Work It

Nick's balance has been rapidly improving; he no longer stands up only to fall on his bottom. He can now stand for extended periods and even stay standing when set down on his feet. He's also improved his ability to cruise around using furniture or toys with handles and wheels. He has also started to do the funniest thing when crawling. In the past week he has started bear crawling. So about half the time instead of crawling on his hands and knees, he'll crawl with his feet flat on the floor and his bottom up in the air. It is really cute, and shows how anxious he is to be walking, he's just not quite there yet with his confidence in his balance.

Gabe is also doing great. He is really improving his ability to dress himself and put on his own shoes. He still needs a little help making sure things are the right way, and then struggles with buttons, zippers and shoes that have straps or ties, but he is getting much better. His eating at meal-times is also improving. Oscar, my MIL, and I are all making an effort to cut down on his snacking between meals so he will eat more of the healthy items offered. We are also trying to introduce new foods that are similar to ones he already likes, in an effort to add variety to his diet.

Invitations for Nick's 1st Birthday Party should be going out by the end of the week. We just need to print off the address of his party to put it in all the invitations. Oddly enough there was no place for location on them. Just a line for who the party was for, the date, the time, and how to RSVP. We still need to buy the supplies for the cake, but we have all the decorations and party favors. Oscar bought those when he bought the invitations. The Elmo cake will be for Nick and I think we are just going to order a Costco sheet cake for everybody else. Costco makes great cakes.

This past weekend Oscar and I joined a local gym. He has wanted a place where he can play racquetball and find people to play basketball with, as well as a swimming pool and weights, so this seemed like a great option for him. They also have a spa, cafe, and on-site childcare with good hours. Plus, they offer children's swim classes for a reasonable additional cost, which is less than what we were paying at the nearest rec center for Gabe.

In the near-term it won't be that conveinent for me to use, but I am planning to try and get to a class most Saturdays. Eventually we will live closer to the gym, since it is near where we want to buy a house, and I can use it more often. Gabe seemed to like the childcare. We let him stay while we went on the tour of the gym and he was. In fact, he would have been happy to stay longer. I'm glad he is having a better time being away from Oscar, my MIL, and me. He has a habit of being very shy with strangers.