Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Holiday Traditions

It's almost December and we're starting to prepare for Hanukkah and Christmas around the house.  Tonight I got the first order of business under way by pulling out Nate's Advent Calendar and filling the compartments.

For those who don't celebrate Christmas, Advent is the Christian season leading up to the Christmas holiday.  Advent calendars are meant to coincide with the start of Advent and count down to Christmas.  Nate's calendar has little doors for each day and each contains a small treat.  He will open one door each night until December 25th.

Filling the calendar was fun.  My Mom and I picked up some small things when I was in Cleveland a few weeks ago - Little People, trucks, socks.  I filled the rest of the spots with snacks like goldfish and yogurt melts (and one or two pieces of leftover Halloween candy).

Last year was fun but as he gets old enough to understand the holidays, we're really looking forward to sharing our traditions with Nate!

Nate's Advent Calendar

Open doors

Monday, November 28, 2011

Elmo and Abby and Murray, Oh My!

Our family spent the Thanksgiving holiday in Philadelphia with the Davis family.  We had a nice turkey celebration followed by an action-packed Black Friday.  In the morning, the Davis women braved the outlet mall for a few specific things.  It was a surprisingly easy trip with no crowds.

After Nate's morning nap, we headed to A Very Furry Christmas at Sesame Place.  I loved visiting Sesame Place when I was a kid and I've been back as an adult with my cousins and their little ones.  So I was really excited to share the park with Nate.  There were definitely times during the day I think I was more excited than he was.
DSC_0861
waiting for the parade

The weather was perfect and Nate seemed to really enjoy seeing his Sesame friends.  We also made plans to meet up with some of Nate's real life friends, Cooper and Charlie.  The boys had a great time and the park had plenty for them to do.  A recap of our pictures from the day including a short video of Nate enjoying the Elmo show.

Saturday, November 19, 2011

A Boy and His Car

A few months ago Nate discovered the little tikes Cozy Coupe at a playground.  He was instantly in love and every time we've seen on since then, he goes crazy.  So imagine the scene here last Sunday morning when Nate woke up to discover his very own Cozy Coupe!  His grandparents sent him an early Christmas gift hoping he could get some use while it was still warm outside.  Of course, as soon as Aaron put it together, the weather turned too cold for outdoor play.  So now the car lives in our little house.  Nate does not care one bit.  He loves his car.  The first day he got it, he did nothing but sit in the car, get out of the car, put gas in the car.  Now he just needs to figure out how to make it move!

November 13, 2011 (DSC_0723)
Can someone tell me why they added those eyes?  They're creepy.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

15 month check up

This morning was Nate's 15-month well visit to our pediatrician. Happy to report he's healthy and growing! He's still a big kid, tipping the scales at 26 pounds and 1 ounce (88th percentile) and he's 30.5 inches tall (25th percentile). Three shots today, a few tears but now he's done with shots for a while - we got them out of the way so there's nothing at his 18 month appointment. Dr. Burns called Nate "brave." She told us that after their 12-month appointment, most kids cry at the sight of the doctor since they're old enough to remember shots. He didn't care, as long as he got to spin on the doctor's stool, he was happy.