And the runner is...safe!

Here's Danny a few weeks ago practicing his baseball fundamentals.

(And he thought he was just having fun on his swing! ;-)

And now, a public service annoucement...

This is our son.

This is our son on bananas.

Any questions?

Lessons Learned

If a tree falls in the forest and no one is there to hear it does it make a sound?

Some might say that this is a “philosophical riddle that raises questions regarding observation and knowledge of reality.”

Well, I’m here to tell you the answer is YES!

You see, using my deductive capabilities and cunning ability to analogize (is that even a word?) I can tell you without a doubt that I know that the answer is YES because this statement is also true:

If a baby cries in his crib and no one is there to hear him does he make a sound?

Sigh…can you ever forgive us Danny?

Let me start from the beginning. You see, two nights ago Danny slept like a champ---9.5 hours before waking to nurse and then another few hours after that. It was like heaven. It was just last week that we started putting him to bed in his crib which is about 5 steps down the hall from our bedroom and he’s been able to sleep longer and longer every night. (His yummy dinner and full tummy also help I’m sure.)

So, we put him to bed upstairs around 7:00, put on the monitor in his room and down the basement where we ususally hang out at night, and when we go to bed later we turn off all the monitors because, again, we are very near to him when we are all upstairs. Anyway, we leave our door open and his room doesn’t yet have door so we hear him at night, but not his every sound.

Well last night when I went to bed I was telling Susanne about how a door that keeps our cats secluded in the basement at night wasn’t closing properly. I guess I closed our door to see for myself as I explained how it should work. We then both proceeded to sort of forgot about the door and went to sleep. At 5 am Susanne jumped out of bed because she could hear Danny crying. Again, he’s very close so if he’d been really screaming we think we would have heard him, but I guess we’ll never really know whether he slept pretty peacefully for 10 straight hours like he’d done recently, or whether he'd been pathetically crying hoping we’d come comfort him. Can you imagine how terrible we felt?

Thank goodness, he seemed quite fine this morning. He was his ususal smiley self after he nursed for a good long time. Then we all slept a few more hours. I’m trying not to beat myself up over this because we’ll just never know if he truly was distressed. So I've been working on managing my anxiety the best I can this morning.

But then Susanne gave me a call at work a few minutes ago and asked me if there was any chance I’d changed the channel on the monitor in his bedroom. I didn’t even know that there were different channels! (Apparently there are two in case a nearby neighbor has monitors on the same frequency so you can avoid overlap.)

Anyway, she'd just noticed the channel problem because she thought there was so much extra static in the basement as he napped upstairs. (Or so she thought.) When she got it to the proper frequency she could hear him muttering away. Not in distress. Just babbling. Geez! I probably messed it up last night when I was groping in the dark to get it turned on right.

Crap. Alright. So, I guess we call these lessons learned. Danny, we’re sorry and I promise to do better. I can’t do much worse right? Love you baby. -Mommy Monica

A touch of spring

Since it's icy and cold here in DC I thought I'd warm things up by pulling out a few of my favorite foliage pics that my talented wife has taken over the past few years. The Gingko was taken in Germany, the Wisteria in South Carolina and the Orchid???? Honey??? My brain is full. Can't remember. Oh well, enjoy everybody! -Monica

Ode to the serial Forwarders...

When I first started started using e-mail (I'd been working overseas for a long time and didn't really get a "desk job" until the 1990s,) there was a guy in my agency named Cliff who seemed to take it upon himself to forward every "funny" and joke that came along. Some were really funny, some were quite "deleteable", but I never minded getting them. I decided that maybe every one had a Cliff. Do you think that's true?

We'll I lost touch with Cliff after switching jobs, but never fear--my new "Cliff" became Dennis and Ruth. We met many years ago when were Peace Corps volunteers in the same little town in Guatemala. This married couple was a lot older than me--I was in my 20s and they'd already raised a family and retired. Fast forward 20 more years to today and Dennis and Ruth (now REALLY retired) forward me and Susanne messages all the time. (I don't know where they get this stuff. Maybe they have serial forwarders in their lives too?)

Anyway truth be told some of Dennis's messages tick me off because we have very different views on politics. Don't get me wrong. I love the cantankerous Billy Goat Gruff that is Dennis (and he's quite proud of his reputation). But it's his wife Ruth's e-mails that make me smile.

For example, in the past few weeks we've gotten:

Fw: VIDEO: THIS Ballet IS A MUST SEE!!!!!!!!!
Fw: Twisted Halloween Pumpkins..
Fw: 10 Fun Pictures
Fw: Hummingbirds ---
Fw: Thoughts
Fw: Beautiful Song and Photos

Sweet right? I don't always look at them right away, and some I think are sort of silly, but some are really cool (and yes, I do look at what Dennis sends too.) My point though is that when Dennis and Ruth send us e-mails they are just trying to stay connected. And I appreciate their intention. I guess I'm saying I hope everyone has a Cliff or a Dennis or a Ruth. -Monica

What You Talking 'Bout Mom?

"And then there is this stuff called giblets that you have to dig out first..."

Mmmm...Turkey

We never did post any pics from Thanksgiving so here is a classic moment from Danny's first Turkey Day. I think we may now be raising an accidental vegetarian. (Not that there's anything wrong with that of course! ;-)

Anyway, we realized that we have suddenly gotten very behind in keeping up with Danny's monthly slide shows, so we now proudly present Danny's 5th month (with pictures of Germany) and Danny's 6th Month. The shows will also show up on the sidebar of our blog. Is it possible for this boy to get cuter? Are we biased? Have a great day everybody! -Monica (and Susanne)

In an Instant

This morning I was reading the paper while Danny played beside me on the floor with his favorite toys. He’d just woken up (very early as usual) and was filled with his usual energy and curiosity.

My eye spied a story that immediately made me sit up and take notice. Two 15 month old twin boys had drowned in a bathtub together about a month ago in a town not too far from us. The curious toddlers had gotten past a safety gate that wasn’t properly latched and got the water running in the tub. Apparently the family knew they’d figured out how to do this, and put towels or shirts over the water faucets to try and keep them from messing with the controls. Tragically it was the cloth that kept the water from draining properly and both boys were discovered unconscious by their sister. They died the same day at a nearby hospital.

I tell you my heart just broke reading that story. Tears streamed down my face and I picked up little Danny and held him close. Usually when he’s not very tired the last thing he wants to do is cuddle sweetly—he’d rather push away and keep exploring—craning his little neck around the room to see what’s happening.

But this morning Danny must have sensed something was wrong. He pulled back and looked at me. Then he touched my tearstained face and buried his head in my neck and stayed right there. I guess he knew something was wrong. As I held and rocked him, I promised him I’d do everything in my power always to keep him safe. And then I cried some more because I’m sure all parents vow this to their children.

The father of the twins ended the article by saying that "I wish there was something that I could say that was profound," he said, pausing to think. "I wish that this could, if nothing else, be a cautionary tale. I don't know if there is anything profound except to say it can happen. It can happen in an instant."

My heart and prayers go out to this family. And to all families who have suffered such unimaginable loss. –Monica

I Can't Believe I Ate the Whole Thing!

Boundless Love

Yesterday, the paperwork signed by the judge for Danny’s adoption case came to the house, and we thought it was rather touching that it read in part:

That this Decree of Adoption is hereby entered establishing the legal relationship of natural parent and natural child for all purposes between [my name], the petitioner, and the adoptee, [our son’s name], to the same extent as if the adoptee had been naturally born to the petitioner.

Wow! And as I happily told Susanne, “and I didn’t even have to go through labor!” (I don’t really understand why she didn’t seem to think that was as cool as I did ;-)

Anyway, this is all quite wonderful or course, except for the song I keep singing to Danny.

cause you make me feel

you make me feel
you make me feel like a natural mother (mothaaa)

(I swear, he really likes it!)

Anyway, on a more serious note, our little boy has been a miracle to both me and Susanne, and on this his “half birthday” we celebrate our amazing fortune and hope and pray that all families that are trying to conceive, adopt or otherwise bring a child into their lives are successful very soon.

I’ll also add that we are very blessed indeed to live in a part of the U.S. which allows for second parent adoptions for same-sex couples. That being said, we hope to see the day when gay couples, simply by virtue of being united in legal marriage, will not have to adopt their own babies. –Monica (and the rest of the family)

Say What????

Two things have happened pretty much simultaneously this past week.

1. It’s like someone turned up Danny's volume controls. When he starts crying or muttering “may-may-may-may” (which adorably sounds very much like ma-ma-ma-ma) you can definitely hear him. Even if you’re not in the same room with him. Or, I’m pretty sure, even if you’re not in the same house with him (we’ll have to ask our row house neighbors if they’ve noticed this.) And as another example, when I had him over my shoulder he endearingly wrapped his arms around my head while “telling me something", and I'm pretty sure something might have become detached. Like my ear drum. But ya gotta love his enthusiasm for life (and us!)

2. The second thing is that he’s been waking up roughly every two hours with a loud cry. He’s never done that before, and it’s, well, startling. Actually he’ll sleep for about 4 hours without stirring, but then starts the 2 hour intervals. Since we can sometimes “shush” him back to sleep, we think it may be teething pain that leaves as quickly as it comes. He definitely has all the symptoms of teething and although we tried baby Tylenol, it didn’t work as well as we’d hoped. Fortunately after some soothing or nursing he settles right back to sleep, but this pattern is very tiring.

Other than that he’s his happy old self during the day. Except louder. Much louder ;-)

Before and After

What a difference a month makes. This picture was taken last month when we were in Germany. When we returned, Danny started on solid foods, and just one short month later he seems so much bigger! Of course he's a real big boy now that he just got his first sippy cup (see handsome boy below).


He also now officially weighs more than our "portly" cat Harley (who is now, by the way, a great source of entertainment to our sunny/sonny boy.) I guess when you are only about 6 months old it doesn't take much eh? Hasta la vista! -Monica

My New Wardrobe Assistant

What luck! I wore a prune colored shirt to work today. And coincidentally, Danny ate prunes for breakfast. So when I noticed how messy my shirt was a few minutes ago, I also noticed that you could hardly see the stains. Outstanding!

Now...what to wear tomorrow? Maybe my pea green shirt? ;-) -Monica

What? Why? Who? Huh?

“It’s not him.”

Now, if you heard this statement wouldn’t your logical next question be,

“Well who is it then?”

Logical right? Gosh, I make so much sense in my little tiny mind. Let me step back and put the following exchange in context.

We always put Danny in his warm little “sleep sack” and read him his bedtime story at about 7:00. Then when he is almost asleep we put him in his pack and play which is in our room. So far, (knock on wood) he’s been really good about going to sleep without any fuss.

Later, when we sneak in to get ready for bed, we temporarily put a blanket over the top of the “crib” so he’s not disturbed if we turn the light on. Last night I was already drifting off when Su came in. She made some comment about how it smelled in our room. I assumed she meant it was stuffy, so I mumbled something about how in the morning we could open the window and air the room out.

But unbeknownst to me, apparently she thought it smelled a little “rooty , tooty”, in other words, a little stinky. Not stuffy. Before too long I’d drifted off again totally forgetting about the smell thing.

A while later with half closed eye’s I saw Su peek under the baby’s blanket and pronounce,

“It’s not him”.

I of course wondered who else could possibly be in our baby’s pack and play. Not really in an alarmed sort of way though. Just drowsily trying to make sense of it all.

“HUH? Who is it then?”

Su just looked at me incredulously.

"No, it's not his diaper that's smelly. Do you really think we put Callagh in there by mistake?" (Three month old neighbor Callagh had been over for dinner with her family earlier in the evening.)

We both looked at each other and burst out laughing, once again accidentally waking up our little boy. But it all worked out because he got to be cuddled and fed by his mama—two of his favorite things ever!

He’s very patient with us I must say.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Have we ever got some things to be THANKFUL for this year!!! –Monica, Susanne and Danny

Oh, yeah. That's our baby! (He's a few months older than this now, but the same cutie pie!

It Took Chocolate for me to See...

So the other night we were watching a show on Discovery or something—Medical Mysteries I think it’s called. This Pastor had been having blurry vision. He’d started going to an 18 font to print out his sermons. He couldn’t hit tennis balls anymore either and when he’d drive he said the lights all looked like honeycombs. Of course it never dawned on him that SOMETHING MIGHT BE WRONG. He ended up having some odd genetic problem that doctors caught in just the nick of time.

I tell this story because last night as Susanne and I were enjoying a delicious bar of fine German chocolate I realized that I couldn’t really read the tiny text on the wrapper. And since it was in German, it wasn’t like I could take an educated guess at what the words might be either. As an experiment I started moving the wrapper farther and farther away until, eureka!, when my hand was about as far away as I could hold it, I could read the letters.

I thought perhaps I had a brain tumor, but Susanne assured me that I am simply farsighted. Farsighted? Oh no, there must be some mistake. I was always the one with, not just 20/20 vision, but 20/10. I think this meant that I could see at 20 feet what others could only see at 10 feet. I was the one who could hit really well in college softball because I could literally see the seams on the ball as it left the pitchers hand and when it hit my bat.

But the more I thought about it the more it makes sense. Lately when we do puzzles together as I jump from the boxes back to the clues I’ve been having a hard time finding the number I’m looking for right away. Reading at night seems more tiring. And it is true that at this year’s Nationals Games I did have to squint to see the scoreboard. Apparently like the man on the Medical Mysteries show, I have not been paying attention.

So I guess I have to go to an eye doctor to see what’s up. Can you sense the irony in my previous sentence ;-) -Monica

Danny's Got Two Mommies

Oh Happy Day! It's official! Here we are at DC Adoption Day.

OK, so it's not the greatest picture ever taken of the three of us... well, actually, there aren't that many pictures of the three of us. Apparently there was some magical process by which the mere fact of being adopted changed Danny's hair color to be exactly that of his Mommy. Or maybe both are just reflecting the garish orange of Mama's sweater (another great fashion choice!). The whole ceremony was entirely too long for a sane adult to sit through --never mind that it was celebrating children! And it focused exclusively on encouraging the adoption of children from foster care (not that this isn't truly very important, praiseworthy, deserving of encouragement -- but weren't they preaching to the choir?). Thus it reinforced for us our initial frustration as to why we had to go through this process (lawyer, social worker, home study, back ground check, hearing, etc) at all, given that we were already a family. But we are grateful that DC law allows for second parent adoption and we can't wait to see Danny's new birth certificate which will list both of his parents!

Oh, and just because he's so cute, here's another picture:

Danny Sitting Up Unassisted

Zusammen!

When Susanne and I began taking steps for her to conceive and give birth to our child, she told me that she wanted us to have a baby. Not just her--us. And every step of the way—from selecting a donor, to going to doctor’s appointments, to laboring and delivering our precious Daniel, we’ve, in many respects, gone through these things together. (I do realize by the way that Susanne's part of this was much, much greater than any contributions I made.)

But anyway, I’ve been thinking a lot about Danny’s upcoming adoption which will formally be signed off on by a DC judge on Saturday. Something was nagging at me and I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Then it struck me. Since only I have to legally adopt him, this process has been about me. My background checks, my financial ability to provide for this child, my soon to be new status as Danny’s legal parent.

But I don’t envision just me standing there holding Danny, now a legal and rightful mother to our son at this cermony. I envision us, as a family, going through just one more step in the journey of our family. It’s about me and Susanne both becoming Danny’s legal parents together. I’m not sure if I’m capturing what I’m feeling about this.

In German, (which Susanne speaks fluently) the word for together is “zusammen”. I love the sound of it as it reminds me of the name Susanne. Yes that's it. This is all just zusammen!!!

Oh Dear...

Gosh, I've been trying to think of something interesting to blog about all day, but to no avail. So instead I will treat you my friend Alvina's six year old's favorite joke. Here you go Christina...

Q. What do you get when you mix a dog and a rose?

A. A Cauliflower

You have to admit that's pretty funny. Almost as funny as...

Q. Why did the cookie go to the hospital?

A. It felt crummy.

Yes, as a matter of fact it is time to go home now. Have a great day y'all! -Monica

Leaps and Bounds

It’s official. Danny can now sit up better than I can. Which, when I think about it, does not speak well of my 9-5 desk jockey posture.

Anyway, on Saturday morning he could sit up for about 3 to 5 seconds at a time before starting his “Weebles Wobble” routine. But a short 24 hours later he was sitting up for minutes at a time. This while playing with toys. And eating a cheeseburger. (Okay, the part about the cheeseburger is not true, but the rest is.) He couldn’t really fit a cheeseburger in there now anyway, what with all the drool emanating from his mouth. Thank goodness for teething rings. Can I get an “amen” here?

On Saturday we went to a fun reunion of all the families that took the same prenatal “Birthworks” class and all ooohhhddd and aaahhhhddd over little Oscar and Kyra and Aidan and Jane and Grady and Alex and Danny. And then we took a group photo that I don’t think I’ll post. Our Daniel decided he was already done, and dramatically protested with his little tiny vocal cords and teeny tiny tear ducts the entire time the digital cameras clicked. That’s our expressive little boy!

Also, Grandma Mary Ellen (that would be GraME) and uncle Paul came to visit over the weekend and I’m not sure who had more fun, them or our little Buddy. Alrighty then. Back to the old grind. Can’t wait to see what he can do when I get home tonight. Maybe he'll be leaping and bounding? ;-) -Monica

I'm not asking for much...

As I said, I'm not asking for much, but could the manufacturers of childrens' toys and mobiles please listen up? When you create something that plays a tune, you need to consider adding the refrain. Otherwise it drives some people (okay me) MAD!

Case in point (two actually). Danny's mobile plays the beautiful tune of "Greensleeves" (also known as "What Child is This?"). Let's all sing together now...

What child is this who laid to rest on Mary's lap is sleeping?
Whom angels greet with anthems sweet, while shepherds watch are keeping?

All together now...

THIS, THIS, (you know the rest)

But no. The mobile just keeps playing those same first two lines over and over again. I think my synapses may explode!

And don't get me started on the "It's a Small World After All" toy. Yes, we know it's a world of laughter and a world of tears. It's a world of hope and a world of fears. There's so much that we share, that it's time we're aware, it's a small world after all.

Would it kill you, oh you mighty toymakers, to finish the song? Cuz, IT'S A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL, IT'S A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL, IT'S A SMALL WORLD AFTER ALL, IT'S A SMALL, SMALL WORLD!

We now return to our regularly scheduled happy and sunny blog post. Or maybe next week. Have a great weekend everybody! -Monica

The Hostess with the Leastest

So yesterday our friends Jenni and Nelson brought their adorable little boy Oscar over for dinner. It was great fun seeing them, and since our boys are about the same age it was also fun to chat about the usual—teething, rolling, sitting up, eating, and, well, getting rid of what was eaten ;-)

Both boys drifted off to sleep around 7:00. Susanne made a delicious meal as always and midway through dinner I offered to refill Jenni’s limeade. Pretty easy huh?

Well, Susanne always takes her limeade with fizzy water. In fact, sort of a splash of limeade and a big hit of the fizzy. So when I refilled Jenni’s I did the same thing. Or so I thought.

When we were cleaning up after they'd left, Su noticed the lack of bubbles in what was left in Jenni’s glass.

Su: “Um, did you use the bottle of fizzy water on the counter?”

Me: “Uhuh”

Su: “Did you notice it wasn’t fizzy?”

Me: “Huh?”

Yes, apparently a fizzy water bottle was filled with regular water (we do this periodically for car trips etc.) So what I brought to Jenni was very, very weak lime flavored water. And I guess it was lukewarm. And to top it off, her first beverage had been full strength, icy cold limeade.

Jenni, I’m so sorry. Can you ever forgive me? Come back! I’ll serve you limeade concentrate without any additional water to make up for it!

Oh when will I ever learn to pay attention? -Monica

You write the caption!

I snapped this photo last week when Danny first began to eat baby food. The cast of characters include from left to right-- cousin Toby, Susi, Danny and kitty Harley. (See, I told you Toby looks like Susanne right?)

Anyway, although Danny is generally pretty darn smiley (and thanks for your comment yesterday noticing that MD BabyMaker!) as you see he looks a little, well, not smiley.

He's clearly not gotten too far into his meal (as evidenced by the clean face.) I personally think he's looking at me as if to say "um, Mom, help me." Or maybe "where's the milk?" What do you think?

P.S. We did hear about the dangers of using the Bumbo seat on a table as there have been reports of babies arching backwards and falling. We only have him seated like this when we are right with him. (Thanks for sharing that recall info Jenni.)

Our favorite Halloween treat this year!

Whirlwind!

Do you remember a song from the Sound of Music that went like this?

"A crazy planet full of crazy people. Somersaulting all around the sun? And every time we turn another somersault, another day goes by? And there's no way to stop it, no there's no way to stop. You can't stop it even if you try."

Well that's how things have been feeling with us. Our travels to Germany--hosting Su's cousin (we just got back from a weekend trip to NC to get him back to his return flight)--now my mom and brother are coming it. Then it's Thanksgiving, then Christmas before you know it. It's wonderful but sort of tiring. Literally interruptions to our system I guess.

Danny is doing great. Growing and smiling and even starting to eat solid foods. Why do they call them solids though? Have you ever seen baby food prunes? ;-) Not so solid I say. Anyway, Su's going to try her hand at making some organic foods for our little guy. Since everything she cooks tastes great, Danny should be in for a real treat. Which reminds me. I'm hungry. Gotta go. -Monica

My life before Susanne and Danny...

Our sweet “practice” son

When Susanne was 18 years old one of her favorite people in the world, her German first cousin Sabine, gave birth to a boy named Toby. Toby is now 15 and I like to say that he is one of those kids who is “15 going on 13” rather than “15 going on 20”. I, of course, think this is a positive thing to say, but I’m sure he would strongly disagree. Alright. I guess I would too if I were him.

But, in my defense, all I mean is that he is a very sweet and well mannered young man. He got to come to DC to visit us during this two week school break as a reward for doing so well in his English classes back in Germany. Su and I find ourselves wishing that we knew more teenage kids to introduce him to, but fortunately he’s hasn’t gone completely mad meeting lots of Danny’s little infant friends and their families. (Turns out that our social life is now sort of geared around our little fella.) Yesterday he came to our friend’s Mikki and Kelly’s house and while Su and I thoroughly enjoyed watching how adorable their almost 6 month old daughter Bailey as she happily cooed and bounced all over the place, one glance at Toby made me wonder whether he’d rather have visited the dentist. He was a great sport and all, but I could sort of feel his pain ;-)

Toby is sort of an introvert anyway, so even though we’ve gone sight seeing and shopping at malls (which he loves by the way) he’s pretty much kept himself busy on the computer.

Apparently there is a “special someone” who he IMs with at all hours of the day and night back home, but I won’t embarrass him here about that. (It’s all very cute.) Then of course there is My Space (Note: NOT Facebook as he explained to me). There is also some sort of computer game where dragons or monsters or something get killed or shall I say slayed a lot? (Really, I’m not looking over his shoulder all the time.)

He really like Japanese art so we’ve hit the Freer and Sackler at the Smithsonian and he also likes to take pictures--especially on the new camera he just bought. Apparently his Euros go a long way here after their conversion to dollars. Much like his cousin Susanne he takes mostly pictures of things and places--not people. Must be genetic I think (I on the other hand hardly ever take pictures of buildings or nature when there are people to get into the snapshots!)

Anyway, did I mention that Toby looks A LOT like Susanne. Even though they are second cousins they look like they could be brother and sister or maybe mother and son. So of course I think he’s a very handsome lad. And I’ve decided that our dear Toby is sort of a practice son.

For example when we were out the other day I found myself buying 3 hot dogs and sodas and thinking “ahhhh....this is what it feels like to shell out for 3 people instead of just 2 people.”

And then a few minutes later “ahhhh....this is what it’s like to try and carry 3 hot dogs and 3 sodas….awwww crap…spilled again!”

Or when it’s time to eat I stand at the bottom of the steps and use my best mother voice—“Toby honey, time for dinner”. “Okay, coming” he’ll call back. Gosh. It won’t be too long before it’s Danny instead of Toby. And I think that is great. (Oh, I’d better start adding in that “and don’t forget to wash your hands first young man”).

Toby has very specific tastes about his clothes. Vans for his feet, and pretty much mostly black clothes. Apparently wearing light colors, particularly white or, heaven forbids, yellow, is verboten. (And that’s an English word—you can check.)

Tonight we are going to carve pumpkins. Toby’s never done that before. Maybe we'll do a goth pumpkin...

If you’re lucky we’ll actually capture a picture of Toby soon (he abhors being in photos almost as much as his cousin Su does). And then you can see for yourself what a sweetheart he is. Ciao! -Monica

Crowding 5 months already

It seems as though time just keeps marching on by. On Sunday our little bundle of wonderfulness (is that a word?) will turn 5 months, old so Su and I thought it might be good to post a little slide show commemorating his fourth month--check it out. We haven't yet downloaded the pictures from Germany, but when we do we'll do a separate show.

Hmmm... We had a rather interesting experience the other day. I think I'll put it into the form of a note for our little guy to read, in let's say, the year 2022 or so.

"Hi Danny. Want to hear about a fun story from when you were 4 months old? Do me a favor, and ask mama about the time that teenage cousin Toby was visting from Germany and how after shopping for a bit one morning, we stopped at our favorite chicken place for lunch. Mama and Toby took off to get in line for the delicious food while mommy stayed in the car to change your diaper. The plan was for mommy to carry you in when she was done and we'd all eat there before driving home. Did I mention that it was super crowded with a long line of dozens of Spanish speaking people hungrily awaiting their Pollo Rico?"

If she says she can't really remember this, tell her how you recall that it was…

“pouring rain and it turns out that you'd had an explosive "you know what" in your diaper and that apparently your one piece sleeper was pretty much one big goopy mess. Then how mommy Monica didn't have one single other piece of clothes to put on you since you were now horrifically...um...dirty. (Yes, that is a euphamism.) Apparently after lugging dozens of your outfits through Germany for two weeks your brilliant parents thought it unnecessary to pack a back up outfit for you. Yup. Nothing in that diaper bag but one few diapers, a couple of wipes and...doh...mama Susanne's cell phone!”

If she still can't remember, tell her that you think that…

"mommy wrapped you in her black windbreaker and carried you through the large crowd of people to find her and Toby to tell them that we needed to take our food to go. Immediately. "

If she still can't remember, remind her that the crowd seemed to be muttering in Spanish…

"look...that crazy redheaded gringa has a naked baby wrapped up in nothing but a windbreaker and it's raining all over the baby's arms and legs and face."

In my defense you did have a new diaper on which was about the only thing hidden by the windbreaker. See how important it is to understand languages other than just English? Thanks to mommy's Peace Corps experience she know exactly what everyone was saying. It wasn't traumatic for mommy or anything. There. Wasn't that a fun story from your childhood? ;-) Love, Mommy

And we're back!

Wow. What a fun trip to Germany! Danny met 25 relatives he'd not yet met before and it was so much fun! We started the trip with a visit to his elderly great grandparents on Su's dad's side of the family. His great-grandma is now in a nursing home confined to her bed, and so he laid with her smiling up at her as she kept murmuring how "beautiful, beautiful" he was (in German of course.) And his 87 year old great-grandfather just couldn't stop smiling the whole time we were there. Danny can have that effect on people. Then the rest of our trip was spent visiting the many cousins, aunts and uncles on Su's mom's side of the family in 4 different towns.

We'll write more later since we are all pretty exhausted after traveling for something like 22 hours yesterday (when you account for the 6 hour time change.) But I will say that Danny did really well on his flights--his only meltdown was last night when we got on our last flight--the final leg of our journey--from Charlotte to DC and the plane was really warm. I guess he'd just had it up to here so to speak. He'd been fine on the 9.5 hour flight from Frankfurt to Charlotte but this was too much. He didn't even want to nurse at that point. (I guess it would have gotten in the way of his screaming.) But fortunately after about 10 long and loud minutes he calmed down enough to breastfeed a little and then he fell blessedly to sleep. This was a very, very good thing.

I should have guessed what would happen next but didn't. At 3:00 am he woke up bright eyed and bushy tailed and ready to play. He'd been up once already to eat so now he just wanted to play. I took him downstairs and play he did! We hope to get him back on his regular schedule in a day or two, but we can both certainly understand why he's a little "off". We are too!

Anyway, one funny observation Su made was that when you have a little infant with you at an airport just about everyone smiles and chit chats with you until you go to your departure lounge. The smiles disappear instantly! How dare you take a baby on THIS flight! LOL.

We'll post some photos later. Oh, and to any German relatives reading this...Danke, danke, danke! -Monica, Su and Danny

DING...this is your captain speaking...

Ah...my big event is finally over (yesterday) and it turned out well. Whew. As I write I'm on my blackberry in the waiting area of Philadelphia International Airport. Susanne and I were able to commandier (sp?) a corner and and have set up a little "bed for Danny (ie. My jacket and his favorite blanket). He's sort of rolling around a giggling but we think he'll drift off soon. They are piping in nice classical music which is actually quite calming.

Anyway, we got through his first leg of the journey pretty unscathed. We flew one of those little jets from DC to here. The noise of the engines immediately caused him to zonk out until an inordinate amount of messages began to be broadcast all preceeded by a loud DING.Example:

DING...(Peppy male voice) Gooood Morning ladies and gentlemen...blah, blah, blah

Five minutes later...DING...(Peppier female voice) This is your lead flight attendant Jill...

Jill was using a super woofer and tweeter sound system although no one on the flight was in, say more than 30 feet away from her. And the announcements came, say every 5 minutes on our 25 minute flight. Danny slept like a trooper through most of them thank goodness.

Maybe they won't DING so much on our upcoming 7 hour flight? Wish us luck! -Monica, sSu and Danny

Packing

One of these two is not coming on the trip!

Peeved

Apparently lack of planning on other people's part CAN constitute an emergency for me. You see a lot of my work involves event planning. Next Tuesday 700 federal employees are registered to go to an event I've been managing for months. I've had a team working with me and although it's been hard, it hasn't been horrible. Until late last night. When a very high up person in the government decided to just change everything. Disinvite some speakers, add some others.

How did I hear about this? I was sort of "cc'd" on a few e-mail. E-mail where it was promised that I'd follow up immediately on these new developments. Did I mention that Monday is a federal holiday and no one seems to be around at this late hour on Friday? Ummm...this thing starts first thing Tuesday.

The only thing that keeps me going is the knowledge that on Wednesday I'll be on a plane with Susi and Danny flying thousands of miles away from this place.

Wait, I sound bitter don't I? I hate bitter! -Monica

Wir gehen nach Deutschland!

Did my moms mention that we are going to Germany next week? We're going to see my great granparents and a whole bunch of aunts and uncles and cousins.

Hmmmm...why do you think my parents picked the month of October to visit Germany? Something about a festival? Octoberfestival or something like that!

I'll write more later. Have a great day everybody! -Danny

Working Hard? Or Hardly Working...

Whew. Is it 5:55 already! I've always been pretty good at getting stuff done fast so you'd think I have a reputation as a slacker. Not so! I am constantly amazed at how productive my co-workers and bosses seem to think I am, and I do not intend to dissuade them of this idea. (My wife on the other hand knows the truth on this subject;-)

Anyway there are also certain times of the year (like now) when I've got big projects coming to fruition and I don't even seem to have five minutes to catch up on friends' blogs.

So...since I'm technically already on my way home (I'm coming Danny!) and there is no more time left in this day to expound on my thoughts, let me leave you with a little bit of fun!

If hard work were such a wonderful thing, surely the rich would have kept it all to themselves. -Lane Kirkland

Admiring Excellence

This week a man named Robert Bruss passed away. I never knew him personally but when I saw his obituary on Thursday morning I felt a real jolt of sadness. Who was this man you may ask? He was a syndicated columnist who wrote a column that was carried by the Washington Post for years called the "Real Estate Mailbag".

I know very little about Real Estate but when I started searching for my very first home about 5 years ago I started paying attention to his column. He was sort of the "Dear Abby of Real Estate". People would write him with very specific questions about home buying and he'd basically teach fundamentals. He wrote very plainly and knowledgeably and I must admit that I looked forward to reading his column long after I bought my house.

You see, there is some part of my character or personality that really, really admires excellence. When I was a kid even though I didn't really like certain sports or performances, whenever I had the chance to see someone do anything--act, sing, write, serve a volleyball, walk on a balance beam--if they were really excellent I was always thrilled and enchanted. That may be part of the reason that the people I love most in my life (such as my best friends and most certainly my wife) are really excellent at what they do. I'm just awed by people who make what would be for me, difficult things, look so easy I guess

There are a lot of people out there like Robert Bruss. And I hope that I can do a better job in my life of giving credit where credit is due before it's too late. Rest in Peace Mr. Bruss. You helped me and a lot of other people figure out what seemed unfigureoutable. Thanks. -Monica

Four months old today!

Things I once believed

When I was 4 my brother Paul was born at a hospital in West St. Paul, MN that was right next to a huge blue water tower. For a really, really long time I thought that Paul had been born IN the water tower. How silly of me in retrospect right! ;-)

Also when I was a kid I was also convinced that the strips of bacon that mom would cook were actually a whole bunch of piglets little tails all smooshed together in the package. I believed that for a really long time. Nutty huh?

And another just wild and crazy belief I held onto for the longest time was that if I were gay I was a terrible sinner and most likely going to hell. And that if I were gay I could never really have a family--just a lonely, sad existence. How silly AND nutty of me! :-)

Did I forget to blog today?

I DID! I DID! I did forget to blog today! (Or did I????) -Monica

Works for me!

So remember how I have to legally adopt Danny? Well we went to a status hearing at the DC Courthouse last Friday, and I must admit I was a bit nervous. Even though we'd done all of the tedious forms and worked closely with our lawyer and the social worker assigned to our case, I guess deep down inside I was afraid something would go wrong. I mean those people have the title of "judge" because that's what they do. And that's kind of scary right? Well anyway, everything turned out just groovy. Here's our story...

In DC a child can't be legally adopted until he is 6 months old. That would mean November 28th at the earliest in our case. The judge seemed to have no concerns about our case and very sweetly invited us to attend a big annual event called DC Adoption Day. Our original intent had been to skip any ceremony and just get the signed papers in the mail, but truly, the judge was so sincere in her invitation (and smitten with our beautiful little boy) that we just had to say yes.

The judge excitedly explained that there will be a fun breakfast, clowns, balloons etc... Hundreds of people who've particpated in adoptions this year are invited and she'd be delighted if our family could participate too.

Susanne, my ever quick witted Susanne, asked the judge what day the ceremony was scheduled for.

"November 17th"

Well there I was, clapping Danny's little hands together, dreaming of balloons and clowns, when Susanne asked the judge:

"So, if we can't adopt him legally until November 28th, then we really can't particiapte this year can we?"

Oh, what a moment of crestfallen faces. (Mostly mine in retrospect.) But the judge, after a brief moment of deep thought, smiled brightly and she said that she could issue an Interlocutory Decree.

"Huh?" I thought.

Long story short, our lawyer will now draw up papers that the judge will sign prior to November 17th making him my legal son about 10 days earlier than we thought he would be. Then the final decree will be signed once he turns 6 months. It's sort of like a "pre-approval" but it is in full force as of the date she signs it.

Since it's still hard to stomach the fact that I have to ask the govenment's permission to have legal standing in regard to Danny, I guess a part of me thinks that this is no big deal. But another part of me thinks that I "get him" 10 days early. Interlocutory, interlocutory, interlocutory--say it 3 times really fast if you can! -Monica

P.S. We've now posted some cute pictures from Danny's baptism. Check them out.

The Nationals Win Again with Danny's Special Powers!

The Washington Nationals played their final game at RFK Stadium yesterday and beat the Phillies! This means that of the six games Danny attended since his birth 3 short months ago, the Nationals won all six!

We are of course proud of our little guy and hope that his luck holds out when the Nationals start playing in their brand new stadium next spring.

The game was almost a sell out because of its historic nature, so it was fun to be in a full house. As you can see from the picture here, Danny was having a wonderful time (especially when Auntie Em was tickling him.)

Overall it was a very fun game (first time tailgating for Danny and Susanne) and we are already looking forward to next year's games with Rebecca, Lance, Amy, Hannah, Emily and Zach. And of course our mystical, magical, lucky little charm! -Monica

So pictures do speak a thousand words!

Presenting month three in the life of our precious boy. Here's a little teaser for you...

Danny and mommy at the Baltimore Aquarium!

Ma Bell...Ma Hell!

What to blog about today? How about the call I made to Verizon this morning to ask them to discontinue two services that we no longer want. (One of them was call forwarding which we are pretty sure we’d never signed up for anyway.)

“No problem” I was assured.

A half hour later Su called to let me know that we’d just gotten e-mails informing us that we’d signed up for two new features. What the Heckle and Jeckle????? This made me very irate to say the least.

After being on hold (again) for what seemed like forever I was assured that these were now taken off of our account. Unbelievable huh?

The best part was when the customer service representative asked me,

“Could someone else in the family, like a child, have called up this morning to request the order I see on your account for Verizon Games on Demand Family Place”?

“Well our three month old is going to be SO GROUNDED if he called you.”

(That would be a “no” I translated for the representative. Sigh...)

I’m now assured once again that all is well. We later got some e-mails confirming the “cancellation” of these new service. Looking forward to seeing next month’s bill.

Tune in tomorrow for more adventures of the mundane! -Monica

Now that's relaxed!

Regular followers of this blog know that Susanne and I have a tradition of visiting our favorite B&B twice a year--once in the fall and once in the spring. It's only about a 2 hour drive away, but in many ways it's more like a million miles away from our every day stresses. It's a place where you are the only guests and stay in a sweet little cottage surrounded by birds and flowers on the north fork of the Shenandoah.

Apparently this special place has the same magical effect on our son. I had to post this photo from our latest trip to show that as he nursed and drowsed off, he actually left an imprint of his little ear on mama's arm. Now that's one relaxed baby huh. Dreamy I'd say ;-)

In a more recent development he's now developed the ability to laugh-really laugh! For a while he was doing these short little bursts that sounded more like a single cough while smiling, but now Susanne has him laughing and laughing and laughing. Which of course makes us all laugh and laugh and laugh. Alrighty then, have a great day everybody! -Monica

Daniel's Baptism

September 9, 2007--A wonderful day!

And in this corner...

So the other night we had dinner with some friends who were in our Birthworks class and it was a hoot!

We all had boys, and even though Danny is the oldest, he's the littlest guy. In this picture we see Danny sandwiched by little Aidan and Oscar. It kind of looks like they are trying to silence our little guy huh? They are all just beautiful, beautiful boys don't you think?

When we tried to get them all smiling to snap this picture, Aidan's mom made the cutest little "raspberry" sound that not only didn't really make Aidan smile like he usually does, it scared the bjeezus out of Danny and he began bawling his little eyes out. We'll remember not to make that sound. ;-)


Also, since Oscar's mom and dad who hosted our lovely dinner (thanks guys!) have a baby scale we all trooped upstairs to weigh our little ones. Even though Aidan is only 2 months old he weighed in at a whopping 13.45 lbs or something like that, and the best part was that as we all started cheering, he thrust his little arm up as in victory! Priceless! Danny weighed 12.55 lbs I think and Oscar who is two weeks younger than Danny and two weeks older than Aidan took the weight title. Just can't remember how much he weighed. Regardless, it's just wonderful to have such healthy, happy little babies!

I can't help but imagine that before too long we'll be hearing "and now, starting at forward, 6'2" sophomore (insert name here)...." Yes, time is already starting to fly. Have a great day everybody! -Monica

Well, my head does hurt a little...

Catbo

Danny can now sit up pretty well in his little "Bumbo" but doesn't really look very comfortable in it yet.

CJ on the other hand...........

Wave hi to the nice people CJ! ;-)

-Monica

Little Lamb of Ours

Danny's great-grandmother's brother Erwin was the first baby to wear this Christening gown in Germany in 1910. At the bottom you'll notice little names embroidered along the hem. Susanne's name is there, her mom's--so many aunts and uncles and cousins. Yesterday our little Daniel was baptised and his name will now be added. It was a beautiful ceremony. My sister Mary sang a gorgeous song by Sandi Patty that has the refrain:

"You are a masterpiece, a new creation he has formed
And you're as soft and fresh as a snowy winter morn
And I'm so glad that God has given you to me
Little Lamb of God, you are a masterpiece"

It was simply lovely. And to look around the church and see so many familiar faces, what fun! We had a brunch after the ceremony and overall, it was just a very special day.

This picture was taken a few weeks ago. For Danny's ceremony we changed the ribbon from pink (little cousin Leah wore it last) to the other option used throughout the generations--blue. Does that mean we caved to societal pressure? Nah...I don't think so. Apparently as I held Danny up in the front of the church next to our pastor he had his head sort of cocked to his left and it looked like he was reading from Pastor Robin's script. He is very bright, so who knows? ;-)

I just have to figure out the whole "maternal" side thing now. This came from Danny's maternal great-grandmother's family. His "other" maternal grandmother. Or is my side the "other"? I'm sure there are more complex things in the world to worry about eh?

Happy Baptism day little one. You are our little lamb from God. Love always, your moms

Happy weekend everyone

Susi and Danny, thanks so much for the lovely birthday "card" you posted yesterday. Danny, has anyone ever told you that you are a beautiful, beautiful boy? Yes you are, yes you are!

This Sunday our little love will be baptized and it's going to be a lovely ceremony where we'll be surrounded by family and friends. What a very special community that is to us.

I have always been a very faith-filled person, and for me the sacraments are very powerful. I hope that Danny will come to know that he not just our child, but a child of God. And so very loved.

So, have a great weekend everyone. We sure plan to. Blessings and blissings to all of you, and especially to our darling boy. -Monica

Happy Birthday Mommy!!!

We love you SOOOOO much!!

-- Susanne & Danny

It's not easy being green...

Stop the music!

“I don’t want to work. I just want to bang on my drum all day.”

Does anyone else remember this song by Todd Rungren? Does anyone else have an "earworm" now?

We had a lovely weekend at our favorite B&B but it ended all too soon. We also caught a Nats game yesterday and I’d like to report that our son’s winning streak remains intact. He’s been to 4 games and the Nationals have won all four. We’ll go again tomorrow and see if the streak continues.

What was that? Ah yes…

“I don’t want to work. I just want to bang on my drum all day”. -Monica