Little Cheese Head

Packer green - Nathan wears it well. It made a great first costume! Thanks to the Grandmas for all the costume help.



Click the image below for a view of Nathan's first Trick or Treat.

From Nathan on the Move

Photo Time

Just a few photos from the past few weeks. Happy Memorial Day; Happy 4th; happy birthday to me; hello Aunt Pam and Uncle Ray; hello parrot and goat; and welcome to St. Louis, All Star FanFest.

Also check out a few videos after the slide show.




Nathan is determined to learn to walk. OK so he forgets to bend his knees and it looks a bit like Chaplin, but it's progress.

From Nathan on the Move

And he is quite the dancer. A little arm wave, a little shoulder swag, a little hip wiggle a la Elvis.

From Nathan on the Move

Lessons From Wisconsin

Finally getting around to posting highlights from our Wisconsin visit in June. Things we learned this trip:

1) Grandma has a killer toy stash.
2) Cousin Alex is hilarious.
3) Sand feels funny in the toes. And it tastes great.
4) You can catch more fish with Spider Man and Scooby Doo fishing poles than with the fancy kind.
5) 30-year-old high chairs still do the trick. Bonus - retro is "in."
6) Up north, it's perfectly normal to wear flannel in the summer.
7) The best part of the boat ride is the foamy key chain.
8) Buckets do just fine as bathtubs.
9) Hand-me-down toys are divine. (Thanks, Brandon and Alex!)
10) Naps during long road trips are divinest.

We have awakened a sleeping giant. For real this time.

I've never heard a baby scream like that for a solid 30 minutes. Sure, Nathan had his days when he was brand new, crying for long stretches. But not screaming. Not like that. He came out of anesthesia completely inconsolable. Heartbreaking! But of course that was more than nine hours ago. Thankfully he has completely forgotten all about the morning's trauma as he happily chirps along, playing with his measuring cup. He doesn't remember that Dr. F said there was fluid behind the drum that he cleaned out, and his ears were currently inflamed. All the more reassurance that we did the right thing, not "waiting it out."

Here's a pic of Little Man just a couple of hours (and one long nap) after surgery:

We have awakened a sleeping giant. Or not. Whatever.

The war movie buffs among us will recognize the headline from the scene in Tora! Tora! Tora!, where the Japanese general shows a bit of hesitant regret after the bombing of Pear Harbor. This line ran through my mind last evening as I prepared to wake up Nathan for a final 11:30 feeding. No more food until after his tube surgery today at 9:20. So I wanted to top him off. And I was afraid of how he might retaliate - refusing to go back to his crib and rendering us all to the torture of a sleepless night.

But he never woke up.

Never even opened an eyelid.

Even after I turned on the light and changed his diaper.

So I tried again this morning at 5:30, last call for clear liquids before surgery. Once again, not an eyelid as I offered the Pedialyte. He did take three ounces in his sleep. So at least it's something.

So we're off to Nathan's first surgery...

Another first - this one for ... ME

I have to say - it felt a bit strange. People saying to me "Happy Mother's Day." To ME. And with my mom out of town and Brad's mom three states away, there was no one to be celebrated in person but - yep - me. And what a nice day it was. A nice weekend, actually. Saturday we took a stroll through one of my favorite places: Botanical Gardens. Then Sunday Brunch at one of my favorite restaurants: Wildflower. And then back at the house, one of my favorite ways to spend an hour: Nathan napping on my lap while I caught up on Grey's Anatomy on the DVR. Ahh - bliss.

And as a "HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY" shout out to the grandmas, here are some photos from the weekend, and a few from the past few weeks.



And a little "Hello" from the Little Man. (click image below for video)

From Nathan on the Move

On the move

A few snippets of the Little Man in action. He crawled for the first time on Tuesday. It wasn't graceful - but then again niether am I.

(click on the image to view video)

From Nathan on the Move

From Nathan on the Move

From Nathan on the Move

From Nathan on the Move

Little Peter Cottontail

No, we did not dress up Nathan like a bunny. But we did put him in a bunny undershirt. Happy First Easter, Little Man!

(click on the images to view videos)

From Nathan on the Move

From Nathan on the Move

Daycare Domination

We continue our Battle of the Baby Illnesses. This week, Nathan has started breathing treatments, which include a steroid. I'm devastated. Some day when he's sitting in front of a congressional hearing, he will not be able to say: "I've never used steroids." He'll live under a cloud of suspicion and never make it into the Hall of Fame.

Brad's take is a little different. Here's his reply when I let him know that Nathan's teacher would be happy to give him his nebulizer treatments at daycare:

Nathan will be happy. I believe the nebulizer is the new centerpiece in his plan for daycare domination. This morning I uncovered a red crayon sketch illustrating several of his planned modifications to the machine resulting in a "Vaporizer (aka Griffin-izer)."

(NOTE: Griffin is one of the older kids in Nathan's room. Brad had him pegged as Nathan's nemesis from Day 1.)

Mine!

I'm on a streak... This is an e-mail I had from Brad today after he dropped Nathan at daycare:

"Sam had four little buggers sitting around her on the floor this morning including Nathan while I was filling out the sheet and when she opened the bucket of little baby toys and started passing them around Nathan's eyes lit up, and then each toy he would reach for would get snatched up by an older baby. It was funny to watch. Sam took back two little rattles (apparently his favorites) from the others and put them in front of him and he immediatly lunged forward to shield them with his body. At least this my interpretation of what were probably random body movements."

Six Months + One

I'm not a fan of overuse of the word "obviously," but this time it's warranted. I obviously have given up trying to be frequent at this for now. Even this post is a month later than I'd like, and I don't have time right now for all my half-year observations. But - I will take a moment to post a link to his (o-so-adorable) six month pics. Much thanks to Jennifer Phillips for the fabulous work!

Where does the time go?

You can probably guess when I went back to work... two days after the last entry. I enjoyed every day that I had with Nathan while on leave, but I am not a full-time stay-at-home-mom. It's good to be back at work, but it's tough to manage the time. As for our progress at home, Nathan's sleeping through the night pretty regularly. I'll just sum up a few other thoughts to cover the past two months:

1. Nathan thinks the red-eye flash on Grandma Marcia's camera is the funniest thing ever.


2. Tickling Nathan draws out an indescribably cute face.


3. Hand-me-downs are devine.


4. Sleep is diviner.


5. Nathan's smile is biggger than his whole little self.


6. Nathan's dad is pretty great.


7. If I have to lose a little hair after having a baby, why can't it be the gray ones?


8. Daycare = petri dish.


9. Tummy time is not for the faint of heart.


10. Every once in a while I get an overwhelming feeling that can only be described as bliss. I wonder if Nathan does, too?