Outdoor Fun

Over the past two weeks, Nathan has gone from being super-scared of the outside to being totally in love with it! When I took him out about two weeks ago, he acted like he was stuck to the ground exactly where I set him down. The wind blowing the leaves concerned him, the bumpy ground was obviously not fit for walking on and why oh why did Mommy insist on walking more then one foot away from frozen-in-place Nathan? But each time we've been outside since, he has gotten more and more confident.

Last Thursday Gran came to visit, and it was so sunny outside we knew we had to go out and Nathan succeeded in climbing up the small incline in our backyard.

Then on Saturday while Brian and I were out of town (more on that later), Gran said that she and Nathan were in and out about eight times! Yesterday afternoon the whole family was outside for HOURS - it was sunny and almost 60, absolutely gorgeous! Nathan helped Daddy by carrying the empty bucket to the front yard for washing the cars, then he and Gran spent a lot of time finding, inspecting, holding and even tasting cool rocks (only Nathan was tasting the rocks, of course). I'm so excited that Nathan is loving the outdoors!

Slide Tricks

Nathan has discovered a few new tricks on the slide. Some are fun but others...

Ridin' Toys

Nathan has started riding his dump truck riding/push toy downstairs.  He figured it out himself, hopped onto it (backwards, but don't tell him) and started scooting around the playroom, having a grand time.  And that discovery prompted him to discover other new toys that he should ride.

Next he tried to climb into a real dump truck toy (not intended for riding at all) and he could not be persuaded it was a bad idea.  I tried to show him how much fun it was to put stuff in the truck bed and then dump it out, but he wasn't interested.  When he started to get angry that I wouldn't let him sit in it, I hid it in my closet.  Out of sight, out of mind, thank goodness!

This evening Nathan discovered another toy he wanted to turn into a riding toy... the lawn mower!

Maybe this is what's called a  "riding lawn mower"...

No? How about now?!

Daddy actually let Nathan have a little fun with this one, although I'm wary of the precedent we've now set.  I hesitate to share this video because it shows how messy the house gets by the end of the day all the time.  I always occasionally pick up all a few of the toys after Nathan goes to bed, just so it looks nicer we're less likely to trip and break our necks.  Well, after that much edited disclaimer, here we go!

Disclaimer: Feel free to watch the next video "Down the Slide", but its next up for a blog post Thursday or Friday.

Slide Training

If you guessed that this picture wasn’t taken recently, you’re correct.  If you guessed its about 2 months old (!), you get a gold star!

For months Nathan has enjoyed playing his slide in the basement.  I set him at the top of the slide and then he makes his way down using various techniques.  I wish I had a video because he doesn’t do it anymore, but early on Nathan would always use his feet to slow his descent down the slide.  Many times he would just stop himself half way down and just sit there, grinning at me.  I would always be stationed to one side of the slide, however, because sometimes he would try to nose-dive off the end of the slide.  Not too comfortable an ending!

Lately, I've noticed that Nathan would ALWAYS dive off the side of the slide into my arms, rather then trying to land on his own.  So in (eager!) anticipation of warm spring days spent at the park on bigger slides, I decided that he needed to develop some new landing habits.  I grabbed a pillow from the guest bedroom and set it at the bottom of the slide and then stood back and encouraged him to go for it.  Overall the new technique is a success, however sometimes when I count for him (“One… two… three… GO!”) he launches himself down the slide so energetically that his momentum carries him past the pillow.  But overall he’s starting to have slightly more controlled landings. 

In the past week Nathan started showing an interest in climbing up the back side of the slide.  The steps are pretty skinny, more ladder-like then step-like, so they present more of a challenge for Nathan then climbing up the basement stairs (which he can do like a champ, by the way).  In fact, I think the skinny steps really freaked him out in the beginning. But over the past few days we’ve worked on Nathan’s technique and he’s getting more confident.  Then tonight after dinner, Nathan decides to show off his new skills to Daddy and proceeds to climb up onto the bottom rung of the step ladder in our kitchen.  Brian said “Where do you think you’re going?”  Nathan didn’t answer, but it looks like Mommy is going to have to be more careful about not leaving the step stool out around unattended little boys!

Prayers Please

UPDATE: They physicians worked more on Brian's eye with a needle, but believe there is still a piece of metal pretty deep in the cornea.  Brian has another appointment scheduled for Monday.  I guess they are hoping that it works its way out some between now and then.

Brian got some metal in his eye over the weekend and had to have it removed on Tuesday (we didn't know what it was until the drs appt, only that Brians eye was bothering him a lot). He was told that it had started rusting and a follow up appt is scheduled for this afternoon. After doing some reading last night, Brian is pretty concerned about the prognosis. Though this is not his speciality, based on his reading Brian understands that rust on the cornea will cause degradation of the cornea if not removed but removal will likely cause some permenant vision impairment. So please pray for Brian and the doctors treating him.

Nathan's New Bedtime Routine

For almost all of Nathan's life, I've nursed him to sleep at bedtime.  In recent months, Daddy would take care of bathtime, pjs and reading books, then he would hand Nathan over to me.  Nathan would give both Daddy and Mommy kisses and then I would rock and nurse him, then sing a few lullabies and put him to bed with the noise machine running.

A few weeks ago, Nathan started fussing and crying every night when I would lay him down in the crib.  He would be so tired, and most of the time would have already fallen asleep while the nursing or singing, but as soon as his head hit the mattress, he would wake up upset.  Many times Brian would have to go in and calm Nathan down to get him to sleep.  The whole thing was very unusual (he rarely fussed at naptimes) and Brian and I couldn't figure out why he was so upset every night.  I was beginning to dread bedtimes.

Then one night when Brian went in to Nathan's room, he gave Brian the "drink" sign.  So Brian took in a sippy cup of milk and Nathan GUZZLED it down.  Brian and I decided that my milk supply had dwindled leaving Nathan still thirsty after nursing (by this time we had eliminated all the daytime feedings), so maybe it was time to finish the weaning process.  So the next night I went in to nurse Nathan armed with a sippy cup as well.  He nursed, he drank from the sippy cup, he fell asleep on me, I put him in his crib, and... ANGER!  CRYING!  Again Brian had to come to the rescue.

After Nathan fell asleep that night, Brian wondered aloud, "Maybe he just wants to see me?"  Was that it?  Nathan was crying so that he would see and/or cuddle with Brian one last time before bed?  The following evening Brian took over the whole bedtime routine.  And as he stepped out of Nathan's room with empty sippy cup in hand... SILENCE!  Not a peep from Nathan!

Brian's success was such a relief that it wasn't until 2 nights later I realized that I had stopped nursing Nathan without being able to treasure our last nursing session.  It made me a little sad that this special time (paid for through lots of pain, anguish and tears during those early months) was over without some special acknowledgment, but I'll take comfort in the fact that I LOVE letting go of this one part of Nathan's care and know its now a special time for him and his Daddy.

The Saturday Rundown

1. Nathan must be going through a growth spurt.  He has been waking up in the middle of the night or super early in the morning and giving us the "eat, eat" sign.  Earlier in the week, I was up at 2am feeding Nathan homemade teething biscuits (see #6 below) because he was so hungry that he couldn't sleep!  The next few days we made it until 5am before we needed a snack. I think we may be over the worst of it now, thank goodness!
2. Nathan has been taking the LONGEST naps ever this week.  I'm sure it has something to do with the night wakings and early mornings, but I'm hoping that he's working on extending his single naps like I've heard some kids do.  I love it, but I almost don't know what to do with myself for 2+ free hours each day.  I mean, I know there are lots of things I SHOULD be doing, but...
3. Nathan has ridiculous ear wax.  When he had his ear infection last month, the pediatrician had to clean his ear out before she could see well enough to diagnose the infection.  But since then, it is back with a vengeance in both ears.  So Brian and I sat down with Nathan last weekend, and while I held Nathan still, Brian cleaned out his ears.  It was a 5-10 minute process, and neither of us could believe how cooperative Nathan was!  And now his ears are very clean!
4. One night this past week, I made sauteed spinach for dinner and Nathan could not eat enough!  He was scarfing it down as fast as I could cut it up and put it on his plate.  Chicken - nah.  Rice - whatever.  Sauteed baby spinach - must eat more!  I'm thrilled that he continues to be a great eater!
5. As for as other foods Nathan loves, one of his absolute favorites are the homemade teething biscuits I make for him.  I made the first batch pretty early on, but then stuck them in the freezer because he never ended up needing them.  But now he LOVES them - as in I could probably feed them to him at all meal times and he would still keep coming back for more.  They're made of whole wheat flour, baby oatmeal and oj.  That's it.  But its like I'm feeding him dipped chocolates or fudge.  He'll tell me he wants to "eat, eat" a snack and when I pull the bag out of the fridge, he just gets this HUGE grin on his face.  I love it!

Odd Toy Week

It started a few days ago as Brian was putting Nathan to bed.  When he turned off the light in Nathan's room, Brian noticed an odd glow coming from the diaper champ.  Nathan had opened the diaper champ, dropped a flashlight into the opening (one that I had turned on for him) and then closed it, depositing it with all the dirty diapers inside the trash bag.  Now I'm going to have to examine all trash before it leaves the house for items that Nathan "helps" me by throwing away!

On Monday, Nathan found an old belt of mine and made his way through the house dragging it behind him.  The cats loved his new choice of toy and would chase after Nathan as he walked, which alternately thrilled and terrified him: "Hooray the cats want to play with me!",  "Why are they chasing me?  Please leave me alone!". But he's still playing with it, so the cats must not upset him too much.

Tuesday evening I heard something being dragged through the house.  Thinking that it was Brian doing who knows what, I was surprised when Nathan turned the corner into the kitchen pulling the office trashcan behind him!  He made quite a few laps around the house with it before it was time for bed.

Bye Bye Cast!

As of yesterday, it has been 5 weeks since Nathan broke his arm.  It was also the day we were told to take his second cast off.  Dr. Brian decided that we could jump the gun a little and take it off on Saturday since we were all excited about getting rid of it!

I took a video of the process and was hoping to find some free software that would allow me to speed it up before I posted (you know, one of those time lapse videos - since 30 seconds of cast removal is WAY better then 5 minutes of it), but since I haven't had any luck yet, I decided not to let it delay me anymore. So you have my encouragement to skip through the video rather then watching is straight through!

Daddy hard at work while Nathan supervises.

Nathan has some red marks on his arm left over from the sleeve used under his first cast, and, of course, his skin needed some major cleaning and lotion!  But here he is, cast free!

In the three days since the cast removal, Nathan periodically stops and rubs gently on the skin of his arm.  I take it that he still can't believe the wretched thing is really off!  Then at church on Sunday, whenever people would ask Nathan about his cast, he would point to his arm and show them that it was gone.

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A year ago I shared some cute pictures of Nathan in his snow suit and with his rattle. We were so impressed with how Nathan would kick his legs and shake his rattle when we put it in his hand!

Open Fridge, Drink Milk

Nathan loves his sippy cup of milk.  And he also loves that he can get it in and out of the fridge by himself!  He has a designated spot on the lower shelf, though we've also been experimenting with a spot in the door (not such a stretch to get it back into place).  The only problem is that he likes to stand in the open fridge while he drinks, not so great for the electricity bills!

I guess that I need to clarify that I have to open he fridge for Nathan, but then he can get his sippy cup out and put it back himself. He still is too short and probably not strong enough to open the door by himself!

The Extra Sock

I went to bible study this morning with an extra Nathan sock in my back pocket. On purpose. And I put it to good use while I was there. "What?!" you ask?

Nathan's always had a love/hate relationship with his feet, socks and shoes. He'll sit and try to put a sock or a shoe on his own feet, then gets frustrated when he can't get it on, but as soon as I help him get it on, he's irritated and wants it off! He's become a pro at pulling off his own socks and gets such joy out of it. When its time to leave the house, sometimes the sock and shoe application goes smoothly and sometimes we end up wrestling over the second sock and shoe. The only order that works is sock, shoe, sock, shoe - it prevents him from pulling off the first sock while the second one is going on. And after our outings, the first order of business is for Nathan to plunk down on the floor and pull shoes and socks off.

Yesterday was one of the "not smooth" days. The first foot went well, but we wrestled over the second. I started wondering why the first goes so smoothly and its always the second that is torture. Nathan usually "helps" me by holding onto a sock or shoe as we get started... I jumped up and grabbed an extra pair of socks, and while Nathan kept a hold of his original sock, the new pair was applied quickly and efficiently AND with minimal fuss! I had solved the puzzle! Nathan wasn't mad about putting ON the second sock/shoe, he was mad that I took it away from him! So for the handful of sock/shoe applications since yesterday, Nathan, with a sock in hand, did great! So I'll try to carry an extra one with me for emergencies... and I guess I also figured out what to do with remaining sock after the dryer eats its mate!

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A year ago our little boy was in the 75th percentile for his length, weight and head size, and we were worried about the flat spot on his head!

Christmas Memories

Yes, I'm finally getting around to posting about Christmas Eve and Christmas Day.  Better late then never...

Granddad and Nana were the first to arrive for the festivities on Christmas Eve.  We had a yummy shrimp dinner, then let Nathan open his Christmas Eve present, then we read him "The Night Before Christmas."  Though I was a little nosgalic that it wasn't the pop-up storybook that I grew up with, Gran and Pawpaw bought Nathan a super-cool recordable book.  That night, only Gran and Pawpaw had recorded their pages, but by the end of the weekend Brian, Nana, Granddad and I had all recorded our own pages as well.  How cool is it that Nathan has a book that is read to him by his parents and grandparents?!

While Nathan and I try to pose for the picture, Brian's busy figuring out how the book works.  Typical!

Christmas morning Nathan let us sleep in until 7:30 (hooray!), which I believe was our Christmas present from him.  We didn't open presents in the morning because Gran and Pawpaw hadn't arrived yet.  Instead we feasted on a breakfast of sausage balls and homemade cinnamon rolls, then played the morning away.  Gran and Pawpaw arrived between 10 and 11, beating the snow by about an hour.  We snacked, visited and watched the beautiful snow fall while Nathan took a nap, then around 2 we had Christmas dinner.  What a feast!  Prime rib with horseradish sauce, cranberry salad, green beans, mashed potatoes with gravy, rolls, followed by a choice of about 12 desserts.  When we were finally able to rouse ourselves from our post-feasting stupor, we decided the time had come for Christmas presents.

As with last year (and I'm sure every year to come), Nathan was the star of the show.  Because he wanted to play with each new toy as it was opened (which we all encouraged), the present-opening went slowly.  I took some pictures early on, then switched to the video camera, and then just decided to forgo capturing the memories in favor of enjoying myself. 

Nathan loved figuring out how to "start" his mower.  We were all so impressed that he was strong enough to pull the cord!

The lawn mower from Aunt Karen and family was a huge hit, and had to be hidden after 10 to 15 minutes of play so that we could move on with present opening.

The rest of the day we spent marveling over the rapidly accumulating snow, chatting, playing and eating. We had a relaxing and fun-filled Christmas day!