Growing up

 

 

Nati was so silly and was trying to put the shoes on by himself. He kept falling over so his daddy had to come help! He loved every minute of it!

Speaking of shoes... We took Nati to get his feet measured last week because it seemed like one of his shoes was snug. One foot measured 6 1/2 inches, the other was a size 6. This made me feel better as I always had trouble with one shoe and I felt like I would need a pry bar to put it on his foot. But, the other shoe had slipped on so easily. I was concerned by the difference in size. The lady assured me that this was very normal and that it will continue like that for many years. She said when feet grow they can each grow at different times. Who knew?! I certainly did not!

We had just bought new shoes for him a few months back. The lady told me we could pick any shoe for him but when I went to the wall she said "Not those shoes, those are for the babies" then told me "You need to move to the little boy wall". I stopped dead in my tracks. It was such a hard thing to hear and a hard concept to stomach. Our "little boy" who has not yet been home for a whole year is already in "boy shoes". I swallowed hard and picked up a shoe. The lady said he would need a size seven so that he would have room to grow. We got him some "play" shoes as his grandma had bought him some really cute shoes for Christmas. There have been several days I have looked at Nati and how fast he has grown up but it didn't sink in or hit as hard until we bought his new shoes from the "little boy wall".

What else has he been up to? Nati's new words are: kAR (car), Is it a bawl (ball)?, shoes, ap-ple, "Bye, bye dadty", dog, Gawd (God), as well as some animal noises. His favorite thing is to ask is "Is it a bawl?" I enjoy it as the word "ball" sounds so cute when he says it. I need to record it because it is priceless and I am sure it won't last forever. He has been cracking us up too as his dog noise is the panting noise our dog makes! Our dog is very well behaved and does not bark. When we ask Nati what noise a dog makes, he makes a panting noise! We have been teaching him, or trying to teach him, that dogs bark but he is right our dog does not! He also likes to meow like a cat. It is fun to see him transition and make progress in his language adaptation. For hearing Amharic for most of his life he seems to really be catching on quickly. Everything we say he tries to repeat now!

March Already!

Time certainly flies.

Are boys really that more active than girls?

Obviously, since we have one, and not the other, we don't really know. However, we've been told time and time again how much more active boys are. When he was running circles around us one person even remarked "What, you didn't know what you would be getting when you asked for a boy?" It seemed funny and a bit obnoxious at the time. He went on to tell how his little girl was so calm but his boy would be swinging from the rafters. Hopefully things won't go that far! What we do know is that Nataga is incredibly active! WOW! He runs just about everywhere and is into everything. It's in one room and out another. It's grab this item and then another. It's a little bit closer to our one year celebration with him home - really hard to believe. We are so blessed and love every moment we have with our son. He is so wonderful. We can't imagine life without him. He has a wonderful personality and is always making us smile. He is good at getting himself into mischief and then trying to get out of it with his coy smile or his "I'm the baby" saying he busts out when the opportunity presents. Yes, he is very smart and came up with the "I'm the baby" phrase all on his own. We are constantly working on new was to discipline him as not much seems to phase him. He just gets naughtier! "Nati" is the perfect name! Sometimes we have to turn away so he doesn't see us crack up after he says or pulls something when we are trying to get on to him! He does listen, and although this makes him sound very out of control he is a good child and people also remark on how well behaved he is. He is at a wonderful age and we are loving every bit of it!

my how you've grown

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17 months

Picture post!

Whirlwind

It never seems to amaze us...how much and how fast Nataga is growing and learning. Every time we turn around he is reaching up and turning door knobs, or he's outgrowing his clothes. BTW he's not outgrowing them in the waist...no he's out growing them in length! He's also really learning to say thank you when he receives some thing he has asked for. Everyone always talks about where the time goes, and how fast kids grow up. It is hard to believe that it hasn't even been a full year that we have been able to hold him any time we want. It hasn't been a full year since we first got to experience his gut-wrenching hunger cries. Now we get to enjoy the challenges of independence and juggling the responsibilities of parenthood. Bottom line: He's a cute little guy, and we wouldn't change a thing! Even in the whirlwind of life, it's nice to think about how good God is to our family.

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