Mega picture post of January

We're back! Sorry I've been delinquent in my blogging duties. Here are some pictures from this past month.

Edward was so kind to drive me home to NJ to attend the baby shower of my dear friend Melissa. She is due Feb. 13--so soon! Can't wait to meet baby Isabel!

A visit with Nate's great-great Auntie Alice.

standing all the time these days

The following series of pix were taken by Sarah using her awesome new camera.

Maddie (sporting my claw) and Nate at the DJ table, as we've nicknamed it

I love this picture. It might even make it into a frame.

Maddie is going to be an excellent big sister.

Mom and Aunt Karen

A visit with Great Grandma and Great Grandpa

catching up on the celebrity gossip in People

Ron, Remy, and Nate

Back in CT

Nate rolls...

and so does Piper

I entered this picture into Regis and Kelly's beautiful baby contest (thank you for the heads up, Aunt Mariane!). There were over 100,000 entrants so I'm not holding my breath on this one!

Nate has six teeth (two on top, four on bottom). I think two more may be coming in on top.

Nate doesn't actually move on Bucky, he just sits and poses.

Perhaps it's time to put the bouncy chair in storage.

Oh how the time flies!
(remember when Nate's skin was orange and eyes yellow? scary!)

LOVE this bib! Thank you, Kim!
Nate's like a horse with his feed bag right under his nose.

Nate has graduated from pricey Gerber puffs to cheaper Cheerios.
He enjoys munching on Gerber wheels as an occasional treat (they, too, are expensive!).

I'll try to be better about posting. Nate leaves me little free time or energy these days.
Hopefully in the next post I'll have more time to write about our growing boy.

Around the house

arms up = "I'm done!"

Edward's parents gave Nate some adorable clothes for Christmas. They are size 12 months but I was pleasantly surprised to find that they fit pretty well now. Here he is modeling his new pants and sweater.

Tickles turn to tears...

and the back arching begins

until Nate realizes he is acting a little silly

Trying to smile through the tears
(poor Nate was tired and I was the mean mom who made him try on his new clothes)

2010, here we go!

But first one more picture from 2009...
Heading to church the Sunday after Christmas

New Year's Eve we made the long trip to West Virginia to visit Edward's family. To break up the hours in the car (and to drop off Piper), we drove to my parent's house Wednesday night. It took about 9 1/2 hours to go from NJ to WV with two stops. Nate slept several hours in his new, comfy car seat. I sat with him in the back seat and entertained him with toys and a flashlight during his awake time. The ride went better than anticipated (I envisioned hours of screaming) but was not exactly fun.
(Here Nate is clutching his favorite fish toy from Great G and G)

Jim and Nate playing a little catch.

And back in the car to go home! We left WV at 11:45am and arrived back in CT at 11:45pm, with only three short stops. Too much time in the car.

Monday and back to our usual routine

Nate is not crawling (at all) but he is quite skilled at standing. He uses the couch for support but can lifts both hands for many seconds before leaning back on the couch. The longest he balanced on his own was about 7-8 seconds.

Nate is doing very well with solids. So far he has eaten oatmeal, apples, bananas, mangoes, peaches, pears, prunes, grapes, blueberries, avocado, carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and peas. The only one of those foods that he (strongly) disliked was peas. Can you blame him?

He also enjoys peach flavored puffs. I first gave them to him on Monday and he had a very difficult time picking them up, but his pincer grip is much improved even by today and he popped in five or six all by himself.

Success!

Here he is eating a mum mum (rice rusk). I don't think he likes these as much but they are easier to eat.

Such a big boy!

Lots of finger chewing these day

Along with ear pulling/scratching

Nate's second top tooth popped through a few days ago so now he's up to five teeth.
And in case you've lost track, Nate turned 8 months old on Sunday.

Here we are driving through wild, wonderful WV. Join us for a minute of our car ride...