Dana Daily

before the ketchup incident I don't know where Emmy picked up this moniker, but I kind of like it. Anyway, Sarah had a birthday party to attend at Fun Fore All so Emmy and I hung out in Cranberry for a couple hours. We did a little bit of shopping, but all we bought were some over-sized pinwheels. We spent the most time at Barnes and Noble, and I don't think that was a highlight for her. It saddens me that so far neither daughter adores reading like I do. I'm hoping it's just a maturity thing. From the bookstore we went to Dairy Queen where Emmy and I shared a small cookie dough blizzard. While we were waiting for the clock to tick to 8pm, Emmy got bored and thought she'd put a bit of ketchup on her finger to taste. Just as I was saying, "No, why would you do that," she was squeezing the bottle and ketchup went everywhere, on her lap. on the back of the booth, on her sleeve. I wanted to yell at her, but instead I just shook my head and thought,...

Sarah and Emmy's school had an in-service today so I was home with all three kids. The weather was cold and rainy and we were cooped up all day inside. That allowed me to see just how attached Seth is to Emmy, and really, her to him as well. Seth gets very upset when Emmy is out of sight. If she runs upstairs, he stands at the bottom and screams until she reappears. If Emmy sets him down he puts his arms up and whines until she picks him up. This went on all.day.long. I kept waiting for her to get exasperated and run out of patience, which would have been totally understandable, but nope. She would just say, "oh Sethy, give me one second" and then she'd pick him back up or play with him. She mothers him and has copious amount of patience. If only she displayed half of that patience when it came to Sarah, but I digress. Anyway, Emmy got in the shower last night and closed the bathroom door behind her. Seth stood on the other side banging on the door and yel...

This morning Seth had a follow-up visit with the ENT. While he seems to have developed a cold at the tail end of the last round of antibiotics, his ears are clear. We need to keep using ear drops until his tube replacement surgery on May 12, but other than that he's good to go. I hope a new set of tubes helps because it's no fun making the decision to put your child under for surgery, no matter how minor. My sweet baby.

I've read quite a few good books lately, but my favorite has been Titans . It's written by Leila Meacham, the author of the most fabulous work of historical fiction ever written ( Roses ). I have in-depth reviews of all the books I've read posted here on my book blog.

My nephew (and godson) celebrated his First Communion today. Sarah and Emmy were with their dad, but Sal, Seth, and I went to Washington to celebrate with my sister and her family. I liked the way Immaculate Conception had the children walk in with two people of their choice. William opted for his mom and grandma. They came in with a good amount of space in between each family, and a professional photographer took their picture. The ceremony itself was nice, but I will never understand why priests don't tailor their homilies to children when it is a celebration for children. It seems like a "miss" in my book. We were too far back to see William actually make his First Communion, but the ceremony itself was nice. Seth was very well behaved too. Afterwards we took some pictures outside, and then headed to Adam's Pine Creek Buffet in Washington for lunch. The food was surprisingly tasty, but I'm still partial to a sit-down restaurant. It's easier fo...

Sal came home from work sick around 1:30 today while Seth was napping. When he woke up at 4, he and I got the heck out of the house and went to Eat n Park for dinner, for what I hope was only the first of many Mommy / Seth dates. We had a wonderful time. Seth drank out of a straw for the first time because I had left his sippy in the car. I don't think he understood at first that he needed to swallow and the milk ran out of his mouth. He figured it out quickly though. I ordered him mac and cheese and he ate about half, along with a piece of bread and some bits from my salad. After dinner we got gas at Get Go and went to the grocery store. Then we went for a two mile walk when we got home. It was a fun evening. I just couldn't love this little boy more than I do.

Seth has been cruising for weeks, but over the weekend he gained enough confidence and he toddles all over the place now. Every day he's more in control and confident. Yesterday I saw him go from sitting to standing to walking while we were hanging out on the back patio. Here he is retrieving a piece of chalk from underneath the chair. He wouldn't put his legs down on the concrete to crawl under. Smart kid. It's hard to believe my baby is walking. So much growth in what is really a short amount of time.

We had five pine trees in our yard when we bought our home. We had one in the backyard removed shortly after moving in since it was far too close to the house, and the largest of the five. The following spring my dad and I removed a small one that was by the driveway since it would brush against cars when you pulled in or out. This past fall we had a large one removed on the other side of the driveway because it's location made it difficult to see backing out onto the street. Last Thursday, we had these two removed. Aside from looking horrible, they made it difficult for cars turning out onto our street from the side street. I'm sure many of the neighbors are singing our praises. We had used Dave Miller Tree Removal in the past, but when I asked for a quote for these remaining two, it was hundreds of dollars more. I was bummed because we were really happy with Dave's work, but I contacted Hoffman Tree Service to see if they'd be any cheaper. He came in at $400 tot...

After a false start on Saturday, Sal's tire deflated just as we were assembling the bikes at the trail, we tried again today. The evening was even warmer than the day before and it was perfect biking weather. We bought the bike trailer at Dunham's and after checking several stores, finally found this infant size helmet at Dick's. The trailer is probably bigger than we need, but we wanted the extra storage. Grandma says he looks like me here :-) Seth was underwhelmed by the helmet, in fact bawled when we put it on his head, and then screamed even harder when we strapped him into the trailer. I thought for sure it would be a bust but then Sal started peddling and Seth decided it was fun. He giggled and enjoyed the ride. We didn't go far since it was already pretty late in the evening, and the girls were fighting over who would lead. I turned us around before it got too out of hand, but it was a great introduction. Sal and I love biking so it was important to int...

Emmy had her First Reconciliation today at 9:30. She was the second candidate to go to confession with Father Aaron (Kriss). I didn't feel as though she spent enough time in the confessional, given her behavior lately, but who am I to judge? As we were sitting in the pew waiting patiently after she was finished, I was trying to conjure up memories from my First Reconciliation, and I don't have any. I have zero memories of that day, and barely remember my First Communion (in third grade). At any rate, Emmy was super excited to be one step closer to officially being able to receive communion.

Seth will turn 14 months old tomorrow, but since it's also the day of Emmy's First Reconciliation I'm posting early to reserve tomorrow's post for her. Seth is toddling independently now, with a lot of encouragement. He walks easily between us, although he seems to prefer walking at an angle (like a crab), rather than straight ahead. It's too cute. His favorite food is sloppy joes, but really he's a good eater as long as it's nothing too sweet (fruits are out). He also doesn't care for anything cold like ice cream and popsicles. Silly boy. He says Mama, Dada, and uh uh (with all the right inflection, instead of "no"). He adores Emmy and will cling to her if someone tries to take him from her arms, even me. He's still suffering from ear infections so the plan is to have his tubes replaced on May 12. The doctor seems to think tubes made of a different material may help his issues, and we'd like to try that before putting him und...

Saturday afternoon I thought my allergies were coming on strong. By evening I realized allergies were just wishful thinking. I had a virus. I lay shivering under layers of blankets, including an electric one on high. Then in an awesome turn of events, my body began alternating between shivering and sweating and everything hurt. It was a miserable two days. Who knows what it actually was. I doubt it was the flu because I wasn't utterly exhausted, in fact, I couldn't sleep. I laid awake day and night, cat napping here and there. Finally on Tuesday I felt well enough to keep Seth at home with me. I over-estimated by stamina and it ended up being a long day. Today I'm back at work.