Happy Holidays!

Had a quick second to make a photo album with some recent pictures of Nate (ok, so the album from Smilebox was reminding me of our vacation in a few days...oh it looks so nice!) I think the biggest news update is that Nate is now drinking from a sippy cup! Only have him doing it once a day...we patiently waited until he had enough practice with an empty sippy before moving on to one with liquid. He's also back to sleeping mostly through the night (once mom figured out that he was cold--unless it happens to be coincidence that we've just been keeping him busier lately!)

Hope you all have a nice Christmas and New Years! I'm sure we'll be posting Christmas and vacation pics soon. Someone is going to be way excited about wrapping paper, gift bags, and bows!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Meeting Santa Part II

Nate did better meeting Santa for his second time. He actually looked at the camera :) I saw with children around a year and a half or so though that they don't like Santa (the whole scream/cry fiasco) so maybe next year we'll just watch other kids greeting Santa!

Its hard to believe that Christmas is just about a week away (and then just about a week away from being over!) Very excited for the holiday and for our vacation the day afterwards-we're heading to our fav northern Arizona spot, Sedona, for a few nights. The whole gang (including the dog,Lily) is going along this time. We rented a cabin in a canyon (think creeks and pine trees) so we're anxious to see some snow (and hopefully watch it fall!) Daddy has off from that time through New Years so it will be really nice to be altogether.

Nate crawls at super speed now (one minute he's in the room, turn around and then he isn't). He can also stand up on his own,without support for a few seconds (as each week has been going on its been longer and longer). He enjoys following all of us around the house. So I'm increasingly becoming more active : )

We hope everyone has a good holiday!

Meeting St. Nick

Hope everyone had a nice Thanksgiving! We had both families over for the holiday and it turned out really well.

Nate got to meet Santa Claus last week at Zoolights (our zoo in Phoenix is decorated with Christmas lights). He loved watching the dancing trees and wasn't scared of Santa at all. He was very fascinated with Santa's beard : ) We couldn't get him to look at the camera as he was focused on Santa's face the whole time. It was cute and funny. I'm sure he might encounter him again yet before Christmas gets here.

On that note, we're very excited for Nate to experience his first Christmas. Personally it's my favorite holiday of the year so I'm super stoked to live everything through his eyes (which includes writing a letter to Santa and leaving out cookies and milk--the whole deal!) At just about 10 months old, he's starting to cruise around furniture more so he may be close to walking at that time. He does like looking at Christmas trees with the lights, so once we get our live tree the parents will have fun trying to pull Nate out of it : ) Oh well, it only comes once a year!

Back to playing I go...

Little Cruise

Nate is pulling himself up on everything now (though we haven't tried out on our tile yet, just the carpet rooms). But thats all he wants to do ! In his crib in particular he goes from side to the other while holding on. Now he's trying to master sitting down from the stand up position! Currently he just falls on his bottom.

We've all been under the weather this week with cold symptoms so hopefully that will be better soon. Despite being a little sick, Nate is starting to master (knock on wood) sleeping through most of the night! Almost the last week or so he hasn't been waking up until the 3am-6am range (if he gets up at 3am he'll go back to sleep for another two hours or so then yet). We were going to try letting him cry through the night, but chickened out a little and started just gradually giving him less and less formula when he woke. But now, thanks to giving him a bigger supper (a ton of rice cereal in addition to a bottle) he hasn't been waking up until later in the morning. Ah, finally!

Until next time...Happy Thanksgiving!

Weaning

Nate had his 9 month check up this week. All looks good, he's a little over 19 pds and is almost 30 inches long. We had a long discussion about his eating and sleeping as its been sporatic lately. Unfortunately, according to our pediatrician whether Nate is teething/having a growth spurt he is NOT suppose to be eating at night as long as he gets X amt of formula during the day. Alrighty then...so, if anyone has any experience with weaning the baby who loves his formula and bottles to death let me know! We're suppose to try plain water once he's been in bed for six hours and otherwise let him cry it out. He hasn't ever consistently slept through the night yet (in fact I think the last time he ever slept through the ENTIRE night was 4-5 months ago!) So the dr lectured him before we left about giving mommy and daddy a full nights rest!

I've been having trouble sleeping lately so I guess until Nate starts sleeping better (and without food!) my sleep will just have to wait. Hopefully it only will take a few days training rather than a week or more! (especially since daddy is going on a business trip next week....aaahhh)

Thats our fun for this week!

Standing Up!

Nate's up, but not flying away yet : ) He's very close to not having any trouble with standing up (while holding on to mom or a piece of furniture). He's wobbly once he gets there, but he's trying real hard to balance himself without help. He has no trouble sitting up from lying down (but can't do it the other way around : ) ). My little baby is growing up! Have a good rest of the week.

Halloween

Nate for the most part had a good Halloween day. He answered the door with us for a little while before he pooped out (and we ran out of candy). He's back to not sleeping too well I think as more teeth are trying to make their way in. Its good that he doesn't mind the toothbrush so much! Nate is still trying to pull himself up (and getting frustrated in the process). He was finicky the last week about eating his jar food, but once I determined that the food needed to be at "room temperature", right from the cabinet, he's been gobbling it up. Now we're looking forward to his 1st Thanksgiving : )

Make a Smilebox postcard

Teethbrushing Time!

Well, sort of. Nate's two middle bottom teeth are starting to sprout! Each day it seems like they're taller and taller, to the point where we should probably start taking care of them. I'm also happy to report that despite being "off schedule" for a few days, Nate doesn't seem to be having any issues getting back into routine *knock on wood*. For all you mothers out there, you know what a deep sigh of relief that is! Have a good rest of the week and weekend!

Aaaaah....San Diego

We just got back from five days in Southern Cal and had a great time. Like anticipated the car was hard for Nate once we hit about two and a half hours, but once we were there it was all fun. We went to Sea World for two days, the San Diego zoo for most of one and then wine and dined some before hitting the beach for a little. Unfortunately we weren't at the beach for very long--it was chilly and Nate wasn't enjoying himself after a little while. Just wish we had an extra day to try that again.

Nate loved the new sights so much he just couldn't hardly sleep. At Sea World his favorite seemed to be Shamu, at the zoo it was the monkeys (of course) along with the panda. He just wanted to be and see everywhere!

At the beach he was enjoying the sand until he tried to put some in his mouth. He liked the water taking sand away from his feet except that the water was pretty cold.

So now its time for routine again. We'd love to be back in San Diego during the day as long as we all had our own comfortable beds at night to sleep! Until next time...enjoy our first family vacation pictures!

Make a Smilebox postcard

Speed Racer!

Yep, Nate's practically taking off on the floor now (fast army crawling still that is!) He's starting to get up on all fours, pull himself up and is almost there on sitting up from a laying down position. Pretty good progress for having been sick a little with sniffles, but that's pretty much gone away now. He'll be 8 months old on Saturday. It's almost not too crazy to be thinking about his first birthday party, its practically around the corner! Wow.

Otherwise, we're just trying to hear those San Diego waves! A week away.

Think some teeth are on their way in...seems like some bottom teeth are right on the gum line waiting to break out.

Have to run, have a good week!

1st Sniffles

Nate just had his first little cold. Mostly its just a runny/stuffy nose, but he seems to be getting better. The weather is starting to change here (cooler in the AM and PM) but still is hitting 100 during the day so I'm sure that has something to do with it.

Counting down the days until Nate's first out of STATE trip (though I don't think the parents are looking too forward to the car part!) We're taking off to San Diego for a few days in two weeks--going to Sea World, perhaps the zoo and the beach. Other than the different , cool scenery I'm hoping there's a twenty degree drop in temperature! We've had six months of summer so I think its time to move on! I'm looking forward to getting away from "routine".

Ta-ta for now!

Club

As of this week, we are now members of a Mom's Club for stay at home mothers in our near community. Yesterday we went to our first playdate at a park and met some mothers and some of their kids (there are two or three kids that are Nate's age). Today we went to a member's home to play and had a "pot luck brunch". Its really nice for the both of us to make some friends. Every week there is a playdate, followed by maybe an additional playdate at a fun place like Peter Piper Pizza, we also have brunch dates at members' homes or at restaurants. Then once a month the mom's get together for a night out--usually a dinner or a movie. Its nice that it gives us something to do and with new friends!

Crawling keeps increasing. Its also been cute to see how excited he is in the mornings when we come to take him out--he thrashes all around, kicking his legs and arms. Nate tries to pull down his bumpers to get himself up. Still no teeth yet,not walking. But still increasingly more active!

Army Crawl

He's not on all fours per se, but he's much improving on the crawling he does for now-the army crawl. He cruises around in his crib,changing table and now the carpet some (if he's motivated by things to play with).

Took him to another Gymboree class, this time music. This one didn't go so well...he was fussy some of the time, maybe because of all the noise with instruments we were using. It probably didn't help that a little boy there wanted to pull on Nate's hair. We made it through but I think play time was both of our favorites.

Tis all thats new this week. Until next time...

Playing Time!

Nate is now about seven months old. On a recommendation by a friend, we went to a place called Gymboree (like the clothing store) only they also have classes where kids can play from agess 0-5. Signed Nate up for a playing class and he liked it (once he got over the initial fear). There were all kinds of mats,balls,stuffed animals, slides,ramps,etc for him to play on. They also offer music classes too which we'll try out next week. We'll have to look into enrollment in the future, seems fun for kids and good for adults to mingle! Posted a few pics for you to see.

He's doing the army crawl! He has the funniest sleeping position : on his stomach with his arms flat down, but yet is on his knees with his butt up in the air! Still is getting back to being himself. Takes one 30-45 min nap and another that is an hour-two and a half hrs long. Back to waking up twice a night (to us thats good, last few weeks with surgery its been 3-5!) Daddy is out of town this week so we're trying to stay busy. Wish he was home!

Turning into quite the babbler now. Now it happens anytime, whenever he needs to get something off his chest!

Have a good week!

Make a Smilebox postcard

Getting Better...

A sigh of relief. No more medicine, back on solids (a-ok with bananas, not so crazy about pears yet), not in pain. Everything looks good. Still not quite sleeping very well...but maybe he's hitting a growth spurt. At least everything else is better and we're not quite as worried all the time!

Nate is starting to babble some. Also, I'm pretty sure he's saying "mum", "mummy", "ma-ma". In particular when he's upset. He's becoming a strong sitter, likes to sit on our couch and play with toys. Notices mom and dad's big toes when we're barefoot..constantly trying to go after those!

Otherwise, nothing else too new. Just wanted to post to let everyone know that he is getting better (thankfully!)

To Sleep or Not To Sleep?

This is, and has been, the question as of late. Unfortunately since Nate's surgery things have been more difficult for everyone. Nate refuses to eat solids (due to the stuffing of medicine down we assume, which we all detest! Wish those pharm techs would have told me about flavoring AS I was getting prescriptions filled vs halfway done!), Nate is in pain, isn't sleeping well,etc. Naps are sortive ok but he's been up just about every hour during the night. We had to stop his pain med because of constipation, but nothing does an equal good job. So at night in particular, its been seeming pointless to sleep--by the time we do, we're up again...a vicious cycle.The most frustrating part is not knowing why he wakes up so frequently. Pain? Hunger? Spasms? Who knows. Tomorrow Nate gets the catheter removed so hopefully that will help things out as far as being uncomfortable/pain goes. We're bummed out that this has hit him pretty hard. Hopefully this will pass soon and he'll start to feel better and be back totally to himself.

On a happier note, he's getting closer to being more independent. He can make circles on his stomach now and lift his upper body up further.

Hopefully for the next blog we'll have some more cheerful news!

Surgery

Once Nate turned six months we scheduled him to have some minor outpt surgery done (he hadn't been able to be circumcised at birth so we had to wait until he was old enough to do so). Had that done yesterday. He's doing fine for the most part, maybe some discomfort every now and then. The biggest disappointment to him will be NO swimming and activity gyms for two weeks! So mom and dad are his only source of bounce fun! Its nerve wracking just trying to make sure he doesn't hurt himself, so basically its more worrisome for us than for him! He's still his peppy, energetic self though at least.

Had him out for a "Nate's Favorite Things" weekend prior to surgery with swimming and the zoo. Can notice that he definately can see animals better than before! The monkeys were his favorite in particular. He was really excited when we picked him up a stuffed rhino. His new cuddle mate.

Did try the sippy cup, definately will need to wait longer on that. Pretty much rejects it and throws it. Have gotten into fruit...shuddered a little with his first bite but I think he'll be ok. Applesauce is coming up.

Gotta run for now.

6 Month Visit

Nathan is 16 pds, 1 ounce and 27 inches long. Still growing as he should be. The dr mentioned that he could start on a sippy cup, but I think that will have to wait a little while yet. Don't want to overload him with new things! Still working on getting him to enjoy solids. Carrots are probably the new fave, he wants to feed himself! See how sweet potatoes go next, then jump into fruit.

He enjoys making silly faces and is still becoming more independent day by day. In bed now, for instance, he can find and put his pacifier in his mouth. He travels to all different sides of the crib too to play with his different toys. However, there's still that stomach that he doesn't enjoy being on very long! We really are starting to think that the boy will walk before he crawls! He enjoys being on his legs MUCH MUCH more!

Have a good week!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Oopsy Daisy

Well we had our first 'owwie' today. Nate was sitting up playing and fell over to a side and hit his head. Mom's first owwie meltdown! Has a bruise and small bump over his left eye. Ugh, hate that.

Slowly but surely he is starting to sleep in his crib during the day. Fed him,tried to darken the room even more and basically let him cry some. But today he finally did both his naps in it so we're happier. If it just wasn't for that dang accident!

Had Nate in his new high chair over the weekend with peas and green beans. Peas went over well, green beans not so. Just have to keep working on it.

Bye for now.

Advice on Napping...

Ok,I'm turning to all you moms out there for some advice! Nate usually sleeps in the swing for his naps but I'm trying to transition him to sleep in his crib instead. He does fine in the crib at night, but during the day he pretty much prefers the swing. I've tried feeding him in the crib and even vaccum/play a CD of the vaccum going to try and get him to doze off to no avail (these help when he's in the swing). I play music, make the room as dark as I can...has anyone else been through this? I'd appreciate any advice that may have helped you! Doesn't matter how small, please leave a comment! Thanks!

Shhhh...He's Sleeping : )

Hopefully we aren't just having a lucky week, but a sign of good things to come!Nate is still getting up once or twice during the night (still pretty good compared to the way things were!) but he's also started to sleep in later in the morning (or plays some and puts off crying, one way or the other!) Pretty much this whole week he hasn't gotten up until 6:30-7am! And today in particular set a morning record: 7:45AM! Had to make sure the kid was still alive in bed! He's also taken a few longer naps, 1-2 hrs once a day. If Nate can keep it up he'll have some pretty happy parents! Sleep makes quite the difference.

Veggies are on the menu soon. I've also discontinued nursing just this week, the both of us were ready to move on I think. I wasn't producing enough and now I don't have to plan everything around when he eats. So we're all happy with the extra flexibility! Not as much rushing going on. And since Nate is teething, I didn't want to wait for that hurtful bite that I've heard many stories about. Six months is a good start.

More things to do, talk later!

Up & Away!

Nate can at least pull himself up to sit if he's holding onto something, like in his swing. Otherwise its a frustrating work in progress for him! He's getting closer though. Still not crawling/scooting around yet, not sure if he'll do either?! Not a fan of being on his stomach much yet at all. Sometimes at night he'll accidently I think roll himself over which he doesn't like! Although he does tend to sleep on his sides some now. He's getting bigger: 9 month clothes now.

Having a fun weekend celebrating daddy's birthday. Ta-ta for now!

Jumpin' Jack Flash!

Mr 5 and a 1/2 month yr old likes to use his legs even more now! You can't tell by this picture but he's in an activity gym sort of thing that has springs so he can jump up and down. He wasn't so sure about it at first but likes to do it now! Even when he's out of it and we're holding him he jumps up and down (feeling those arm muscles work!) Another new favorite activity is pulling on hair and giving kisses (sortive kisses : ) ). He's about 15 1/2 pds now. I think he's ready to master baby oatmeal soon,rice is starting to get boring I think.

Sadly thats about all thats new. Watching him jump though is hilarious.Have a good weekend!

Teething

Five month birthday boy is starting to teethe (I think!) I'm sure all the moms out there can agree that its hard figuring things out at first when different sources say different things?! Frustrating! Everything is always "I think..", at least the first time around! But thats what we're going along with. Hopefully Nate will find some comfort in teething rings,washcloths,gel,etc. Still eating rice yet, working on upping that more before oatmeal starts.

Its starting to get easier to take him out for longer periods of time, especially at least if he's in the stroller. He likes visiting the ducks and people watching at the mall. Now that his vision is improving more, he also watches Baby Einstein more closely and plays with objects on his activity centers. Lily hasn't tired of him yet either! She walks around his activity centers like a shark waiting to strike to give him kisses : )

We had a good time in Sedona. He did pretty well for the most part during the drive
(2-2 1/2 hrs long ea way). Any longer though and we would have needed to stop, he isn't quite a big fan of the car seat yet despite company in the back seat with him. He badly wanted to stretch himself out!

Until next time!

Happy 4th!

Going into the holiday week and shy of being five months old, Nate has gotten used to the rice cereal and is eating it more frequently. Sleeping at night is improving week by week: bed usually between 7 and 8 now, then wakes up once or so and is up between 5:30 and 6:30. Two naps usually now during the day. He still enjoys his walks outside and seeing new things (gets upset when they can't be in his mouth though!)

Wanted to wish everyone a Happy 4th of July, someone is hungry so I've got to run.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Oops

Lily (our dog) is feeling upset because I forgot to mention that Nathan loves it when she licks him on his hands and feet (he has a big smile). Lily was also the first to make him laugh--Nate likes to watch her run around outside and play. He's able to focus on things a lot better and follow objects as they move around. No more hiding that bottle, he knows its there!

Big Boy

Nate likes the spoon, but isn't quite sure what to do with the stuff thats on it...he's been gagging some but is getting better at swallowing the rice. Easy does it right now! We also just started trying to get him to sleep in his own crib in his room (as opposed to the playpen in our room) now that he's starting to sleep better. We're impressed: thought it would take weeks or so for him to get used to sleeping by himself in a new place and new bed, but after three days he's starting to sleep the same amount as he did in our bedroom. Big relief for mom and dad!

Had a good Father's Day, just hung out. Over the 4th of July weekend we're going to Sedona for a night. Our first "real" trip out of town! It's one of our favorite places to go in state so we're looking forward to it. Probably just hang out there too--at least it's ten degrees cooler there or so than here!

Time to play with a certain someone!

Yay For....

SOLIDS! Nate just saw the dr today and was okayed to start on rice cereal and up the ladder from there (oatmeal and jar food). I think I can speak on behalf of the whole gang (the parents and the little guy) on how THRILLED we are to try food! Nate's been studying and trying to catch bites of food as they go into our mouths for a while now so I think he's more than ready for the challenge of learning to eat from a spoon some! Hopefully he'll like it.

We had a great time at the resort in Scottsdale this past weekend. Chilled in the pool, watched some bunnies hop around, mommy and daddy had a nice Happy Hour...it was fun.

Time to get the little guy ready for bed, hope all the daddys out there have a nice Father's Day!

Tastes Like Blueberries!

Mr almost four months old (next week) can do a few new things: he can roll over on his left side and flip himself onto his stomach (and back) and his daddy showed him how to get his toesies in his mouth! Yep, new favorite activity is to grab hold of his leg and hoist his feet in his mouth (in particular the big toe!) Mmmm. Other big news is, as of June 1st (knock on wood now), Nate has slept STRAIGHT through the night! As in from 8-9 until 5-6 without waking up! (or ok, maybe waking up once or so but able to fall back asleep without assistance/eating) Big news folks!! Hopefully this delightful happening will continue! Starting back on the refreshing road..We've been trying to be consistent with the time he goes to bed and so forth so maybe thats been helping. We're also hoping that when Nate sees the dr next week that they'll ok us to start him on cereal, we hope that'll help as well.

This weekend we're taking jr to a resort (which we planned to do for our wedding anniversary tomorrow). We're excited to take our first little getaway with him and go swimming (which he adores!)Mommy and daddy are also very much looking forward to dinner tomorrow night, at a nice steakhouse.Should be a fun (yet sadly fast) weekend.

Well Nate's calling, gotta run!

Getting Big...

Shy of being four months old! Just entering some 6 month clothing, 13 pds. We took him on his first "big" outing this past weekend--the Phoenix Zoo! We were there for three hours and he did pretty well! He pooped out after a little while but enjoyed looking at the animals and new scenery. We got a membership there now so hopefully we'll be stopping in frequently! He enjoys blowing bubbles and is starting to giggle and laugh occasionly at his daddy and Grandpa S. Nothing new with sleeping through the night though, however. I guess it'll just happen when it happens?!

Had a little scare though this weekend...mommy got sick bad coming home from the zoo and was worried that Nate might have gotten the bug as well (flu type virus) but after calling the pediatrician (which wow, got a call back within two minutes on the weekend! love our dr!) we were less worried and it turned out that Nate was fine. Mommy, on the other hand, spent four hours in the Chandler hospital ER hooked up to fluids and IV nausea meds. Luckily all better now, hopefully its a thing of the past!

So other than that, everything is going well! We're looking forward to next weekend when we'll go out of town for a night for our wedding anniversary. A little R & R would do everyone some good! Hope everyone is doing well.

On The Move

Just in the last week Nate has been pretty impressing! He's starting to hold the bottle on his own now (for the most part) and he has started to move around on the floor while on his stomach (not quite crawling but he's squirming around!) He's trying to sit up on his own and still loves nothing more than to stand on his legs! Not the hugest fan of staying put in a car seat so it can be difficult to make public appearances. I think he's really progressing fast for just turning three months old.

Have to run for now, hope everyone had a relaxing Mother's Day!

Hello, Ladies!

Will be three months old on Mother's Day (sounds like a good day!) Nate has just now started to sleep better at night. Sleeps initially for about 4-5 hrs and then maybe 3 hrs after that. By 5-6:30am he's pretty wide awake and ready to start the day! He doesn't sleep too much during the day, maybe an hour or so usually at most. Lately its only been a half hr. Continues to talk a lot and kick his legs. He's such an active baby, doesn't want to stay still too long!

He still LOVES the outside. We took him out into our spa for the first time (its nice to use as a little swimming pool!) He didn't know what to think at first but enjoys it now! He's gotten used to the water.

Looking forward to my first Mother's Day! It's weird to think that I'll actually be part of this holiday from now on. I'm excited to just spend the day with my guys--mommy is getting her nails done and then going out to brunch with the men and just hanging out at home. Sounds like a relaxing day to me!

To all the mothers out there, I hope you have a nice day!

Nathan Smilebox Slideshow--May 08

Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

Little Changes

Now Nate is a little over two months old and right at the 11 pd mark. However, no changes in his nighttime eating schedule yet! He just loves our quality time I think! He has though started to drool and make bubbles. He likes to have his socks off so he can play with his new toys, his feet and toes! Toys that light up and play music peak his interest. The sound of the vaccum seems to calm him down when he's fighting his tired eyes (thanks Annie and Wei for the suggestion!)

Josh has started back up his business traveling this past week. Everyone missed each other a lot!

Got to run for now!

4-6-08 Update

Hi everyone, welcome to Nate's blog! Thought this would be a neat way to post updates on Nate as well as whats been going on in our lives. We'll try and keep this updated regularly. So...Nate is just about two months old now. He weighs 10 pds and is 22 in long (right where he's suppose to be). He's still eating every 2-3 hrs, so he's still getting up during the night at least 3 times or so. We hear that when he hits the 11 pd mark things should be getting better?! He's very alert now, eyes always open and looking around. He loves to look out windows and outside. He's started to "talk" to us now too! He's starting to discover his hands and likes to stand up on his legs. The swing and the bouncer are his most favorite objects at the moment, he tends to fall asleep in both! His favorite place to hang is his changing table, he's very interactive there! Overall a very happy baby.

Other than being on the tired side we're doing pretty well! Love being parents, he's a lot of fun. I'm very glad I decided to stay home, we're blessed that I can do that. For the most part we've been just around the house,I'm looking forward to when he gets older so we can go out to fun places! We have taken a few walks around the neighborhood though. I think our dog, Lily, has also enjoyed having the company home. She loves Nathan--maybe a little too much--we're constantly fighting her to get off of him! All in all things are going really well.

Until next time!