December 14th, 2010 by Busy Mommy

On motion: I haven’t actually heard him say “fan” but I think Grammy and Daddy maybe has, but at the very least he makes a whirring motion with his hand when one of us says “fan”.  He has also started playing soccer!  In his own little toddler way- he just walks up to the ball and keeps walking and following the ball where it get kicked by his little walking feet.  He shakes his head fervently when he doesn’t want to eat anymore or doesn’t want what’s in that particular spoonful.

He doesn’t do the fake laugh anymore, and the novelty of clapping is fast wearing off too- guess it got old and the walking thing is consuming his every thought.  Which reminds me why I have a lot more scenic hiking photos on this blog lately than photos of Nolan.  It’s not because I’m getting tired of my son- it’s because my son is always in motion and all the photos are either blurry, show only the back of his head, or if do manage to get one of his face, his eyes keep averting to someplace else, letting me know that me and my camera are totally in his way.  I can literally read his mind.  “Mommy!  Tryin’ to discover things here.  Put that thing away or let me play with it but I don’t want to look at it anymore- I’ve been doing that the past 12 months and it’s just not interesting anymore.”  Some examples:

December 14th, 2010 by Busy Mommy

Nolan is only a week away from being 14 months old.

On words: He learned how to say “hot” about 3 weeks ago.  It was funny- he learned it when we told him very seriously that the newly-turned-on gas heater and the fireplace were “hot” and he should not touch it under any circumstances.  He learned pretty quick and at one point when it was still new he walked by and fairly close to the wall heater, stopped, shook his head silently “no” at it, and then walked away.  The way he pronounces “hot” is so cute too- it’s likes he says “hot” while breathing out really fast at the same time so it’s sounds like “ht”.  In addition to “dat” and “wus dat?” he has added “dis” and “wus dis?” to the repertoire.  He has a totally new sound he’s been making just this past week- a more complex language sound- it kind of sounds like “dag-n”- it the g to the n sound that requires a little more mouth movement and he just picked it up- who knows where!  But why explain when you can see if for yourself?

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFTyt-G_umY[/youtube]

December 14th, 2010 by Busy Mommy

I always seem to get lost in Tilden park and never figure out where all the hiking trails are, even though I’m constantly consulting the park map, but that isn’t too surprising because Tilden is 2,079 acres, with a million windy driving roads. Today I managed to find a few!  Trails that is.  The loop I did today was fairly short, about 2.4 miles, and starts right behind the Brazilian Room (where, I might add, I was supposed to have my wedding until a tree brazenly decided to fall and cut off all the power…but that story’s for another post).  The trail starts out as Sibley Trail, and then I went right onto Wildcat Gorge Trail which meanders down aways and then alongside a picturesque stream and crosses two quaint bridges.  In no time at all you are hiking along Anza Lake (which I never knew existed till today) where you can apparently take your kids swimming in the summer.  Watch out though- there is a sign apologizing for “Swimmers itch” people sometimes get at Lake Anza.  Causes involve 2 key words- larvae and snails…didn’t get all the details but that was enough for me- they say it’s only uncomfortable, not dangerous, but seems a bit icky to me for the moment. I always keep hoping Nolan will get a full nap on my back, but usually he sleeps at most 20-30 minutes before waking up to be a nature observer along with me.  He was fascinated by all the ducks on Anza Lake and almost learned to say it!  Duck sounds remarkably like Dat so just a little stretch.  By the time we were almost done hiking he was finally pretty pooped and fell asleep.  I laid him down in the back of the car and drove off….just kidding!!!  I hung out, read, and ate my “after workout meal” while he napped for an hour.  That’s why I’m just loving my car these days- I keep the 2 left backseats down and it creates this little car-home where Nolan and I can hang out and where he is content to play when breaks are needed between errands and hikes.