Peek-a-boo!

I see you!
Somebody's teething.

Big Man's home for the next three nights! Woo hoo!

Where does the time go?

Time flies when you're swingin'!

Busy weekend. Well, it felt busy. I'm feeling the tired. That inhuman, knocked up tired. At this point, Dani is becoming difficult to catch up with, but mostly because she's a little speed demon. She even pulls herself up to standing in her crib--so cute! But, lots of fall-down-go-boom, so she's looking a little like a prize fighter these days...

Went to lunch with my friend Debby today, and Dani sat in a highchair in a restaurant for the first time. It was much easier than I thought it would be with the help of puffs!

A big shout out to my mom and dad who celebrated their 38th wedding anniversary Saturday!

A couple quick videos of my beanie boo!

In the abstract.

Is this some abstract art, or a secret coded message? See if you can figure it out.

Not sure?

Maybe this one will help?

Dani and I have been taking walks at night. She had a lot of fun with mommy's water bottle!

Dani says, "Psst, down here, did you figure it out yet?""Hope so, 'cause otherwise I'm not telling!"

Fantasy football.

My fantasy football team rocks this year. Even better than Big Man's. I plan to crush him this year. And, he is excited about heading to Michigan for the live draft.

Here's my team (my team name: Dani's Mom--chosen by Big Man):

T Brady QB
B Jacobs RB
B Westbrook RB
D Driver WR
D Hester WR
H WardWR
O DanielsTE
S GostkowskiK
Giants DST
M Hasselbeck QB
B Wells RB
R Williams RB
L Moore WR
D Lee TE

I am trying to trade Hasselbeck for Cutler...haven't heard back yet.

Big Man's team name: Father of the Rat. His nickname for Dani: Little Rat. (and less frequently, Little Mess, and when she's fussy, Bethany Junior).

OK, now for the real reason you're here (dad). Super baby cuteness:

Little ham, mugging for the camera!

Big news on the Big Man front coming soon.

Family visit!

Big Man's family came in from New London yesterday. Dani had a ton of fun being the center of everyone's attention!

Before they arrived, Dani showed me she could use a sippy cup all by herself!

Angie and I went to get hair bows at Target. (How did I manage to wait so long to get these--so cute!)

Justin snuggles with Dani.

Jason and Justin and Dani.

Dani is really close to walking. She is pulling herself up easily and if you hold her hands can walk across the room So much fun!

We had a great weekend!

Another first.

But before Dani's first, I am pleased to report that, although I can't put my hands on the officer friendly pic, I have found a suitable replacement for it, so pics of Dani and Big Man may be added to the blog again. (for all new readers--Big Man requires blog anonymity, and therefore I can't show his face--kind of like he's a superhero and I can't reveal his true identity.

Therefore, I shall do this:

While Big Man was cooking dinner, Dani and I were playing, and she was coming dangerously close to our oft-repeated mantra, "no kitchen; no bathroom; no stairs". But, I figured, what's so bad about the stairs? They really are the perfect thing for her to try to pull herself up on. So, I fired up the ol' camera, and this is what we saw! I have confirmed with Big Man that this was the first, truly independent act of pulling herself up and then standing (albeit briefly) that we have seen. Disregard the part where she falls on her butt because mommy is still recording.

We have learned that we can enjoy a hot dinner together with Dani in the high chair, if we ply her with puffs. Yes, Dani has finally mastered the puffs! In fact, I got some Gerber graduates veggie doodles yesterday and she can eat those too. At first she tried to put the inch-ish long doodle into her mouth, but then I showed her how to bite down, and she copied me! My baby is so smart!

And, tonight, an uneventful bedtime with no crying, and just a tired baby happy to be in her crib--so nice--back to normal.

The luck of the draw.

Eh, I don't think I feel so well...

We put Dani to bed tonight and she was fussy. I blamed myself because her musical elephant and her snuggy were in the wash so the routine was different. She was screaming her head off, but after about 12 agonizing minutes (and two visits by mommy) she went to sleep. For the record, I told Big Man that it was not the fussy baby who wants attention scream but that I thought something may be the matter. He dismissed me with his stock line, "She's a baby. Babies cry." The sleep was short-lived, lasting for about 25 minutes until a storm blew in and blew the fan out of her window and onto the floor. CRASH! Commence baby screaming. Big Man and I both go upstairs and I pick her up to comfort her, and she's doing that crying/hiccoughing/head jerking tic thing which only happens when she is really, really upset. So, I hand her to Big Man for the ultra-daddy soothe.

It turns out, my timing was perfect, as Dani promptly projectile vomited all over him.

Sometimes, it's just the luck of the draw, who gets puked on.

Dani's a swinger.

She's only 8 months old, but she's a swinger!

Thanks, Grandpa and Grandma for the awesome swing! Daddy hung it up this afternoon!

The color's a little off because the sun was behind Dani, but it still captures the fun!

50 years ago.

Fifty years ago today, my friend Dario became a citizen. I met Dario in 1997 when I started working for then-Assemblyman Tonko in his Amsterdam office. Dario owned a tailor shop next door. He and I became friends, and he became kind of like my Grandpa. I would visit him every morning, and stayed in touch when I moved on. I stop by his shop or his home with Dani every few weeks, and try to pick him Italian things he likes from his favorite out of town stores like bread and anchovies. He adores Dani.

He had a nice little party in his backyard today with drinks and Italian pastry.

Dani had fun! (so did I).

When Daddy's away...

...Dani and Mommy will play!

Picture quality's not great because Big Man took the camera to Buffalo, so I'm left with only the Blackberry's camera.

We had some fun with the wipes box:

It was perfectly Dani-sized!

Dani likes to play "crawl after the kitty", but Scrubbie cat always wins at that game!

And there's always time for reading...
(tee hee.)

Ragamuffin (or why dads shouldn't dress babies)

Exhibit A:

Dress with daisies paired with flower print pants. Yes, a dress with pants, and OH the patterns!

I need to get some Garanimals for Big Man to work with.

Stew on this.

What, where are the death panels? :)
There is absolutely no reason everyone in America should not have access to health care.

Now, for the real reason you're here:

Dani's back, feeling better and crawling with a vengeance. I caught her chasing the cat tonight. Look at that determined little face!

She made us laugh at dinner tonight! So fun!

Big Man is leaving Sat AM to Sunday PM, because he is going to the Bears-Bills preseason game in Buffalo. (no fair!). So, I'll be flying solo!

An update, by Dani.

Hi. Dani here. Mommy said I could post tonight to tell everyone how I am doing. My fever went down a little, and I am feeling a little better, but I'm still kind of fussy. I am really drooly and my mouth hurts. (Plus, don't tell mommy and daddy, but this whole fussy thing means that I get a lot more attention, and they even check on me in my crib if I scream loud enough!) I didn't get any new teeth yet, but I think they are coming. I hope they come soon because this isn't fun!

(here I am, putting on a brave face for mommy, hiding my teething pain.)


Mommy got me lots and lots of new clothes from something she called craigslist. I don't know who this craig is, or what a list even is (I'm only a baby, after all.) but any time mommy comes home with two huge bags of clothes for me, I'm happy. Maybe when I feel better we can play dress up!


Tonight, while mommy and daddy were eating dinner, mommy's cousin Lisa stopped by with her kids, Greg and Angela, who I guess are my cousins too or something like that. Lisa had on a pretty necklace that I got to play with--you know I love the bling!

I guess daddy made mommy a really yummy dinner tonight. I didn't get to try it, but I heard mommy say pork tenderloin with garlic and spices, which I guess were expertly applied by daddy. Mommy seemed so happy. I snapped a quick shot of the pork when daddy wasn't looking--I hope he teaches me how to cook someday! (It looked better on mommy's plate than it does in the pan.)Anyway, I have a super secret message for someone who I will call "a" (hey, I'm a baby, that's the only letter I know)--I hope you find the fairy godmother soon--mommy would like that (but if you do, can I meet her, I never met a fairy before) --but mommy thought your card was really nice. But "a"--next time you stop by my house when mommy's not home, please come in and play with me?

Ok, everybody, mommy says I have to go to bed now. Bye, bye.

Baby's first fever.

Last night. 101.8. (not high enough to call the doc, according to the book we had.)

Hot, pukey, miserable baby.
Tired, concerned mommy and daddy.

This morning, fever a little lower (100.9); baby still pukey, but seemingly better-ish.

Baby Boot Camp.

baby's first tweet?

Big Man is home for the next 2 weeks, and has declared baby boot camp. He claims that before his vacation is over, Dani will be walking. (I am doubtful.)

She really seems to want to walk. She pulls herself up on anything she can, but then seems to not know what to do next. If you aren't holding her hands, she will just fall over! Daddy's got his work cut out for him!

Daddy says:

"Please don't dress our baby like Peg Bundy."(Dani's first leggings.)

In other news, I need to give a BIG SHOUT OUT to Sprint PCS!

I do all of my bill paying through my bank online.

I received a call from Sprint within an hour of my payment posting yesterday. Apparently I'd overpayed by a sum basically equivalent to my mortgage. They noticed the overpayment and called me immediately to give me a heads up, suggest I call my bank to have the payment rescinded, and offered to process a refund for me on Monday if my bank couldn't help. (My bank couldn't help.) BUT, withougt the heads up from Sprint, I might not have known that I overpaid for a week or two and things could have gotten dicey. Needless to say, I am thrilled with the customer service call, and will be a lifer with Sprint.

Given the past few weeks of continually getting kicked in the chops in a number of different ways, this was a nice change of pace. Thanks, Sprint.

Look what I can do!

(with a little help from Mommy early this morning)

When I helped her up in the crib and let her grab the handles, there was this awareness on her face, like I could stand up in here??? Then she fell backwards, and bounced off the bumper. Not quite ready yet. But Dani's dying to walk--she will pull herself up on anything and wants to be constantly standing!

I am also pleased to report that Dani appears to have inherited mommy and daddy's love of football.

She is just so much fun!

She has started crying in her sleep a bit, and waking up sometimes too which is disconcerting (she's doing it right now). She will be sleeping, in her crib, and just cry and wail briefly. It's particularly disconcerting when I'm trying to sleep. But she's still a great sleeper--12 hours baby!

**As I typed this she started crying. screaming, actually. Went upstairs to an awake and sweaty baby who was just unhappy. and awake. after 10 minutes of singing, holding, rubbing the screaming continued. So I tried a pacifier. She hasn't touched one since she found her thumb, but the screaming is louder than it has ever been. The paci worked for long enough for me to make it downstairs, then the screaming began again. I know I can't keep going up and picking her up or I will create a monster, but hate to hear my little beanie cry!**

Tonight is Big Man's last night of work for about 2 1/2 weeks--he's on vacation! Hopefully lots of cool pics will follow. Stay tuned this weekend for the kiddie pool!

If you blink...

...you will miss Dani! She is off like a rocket these days, and pulling herself up with little help! Tonight, she was hanging out under the dining room table while we ate dinner!So much fun!

"Hmm, I will just grab this so I can stand up, and then face plant into the seat!" Oops!

**Cool wife update--Big Man's tickets to Michigan for the fantasy football draft have been purchased!**

Firsts!

Rockin' the hoodie!

So far, I've never been the first to witness Dani's "first". Big Man is home with her much more often than I am, and he got the first roll, crawl, sound, etc. But, today, I got the first pull up! Dani crawled over to me, and started to climb up onto me and pulled herself to standing! Woo hoo! It was so awesome!

Who needs a puppy when you have a baby who likes squeaky chew toys!

Somebody was a little silly during lunch time today!

The good, the bad and the poopy.

Good: This morning, we had a baby obstacle course.

Bad/poopy combo:

It is never a good sign when Big Man calls me at work and asks, "What's the name of the plumber we use?" Last time the call was because water was shooting out of our hot water heater. Friday night's events were even more troubling. Sewer backup into our basement. Yep, poop everywhere. (Imagine climbing into a diaper pail, but the diaper pail is your house. It smelled like that.) So, we had to call the City, and wait for them to show up to unclog the sewer lines. Then, this morning, we had Service Master come and de-poop the basement, for about the price of a used car. Oh, and that's entirely out of pocket, because our insurance doesn't have the "sewer backup" rider. You can bet it will on Monday, though. Bleh. It was too gross to take pictures. Right now there are high powered and air scrubbers in my basement--sitting here on my couch it sounds like I'm on a hovercraft, but it's far less stinky than it was.

Big Man's vacation ends tonight. He's been off for 10 days, and it has been nice having him around and not exhausted. We went to a BBQ this afternoon at Aimee and Seamus' house, and Dani got to play with their 17 month old, Liam. Liam had a kiddie pool that was smurftastic.

Dani, just bouncing and having fun:

Tara came into town for a night so I got to see her last night--always a fun time, always a late night.