20 month update

Well, here is the long awaited update on this little man!!!

He is 33 inches tall about between 27.5 and 28 pounds depending on what he had for lunch! :) He's wearing 24 month shorts (thanks to cloth diapers, other wise he'd be in 18 months), and 2T shirts. His one piece pjs are 2t and 3t. He is growing more and more loving by the day and follows directions so well (of course sometimes he needs a reminder to listen and obey, but does really well). He talks constantly, in sentences, that... go... on... fore v e r. It's so cute. He loves to talk and really enjoys learning words. Everything and everyone must have a name and he must know it. He's also really good at making us laugh and he knows it. He loves to swim, squeal, slide, run, tickle, chase, dance, and do anything with fun and laughter involved.

Nathan is talking constantly and it's so fun to see what's going on inside his head. One evening I was pointing out the stars to him... our conversation went like this...

Mommy: Nathan, do you see the stars?

Nathan: up there. way up there.

M: that's right, way up in the sky.

N: nay nay hold 'em

M: they're too high to hold them, but we can look at them.

N: nay nay touch 'em, nay nay bounce 'em

M: you want to bounce the stars?!

N: yeah.

He chains words together in long sentences(6-7 words) and strings his thoughts together well. He is so much fun to talk to. He repeats everything we say and then reuses it again in the correct context. For example... while at a church picnic, I left the table to get more food for someone. Nathan says, rather loudly, "mommy, mommy, KATIE, come here, eat eat." So funny! Chad and I laugh because he's learned our "real" names and when we don't immediately respond to mommy and daddy, he calls us by our names. Hysterical!

These are some of our favorite phrases:

"see dat car? Nay nay ride it? please?"

"BBBBIIIIIIGGGG hug"

"paci? no bear pillow yes"

"bailey poop, blahhh, yucky, hold it? nooooo"

"Nay Nay do it"

"nay nay ride in beesa van?"

"nay nay big helper"

"baileycake, bailey's a gooooood girl"

"love you soooo much"

"t-t-t-t-fruck"

This little one also LOVES to open and close doors. He can't quite reach the handles to our storm doors, but he loves to pretend he's going outside all by himself and close the big door and squeeze between the storm door and big door, all the while saying so matter of factly, "bye bye mommy, see ya, peace out"

And yes, that is a life jacket he's wearing, and no we weren't going swimming, he just likes to wear it... for long periods of time... daily... while indoors. He's also a fan of wearing it in the boat and in the pool! :) So long to the yellow float (this one). We've moved up to a life jacket which is safer and less obtrusive, and much cuter... don't you think!

In terms of eating, OH MY GOODNESS, this kiddo has quite the appetite! He can throw down some food like no other I've seen. He eats most everything except spicy food, pasta (except in spaghetti and lasagna), and anything hot temperature wise. He's learned about dessert too and loves it! The other day, we went to chic-fil-a with friends and I got a 12 pack nugget to split between the two of us. (He had already had 1/2 of the fruit cup from there and a huge breakfast). He ate 8 chicken nuggets (compared to my 4) and was still hungry. So was mom! So I got another 12 pack and before I knew it, he'd eaten 6 more nuggets. People that's 14 chicken nuggets. Insane. I told Chad, who quickly reminded me (thank you baby) that he doesn't need to eat 14 nuggets - 6 is plenty. So, I'm doing better balancing out the portions of not as healthy foods. :) Point of this story, my child can eat, and some how does it without gaining much weight at all and still keeping his very muscular body! :)

Things Nathan loves to...

sit in chairs

play outside, anytime, day or night, even in the rain

swing high, so high the swing almost flips

find rocks and sticks and then carrying them throughout our whole walk

play in the "rock pit" - a big pot hole in the center of our cul-de-sac.

"hold that", "see that", "touch that"

ride in Bethany's (aka Beesa) van (He asks to do this DAILY)

dump, pour, throw, all things boys LOVE!

push strollers, especially Izzy's stroller

be in the water... bath, pool, lake, you name it and he's in it! This month, he's jumped off the diving board, the dock, and the back of the boat!

jump on the couch and dive into the pillows

He's also learned to go down the stairs by holding onto the rail. He's really proud of himself and says, "wait for mommy, mommy first. nay nay do it by yourself. be careful"

Nathan is really good at...

identifying different balls and naming their function (dribble a basketball, hit a baseball...)

identifying different kinds of trucks and big machines both on the road and in books - his favorites to find on the road are excavators, car transporters, diggers, and brush rigs.

counting to 10 and is learning to count a specific number of objects (3 crackers)

telling us when he's pooping or peeing or when he needs a new diaper

staying away from Bailey's poop in the back yard

identifying people's cars in parking lots or on the road... every gold van is Beesa's, every silver Honda-ish car is Kristin's, every blue jag-ish car is YaYa's, you get the picture.

cleaning up his toys

memorizing his books and reading them to us

being a "good helper" - which he now calls himself

saying please, thank you, and your welcome with out prompting

running

jumping

turning in circles

throwing

recounting his day...

For example...

Daddy: Nathan what did you do today?

Nathan: tumblebees, run, jump

D: did you have fun at tumblebees?

N: yeah. carolyn and barb

D: did you see your teachers?

N: yeah.

N: walk to car. hot hot.

D: you walked to the car?

N: yeah. hot hot

D: the car was hot?

N: yeah. eat lunch caleb and jennifer

D: great. What else did you do with them?

N: see a monster truck. no touch it. not ours.

D: that's right we don't touch things that aren't ours.
N: run down da hill.

D: did you run fast?

N: yeah.

I love these conversations, as does Chad, and I need to capture them on video because they are so precious! My child definately has a southern accent! No doubt!

I love how he squats to do his puzzles and read books on the floor. It's such a Nathan thing! I also love the way he opens the garage door, says "dark in here" and closes the door - about 6 times each day. I love the way he giggles when he poots and says "biiiiiiiig poot. scuse me". I also love the way he says "lift up your bootie" and "bootie cream" when it's time for those things. I also love the way he sings and how many songs he knows! Here's a video from about a month ago...

He knows Jesus Loves Me, Jesus Loves the Little Children ("all the children"), Oh How He Loves You and Me (" oh howie"), Do Lord Oh Do Lord, Allelu allelu allelu, Twinkle Twinkle, The BIBLE, Turn your eyes upon Jesus, Row Row Row, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, ABC's, He's got the whole world in his hands, Wheels on the Bus, Ring around the Rosie, and a few others I'm sure I'm forgetting.

Did I mention that Nathan loves balls? And throwing balls?

He loves to sit in his chair and read.

Really... more play time in the life jacket. :)

Nathan you are such a sweet boy and we love you very very very much!!!