Daniel Ray

I have put off this post for a while, because it is hard to describe this boy of mine. He craves attention, but has the softest heart. He has such inspiring ideas, but can embarrass me faster than anything by his comments. He loves to sing, but does it at the weirdest times. He can memorize every line in any movie but can't get his multiplication tables. He loves to learn but hates to read.
Wow that wasn't as hard as I thought. Daniel was the kid that we didn't expect. I had just had John and he was about 7 months old when I felt movement in my stomach. I really thought Satan was tormenting me. There was no way I was already gonna have another baby. So I asked mom and her being the mom she is agreed with me and we thought up a good explanation. It was a tumor, sad but what I had to deal with. I gained weight and got so sick, but it was obviously the symptoms of a tumor. Then when John was about 10 months old I started hurting really bad. I assumed I was going to pass a tumor and called a sister. She let me know I was probably having a baby not a tumor. Then six weeks later sure enough a baby was born.
Needless to say, he was a blessing in disguise. Just because I wouldn't accept what was to be. Well 10 years later, I couldn't imagine life without him. Although today I don't know what would have happened if I could have caught him. He broke out in song after church while we were all in the parking lot,"Hey now here we go, got to make them come back for more." then "long black train" at the top of his lungs" it was driving me nuts. When he was a baby he would sing I'm using my Bible for a road map. It was the cutest thing to hear cause he was pretty little. But now he likes to sing, Marching in the light or Gods wonderful people. Which I guess could be worse.
Last year in the fall I found Daniel sitting in the yard just sobbing so I went out and sat with him and asked what was wrong. He said he was so sad because the trees looked like they were dying and the birds would have no where to build nests. So I explained that the tree's slept in the winter and the birds flew to where it was warmer. He seemed to take it better, but he still gets the sniffles when the landlord trims the bushes or the trees cause he thinks he's killing them.
Two years ago for his 8th birthday he wanted a fishing pole. He talked about his fishing pole all the time. About three weeks before his birthday I asked why it was so important to get a fishing pole. He told me he really needed it cause brother Leroy had read a passage in the bible a couple weeks before about how we should be fishers of men. He thought that meant he should go fishing. I bought him a fishing pole but I don't think we ever took him fishing. He still talks about how Uncle Sean is gonna teach him how one day. Cause we told him we really didn't know how to fish but his Uncle did hee heee.
We were eating dinner at the church in a large group of brethren. The boys were joking about starting a food fight. Daniel pipes up very loud my mom would beat me to within an inch of my life. I was so embarrassed I had probably almost assuredly used those words with him but I wouldn't ever hurt the rotten kid. Anyway I didn't live that down for a very long time.
We are now into 9 months of working on multiplication tables. We need him to memorize them. He still hasn't gotten past the 2's. However he watched Transformers three yes I said three times and could quote the movie. Word for exact word. I was so annoyed, it doesn't even look like I work with him but I feel like we read and multiply ALL the time. He knows exactly what his favorite characters say and do all the way through the movie though. Not that that's gonna help him later in life, but then again maybe he will be a movie editor or something.
Daniel is turning 10 in 6 days oh how the years have flown by. He finally three or four weeks ago has started sleeping alone. He used to have to have a brother, mother, or sister sleep either on his bed or on the floor next to him his whole life. He couldn't sleep otherwise. But I was so happy when Ezekiel was so bad that he was able to sleep alone. What a big boy right???
Daniel is fascinated with space and all that happens there. His favorite web site is www.space.com he loves it. He loves to watch the stars and see all the things that happen up there. We actually watched the sapce station pass over a couple times last week and he was so excited.
I think that his quirky personality is part of the reason I love him so much. He can be annoying but he is so special at the same time. Since Ezekiel has been better he is Daniel's little bud. Daniel protects him and plays with him and teaches him so many things. He makes sure Zeke is being treated right and stands up for him all the time. He wasn't like that before, and I definately like the new Daniel. I think That Zeke being sick scared him really bad. But it was a good scare apparently.