Funnel Cakes, Sign Language, and Grandparents Galore

On Sunday, Greg and I took Nick to Septemberfest in Schaumburg. My grandmother lives bordering the park district grounds, and I've gone every year that I can remember. They have a craft show, a carnival, and music. All I bought was a barrette, but it was nice looking around at all of the crafters and artists.

Nick loved crawling around my grandma's super-plush carpeting. Our house has mostly hardwood floors, and Nick absolutely loved the cushiness under his little knees.

Nick got to try his first funnel cake at the fair. No, we didn't give him a whole one. Actually, my mom, my sister, Nick, Greg, my grandma, and I all split one funnel cake. (The thing still enough sugar in it to last a week!)

He seemed to like it. You can see him using the sign for "milk" with his right hand. Nick has only picked up this one sign so far, and he's actually generalized it to mean "I want." He makes that sign when he wants milk, food, or more sugary fried goodness. To make the sign for milk, you just open and close your hand as if you were milking a cow. After munching on a funnel cake, I can see why he wanted a drink of milk!

Nick's grandpa got to play with him while we were all visiting. It's a good thing there were so many adults around, because Nick was bound and determined to crawl into something and cause himself bodily harm.

Nick is in only his diaper because he makes a huge mess when he eats. My grandma doesn't have a high chair, so we put him down on a blanket and stripped him. Finger food is developmentally appropriate, but horribly messy. Nude babies are easier to clean.

My mom has been making these cool hats, and we put one on Nick's head, just to see what he would do. Well, he takes hats off, and then plays with them. My sister, by the way, is responsible for most of today's photographs. She can make a picture look good, whereas I make photos look as if a 5-year-old took them.

It was an incredibly busy weekend, and there wasn't a minute to take a breath. I think I need a vacation day just to recover from this weekend!
Nick sure enjoyed himself, though, especially all of the new foods he got to eat. Here he is with his grandpa, after a bite of a chocolate eclair. Do you think maybe he liked it?

I swear, though, my kid eats very healthy. Special treats only happen on the weekends, and we try not to let him have more than a bite or two. Today he ate vegetable risotto, tuna with peas, green beans and brown rice, and sliced peaches.

Notice him again using the sign for "milk." It's pretty neat how he picked that up. Our babysitter uses that sign, but her two-year-old twins use it all the time, and that's where we think he learned it. We are trying now to teach him more sign.

We've also noticed that Nick signs with his right hand, and uses his left hand to eat and grasp toys. We're not sure yet if that means he'll be left handed, or if he's just ambidextrous now.

Below I'm posting a video of Nick chattering away and eating some finger foods. At the end of the video, he decides he wants his milk. You can see him making the sign for milk furiously. He does it faster and faster until he gets his drink. Molly, the cat you see in the video, has started hanging around Nick's high chair. She's realized that food sometimes spontaneously falls from it, so she watches him eat and lies in wait. No wonder she isn't losing weight on her kitty diet food. :)