Ten Months Old!!

So I'm doing better with my posting, huh?! Only four days behind this time! I can't believe our little guy is already ten months old and that I am going to have to start planning his birthday party soon. It makes me so sad!

We have not been up to anything fun lately. Nate was diagnosed with RSV a week ago, and a couple days later, Ben and I were sick with it as well. I have been out of work most of the week and am still having fever. I haven't had fever in years! So as long as I am still having fever (and I don't even have a voice right now), I can't go to work and be around my precious leukemia patients. So pray that the fever goes away today so that I can go back to work tomorrow! Nate seems to be feeling well. He bounced back pretty quickly but is still pretty snotty. Thank goodness for his new tubes though because both of his ears have been draining as opposed to him having to be on antibiotics for ear infections. Ben is still feeling kinda crummy as well. So needless to say we have pretty much been quarantined to the house for the past week. I am so sad that we were not able to get out and enjoy the beautiful 70 degree weather yesterday.  :(

Since I just posted an update on all of Nate's new fun stuff, there is not much to report on his tenth month. He does know his way around the house now, and he loves to wander off and explore. If we turn our backs for only two seconds, we never know what we are going to find him getting into! I can't imagine how much more interesting life will be when he starts walking! Since he has been sick, he has taken a strong aversion to feeding himself or eating "table foods," and if you put a bite of real food in his mouth (soft carrots, bananas) he will throw up. I am hoping this is just temporary while he is sick. I really don't want to be pureeing baby food for the rest of his life!!

Nine months old...plus a few days

I've been a horrible blogger!! I guess Ben was right when he said he didn't believe I would keep up with it. Oh, well. This just means I have more important things occupying my time, like keeping up with a nine-month-old who is into absolutely EVERYTHING!!! Nate turned nine months on December 26th (at least I am updating this before he turns ten months, right?)

Fun things about Nate:
- 22 pounds, 13 ounces (75th percentile) and 32 inches (off the chart!) at his nine month visit.

- Wearing 12 to 18 month clothes.

- He still has no teeth, but is starting to gum some table food and loves to feed himself.

- He still sleeps from about 7:30 at night to 7:30 or 8:00 in the morning. We recently started putting him down awake at night and he has adjusted very well to putting himself to sleep.

- He is pulling up on his feet but hasn't really tried to take steps yet. Today he was standing without holding on to anything a couple seconds without realizing he was doing it!

- He discovered this weekend how much fun it is to open cabinets, so we have had to put locks on them.

- He is THE HAPPIEST, SMILIEST BABY I have ever known! We went to visit my grandmother in assisted living this past weekend, and he was smiling and flirting with all the old ladies! He still has not met a stranger.

- He LOVES the camera. Whenever he sees a camera pointed at him, he hams it up.

- There is absolutely nothing he hasn't tried to open, crawl on, push, pull, climb on, chew on, eat, bang, or throw! But we still love him anyway and love the fact that he has so far proved himself to be 100% boy!!

- After a long two-month battle with constant ear infections and 13 trips to various doctors, Nate finally got tubes on December 30th. He has done great with them and has not awakened one single time during the night since (he had been doing a lot of that).

The rest of this post will be a quick catch-up on Christmas and recent events. Sorry I haven't been more detailed during such a fun season of the year.

Hamming it up for the camera

Excited that Santa is coming!

Dear Santa, I have been such a good boy...

I would rather just play with the boxes!

Look at all my presents!!

Opening his gifts from Santa

Playing with one of his gifts from BeBe and Poppy

I love my new music table!

This was his favorite part of Christmas.

Playing with his cousins on Christmas

I love my new Buzz Lightyear scooter from Marc, Annie, and the kids

Nine month chair pic. We have to distract him to keep him in the chair now.

He loves to read!

My new standing trick

Ready to go play in my first snow!

My first snow! 4 inches!

That's cold!!

Love those cheeks!!

Eight Months Old and Other Fun Stuff

Hello, again! I have been so busy this month with my new hobby (more on that later) that I have neglected the blog. We have all been sick, then well, then sick again, and Nate is now on his second ear infection in less than a month. So I have not slept for the last five days because he is up fussing so much at night. Meanwhile, he has been growing, growing, growing, and moving, moving, moving!! He is crawling full speed ahead now. His favorite thing is to get into things he's not supposed to, like getting into the dogs' toy basket or pushing buttons on our phone. He's a lot of fun, but he sure does wear a mama out!!  He turned eight months old on the 26th, and he is a whopping 22 1/2 pounds of pure sweetness.

New things with Nate:

- He is crawling everywhere on hands and knees. He never was a scooter.

- Pulling up on his knees but hasn't figured out how to get his feet up under him yet.

- Can sit up from a lying position.

- He is into EVERYTHING!! We have to watch him like a hawk.

- He loves to have his picture taken and gets the biggest smile on his face when his sees a camera pointed at him.

Eight month chair pic

I'm smiling even when I'm sick

He loves to pull books out of his basket and he loves to read.

I have tried and tried to post video of some of Nate's newest tricks, but I have never been successful with that on this blog. I will keep trying though.

Seven Months Old!!

Sorry I'm late with this one!

Nate is just growing like a little weed!! He continues to amaze us every day with something new. He is so curious and wants to be a part of everything we do. Of course I have loved every phase so far, but he is just so much fun at this stage!

New things Nate is doing:

- Gets up on his hands and knees and wants to crawl so badly, but just can't figure out how to make himself go yet.

- Can sit by himself for long periods of time, but would rather be rolling from place to place.

- Can roll from one side of the room to the other in 1.6 seconds.

- Is into everything!! We can't leave him alone anymore.

- He talks nonstop. His new words are "dada" and "baba." He recognizes them when we say them and gets so excited.

- He loves to read. His favorite book is his black and white book called "Look Look." Most of all he likes to help turn the pages.

- He is drooling like an English bulldog but still no teeth on the horizon.

- He still has not met a stranger and smiles at everyone he meets. He is the happiest baby, even when he doesn't feel well.

- He was 21 1/2 pounds at the doctor this week and is outgrowing some of his new fall clothes. We are having a really hard time finding shoes for him because he has such fat little sausage feet.

He is currently a size 4.

- He is now an official thumb-sucker (right thumb only) and could care less about his paci.

- He hasn't met a food he didn't like, even broccoli!

- He is SOOO laid back, very unlike both of his parents. So not typical of a first child! He hardly takes naps but is rarely fussy if he doesn't nap.

We could not be more overjoyed and grateful for the chance to raise this little guy. He is such a blessing!!

I'm seven months old!!

He was terrified of his new tub at first, but this night we clapped and cheered when we put him in it and that was all it took. Now he loves it!



Nate's First Beach Trip!!

First of all, let's start with 6 month stats... Nate was 20 pounds (86th percentile) and 29 inches long (100th percentile!) We have a very big boy on our hands!! He is pretty much wearing 12 month clothes now and some of those are even too short. We can't afford to keep this kid in clothes!!

We went down to visit my sister and brother-in-law in Daphne, Alabama a couple weeks ago. We took Nate to the beach one afternoon and he LOVED it! He loved kicking the sand with his toes and was mesmerized by the waves. We couldn't get him to look at the camera because he was too busy playing in the water. We didn't stay very long because he realized he was hungry and started getting cranky. I can't wait to take him back next summer and watch him play in the sand and water.

Last weekend we took Nate and his cousins, Maggie Beth and Abby, to the pumpkin patch in their matching shirts to get pictures. We had so much fun watching the babies interact with each other. Nate was more interested in eating the hay than anything else! This will be the only time we will ever get them to sit still in one spot for pictures!

Nate sucking Maggie's thumb. He's not partial to his own thumb!

I could just eat him up!