42 weeks

On the move as always!

Big news... one of Nathan's bottom teeth has broken the skin! You can't see it really well, but you can certainly feel it! It appears that the one beside it will be here any day as well. This leads me to a new mommy question... in the baby book, when it asks you when they got their first tooth, do you write the day it breaks the skin, or the day that it looks like a tooth and is all the way out? How long does it take to go from barely emerged to fully functioning chomper?
It's tought to get pictures of these pearly whites, but I'll keep trying! For now, here's another one from before the tooth broke the skin.

Nathan is reaching an age where he's learning that he has a will, desires of his own, and is beginning to throw "mini-fits". I had no clue that discipline or training began so young. Or maybe I did but just didn't realize how fast it gets here. We're learning what is okay and what is a no around the house. Dog's bowl, spindles on the landing, tv remotes, mom/dad's cell phone, our keys, fireplace, outlets, cords... those are some of the "no's". We're signing "no" as well as saying it, in a gentle voice, "Nathan, that's a no no" or "no" or "that's a no" and he's actually responding. Especially when we appear to be turning back to whatever we were doing. The one time this doesn't work... when he tries to roll on the changing table. Wow, what a struggle! Apparently, we've not been consistent in making him lie still while we change his diaper, and we've only made it worse by allowing him to hold something in his hands while he's on the changing table. He reaches, no lunges, for everything on the dresser and will arch his back and scream when told no. He'll actually try to roll over and off of the changing table if you're not careful and man, can that boy kick his legs. I don't think he's trying to kick me, but wow, the kiddo is strong! For other mom's out there, how have you handled discipline and training at this age?

Updates on the little man. He's cruising on any and everything, couches, chairs, toys, windows, anything. He's also able to push objects and walk behind them. We've not tried objects with wheels, but things that slide on the floor he's doing very well with. He will walk with great balance as long as you hold his fingers, and sometimes if you just hold one. He's still scared to try it on his own yet.

My cousin, Tanya, had her second little one last week and on Monday, we went to Charlotte to meet little Ava Grace. She's such a cutie. Ginga was at Tanya's house helping her with Jenna and we were so happy to spend some time with Ginga. She was so tickled with the way that Nathan crawls with one foot flat on the floor! It was so good to see her as well as Tanya, Jenna, Jon, and little Ava Grace.


This week's big boo boo's...
Nathan pulled the vacuum cleaner down onto himself. It landed first on his head, slid down his cheek and landed in his lap. He was okay, but was not a happy camper.

Also this week, Nathan leaned forward in a chair and about fell out. Thankfully the arm of the chair caught him by his chin. It didn't really leave a mark, but he was fairly perturbed about the situation.

Favorite games...
Peek a boo


Often it's peek a boo with only one eye covered!



climbing into and out of the school bus, or pulling it ontop of himself to get inside


chasing us when we crawl in front of him or when we chase him or crawl right over top of him
tickling games

New foods...
kidney beans, goldfish, hot sauce (thanks to his dad), animal crackers, V8 juice

Nathan is starting to show some separation anxiety, but only around the house, and only when he's tired. He loves to call for me, and climbs up my legs all the time. He will still go to anyone and has no problem being dropped off in the nursery or with a babysitter.

New signs... Nathan will sign more, dog, ball, light, and maybe fan. We're working on all done, milk, baby, up, down, airplane, eat, and drink.

New words... no new words but he's getting more consistent with telling people bye bye while he waves. Sometimes he gets shy, but usually he's quick to wave and say bye bye. He also says ball and more.

Accomplishments... Nathan can climb our entire set of stairs, and needs a constant body behind him (he still turns around to look down and often will lose his balance), but he can now make it all the way to the top.

Nathan can squat without letting his butt touch the ground and then stand back up again.

He comes when he's called. :) Makes him sound like a dog, but it is a valuable skill.

He can also identify a baby in a book, can find a ball or Bailey when asked, and easily points out airplanes, birds, lights, and ceiling fans. He's learning to point as well.

Other than when he was sick, we only give him his paci and blankie when it's nap time or bed time and he's doing really well with it. If you give it to him during the day, he will often throw it on the ground!

He finally has enough hair in the back that he gets bed head back there after naps and in the morning!


Nathan stands and pulls up with no effort at all. Also, when he is sitting and wants to crawl toward something, he will just sort of leap from his but and land on his hands and knees. So funny!

Ain't life grand?



The boy loves door stops, especially the kind that go boooiiiiiing (we used to have those, but he was pulling the wite stoppers off and trying to eat them, so now we have plain white ones!).

Chasing Bailey

Playing in the playroom





Smiling happy boy

Wordless Wednesday

House update #16

I know that several of you are eagerly awaiting pictures of the new house... and I'm so sorry I haven't been able to deliver. We're having a hard time getting settled. Perhaps it is the constant come and go of contractors asking questions (landscaping, irrigation, sod, superintendent, carpet man, painter, stain man, cabinet man), or perhaps it is the fact that our little guy has been under the weather (and teething to add insult to injury), or maybe it's because we spend so much time wiping Bailey's feet after we've walked her a quarter mile to go pee (since we still don't have sod)... really I think it's because Chad has two jobs, our little man is always on the go and I'm simply overwhelmed with where everything should go. :) Nonetheless, here are a few pictures for you!

From here (I'm in the "living room", not to be confused with the "family room") you can see the kitchen, dining room, living room, and foyer! How many different things can you find on the floor?

The family room... my favorite part is the stacked stone fireplace (and all of the nick nacks thrown up there to get them out of the way of little hands).

Here are the stairs... and a dog bed, a bottle of paint, a baby towel, a bailey hair tumbleweed, and probably a few pieces of dust.

Chad and Nathan playing in his playroom... now we have great shelving (cubby bookcases) against the left wall and it's so much more organized. So roomy!

Kitchen cabinets, backsplash, etc

Really, I promise, one of these days, I'll get the opportunity to take some great pictures and I'll post them. Until then, I hope these will hold you over!

Do you see what I see?

Click on the picture to blow it up... do you see some pearly whites about to emerge?

41 weeks

This hasn't been the best of weeks. I take that back, last weekend and the beginning of the week were great, but Tuesday night, Nathan got sick and has been pathetic ever since. Poor baby boy!

I'll start this post with some fun pictures and the good parts!
First things first, we are in love with our neighborhood. Every afternoon, there are kids at my door asking to play with Nathan or Bailey. Every afternoon this week, I've spent at least half an hour next door sitting on the porch talking with Sydney, an amazing 15 year old girl. Chad and I are really thrilled about the relationships we're developing with Troy and Kim as well (Sydney's dad and step mom). They are so fun to hang out with and we have a lot in common! They are really easy to be around and we end up spending a little time together every day. Nathan enjoys hanging out with them too! They have a toy area just for him at their house and he plays with the toys almost every day. It's just so wonderful to feel the support around us and so close to home. They have all offered to sit with Nathan so that I can walk Bailey while Chad's still at work and that is a huge help! Not to mention Kim and Sydney are begging to babysit! This neighborhood is amazing and there are literally kids everywhere. Last night, there were three kids helping Chad make a huge raise bed for our shrubs. They were all out there with shovels and were so much help! I can't say enough about how we love it here and feel so much at home already... now if I could just get the boxes unpacked...

Nathan has been moving around so much! He continues to zoom around in his walker and that is so funny. He loves to chase Bailey in it and she's terrified of him running into her so she scurries away when he gets close! He's pulling up on everything and is really gaining quite a bit of balance when standing. He often only holds on with one hand and can bend down to a squat and stand back up without falling (while still holding on with one hand). He's crawling everywhere, sometimes with one foot flat and sometimes in the typical way, it really depends on the surface. He's also discovering new pieces of furniture and is trying to figure out how they work... here's a good example...

Playing piano and singing with daddy

Here are some videos of what he's been up to.

Playing peek a boo (he learned this week how to cover his eyes with his hands and thinks he's so funny)



Crawling and pulling up to stand

crawling in the bus

making the indian sound

Nathan signed dog this morning and I got it on video! So great. Unfortunately it's in the middle of a very long video and i'm not sure how to single out just that part. He's also learning to sign ball but it looks a lot like more when he signs it so it's hard to distinguish. At the doc on Thursday he was 22 pounds 8 ounces, so he's lost a little weight, but he has a little to spare so we're in good shape! He's learned to "give me 5" this week too! It's cute because he does it so gently. This morning, he knocked his noggin pretty good and has his first little "goose egg" on his head right above his eye brow. It's very tiny but still, it's a first. He's bumped his head before but not hard enough to make a knot. Here's a picture of it. (His face looks really fat because of the angle and the way he was holding his head... too funny!)

Playing in boxes


Playing in the bus

Trying to pull up on the bus window which results in the bus collapsing on top of him... which he loves.

Playing with a favorite toy

Standing at the gate at the stairs... a big no no, but I snapped a picture of his cute little thighs before I told him no (I know, bad parenting... oh well, it's bound to happen sometimes).

Smiling faces



Crawling around


You can tell in this pic that he's still not feeling well

So what exactly is wrong with the little man? Well, Tuesday night he woke up a few times screaming, but we thought it was his teeth. Wednesday morning he slept in until 815 and when I began to change his clothes, I noticed he had hives everywhere. He had probably 20 bright red patches and inside the patches were tiny little raised white bumps. I immediately called the on call nurse and they told me to watch him and give him benadryl. Here's what hives look like...

Although the benadryl made the original ones go away, he got more and they changed locations. When I laid him down for a nap, he woke up 20 minutes into it screaming, had a low grade fever and didn't want to eat or drink... so we called the doc and went to see them. They said that the rash was caused by a virus and it would go away in 5-7 days. Then, the doc checked his throat and it was bright red... so a strep test was done. Thankfully it came back negative. We went hoe with zyrtec for babies and were told to try to keep him comfortable and call if anything changed. Well, it was one heck of a night and Nathan was up every 45 minutes or so screaming bloody murder, he wouldn't swallow his spit and trying to get him to take tylenol proved to be challenging because it burned his throat going down. The next morning, he woke up at 545 sobbing and screaming and didn't stop for more than a few minutes until 845. Chad and I took turns holding him and trying to comfort him, but nothing really helped. He slept for 15 minutes and then was up screaming again. That was how the day went on Thursday... screaming and sobbing and no eating and very little drinking. POOR thing! He spent almost 4 hours laying on my chest watching the weather channel and praise baby, moaning and crying, and snoozing a little bit. We went back to the doctor and she found ulcers covering his throat and tonsils. No wonder he's miserable! Those things hurt! We managed to get motrin in him (which is an anti inflammatory and does much better than tylenol for this kind of thing) and the doc told us to try Popsicles and jello... both of which he loved! Poor little guy! The ulcers were caused by the virus and by Monday, he should be feeling much better! We've babied him a lot the past couple days and he's been getting his paci whenever he wants it and he's seemed to enjoy that, although today he started taking it out of his mouth and throwing it down... :) So, we're headed into a rainy weekend with a little guy who feels awful, but at least we're in it together!

unspectactular

I was tagged by my friend, Lauren, and asked to share 6 things about myself that are unspectacular... I think there are way more than 6, but here goes...

1. I enjoy using the ellipses (...) in most of my writing, and often overuse it.
2. I absolutely love wearing fuzzy clothes and shoes and can't wait for fall and winter to be here.
3. The weather channel is a true favorite pastime.
4. Dove chocolate helps me in my parenting.
5. I still feel 17 years old.
6. I always drink orange juice with my spaghetti.

So there you have it. I'll tag 6 more folks and you too can share 6 unspectacular things about yourself, if you choose!

The Smith Sequel
Balancing Beauty and Bedlam
Lucy Clement Photography
Soul Canticles
Bagpipe Fever
Pocket Change

Day at the Pool

On Monday, we spent some time at the pool practicing our swimming skills... I stayed on dry land and handled the videoing while Chad and Nathan got in the pool to swim! Here are some pics and video that you might enjoy!

Ready to go swimming! Off topic... but notice how tightly his shoulders fit in the stroller. Usually he sits at an angle to fit in there, it's kinda sad for him and for us. We'll be buying a new stroller soon just to accommodate his broad shoulders!



Click play to watch our little fish! You'll have to hold your head sideways for a few of them... I was using a different camera and I don't know how to rotate it on the computer!

splashing and learning to swim/float to the steps

Nathan is working on learning how to go under and make a 180 degree turn, first to us and then to the side or step. We've just started this skill.

Nathan's learning to float/swim from the steps or the edge of the pool to us. Too much fun to watch his face light up as he leaves the step. You can't really see it in this video, but in real life it's so sweet!


Nathan and daddy talking to a little girl about how she could go underwater too... all she had to do was learn to hold her breath and put her face in.

Really, it's that simple...the little girl even gave it a try because, she told us, "if a baby can do it, i can, cause I'm 4."

Silly faces