The Spray Park

We took Nathan to the spray park a few weeks ago, & he loved it! I was worried he would get plowed over by the bigger kids, but he held his own. I'm proud of my little fishy.

Potty love

Nathan has developed an interest in the potty this week. He boldly pronounced "poop" the other day, then ran to the bathroom. We put him on the toilet (in his diaper) and he sat there & smiled. No poop, but we're glad he's getting interested in using the potty. Not so glad, though, when I caught him dipping his hands in the water & licking them another time later in the week. You can wash a boy's hands, but not really his mouth so much. I have a feeling potty-training will be very interesting . . .

Jake's Graduation

What's going on

So, it's been a while. A lot has happened, hence the blog losing importance on the list of priorities. I'll try to remember all the important stuff, and update with pictures next time.
Jake graduated!!! He has a huge, beautiful diploma that will hang in his office in November. Both his parents & sister (Kristie) and my parents came out for the occasion, and we had lots of fun with both families.
We survived (barely) our move. Those of you who follow us on Facebook know that the moving company kept changing the date they would deliver our stuff, and when we got upset about that, they said they would no longer talk to us, that we could talk to their lawyer. So Jake & my dad (thanks Dad, you rock!) flew to the moving company's warehouse in Charlotte & through a lot of drama, got our stuff loaded into a Uhaul & moved to Dallas.
Dallas is awesome! We love our apartment, but not so much that we want to stay. We signed papers earlier this week to start construction on our new home about 20" minutes up the road in Lewisville. It's going to be incredible! More info & pictures to follow . . .
Nathan is so much fun. He's constantly learning new words, and doing things that make us laugh. His favorite movie has switched from Winnie the Pooh to The Jungle Book, and so he now says "Kaa, ssssssss" for the snake, slaps himself in the face until we say "Wake up, Bagheera!" and isn't happy until we turn on "Gungle." When he sees a watermelon at the grocery store, he calls it a "paw-paw" like when Baloo sings "Bear Necessities."
The other day Nathan & I were driving to pick up Daddy from his Bar study course, and Nathan wouldn't stop saying "Da-da-da." I kept saying, "Yes, we're going to get Daddy." Then I realized he was singing along to the Police's "Do-do-do, da-da-da, is all I want to say to you." Too cute!
Nathan is getting too smart for his own good. He points at the words when we read to him, tries to sing along with the alphabet song (mmnopQ!), and answers any number-type question by saying "two." ("Nathan, how many grapes do you want?" "Two!!!") He tries to juggle his pacifiers, which he still lovingly refers to as "baby." I'm realizing each day that he is less of a baby & more of a toddler all the time. He's growing up too fast!

Walking & packing

So this one will be short and without additional pictures because I'm hurrying to post it while Jake is out buying Ben & Jerry's for us to eat while we watch American Idol. Plus, I'm trying to make my entries shorter & more frequent (though failing on the more frequent front).

Nathan is finally, honestly & truly, walking! Everyone said once he could, he'd be all over the place, but he can & usually chooses not to, or will just walk short distances. But now I've seen it enough times (10ish for the past few days) to know his walking isn't a fluke, it's the real deal. Congratulations, Nate!!!!

Nathan & I had a fun & short trip home to Utah for Sara's wedding. We had a blast at her bridal shower & reception, and I'm still crying & reminded of how grateful I am for eternal marriage after attending her sealing. It was great to see grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, and cousin Kale (sadly we didn't get to see Hunter & Garrett). Nathan loved the arcade--riding the rides with Kale & playing the alien version of whack-a-mole were his favorites. He also learned how to say grandpa--"Pa-pa."

Nathan loves blowing raspberries on our bellies right now. He says "Bubba," meaning belly button, and blows away. Sometimes he even tries to lift up my shirt at the grocery store or church to give me a friendly raspberry . . . we're working on curtailing that one.

Nate is still into ties, and has also recently developed an obsession with keys. I can't drive unless he has his own set with him in the carseat, and he loves to help unlock our front door. He's working (quite messily) on feeding himself with a spoon, and I love how proud he is of himself when the yogurt or cereal actually makes it to his mouth. He likes to pretend he is reading, especially Jake's or my books, or other grown-up materials like newspapers & instruction manuals. Nathan also loves our friend Lauren's dog, Izzie, and chases her around, trying to eat her dog food. (I do feed him, I promise, even though he is only in the 9th percentile for weight--21 lb 8 oz at his last appointment).

Jake is taking finals this week (his last time ever, hooray!!!!), and I'm packing like a mad woman. That's pretty much life right now. Jake just got back with the ice cream, so I'm out of here!

March

So I'm realizing that blogging is becoming another thing for me to check off my to-do list. I think I'm going to try switching from my once-a-month mega-blog-entry to shorter, more manageable entries as the fancy strikes me. Hopefully this will be my last mini-novel.

For Jake's Spring Break we went to Chattanooga. It was colder than we hoped, so we didn't get to do as much as we wanted to there. We still had a lot of fun visiting Ruby Falls and the Aquarium. At the Aquarium we saw a sad turtle that had its limbs cut off by the propeller of a boat--it balanced on its neck and looked out at the world. I just know the man who told us about the turtle was Morgan Freeman incognito--he looked and sounded just like him! Also at the Aquarium Nathan tried to pet the rays, was unsuccessful, and had a better time using the hand sanitizer afterwards. We got to touch butterflies in the butterfly garden, and a couple even landed on Jake's head! Ruby Falls is a waterfall under Lookout Mountain. Nathan loved touching the rocks in the cave on the way in to see the falls. My favorite rock formation was called "The North End of a Southbound Donkey" and it truly looked like a donkey's rear. Another favorite memory from our Chattanooga trip was when Nathan fell out of bed & slept through it. We had him sleep in the other queen sized bed in the room, surrounded by pillows, since he never sleeps well in the tiny hotel cribs. In the middle of the night I guess he rolled through the pillow fort onto a pillow on the floor. I slept through it too, but woke up when Jake sprang from the bed & scooped Nathan up. Nate was no worse for the wear.

I celebrated my birthday this month. Jake surprised me with a "Cash Basket." Best gift ever! He totally wins points for creativity. In The Office, Michael tries to win clients back with gift baskets. The office gets into a discussion about what the ultimate gift is. Someone says cash, then I think it's Andy who suggests a cash basket. Anyway, mine was awesome, and I took its contents shopping for cute clothes!

We've spent a lot of time at parks and playgrounds lately, and Nathan has a new obsession with woodchips. Nate calls the woodchips "ky-ky" after Kyia, his 3-year-old buddy, introduced him to the joys of playing in them. He had his first experience with eating dirt--had to happen, just didn't know when. He hasn't tried it again since.

Nathan now says the first consonant & vowel sound of just about any word you say to him, and says a lot on his own without prompting. He shouts "Mama" or "Da" when he wants our attention. He has words for his toys and books ("Bob" for Bob the Builder, and "Pan-pan" for the Eric Carle panda bear book). He can tell us what the puppy and the monkey say. He twinkles his fingers when we sing "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star." He even talks himself to sleep some nights! This morning Jake asked Nathan why he was taking so long to eat his breakfast and he pointed to me and said "Mom." It's a little early to start blaming me, I think!

Nate has 2 new teeth, his one-year-old molars on the left side. They've been a beast--he's been cranky and chewing his fingers constantly. Poor kid. I wish I could take the teething pain for him. But I guess he needs his new teeth to start chewing more exciting foods. Nathan has been a bit more brave lately with trying new foods. He's tried & liked tortellini, nachos, Chinese chicken, and rice.

Nathan loves water. We took him to the indoor pool at the YMCA and he kicked and splashed his arms like the world's cutest fish. I even took him under the water for a second and he came up coughing and spluttering, but ready for more. In the bathtub we're trying to teach him to blow bubbles in the water, but I think he gets more enjoyment out of watching Mom & Dad stick their heads in the tub. He does blow through a straw though, so he's starting to get it.

Nathan loves going to church, especially when it's time for the sacrament to be passed. He starts calling out to the deacons in eager anticipation, afraid they'll miss him. It's so cute to watch him sip the water out of the little cup. I wish he would always be this excited about church.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right? Nathan pretends to do his hair with my spray bottles, and even makes a "ch-ch" sound like the spray pump makes. Jake pretends to sleep and Nathan wakes him up, but now Nate has started pretending to sleep, complete with snoring sounds, and wants us to wake him up!

I thought last month Nathan would be walking by now, what with taking his first steps & all, but he continues to be very cautious, only taking 2-4 steps with our coaxing. He is standing though, sometimes for up to 30 seconds at a time, without anyone trying to get him to, so hopefully he is gaining confidence in his balance and will take steps of his own choice soon. Whatever he does, I'm always so proud of him and love watching my baby boy grow!