Friday Things

1. Joseph has been very busy the last few weeks! Since he got over his cold, he’s been on the move pretty much non-stop. He cut another tooth this week, he’s giving high-fives, will shake hands, waves hello, dances when music comes on, and last weekend started pushing boxes around and walking behind them. We got him this sit-to-stand walker, which he LOVES… until he pushes it into a wall or furniture and gets stuck… it’s not pretty ;-)

2. Have you seen the poem “The Last Time” making the rounds on Facebook? It made me weepy, but also made me fully appreciate a 5am fussy wakeup call when Joseph was sick a couple of weeks ago. I rocked him until he relaxed and he fell back to sleep on my chest for over an hour and a half. I just sat there, rocking, watching the sky turn from dark night into bright morning, listening to Joseph’s sweet rhythmic breaths until he stirred, sat up, looked at me a bit confused, and then broke into a huge smile. I hadn’t been able to remember the last time he had slept on me… it had been months. From the time he was two to three months old, he was going to sleep on his own – no nursing to sleep, no rocking, no pacifier… he fell asleep on his own really wonderfully, but it also meant it had been a long time since he fell asleep on me, and I enjoyed every single minute of it.

3. A 10-Month-Old’s Letter to Santa… This is absolutely, positively, 100% accurate.

4. Have you made your holiday baking list yet? Tell me what you have on it! I am so far behind on everything – baking, shopping… but at least our house is decorated!

5. My husband was hanging out with Joseph on the couch one morning this week and put on Curious George. The episode was about how important it is to follow a recipe when baking, ha! So funny, but also… important life lesson! :)

6. Master the Art of Napping – full of great napping tips, love it.

7. It took me quite a long time to come around on Nutella, but my favorite afternoon snack is currently pretzels dipped into Nutella. SO GOOD.

8. I want to try to buy as many Christmas presents as possible from small businesses… share with me your favorite Etsy shops!

9. We’re still working our way through Blacklist (about halfway through the second season now), but let’s talk Homeland. I feel like this season is the best since the first one, and last week’s episode was outstanding. I usually multitask while we watch TV, but I couldn’t keep my eyes off the television while it was on!

10. TGIF! I hope you have a sun-drenched weekend!