He's Already 11 Months Old

Nathan is 11 months old now.  I know, it did go by fast.  He's learned some new things lately--how to go down the stairs (if you recall, he learned to go up a few months ago), how to feed himself with a spoon, how to throw objects really far, and how to put the block in the bucket (or the dump truck as seen here).

Silliness

He did this the whole way home from school today.

Laughing Baby

Lessons Learned at the Salon

Things I've learned from my hairdresser:

1)  If your mom is acting "bitchy" (his word, not mine), threaten to send her to the retirement home where they don't turn you.  Fortunately, I don't think Stacy and I will ever use this information because we both have the sweetest moms in the world.  So stay this way ladies and your retirement will be just fine...

2)  If you ask your gay hairdresser to do your make-up for a Mardi Gras ball, he will use make-up tricks learned from watching RuPaul's Drag Race.

3)  If you're ever in Orange Beach, eat/drink at Cobalt.

School Days

Here are just a couple of ways Nathan fills his day.  In the first photo, the babies are all watching a Baby Einstein video.  One of the things that makes this so cute is that one baby will be in a bouncy seat with a bottle and then the teachers will put the video in and all the babies will try to climb in the one bouncy seat so they can watch the "movie."  They are mesmorized by Baby Einstein.  (Sometimes at home, putting one of those DVD's in is the only way I can get anything done.)
 

Watching Baby Einstein

Going for a ride in the Bye-Bye Buggy



Fourth of July

This year we carried on the tradition of Jilly's Fourth of July visit by yet again hanging out in the inflatable pool, eating buffalo chicken dip and drinking frozen cocktails of peach and bourbon (we need a name for this drink).  And... this year I got to put bourbon in mine!   

This picture is from a year ago and if you look just above Jill's left shoulder you will see little bit of a hosta that was waiting to be planted along with three of its brothers and sisters.  They are still waiting in that same spot.  Way to be on it Stacy and Allison!  Now that we know they can come back to life, we will probably plant them next* year.

* we will leave them there until we move in a few years and then just throw them out.

Eating People Food

Lately we've been trying to get Nathan to start eating more grown-up food. (I almost said human food, but I guess baby food is human food too).  Our goal is to have him completely off baby food by the time he is a year old.  Wish us luck--he's proven to be a little (just a little) bit of a picky eater.  Things he likes: yogurt, cottage cheese, grilled cheese sandwiches, ritz crackers, broccoli, bagels, Iams Active Maturity dog food, and peaches.  Things he does not like: squash/zucchini, eggs, and potatoes.   



Broccoli



Grilled Cheese at Roly Poly















Sorry, I don't have a picture of him eating dog food.  I'll try to get one next time since I'm sure it will happen again.  He really likes the stuff. 

Sweet Baby

Just another reason why I love being a mom...

Babyproofing (aka More Work for Mom and Dad)

Saturday morning Nathan decided he wanted to climb all the way upstairs by himself.  Of course I was right there with him, but he did it without any help (*proud mommy).  Unfortunately, this meant it was time for Stacy and I to finally start babyproofing.  We have put it off for months because neither of us is all that interested in doing anything on the weekends that involves work, but after thinking about it we figured the kid's safety was probably worth it.  Even though it's pretty clear he didn't appreciate our efforts.     

It's been a while...

Sorry, I've been MIA.  The last month has been crazy busy.  Stacy has been traveling a lot, we have had 3 visits with grandparents, 1 visit from an aunt and 5 birthday celebrations.  And one of my good friends is getting married (yay!) so a lot of my free time has been dedicated to planning her shower and bachelorette party.  Obviously blogging has taken a backseat.  Oh!  And I got a new car!!!  My very own mommymobile, though not a minivan.   

Grandma time!

The month (months, really) in review:

February 19th:  Nathan cut his first tooth.  This was followed by hysterical happy dances by Mama.  Looking back, I should be a little embarassed that I got so excited over it, but I've accepted that is just the type of mom I am.  Sorry son.  Just wait until you get your first base hit in a little league game.  You are going to be mortified.    

Nathan attended his first birthday party for his friend Rylee.  That night we went out with a few friends to celebrate Stacy's birthday.  Ed's parents were in town for Rylee's party so they were able to babysit while Ed and Ashlee went out for the grown up birthday party.  They were able to do this last year as well.  Ed's mom expressed wonderment that Stacy's birthday and Rylee's occured at the same time of year as each other's again.  Kooky, right?  Fingers crossed their birthdays are the same time again next year... 

March 1:  I trimmed Nathan's hair.  He lost all of his beautiful hair on the top of his head, but his hair on the sides just kept growing longer and longer until it reached beyond the bottoms of his ears.  We thought about giving him a comb over because it was entirely possible, but instead we opted to trim it up.  After a friend commented to another friend about how she should feel better about her baby's hair after seeing Nathan's hair, I had no choice.  And now his new fuzz is coming in and it is so stinkin' sweet looking.   So he is back to being the cutest baby in the world.  As if there was ever any doubt.

 

Before

After

 March 6 was the first day Nathan sat unassisted.  A few days prior I called a photographer to schedule his 6-month portraits and she suggested waiting until 7 months because by then most babies can sit.  We decided we needed to start practicing so he would be ready, but lo and behold he could already do it.  We just never let him try.  I wonder what else he can do that we have been holding him back on.  Maybe I'll stick him on the potty and see if he's got that one figured out.  That would be AWESOME.  Bye bye diapers!   WOO-HOO!  Or maybe he can walk to the kitchen and fetch mommy her wine so I don't have to get off the couch when I'm watching TV.  Just kidding.  I don't have time to watch TV. 



He is now eating solids on a regular basis.  Some of his favorites are green beans, carrots, and sweet potatoes.  Thumbs down on peas, peaches, and squash.  And a big N-O to oatmeal. 

Here he is getting down on some rice cereal





He is a jumping machine.  Loves to suck his toes. Hmmm...What else is new and/or fun about him?  Laughs and smiles all the time.  He rides in the grocery cart like a big boy.  Talks a LOT.  Lately it seems like he is trying to use his sounds to communicate instead of just babbling for the sake of babbling, although there is still plenty of that going on.  He comes by it honestly though.  Obviously.

Sorry for the lame title.  I took too much time trying to format this post (where I clearly failed) and now my brain is fried.  

A few videos to hold you over

I will have posts coming soon but here's a quick cuteness fix if you need it.

Sorry if I Flashed You in the Roly Poly Parking Lot

To all the mommies out there--has your husband ever locked you out of the car, in public, in broad daylight, in a busy parking lot, while you were nursing your child?  For instance, if you were nursing in the backseat and got out to run around as fast as you could to the front seat with the baby still attached?  No?  Lucky.

My Valentines

This year I was blessed, with not one, but two Valentine sweethearts.  We shared a romantic dinner for three, complete with white tablecloth, candlelight, and flowers.  Nathan decided he was not going to be excluded from our special dinner and that was fine with us; we just put him in his high chair and pulled him right on up to the table.  He even gave me a very special Valentine that he "signed" in his own special way.  With his hiney.  Thank you son.  I will treasure it always.  
 



Stacy and I were able to get out for a Valentine's date, just the two of us, the Friday before V-Day.  We got dressed up all fancy-like and pretended to be fine upstanding citizens and went out for a little date to Evangeline's.  It was totally awesome because when we got there they told us that we were the lucky winners of a Valentine's dinner!  Us!!  Though we tried very hard to maintain our classy exterior, in the end our true nature was exposed.  I think the quote of night (see below) pretty much sums it up. 

"You mean the tip ain't included?!  What the hell kind of free dinner is that?" 

Not Exactly Parent-of-the-Year Material...

But still pretty stinkin' cute!!















If you are wondering why the baby is in the sink, it is because Daddy had to tinkle and needed a safe place to put the baby while he tended to his business.

Stacyisms

For those of you who know my husband, you probably know that he oh so rarely says dumb things and that he is always quick to point out when you (or I) do.  So for all of you that have been ridiculed, belittled, or put down, here is my gift to you! 

This week the news was predicting a lot (6+ inches) of snow for our area.  They're not anymore.  Whatever.  Anyway, when they were forecasting this, I mentioned to Stacy that I needed to go the store and stock up on some staples, as we were running low. 

Stacy:  What the hell do we need staples for?
Me:  In case we get snowed in.
Stacy: *dumbfounded*
Me:  You know I'm talking about kitchen staples, right? Milk? bread?
Stacy:   Oh! I was gonna say, I ain't ever heard of people needing to staple a bunch stuff when they got snowed in.
Me: *dumbfounded*

Yes, my smart husband actually said this and yes, he was actually serious.

People, you are welcome.

Pooped

Heehee. How cute is this? Little man was playing in his jumperoo when I noticed it had gotten very quiet. Looked over and he was zonked out!

Family Picnic

The last weekend in January we had unseasonably warm weather. I think it was God's way of teasing us because ever since then it has been ridiculously cold with a little bit of freezing rain thrown in just for fun. 

That Saturday we decided to pack up and head to the Quad for a family picnic. We had lunch, played with the baby, went for walk, laid out and listened to some music. I couldn't have asked for a better day!

Yankee Doodle Went to A-Town

Last weekend we went to Atlanta to spend Christmas with my side of the family. We left Nathan with Ja-Ja (my mom) and Aunt Jill for just a short time while we went to pick up a few cases of wine and this is what they did to him:





Our trip to the store ended up taking MUCH longer than it was supposed to because my mom "accidentally" gave us the wrong directions.

Nathan's Gone Bananas

Out of sheer curiosity (rather than nutritional necessity) we hit a new milestone in Nathan's young life. I have been dying to see Nathan's reaction to solid foods. I thought about rice cereal but that was too boring. I thought about Nathan and what he would like. Nathan=Monkey so first food=BANANAS!

I bought the banana last week and have been watching it everyday waiting for it to ripen. On Sunday it was ready and so were Mom and Dad. This event was so monumental that we set up the video camera on the tripod. The only other event that warranted that much fanfare was the birth.

His expression was priceless. He really had no idea what to make of it, all he has ever known is milk, so this was very different. He politely rejected most of it, but we did get some of it down. I am going to try again soon. Despite his initial distaste, I am fairly certain he's going to grow to love it!

This seems like fun!

Huh?!?!?!