Parking It

We made our first real trip to a park with Dane last week. It was great! He had so much fun playing on the equipment and goofing around with us. I'm sure we have many more trips like this to look forward to!

Our day downtown

Since we've had a couple bursts of beautiful weather the last couple weeks, we decided to venture downtown for the afternoon, our first trip there with Dane. The construction on 290 made the drive less than excellent, but we still made good time and we worked it out so Dane would nap for the first part of the drive. We parked, got a quick lunch at Subway, where Dane was, as usual, the center of attention. Then we headed to the lakeshore and after walking for an hour or so, hung out for a bit at one of the parks on Navy Pier. Dane seemed to love watching all the people around us and while he hates having the sun on his face, still refused to keep a hat or sunglasses on for longer than a few seconds. We had fun sitting on the grass, watching the lake and birds flying by. After that, we headed back toward the car, walking along the path Mark runs when he does the Chicago Triathlon. It's a really long distance! Finally, we got back to the Millenium Park area, and sat down for some late lunch for Dane. Guac...mmmm. After playing in the fountains for a while, we decided it was time to head home. Dane had some very sleepy eyes, and so we packed him up and rolled out. All in all, a very successful day. Dane was great, better than we expected, so we're going to have more trips like that to look forward to as summer heats up!

Hunger Strike

In the week that we've been back since all our crazy vacation/travel ended, Dane has decided he will no longer eat solid foods like the champ he'd been before. Instead of gulping down a whole yogurt for breakfast, he cries and pushes away everything. He's like that at every meal except dinner, which we've been eating while watching Wheel of Fortune. We're not sure if it's just that he's gotten so hungry by not eating all day or that Wheel soothes his anger at food. We've tried everything from different foods to letting him feed himself and the only other thing he'll eat besides milk is baby goldfish crackers. Hmmmm. Man cannot live on goldfish alone. We've talked to the pediatrician who says that if it goes past a week we should call them again, and I've looked at countless baby/mom websites. It seems to be a common problem right around the time kids start to feel more independent, but that doesn't make it any less frustrating. I feel like he's going to starve or be malnourished. Since he's a preemie, I may have some lingering sensitivity to any problems we encounter with him...

On the upside, his (fingers crossed!) last surgery is scheduled for May 12th, so prayers that it goes well and is truly his last would be appreciated.

The Zoo!

We made our first trip to the Cosley Zoo today and it was a big hit with the Daner. Mark is on vacation this week and since we've travelled so much in the last two months, we decided to stick around Wheaton. Hence, a perfect time to check out the zoo, which is only a couple minutes from our house, and FREE:) Bonus. We checked out a couple of animals, which Dane seemed to love and practiced some noises, which he loved even more.
SO much to look at, and check out those legs:) So cute.
Looking at a baby goat who'd been born 2 hours before.
Loving the fish!

A golden gurnsey.
Look, a llama!
Feeling the horse's coat.
Driving the caboose!

Photo update

Some pictures from our latest adventures with our man, who's seeming so much bigger and older every day.
Peeking out from behind Dad's work coat.
Hanging out at the park on the first nice day we were all home.

The hands-free balance. Takes lots of skill.

Oh no, you're making me sit on the grass. It's so scratchy!
Testing out cool shades. They lasted for about 40 seconds.
Yes! I get to sit on a blanket this time.



Loving his new scooter from Uncle Steve and Aunt Sheila. It's just his size!



Using Dad's rabbity-soft hair as reins works perfectly!