My Faith and Joy… and Boys!

Danny: “I might be a handful at the library since I love to pull the books down, spread out all the puzzles, and climb the bookshelves…but I’m still cute…right?!”

Well, our Labor Day boating excursion turned out a little wetter than we expected.  But it was still a lot of fun (at least it was for me behind the windshield – I wasn’t the one getting pelted with rain at 30 mph on a tube)!  We had a few hours before the rain started to do some swimming and tubing.  We even got the boys out for a ride together.  Jimmy has been very fearful this summer of going on the tube, and we were relieved that he finally agreed to go for a ride with Jim and our friend Lauri.  And Danny tubed like he had been doing it his whole life!

Don’t the girls look thrilled to be boating in the rain? 

Actually, the kids had a wonderful time with all our friends on the boat.  Not even a rainstorm can dampen these little social butterflies’ wings!

Where did my baby go?  He’s a young man with blonde peach fuzz, a winning smile, and cheeks so deliciously squishy I can get lost in them.  He steals my heart every time he grins, which is often.  He has an infectious belly laugh, deep brown eyes that take in everything his siblings are doing (for better and for worse), and a gait that grows increasingly steady as he toddles around with his belly leading the way.  He loves to throw a ball, loves to play with trucks, loves to eat, loves to cuddle, loves to wave and clap, loves to fall asleep in his own bed, loves to have someone sing to him, loves to roll around on fluffy carpet, loves to put toys into and out of buckets, and loves to be outside.  He doesn’t like books yet, he doesn’t like to be put down when he’s feeling cuddly or clingy, doesn’t like to get dressed, doesn’t like to be left alone, and doesn’t like dessert to end (who does?).  He has 8 going on 11 teeth (he’s currently cutting three molars, poor kid!).  He drinks formula from a bottle three times a day after deciding he was done nursing about a month ago.  He takes a morning nap lasting around 1-2 hours and an afternoon nap lasting 1.5-2 hours and sleeps all night (usually).  His wake-up time is still a bit erratic, but usually falls between 6:30 and 7:30. We haven’t yet figured out whether he’s going to be a crazy, free-wheeling boy like his brother, or whether he’ll be more laid-back and easy-going.  He shows signs of both, so we’ll see this time next year what kind of a boy we have on our hands.  We’re so incredibly grateful for him and the joy he daily brings into our lives!