Daniel's newest milestones

Ever since we came home (almost a month ago!), Daniel has been doing something new or better nearly every day. He certainly keeps us on our toes! (He alternates between being absolutely adorable and charming, and screaming so long and loud I'm afraid Child Protective Services is going to show up at our front door!) Yesterday, we went to visit Kerry at Heartsent (our agency); she was SO instrumental in getting Danny home. She saw him once, when he was just under 3 months old, and she was knocked out by how "grown up" he has become!

In Guatemala, Danny was eating mostly formula with some baby food fruit. He had also been eating rice cereal, but I think his last foster mother stopped it (and I know she reduced his solid foods). BTW, the Nestle and Gerber rice cereals in Guatemala are chock full of sugar (2nd ingredient), so Danny thinks the American unsweetened version is yucky. I've been mixing it with baby yogurt until he gets used to it.

Anyway, I've gotten Daniel onto mostly solid foods (breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks). He likes just about everything, and LOVES avacadoes, carrots and blueberries. Funny, in Guate they said he was a terrible eater, everything made him throw up, etc. He hasn't thrown up one single time since we've had him, and he eats very enthusiastically. I also don't think he was allowed to feed himself at all. The first time I encouraged him to put his hands in his food and go for it, he just lit up with joy! He is also getting more and more interested in using a spoon. Today was the first day he completely fed himself all his meals. Messy? Very! But such a step toward independence for him.

And today was a big day, because he drank a whole serving of formula from a sippy cup for the first time, and at dinner he grabbed a sippy cup of water that I had unthinkingly left on the table and drank it on his own.

I was brushing Daniel's teeth with the baby finger-toothbrusher, but he kept chomping on my finger because he likes the taste of the toothpaste. So the other day, I bought him his first "big boy" toothbrush. After I do the real brushing (during which time he holds my toothbrush), I let him do it himself. He loves it!

Danny isn't crawling or cruising the furniture yet, but he sure is working on it! He's been getting on his tummy and holding himself up for a few weeks, and is trying to get up on his knees. He ends up going backwards. And he tries to pull himself up (like up the crib bars, or onto the sofa), but his legs aren't quite strong enough yet. The way he jumps in his "Johnny Jumper," his legs will get strong fast.

The other big thing today is that Daniel received his Certificate of Citizenship, which proves he became a U.S. citizen the day we brought him home. It also came with a letter from Pres. Bush welcoming him to the country and making America a better place. Cool!