Our Family Journal

How did Danilo get to be six months old so quicly?  He's been growing, and starting new foods.  Solid foods are a mess, but Danilo seems to think they are lots of fun.  He's sitting up better (but still has a tendancy to fall over).  He's also trying to crawl, but so far only seems to be able to push himself backwards.  boy is that frustrating!

It's amazing that Danilo is now five months old!   He keeps growing, and now has traveled like a champ.   Last week he went on his first plane trip to California to meet many family members.   Thanks so much to all of you, particularly Jenny and Joe for helping to make this big trip easier.   Take a look at the pictures we've recently added to the website.  

We have been so blessed to have the love and support of so many family and friends. People have brought us food and provided us with so many wonderful gifts to celebrate Danilo's birth. Maria's parents Tom Roeper and Laura Holland  and her brother Tim were with us right after Danilo's birth and have returned to be with us at Christmas time. My parents Fred and Fe Azcarate came to stay with us right after Thanksgiving and left right before Christmas to be with my sister Mylene (who is expecting the birth of her child any day now). Baby D Also got to see his Great-Grandmother Jeanne Holland for Christmas (see the pic in this blog entry). We are so thankful for the wonderful support we have received from our friends and family without which this joyful time with Danilo would have been so much more difficult. Thank You All!

As some folks already know we had to put Dax to sleep on Friday December 22. She had been unable to get up and wasn't able to use one of her legs. We had thought she might have just had a sprain but when we took her to the Vet. x-rays showed that she had fairly advanced and untreatable bone cancer throughout her body. Bone cancer can be very painful and the last thing we wanted to do is put our girl through any unnecessary pain. She was a great dog. I still remember rescuing her from the PG County pound it was Labor Day weekend in 1997 - in the midst of so much commotion at the pound Dax was sitting quietly in her kennel waiting to be taken home. We were very lucky to have her in our lives for over 9 years. We will miss her.

We can't believe that Danilo is already two months old! He's growing - he almost weighs 11lbs now. Everyday more of his personality shines through. Baby D works hard on holding his head up, recognizing the faces of all the friends and family that have been by to visit and generally being a good baby. I've posted more pics for folks to see.

Danilo doesn't quite have the ability to chant just yet. We are working on him raising his fist in the air. He wants to be just like his Mom and Dad when he grows up.

Here's a picture of our big dog Dax. She's sitting at home anxiously awaiting Danilo's arrival

Danilo Roeper Azcarate born November 3, 2006 at 6:50 AM. At birth he weighed 7lbs and 6.5ozs and was 20.25 inches long.

His birth was pretty smooth. Maria and I watched ER on Thursday Night - she was complaining a bit about being uncomfortable but she put on her IPOD to listen to her hypnobirthing affirmations and went to sleep. She woke me up at about 2:00 AM - and let me know that she thought she was in labor. (hmmm, I knew i should have packed that bag earlier!).

Together we timed surges (contractions) and realized they were about 5 minutes apart and pretty regular. We called our Dr. who thought we should go to the hospital.

By the time we got to the Hospital it was about 4:00 AM (we kind of took our time, packing a bag, gathering some things, making some calls etc.). Maria was really feeling uncomfortable at this point. While she was waiting to be examined she was crawling around the waiting room trying to find a more comfortable position to be in.

She was finally examined at about 4:50 AM - the nurse examining her was surprised (as were we) that she was already about 8-9 CM dialated. They efficiently moved us to a labor and delivery room and after two hours of wonderful birthing work - Danilo was born!