Ready for Spring already!!!

Prior to being a Mom, winter was my favorite season. I love cold weather, sweaters, scarves, rain, ugg boots, hot cocoa, the holidays... everything about winter! LOVE IT! But now, winter means cold season, and with a baby, that SUCKS!! I never used to get sick much. Before Nathan came along I pretty much NEVER got sick! I have now learned however, that kids are little germ factories!! Their little baby immune systems make them susceptible to EVERYTHING and they get sick SO easily!! And while I can pretty well avoid catching a cold from my husband, or other adults in my life... it is pretty much impossible to avoid catching things from the little man. Hugging him, holding him, kissing him, and being otherwise very close to him is 100% unavoidable... so this winter I have been sick more times than I think I have been in the last 10 years!!! And poor little Nathan... he has been sick for most of the past two months!! Seeing your baby sick is just awful!!! He hurts and I can't make it better! I know how awful it feels to be sick and it sucks to see him go through it! And he has no idea why he feels so awful! It is just terrible! Nathan is sick again right now... fever, runny nose, cough... my poor little man! Last night when I put him to bed he just laid there moaning until he fell asleep! My heart broke for him!! I am so very ready for this cold season to be over. I never used to favor spring/summer over winter/fall... but I sure do now! Let's move on to the nicer seasons now please!!!

Growing too fast...

We retired the little man's swing yesterday.
I cannot believe he has outgrown it already!!! Up until about a week ago, he took every single one of his naps in that swing. It was used so often we actually burned through a motor and had to call and get a new one! It was a huge part of Nathan's life for a long time... it made me sad to retire it to the garage. My little man is growing WAY TOO FAST!!!!

More fun with food

Yesterday was a busy day for our little family. We got up and went out to breakfast, then we went to a baby store and bought a gift for the baby growin' in the belly of a friend of ours. She is due in April and yesterday we attended the surprise baby shower that her husband's family threw for her. After the baby shower we went to Costco and to the grocery store... we were running around out and about all day!! While we were out, whenever we ate, I gave Nathan a little something from my plate. At breakfast he got my toast crusts. He loved these and we actually had to only give him a small piece at a time, or he would fill his entire little mouth and gag on the too large amount of soggy bread in his mouth. At the baby shower, we gave Nathan pinto beans. He really liked them. We gave him one at a time, held out in our hand, and he would grab it up and pop it in his mouth just like he does with his cheerios everyday. I also gave him a couple of small pieces of pasta from the pasta salad. This was really the first time that we had fed Nathan from our own plates. Usually we just stick to him eating his baby food and stuff. It was so fun to feed him little bits of our food and to see how he liked it. He so loves that he is able to feed himself and it is fun to watch him. It is crazy that he is old enough to do that already... crazy that he is eating "adult" food. He is growing way too fast!!

My little smarty pants... the next Michael Jordan!!

Check out this video of the little man playing B-Ball



When I first saw him do this last night, I thought for sure it was an accident. There is no way that he put that ball in the hoop on purpose. Then, later in the evening, I saw him doing it with his blocks... he would grab a block, drop it in the hoop, and then pick it up and do it again. I was in awe!! Could my little 8 month old guy actually know what to do with his basketball toy already?? Sure enough... as he always does when he figures out a new skill... he repeated this new game of his over and over again all night long! It was one of those beaming with pride parenting moments when I felt like I had the smartest kid on the planet!! :)

Swim Class

Since Nathan was 5 months old, he has been going to swim class once a week. He absolutely LOVES the water and enjoys swim class very much. He has learned to kick his legs in the water, he has no problem having water poured over his head, and he even knows how to hold his breath when you put him under water! It has been an amazing process to watch him learn these skills. Young babies automatically have an instinct to hold their breath if they go under water... but it has been amazing to see how Nathan has learned the cues that I give him right before I put him under. I say "ready, set, go" and then I lift him up and then bring him down and put him under water. Right before he reaches the water, he closes his eyes and scrunches up his face in preparation... he totally knows that he is about to go under water! It has just been such an absolutely awesome process to watch... I am watching him learn to swim & it is amazing!!

Here is a video from his swim class last week

Obama baby!!!

Nathan witnessed history today!!
Jeff and I took the day off so that we could stay home and watch all of the inauguration coverage. We could not attend the inauguration, so we sat on our couch and watched history being made and tried to live vicariously through those who did get to be present for this amazing event! While we wished we could have been there... I think we were probably much more comfortable - it looked REALLY COLD in D.C.!!

Nathan sat in my lap as we watched Obama's inaugural speech!
What an amazing speech that was!!!
I know he is way too young to comprehend what he witnessed... BUT he witnessed history nonetheless!!

I will forever remember where I was at this moment in history... and I will forever remember that my little man was in my lap experiencing it right along with me!

Standing!!

Nathan has figured out how to pull himself to standing against the couch... an accomplishment that he is quite proud of!! He LOVES to do it and does it ALL the time now!! When he is standing up against the couch he is so happy and proud of himself. It is adorable!!

Here are a couple of videos of him standing... and singing...
His two favorite things to do! :)