Landon Turns One

On Sunday, we went down to Scottsburg to celebrate my nephew Landon's first birthday. I cannot believe it has been a year since he was born. It seems like just yesterday that Jeremy was calling me from the car (racing down the highway) letting me know they were on their way to the hospital, with Jaime screaming in the background. I always say if Jaime could go through childbirth naturally, anyone can! I, never intend to, unless absolutely necessary--meaning I have no choice!

Little Landon is so adorable and toddling around everywhere. It makes a baby seem so much older instantly when they begin to walk. After opening presents, with a little help from big brother Lucas, he got to enjoy some birthday cake. What a mess! But he enjoyed it (of course, he's his mother's child) and it was so cute to see him eating his birthday cake.

I'm probably the only sad to see the babies growing up. It's exciting to see them grow and watch as they learn new things, but I love babies and it's the time that I treasure, knowing I'll never get it back again. Nate kept standing up all night, for several seconds at a time, and it was so exciting. Michael and I would clap and he would get so excited, so proud of himself and he had to just keep trying. So I know it won't be long before it's his first birthday and he's walking around. Amazing how quickly the time goes by! Guess I better start planning his party now!

10 Months

Nate is 10 months old today. I cannot believe in just 2 months he will be a year old. Time goes by too quickly. Nate is quite the silly little man. He is beginning to have a great sense of humor, sometimes it is hilarious and other times not so much. Like when it's time to change his diaper, he thinks it is the funniest thing to roll over and crawl away. The more I struggle with him, the more he finds this task entertaining. But I have to laugh, because no matter how frustrating this is, he is still adorable. He thinks it's funny to bite your toes...or the dog. To pull all the paper out of the waste basket, to unroll the toilet paper, and to slam cupboard doors. I'm amazed at his memory too. He always knows right where to find Sammy's food and water bowls and I think he waits for moments he doesn't think I'm looking and takes off for them. How does he remember where they are? It seems to be his new favorite past time, playing in the water bowl. He still loves watching tv and I worry about how I am going to stop that before it becomes a problem, oh wait, it probably already has.

He's doing about the same at night, usually getting up around one time to eat (any time from 3am to 5am), but there are those occasional nights that he seems to get up every few hours. I think the quality of sleep he has during the day is a definite factor in how well he sleeps at night. He's still eating stage 2 baby food. He refuses to eat more than a few bites of stage 3 before acting like he's going to gag to death, which I know he can handle because he chows down on crackers and teether biscuits. He's funny about textures though, and I think that's the problem. If it's hard and crunchy, he likes it. If it's soft and slimy, he doesn't want anything to do with it. I've tried pancakes, eggs, jello--without any luck. Although I did get him to eat mashed potatoes the other night. I will just keep trying in hopes that one day he will just decide to start eating real food.

As the one year mark approaches, I look forward to it for a few different reasons. I can switch his daycare to the part time daycare. This will give us more flexibility. [On a side note, we've decided to stop the one day a week daycare for now. It was supposed to allow me to sub one day a week, but I am not getting the jobs like I thought and so we are paying for daycare we don't need. And two, the last time I dropped him off he clung to me and didn't want me to leave. If I don't want to leave him either, then why are we doing this?] He will also be able to go to classes that he can't now because he's not old enough. The gym and the library have programs but not for his age group. So I am excited to be able to start doing things like that. But I also dread it. That one year mark changes him from being my baby to being a toddler. I don't know that I'm ready for that step yet; I need more time with Baby Nate!

Playing Catch-Up: Doctors, Labor Day, Injuries...

I'm sure there's going to be a ton of stuff that I forget to write about. I really need to start doing this when things happen or on a regular basis. But oh well, this is how it goes. I really don't know how time passes by so quickly, but before I know it the day is done and my to-do list is longer than when I started.


Nate had his 9-month check up at the doctor. He's 23lbs 10oz and 30 3/4" long. Yep, still big. Shocker. He's in over the 100% for height and 90% for weight. So I guess he is slimming down some. Everything else looked good. The doctor is not concerned with his pooping (or lack of) as long as he is not in pain when he goes. This is still a hard one for me but I am going to have to deal with it. He's happy and if it really bothered him then he would probably let me know. He also got his 3rd Hepatitis B shot, this time however, caused him to break out in a rash the next day. It lasted a couple of days but no fever or any other reactions.

He amazes me everyday with how much he is growing and learning. He explores everything, turning things over or getting under them to "study". It's almost as though he is trying to figure out how they work. He is crawling like crazy and walking on the furniture. And he even stood up on his own and stayed up for about 4 seconds--we were freaking out! The doctor seems to think he'll be walking within the next month because he's so confident when he stands. I'm not sure about that one-he just started crawling! And I'm not in a rush at all. He already feels too old to me.

But now his mobility has caused him to get hurt quite often. He's always falling or banging into something. He's pretty tough though and can shake it off quickly. Michael tells me I need to not react (with my big gasps) but it's hard when he gets hurt; I'm working on it. He's already had two pretty good owies. He hit his face against the end table and got a little shiner on his right eye. And then last week I was drying him off after his bath. He always stands there holding the tub while I do this. Well, he slipped and cracked his mouth against the side of the tub. His mouth instantly filled with blood. It was horrible. Michael quickly got a wet cloth for him to chomp on and it was better. It stopped bleeding within seconds. It was probably worse for me than for him, seeing all that blood! My poor baby. But I guess this is the start of Nate injuring himself. He's a dare devil and I think he thinks he can do more than he can.

We had a nice Labor Day weekend. We went down to Michael's parents for a cookout. His sister and her girls were there. When I first entered the family her youngest was a baby, a few months older than Nate is now. Now she's in school. I can't believe how much time passes and how quickly. Before we know it, Nate's going to be going to school, then driving, then he'll be off to college. :(

And last weekend my sister and her family came up. I wish we could get together more often and I think we need to just make that happen. Every time I see the boys they seem so much older. Lucas is so clever and says the cutest things. He knows where everything is in my house and makes himself at home, going up and getting a movie or even a snack out of the pantry all by himself. And Landon is taking steps everywhere! He looks so big and I can't believe he's going to be one year old in just a couple of weeks!

Whew! Okay, I'm going to try and update this blog more often but we'll see how that goes...I think the only reason I'm getting to it now is because Nate is deciding to sleep in this morning!

He Crawls

That's right, Nate is finally crawling! And now that he is, look out! We started baby proofing the house awhile ago, since he's been able to get around by rolling and scooting, but you quickly find out all the other things you didn't think about when they can really crawl and pull themselves up. But it's fun to watch him crawl and follow me into rooms. He's really becoming such a big boy! His new favorite activity is sliding the kitchen chair back and forth. His second is playing in Sammy's water bowl. So I moved that so hopefully he won't find it, at least for awhile. We knew he'd be crawling, but just didn't know when. He's been scooting and rolling for awhile, so this wasn't a "he just started crawling all of a sudden" thing. The last few days he would move a hand forward and then his knees and then flop down. It was a learning process and you could almost see the gears working as he began to figure out the process. It amazes me how babies learn these things without anyone really telling them how. And it's not like I crawl around to show him, well, not that often.

In unrelated news, the battle to get him to eat people food continues. And lately the battle to get him to eat stage 3 baby food continues as well. He won't eat the cut up fruit or the cheerios or the oatmeal. He will eat his teether biscuits and baby fish crackers and smooth baby food. And above all he still prefers his milk. I guess we will just keep trying. I think, like the crawling, one day he will just decide to do it.

9 Months

How has that much time passed already!?! I know I seem to write that at every monthly milestone, but it's true. I feel like my baby is gone and he's quickly becoming a big boy. He's still not crawling, but I think that's because he's figured out how to get what he needs without crawling. He will roll or scoot (he hops on his knees and then falls forward) until he can reach what he wants. And the most recent development is now he can pull himself up. And does he ever, on everything. He's not walking the furniture yet, but he sure can get around. He now says "mama" and "bo" and "ya". Okay, they're probably all just a bunch of sounds but it's fun to pretend he's talking back to me--remember I'm home all day, just him and me. He's a funny baby and laughs deep belly laughs and smiles all the time. He's absolutely adorable and I could stare at him forever (not bias at all). I'm going to start introducing more "human food". He's not one for textures or chunks, likes his baby food because it's smooth and easy to go down. And now I fear I've created this lazy baby. I was reading in the baby book that this may cause problems later. So today while grocery shopping I bought fruits and crackers and other things that I can chop up or that he can chew up to give him to eat. It's harder because I still can't give him dairy or bananas, but when we go to his check up next week we will talk to the doctor about all that. One year old is right around the corner, but not yet! So I will enjoy my baby Nate as long as I can and soak in all these precious moments while I have them.

Hello 30!

The day has been looming for quite some time and yesterday it happened, I turned 30. How did this happen? Wasn't I just 25? 18? 5? In the years leading up to this day I didn't think that I would have a problem with it at all. Just another year, just another birthday. Well, in the days leading up to it, it got harder and harder. What is it about turning 30? I thought about the past decade and all the changes. I joined the military. Deployed. Got out. Fell in love. Got married. Had a baby. Traveled, a lot. Went to school and graduated. Moved to Indiana. Bought a house. Adopted a puppy. And those are just the big things. Not enough time to mention all the small memories that can be just as significant. So I've decided that instead of being sad that my 20's are going, I'm going to look forward to my 30's, excited to see what is in store for me.

The whole weekend was a celebration, thanks to my amazing husband. On Saturday we went out to dinner at Joe's Crab Shack up in Greenwood. So yummy. It has been years since I've been to a Joe's. We had a good dinner (tried crab dip for the first time) and the environment there is perfect for Nate--he enjoyed the music and the bright colored t-shirts. Afterwards we headed over to Babies R Us, which seems to be our favorite store ever since Nate came along. We never get tired of looking at/buying things for the kid. We got a new front carrier since the one he has is too small (big surprise) and it's much easier to carry him around in the carrier than to hold him. We ended the night with a stop at DQ for some blizzards.

On Saturday Jaime, Jeremy, and the boys came up to cook out for dinner. Jaime and I went to get pedicures while the boys stayed at home (ah, freedom!). We also stopped at the outlet mall to pick up some clothes for Lucas. When we got home there were a few cars out front. I thought, I don't think it's just going to be a cook out today! I walked in to a house full of people all shouting 'surprise'! I found out later Michael had been planning this party for awhile and I had no idea. Sneaky man. It really made me feel special that he went through all the work to plan and put together this party for me. It was so good to see friends and family and have them here to celebrate turning 30 with me. There were balloons and decorations all over the house. Michael got two cakes, a regular cake and an ice cream cake. And now with our patio, it was nice to be able to have people inside and out, and the kids enjoyed the play set. It worked out really nice and I see many future parties/get togethers here.

It was a fantastic way to kick off the new decade of my life. I am happy and healthy. Life is good and I am blessed.

When Baby Fat Isn't Cute

Skimming through a baby magazine, I come across this mini-article. The first line: "Wondering why your little one is slow to crawl?" Hmmm....Nate is over 8 months old and still not crawling. Getting close, but not quite there. So I continue on. "If she's a bit on the chubby side, her pudge may be holding her back. A recent study...found that babies who have more fat lag behind leaner ones when it comes to mastering gross motor skills..." Okay, so I've heard this before from people, but it's good to see it in print, and from a study done at some university. To be honest, it's hard not to compare, darn that facebook where I can see all those other mommies bragging about their babies accomplishments. But then there's a part of me that doesn't care, knows he will crawl in his own time (unless he goes straight to walking) and is enjoying the fact that he's not all over the house yet getting into everything. So why does that little voice creep in and say, wow, your baby is not crawling yet? What's wrong? Nothing, I reply! And now I have an article that says so. :)