Sunday

May 31

Summer's warm weather is here at last! Daphne had a wonderful time splashing around her little swimming pool on Saturday AND Sunday. Jennie and I carefully slathered Daphne from head to toe with SPF-1000 to prevent a sunburn. Tomorrow, Jennie and Daphne are meeting a couple of friends (and their children) at a local splash park for some more fun in the sun.

Here are some photos of Daphne from today:







Until tomorrow,
Dave T.

Thursday

May 28

Daphne experienced the Nashville Zoo for the first time on Tuesday. Instead of enjoying the diverse selection of animals, Daphne found the mulch to be more entertaining. All things considered, Daphne had a great time and will return to the zoo often.

As I was grilling burgers tonight, Daphne impressed me with her ever expanding vocabulary. She points at the birds flying overhead and says, "burr" (meaning "birds"). Then she points toward a grouping of trees and shouts, "tee" (meaning "trees"). And, finally, she touches the fish on her bathmat and says, "gish" (meaning "fish"). I am truly a proud papa! My baby gets so excited trying to communicate with Jennie and me.

Enjoy these new photos of Daphne:


At the petting zoo, Daphne would rather play with the mulch...


Just a swingin'...


I'm trying to watch Sesame Street, Daddy!


I'm sneaking up on you. Boo!


All zonked out.


Until tomorrow,
Dave T.

Monday

May 25

Happy Memorial Day!

Daphne tried out her new swimming pool today. And our little water bug absolutely loved making big splashes! Jennie's parents surprised her with the pool last week and we have been dying to break it in. Unfortunately, the rainy weather has made it difficult.

Nothing beats a relaxing, three day weekend! Last year, I had to work on Memorial Day (for my previous employer). Although my daily commute has increased from 5 to 40 minutes each way, it's great to have a boatload of holidays again. Oh yeah, and I am truly grateful to be employed as well...

Daphne loves playing hide-and-seek in the house with me. She crouches down against the back of a chair, carefully peeks around the edge to see if I am near, and when our eyes make contact, she excitedly jumps up (arms raised high) proclaiming, "da da da". Sometimes I like to crawl right by her and pretend not to see her. She grabs my neck and shouts in my ear, "da da da" in case I forgot my name.

Enjoy the new photos of Daphne from today:








Until tomorrow,
Dave T.

Saturday

May 23

Happy Memorial Day Weekend!

Jennie and I celebrated our 141st anniversary tonight with a nice dinner at a local steakhouse. Yep, only 3 more months until we reach 12 years together!

As reported last night, Daphne's VSD (ventricular septal defect) closed normally and she is now murmur-less. It's actually quite common in babies. Thankfully, her heart is functioning normally with no issues or abnormalities.

Here are some new photos of Daphne running on the couch, practicing baby Yoga, and playing Hide-and-Seek:





Until tomorrow,
Dave T.

Friday

May 22

Quick update: Daphne's doctor visit on Thursday went well. Her heart murmur is completely gone and the doctor is pleased with her overall development. I will post more tomorrow...

Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend!

Until tomorrow,
Dave T.

Wednesday

May 20

Daphne visits her doctor tomorrow for a minor check up. Remember a few months ago when she had a heart murmur detected? The doctor believed it to be a normal, developmental closure in process. If all goes well tomorrow, the doctor will proclaim her murmur has vanished and he will not pursue any further action with a cardiologist. Keep your fingers and toes crossed!

Unfortunately, Daphne has lost a little weight (nearly 7% of her total body weight). It's quite puzzling to us. Although she eats like a hungry little piggy, our bathroom scale displays a mere 20.2 pounds when Daphne steps onto it. On a positive note, Daphne (aka "the lean green bean") has added a few inches of height since her birthday. She appears completely happy and healthy, so no worries!

My Mom celebrated her 39th birthday for the 19th time on Monday. I find it hard to grasp I will be 37 later this year. Well, I suppose old man Davey needs to get some beauty sleep...

New photos of Daphne coming soon.

Until tomorrow,
Dave T.

Sunday

May 17

Daphne, the daring chair and couch climber, does not comprehend the word "No" (or she is simply testing her boundaries). In fact, she grins and chuckles as Mommy applies firm discipline. Of course, I remember hearing the stories of me laughing while receiving numerous spankings. Daphne thinks a tap on her bum is nothing more than a fun game!

You can set a watch by Daphne's late afternoon fussy behavior. Everyday at 4pm sharp, Daphne becomes "Crazy Baby". She will start crying for no reason and cannot be consoled --- if you hold her, she wants down. But if you set her down, she wants back in your lap. It's a bizarre witching hour... once 5 - 5:30pm arrive, Daphne is back to normal. Strange, huh?

Here are some brand new photos of Daphne modeling some new clothes including some bathing suits from Grandma Margery:








Until tomorrow,
Dave T.

Thursday

May 14

Earlier this week, Daphne was introduced to the art of sniffing flowers. She bends her little knees, carefully positions her head over the sweet smelling target, and scrunches up her olfactory organ while blowing in and out rapidly. Basically, Daphne finds great satisfaction in snorting over plants to mimic Mommy.

Here are some new photos of Daphne playing:








Until tomorrow,
Dave T.

Tuesday

May 12

Suffering from an ouchy sore throat and nagging cough, I have caught one of those dreaded summer colds. I managed to successfully dodge getting sick all winter, but then again, my old workplace had only a couple of co-workers at the time. Now, I share a facility with more than 2,000 folks, so illnesses are bound to occur more frequently.

Luckily, Jennie has not caught my illness (yet). And, poor little Daphne's runny nose caught my attention this evening while I dried her off after her bath.

Daphne's vocabulary has grown by another word or two. Her most common words are: "Bye", "Brush", "Duck", "Fog" meaning frog, "Geen" meaning green, "Uh oh", "Hi", "Dad", "Mum", and her favorite word of all time, "Ball". Everything else is either "That" or a grunt sounding like "uhhh".

Here's a photo from Mother's Day:




Until tomorrow,
Dave T.

Saturday

May 9

Daphne's favorite activity these days is climbing. She really enjoys watching Sesame Street from a cozy chair or sprawled out on the couch (nestled among the cushions and her toys).

Nearly 15 months of age, Daphne seemingly requires constant supervision. The little daredevil has no fear of heights and cannot help her creatively destructive urges (emptying kitchen cabinets, chewing on everything, and organizing sock drawers). I wonder if she's so active because of her genes or if it is environmental. Based on the stories I have heard about my babyhood, I would say Daphne is brimming with genetic mischief. But, we adore her nonetheless...

Here are some new photos of Daphne proudly sitting in various chairs and giving kisses to Mommy:







Until tomorrow,
Dave T.

Tuesday

May 5

Wow! What a day! I don't even know where to begin... oh yeah, Happy Cinco de Mayo!

First of all, I want to wish a happy birthday to my OLDER sister. hehehe I will respect her privacy by not mentioning her age, but let's just say she will be "over the hill" next year. Gosh, that makes me feel old --- that is, having a sister who almost qualifies for AARP. I kid, I kid.

My brand new MacBook Pro arrived today and I'm as giddy as a school girl with a lollipop. I highly recommend this sleek, unibody Apple laptop for anyone seeking a new computer. While I develop PC-based software by day, I am now a Mac enthusiast by night.

Daphne is doing well. She tipped the scales at 21 pounds this morning! My little girl is growing up fast...

Over the weekend, Jennie noticed a small stream of water leaking from the bottom of our 11 year old refrigerator. Uh oh! The stream seemed to appear whenever we used the water dispenser in the freezer door. Hmmm, what could it be? I decided to put on my plumber's hat, lower my pants in the rear, and investigate the situation.

Half an hour later, I realized that we needed to call a repairman. I had plenty of duct tape available, but our white plastic tubing leading to the cold water reservoir had dry rotted (design flaw by GE --- the tubing was placed adjacent and all around the scorching hot compressor). Oh well, long story short, our little service call to replace some cracked tubing has turned into a fairly moderate overhaul.

Next week, another SEARS repairman will be here to replace all of our inner white plastic tubing, our cold water reservoir (strategically located under the crisper and deep in the bowels of the fridge), and our water dispenser unit. At least we avoided having to buy another fridge, right? If our repair estimate was greater than 1/3 of the replacement cost, we were going to buy a new unit. We successfully dodged that bullet.

Watch for new photos of Daphne in the coming days.

Until tomorrow,
Dave T.

Sunday

May 3

Yesterday morning as I prepared my morning coffee, Daphne decided to watch Sesame Street from a new perspective. I was startled to find her sitting Indian style on top of our coffee table. She can now scale our couch, chairs, and even the coffee table effortlessly. I have even caught our little hobo climbing into the computer room trash can like Oscar the Grouch.

Here are some photos of Daphne wearing her sunflower headband and playing with her bunny:







Until tomorrow,
Dave T.

Friday

May 1

Happy May Day to all of our fellow Russian comrades!

Daphne has become an aggressive little demon baby over the past few weeks. From time to time, she will try to poke you in the eyes, pull off your ears, or jam her index finger deep inside one of your nostrils. We give her the benefit of the doubt and try to teach her how to gently use her hands. I mean, is this rough and tumble behavior normal? How she smiles while inflicting pain is beyond me! Baby schadenfreude at its finest.

Daphne's skull must be made of iron. She constantly bumps her noggin on furniture and keeps on truckin'. One of her new favorite games is "watch me spin around in circles until I get dizzy and fall". Daphne still loves any variation of "peek-a-boo" and giggles like the first time you heard a really funny joke.

Each night when I first get home from work, I play Daphne's all time favorite game called "soft blanket". We spread a 4 foot by 4 foot soft blanket on the floor and engage in some daddy-daughter horseplay. Anything is fair game on the soft blanket, but we usually end up playing with our bellybuttons, little rubber ducks, or doing some good old "Pattycake".

Here are some new photos of Daphne eating pizza: (there's nothing like tomato sauce behind your ears)





Until tomorrow,
Dave T.