You say Valentines Day, we say Family Day

It was 1 year ago today, in a hotel in Guatemala, that Daniel, Eric and I became a family! His foster mother brought him to us, and this time we knew we would never have to give him back. It was the best Valentines Day present ever! My, how time flies...and it's unbelievable how much Danny has changed and grown in a year.

Daniel and I tried to make an angel food cake this afternoon to celebrate, but our oven is broken, and when I tried to bake it in the toaster oven, it caught on fire. Stop me before I bake again! Oh well...tonight we went to a Peruvian restaurant (there's no Guatemalan restaurant close by). Danny loved the music, he was bopping around the whole time. We had Tres Leches Cake for dessert, which is also a very typical dessert in Guatemala. Daniel normally isn't a big sweet lover, but he really liked this cake, and dug right in with his spoon.

We're gearing up for Big D's 2nd birthday next month. Normally, he goes to a music class at Gymboree. But Eric and Jeanie have taken him to a play class the last couple of Saturdays to see if he likes it, and yes, he does. So we're going to have his birthday party at Gymboree, where all the little kids can play on the equipment and stuff.

Danny seems to be going through a big developmental spurt. Seems he's getting taller and heavier by the day, and he's talking a lot both at home and at school. He's starting to pronounce words better. He used to only say the first part of a word (like "hot" would come out as "hah"). In the last few days, he's been saying the last part very clearly: "hoT" and "cuP." He also just started saying "step" when he can't reach something, because he wants his stepstool.

Cute story: A few nights ago, shortly before bedtime, Daniel and I were hanging out in his room reading books. Dad came in, and Danny grabbed his hands, started jumping up and down and singing a little song, then falling down. Then he'd start over. I finally said, "I think he's trying to play 'Ring Around the Rosy' with you!" To test my hypothesis, I got up, grabbed both their hands, and started singing "Ring Around the Rosy." Sure enough, that's what D wanted to do. He thought it was hysterical to see Mom and Dad fall down at the end, and made us do it about 6 times, before I said "enough is enough." It's so fun that he plays these games from my childhood! (Oh yeah - He's finally gotten into Sesame Street, which is great fun for me, too! Danny's favorite is Elmo. Mine is Grover, with Ernie a close second.)

We've been doing a lot of art projects at home lately. I filled a box with supplies for him to experiment with. We've done watercolors and fingerpaints, markers and stickers. I tried getting him to make a picture by gluing little pieces of tissue paper onto a piece of construction paper, but all he really wanted to do was take the top off the glue stick and put it back on...over and over. So needless to say, we didn't get too far with the tissue paper. Oh well, it's the experience, not the end result that matters, right? He did make Daddy a beautiful Valentine with fingerpaints, though. And some very cute Valentines projects at school, including a heart necklace that he made us all take turns wearing today.