Baby Carlson's (Danielle Nicole Carlson) journey

Hi there..
You had a very fun day yesterday. We went to Walnut Creek, to a place called the Jungle. You played ALOT, and had great fun jumping in the ball pit with all the plastic balls, you also enjoyed going down the slide a bunch of times. We had a small party with just a few friends. You had almost a full piece of pizza and then a slice of cake. You had your first sugar flower which you daintily ate, and dipped in the frosting. the 45 minutes went quick, and we didnt get to open all of your presents.

After the party we stopped by Grandma's and said hi, She was happy to see you and gave you lots of Love you's and kisses and hugs. We then went home, and opened the rest of your gifts, and you loved every one of them. I think you've read all the books already :). Then on your actually birthday we woke up and had some breakfast and then went to the park, and we played for about an hour, you had fun in the sand, and playing on the slide. We went to Perko's for lunch and you had a grilled cheese sandwich. Grandma had called and sang you happy birthday on the machine.

Happy 2nd birthday sweet heart.

town.........Wait hold the presses, stop the reindeer. A little story that happened last night. We finally made our way to the Mall to see if we could get a picture of santa this year with you, to use as our Christmas Card cover, since last years card was so cute. We ventured out at around 5:30pm to the Mall, parked, changed you into a beautiful Red/white dress and carried you inside the mall. We approached the area where Santa was, and set you down and attempted to walk you in to visit Santa. Luckily there was no one else in line except for one other little boy who darted and was afraid so we were beckoned to come in. you walked slowly towards him.. closer and closer, more wary with each step. Once you got within 2 to 3 feet you looked up, and immediately turned around and started walking at a quick pace towards the exit. You were going to have nothing to do with Santa.. The ringing of bells stopped you in your tracks, as you turned around to see Santa ringing his bells.. you turned around again.. curious of the sound. and again walked towards him.. you grabbed the bells and then took off again.. You were not going to give Santa your list this year, and you certainly weren't going to get close enough to touch his red furry suit.

We left the Santa Picture area, as you beelined it following mommy out of the Mall through Pennys.. you weren't distracted by anything and were focused on following Mommy away from "Santa".

Wow what a difference a year makes.. 365 days ago you were happy to sit on Santa's lap and give us the most beautiful picture. fast forward 365 days and you didn't want anything to do with him, except that he had pretty sounding bells.

All of this is ok though.. your Father didn't like Santa when he was a toddler either.. and we will just have to be more creative with this years photo. (Photoshop rings a bell). Perhaps next year, we will try again and see what happens.

That's right, Danielle you will soon be a big sister to your new brother/sister.(we haven't found out yet, but should know by the end of the year) The expected due date is 5/17/08, and your new brother/sisters blog will be babycarlson2008.blogspot.com (Don't look now as it hasn't even been created yet!) Mommy and Daddy are very excited, and you've become curious as to what's in Mommy's tummy. "baby?" you say ever so often. Your becoming quite fond of your stuffed animals Grrrr and Growl (Ty kittie, and Ty cheetah), and have come to say waa waa for water, Maa maa for your bink eat eat for when your hungry, poo poo for when you have gas or when you've actually gone, we've caught you saying "very pwetty" after seeing mommys earrings, and a baby form of thank you after receiving something. you also can saw pwees which equates to please. Your vocabulary is growing day by day. and your getting quite tall. Your in size 5 shoes now and are wearing 24 month clothes.. Your enjoying us reading you bwooks! and playing with your bawls. You urge us to tickle you more, and have given us many kisses. but above all you've learned how to Zurbert mommy and daddies tummy.. after many times of being zurberted yourself you now know how to retaliate, and it makes mommy and daddy laugh so hard when you lift up our shirt and fall upon us open mouthed and zurbert.

We spent Thanksgiving day in the city eating Brunch at Cityscape again with Grandma. This time besies the mashed potatoes, you enjoyed most every vegetable, and other food on the menu. After eating quit a bit you got ancy and wanted to get out of your chair. You found out that you could climb up a step and stand behind a railing by our table, and then you got adventurous and wondered if you could climb over the railing.. which you did, and daddy was there to catch you. You've become very adventerous and daring. After brunch we went down to the main floor expecting it to be decorated for Christmas, boy were we surprised as there was no christmas decorations this year so we decided to go over to the Hyatt, to see what they had. We went to the second floor and saw all these minature christmas displays, and hear this beautiful music coming form a piano. You walked over to the piano player with Grr in tow, and proceeded to try to give Grr to the piano man. He chuckled, and took it and placed it on his piano and then asked if you would like to help him play. you walked closer to the Piano and plunked the black keys ever so softly.. The Piano man was very impressed that you weren't banging the keys. We spent a long time listening to teh piano and watching you roam around, looking at all the pretty christmas decorations.

Friday Morning, we woke you up early because mommy and daddy had to go shopping! We visited a few stores and you were bundled up to the tee with your winter clothes and jacket on. After shopping, we headed down to Mommy's Aunt and Uncles for your Cousin's 1st birthday. We had a lot of fun visiting family and Great Granny goose was there from Oregon to visit as well. You had a lot of fun helping Catie open her presents and playing with her toys.

We left at 12:13 pm on August 16th out of SFO, the night before we spent the night at the Holiday inn North in South San Francisco. (BTW next time will stay at the Holiday inn Express, as the beds at the Holiday inn were terible) Our flight on Thursday was uneventful, you slept for most of the way and enjoyed looking out the window. We arrived in Cleveland at around 8:00 PM eastern time. We met Mike & Marcy, and loaded in the bags and went to their house. We were to wake up at 4:00 am the next morning to get a started on our vacation.

Next morning we slept in an hour and finally left the house at around 5:30am.. our first stop was to be Niagra Falls. We got to the falls and walked around and took pictures. The day had escaped us so instead of continuing on and going wine tasting we decided to just head for the hotel in Syracuse. We were glad we did. Enjoyed the managers reception at the Embassy suites, and when we arrived a wedding was just getting underway. Nothing like walking in on a wedding and seeing the guests 2 or 3 stories up lining the walk ways.. After drinks and snacks, it started to pour, so we decided instead of going out in the rain to order Pizza. The pizza was good, you even enjoyed a piece yourself. We then went swimming for a bit in the indoor pool and spa, and finally retired to our room where you quickly went to sleep. We awoke the next morning knowing that we had quite a ways to go, to get to Rhode Island, so we were off fairly early Saturday Morning.

We arrived at the house with the help of the GPS and unpacked the mini van. the house was big, with 6 bedrooms, a nice living space downstairs and a big living room area upstairs. We went and had dinner and you had your first taste of clam, you enjoyed it.
Sunday was Beach day/dinner party. you thoroughly enjoyed the Atlantic and the beach, after your initial shock of seeing the waves and feeling the cool water you were then happy to play in the sand. That evening we went to Marcy's Great Aunt's house and had dinner along with lots of other of the Great Aunt's friends. We had a great time, and you got so many compliments on your hair and eyes.

Monday & Tuesday we spent around town, and Wednesday we went to Boston, where you got to drive a DUCK (an amphibous vehicle used in WWII) there's a picture of you on the flicker site, of you stearing the vehicle. you slept during the land tour but woke up once we hit the water, we think you wanted to go swimming because you kept pointing to the water.

Thursday we took a Ferry to block island, where you got to take your first bike ride. you didn't like riding in back of mommy at first and cried and cried and then fell asleep. when you woke up again you lost your fear, and enjoyed the rest of the ride. we played on the beach and you collected rocks for grandma. We had a nice lunch and then went shopping for the rest of the afternoon on the island, we returned back to the house to have steak sandwiches. .

Friday we went to Newport and went to a few mansions. you did not like the guided tour and kept being fusy, so we decided to go to audio tours after that. We enjoyed taking pictures and walking through the huge mansions.

Saturday quickly came and we had packed the night before. We had planned on leaving some what early but did not leave until about 11:30 or so. what was supposed to be a 10 hr trip took us almost 13. We arrived back in Cleveland at around 1:30 am. and were quickly off to bed due to a 9:00 flight the next morning back to SFO. We slept for a few hours, packed the car and were off to the airport. We again got compliments on the GoGo Babyz wheels that were on your car seat that allowed us to wheel you through the airport. one of the better things we've bought for travel with you. The flight home was also uneventful.. a little boy did get sick on the flight so they had to close off one of the bathrooms, but that was ok. you again slept for almost 3 hrs and once we got to SFO we got our bags and met Grandma at Mimi's cafe in Pleasanton for a late lunch. After having lunch we left for home, and relaxed.

2008 vacation is currently being planned for Florida. :)

Ok so I admit I last posted the day before your 1st birthday and so much has happened since then.

First off you had the best 1st birthday party.. It was at Fremont Swim School in Livermore, where you are currently taking swimming lessons. Tons of Mommy and Daddies friends and family showed up to wish you a happy 1st birthday. You enjoyed swimming and playing wiht all your friends. When it came time for cake you were less than enthused. you ate a few bites but then started handing it off on daddy. By the time you were finished more cake was in daddies hands then went into your mouth but that was ok! your cake was hawaiian themed with lilo and stich.. You got tons of wonderful presents from everyone, and it took you quite awhile to write out all the thank you cards..

Ok next major news is you now have 4 teeth!!! one tooth came about 2 weeks ago and another just popped through yesterday.. You had a terrible time falling asleep last night. Lets see what else is news.. your crawling all over the place and can no longer be counted on to sit in one place. you've also almost mastered getting up into a standing position but have yet to take any first steps solo. Your personality is growing daily.

Oh and one sad thing has happened.. your friend Karen from day care has left the center due to their possible move this summer. We will miss them, and I am sure you miss seeing your buddy every day.. (we are secretly hoping they don't move) but will be happy for them if they do move because then you will just have another out of state friend. :) Ok I guess that's it for now.. upcoming plans are a afternoon with Grandma, cuz your mommy and daddy are going to the horse races.. and you've got your friend TJs party to go to at the end of the month.. it's his 1st and another swim party! yeah!

thats it for now.. Hopefully i can get this thing updated quicker then every few months

Hello little one,
Tomorrow is your big day, you will be 1 years old. Your mommy and me have watched you grow so much over this past year. We've witnessed holding your head up by yourself, sitting up by yourself, getting your first immunization shot, changing your first diaper, coming home from the hospital, sleeping in your bassinet and making the big move to your Crib in the other room. The first night you slept all the way through, the nights where all you wanted to do was keep us up, the first time you had something other than milk to eat, your laugh has made us laugh, your endless bable, your Mammas, Daddas, pointing, clapping, your personality is growing every day. the blowouts, the ear infections, the colds, playing with your toys, the talking to the cats, sitting in a highchair, a shopping cart, falling asleep on the way home, the list could go on and on. It's truely been an amazing first year, and both Mommy and Daddy are looking forward to the years to come, watching you grow. You are already past the 20 lb mark and we will find out next month how tall you are. Your Car seat will soon be forward facing and we'll be able to see you when we turn around.
Happy first Birthday sweetheart.