Clap Clap Clap your Hands!

Nathan has learned to patty cake and it is adorable! He doesn't exactly do it on queue all the time. Sometimes I'll catch him clapping his hands while he's playing. Other times he'll look at me and clap, wanting me to sing Patty Cake, Patty Cake, Baker's Man... It's still funny to me how babies love that song. Nathan has gentle claps; no noisy bursts but I know it's coming. That will be part of the fun in the toddler stage. I've attached a video of my mom getting him to clap on Thanksgiving. Most of this video is my mom's hands... Nathan doesn't get started until towards the end. Before the video started, of course he was clapping a lot. Kids are notorious for freezing on film.

Kisses,
Toni

11 Months Old Today

From Nathan...

30 days left until the big day! I will be a 1 year old. There are so many things in store for me this next month. I've been trying to stand on my own. Mommy does things to help me like prop me up next to the couch and place my hands on the cushions. She also walks with me, holding my hands. I've been hearing rumblings too about my birthday cake next month. Really! A birthday cake for my very own!! Yippee! Mommy hasn't let me eat sugar outside of fruit at all, except for the occasional taste of jello or pudding. Little does she know that I plan on making the biggest mess of my life with the icing. Today I heard mommy telling auntie that she can't wait for me to begin drinking cow's milk. I don't know if I am quite ready for that but according to my doctor, 1 year marks the time to switch from Nature's perfect food to cow's milk. It will be easier for mommy, that's for sure. No more pumping, whatever that means. I think the best part about me turning 1 will be that mommy can start back drinking coffee. It must be a love of hers because she is literally counting down the days until that first sip of Starbucks. Apparently she hasn't had it since April of 2009! That is quite a long time to give up something you love. Hopefully she will start out with decaf because otherwise, she'll be burning the midnight oil with Sugar and Scout. I guess I should sign off for now. I find that I am rambling. Mommy just gave me a bath and sang Happy Birthday to me again. 11 months... I'll only be 11 months one time. The build up to December 21st is so exciting!!

Kisses and coos,
Nathan

Pulling Tails

Yes, Nathan is at that age now where he pulls tails. He can crawl now like a speedy pro and the cats need to watch out. Scout is way more tolerable of Nathan's antics than Sugar. Sugar runs from Nathan once he gets within 5 feet of her personal space. That's just Sugar... she's a little snot. Scout on the other hand is great with Nate. I don't know if it's because he has an extremely gentle nature or if it's the 1 nice brain cell winning the battle against the 1 not so nice brain cell when they battle it out in that petite brain of his. Nathan is so cute because he will crawl as fast as he can to Scout and grab that tail and pull. Scout just makes a really low volume meeeoowwww. And turns and just looks at Nate... eventually walking away. Then Nate repeats the same until Scout leaps to the top of his cat tree as a last ditch effort to save himself. But there is never a hiss or a growl or a swipe with his claws. I am proud of my cats.

Kisses,

Toni

Halloween

This was Nathan's first Halloween and he dressed as a lion. He was so cute!! I took him trick or treating and he did very well for himself :)

Feeding Himself

Nathan can feed himself small finger foods like Cheerios and baby cookies. He has 4 teeth now and sometimes will bite the Cheerio with his teeth before gumming the rest. He started doing it a couple of weeks ago and I was so impressed! The first time was at a restaurant and I caught it on camera. The clip is shown here. It actually brought tears to my eyes because it was yet another milestone. I just have to keep a close watch that he doesn't stuff too many in his mouth at once. With the baby cookie, I give him 1 because it is enough to last a while. He will bite small pieces but eventually the uneaten part gets all wet and gooshy in his hand. Then I get to clean the wet remnants out. In addition, he can feed himself with a spoon with my guided help. This can be a challenge because he gets so excited that he tends to hike his hands up in the air trying to grab the spoon and ends up flicking the food out. I am trying to build up my patience for messes, which is really difficult. I have to keep reminding myself that he won't learn unless he practices. And according to my mom, it only gets messier from here. Today I found myself saying outloud "Toni, relax. Nathan isn't being messy on purpose." At least he understands the idea.

Kisses,

Toni

Fetch

Nathan has found a way to entertain himself and it's quite entertaining for us to watch. He fetches! Seriously. He picks up a toy of his (or my cell phone), throws it forward, crawls to it, picks it up, and throws it again... all in order to repeat the same process. He can do this for 20-30 minutes if he's really into it. He makes it all around the place, laughing and laughing. It's the cutest and funniest thing he does. One of these days I need to get it on video and send it in to America's Funniest Videos. Nathan could make us famous!

Kisses!

Toni