Greatest Gift

Obviously our greatest gift this year was our sweet son.  The greatest gift we received for Christmas was this meaningful and amazing video that my brother created of our journey waiting for Nathan to make his arrival.

Thank you Ryan for all your hard work and great talent on this special gift.  We love you!

7 Months Old

I can't believe I just wrote the title of this post...7 months old?!?!  It seems like it's going faster and faster.  Sometimes I look at Nate and am amazed at how he's starting to look like a little boy already!  Stop growing up right this minute!

Clearly the monthly photo shoot is getting more tricky as he gets older.  We now have to try and take the photos as fast as we can before the month sticker becomes a chew toy.  

Here are some fun things happening at 7 months:

*Nathan is one of the smiley-est babies we've ever seen (granted we're a little biased).  Every time we come home, walk into the room, look at him from afar, etc. he smiles at us.  It's one of the things we love most about him and it's so infectious.  If you've had a horrible day, all you have to do is spend some time with Nate and he'll make you feel so appreciated and happy.

*His first teeth are coming in!  Both the bottom front teeth are coming in at the same time.  He's been a little fussy, but it hasn't been too bad so far.  

*Mommy and Nate like to play "catch" with the ball.  I count to 3 and roll the ball to him and then clap.  He laughs and then grabs the ball and "rolls" it back to me as best he can

*The solid food process is steadily moving along.  So far the favorites have been bananas, carrots, and avocado.  Cheerios and puffs are more of a game so far.  The jury is still out on sweet potatoes.  We may try those again now that he's getting the hang of eating.

*Loves baths...but hates the drying off part and being cold

*Making more pronounced sounds like "da da" and "ba ba."  James likes to claim that he's already saying "Da Da" but I beg to differ.  :)

Happy 7 months Nate!  We love you more every day!

Santa Visit

Nathan had his first encounter with the man in the jolly red suit a couple weekends ago.  We weren't quite sure what his reaction would be.  But all went well!  Nate barely even flinched and looked quite comfortable on the big man's lap--as if he could have sat there all day chatting about Santa's favorite type of cookie and grabbing his white beard.  We'll see how next year goes, but for now Santa visit was a success!

Gobble Gobble

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!  Ours was definitely entertaining as you'll see in the video below! (Make sure your speakers are turned up)

6 months old!

Nathan is officially half a year old!  We are loving this time!  So much development and personality is happening.  People have told us that it just continues to get better and they are right.  We are constantly in awe of how much Nathan learns and how fast he changes.  He is one of the happiest babies we're ever seen and we're not saying that 'cause we're biased.  He smiles and laughs all the time.  And he's such a little ham--always looking for us to laugh at what he's doing.  He's probably going to be the comedian of the family. 

At his 6 month doctor appointment last week we learned that Nathan weighs 16.5 pounds which is about 45 percentile.  He's 27 inches long which is 75 percentile!  Whoa!  Not sure where the height is coming from.  But all looks good and we're grateful for a healthy boy. 

Here are some fun things at 6 months:

*Sitting up all the time is the new trick! It's fun to watch Nathan see things from a new perspective
*Loves to be outside (when we can) and take walks in his stroller
*Small evidences of wanting to crawl.  The other night he was sitting on James' lap and he laid down and started scooching to get the remote at the other end of the couch--he's definitely a boy
*He is still obsessed with his rainforest bouncer.  He's getting really good at bouncing up and down and playing with all the toy features
*Nate really focuses on whatever activity he's doing.  Sometimes we stand and observe where he can't see us and he'll entertain himself for a long time playing with and studying a toy
*He puts EVERYTHING in his mouth
*He loves music--especially when Papa or Grampa play the guitar for him; sometimes he even sings along!

Happy 6 months Nate!

First Vacation

Last week we went on our first family vacation!  We were honored to fly down to Palm Desert to celebrate Kristen and Andy's wedding.  The wedding was beautiful and we're so happy for Kristen and Andy.  We got to spend time with good friends.  It was especially fun to see the Lewis family since they live so far away.  Nate and Elliott got some good bonding time.  And Nate got to experience a lot of firsts--first airplane ride, first time in a swimming pool, first time sleeping in a hotel crib (that's a major milestone right?).  James and I also feel a lot more confident knowing how to fly with a kid now.  It was a great adventure!

View from the wedding ceremony spot

Fun to spend time with friends!

The weather was amazing--such a beautiful night and place

So excited for Kristen and Andy!!

Just chillin'

First time in a swimming pool!

Getting adjusted to the cold water

Learning some swimming techniques

First airplane ride!  On a Boeing 737 too--a plane that Papa helped build!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween from the scary dinosaur!!!

Nathan's 1st Halloween was pretty low key.  He just helped us pass out candy and say hi to all the neighbor kids.  He was a very brave boy though and didn't get scared at any of the costumes.  His candy hangover sent him to bed early though.  And the Spaulding candy depot closed up shop early because the doorbell kept waking Nate up.  We look forward to next year when we might do some actual trick or treating!!