Leaving UAB means leaving the CDC we have grown to love!

Today was a little sad because we had to say goodbye to some amazing teachers and to some little friends.  I admit - I teared up - a lot!  Daniel has learned so much at the CDC.  He learned the sounds animals make, his colors, shapes, how to count to 14, his ABCs, the words to "What a Wonderful World" (which by the way we sing every night...), about insects and arachnids, transportation, and so much more. 

The other day, we were on our way home from school.  Daniel said, "Mommy!  I not cry anymore!  We can talk about it."  Of course - knowing that I didn't teach him that brilliant principle, I asked Rhonda if that is something she told Daniel.  She did - her version goes like this, "We don't cry about it...we can talk about it, sing about it, dance about it, but we're not going to cry about it."  This is one of my favorite things he learned.  I shared it with a friend of mine who manages a department - she is planning to use that same pre-school logic for her next staff meeting.

On the way to school yesterday, we saw a beautiful rainbow in the sky.  It was my first day at my new job, and it reminded me that this is a new, bright beginning.

When we were about 2 miles away from the center, it started raining...hard!  Daniel said, "Mommy!  We need to check the forecast!"  Yes, thanks to Rhonda and Rachelle, Daniel knows all about weather, too!

Below are some pictures from the last few weeks and from today.  We will miss you guys more than you know!  You have left impressions on our hearts that we will never forget.  Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!

Daniel giving Jude a ride

Hug from Miles and the dinosaur





Hug from Alex

Most of the gang - lots of boys in the Little Bears class!

Hugs from Jude

Hugs from Madeline

High Five with Jude

Low five with Jude

Hugs from sweet teachers

Ms Rhonda and Ms. Rachelle

More from Vacation June 2012

I took several pictures with my iPhone, and those were posted in the last journal entry.  Below are pictures from my camera. 

Daniel kept calling Grandfather Mountain - "Pop's Mountain"

Profile of "Grandfather" mountain - looks like a grandfather's profile

After he saw how much attention Mary Linnley was getting for dancing around, Daniel tried to do some break dancing.  At one point, he even rolled around on his back! 

Summer Vacation 2012 - Linville, NC

We went back to the mountains of North Carolina at the end of June.  It was a wonderful trip, and the weather was beautiful!  Scotty, Ashley and Mary Linnley were there the first few days and it was fun to see the kiddos play together.  Welles arrived a couple of days after we did, and we went on several hikes and to the Tweetsie Railroad Amusement Park where there were rides just for Daniel and a petting zoo. Below are a slew of pictures!  I still have more to upload from my camera - these are all from the iPhone.

Resting after a hike to Linville Falls

Sitting with Pop

Dinner at the Italian Restaurant

Twilight walk in Pajamas

Rocking and Rolling!

Gigi and Mary Linnley

Daniel is interested in taking care of ML's baby

He decides to feed her

He told me he was taking the baby to the doctor...then he got distracted by something on TV.

A hike to the Linn Cove Viaduct

Hiding from GiGi

at the Tweetsie Railroad Amusement Park

On the train - watching the cowboys and indians

at the pre-school amusement park - flying!

driving the "blue race car"

Ferris Wheel

Feeding a baby goat

Feeding a miniature horse



Stopping for a photo op on the way to beacon heights



Hiking



View from Grandfather Mountain




At the top of Grandfather Mountain






Walking the Mile-high swinging bridge - Grandfather Mountain





teeter-totter at the playground





The End!

Funny things Daniel says

Daniel has been saying and doing some funny things lately.

A few nights ago, we took Welles' car to a mechanic. I was following him, and Daniel was in the car with me. We had to pull into a parking lot because the car started smoking. All the way there, Daniel had said, "Daddy's car is broken. We take it to the car doctor." When Daniel saw the smoke coming from under the hood, he said, "mommy, it's schbroken." I said, "you mean smoking?" he said, "No! Schbroken!" SCHBROKEN- a mixture of smoking and broken.

On the way home from getting ice cream the other night, Welles said, "how are you doing, Buddy?" Daniel said, "I am not Buddy, I am a punk!"

Yesterday morning I asked Daniel if his throat hurt.  He said, "No, my throat feels happy!"

Daniel loves to be tickled.  We were all watching TV in our room, and daniel would crawl to Welles and say, Dada - tickle me!" Then after laughing hysterically while Welles tickled him, he would crawl over to me and say, "Mama!  Rescue-er me!"

Giving his horse a kiss

The other day we went shopping at the Summit.  I found a cute baseball cap with a 4 leaf clover on it and "Lucky Dude" and the number 9.  I gave it to Daniel when we left the store, and he proceeded to put the hat on backwards, throw his arms back and run down the sidewalk towards the Movie Theatre.  Oh- I wish I had a picture of that!!!  Welles looked at me and turned his hat backwards and went running after Daniel - mimicking Daniel's run.  It was hilarious - people were driving by and laughing as were people walking by. 

Also, lately, out of the blue - Daniel will sing Christmas Carols - Jingle Bells in particular.  I have no idea where he is hearing them; could they be a memory from 6 months ago? 

Every time we pass a church he says, "Mommy!  It's a castle!  I go in that castle?"

More stories to come!