Nathaniel's First Teeth, First Christmas

On Christmas Eve (Dec 24, 2008) we noticed that Nathaniel finally had a tooth break through his gums. It was one of his bottom incisors. Kind of funny that Alice got her first tooth at Christmas too. Nathaniel seemed to like Christmas. He didn’t try to unwrap anything early, nor did he bother the tree at all. Not what we expected. But on Christmas day, he did kind of figure out how to unwrap presents. Alice enjoyed her Christmas too. She wrote Santa a letter (with Mommy’s help), asking him for Baby Belle, Baby Belle Bathtub, and the Sleeping Beauty movie. Because she’d been so good all year, she got all three of her wishes! Nathaniel asked for more things for the Thomas the Tank Engine train set, and he got that too. Alice took her time opening presents. We let her go at her own pace, and she seemed to enjoy that more. As she opened a new toy, she could take a little time to play with it right away. This was better than what sometimes happens: a furious and un-enjoyable rush to open everything as quickly as possible. Nathaniel is getting really good at standing on his own. He can take a step too, but mostly sticks to the perimeters where he has some extra support. He still adores Alice, and is a generally happy little boy. We’re also starting to see clear communication from him. He can shake his head for “no” and “yes” – mostly he says “no.” He tries to say:

• Alice (Ahh)
• Nana (nah nah)
• cat (tack)
• up (upf)

He also loves to clap his hands, wave at people, and point at everything. He doesn’t make strange, but seems to love being around people. Whenever we go out, Nathaniel befriends anyone who looks at him.