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

Your Eleventh Month - In Review

Hi Nugget,

Your Eleventh Month was full of Thanksgiving fun, mama getting crafty and cats! We started out the month business as usual, but it wasn't long before there were Thanksgiving memories to make. We went to your Grandpa's for your first Thanksgiving. It was a day full of memories, cooking, trips to the ER, more cooking, laughing, drinking and of course EATING. You know, the usual.

There were so many people we had to sit in two different rooms, but that did not stop you from thoroughly enjoying your very first Thanksgiving dinner.

You also made sure Grandma knew how much you appreciated her hard work cleaning the floors before everyone arrived. Oh yes, you showed her how beautiful you thought her clean floors were by adding your own festive food decorations.

And of course, you were so full of yummy food that you didn't even mind posing for some very cute photo ops. The weather turned cold this month. Not always cold enough to need full on winter gear, but somedays we did. And we got you ready for winter in STYLE. You got an awesome Jester snowsuit handmedown from our friend L, although Auntie and I think you look more like a Pokemon.

We also felt the season wouldn't be complete without some purple pride. Now granted, your dad and I are not so much into the football thing. (Pretty much like 0%) But Nana and Papa appreciated your purple pride when we came to visit them after they got back from visiting your great-grandma in Mississippi.

Nana also pulled out her old rocking horse. This was the rocking horse your Nana used when she was little and the one my sister and brothers and I used growing up. I remember this rocking horse being on our front porch pretty much always. You needed some assistance to get on it and to stay on safely, but you took to rocking it like a CHAMP!

This month I entered a giveaway for a free cloth diaper and GUESS WHAT! I won. She had a lot of different styles to choose from but I picked Rainbow Brite because well, Rainbow Brite is awesome. And every child, boy or girl, should have a little Rainbow Brite in their life! And I must say, you rock the diaper well!

We also started to decorate for Christmas this month, but you are such a curious little nugget I was quite worried about having the Christmas tree in the living room. Plus the tree would take up so much of your play space, we decided to put the tree up in the dinning room/entry room. Really, maybe we should call the room the everything room. It's been a dining room, a piano room, a computer room, a sitting room. Everything. Well, now it is a Christmas Tree room too! But I didn't want you to miss out on the fun of having a Christmas tree that you could investigate. So I crafted this awesome little thing with felt I found on sale at a craft store. You like exploring the different ornaments and I've added more details since this picture. But your favorite thing to do is to try and rip the ENTIRE tree from the wall. The 3M velcro doesn't stand a chance. I don't mind as long as you are enjoying it!

On a more serious note, we really thought you were going to lose a good friend this month. Our cat Snookie got very sick. She is 21 years old and already has some health problems, so when she got sick we really thought we'd be saying goodbye. She wasn't eating or drinking and had just lost her spark. Even the vet was trying to prepare us for saying our goodbyes. You love Snookie more than any other animal you've met. And she tolerates your "petting" surprisingly well for being 21 years old. Miraculously though, Snookie started to turn around after 3 days of not eating and barely any water. She started eating again and although she was wobbly on her feet from being weak, she started jumping to her favorite window spot and even purring. I can't promise you'll have a lot longer with your friend, Snookie, but I can say you enjoy every extra moment with her.

It is amazing how fast your Eleventh month flew by. Sure its been busy with Thanksgiving and now Christmas approaching, but I simply can't believe you will be one years old in such a short amount of time. It feels like only yesterday when you were just a few months old, getting used to this strange new world around you. Now you are moving and cruising through that world and making sure everyone is totally smitten with you. And that, of course, includes your Great-Grandma Lu.

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

When you sleep, I see the whole universe shimmer around you.

My boy, always up for an adventure or some home improvement (or both!)

Too many Thanksgiving leftovers, making you sleepy!

Your favorite word is 'dis'. I can't remember if you were saying this here, but this is the face you make when you do!

Your Tenth Month - In Review

Hi Nugget,

Your tenth month was full of Fall fun! Pumpkins and leaves and colds, oh my! Oh yes, you had your very first cold this month. You had the worst stuffy nose for a few days, but we toughed it out. I learned too just how hard it is to be a mama to a sick little boy. Especially one who hasn't learned to talk! I just kept thinking the whole time what if your throat hurts, how could you tell me? What if you have a head ache? Such a nerve wracking thing that makes a mama feel helpless. After a few days of crabbiness and stuffy noses, you got better. But not before a very cute photo op occurred.

You also had some pretty awesome photo ops with your daddy. You love your books and anyone willing to read to you is A-ok on your list. At one point, this month, I put your favorite book "How Big is Baby Elmo?" on the piano bench. I think I was bringing it from your bedroom into the living room and got interpreted, leaving it on the piano bench instead. A while later, I noticed you working very hard at something over by the piano bench. You had gotten yourself into a standing position and were pushing the book off the bench. I watched you as you struggled to crawl and simultaneously push the book across the room towards me. Finally I said "Nugget, did you want me to read that book to you?" and you know what happened next? You said, "Yeah!". The whole thing was just so cute, I got down on the floor right then and we read that book together. You were one happy boy. Now, did you say "yeah" intentionally or was it just a happy coincidence that your baby-babble worked out. I don't know. I don't care either. Because with or without language, you and I were most definitely communicating.

Then we came to... PUMPKIN TIME! You had a lot of fun exploring the MASSIVE pumpkins we found. They were probably GMO pumpkins, LOL. You thought the pumpkin made a pretty good drum. Your brother Zippo thought it made a good... victim. I don't know, but he was pretty serious about his pumpkin carving! Then once your dad had his pumpkin scooped out, you got to explore the inside too! And who wouldn't have fun doing that! We made some pretty neat pumpkins. A pumpkin Fairy house, a Portal pumpkin and a very scary pumpkin with bad teeth!

Gosh, now that I write this I am realizing this month was just full of photo ops. I wanted to make sure you had the chance to play in the leaves but you had your cold during some of the nice last days of Fall. Luckily we found another day that wasn't too cold so you could play in the leaves.

Then just a few days later, it was Halloween. You were a very cute dragon and your brother Zippo was a strange mystery man that was surprisingly creepy. We went and trick-or-treated at your Grandpa's house. He said we were probably about the 12th trick-or-treaters of the ni... ever since he bought the house! He doesn't get many trick-or-treaters where he is. Then we went to trick-or-treat at Nana's. She gave you a treat! You got banana puffs since you aren't quite ready for candy yet. And you got to see your Nana, Papa and Auntie.

Then a few days near the end of your tenth month, it was time to vote! We got you a new car seat; you are growing so fast you hardly fit in the newborn one. We had made an appointment to have the public health nurse check that it was installed right because it seemed like it was wiggling too much. And boy, she worked a miracle. I still don't know how she got it in there tight enough to not move. And after that, we went to vote so you got to come with us. We vote in a fire station so you saw your very first fire trucks. And they gave you your very own 'I Voted' sticker, not for voting but just for being so darn cute.

And my last favorite memory of this month? You learning how to SLURP your spaghetti. So stinkin' cute.

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