When Daniel was a baby, he was a little difficult. That is to say, he cried a lot. Then there was the incident when Bethany found him not breathing and he spent several days in the hospital being subjected to all sorts of tests. We were never sure how much of his orneriness resulted from the trauma of this experience. It certainly affected Bethany, who loved him passionately (as any mother does who comes close to losing a child) and became a tad over-protective and, later on, defensive of his mischievous ways. We all fondly recall the RV trip to Nauvoo when he was about six months old. Two weeks, nine people, one RV, thousands of miles, Daniel crying for most of them. We had a blast!
Then once he started walking, he knew no limits. All those precious things that I had been able to leave out when Kenzie was toddling had to be swiftly rescued from ruin when Daniel came upon the scene. He wrecked things constantly. He was a bit of a Mama's boy and, as he got older, was prone to pouting and bursts of anger. Of course, he wasn't always like this, but he was often difficult to handle.
Then all of a sudden, one day I realized that our Daniel had, at the grand age of six, turned into a very nice person. I think part of it might be that Bethany is homeschooling him now, which he likes much better than school. Maybe the rest of it is that he is loved so much, by all of us. I love to have him come and spend the night because he is such good company. We talk about all sorts of things, bake together, make paper airplanes, go shopping (he never nags for things like Kenzie does), go for walks, research topics on the computer, and do his schoolwork. He loves his Mom in particular and is usually kind to his siblings. He has a delightful sense of humour and is very smart. He is a very picky eater but eats the foods that he likes with great relish. A couple of weeks ago we made chocolate chip pancakes and he polished off six of them embellished with chocolate syrup and vanilla ice cream. He's my kind of kid.
Here he is, doing his school work.
Making snickerdoodles, his favourite cookie. I think Daniel is going to be an excellent baker. He pays attention, doesn't get bored, and thoroughly enjoys the finished product. He rolled every last one of those dough balls in cinnamon sugar.
The delectable finished product.
While the snickerdoodles were baking Daniel was getting wiggly, so I showed him how to do jumping jacks. Unfortunately, I missed the first couple of minutes where he was hilariously uncoordinated, but this is still pretty funny. Especially because he's on his side. And he's wearing his pajamas for the second day in a row because Dad forgot to bring his clothes.
Daniel and Natalie having fun in a box.
I'm really lucky to be Daniel's Nana. One of the best parts of my life is being able to share time with my grandkids and to help teach them good things. As they get more numerous and I get older, I really enjoy having them come over one at a time. I know my kids loved having one-on-one times with beloved relatives, although it was infrequent, so I am happy to be able to give that to my grandkids.
The simplest toy, one which even the youngest child can operate, is called a grandparent. Sam Levenson.
