Goodbye Nursing

Well, not really. I'm sloooooowly weaning Nate with my goal being to get him taking formula for his 3-4 midday bottles and then have him still nursing first thing in the morning and last thing at night. The reason? I could lie and say it's because breastmilk is best for him (totally true). But the reason is a selfish one. I just can't give up the snuggles in the morning.




As many of you know, back in December, when Nate was but a wee thing of two months, he had some digestive issues with the one bottle of formula he was getting. We switched him to a soy formula and never looked back. Though he actually hadn't had any formula at all since March, and that was an aberration. He would sometimes get a bit of a rash on his face after eating it, but I figured if that was the only symptom of any intolerance, no problem. Until a few weeks ago. Let's just say we had quite a bit of vomiting and it was determined that we are done with the soy. Don't worry. He was none the worse for wear.

I should say that it's possible that we had a bad batch of formula. It was a new cannister. Of course, the thought that the food I'm buying my son could make him that sick is frightening. Another reason to hold onto the nursing. But I digress...

So we've turned back to cow's milk based formula and, aside from some minor digestive troubles (nothing that prunes won't fix), he's doing well. I'm doing a mix of breastmilk and formula in each bottle and slowly increasing the amount of formula. Very slowly. The only thing I don't like about this transition is all the pumping. Have I mentioned? I hate pumping.
Aside from our adventures in digestion, Nate is doing beautifully at eight whole months old (can you believe it?). As we were just discussing young Nathaniel way back in December, you might remember that he used to be quite the butterball:


He's now really started to stretch out those limbs and slim down a bit. I can actually see his chin now. And he seems to have a single neck.

Isn't that just the cutest picture ever?

Remember back when he had ginormous feet and we bathed him next to bottles of booze?

Well, now he's an old pro. Splashing and playing with toys and sitting up like a big boy.


Sometimes he tries to crawl out.

I'm thinking it'll be a while before he gets there. Hey there, handsome.

If you recall, Nate got his first two bottom front teeth way back in April. Lest you feared that he would end up looking like James William Bottomtooth III, fear no longer. His top two front teeth are coming in oh so nicely. See?

Those sweet gummy smiles are a thing of the past. And you have no idea how hard it was to snap this picture. This kid does not like when you try to have a look at his teeth. He's quite private about them. But he's doing a nice job letting me brush them, at least.

He's also putting them to good use with the finger foods. Self feeding has been a little difficult. Nate will down rice cakes like it's nobody's business:

But he has trouble once we get into bits of fruit and vegetables. They're slippery and harder for him to pick up. It usually just frustrates him. Though today he did really well with some scrambled egg yolks.

Otherwise, he's a fantastic eater. When he's really wanting it, his hands get all spastic and he starts GRUNTING at me. It's hilarious. Check it:

You guys, this little dude is so close to crawling. Seriously. Ok, I know I've been saying that for a month now. He gets up on his hands and knees pretty well. And then he goes backwards:



Oops. Once he gets onto the hardwood, forget it. It's just slip sliding all over the place from there on out.



He'll get there eventually.

Y'all want some more pictures? Ok, here ya go:


Just before bathtime.

Wishing Granddaddy a happy Father's Day.

Bein' adorable:

And here's a video to make you all jealous of how fun my baby is.

So Many Pictures!

Ok, I know I've been missing in action, but I'm making up for it with a bazillion pictures and some video. Here's the goods folks:

Nate's top two front teeth have begun to break through, so no need for him to wish for them for Christmas. He must need all these teeth early because he's such an awesome eater. He is becoming quite the pro at picking up pieces of food AND depositing them in his gaping maw. Unfortunately, he's great at it when the pieces are big enough for him to pick up. But, depending on the food, sometimes that means the pieces are too big for him to eat without choking. It's a fine line. So far he loves rice cakes and basically any kind of baked good or bread product. See?

Ok, you can't see anything. But this was the first cake that Nate got a taste of. Granddaddy's birthday cake, specifically (more on that later), here eagerly anticipated by Nate's cousins Gaby and Chloe.

I also just recently gave Nate some smushed peas and scrambled egg yolks (not together). He loved both. And small pieces of avocado. He's really getting into this chewing thing.

He's getting even closer to crawling too. See?




And:




But he hasn't been practicing it that much because he really just wants to do this:



Seriously. He would do that all. day. long. His new thing is that when he's sitting up, he sort of rocks back and forth on his butt. I call it his boot scoot. Unfortunately, I haven't gotten any good video of it yet. He won't boot scoot on command.

Nate has his second work trip with Mom and his second trip via airplane. He did wonderfully. See?

We had a great time in Chicago, first in a hotel and then with Aunt Carrie and Uncle John, along with Mimi, Granddaddy, and cousins Gaby and Chloe. We got to celebrate Granddaddy's birthday. And there was lots of cousin time. They were so nice to share their toys:

Nate had another go at the swings with much success:

Nate also had lots of Mimi time:

We hung out at the lake at the Legenskis' house:

Nate took his first little train ride and his first carousel ride at Blackberry Farm:

It was super hot. Hence Nate's expression on the train. We left soon after that.

The following weekend, we had a great visit from Grandma and Grandpa. They got him all to themselves much of Sunday and all of Tuesday, and they got some great pictures:

Stand me up! Stand me up!

That hair is killing me.

And this past weekend, we all took a road trip down to Charlottesville for cousin Mary's baptism. We had a fabulous time with Mary, Aunt Angela, Uncle Eric, Mimi, Granddaddy and Uncle John.

Nate loved every minute:

He got in some more standing practice:

The baptism also happened to be Nate's first time in a church. Sadly, Rob's son has no sense of decorum:

There was lots of vocalization and banging on this chair, which was better than the previous fussing.

Nate loves feeling new surfaces. This was his first encounter with brick. How exciting:

Here are a couple extra pictures, because my son is adorable and I was playing around with my camera.

Mmmm...spit up....






And here is some video. Nate's first spin at the Peeyanna:

Phew!