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!

Happy Seven Month Birthday Natey!

I know, I know. Where have I been? BUSY. This whole working mom thing ain't no cakewalk, sweetheart. I meant to do a Mother's Day post where I talked about how I have this new found appreciation of how my mom managed to do it all, but I didn't have time. Oh, the i-rony.

You know who else has been busy? This guy:

He doesn't look all that busy in this pic, but his little mind is churning, believe you me. This kid has got tricks up his sleeve and schemes in the pipeline. Have you seen him crawl yet? Ok, he hasn't actually crawled yet. But he totally wants to. See?





He can basically move every which way but crawling. And walking, of course. He likes to pivot around in a circle and can roll with the best of them. Whereas I used to be able to just put him down and walk away, I now return to sights like this one:

And then we get issues like this:

Yes, it's child-proofing time, folks. I made the mistake of attempting to put child-proof locks on the cabinets under the kitchen sink earlier today. Seven words, people: there has to be a better way. Seriously.

I know what you're thinking. "She left the room and he managed to get himself nekkid?" No, hate to disappoint there. The little man can't undress himself yet. He just rolled himself over and was nowhere near where I'd left him. And how could I resist posting a shot of his cute little hiney?

He's also talking up a storm. His new favorite vowel-consonant combo is "ah-dah-dah-dah!" he says that a lot. Today he started making what sounds kind of like an S sound. But I think he's actually going for a TH sound, because he then started giggling when I said any word that began with a soft TH sound. Check it:




It was hilarious. If you're wondering what that is on his bottom lip, it's a piece of a puff that he actually managed to get into his mouth and eat. We've been experimenting with them, as well as some other chunkier purees. It's a process. He does like the puffs, and he can get one in his hand and even bring it up to his mouth, but he has trouble actually depositing the puff in said mouth. It usually ends up slobbered on and glued to his palm. Then he'll start banging the high chair tray and laughing. He loves to slap surfaces repeatedly, including his knee. It's earned him the new nickname of Bam Bam.

One thing we have discovered is that this kid is definitely not a vegetarian. See?

He always opens wide for meat. He loves chicken, turkey and beef. Although I think he prefers the chicken and turkey. He really doesn't dig green beans, but will eat them if you mix in some apples. A boy after my own heart. Meat and dessert.

He's still digging the bath. He's stitting so well that when I'm not washing his hair, I'll bathe him sitting up. I don't have a picture of that, but here's one of him making a greedy grab for ALL the bath toys.

Sadly, we're back on the nebulizer with Nate. This time, they put him on a steroid and said he should continue it twice a day for a month. A MONTH. It's ridiculous. It's supposedly preventative. God, I hope so. He hates it so much. But now he's started napping while we do it. It just takes forever. I have few precious moments (literally) with this kid on weeknights. I hate that most of that is now taken up by this stupid machine. Also, I would like him to not sound like a saw when he breathes.

In the category of most convenient talents, Nate has started holding his own bottle (well, he's been doing that several weeks now). It's great. I'm running late for swim lessons this morning, so I just pop a bottle in his mouth and as long as I'm holding him (with one arm, mind you) in a semi-reclined position, he's eating away and I can go about the mad dash to get us out the door. So awesome.

Nate and I are off on our second trip together in a couple days. We're going with Mimi to Chicago. First for work and then to visit with Uncle John and Aunt Carrie and cousins Gaby and Chloe. Nate is super excited. Well, he will be once we get there. And once Mom figures out the packing situation already. Rough stuff. We don't get a lot of time with family, but when we do, we always have fun:





But we're going to miss Daddy like crazy:

We Have a Sitter!

Remember my last post? Bereft of pictures or video? Well, hold onto your hats, kids. You're in for a treat today.

We've had a great week here in the House of Nate. He has been all smiles and happiness, despite the fact that I think he might be getting another tooth in, this time on top. Most exciting is the fact that Nate is starting to sit up on his own. So exciting.

Here's Nate about 5 days ago:



And here's Nate day before yesterday:



See how he's still kinda wobbly but rights himself pretty well? He's doing even better as of today. It's pretty awesome. See how pleased with himself he looks?



Today, we took a nice trip to the park with Nate's cousin, JD. Nate tried the swings for the very first time. He was a fan, see?



And here's a shot of him with that green and purple dinosaur I was telling you all about:



Every night during the bath when I give it to him, it's like I can hear his brain saying, "OMIGODOMIGODOMIGOD!!!" It's hilarious.

And here's a picture of him looking adorable. Just because

Nate Learns to Love Shots

Ok, not really. But we had a great six month visit to his doctor. Nate is now 19 lbs. 6 ozs. and is 27 1/4 inches. He apparently peaked at four months in terms of the chubby factor. He's dropped to the 85th percentile for weight and the 75th for height. He is still in the 75th percentile for head circumference.

His heart and lungs sounded great and the doc was happy with his gross motor development. And she said his head looks great! No helmet for Nate! Phew. All that time spent in the jumperoo has paid off, Buddy.

She said we could start feeding Nate meat, so we just went ahead last night. Have y'all ever had pureed chicken? It smells like cat food and tastes like cardboard. Actually, that's not true. It tastes like chicken. But like chicken that was way overcooked and dried out before it was pureed. It has a grainy texture to it. Anyway, Nate L.O.V.E.D. it. He doesn't open that wide for anything except prunes and apples. This kid is a carnivore! After my own heart.

He did actually do pretty well with his shots this time. Far less tears, and he seemed to be in good sprits the rest of the day, which is quite different from his two month and four month visits. Our little champ is getting tough.

This post has to be short and sweet, and I have no new pics. I know, I'm awful.

It's Been How Long?

This kid will be six months old on Thursday. SIX MONTHS! I can't believe a half a year has just breezed on by. And how different life is! Shall we do a then and now?

Then:

I think Nate was about 2 weeks old in that pic. What a cutie pie.

And now:

Right? He's just his own little person now, isn't he? And he is, indeed, totally handsome. Can you spy his two, count 'em, two little teeth on the bottom?

It's so great to see his personality emerging. He is a very happy little (ok, huge) guy. He loves to talk and loves to make new friends. He's independent, but not a loner by any stretch. He likes peas and loves apples. In his pack of bath toys, he could care less about the tiger in the scuba mask, but goes bananas for the green and purple dinosaur (I keep meaning to get video of that -- he seriously gets a look on his face like he is in total and complete amazement that something so awesome exists in the real world). He loves his bath to the point that if he is so exhausted that he breaks down and throws a serious fit, you can just put him down on the bath mat, run the water and say "are you ready for your bath?" and, all of a sudden, he's smiling and squealing like the bath was all he's ever wanted in this world.

This weekend was pretty exciting for Nate. He had his first swim lesson at the rec center near our house. When the instructor told us the water was cold, I was a little hesitant. I thought he might tolerate it, but that's it. Well, hello Mr. Phelps. Our little dude LOVES the pool. Once he got used to it, he spent about half the lesson laughing and giggling, especially at his cousin, JD. I can't wait to go back next weekend. It was awesome.

Nate (and Mom) also met Nate's new cousin Mary for the first time. She is such a precious bundle of sweetness. It was wonderful to (a) be able to hold such a young baby again and (b) realize that Nate's not that helpless anymore. Soon enough, they'll be old enough that the six month difference in their ages will seem like nothing. That will be fun for them. See, they're already trying to hold hands:

N'aw.

We've got some milestones that Nate has been working on diligently. Just this weekend, he's starting to get the raspberry down. So, watch for flying spit when you come to visit. Seriously though, I love blowing raspberries at him, he always laughs or smiles. Now he can do it back. The other milestone he's working on his his unsupported sitting. See?

Ok, so he can only do it for a few seconds before he falls over, but he's getting much better. I can't wait to be able to put him down sitting up and have him amuse himself with toys on the floor. Oh, and he can start to play with different kinds of toys like rings and buckets and all kinds of stuff that aren't as easy to play with on his back. I love it.

I've lately been pondering life's little ironies that have seemed to crop up in our lives with Nate. Because of him, I'm now always awake early enough to eat the world's best egg and cheese sandwich, which is only available until 10:15 a.m., but I can't eat the cheese now because Nate can't have the dairy. Most importantly in the amusing ironies category is the fact that Nate shares a birthday with his great grandma Anne, but he has the world's craziest hair (Grandma Anne had a serious thing about hair).

Here's one last picture, for good measure:

Nate Meets His Fur Cousin

So I totally forgot to mention in the last post full of firsts that Nate met his fur cousin Theo for the first time! It wasn't actually his first time seeing/meeting a dog, but it was the first time when he was old enough to care. Last time, he was about 2 and a half months and wasn't interested in anything that wasn't directly in his face.

Anyway, I wish I had a picture. They got along famously. Every morning, Theo would run down the stairs and come up and sniff Nate and Nate would bat at Theo's nose. Theo, as the older and wiser cousin, definitely took Nate under his wing. When Nate would cry, Theo would cry. And stand guard to the bedroom. It was adorable. Just as Theo welcomes me as part of his pack when I come for a visit, he did the same for Nate. I felt totally comfortable leaving Nate alone to play with Theo around.

He also is cutting his second tooth. Already! I guess it's better to get them over with together, right? It's the other bottom tooth, right next to the first one.

He also has now met his future college roommate, Lucas (son of my old roommate), who is a little over a month older than Nate. They got along famously! Ok, they totally ignored each other. But we had a wonderful visit from Lucas and his sisters, mom and Mimi. I have some pics, but they're on the other camera. The picture at the bottom here is from our trip to the American History Museum today. He loved it! Ok, he cried a bunch because he couldn't fall asleep and then he finally conked out for an hour. Good times.

To make up for the lack of Nate/Theo and Nate/Lucas pics, here are some random ones:

Why so many of him sleeping? BECAUSE HE'S ADORABLE, THAT'S WHY.

Nate the Jet Setter

OMG, remember when I was going to try to update weekly? Sheesh. So much for that. This kid is FIVE MONTHS OLD! He is such a little person now. He is constantly smiling and giggling and is just way more fun than I ever thought possible. He is still very vocal. He loves to talk and squeal, especially when my coworker and I are trying to talk in the car on the way home from work and daycare. He wants to participate in the discussion! I think his first words will probably come somewhat early. Yesterday, he said "gump!" very matter of factly and then he said "boo." Is gump a word? He clearly was trying to express something with it.

Anyway, the last month has been full of firsts. Firstly of the firsts is, as you know, Nate had his first solid foods. I had to give up on the cereals. He wasn't having it. But now I've reintroduced them into fruits, so at least he's getting his iron. Things Nate seems to like so far are avocado and prunes. He tolerated carrots pretty well too. I think he really enjoys the act of eating, more than the taste. Even when he's making faces about the food I'm giving him, he still gets excited when the spoon is coming and opens wide. It's all practice so far anyway.

Secondly of the firsts is that Nate had his first flight across the country! I had a trip for work, so Nate came with me to San Diego to visit with Aunt Julie and Uncle Chris. I then flew up to Reno to introduce Nate to almost the whole Welco clan. It was great fun. Nate didn't do too badly on the flights, except our jaunt up to Reno, which was 2 hours delayed. No fun. It took him about 3 days to adjust to the time difference, so that's good to know.

Thirdly of the firsts is that, while in SD, we took Natey swimming for the first time! What with our seemingly endless winter, I've been itching to get this kid in swim diapers for quite some time. I think he lasted all of two minutes in the water. It wasn't really warm enough out, but it was still fun to try. Here, see for yourself:






Are you feeling bombarded with all the firsts? Steel yourself for another one, folks, because this guy has got his first tooth!


Ok, this picture is totally blurry, but it's there, I swear! So far, he hasn't bitten me. Well, hard anyway. We'll see how that goes....

Want some more pictures? Here ya go: