2 Years old!!!

I am incredibly behind on blogging, but nonetheless, here is Nathan's 1 month late 2 year update! Thankfully, I've written down the update info so hopefully I won't get it confused with what is now going on! :)

To start out with... our little man has always had an affinity for soft, fuzzy, silky blankies. Here he is at 6 months asleep in his bed. No, I didn't lay these on him, HE did. If you took them off of his face, he'd put them right back on. Thank you Jesus for the Angel Care Monitor!

7 months... still snuggling with blankets but by now, it's face down in the blankets...
At 2 years, he's still a lover of soft fuzzy silky blankies, and must sleep with at least 2, if not 3. He has a particular way they must be in his crib and is quite good at arranging them that way even in the middle of the night. Such a sweet boy!
Random Nathan facts/updates:

-he always takes something to bed, usually a car or one of the wonder pets and he usually sleeps on his right side

-he loves coffee and will take a sip whenever offered the chance

-he remembers EVERYTHING and NOTHING gets past him

-he has no fear of dogs but has a healthy fear of cats

-he enjoys getting his hair cut and sits in the chair all by himself

-he loves to eat a banana the way we do... peeling the skin off bite by bite; he loves to eat an apple by biting the big apple... he eats it all (stem, seeds, and core).

-he and Bailey are the best of buddies and antagonize each other just as much. They play together daily and have their own little games. They are precious to watch!

-he eats almost everything except for: mac and cheese, zucchini, plain pasta, and spicy food

-he is INCREDIBLY sensitive to chocolate and almost as sensitive to sugar. (Chocolate hypes him up so much I feel he's a danger to himself!)

-his favorite tv show is the Wonder Pets and he knows almost every episode by heart... that doesn't take much though because he memorizes everything he hears (including his books) and has most memorized after the first few reads/"listens".

-he's beginning to do more pretend play and loves to scoop things out of books and taste things on the pages.

-he's very tactile and loves clothes, shoes, blankets, etc that are made of fleece, sherpa, velour, or anything super soft.

Nathan's birthday present from mom and dad was a train table and he LOVES it. He plays with it several times a day and has learned to be so careful with the tracks. I put it together with double sided tape, but the 2nd level rails are not taped down. This is a toy that will last for years to come!


More updates:

-Nathan talks non stop, literally, and amazes us with the things he says and knows. The other morning, I listened as Chad went into his room first thing to get him out of bed. This is an excerpt of the actual conversation that I jotted down as it was said...

C: good morning buddy!

N: Hey daddy! Did Naynay sleep good? Ooooh I did. Dady get you out? (As Chad lifts him out of the crib and puts him on the floor, the conversation continues...) I need my blue car. Oh! Look at the Christmas tree with the pretty lights. The green light is so high I can't reach it. I touch pink instead. Daddy, they're not hot. Daddy see the lights? Looky there, an ornament. Look daddy, there's big bird and elmo. Look daddy, there are some green balls and some blue balls.

C: (trying to get a word in edgewise) Are you ready for a diaper change?

N: Ohhhh okay daddy. First we change Nay Nay's diaper and THEN we eat a waffle. How about a waffle first instead? Daddy cook the waffle? Daddy eat a waffle. NayNay LOVES waffles. Nay Nay drink some milk too. Look at the snow! It's beautiful! Is it so pretty daddy? Nay Nay wants to play in it. Daddy, I need a hat and gloves to play in it. OH, I wear a hat and boots, but no gloves. I need my hands to use. Daddy, NayNay play in the snow in the backyard and mommy and Bailey and daddy too? Oh yeah! That's awesome. Lets go daddy. Where is my blue car?

C: I would love to play in the snow and I'm not sure where your blue car is, but I bet we'll find it.

N: Is it in here? I see the red car but where is the blue one? Is it in here? It's not. Daddy where blue car? NayNay needs to find it. OHHHH! I know, it's downstairs. It is! Lets go downstairs and I get it. NayNay wait for daddy; Daddy go first. Daddy hold you so you don't fall down the stairs? I hear a reindeer! You hear that? Don't worry daddy, the wonder pets will save the reindeer...

and on and on and on and on!

I told you he was a talker!

Nathan, while incredibly stubborn and strong willed, listens well most of the time. He has begun to talk back to us, but we're trying to deal with that quickly while remembering that he's only 2. In general, he's an easy going kid who has an agenda and an opinion, but can be easily swayed from those. He loves to interact with people, and quickly starts up conversations with people (adults and kids) he knows and often with those he doesn't. He also needs alone time and is good about going off by himself when he needs that time to recharge.
He is very curious and wants to know what everything is called, how it works, what everyone is doing, and yes, he wants to touch everything! :) I love it!
Two funny stories: The other day, while eating lunch, Nathan knocked his milk off the table. I warned him that if it happened again, he would go to time out. He deliberately knocked it off the table, looked at me and said, "mommy, NayNay needs to go to time out... in the red chair by the Christmas tree." He was mad when I put him in time out on the floor out of sight of the Christmas tree. Upon questioning as to why I put him in time out, he looked at me and said "probably not". Then he smiled and said, "NayNay threw his cup on the floor. That not okay. You may drink your milk, not throw your milk. Alright your momma." Such a funny kid.

The other story... while drinking a v8 drink from a can, I dropped Nathan off for Sunday School. He kindly informed his Sunday School teacher that mommy brought her beer into church and offered her a sip. :) I laughed out loud and about spewed v8 everywhere!
Nathan says his best friend is Izzy. He also requests to spend time with Madison, Alaina, Colton, and Karmyn. He asks to call YaYa almost daily and has learned to carry on a conversation on the phone. It's hysterical to hear what he says and thinks of!

Nathan can't stand going to the dentist, but is surprisingly well mannered while there and very compliant. He did tell me he'd rather go to the doctor instead of the dentist. :)

He loves for me to hold his foot while we're riding in the car.

He can sit in a big boy chair when needed although usually sits in a booster or high chair.

He loves babies and is really good with them most of the time. He shows no signs of jealousy when I'm holding another baby. He does get a little territorial over Mommy when his biddies are around though. :)

He has started "singing" more and more songs and knows most of the Christmas songs, tons of Sunday School songs, and the theme songs to several shows. He has memorized "Twas the Night Before Christmas". He can "read" books to others as long as he's seen it before (since it's memorized).

Nathan LOVES to see the moon and the stars and now has them on his ceiling!
We've had his rocker since day one... here is a size comparisons of him laying in the rocker...

Nathan at 12 weeks...
Nathan at 2 years!
Nathan gives the greatest hugs in the world. He wraps his hands around your neck and squeezes so tight! I love it!!!!!
Nathan weighed 30 pounds 10 ounces at his 2 year check up (80th%) and was 35 inches tall (75%). He wears size 3t shirts (due to his long arms and broad shoulders), and 2t and 3t pants. He wears an 8w in shoes, although some 8m's fit him. He loves to wear his toboggans too!

He sleeps from 730 am to 8am on most days (often waking and quietly playing until 830am). He naps from 1-330/345 usually, but always wakes around 215 cries out once or twice, rolls over and goes back to sleep. He can sleep through any noise at night, but is super easy to wake during the day.

At night, loves to read the Bible with Daddy and every night they get on their knees and pray. It makes me tear up almost every time! At meals, before we eat, Nathan folds his hands and says, "Thank you Jesus for our food, in Jesus name, Amen."
More random Nathan tidbits:

-he loves to be held and snuggled

-he loves to read books

-he loves to brush and floss his teeth

-he's an excellent climber and has no fear of heights and sees no piece of playground equipment unconquerable

-he usually drinks milk (skim now) and water, although occasionally I'll add a little gatorade, lemonade or juice to his water if there's a need to push fluids. His first choice in beverage is always milk.

-he uses both hands almost equally, although favors his right a tiny bit (55/45). While eating, coloring, playing, etc he switches between hands. I find it fascinating and wonder if he will be ambidextrous!

-he loves to have "tower" socks (socks pulled all the way up his shins)

-he's incredibly observant, even when you don't realize it... on day, while holding my keys, he informed me that the yellow key opens Beesa's door and the green key opens NayNay's door (key colors have been changed to protect their actual identity :) )

-Nathan goes up and down stairs with ease. He goes up standing and crawling, and can go down on his bottom, belly, and standing with and without holding on to the rail. This makes me very nervous!

While he talks nonstop, not all of his words are pronounced correctly. Some of my favorite Nathan-isms are:

hewlecopter (helicopter)

Fismas fee (Christmas tree)

fib (crib)

dat (that)

mell (smell)

nack (snack)

frain (train)

fick or feet (trick or treat)

Recently, Nathan has become a huge helper in the kitchen. He loves to set the table and has taken quite an interest in helping to cook. Since his daddy does the majority of the cooking, he's got a great male role model and I'm so thrilled to see Chad pass down his love of cooking to Nathan!

Nathan had some trouble several months back with red urine with a strong ammonia smell. We spent countless hours with nephrologists, urologists, pediatricians, dieticians, etc only to find out that there was no obvious physical cause that they could find. After much frustration and unanswered questions, I put some "a friend of mind had a child with that and they did..." stories together and thought that maybe it was blood in his urine from some other trigger. One friend said when her kiddo played contact sports, he had red urine. Another said that when her husband rode a bike, he had red urine... That led us to change 3 things... We took Nathan out of cloth diapers to see if he was allergic to the detergent or fabric; we stopped gymnastics because he loved to crash and usually landed on his crotch; we stopped attending swimming lessons 2 hours away due to the pressure of the buckle on his crotch. Low and behold, the pink urine and ammonia smell went away! We've put Nathan back in cloth diapers (expect for nap and bedtime or extended rides in the car) and have not seen it come back! For now, we're sticking to more local activities with less of a crash factor and praising the Lord that it wasn't anything more serious!!!

All in all, our little man is doing fabulously and is loving being 2! He's gaining so much independance and the days fly by so fast! Thanks for keeping up with our blog and keeping us in your prayers! :)

Happy 2nd birthday little man! Your mommy and daddy love you so much!!!