Daniel on the Move

Daniel learned a new trick today! While Mommy was making sandwiches for lunch, Daniel decided that he wanted a toy. Instead of complaining, he got up on his elbows and toes and found one himself. He crawled all the way (about 2.5 feet) to his ball! Daniel's Daddy was lucky enough to witness this momentous occasion and promptly called Mommy over just in time to see him change directions and go for the Nintendo!

After 30 minutes of coaxing, we finally were able to get him to do it again on camera. Here is the video!

Daniel’s Nicknames

It is my fear that 5 years from now, on Daniel’s first day of Kindergarten, his teacher will ask him his name and he will excitedly reply “My name is Zoo-Zoo!” 

Ever since Daniel was born, Shantell has insisted on calling Daniel by some nickname or another. Seriously, I could understand nicknames such as “Dan” or “Danny” or maybe even “Dan-Dan”… but I swear, most of the nicknames she calls him must be the first words that pop into her head.

I should have seen it coming though… Our poor cat Fiero has had over a dozen nicknames throughout his life (“Bayshee" seems to have stuck the best). Her littlest sister Sala has several nicknames also (“Skippy”, “Skooky”, etc..). Therefore, it is my theory that it must be some loving motherly urge within Shantell to call those she looks after silly nicknames.

Here is a list of some of the names our son has had over his short 5 months of life: (These are just the list of the ones that Shantell has used at least 10 times)

1. Baby
2. Bun-Kin
3. Bun-Tig
4. Tig-Tig
5. Bushy Boy
6. Zoombie
7. Zoobie
8. Zoo-Zoo
9. Zoo-Bop
10. Zoo-Zoo-Bop
11. Zoo-Za-La-Buntig
12. Zuppin
13. Jamba
14. Zuka-Zoobie-Jamba
15. Mudgeon
16. Zoo-Mudgeon
17. Mudge-a-Kin
18. Daniel-Bee
19. Daniel-Boy
20. D.B.
21. Daniel-Bee-Bop
22. Bazookah
23. Daniel-Boon
24. Tongueling
25. Danushki
26. Bun-Ka-Zoo
27. Zump-Zump
28. Droob-ah-lini
29. Bunka-Zoo
30. Koala-Bee
31. Munkin
32. Munka-Zoo
33. Zump-Zump
34. Zah-Zoo
35. Turtle-Bee

Yes, she actually does use all of those. However, she has began to settle on using “Zoo-Zoo” the most. A few weeks back she even prayed that “Zoo-Zoo would sleep well tonight.” Afterward we joked that some guy in Africa was going to have the best rest of his life that night.

I try to call him Daniel as much as I can (Either that our “Daniel-Son” or “Daniel-Boon”). But, I too find myself using Shantell’s nicknames…

…our poor son will be so confused when he starts to learn to talk. 

The Worlds Weirdest Tree

Shantell and I occasionally like to go on strolls. Typically the destinations for our walks here in Redmond is the “weird tree”. The best way I know how to describe it is a real life “fake christmas tree.”

Here is a picture:

If any one knows what type of tree this is, we’d love to know! It has really hard spiky leaves… it looks like a conifer but we think it might be some kind of weird palm… or maybe a mutated pineapple bush….

Kooza!

This week Shantell and I had the chance to go to Cirque Du Soliel (Kooza)! It was awesome. It was a special private showing just for the interns (and their spouses). It was a good thing Shantell’s parents where in town, because it made it possible for both Shantell and I to go together. Like all Cirque shows the performances were phenomenal! However, we were a bit disappointed by the crude clown acts. The Coolest act was this death defying stunt where two guys ran around in and on top of these two connected rotating hamster wheels 50 feet in the air. It looked kind of like this:

 

In addition to the free show and the free concessions, they also gave all of us interns personalized 16GB Zune HDs!

EDIT: Shantell thought my picture of “the Wheel of Death” wasn’t dramatic enough… So here is another one:

Father’s Day Movie Night

Happy Father’s day everyone! So for father’s day this year we decided to go out to one of those Drive-In Theatres because neither of us could ever remember going before. We went last night and it was really great! It was a double feature and we saw Toy Story 3 and Prince of Persia. Toy Story was a fun, but just more of the same. Nothing really new. Prince of Persia was pretty cool, but we probably wouldn’t bother seeing it again.

It was great for Daniel though because we could change him, feed him, and he could be as loud as he wanted and we didn’t bother anyone. The one problem was the movie didn’t start till dusk (9:30) so we didn’t get home till 2:30. Good thing we didn’t have church till 11:00!

Daniel  is getting more tech savvy everyday too. This morning he sent me a Father’s Day email! It was pretty cute so I’ll add it below:

Dear Daddy,

Happy Father’s Day! This is the first card I’ve ever made, I hope you like it!

Thanks for being such a great dad. Thanks for playing fun games with me, like stare at the computer screen, hide and go seek, and scare mommy with dangerous stunts. I have so much fun with you!

I’m especially happy when you come home during lunch to see me, I try not to sleep the whole time…but it’s really tiring being a baby. Thanks for bringing home those delicious cranberry juices for mommy, they make great milk flavoring!

I’m glad I have you to carry me in my car-seat, you’re so strong I know you’ll never drop me. At night I’m glad you’re there to hold me when I get tired of mommy and to walk around the house with me when I’m uncomfortable.

Thanks for working hard so mommy can stay home with me so I’m not lonely. And most of all, thanks for being my daddy! I love you so much! You’re the best dad ever! When I grow up I hope I’m just like you.

Love,
Your Little Zoo-Zoo
(Daniel)

He’s such a smart kid :)

A Little Sunshine in Cloudy Seattle

Mother's Day Video

Here is a video that Daniel made this morning for his Mommy for Mother's Day!