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I U

Nathan has learned to say "I love you," which sounds like "Ay- uu." This is always accompanied by a big hug.

A look back

Nathan a year ago - more chubby and less hair.

We had a nice weekend; nothing eventful. I picked up a few Signing Time DVDs from the library and learned a whole bunch more signs. They are a fun way for toddlers and parents alike to learn ASL.

Thursdays

I love my Thursdays. I work in the morning and have the afternoon to myself. Usually I end up doing chores like grocery shopping, but I still get a good chunk of time sans family.

George visit

My Grandpa George came for a visit on Sunday and it was mostly uneventful. We chatted in the backyard for a while and then we watched some of the olympics, beach volleyball and swimming. George used to be a big beach volley ball player in his day. Then we got some Thai food take out and George asked for ice cream. Grandpa wasn't very talkative during the visit, but he seemed to enjoy little Nathan. He admonished him several times for playing too loudly :) I remember getting quite a bit of that from him growing up.

Olympics

So I'm not in the best shapes these days. Before Nathan, I could run 8-10 miles withough much trouble, now I'm proud when I run 3 miles. But when I watch some of the sports on the olympics (swimming, biking, and running), I'm proud to think I can still do alot of those events. Maybe I would complete the race ten times slower than the olympic athletes, but I can do a 400m indiviudal medly or a 100m butterfly in the pool even today.

Strato at our place

Nathan playing strato with the big boys last weekend. Gary asked me to post this although in theory he has his own blog.

Daycare wait

So Nathan is currently at a pretty nice daycare, but it is about 10 minutes from our house at somewhat pricey. Thay also have manditory vacations at which time they close for two weeks during Christmas and one week at the end of August. This means I or Gary or my mom have to take time off work to stay home with him.

After Gary got a his job at the airport, we found out that LAX subsidizes a daycare much closer to our house and it would save us about $200/month! The only days they close are Chritmas and New Years. We put him on the wait list and were told there might be a spot in summer. A couple months ago when I checked the school director said September. Now I call and there is a new school director and she says no spots until January. Ugh!

At first I was anxious about moving Nathan to the new place. He is comfortable in his current daycare and likes the teachers. I was worried he'd be sad and confused about the move. Now I'm just frustrated at the uncertainty. I'd really like to get him in the new place as soon as possible. I wish I could get a straight answer and be able to know accurately when they can take him.

50 words

So Nathan can now say alot of words. Gary and I made a list a few days ago and we came up with close to 50. Unfortunately only the two of us really understand most of them and sometimes even I can't figure out what he is trying to say.

This morning Nathan was in his high chair at breakfast and my father was over for a visit. Nathan kept saying "spoon," but it comes out more like "poooooo" with a little inflection at the end. My dad couldn't figure it out until I translated and then gave him his spoon. Then Nathan wanted some of my dad's yogurt, which he calls "ya-yo." Don't ask me why "ya-yo" means yogurt, but I try to say back "oh, you want some YOGURT Nathan? okay."

Nathan definitely has his own language. It is good thing he knows some signs. His sign language is way more clear than his words. Unfortunately he only has about six signs.

Playground slide

I was home with Nathan this morning while Gary played strato. We walked around the neighborhood and for the first time Nathan made it all the way to my parents' house on his own steam. We also went to the playground. He loved going up the stairs and down the slide. He probably did it about 50 times.

In the afternoon I went to my coworker book club. This month we decided to all watch a movie together and discuss it instead of a book. The film was Persepholis, a mostly black and white animated feature about a girl growing up in the 70's and 80's in Iran through the revolution and war. She eventually leaves the country as a teen and then returns. It is a very poetic and touching film about war, family, culture shock and identity.