Jen and Daniel's Excellent Adventures: A Kinda Rough Week :(

Sunday, Daniel did great ALL through church, yay! I was very happy and proud of him! After church, we went to my parents house (though they are gone) and had dinner with my siblings, Daniel was thrilled to get to see Ivan up until he pounced on him! I though it was pretty funny...Daniel was less amused. Monday morning, Daniel was up bright and early (I heard him start playing in his room about 630), so I let him play for about an hour, then I went in to get him and discovered he had gotten into his diaper rash cream I had accidentally left in his room...and had proceeded to paint the wall...his sheets...and himself with it :/ Thankfully, Monday is my normal laundry day. We went to the playground for a bit, before it started to rain, so then we came back in and Daniel played for a while. Just before lunch we had to run to the store for a few items for dinner Monday night that I had forgotten to pick up so we did that (fast..as Daniel was being extremely loud and obnoxious), as we got to the car, I discovered Daniel had taken his shoes off while we were in the store!! So...it was back into the store, thankfully I didn't have to retrace too many steps before we found them. We came home, he had lunch (while throwing a fit) and then I took him up to his room for his nap....which he didn't take, eh, you win some,you lose some I guess. We ended up having an earlier dinner than normal, because no nap for Daniel throws him off pretty bad in the evening....and he announced shortly after about 6 that he was ready for his bath. He had fun playing with his new Thomas the Train boat and his other toys...his favorite right now his the Elmo that squirts water...he thinks it is hilarious when it sprays even though I end up being his primary target. After bath and getting him ready for bed, he crawled over to his bed and only made it half on before he was passed out! I got him situated in bed, and he didn't stir a muscle while I was doing it! He really must have been tired, because Tuesday he didn't wake up until just shortly after 9 am. A bit after 10 we loaded up and Daniel,as always, was thrilled to be headed to Melinda's for a fun play date. We were there until just after 2, it was great! Wednesday was typical work/daycare and after dinner and bath for Daniel, my wonderful little sister came and played with him and put him to bed for me while I went to a meeting (that ran longer than I expected). Thursday night was rough. Daniel woke up three different times during the night, screaming bloody murder, I asked him each time what was wrong, but he wouldn't (or couldn't) tell me..so I just did my best to calm him down each time, until he finally fell soundly asleep a little after 3 am after I rubbed his back (which soothed him to the point he fell asleep). Oi, what a night! Friday, Daniel went to daycare for an extra day, while I went to work completely exhausted. When I picked him up his teacher reported he had fun playing with blocks and during their circle time. Oh, and when I pulled up to pick him up, his classroom windows face the walkway and I looked in and could see him playing peek-a-boo with a littler boy who was in a crib and they both were enjoying themselves! After work, we had a good long visit with Great Grandma and Grandpa Walker, and then I took Daniel to Arctic Circle for dinner and to let him play at the play area. He had a grand time playing with some of the other kids. My favorite part was him going up to the half plastic bubble thingy and listening to him belt out "I Am A Child Of God" at the top of his lungs :) Me and another mother that was there had a good laugh about that one, and it led into a nice conversation with her for a bit. After a couple hours, Daniel was run ragged so we came home and he had a bath, he declared he was too tired to play with his bath toys so we made it a quick bath and then he went to bed. Saturday morning, Daniel woke up very excited, because a little before 10 one of my home teacher's, Brother D, came and picked Daniel up and he got to go play at his house with his little boy who is about the same age while I went to a 'Brunch Your Winter Blues Away' activity for single sisters and the Laurel class in our ward. We had a delicious brunch of fruit and breakfast casseroles, and caramel pull-apart bread, it was wonderful. I chatted with several ladies from the ward and after we had finished eating, we played a Question Getting To Know You kind of game, which also was a lot of fun! Afterward, I went to pick up Daniel, who Brother D reported was awesome! He was eating lunch that they had graciously fixed for him, and they invited me too! I had lunch and a good visit with both Brother and Sister D and after that we came home for nap time. After Daniel was up from his nap, we went and picked up a quick birthday present and headed out to my good friend's daughter's birthday party. Daniel had fun playing with the kids (though they were older than he was by 3 or 4 years) and I had a good visit with my friend. Then we came home and did leftovers for dinner, after which I put one of my Christmas presents (a haircutter set) to good use and cut Daniel's shaggy looking hair. If you don't look too closely at it, it looks nice! Saturday night proved to be a rough night for both Daniel and myself :/, but we made it through. Nights (for me anyway) tend to be the hardest part of the day for me and coming into the last half of January it's gotten worse... but I had expected it to, and if anything, I've learned you just kind of have to get through it. Sunday morning, Daniel and I went and met with a member of the bishopric and I was extended a calling..though after being sustained in Sacrament meeting our Relief Society president told me that was the wrong calling.....so until it's settled I'm going to wait to announce. Church was...frankly...a NIGHTMARE today! I ended up with Daniel in the foyer all through Sacrament while he threw fit after fit after fit! After fighting his screaming and crying, I decided it was not worth it to try to take him to nursery so we just came home and he crashed hard. After his nap, we went up to Nana and Papa's and had a yummy dinner and good visit with them, and thankfully he didn't fight me going down for bed...he was exhausted! Today was just laundry in the morning, then in the afternoon after Daniel's nap, we ventured out to the playground and Daniel had fun playing with Jonathan, a little boy who is in his class in nursery and Marie (Jonathan's mom) and I had a good visit while the kiddos played! It was a very fun Monday (sort of FHE) activity.

How Daniel has taken to coming down

the stairs lately :/