Happy Birthday Daniel

Life can be crazy when you're the first born.  There were a lot of dreams and expectations placed on this little head.  On this poor guy's first birthday I gave him a present every hour.  He got tired of me coming at him with a new gift to unwrap. I do not believe that was  healthy.  Luckily for him, God saw his plight and sent a little brother 19 months later to divide my attention/obsession/abilities/controlling tendencies, and gave him a buddy.

Over Daniel's lifetime the characteristic that has really impressed me is his ability to turn weaknesses into strengths.  

I mean, in these pictures you see him eating candy, ketchup, french fries, and hot dogs (with buns). I believe he hid some smouched candy outside his bedroom window and snuck it at night.   Now he eats chicken, eggs, almonds, salad (no dressing) and maybe one piece of candy at Christmas just to show his holiday spirit.

When he was 1 1/2 it was cool to put children in swimming lessons at early ages, so I did.  It was a "Mommy and me" class.  Talk about traumatic...for both of us.  All the mom's would start singing "Ring around the rosy."  Daniel would start to panic, and the look of fear would come into his face as I put him under the water for 1 second.  Then both of us would cry.  We put the "early swimmer" notion to rest for a while and he went to swimming lessons again when he was 5 or 6.  This time it went slightly better.  He slowly improved until as a senior he up and joined the high school swim team.  He always swam the 800,  the perfect event for someone who refuses to "not" do something.

This is a picture of Daniel's room.  I'm the one that put him in the unfinished basement, but he's the one who chose what it looked like.  When he grew up he married Erica and now his house is beautiful and very organized.

So Daniel was a boy scout. One of my biggest parenting battles had to do with his uniform.  He refused to wear it.  I told him he had to.  He barely complied by wearing it unbuttoned and untucked or for a few minutes until he was out of sight.  It was conveniently lost or didn't fit blah blah blah.  And then he went to the Air Force Academy.  Not only did he wear his uniform properly, he joined the honor guard.  That is the place where cadets don't just wear their uniforms, they obsess over their uniforms.  He was cleaning his shoes with a Q-tip.  I hadn't even seen him polish shoes before.  And do you know what?  He looked good in it.

 As a senior Daniel wrote some advice to future early morning seminary students, "Sleep early and often and take your breakfast to class so you can sleep a little longer."  He was a typical teenager who loved sleeping.  I believe he still loves sleeping, but gives it up to feed babies bottles, fly around at night looking for bad guys, get ready for paratrooper training (which he says means sitting and waiting a long time for your turn,) and who knows what other soldier shenanigans.  Good job Daniel, sleep is for old people.

When Daniel was a young teenager. I asked him to help me reach a rough spot while painting the exterior of our house.  He did it, but he didn't seem exactly calm about the idea.  It was then I realized that he was  kind of afraid of heights.  I mean, I don't blame him.  I had passed the job on to him.  It just makes me smile inside as that fear is really nowhere to be seen.  Bring on the outdoor Christmas lights, pilot.

 Daniel has been a good son.  For one thing, he moved to the state that I live in.  And he's also a good brother.  I appreciate the effort he makes to keep our family connected.

And he has a good dad, and he is a good dad.  Happy Birthday Daniel.  I love you.