Happy December

There has been much going on in our little world. We most recently spent a week in NY for Thanksgiving. It was a really nice time. We saw Grandpa Truck and Babci before they headed up to MA for the holiday and spent the rest of the week with Pop, Grandma Jo and all of Nathan's many Uncles (and an Aunt or two!). We all really enjoyed being together and as always it was hard to say goodbye. We saw a few friends and did some catching up as usual. Not too much new to say about it - it was just a nice relaxing week!

As for Nathan updates, he did well as usual in NY. The trip was long and frustrating for all of us - so you can't blame a kid for getting antsy in the car! The evening times were rough for the first few nights as Nathan was most certainly confused with his surroundings and nap times. But soon we were back on track and doing well. And even though the nights were not so much fun - getting to sleep can be a drag still - he never had any trouble with all the people we saw. Nathan has always been a trooper going to new people, playing, crawling around and testing his boundaries. He was soon pulling up on any surface he could find, looking over and smiling at whoever it was that was staring at him - and often there were many pairs of eyes on him!

At home, Nathan has discovered the stairs. He did a few steps a week or so ago and then this week he discovered them again and made a little more progress. It's scary when you look over expecting to see him sitting there playing with his blocks and he is gone. He climbs fast and he moves fast in general. He's a true crawler now. Between the crawling and climbing he keeps me busy. But he is so much fun. We can make him laugh more and more and he enjoys new sounds, sights and even people. He gives a stare down like no one's business! But wait until he takes you in - there is most likely to be a smile come soon to some rosy cheeks near you. Also, he seems able to suck from a straw now. He as just chewing on it when I gave in and let him have a "sip" from my water. Then one day he actually did sip. I don't know if that's normal for an 8 month old, but it's pretty cool.

Oh yeah, the 8 month pic . . I will post that . . .

Since being back from NY we have had lots of activity around here. Gigi and Grandpa Ed came over for a mini Thanksgiving where we enjoyed leftovers. I've been busy with Uppercase orders and preparing for an Open House at our place tomorrow and another party on Friday - the last of the season. Christmas shopping is almost complete and I even have the tree up! We went back and forth about whether we should put the tree up - seeing as we have a curious little guy at our feet now. But we solved the problem by putting out wooden tracks for a little train set fo Nathan. The hope is he will be absorbed in something he can play with and will ignore the thing he shouldn't. So far so good. We have an entire month to see if this idea will stick!

Every night this week I have been buried in work or some other activity so I'm going to end this and go relax. I have another busy day ahead of me tomorrow. I'm looking forward to mid-month when we can relax and enjoy the season.