what parent doesn't think that of their kids?) but he's been the slowest to do just about everything. He was the slowest to sit up, crawl, and walk (minus Sarah, but she was just to chicken to walk so that doesn't count.) His language has been delayed like Hannah's so he's been slow to talk. Thanks to speech and the wonderful Leap Frog video "Letter Factory" he has improved immensely in his speech, but he's still behind where he should be for his age. However, despite his language delays, his intelligence seems above where it should be. He always been very good at following directions, way before he should have been able to, he picks up on things quickly and when I try to teach him something he seems to get it and remember it quick. I'm excited to see what this little boy has to offer in the years to come.
Despite his seriousness, he's also such a goofball. As a baby I always felt bad taking him places because women would come up to us and make faces and talk to him trying to get him to smile and he would just sit there with his serious face. We could get him to smile and laugh, but it took some work and it was always worth it. The older he's gotten the more lively he's gotten. He runs around making the goofy noises that all toddlers make, he loves to play games with the older kids, especially Ben. I love watching those two boys running around the house, Ben chasing Dan and both of them giggling to the point that Dan falls over. It's so cute to watch.
Dan's our tantrum kid. All the kids threw tantrums, but not like Dan. I don't know if the other kids just didn't like to throw tantrums or learned quickly that they didn't solve anything, but all of them stopped the tantrums, for the most part, after a few months. Dan, well, he always throws tantrums. If he doesn't get his way he'll throw something or hit something or throw himself on the floor. I'll admit, it's not my favorite thing about him. I often wonder if because of his language delay, he feels he has no other way of releasing his anger and disappointment or maybe he thinks he has no other way of communicating that he's upset. Whatever the reason, I've been trying to work with him on it and we'll continue working on it. Hopefully Adam won't pick up the habit.
Dan at his one year picture. Such a cutie!
Let's see! What else about Dan? He loves to be outside. He'll come and grab my hand and take me to the back door and point while saying "side" over and over again. I think if I let him he'd spend the entire day outside. I wish so bad that we had a fenced yard and I could send him out on his own. It is nice, however, to have the older kids to go out with him when I can't.
He loves water and isn't afraid of it in any way. This causes fear for me and probably will until he can swim (and I'm sure even after that) but I'm glad he's comfortable in the water and I think as he gets older we'll be able to teach him to respect water. When we go swimming he's always jumping in and going under without any fear. Whenever we see water he's always right there to point it out. He loves to walk down by the river, but is not a fan of getting in because it's to cold. That's just fine by me. I'm hoping he'll take up swimming when he gets older just like Kenny. Maybe even be a lifeguard like his Daddy.
Some of his favorites: He loves cheese. If I can't get him to eat anything I always have cheese as a back up (as long as he gets to get it out of the fridge by himself.) His favorite movie (at the moment) is Veggie Tales. Particularly the Larry Boy movies we've been checking out at the library. These have been a major source for tantrums. When I tell him no movies he'll often throw himself on the floor and cry "Airy, Airy." It took me awhile to figure out that "Airy" meant Larry Boy, but luckily he's pretty patient with me. He also likes "Boom Boom" which is the Scholastic movie of the book "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom." Great book and a cute little movie with a fun tune for kids. It's another movie we check out from the library a lot and I think it's helped him with his speech as well. He loves his Daddy and often cries for him when he's not here. The last time he left, Dan cried and cried when he saw Kenny packing up. It was so hard to watch him. I felt so bad for him and for Kenny. That boy loves his Daddy.
He's recently discovered a love of facial features. Particularly the eyes, ears, mouth, nose, and hair. He'll spend forever pointing mine out and smiling and giggling the entire time. I love this stage of learning and discovery, it's such a blessing to watch. He loves car rides, his giraffe bike, and his little brother Adam. I'll often catch him walking through the house calling "Baby" or "Amma." As long as Adam can tolerate the roughness Daniel uses on him occasionally, because he's only 2 and doesn't understand, I think they'll be great friends when they get older.
So, that's a little about my Dan. He's a great kid and I'm so happy to have him in my life. He fell on the garage steps tonight and got a little scrap on his head, right before bed. I picked him up and hugged him for awhile. After he'd settled down I took him in his room to change him into his jammies. As I looked at his still sad little face, I had one of those aw haw moments. He's been getting over a cold and has been REALLY whiny lately. It's gotten to the point where, at times, I think I may go insane. I've just assumed it's because he's been sick and sometimes when we don't feel good it just feels good to whine. He's feeling better now though, so my patience with his whining has gone way done. As I looked tonight, at the face of this precious little boy, I think I saw the reason he's so whinny. With 6 kids it's often hard to spread my time evenly between them. I'll admit, with all the stresses of our current life, I've had little time and energy to spend with my kids individually. Dan has suffered because of this, they all have. Daddy's gone and Mommy's too busy keeping things going to spend much time playing and interacting with him. That is going to change. He's growing up fast and I don't want to miss these fun years of his life. Most importantly, I want to build that bond that will be so important later in life. I want to make sure my little boy knows I love him and that I would do anything for him. I want him to know that he and his siblings are the most important thing in my life. Sadly, even though I feel that way, I don't think I act that way a lot of the time. Dan craves that time with me that is so far and few between. His face lights up when I sit and hold him and talk him through the parts of our faces or when I dance in the kitchen with him. We all need a little more of those moments in our lives. I think it would make everyone happier and my kids deserve that happiness.
