Turkey Day, Swimming & Talking

First, the pics. Nathan by the pool (he much preferred to hang out on the side than in it...until it was naptime and then he decided he wanted to swim and swim and swim), Thanksgiving Dinner, and Nathan chilling out with Mommy's sunglasses at home.

Now, the update...Hope you all had a fabulous Turkey Day. We were in Toledo this year with Michael's family. It was fun to swim in the pool, drink wine after the kids were in bed and spend time with family we don't see very often. But between the long car rides and several cousins getting a stomach bug while we were there, we were all ready to come home. We enjoyed a delicious meal at Bill & Becki's but I can't say I remember much of the food. I know it was all yummy but Nathan was fussing and not wanting to eat anything but the homemade applesauce that wasn't part of the meal and Noah insisted he was hungry a little while later aarrggh...maybe in a few years I'll get to enjoy the meal again! Becki, I know it was delicious, thanks again!!!

We finally got to go to the Family Swim on Sunday afternoon at our YMCA. We've been trying to get there since September but there was always something that prevented it (errands, Nathan's nap, a house project etc). This Sunday all the stars were aligned and we got to go. I'm so glad we did; Noah made huge progress swimming. In fact, he swam for the first time without his flotation and kept his head up for several seconds and moved forward in the water before he got scared and started to sink. We were so proud of him and hope to go back next weekend to see him get even better!

Nathan has changed so much in the last week, it is truly amazing! His walking is much more stable and man is he quick! He loved running down the long halls of hotel and if he got a headstart of a few seconds, you actually had to jog to catch up with him. His language is starting to take off too. He picked up a few new words in the last week (milk, yogurt, cracker, all done, night-night, and baby) and is so proud of himself when he knows that you understand his word. I love this time from now until 18 months or so when the language just explodes. It is so fun watching someone else learn how our language works (and all of the exceptions to the rules that they try to master).

Hope everyone's holiday season is starting off well. We don't have much shopping left to do but hope to do some holiday baking and spending time together and maybe, just maybe it won't be too stressful!