My Favorite Things

Nate is constant entertainment.  When he was a newborn, people with kids over one told me their kids were "at such a fun age."  And I'd feel defensive of my tiny newborn baby because, come on, he was fun too!  Now I get it.  Babies are cute and cuddly.  But toddlers are hilarious.

Earlier this week we were driving home from daycare and suddenly I hear singing coming from the backseat.  Nate went on singing a made up song for a good few minutes.  (long enough for me to call Aaron and put him on speaker)  I have no idea what the song was but he was so entertained, it was adorable.

Nate's favorite skill these days is "gumping."  Also known as jumping.  I haven't been very successful in capturing his attempt to jump.  He'll walk around stopping every few second to "jump" (he's not able to get his feet off the floor yet) but of course the second I turn the camera on, he's interested in something else.  This is the best I can do so far.

A little confused

Nate is starting to talk more and more.  Most words aren't really recognizable but he's parroting everything we say.  Although there seems to be a little confusion regarding our friend the dog.  When asked what a doggie says, here is what we get.

December's Underway

As a follow up to my post on our Advent Calendar, last night was the first night of opening a door.  I showed Nate #1 and he opened it to find a Little People purple alien.  Adorableness as he pulled it out, smiled, and started kissing it.  He clutched it in his little hand and walked around with it for a few minutes.  Then he walked back over the the Advent Calendar, put the alien back in and decided he wanted to open another door.  I guess we have another couple of years before he understands the concept of counting down one night at a time.

Last night I also began tackling the task of gift wrapping.  To keep Nate entertained while I wrapped his Hanukkah gifts, I let him play with some of his not-yet-wrapped Christmas gifts.  All the while thinking to myself, I'm sure this is the last year I can get away with this!  I also tried to share my love of Christmas music with him but that was less successful as he spent the evening using the remote to repeatedly turn the music off.

I'm done with Nate's holiday shopping for both of our family's holiday celebrations.  We have 7 Hanukkah gifts and a charitable idea for the remaining night but Aaron and I are still working out the details.  Of course every time I walk into a store, I'm tempted to buy him more!  I couldn't help myself in Pottery Barn Kids yesterday.  That store is just a landmine of cute things.  It took some self-restraint but I only bought one holiday thing, this really cute Hanukkah plate.  (Dara - I almost bought two but I thought Brendan might kill me if I sent more clutter)

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

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.

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.

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!

Can someone tell me why they added those eyes?  They're creepy.

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.