Poor Nate. I noticed that I haven't had a direct post about just him in....awhile. It's been fun to go back years and read all the blog posts that were...well,just about him! Given me some pointers and facts for little brother, too :) I'm glad I kept blog entries with details about what Nate was doing.
Back to the present...
Nate is a pretty happy four year old. Ok, for the most part :) He still has his bad days of course (and now that Aaron has arrived, days where he adores and doesn't adore little brother). He's such a cute, kind, smart little boy. He loves school. His favorite parts are snack time and playtime-though I've been happy over our break that he smiles over completing worksheet packets we have, similar to things he's been doing in school. He loves his friends. He's becoming more confident and walks up to new friends and initiates conversation, though he still has his days where he's a little bashful and wants to observe the environment before jumping in.
We have daily battles over getting him to eat. Picky picky. Thanks to having Aaron and starting him on solid foods, this helps to encourage Nate to eat the same. I can't wait to start feeding Aaron more fruits and veggies because Nate needs to pick up the slack on that! I try and try...he would also rather snack all day than to sit for three meals.
I'd like to say that we're 150% complete with potty training, but we're not. One day Nate used a toilet that flushes for you and I think he felt like he was about to get sucked down in the sewer! That has caused some public phobia issues. He only uses the potty at homes. We work it out so he goes at home before we go out places (and aren't out for six hours at a time) so he can come home to use the bathroom. I don't blame him, I wouldn't want to use public bathrooms either! I hope it's something that goes away with time.
If Nate could have a job, it would be an elevator doorman/operator. He LOVES elevators. Oh he's just going to love his mommy for a hotel we booked in June for our California trip-we've been there before and it has an awesome elevator! haha.
I hope like many other children, still goes through different sleeping phases. A few nights he wants us to lay with him until he falls asleep, others he's fine. He doesn't like to sleep in the dark, even with a nightlight. We have a dim light that stays on. He sleeps between 10-11 hrs a night. I love that he's usually asleep by 7:30ish (Aaron too). Allows Josh and I to have an evening to ourselves! Always a work in progress.
Started reading to him when he was a baby and it is still today one of his favorite activities. We still read before bedtime (now Aaron is included in our routine). They both love to go to the bookstore.
As he's gotten older, he loves Lily more and more. They're good pals. Course, Lily and Aaron are good pals because he's currently throwing food all over the place ;)
Nate really enjoys the quality time he's been given over the last 1-2 years having his grandmother and now Nana (Heather's mom) home during the week. Josh's mom is retired so Nate has gone to be with her periodically (a little bit harder since she watches Autumn, Nate's cousin pretty frequently). It's still more time than what it was before and has been a lot of help in my time of need. Since Nate and Aaron are my mom's only grandkids, she has really enjoyed getting to see our kids more often. The kids love it too! It's been fun to go out together and then to also have her help watching the kids some during the week.
Today I had a moment where, if even for a moment, I thought, "I might actually be doing something right". Completely out of nowhere getting Nate in PJ's tonight, he kissed me on the cheek and gave me a hug. We love him so much and are so proud of the sweet little boy he's becoming!
