And then....

About six weeks ago I posted about my unintentional absence from blogging and reading. I blamed (in a not-angry-at-way) Hawthorne, who had just learned to crawl. Then I had one of those hilarious parent-brain moments when I took the time to actually say out loud to Mr. Nomadreader: "I wish there were a way to keep him in a rooms." Then we both laughed. Because we live in a 102-year-old house that has doors (often double doors) between every room. So they are now shut, and I have resumed reading while watching him explore and amuse himself. He crawls over (or walks along the couch) to say hello to me every 10-15 minutes, or to show me some awesome thing he's playing with, so I've been reading a lot of things that don't require intense concentration (I miss you, literary fiction!) But the second I open the computer to try to blog about one of those books...he is grabbing it out of my hands or typing with me, which turns my English into gobbledygook. Which is why I now have 25 unwritten book reviews. Many of these books I have loved and am dying to tell you all about. Thankfully, I am a good note-taker. And I have a new strategy for catching up and staying caught up (detailed after adorable pictures.)

So...speaking of Hawthorne, he is eleven months old! I am really excited for his birthday, even if we have no actual plans of how to celebrate it yet (besides the New York grandparents flying in.) People keep asking me if I can believe I have a one-year old. But I can believe it, mostly because I have felt those shocked feelings with other people's children on Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and Instagram. So I was ready. And I'm only having one baby, so I've tried to be mindful of enjoying the good parts of every stage and looking forward to the next stage, while not focusing on the bad parts of each stage. Watching a baby grow into a child a little each day is a pretty amazing thing.

He has learned to turn board book pages, and is rarely without a book in his hands...

 

....even if it's upside down (I hand this book to him right-side up every time, and he turns it around. I guess Global Babies are best looked at upside down.) Books are his favorite toys, which warms my heart.

And despite a slow, skeptical start with food that doesn't come in a bottle, he has turned into a delightfully adventurous eater who enjoys anything anyone is eating.

Here he emotes about raspberries in a sea of blueberries, blackberries and strawberries.

On a recent play date, he got to eat his first waffle.

Notice his strong grip on the quarter in his right hand too! Sorry for denying you grains, kid. He is also a huge fan of blue cheese and chorizo. We are not the parents who plan different meals for our kid. If he's awake when we eat, he gets to have some of whatever we're eating that he shows an interest in. (He also still has four bottles a day and several pouches of pureed baby food.)

In summation: life is good. Hawthorne is almost one. I've managed to read seventy-two books so far this year, which is awesome, especially as a full-time working parent. And I hope to have posts here for you most days by reverting to the strategy I used while on maternity leave: write all (or most) of the week's posts in one sitting. A change in Mr. Nomadreader's work schedule means we'll have much more time together on the weekends, so I'm claiming a few hours a weekend for blog activities. Wish me luck! And look for my review of Go Set a Watchman tomorrow!

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