Barbeque

I don't want to forget how Nugget  loves the sound of the word barbecue. Over and over again he will say barbecue, barbeque?, barbecue.

"Dump it Open"

I never knew how tricky concepts like in and out or open and close were until I had a toddler. But hearing him say "I dump it open!" with such pride melts my heart.

In other news, I'm going to try to write short blog posts more frequently so I can remember these kinds of things later.

My talking baby

Hi Nugget,

I know the monthly reviews are over, which is both sad and liberating all at once. As much as I enjoyed writing them, I always felt so guilty when it took me days after the end of the month to do it. So NOW I can blog at my leisure.

Let's talk about words.

You started out your talking adventure with the ever so cute mimicking of animals.

Nugget, what does a cow say?...
Moooo

Nugget, what does a cat say?...
Meow meow meow

Nugget, what does a doggie say?
Arf arf arf

And my favorite... Nugget, what does a hen say?
cuck cluck cuck (you only got the L sound some of the time)

How FUN has this been! Seeing you learn how to talk. You love to mimic. Before you could figure out how to make the specific sound for a word, you would mimic the tone we would say it in. So if we said a high pitched "Kitty" you'd say an equally high pitched two syllable word "EH-EEH".

Then while at Nana's house last Saturday (the 19th), you were playing with a ball with Nana and she asked "Can you say ball?" And well, you decided that yes, you could. You were going around the room saying "Ball, bawl, ball, bu-all" Trying out all the different ways to say it. Were you just mimicking sound? No, because we would hold the ball out and ask you "What is this?" and you would reply like the smart boy you are "bawl".

Since then you have been trying your hand at other words, like car and book and bell. You'll mimic me when I say them and hold the object. I know you are putting together that the word is for the object, but none of these new words have stuck quite yet. But I'm not worried. I know you are adding a million words to your little baby dictionary and when you are ready you'll be talking up a storm. And who really needs to say more than 'ball' and a few barn yard noises anyway. Playing with balls and pretending to be a doggie are after all the best part of any day. Who needs more than that! ;)

Love,
Your mama

Your Twelfth Month - In Review

from the universe you came to me. on this day of birth I see. infinity in your tiny hands. goddess loves my little man.

Hi Nugget,

What an amazing twelfth month we've had, all culminating in a wonderful celebration of your birth! The month started out slow, as we all recovered from Thanksgiving. There were also a few sicknesses being passed around the house that made the beginning of December rather tough. But we made our way back to the healthy side with lots of rest and cuddles, and sometimes both.

 
Then there was Christmas to get ready for! A few days before Christmas, you decided to give us your own little present. You, my dear little nugget, started walking! It was a wobbly first few steps from the coffee table to the bedroom door, but it was awesome seeing your confidence in yourself grow each day as you took more and more steps. By the time your birthday rolled around you were quite the accomplished walker.

Once you started, there was no stopping you. In fact, about 90% of the pictures I took this month are of you always on the move and almost always walking away from the camera. I think my camera captured the back of your head this month more than your pretty little face. 

And now that you have the ability to go wherever at break neck speeds, getting you to hold still for a photo op with mama is darn near impossible!

Well, as you were getting the hang of this whole walking business, Christmas came and went. We spent Christmas eve at Grandpa and Grandma's house and Christmas day at Nana and Papa's. There was lots of good food, presents, wrapping paper to play with, Christmas tree ornaments to tug down and animals to investigate.

Then a few days after Christmas, your sister Burst came home for a visit. You REALLY enjoyed having your sister around. They arrived back from the airport very late at night while you were sleeping. The first morning they were back home, we were at the bottom of the steps and you saw Burst come down the stairs. You were so excited and were all smiles. Then we had our own little family Christmas with everyone. Every day after that, as soon as you woke up in the morning you would walk over to the baby gate near the stairs. You would point up the stairs and say "Ehh?" as if you were saying "Hey, are they up there? They should come down!" and so of course, every morning I had to remind you that Burst and Zippo are teenagers and probably won't wake up until noon at least. But once they were up, you were happy to follow them around all day.

Zippo, Mama, Nugget, Mr. K. and Burst

After Christmas things slowed down for a few days at least. There was even one day when your Auntie spent the night and when you woke in the morning you found a strange bundle of blankets on the couch. You weren't quite sure what to make of that, but you saw a foot in there somewhere. You were quite surprised, but happy, when Auntie emerged from the blankets and wanted to play with you. You both spent a good portion of the morning pointing at things, your new favorite past time.

And then it was time for your birthday. My gosh, one whole year. To say it blows my mind is an understatement. To say you've changed my life is an understatement. To say I love you more than anything is an understatement. You are a small nugget of the divine, universal energy that I have been allowed to hold in my arms for one whole year. You have re-energized all of our lives and brought laughter and joy to our entire family. In what felt like a blink of an eye, you were my one year old. And that called for a celebration.

There were presents.

There was a big brother and a big cousin for you to adore.

There were candles and singing.

 And of course, cake.

 Lots and lots of happy, blueberry cake.

Which you very much enjoyed eating and then later, throwing. Auntie Mo still has blueberry stains on the boots she was wearing. You have good aim. And that, Nugget, was the twelfth month of your first year.

Don't grow up too fast, my lil' nugget.
Love,
Mama