25 weeks has been an adventure!

Wow! So much has happened in the last week. We have really enjoyed all the time we've been able to spend together as a family since Chad has been home and not traveling. It's better than sliced bread - or however that saying goes! Here are some great pictures and silly faces from the last few days...










me at 12 weeks laying in the chair...

me at 25 weeks laying in the chair!

I love books!



Yesterday, Nathan got to go to his first birthday party. It was for one of his favorite folks - Wendy.

Nathan loved all of the attention he received and was quite the joy to be around - even though he was up 2 hours past his bed time and had an ear infection! Such a good tempered little guy!

Nathan has been doing so much this last week and really growing in his gross motor development.

On the 10th, he discovered not only could he hold both toes, but he could put them in his mouth.




On the 13th, he started laying on his tummy and reaching for objects with both arms outstretched and both legs raised off the ground!


Nathan has been rolling from his tummy to his back for a while, but here are some pictures of that fun skill...






Today, he rolled from his back to his tummy 3 times - two of those times are captured in photos and pictured below.

Round 1 - trying to see himself in the mirror






Round two - trying to get the ball






Also today, he sat unassisted for 67 seconds and played with a toy while I took pictures and timed him!

And, while sitting in his crib, he reached out with his hands, touched the mattress and pulled himself back up to sitting.

Then he did it again, but stayed leaning on his hands and rocked a few times. Those are the beginning moves to crawling.

Then, while sitting, he reached forward, and in a very controlled motion, continued reaching until he was laying down on his tummy. He was going after a book!




Along with all of this fun new locomotion, has come a sad new illness. On the 14th, Nathan had a great morning, and then at lunch began to fuss and cry. He was very flushed too. No matter what I did, he wouldn't stop fussing. We were with my mom and dad at Furniture Land South, and even they were worried because Nathan just doesn't cry and fuss like that. So, Nathan and I left and headed home. That's when the SCREAMING began. He screamed without ceasing for 4 hours. During that 4 hours, I drove him home, took his temp - which was 100.0, called the doctor, and covered his torso and head with cold wash cloths. When Nathan was still screaming and the doctor hadn't called back, I just put him in the car and took him up to the office. When we walked through the doors, every head turned and stared. He was so inconsolable, and so pitiful. They got us back to a room pretty quickly but it took a while for the doc to get there. The nurses were shocked as they have only heard Nathan cry on one occasion (his 4 month shots). They kept coming in to check on us. Finally, the doctor got there and started to check him out. After a very physical struggle, she was finally able to look in his right ear and found the culprit - an ear infection. Poor little fellow. He was exhausted from crying so hard and finally fell asleep, still whimpering, while we drove home. Once the numbing drops were in his ear, he was good to go and slept all night. Of course, the amoxicillin has helped a great deal too. But of course, when you're sick, you're going to be pampered a little bit...

Snuggling with mom for a nap


How do you keep drops in a baby's ear? Well you put the baby between two tempur-pedic pillows so that he has to lay on his side cause the pillows weigh more than him and he can't move!

We've learned a few things about sick little ones, and I believe we're turning the corner of this ear infection, however, he's still not sleeping all the way through the night because the ear pain wakes him up. So, last night, after being up with him for 2 hours, I got the swing out of the attic, and put him in it. He slept until almost 8:00 this morning. So, until his ear feels better, he'll be sleeping in the swing again. Being upright feels better for some reason... so I've given in!

I'm so happy to be in my swing again...

Remember this picture of me sleeping in my swing at 5 weeks? Well, I'm a little bigger now, but I still fit!


Toys Nathan would highly recommend...
Teether Ball Easy to hold on to, plenty of places to suck and chew

Beginning Bites Teether - mom likes it because the terry cloth center soaks up the drool. Nathan likes it because it's easy to hold and great to chew on.

Gurtie (sp?) Ball- I don't know how to spell it but this ball is awesome. It's so soft, easy to hold and catch, and great to sit on. You can blow it up to whatever firmness you like. I love it and Nathan loves it too.

Dance, Baby, Dance, Classical Stacker - Nathan loves this because it lights up and makes noise. It really encourages him to lift his head up during tummy time. Donna Miller gave this to Nathan and he loves it!

Move and Crawl Ball - no lie, as soon as we got this for Nathan, he started rolling over and scooting. It's great because it moves all by itself, the buttons are easy to push and it's really fun to watch!

Laugh and Learn:Learning Puppy - This little puppy is amazing. It has a great kids voice and says so many things. I think it's a she puppy cause she has rosy cheeks. The hands, feet, nose, tummy, etc are easy to push and say hundreds of things. This puppy sings songs too. Nathan will play with this for a very long time, sitting, laying down, or in his bumbo chair. Great toy!