The Aquarium

Nathan experienced his first visit to the Aquarium over Memorial Day weekend!  We had a great time watching the fish in the tanks, touching starfish and anenomes in the tide pool and watching the otters play in the water.  Nathan was especially enamored with the fish tanks.  James and Megs had a great time being like kids again.  We bough a family membership so we'll probably be back many times this year.  We're excited to start doing more activities like this over the summer like the zoo, museums, etc.

I noticed there were a lot of parents with really little babies at the aquarium.  It's funny because you know the parents really just wanted to go and now that they have a kid, they have justification....even if the small baby has no idea what's going on.  :)

Nate's first encounter with real sea life

Cool octopus!

Awesome photo of jelly fish that James captured

So cute

Finding Nemo

The sea otters were our favorite part!

Total Fail

A couple months ago we purchased a bike trailer off Craigslist.  We've been so excited about it because we felt like it would be such a good family activity for this summer.  So far the best way I can describe Nate's reaction to the bike trailer is he absolutely detests it.  This is probably our biggest fail as parents so far where we had high hopes of how something would be and it's been the exact opposite.

We've taken Nate out in the bike trailer 2 times.  The first time James took him on his own and it was tricky trying to figure out how to attach the trailer to his bike, get Nate situated, etc.  Plus Nate had never worn a helmet or been in a contraption like a bike trailer.  He basically cried the entire ride.  So we chalked it up to the fact that Nate was uncomfortable, he was trying to get used to it, it may have been hard with James being by himself, etc....

So we went into round 2 with high hopes.  This time Megs was along and we brought a pillow for Nate to sit on hoping that would make him more comfortable in his bike trailer seat.  Again he basically cried the entire ride.  Poor guy!  And poor parents.  Just all around not a great experience.  We're not giving up hope yet though!  The bike trailer will remain in the garage for now and we'll try again when Nate is a little bigger and older.  For now we'll just stick with hiking and walks in the stroller.

Despite the meltdown he just looks so cute!

0-12 Months Recap

Here is a sampling of how Nate has changed and grown over the past year:

1 Month

2 Months

3 Months

4 Months

5 Months

6 Months

7 Months

8 Months

9 Months

10 Months

11 Months

12 Months!!

12 Months Old!

Here we are and Nathan just turned 13 months actually and I'm just now getting to blog about him turning 12 months.  Oh well--better late than never right?  Can't believe our boy is over 1 year old!  It's been amazing to witnes the transformation and development over this past year.  We love watching his cute little personality emerge. 

Here are things we want to remember from 12 months:

*Nate is getting close to walking--holding on to furniture and has taken a couple steps, but he's not quite confident to walk out on his own yet.  We're in no rush.  :)
*He loves playing with toys where he has to figure something out like how to open something, put something through a slot, stack something, etc.  He gets very focused and intent on figuring out the challenge.  He's also very inquisitve whether it be how to turn on a light, observing how the ceiling fan works, turning a knob, etc.  We're starting to see Papa's engineering skills in him already!
*Nathan loves to go up and down stairs
*He is still very vocal and although isn't saying any official words yet, we think he's making the connection to Mama and Papa being words to call us.  He also says "oh oh" and tries to say the words for "hot" and "clock" when he points to a clock or points to the oven or toaster.  He also uses sign language to communicate which is very helpful.  From school he's learned the signs for "eat" and "all done."  He also uses pointing to explain what he wants or needs.
*He's a great sleeper.  Goes down pretty easily and sleeps through the night most of the time.  He takes 2 naps still.  We're grateful for his sleeping skills and also jealous that he gets like 11 hours of sleep every night and 2 naps during the day.  Not fair!
*Nathan is definitely starting to assert his independence and will let us know when he's not happy about not getting his way.  :)
*Nate loves to be outside.  He loves crawling in the grass, going for walks in the stroller or going for hikes and sitting in the backpack.
*He's still a very happy and friendly boy and loves to be around people--especially his grandparents and family!!
*He laughs when we chase after him and tickle him.  He also laughs when I sing the Wheels on the Bus song to him.  There is no greater sound in the world than his laugh.

We love you our sweet boy!