Recent Nathanael developments

Nathanael began crawling on January 1st. A few days ago he discovered how much fun it is to climb and pull up on things. And he does not care about stability. That means he's constantly falling and bumping EVERYTHING! He's also getting into anything within sight and reach! It's hilarious. (And it's also a tad bit challenging as I'm not sure how to help him understand his boundaries at this age.)

He also has graduated from Momma's arms to the church nursery for Sunday morning church gatherings. And he did alright this morning. He hit his head within the first ten seconds which wasn't the best beginning (big pouty face and tears and lots of Momma hugs), but shortly after that, one of the nursery workers brought him a fun toy, and a little toddler girl walked over and sat and played with him -- two great distractions. I was able to sneak out with no problem.

And wow is he learning and understanding quickly now. One of our favorites is that he anticipates the ending of one of his little nursery rhymes (not sure if that's what to call it) - "Trot, trot to Boston." At the end, when we say, "or you might fall in," Greg leans him back so he's almost upside down. Nathanael barely makes it through the first line before throwing his head back in anticipation. It's hilarious! He recently learned how to clap, and he loves flipping off the lights when we leave a room. He will knock down a stack of toys or blocks when we say, "Knock it down." He says, "Dada" all the time, but I think he has almost no understanding of the meaning. He also loves babbling "blah, blah". And he understands that when we say, "Good job!" he has done something right. He smiles really big and gets excited.

And of course, he's learning how to make his desires known with lots of loud grunting and protesting. Oh my goodness. Are we really ready for this?

And here's an older picture (from some sick days in early December) to make this post better: