Birthday fun

Edward's birthday was in fact yesterday, the 24th. There was some confusion because of my blog post. I drafted my birthday post on Monday, saved it, and then posted it yesterday, but it put the date the I drafted the blog, not the actual date of the 24th. Strange. Anyway, we had a nice evening with just our little family. Nate was in a great mood and helped his daddy eat, I mean open, one of his gifts.

Such fun playing with the hat...

until the tables are turned.

Nate will be thirty weeks on Sunday, so I guess that hat works for him, too.

No time to make a fancy cake when there's a baby around!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy 30th Birthday, Edward!

We love you!

Pre-shopping photos

(What is Piper looking at? A ghost?)

Nate looked so cute all bundled up that we needed to take a few pictures before heading out to do errands.

Blue suede shoes

Actually they're leather...and there's a polar bear on each one...

Nate got his first pair of shoes and aren't they adorable?! He thinks they are wonderfully delicious and nibbles on them whenever possible. So guess how much I paid for them? Nothing! How did I manage that? Well I ordered a couple of tops from L.L. Bean (like I said, I'm fully embracing motherhood) and got a $10 gift card for spending over $25. The shoes were on sale for $8.95 (originally $20) and I found a coupon code online for free shipping (never pay for shipping! there are almost always free shipping codes online). We were thinking about getting Nate a pair of Robeez, but these are just as cute and you can't beat the price.

Chair and hair

This is how I found Nate in his bouncy chair yesterday. He has mastered the sit up.

What do you think of his hair? Jessie commented on it in the last post so let me explain the look. Nate's hair grows directly forward. Think Jim Carrey in "Dumb and Dumber". If I let it continue on its natural path, in a couple of years he will look like Cousin It. Each night after his bath, I brush Nate's hair to the side in an attempt to train it to grow to the side. Silly? Yes. I don't care though. Edward thinks it looks nerdy but I think it's cute and will continue with the brushing.

They got it all wrong

Some group of people over at The Gap headquarters seriously needs to get their eyes checked. Back in September I entered Nate into their Gap Casting Call contest and I found out yesterday that Nate is NOT one of the 20 finalists! I know!!! Can you believe it?! I submitted five of his cutest pictures and I thought for sure we had this one in the bag. There will ultimately be four winners who will model for Gap throughout the year and who win a vacation, money, whatever, who cares. All along Edward said I was crazy every time I told him we were going to win but I could sense real disappointment when I broke the news to him.

I think Nate gets cuter each day so we're bound to win next year.

Here are some pictures of my little model from last night.

Anything for a laugh

More cute belly laughs from Nate. What you can't see off to the side is me, dancing around, flailing my arms, kicking my legs, and clapping my hands like a lunatic. I wonder at what age Nate will realize his mom is crazy.



Did you notice how the camera shakes when I jump up and down? Let's blame it on the old, rickety house.

The many faces of Nate

It was nearly 70 degrees today so we headed to the park.

Whatcha looking at, Nate?

Such a serious swinger!
(He's been a bit fussy the last couple days. I think his tooth is bothering him. It's coming in at quite an angle. We better start saving for braces.)

Anything but those awful sweet potatoes!

These pix were taken on Thursday. Nate has warmed up to them a bit since then. He dislikes regular mashed potatoes, tolerates oatmeal, and LOVES applesauce. Next up--pears.

Red letter day

Nate slept through the night last night for the very first time! Yippee!! I put him down at 7:50 and we did not hear a peep from him until 7am. I haven't updated about his sleep lately but he had been doing pretty well. Several weeks ago he was consistently getting up twice a night, which was good for him. He then went back to three times a night and after a couple nights of that we began letting him cry it out. He went back to two times a night and then this last week he was only getting up once a night, around 5am. I'm not assuming he'll sleep the whole night through every night but at least now I know he is capable.

And more exciting news, Nate cut his first tooth! I've been checking his gums every day and this morning, lo and behold, I felt a sharp edge. Pretty crazy that his best night of sleep was when a tooth was erupting. Glad it didn't affect his sleep.

Nate had his six month checkup today. He had four shots (two per thigh), including both flu shots, and one oral vaccine. He cried for a few minutes and then was fine. He weighs 18lbs 9oz (75th%), he is 27 inches long (75th%) and I failed to write down his head circumference but it was 50th%. He'll go back in a month for a second set of flu shots if the office has any doses left, otherwise we won't be back until his nine month visit.

The doctor suggested I start Nate on some fruits and veggies so tonight he tried sweet potatoes. He did NOT like them. After one bite he refused to open his mouth. We'll try again tomorrow.

First time in the high chair

Monday and Tuesday were pretty warm so Nate and I headed to the park with my friend and her son. I thought Nate might be a little young for the swings but he enjoyed it.

Nate and Adrian

Theo joined in on the fun, too.

Christina snapping pix of the fall foliage.

Monday - love this outfit!

Video 1: Nate loves eating apples out of this mesh thing. I put a large chunk in this evening and he sucked and chewed until the whole thing was gone.

Video 2: I know I often post rather boring videos, like the apple video, but this one is a must see. Nate thinks it's hilarious when I say "mama". He had been laughing several minutes before I decided to pull out the camera. (As you can see I have fully embraced motherhood by making sweatpants and sweatshirts a part of my every day wardrobe.)

Sung to the tune of "My favorite things"...

High five-ing mommy and giving her smiles
Sitting in stroller for miles and miles
Pulling on hair (ouch!) and chewing on strings
These are a few of Nate's favorite things

Staring at Piper who craves our attention
Smiling at Dad as he solves an equation
Listening to Mom as she whistles and sings
These are a few of Nate's favorite things

When the door slams
When the phone rings
When he's feeling sad
Nate simply remembers his favorite things and then he doesn't feel so bad.

(Because I don't have better things to do during nap time.)

sweatshirt hood strings--a definite favorite