Month 16: Lady Love

It's official ... Daniel is in love. He's probably been in love for a while, but it's always so hard to differentiate between love and an innocent crush.

This is definitely love. And I think it's because of swimming lessons.

He, along with his best buddy Ava, enrolled in toddler swimming classes with a local program. For 4 weeks (8 lessons), they are learning to kick, paddle, float, roll over in the water, go under water, "choo-choo" along the edge of the pool, climb out and jump in. Pretty impressive for one-year-olds. Daniel adores the back float (as long as we're singing the "ABCs") and does great with jumping in. Ava is a the splash queen, and specializes in drinking as much water as possible. Their dads specialize in singing the "this is the way we wash our ears" song, and the "choo-choo" pool exits.

But I digress. Back to our love story.

As it turns out, they are the only two kiddos enrolled in their particular class. That much "alone" time (in bathing suits!) has pushed their friendship over the edge into full on romance. They run around after each other, giggling and batting those long lashes. They hold hands whenever possible, refusing to let go even when we pull them in opposite directions. They even kiss on command (and just for fun, according to their preschool teachers). If one is in preschool but the other isn't, they mope and have a bad day. They ask for each other by name constantly, and verge on tantrum if they don't see the other.

The other day at swimming lessons, we were taking some fun pictures and I asked the guys to hold the babies together so I could take a picture of a kiss. As you can see, it was a photo op for the books ... the perfect timing.



(As Ava's mom said, "How can something so innocent look so wrong?!) Ava's dad's first reaction was "Ava, you're grounded!" Ava just giggled and Daniel looked entirely too happy about the whole situation.

Daniel and Ava will be going on their first vacation together in August (along with their parents, of course) to the beautiful costal city of San Diego. Depending on how the room situation works out, they may be allowed to stay in the same room. (Different cribs, however. Sorry kids!)

In other non-romantic news, Daniel is obsessed with jumping. He's getting really good at it - almost has both feet off the ground at the same time! His standard "one... twooooooooooo... three" is now followed by an adorable attempt to lift both legs at the same time. He loves attempting, and loves falling down in the attempt.

His book craze continues, and his vocabulary just keeps growing. The latest favorite word: "eesh" for shoe. He loves helping us put shoes on, wearing around our shoes, and putting shoes away in the closet. He also associates shoes with leaving the house, and as soon as shoes are on, he takes off towards the garage, pointing and yelling "car! car!"

His Gramma (my mom) is visiting for almost two weeks - stay tuned for "Adventures with Gramma!"