Birthday

Yesterday was Leo's birthday. What a day. We had the annual birthday bash as usual. Last year we kidded with Leo that it was his last before parenthood but it has not slowed us down one bit. Well, it did for me. I had the little booger to worry about all night as Nathan did not want to sleep but rather party with the big kids. He had a brief nap in Melissa's arms (thanks Aunt Mo!) but woke shortly after and stayed up until midnight. But he had fun flirting with the girls and everyone loves to snuggle and love on him so no worries really. He has already adjusted back to his regular schedule and is sleeping soundly as we speak. Leo seemed to have a great day. He started off the party with a Power Hour. Greg and Danielle joined up via Skype for the festivities. Ahh technology. It was like they were actually present and stopped by. Our parties get larger and more fun with all the people we continue to meet down here. What a blessing to be surrounded by so many great friends.

Today we tried something new with Nathan - PEAS! He didn't seem to mind one way or another. So we'll continue with that for a few days and see how it goes. Perhaps sweet potato is next, or something fun like apples or bananas. I guess it's whatever I feel like since he'll roll with whatever is happening. And of course today is 5 months - and so a new pic is here . . .

Mr. Grabby Poopy Pants

I should be in bed . . . but I just have to share some little tidbits from my daily life. Today my mom and I went to get a pedicure. This is something we have done often and WITH Nathan. When I say I can take that kid anywhere I mean it. He sits on my lap and looks around. He smiles at the ladies, reaches for anything nearby and drools endlessly all over the place all in his quiet and peaceful way. Today he thought he would mix it up and add something special for mama. He did all of the above actions but added his daily . . . um . . . #2. All. Over. Me. Ok, he didn't exactly explode on me. He actually very quietly did his business and it seeped, slowly, onto my lap. There was little I could do while my toes were being made pretty. So we just sat there. I sighed. I tried not to dwell on the puddle that was getting larger by the second and Nathan smiled on as always. If that's not the epitome of motherhood and the love you must have for it I don't know what is.

Lately he has been Mr. Grabby. He will reach for things more and more. This is less and less cute. I narrowly saved him from getting a full glass of water on his head, pushing breakfast off the table and, with Leo, moving a very large and heavy bowl at our friends house. He merely left his slobbery fingerprints on that one but he was close. Lately he will grab at my water glass, pull it towards him and open his mouth. When I tip the water towards him to take a taste he will stick his little tongue out and actually lap up a little water. He's like a little puppy and he's adorable. He also wants to do this with beer bottles. Cute for the first photo op and then not so much. Sorry buddy, you have many years to go for that first taste.

I went out for a bit this evening and when I returned Nathan was there on the couch, nestled in his boppy next to daddy, watching football. Aahhh, "what an angel" I thought. Leo looked at me with a different story on his face. Nate was fussy and cranky and otherwise not so angelic. But there he was playing with his feet (his newest, cutest trick). He looked up at me and smiled. Could have fooled me. He looks pretty happy! Ha! The kid knows how to pull strings and push buttons in this house. And he's barely five months old.

Some new Nathan videos!

August Heat

Not much new in the household right now. It's been really hot here so we've been laying low inside on the weekends. Last Friday though, it was a little more reasonable so we took a walk to the pool for a quick dip. Other than that . . . just growing and being cute! Well, Nathan is anyway. I'm personally trying to shrink and be cute. Haha . . .

Nathan has been doing some new stuff. He is getting the rolling over thing slowly. He will go from back to belly, get mad and whine, get flipped over by us (hasn't figured it out again after that one time), then he will flip and whine again. Silly boy. Lately we have been trying to prefect sleep time - day and night. Today I put him down for a nap when he was tired and let him cry a bit until he figured out what to do. I hate it but he has to learn. After he flipped himself over and cried about it, I went in to flip him back. Less than 10 minutes later Leo went in to investigate why the crying stopped. Nate was asleep - on his belly! He stayed that way for two hours! We are making progress slowly but surely. I hate when it 's time for bad as much as he does I think. I hate to hear him cry. But once he's out it's so nice to have time for everything else.

In the talking department Nathan continues to coo and talk and babble. His voice is so sweet to listen to! Oh yeah, and we broke out the Jumparoo. Did I tell you this? It's so cool. Nathan loves it and would jump for hours if I let him. A grea way to tire him out too!

This past week we set ourselves up on Skype. If you don't know about it - you should. It's awesome! It's a great (free) way to talk to each other. In our case, because we have a webcam, you can see us too. It's free to download. Look me up if you want to experiment and chat. It's a nice way to keep in touch and I got to see Cousin Elaine all the way in Australia the other day. We often go on there and show off Nate's skills in his Jumparoo too. So cool!

We're getting ready for Leo's Annual Birthday Bash in a few weeks. It's B-Day falls on a Saturday so it's works out nicely. We'll have Cousin Julie here a few days before that, then Truck here around the weekend. Fun times ahead.