13 Months

Well, Patrick is 13 months old now. We haven't had a whole lot of changes this past month but it is amazing to see him continue to progress with his coordination, language and interactions. Most importantly, since he is now past a year old, he is allowed to eat whatever he wants! Here are a few pictures of his first peanut butter sandwich (we thought it might be a similar experience to feeding peanut butter to the dogs, and it kind of was!):

Yummmmmmm!

Peanut butter makes Patrick thirsty!

These days Patrick is crawling around like a mad man, pulling up and standing, and taking a few wobbling steps when helped. Hopefully he'll be walking by Christmas! His newest favorite activity is standing on top of the couch so he can look out the window at the ducks and the dogs, and even wave hi to Daddy when he comes home from work.

Patrick has three distinct sounds for duck, dog and dad. They're all pretty similar but if you pay close attention to the sound and to what he is looking at or listening to (barking dog or quacking duck), you can definitely tell the difference. It's really cool!

Patrick had such a great time hanging out with Uncle Brent when he came to visit for a few days. Brent wants to do some painting of Patrick so he spent an afternoon taking pictures of his little subject. This picture may not be a candidate for a portrait, but it's my favorite!

What a scowl! And a pretty good knot on his forehead from getting knocked over by Sophie. He's one tough kid!

I like this one a lot too because he just loves Bailey's ball. Patrick actually tries to throw the ball for Bailey, who is a really good sport about it!

I want to give a shout out to Aunt Kim and Rachel for Patrick's truck. He loves this thing! I think he's gong to be able to get up on it himself pretty soon too.

 

Well, that's about all for this month. Patrick is keeping me really busy all day long so I didn't do a great job of taking pictures this past month. Grandma and Grandpa Nakamoto were just here for a long visit, so we'll have lots of good pictures on next months post!

Birthday Party!

Here are some pictures from Patrick's 1st Birthday Party. Thank you to everyone who came and for everyone who brought a gift. Patrick is extremely thankful!

Yum, watermelon!

Patrick loved playing in the water with Daddy and Grandma!

Cupcake time!

Such a flirt with Daddy!

Always the entertainer. He loves having an audience!

Big Boy Patrick

My little Patrick is all grown up. He is no longer my little baby, but a full-fledged toddler (minus the actual toddling). I still can't believe it!
Patrick turned 1 year old last week and we celebrated by seeing his doctor at UCSF (it was a party!). We received some wonderful birthday news, that Patrick's kidney function is perfect and that everything else has stabilized, so the doctor doesn't want to see us for 6 months! Patrick is growing up so big and strong, it's hard to imagine that anything could possibly be wrong with him inside. So....if y'all want to see us anytime in the upcoming months, you'd better plan a trip to Eureka!

As you can tell from the pictures this month, Patrick really enjoys his time outside in the front yard and I am starting to get the hang of this photography thing! You might also notice that Patrick is wearing the same pair of overalls in all of these pictures. Those are his "romping" clothes, so he can get as dirty as he could possibly desire (and since he's still just crawling, they provide some protection too!).

Here is Patrick playing in the beautiful California native wild flowers that Delmar planted this year.

Here's our little cabbage patch doll, only this time he's a real boy and it's actually broccoli!

Hanging out between the yellow string beans and the purple string beans, eating a home grown strawberry!

 Just chillin in the tomato plants, about to eat a chunk of dirt. And yes, Delmar has successfully grown outdoor tomatoes in Eureka this year! 

 We'll see if the ducks are this comfortable with Patrick in a few months once he's running around chasing them like a mad man!

My boys!

                    As you can see, Patrick is finally crawling around
                    like a real boy! Yay! And he sure is fast!

 

Patrick has started to show his true personality this month. He loves to explore, make loud noises, make things crash and fall, really all the typical boy things :) He is so vocal, constantly babbling and finally lots of "mamamamamas"! And as you can see below, he's a good eater (he still has his Michelin man arm rolls), and he loves to play with his food. Yes, that is a yogurt hand print on his face, if you couldn't tell!

 

So Happy 1st Birthday to our little man! I'll have a special Birthday edition up soon, and later I'll post some pictures from his birthday that Frances is editing. I'm getting better at taking pictures, but I have not attempted editing yet.

Seriously, you're all welcome to visit us up north. The drive is not that bad or that long! We've had a lot of trips to the Bay this year already and the Holidays are impossible for Delmar to get off work, so we probably won't be making the trek down for quite a while. We have a guest bedroom with YOUR name on it!

Love,
Sarah

Patrick, 11 Months Old!

We are right around the corner from Patrick's first birthday...how did that happen?!?!?! Our little man has become so independent, adventurous and curious of his world all of a sudden. He plays with his "toys" (you'll see later on), the cabinets, doors, and Sophie, keeping himself busy for hours throughout the day. It is amazing! So here's the little man, so generously sharing part of his dinner with the dog because I was too distracted taking the picture to stop him.

He's too interested in the stickers, I had to hide it somewhere where he couldn't reach it!

Patrick is still doing his army crawl. He's really moving fast now throughout the house. When he really gets going he looks like a snake slivering down the hallway! He's crawled on his knees a few times but only out on the front lawn. He has gained a lot of confidence in mobility and his curiosity is insatiable. The other day, he let himself out the screen door to the front yard. When I found him a few minutes later, he was happy as can be just roaming around the yard, chasing after the ducks, and eating sticks and dirt! So no pictures though!

Here are some pictures of him playing with his "toys":

Also, he still LOVES to be naked! Can't blame him for that!

We've been looking into the Montessori method and we're interested in sending Patrick to Montessori preschool. But until then, we've been trying to "prepare the environment" at home for Patrick in a Montessori sort of way. Part of that is setting up different simple activities to focus on a simple task or lesson. 

Here he is learning to put his ball in the yogurt container. Very simple but an important lesson. He's got the hang of it now...he loves putting as many objects as possible into his oatmeal container! Time to figure out a more advanced version of this activity.

Here he's doing a "sensorial", listening to the different sounds that pinto beans make in metal, plastic and glass containers. 

It must be so fascinating to be in the world of a baby/toddler exploring their new world. So many new sights and sounds and feelings. Especially doors and dogs. Nothing is more exciting than doors and dogs for Patrick!

That's all for this month. We'll be back when Patrick is a year old!

Sarah

10 Months

Patrick is 10 months old, can you believe it?!? I can't! He's a grown up little man already. Once again, Patrick was not interested in wearing his 10 month sticker, so we had to get creative and snap some photos as quick as possible!

Patrick finally started to crawl last week, although I think it would be considered more of an "army crawl" at the moment. His favorite destination is the dog's water bowl. The very first time I let him play in it but now I have to be a responsible mother and teach him that that is a no-no. He really does love playing in the water though! He even played in the Trinity River a couple times recently. This boy loves to splash!

I think I've mentioned before, Patrick is an outdoor baby. He just loves to be outside. Anytime he's fussy, I take him out to watch his duckies and his doggies and he is a happy boy. So, I made an outdoor swing for him and he loves it!

If anyone is thinking about buying Patrick toys for his upcoming 1st birthday...DON'T! He has been having the time of his life playing the "drums" on all of our pots, pans, bowls and dog bowls. I have videos, but once again Blogger isn't letting me upload them and I have no idea how to troubleshoot it. I guess you all will just have to make the trip up here to see for yourselves!

These days, everything is dada. Dadadadadadadadadad all day long! Even when actual Dada is gone at work. Patrick definitely adores is Dada!

And finally, as promised last month, I have some pictures of Patrick's hair. There's no controlling this beast. Holy hair, Batman!

CAMERA!

Bye bye friends! See you next month!
Love, Patrick