Baby Doll

Today my mother bought Daniella her first baby doll. After exploring the doll's facial features, Dani decided to give her kisses.

Roses

Daniella was introduced to roses for the first time today. Grandpa picked a purple rose that matched her dress and when he put it close so she could smell it, she decided she would taste it instead. At least she did not try to eat or touch the roses still on the bushes.

Meeting of Cousins

Daniella was able to meet her new cousin Addie last night. Uncle Joe was very kind to set up a photo shoot to document this meeting. For the majority of the photo shoot Addie has the same expression on her face as you see here.
Addie seemed a little confused (and a little concerned) about this small person who was very interested in her. I was very impressed in how Daniella was very gentle with Addie even when Addie fell on top of her.

Daniella tried to show Addie how to pose for a camera . . .

and she showed Addie her new found skill of clapping.

Daniella was quite gentle overall and lightly patted Addie on the shoulder or foot to let her know that it was alright.

There are many more pictures which I found adorable, but since I'm short on time, I'll keep those for later. Thank you Joe for doing such a great job!

"Worm Garden"

Uncle Joe has decided that Daniella should be nicknamed "worm" because while in the womb I called her a "wiggle worm" and now she scoots like an inch worm. So here are pictures that Joe took of the "worm" in Grandma & Grandpa's garden.

Joe is particularly proud of the pictures of when she started to cry for me to pick her up. I still think she looks adorable when she cries.

Coincidence?

Since Daniella realized she was able to get a response of "hi" every time she waved, she has been trying to figure out what else she can do with her hands. On Sunday she learned how to clap and that when she clapped Mom would say "ya" and clap with her. On random occasions she will just start clapping and look around for a response.

So, early this week Anna, my cousin came up to Jess and Daniella and said, "I am so proud of myself".

Jessica turned to Daniella and said "Did you hear that Dani? Anna is proud of herself."

Daniella then looks up at Anna, smiles and starts clapping.

Meeting Great Grandparents

Daniella met her maternal Great Grandparents for the first time. Since they are unable to travel and we don't have much time to travel, we wanted to make sure to document this visit with photos. Uncle Joe took pictures to commemorate the meeting of four generations (the youngest three are all first born daughters).

I love how Daniella patted Grandpa's shoulder in this picture.

Toys

Grandma's neighbors lent us some toys to play with during our stay. They have been very useful as Daniella would be bored without them. Uncle Jake also gave Daniella a large monkey that is bigger than she is. She seemed to find it interesting as well. I'm still trying to figure out how we are going to get this home.

Pointer

On Saturday we took Daniella to the zoo. She seemed to enjoy herself and noticed a few of the animals. We pointed out everything, the elephant, the giraffe, the zebras . . .

The next day I noticed that she had found her pointer finger. She may not have known why we were pointing or what we were pointing to, but she learned to point from going to the zoo.

Scooting

Daniella has figured out how to move forward. I always expected her to "army crawl" where she used her arms to pull herself while still on her tummy, but my daughter does not like to use her arms to pull herself forward. Though not very efficient, she uses her legs to propel her forward and keeps her arm movement to a minimal. It is fun to see how she hops her legs in and then plops herself forward.

Waving

When we first arrived in Utah, Daniella was determined to not sleep at Grandma and Grandpa's house. She did everything she could to stay awake and basked in the attention that everyone gave her. She started making a funny gurgling noise and moving her hand in a kind of a wave. This made everyone laugh and she repeated it all night long, and again in the morning. That hand motion has since morphed into a "hi" and since then she has waved "hi" to everything she finds interesting (family members, strangers, turkeys, a parrot, a sloth, a book etc.). Here is a video of her waving at the zoo.

Blessed

Just so everyone knows Trent is safe and well. Thank you for everyone's concern and prayers. As soon as he gets internet access he will post pictures and talk about his experiences in the hurricane.

Garden

It has been so fun to see Grandma & Grandpa's garden. I had never picked grapes from the vine before and Daniella was able to lick them also. She REALLY enjoyed the dark purple grapes because they were the sweetest. It is so fun to be able to pick the fruit and not have to worry about pesticides!

Not sleeping

Dani does not like to sleep at Grandma's house. When we first arrived here, it was near her bed time so I bathed her and followed her regular bed time routine to try and put her to sleep, only to find that she cannot and will not sleep. I wondered if she might be hungry for solids since she did not eat during her regular time since we were on the plane so I fed her some oatmeal. She ate readily and kept the chewed on the spoon when she was done.She still refused to sleep. She was definitely tired, but did not want to miss anything in this very interesting new environment. She definitely enjoys being the center of attention. She ended up going to bed 3 hours later than her usual bedtime. Hopefully this is not a regular routine here at grandma's.

Intro to Organ

Daniella knows what a keyboard is used for. She recognizes pianos and knows that banging on the keys makes music. She was quite excited to see Grandma's organ with three rows of keys.

First airplane trip

Daniella's airplane trip went quite well. She had a short nap on the way up and made friends with people in the aisles while in the air. She fussed for only a few minutes, and also had a period of loud giggling, but overall was quite good for her first flight. She spent most of the flight in her seat but did get out for a few minutes to eat and stretch. By the time we were on the ground she was ready to be out of her car seat.


During most of the 30 min ride to the house, Dani just stared blankly at her Aunt. I've never seen her like this before or since. She seemed very intrigued by her.

Visiting Family

As this is posted we are on our way to Utah to visit my family. I hope to update this blog a little more frequently while away since Trent will not be able to come. He will be working ~80 hours a week at home and is not able to get time off to come with us. We will miss him VERY much, but we are excited to see the family.