Nate update!

Nate is two and a half now and continues to do more and more every day.  His verbal skills have really taken off and he is mastering his two word sentences and is constantly mimicking what we say. 

He also loves singing!  I think the longest string of words he says is "Old McDonald had a farm."  He is ALWAYS asking to sing it.  Other favorites are Itsy, Bitsy Spider, Jesus Loves Me and Wheels on the Bus.  He has also started requesting "The Baby Song" (Rock a Bye Baby) and will climb in your lap and want you to rock him and sing.  We have no idea where this came from as it isn't something we ever did, but it's too adorable not to give in.  He will also go on to request "The Daddy Song" or "The Mommy Song" and want you to fill in other names.  This has gone on through several family members, even Sammy.

Nate is getting better about eating different foods and we are also working harder on eating meals as a family and not just giving in to his food requests (otherwise he would live off of granola bars and goldfish.)

Being a rambunctious 2 year old we are definitely having some battles of wills and starting to figure out what kinds of discipline are going to work best for us.  For weeks we were having lots of sleep time issues after we took his pacifier away.  He will take off his pajamas and destroy his room at times, but we have come up with ways to combat all of these behaviors.  Let me tell you, it is no fun to find your toddler naked and sitting on top of his (tall) dresser when you got to get him up in the morning. 

Nate enjoys school and seeing his friends at church.  He is always very excited to leave the house!  He is also so sweet with Cole and I know they are going to be good friends!  Nate will say "What's wrong, Cole?" when he's crying and will sometimes help put Cole to bed, saying "Night Night, Cole.  Sweet Dreams" 

His favorite playtime activities include stacking blocks, playing with his animals and his Thomas "cuter" (computer).  That was a great consignment sale find and has letter and number games that he loves.  As for tv shows he is more into Nick Junior shows like Yo Gabba Gabba and Backyardigans but still also loves Caillou.

First Day of School!

Nate had his first day of preschool for the year today!  He will go on Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 9-1.

I tried to take a picture before school and this is what he did.  Wasn't in the mood!

 Once at school he dove right in to doing puzzles and meeting new friends.

 His school has a fun aquarium with turtles!

He loves his new backpack!

I know it will be so much fun for him to tell me about his days this year, since last year he couldn't say much.  From today he "told" me that he recognized his friend Eli, who was in his class last year and that they sang Wheels on the Bus.

Cereal!

Feeding Nate his first cereal is one of my favorite memories...it's so funny how different it was for Cole.  I had been putting it off for a while and finally decided it was time.  He was not much of a fan....

Then with us making a big deal about cereal, Nate chimes in and says that he wants a bowl of cereal too!

Oh, these boys!

I'd been trying to shove rice cereal into Cole every night. He would be so tight lipped I'd have to make him laugh to get any in!  It was pretty frustrating. At his dr's appt I said that he wasn't a big fan and she said just to try a different kind of cereal- I didn't even think of that!  So, we have now switched to oatmeal cereal, which he loves!  I guess we will start fruits and veggies soon too.

Nate the Photographer

We were stuck at home one day last week when Nate ran a fever and I happened to find our old digital camera.  Thinking it might entertain him for a while I gave it to him....and he really enjoyed playing with it!  Started off with a good self-portrait....

then moved on to some (lots) of random shots (many with a finger over the lens)

But if you are diligent, you'll come out with a few gems...Like this one of Cole!

He even gave Mommy a little love.  I'm assuming he cut off the top of my head because I was having a bad hair day :-)

Maybe I'll do these posts periodically and see what Nate captures!

Movie Night!

We decided to have a movie night, let Nate try popcorn (now that he finally has enough teeth) and watch Tangled!

Step 1: Jammies :-)

Step 2: Make popcorn (the real on the stove kind!)

Step 3: Taste and settle in for a good movie!

Nate did really great and watched most of the movie, aside from  going to his playroom for a little bit.  We'll definitely do more movie nights!

21 months

Going to do a post by pictures to show what Nate is up to this month:

Getting naked.  Yep, all by himself.  I didn't mention it last month, but Nate likes to unzip his jammies and get into his diaper.  We started duct taping his diaper at night over the tabs to make it hard to get off (or so we thought.)  This morning I heard he was awake but he sounded like he was playing happily, so I took a load of laundry downstairs.  I checked the video monitor before making my breakfast and saw a naked baby in the crib!  Luckily he hadn't made a "mess" and I was able to take the camera in to capture this Kodak moment.

Shoes:  He loves putting on my shoes and walking around.  He's also getting harder to dress....likes to take it as an opportunity to play "chase" and obviously he won at this moment.

Brushing teeth:  VERY obsessed with brushing his teeth.  And taking his time.  Like 10 minutes.  I guess this could be helpful if I'm needing to attend to Little Brother, whose room is right next to the bathroom.  For now I try to deter him away if we are on a schedule, since removing him from the bathroom results in a major sad tantrum.

Coloring:  He is getting better at coloring and I'm loving these big coloring pages that my parents gave him for Christmas....less likely to color on the table!  Still also loves putting stickers on paper.

Other things--

Teeth:
He has cut 2 new teeth this month...his top first molars.  That gets him up to 9!

Movies:
 It has been awesome that Nate is more into movies for these last few weeks of pregnancy.  His favorites right now are Elmo in Grouchland and the Toy Story movies.  I LOVE snuggling on the couch with my little guy!

Language:
Not sure why, but he calls Elmo "Sahh"
Also recognizes Cookie Monster and Big Bird
Other words:
Cookie
Please
Baby (sounds like bebe)
Duck
Dog

We're trying to enjoy our last few days with Nate as an only child...but also looking forward to how he'll be with his Little Brother :-)

Nate's Vacation

Nate had one of his first "rites of passage" at the ripe, old age of 16 months- a week by himself at the grandparents! This is something that both Joel and I did growing up, and Nana and Papa couldn't wait to get Nate to themselves for a whole week! They did a great job taking pictures for us....here are a few from the week!

No doubt he was spoiled all week...lying back, waited on hand and foot!

Playing on the new playset they put up for him in the backyard

Taking scooter rides with Papa

Picking (and eating) blueberries with Nana

These are a few pics from Marbles Museum in Raleigh

Playing hockey with cousin KK

Perhaps a future banker, following in Daddy's footsteps?

All smiles on the pirate ship!

Nate and I had a sweet reunion when I went to pick him up. It will be more fun in future years when he can tell me all about the fun things they did!

Fun with Sharla and Jackson!

Nate and I took a quick trip to visit Sharla and Jackson at their new house! We had a fun time playing, visiting Lazy 5 Ranch and Sharla and I even got to go out to dinner without kids! Yay!

Here are a few pictures from the ranch and then a cute video of Jackson and Nate.

Those birds were SCARY. Notice Sharla's hand blocking Jackson's face, as in "bird, don't eat my baby!"

Nate actually smiled at those crazy birds....and then I rolled his window up!

Things that make me happy!

New shoes!

and a trip to the park with this cutie! (matching polo shirt and sippy cup not required)

Yesterday was BEAUTIFUL and we couldn't resist a quick trip to the park. We like this one best because they have some things that Nate can actually play on/with aside from swings. Here is his favorite- the chimes.

Well it turned out to be a memorable day!

The turkey breast turned out well, so I'll share that in a minute.

But the big news of the day is.....

NATE WALKED!

Joel came home from work a bit early and we were playing in the playroom. We've been trying to encourage him to walk from one of us to the other, but he'd never done it. I let him go and he took about 5 steps from me to Joel! I love so much that Nate tends to save these milestones for times when Joel and I can both see it together for the first time and it makes me sooooo happy.

We'll work on trying to get this on video. After dinner he wasn't too happy and didn't want to agree to our numerous attempts to get him to repeat his performance.

Ok, Turkey Breast! It was yummy, easy (I don't know how it could get much easier) and I doubt you could really tell the difference if you had cooked it in the oven and basted multiple times. Once it cooked for a while I was able to replace the corningware with the proper lid.

Crock-pot Turkey Breast
source: Cedar Rapids Gazette, Desperation Dinners column

1 turkey breast (6 to 6-1/2 pounds), frozen (see note)
2 tsp vegetable oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 medium onion
4 garlic cloves

Rinse the turkey and pat it dry with paper towels. Rub the turkey all over with oil. Sprinkle the breast lightly with salt and pepper to personal preference.

Place the breast, meaty side up, into a 5-quart slow cooker.

Peel the onion, cut it into quarters, and place the pieces around the edges of the pot. Peel the garlic cloves and place them around the sides of the cooker. Cover the cooker and cook the breast on low for 9 hours, or until the meat thermometer registers 170 degrees. Remove the breast from the cooker and let the bird stand at least 10 minutes before slicing. (The internal temperature will continue to rise while the bird is standing.) Discard the vegetables in the cooker. Serve the breast sliced, preferably without skin.

Note: If the turkey breast is not frozen, check for doneness (170 degrees) with a meat thermometer after 7-1/2 to 8 hours of cooking on low. Be sure to wash your hands well with soap and water immediately after handling raw poultry. Wash sink and counter surfaces the meat touches with soap and hot water.

If you do not use the entire turkey in the meal you can refrigerate, covered for 24 hours before chopping the meat and freezing. Place the meat in a freezer-weight plastic bag and freeze for up to 2 weeks.

One Year Ago...

We found out we were pregnant!



And the last three, almost four months have flown by! How quickly our sweet little baby boy grew up from this
to this big boy!I'm learning to enjoy every day and every stage because it really does go too fast!

Keeping Busy

We've had a fun and busy week. I forgot to mention that last Friday night (or actually early Saturday morning) we hosted our friends Ben and Molly during an unexpected layover in Atlanta. They were trying to make it to NYC from Raleigh, but due to canceled flights and bad weather they had to route through Atlanta to make it there. We were glad to have them and even more excited to hear about their recent engagement! I forgot to take a picture in the 7 hours they were here, sad.

The Pennys got in on Saturday afternoon and the spoiling began! I get spoiled when they visit too because I don't really have to lift a finger. Meals are made, diapers are changed and laundry is done for me! I did have some time to clean out my closet which I had really been wanting to do. We made trips to Ikea and Costco. We had fun cheering on Nate in what we hoped would be him rolling over for the first time. He almost has it, but seems to enjoy only going from his back to his side just fine. Here is what else he's been up to-

Watching Wimbeldon

Testing out the high chair at Ikea

Learning to nap without the swaddle

And just hanging out with Sammy!

Nate's Dedication

We celebrated Nate's baby dedication at Parkway Baptist Church today. We love our church and are so happy to be raising him there. Nana and Papa Penny and Aunt Lauren were there to celebrate with us.

Father's Day

Joel enjoyed his first Father's Day. We went to church and Joel got cards, a new grilling book and a new tie. Unfortunately the afternoon consisted of this:


more studying! Joel has been diligently studying for the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) exam for over a year now. He is now in an intensive review mode, studying several hours a day. The big test is July 17 & 18 and we will ALL be happy once it is done!

Talking and Laughing

Nate has two new favorite hobbies...talking and laughing. You have to coax the laughing a little (so please excuse my raspberry blowing in the video) but he's constantly talking to all of his toys. They have quite the conversation!

Nate was loved on....

all week by family and new friends!

He had his first trip to the bowling alley....
and to Build A Bear
Met the Surles

and Uncle Dion

and Great Grandmother "Mimi" Cornett

Such a lucky (and spoiled) boy!