Dreaming of Hogwarts

I'm usually kind of a night owl, but Nash is succeeding at wearing his mother out lately! (in a good "I'm so exhausted yet so completely blessed" way!) However, right before bed used to be my reading time, and since I've FINALLY gotten around to Harry Potter, my need for sleep sometimes frustrates me - I mean, I must find out what happens at Hogwarts! I try really hard to stay awake til the end of the chapter, only to startle myself when I drop the book after dozing off. It's a good life when this is my dilemma!
Nash is great! Busy, healthy, funny, busy, inquisitive, happy, cute, busy, little boy! He's 11 months now and doing all the things he should and some things he shouldn't! His need to explore has officially superseded his desire to please Mom at all times. He used to just cry and come crawling back to us when we told him "No". Now that doesn't seem to phase him too much - darn it! He can throw quite the full-body tantrum - sometimes I have to hide behind the door because the extremity of it makes me laugh! I'm glad he's developing a mind of his own, but after keeping him away from the fireplace, plug outlets, electrical cords, door hinges, the street, and the oven each multiple times a day, I kinda wish he didn't feel the need to test me quite so much. And that's just the stuff that could hurt him - there's also the phones, climbing on the coffee table, china cabinet, folded laundry, any form of paper, dog food, my drinks, a stray dust bunny that got away, etc...! My mantra lately is "I'm teaching him I'm consistent. Deep down he WANTS me to be consistent!" I hope it doesn't sound like I'm complaining - it really is wonderful that he's so curious and one day being strong willed will serve him well. But right now, Mommy's so tired she can't stay awake to read Harry Potter!
My mom came for a visit this past weekend and Nash had so much fun - he loves undivided attention! We did too! She volunteered to let us have two date nights in a row - AWESOME! He is doing better at realizing that people other than Mom, Dad, and Jill (our stupendous babysitter/friend) can love and take care of him. This makes date nights much easier!

We went to the mall play area the other day and all he wanted to do the first 30 minutes is push his stroller around. He got so offended when I tried to get him to go down the slide! However, he finally came around and started climbing after a while.

He's good at "helping" unload the dishwasher. That's a whisk in his mouth.

Plays hard - crashes hard. He is still a great sleeper (as long as he has his silky blanket and his thumb)!

Million-dollar smile

Playing in "his" cabinet. Yes - he crawls all the way in after pulling everything out.

But he's so darn cute!

"How many push toys can I handle at one time???"

He has started pretending to talk on the phone. He always does this same grunting sound - I hope I don't sound like that on the phone!