Nixon's favorite toys this week are sticks! For some reason our bathroom is the temptress of all rooms for Nixon to get into bad things. As if the drawers and cabinet door aren't exciting enough for him, and his new joy found in flushing the toilet over and over aren't tempting enough now the little guy has found the joy of long sticks which are the major body part of the toilet cleaner, the plunger, and the broom (all lovely toys for a child to play with.) So now if i'm not careful while getting ready, I will catch this tiny little guy walking with his belly out front, his bum sticking out back, and his arms in the air waiving around the broom or toilet cleaner, or walking around with the plunger like a walking stick. So hilariously odd. (oh side note, he realized that he can lift the toilet seat himself, so after finding him poking the water with his pointer finger while holding up the toilet seat, we got a toilet lock)
Another small task but big in the eyes of mommy, Nixon can dismount from the couch all on his own. In the past, Michael and I have had to watch Nixon closely while he's on the couch or bed because he would crawl his fastest right to the edge without thinking about the fall after the edge. We've been working on instilling the idea of "turn around, and slowly lower your feet to the ground," which he finally applied today all on his own while we were on the couch. There's something new everyday.
Recently I've been reading in Chronicles 2 about all the different kings who ruled the house of David after him, and how eventhough some followed the Lord, some sons didn't and ruined the kingdom. So I've just beed reminded how important it is to raise Nixon up in the Lord and show him my passion so he will be intrigued too. So I have these little CD's that are a Bible verse a song and Nixon actually really likes it, (he usually cries at worship music and smiles at mainstream music like Eminem.) So every morning we listen to these CD's and he dances/sometimes makes weird sounds that I think are his way of singing so far. Kinda fun.
So recently while Nixon and I were at the grocery store, we were in the produce section and I stumbled across something amazing in my own little Mommy world. Baby sized apples!!! I've been trying really hard to get Nixon to eat adult food, so when he's older, I'm not having to blend or cut food up special for Nixon. Sorry, but I'm not sending my child to school with a baby food sack lunch. So Nixon and I have been sharing real fruit, sometimes babanas, sometimes pears, and sometimes apples. I eat them whole with Nixon. And at times I'll give Nixon his own whole apple to hold in his hands to eat, but it's just kind of pitiful to watch those tiny hands try to hold the giant apple. So I bought these baby sized apples. Oddly enough they cost more than regular sized apples but it was worth the difference. Nixon was so happy with his Nixon sized apple. He just looks like a little "big person." 
Another thing I'm learning as a Mom is the fickle mind of growing babies/toddlers when it comes to toys. Nixon will love a toy for a couple days and then he won't touch it for weeks. I'll put it in front of him and he'll just toss it aside. Then all of the sudden he will rediscover it later and it will be the best thing ever that day. He has three large tubs of toys in random spots in our home. He'll dive into the same one consistantly for a week and ignore the other two. Then the next week, that tub might as well not exhist and his only concern will be the next tub. So last night Michael and I were sitting on the couch talking while Nixon was doing his own thing over by his toys (which really means taking toys out of the box and placing them all over the house and then focusing on one toy.) All of the sudden he starts crying. He is leaned over his box, sifting through the box crying. I thought he might have smashed his finger, or lost his balance and maybe teetered into the box a little. Michael went over there and started laughing. He said "oh no, we aren't hurt we just can't get the red piano out." It was just a little humerous moment for the Lang family because I bought this piano for Nixon when he was about 6 months old because he HAD to have it. Then when we brought it home he was less than thrilled for it. Now 9 months later Nixon wants it so bad he's having a meltdown because he can't play with it. Needless to say ALL NIGHT LONG all we heard was the clanging of those four keys over and over.
