Okay, so I freely admit that I'm easily amused, especially when it comes to our son.

Daniel has this activity mat. He's always hated being on his back, so normally after a couple minutes of screaming, I roll him over onto his belly. He likes that okay, but then he decides he's going to roll over onto his back. Then he realizes that while it's a cool trick and it makes Mommy and Daddy happy, it results in him being on his back, which he doesn't like, and there's more fussing.

Anyway, today I put him down on his back, he fussed for a minute, and then realized - hey, there are toys up there! It was the first time he's really shown an interest in a particular object. He batted at the toy that makes a jingly sound, and that was cool for a little while. Then he noticed these brightly colored butterflies, and oh wow were those great. It was really neat to watch him studying things. You could almost see the wheels turning in his head. He even figured out that he could scoot himself closer to the butterflies. He spent about 15 minutes just hanging out, looking at things, batting, and smiling.

Yeah, I probably need to get out more, but it made my day! :)

--Amy

Here's the best we've got so far in regards to getting a good picture of a smile. The real thing is cuter, but squirming really makes the photography a challenge. Hence... the best we've got so far.

Daniel had 2 doctors appointments today. The first was his follow-up eye exam to make sure he wasn't going to develop ROP. You may remember that the last exam was awful. This one went much better, though. While we were still there for close to 2 hours, things were actually happening during that time (as opposed to just waiting for 2 hours). Paul went with me this time and he held Daniel for the exam. We brought a blanket, so he was able to swaddle him instead of just pinning him to the table like I had to. Also, we gave Daniel his binky and that completely distracted him from the eye poking. He only cried for about 2 seconds, and that was when he dropped the binky. The doctor was even polite today. I was amazed. And, most importantly, his eyes are in great shape, no ROP, and he can just have regular eye exams now like any other kid.

Then this afternoon we went back to the pulmonologist so Daniel could get the RSV vaccine. That was pretty uneventful - he didn't like the shot much but he got over it quickly.

We haven't been able to get any smiley pictures yet but hopefully this evening since he's been napping pretty well today. :)

--Amy

Daniel smiled for the first time yesterday. We will try to get pictures today, if he ever stops eating long enough to smile again.

--Amy

For those of you who don't know, my grandma passed away about 2 weeks ago. It wasn't completely unexpected, as she had cancer for the third time, but it did happen sooner than we thought it would and of course it sucks regardless. Today was her funeral, which was very sad, but it did at least bring a good chunk of the family together, which doesn't happen very often. So we got to spend the day with them, and they got to meet Daniel. I had hoped to get some pictures of the family, but unfortunately, it just didn't happen. We did get a couple of Daniel in the adorable suit/tux that we got him for the occasion, though.





"Grandpa, do those headphones really have to be on all the time?"



--Amy