Exceeding Expectations

First of all, we would like to thank everyone who has donated to support our Little Daniel team for this year's Buddy Walk. We actually more than doubled our fundraising goal. I originally set the goal at $500, as we had never done a Buddy Walk before and had no idea what kind of response to expect. You all blew our expectations out of the water and we are so thrilled. That you would donate your time and money to tangibly show us how loved Daniel is...it means everything. Thank you. We still have almost a month left to accumulate more donations, so who knows where we'll be by the time the Buddy Walk is upon us!

Wow!!! Thank you!!

And if that weren't enough, as of now we are currently in the top five teams in terms of fundraising!

Thank you!

 We only need five more people to walk with us to meat our team member goal. If you are willing and able to walk with us on the 29th, please do! Joe's sister Jess is even designing special custom t-shirts for us to wear, so if you're interested in ordering one, let me know and I can hook you up.

Lastly for today, I'd like to share a series of pictures with you that I've entitled "Fun with Black and White Toys."

Daniel loves anything black and white. His OT recommended we obtain more B&W toys to motivate him.

"Wow, Mommy, I like this!"

Before this he had never actually paid any attention to the toys we placed on his chest.

At this point I was practically peeing my pants with excitement! Not only was he looking he was purposefully touching!

Then he picked it up!

"Wow! I love this toy!" Someone loves pandas just like his Pap-pap. :-)

He has brought toys to his mouth before. But this is the first time I've ever seen him pick up a toy all by himself.

We are so thrilled with our OT and these toys. Daniel is still right on target for his baby milestones and we are so proud of him!

Links to our favorite B&W toys (so far):
Wimmer-Ferguson Double Feature Mirror (the B&W toy that started his obsession)
Sassy Look Book. You can add family pictures or leave some of the black and white images visible.
Genius Baby Bright Starts Gift Set. Already love this, and it just arrived today.

The only thing I personally wouldn't buy in black and white is a crib mobile as I feel that is supposed to be a calming and not a stimulating area. Might be great for over a changing table, though!

My next update will be about Lily's very first ever ballet class, which was so cute that I cried several times (uh, I guess my kids make me cry a lot...mostly for good reasons). Stay tuned!

"And day by day this pathway smooths, 

Since first I learned to love it;

The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart, 

A fountain ever springing;

All things are mine since I am his-- 

How can I keep from singing?"