A Day with Dante

I actually got my bum out of bed early enough to go over to Whidbey today with my mom to spend time with my adorable nephew...a true motivator to get my bum out of bed every Tuesday!!! He is so cute and loving and snuggly~I can barely stand it!

It had snowed in the night, and this morning the sun was shining brightly and the sky was the special blue that it is after a snowfall. The ferry ride was especially beautiful with sun shining on the water and the snow capped mountains all arounds us.

But what was waiting for us on the other side eclipsed their beauty:

Dancing with Gramma to the CD we got him for his b'day. He loves music!!!

Captured one of my favorite expressions of his:

sweet with a bit a the mischievious lurking behind

that little smile!

Buzy little bee!

Always trying to get Auntie M's glasses....

...Ah, sweet success!

We took a little ride to one of Danielle's favorite little craft and gift stores (filled with dangerously cute stuff!!!) and Dante took the opportunity to squeeze in a quick cat nap as he'd been far to buzy to bother with one earlier!

 One of the things that amazes me about children in general~and this one in particular~is how their minds are always working. Dante knows the word "hat" and recognizes his own hats at home. But while we were in the craft store, he saw a St Patrick's Day display with a large sparkly green top hat (certainly nothing he's ever seen before!) and he pointed at it and said "Hat!" and then patted his own head and then said "Hat!" again. And then laughed with delight when Gramma and I put the big green hat on his head. I am amazed that he knew that the big, green, plastic, sparkly thing that looks nothing like his little knit hats was, indeed, a hat for his head! Smarty pants!

So of course, I had to go back into a different section of the store where I had seen some plastic children's hats so I could buy them from him. Once again, though I doubt his parents have hard hats or firemen's hats laying about the house, Dante promptly recognized them as hats and delightedly put them on his head! And happily took them home with him!

He had me sing to him the whole way home & asked for more songs by using the sign language sign for "more" which he has mainly used for asking for more food~once again showing off his brilliance. (No! I am not biased in the slightest!!!)

When we got home, he showed Daddy his new acquisitions and laughed at Daddy wearing his hats and then gave goodbye kisses to Gramma and Auntie M as we took our departure and he went off for a much needed real nap.