Dear Santa. Please bring me a dog. Love, Nathaniel

Some of you are already aware of how much Nathaniel loves dogs.  In fact, in a recent phone conversation, Kristina's dad asked "So, what does Nathaniel want for his birthday...I mean besides a dog?"  When my parents came to visit for Halloween/Nathaniel's Birthday, they brought two of their dogs.  As far as he was concerned that was the best birthday present ever!  From day one to day ten, he never tired of touching them, following them, crawling on them, crawling under them, etc.

They took it in stride, and their patience tended to pay off when Nathaniel ate as the video below shows.


During our trip to Texas for Thanksgiving, Nathaniel was delighted to have a dog at each place we stayed.  That delight wasn't mutual for Stephanie's dog, Bailey.  Unfortunately for poor Bailey, his attempts to avoid Nathaniel only resulted in Nathaniel trying harder to touch him.  Fortunately, Grandma and Grandpa Howard's  dog, Bugsy, was a bit more patient.  Nathaniel chased him around the house all the time, and occasionally, Bugsy would stop and let Nathaniel pet him.  Nathaniel even tried to touch heads with Bugsy.  That's one of his favorite ways to show affection.


For more photos of Nathaniel with dogs click here...and for any would be Santas out there, Mommy wants Nathaniel to be a few years older before he gets his dog.  So, this year, he must settle on playing with 5 golden retrievers during his Christmas vacation.

Christopher

Kisses

We were trying to get a video of Nathaniel pointing out ornaments, but he decided that getting kisses would be more fun.  I was happy to oblige.

Messy Eater

Nathaniel will not let us feed him, which can be especially frustrating when the food we are eating is not conducive to eating with your hands.  We are also trying to get him to keep his food on a plate.  He likes to test the limits of this rule.  Here is an example of how messy he can get and him testing dropping his food: