Monday, April 25, 2011

Hoppy Easter:)

We hope everyone had a wonderful Easter! Here are a few highlights from my Easter festivities...

Saturday was my cousin Madeline's 2nd birthday party so we ate pizza and cupcakes, had an easter egg hunt, and she opened presents. I LOVE hanging out with other kids, especially my cousins...

Playing catch with a balloon with cousin Connor 

Hunting for Easter Eggs! I don't know who was more excited, Daddy or us kids! 

Let's GO! I see one! 

Dad helped me get the biggest one out of the tree! 

Opening our Easter eggs...some were worth candy and some were worth money! I got lots of money for my piggy bank, and I even gave some back to grandma Dummer to help buy a flock of baby chicks:) SO exciting! 

All dressed up in my Easter Sunday Best:)
(Look how grown up I look! How did that happen so fast?!?!)

With my Dummer/Percy cousins after church
Chloe, Madeline, Connor, and ME 

Me and Madeline just hangin' out:)

2 of my cousins on moms side of the family were also able to join in the Easter fun at the Dummer farm for dinner, then back to my house for a mini Easter egg hunt! We tried to get a nice picture
Collin, ME, Cameron 

Auntie Heidi and me snugglin' on the couch...this was the closest I came to a nap! I didn't want to miss anything! As a mom of 3 boys, Auntie Heidi was enjoying her girl time with her favorite (and only) niece:)



In all the craziness that was Easter food, I discovered a few new foods that I liked...
Pickles in particular! I would take a few little bites, and then put the whole thing in my mouth! 

"Here dad...you try it too!"

I LOVE playing with my bus these days too! I can sit and play quite contently with it...I open the door and put the people in and close the door. Then I open it again, take the people out, and close the door behind them. It's so much fun to explore and discover how to play with my toys. 

We hope everyone had a great Easter...I know I did! Surrounded by lots of family and a whole lot of love:) What's better?!?!
Have a great week!
Love, Danika (And mom, dad, & Sophie too!)

Monday, April 18, 2011

Growing Like a Weed!

Obviously, it's not the Spring things that are growing like weeds, thanks to this blustery COLD weather...It's ME! I just continue to do something new it seems everyday.
I walk everywhere and anywhere now, and I even know how to pick up the pace when mom or dad are headed my way to pick me up or take something away from me!
On one of the warmer days last week (if we can even call it that?!?!) I went outside and played in the yard while dad was raking leaves. I loved exploring the yard and the grass, but my body wasn't to stable for walking in the hilly areas!


I missed a week of posting so here I am last weekend, getting ready for swim lessons (mom knew that the camera wouldn't make it to the pool since it was just us!) I wanted to just run around in my suit and forget about the clothes that go over it- I'm really going to enjoy Summer! NO bulky jacket or hat, and NO socks (most of the time)


I'm still a terrific eater, but that's no newsflash:)  
Look at all that curly hair! As it's getting a little longer, it's definitely curly when I get out of the bathtub:)  

Adding to my list of things I want to do independently, I LOVE to drink from mom or dad's water bottles! Sippies are strickly for milk and I'd rather have a big person bottle for water... 

This was hilarious! I didn't want to pick it up, but I knew I could get the water out by sucking the top, so I just bent down to it!
Supposedly the kid version of this bottle is for 3 year olds and up, but I think we may be purchasing one long before that:) 

As I mentioned, I'm still eating like champ, and even more independently. Rather than cutting everything into super small bites, there are certain things I can hold and take bites of now (especially considering I have 10 teeth!) My favorites are bananas and any kind of roll or biscuit! 


Spaghetti, as you can see, is a different story! I can do it on my own, but holy moly, what a mess! I refuse to let mom or dad feed it to me though, so straight to the tub we go!

Lovin' bath time with dad:) 

And here's my best pout:(
Isn't it good?!?! I've been putting on this face quite a bit lately! I have more teeth working there way up, so between the discomfort of that and not getting enough food in my belly at any time of the day, I'm gotten good at pouting! I totally melt my dad's heart and he usually gives in to me;) 

I LOVE swimming!!! This week's lessons were practicing the skills we learned the last few weeks is time it was dad's turn to get in the water with me and mom was the photographer.
Here we are practicing 1, 2, 3 Jump! It's blurry, but it was so cute! 

Practicing kicking! 

SLAM DUNK! 
(Making dad proud:) 

Attempting to paddle (or 'splash' as I understand it) and kick 

So independent! 

Finding the foam flowers and putting them away in the buckets:)




It was another great week (or two!)
Have a great week ahead...hopefully we don't have to shovel out too much snow this week- unbelievable to have snow in April huh?!?!? That's Wisconsin I guess!
Love you all:)
Love, Danika

Monday, April 4, 2011

Splish, Splash!

Happy Monday! As promised, I have some pictures of me at swimming lessons! This week, I still enjoyed swimming and loved the water, but I wasn't quite as animated as last week because I was majorly nap deprived! BUT for only taking a 20 minute nap all day, I did pretty well:) At lesson this week we practiced splashing, floating, grabbing balls and putting them in a basket or bucket, jumping into the water, and kicking! I didn't quite understand the kicking thing yet, but I just hung onto a kick board while mom spun me around the pool:)

Kick, Kick, Kick!

Getting my ball ready to dunk!

Practicing "1, 2, 3...Jump!"

Mom and dad tried so hard to get me to look at the camera, but it just didn't happen- I was too interested in the water! 

I continue to want to get into EVERYTHING and now that I'm growing and getting taller, I just about am into everything! My favorite thing to do is climb onto the dishwasher- the minute I hear mom or dad open it I get my speedy feet over to it...I'm too quick for them to get it loaded and closed before I arrive:)

I love my Soph-Dog:) I'm learning how to touch nice and pet her gently (although Sophie loves any attention she gets, that she even puts up with me when I get a little too rough) 

Daddy and me reading books before bedtime! 

Quite a few months ago when I started eating solid food, mom and dad introduced to the spoon...At the time, they would put food on it and then give it to me, and it woudl go in my mouth...I lost interest in it over the last few months so we got it out again this week, and it wasn't pretty!
However mom and dad tell me to do something, I usually like to do it the complete opposite and figure out my own way!

This was the only bite that made it from yogurt dish, to spoon, to mouth gracefully! 

The rest of the bites looked a little more like this...
I would taek teh spoon from mom, scrap the yogurt off it and onto my hands, then put my fingers in my mouth, and occasionally then end by sucking on the spoon!
Eventually I'll get the hang of it, but for now, it's just fun!

Other than the excitement I mentioned above, the only other 'new' thing from last week is how much I'm talking! I babble and babble and babble NON-stop! I defintely have some clear words in all my jibberish too:) I can say "hi", "da, or dada", "mom, or mama",  "bye",  mom and dad even think they heard a "lamby" (my blanky) and "annie" (Granny's dog) and "uh-oh" out of me this weekend!  
So exciting to finally be able to verbalize myself! I tell Sophie Dog all kinds of stories:) Maybe now that I'm beginning to talk I will have less tantrums to get what I want?!?! My parents can only hope;) As great-grandma Val said yesterday though, I'm not even in my terrible two's yet!!! In my words "Uh-Oh" mom and dad!!!
Happy April- Have a great, warmer week!
Love, Danika