Highlights.

Really the entire trip to Costa Rica was one big highlight. We had the best time.

Long time, no post.

Sorry. Between Costa Rica and moving we're crazy busy lately. To top it off, Darren had a 102 fever yesterday...poor little man. Fortunately he feels much better today - but we decided to keep him home from school just to make sure. He's having a blast skipping school today - we decided to take some pics with my computer to document.






Woohooo - high 5 for skipping school!

Bathing Beauties.

Darren and Julia spent some quality time together this weekend. After playing and eating, they got clean and we got pictures to embarrass them when they get older - it was a win-win situation all the way around.
On a related note, Darren and Julia will soon be sharing a new tub in our new home! We closed on Friday and will officially be in the home by May 3.

Sleep over!

Darren spent Saturday night with Grandma and Grandpa while Gary and I celebrated his birthday with a night at the Westin Buckhead. It was a much needed mini-vacation. The best part? Waking up at 11:00am. I don't really want to mention how old Gary is turning but lets just say that next year the second number will be "0" ...and it's not 30. Ouch.

Darren had a blast with the grandparents - besides having to wear that silly green hat again.

Runaway Bride Update.

I noticed the past few times I've taken Darren to the doctor's office that Jennifer Wilbanks has been absent from the front desk. So at Darren's 9-month checkup today, I finally worked up the nerve to ask the nurse about her. After all, inquiring minds and sick babies want to know!

I started off by joking around with the nurse for a few minutes. Once I could tell she had a good sense of humor, I casually asked "So where's the runaway bride?" The nurse thought it was hilarious. She said that she is now in nursing school but fills in at the front desk occasionally. I then decided to ask a little more, "So, does she date often?" The nurse responded that she does go out on some dates but hasn't been in a serious relationship since the whole running away and faking her kidnapping incident. Hmmm...I wonder why?

It's unfortunate she's no longer working the front desk. It made my waiting room experience infinitely more interesting and was pretty much the reason I chose this pediatric group in the first place. Who needs good doctors when you have the runaway bride?

Ft. Lauderdale

Last weekend, Darren visited his fourth state. He's well-travelled and makes friends wherever he goes. On the plane, one lady commented that all babies should be as well-behaved as Darren. This woman has a great point - can everyone with a baby that cries please stay at home at all times? Ummmm, right.

Quick Update.

Sorry I've been so terrible at updating the blog this month. I know that all of Darren's fans are anxiously awaiting an update (all 3 of you). It's been a crazy month - but a great one. Our house is finally under contract and we spent the past couple of weeks running around trying to find a new place to live. We close in 17 days...ahhhhh!!!!!
We flew down to Florida last weekend for a quick visit with Nana, Grampa and the uncles. Darren wowed everyone with his amazing waving and high-5 abilities. He can't get enough of table foods (he gets that from me) and now eats everything from fish to cheese to cheeseburgers.
I promise to upload pics soon.

Hellooooo Hailey.

Valentines Day may be over, but Darren continues to wine and dine the ladies. Don't hate the player - hate the game.

Signs Point to 8.

Darren turned 8 months old this Sunday - he celebrated with his Magic 8 Ball. He asked it many questions including "When will I crawl?" and "How did I get light hair and blue eyes?"

Darren's a Swinger.

Yep it's true. Darren went to the park today and experienced the swings for the first time. Let's just say it was love at first swing. He also went down the slide on my lap - fun for me, not so much for him.





Subliminal message: Buy our house.

Hotdiggidy-dog!

We all know about Darren's love for hot dogs (exhibit A - his halloween costume). Well tonight Grandma and Grandpa took Darren to his mecca - Barkers Hot Dogs which originated in Buffalo. Darren loved being the center of attention at the restaurant and tried his hardest to get a hold of my hot dog. Fortunately, he was unsuccessful.

Ladies Man

Darren has quite the selection of women to choose from these days. This weekend he played with Hailey, his newest gal pal. She wore her valentine pajamas because she is so in love with Darren...take a number.

Amy Comes to Town

Amy came to visit this past weekend to meet Darren and boy did he love her. She taught him about eskimo kisses and told him all about his future love, Mia Claire Gudgeon. It was great having Amy in town - even if she did laugh at my excitement over the snow flurries.

7 months!

Imagine, if you will, a '7 Months Old' sign. Yes, I'm a bit late in posting pics because things have been so busy. This has been a big month for Darren - including getting his first two teeth! They are now poking through - I guess we won't see him without teeth again until he turns 90 years old...putting me at 121 and Gary at...well, much older.

Vacation?

Gary and I have started contemplating vacation spots for a getaway this spring/ summer - we're now thinking Costa Rica. Gary is really drawn to the abundance of monkeys throughout the country - he's particularly intrigued by the one below.

Christmas in NYC

For Christmas we headed back up to NYC to visit the Spanos. The minute we got there, Darren started rolling from back to front - something he had been attempting to do for a while. I guess NYC really is the place where anything can happen.

When Good Toys Go Bad.

I love that Darren gets hours of enjoyment out of all of his toys but am starting to worry because Gary finds them just as amusing. The other morning, Gary took one of Darren's toys that suctions to his high chair and stuck it on top of his head for fun. Turns out the joke was on him - two days later he still has a hickey from the toy on top of his head.


*Note - no heads were hurt in the following reenactment.

Date Night.

Friday night was my office holiday party and with the grandparents out of town and Aunt Cari and Uncle Danny baby sitting the following night (Gary's office holiday party), Erica and Darryl offered out their services. Julia seemed to like the fact that she could play with Darren and he couldn't play back. Looks like Darren might be into aggressive women.




Hmmmm...Erica looks really comfortable with another baby. Could it be time for another?

6 months. 1 year divided by 2. 26 weeks.

Any way you look at it, it's seriously unbelievable that Darren is already 6 months old. Darren is now too busy to pose with his "month" signs. Instead, he finds playing with his new toys to be way more important. He also enjoys eating his sign. He gets that from his puppy sister Cloey - who will literally eat anything (exhibit A - she is gnawing on her paw in the background).








A side note - TV is so bad that Snoop Dog now has his own reality show. To make matters worse, it's the best thing on right now.