st nicholas day

I didn't get a chance to post these last week because of the insanity that is our holiday schedule, but last Saterday was St. Nicholas Day. Being a good dutch child (or at least half dutch), Tobo put his wood shoes out the night before. Not surprisingly, when he woke up at #$%$%^am in the morning, St Nicholas had filled his shoes with gifts.

From Baby Grows Up

Tobo of course was more interested in the shoes:

From Baby Grows Up

The shoes, btw, are from Holland (the country not Michigan!) brought over from ye old country I believe for my mom when she was a little girl. (Correct me if I'm wrong mom) Traditionally he would have gotten oranges and apples as well as a little candy, but since almost all of that is off limits to him right now, he got toys, an outfit, and some shoes. The shoes are important because he is now cruising all over the place, on all sorts of surfaces. I think we're in the final count down until he's walking.



He is into everything. So far he's managed not to haul the Christmas tree down on himself, but really, we've moved the coat stand, covered up the books, barricaded the front door with boxes, locked up all the doors, etc.

From Baby Grows Up

tobo vs the coat stand

A few days ago I broke down and figured out a way to make a makeshift playpen for him in the hallway. I closed all the doors and then put up a pressure gate so he had roughly a 5 by 5 square. This worked well until he realized I wasn't staying. I've been trying out the podaegi, with mixed success. When I get it put on correctly, Tobo loves it. When it's too loose, he starts jumping up and down and flailing his arms, which is disturbing when he's on your back.

From Baby Grows Up

We've got our 9mth checkup on Monday. Can you believe the boy is almost 9months old?!