Here is Nate's proof of his new teeth he's grown on the bottom.  No toppers yet.  Nate's new trick is to try and rip the bumper things off the coffee table with his teeth...it's odd.  I say no, or ah ah every time he does it and it usually results in some sort of meltdown until you distract him with something.  He's very good at stopping what you tell him no to, but he proceeds to look at you, throw his body, and cry...temper tantrums here we come!   And yes...that is the movie Son-in-Law in the background!

Nate is a constant stander now.  We can hold him out in front of us, let him go, and he'll stand on his own for about 15 seconds.  No steps on his own but he's getting close.  Here are some laps around the table.

These pics are from our swimming trip at Aunt Trishas....we didn't take the camera to the pool but here's Nate squeezed in to his 6 month trunks!

suuuup

 Nate's two favorite things, standing and football.

Nate has also mastered holding his own bottle for a while now

I bought Nate a new pair of trunks so he won't have to squeeze so tightly in to his trunks anymore!  My mom was up this past weekend and we had a good time hanging out around the house and at the aquarium.  On to another work week!   Stay warm!

Nate's First Christmas!

Tada!  Computer problems solved.....xmas pictures uploaded..........here's some of Nate's 1st Christmas.
This is Christmas Eve at Great Grandma Komprood's

Nate..fall fall falling

Nate got a singing Gingerbread man who he was very intrigued by...

Bow on the head

This is one way to open cards...

Shoulda just got him bags this year..

Christmas morning at the Ruf Household.....belly Shirt!

Someones spoiled...

Favorite item out of that stocking was a bottle of shampoo, he couldn't put it down!

This is his "Thanks Grandma" face

Jealous boys wondering who brought that baby that got all the presents..

Grandma Jeanne got Nate a portable DVD player for long car rides to Monroe so Nate can watch his favorite show "Little Einsteins"...he was thrilled!

Aunt Susie and Uncle Jim had Christmas Day at their house and Nate decided he wanted to remove Aunt Susie's lovely decorations from the window....thankfully Aunt Barb was there to nicely put them back in place

Great Grandpa John read Nate some of his new books....Pop up Elmo has now perished as Nate has exuberantly ripped him from the page!

We made it out to dinner one night with Carissa and Lola....oh Mike and Joe were there as well :)

Here is the utilization of Grandma Jeanne's present on the drive home, what a tough life this kid has!  Don't worry, we only used it after we read plenty of books and sang some songs.  I initially told Trisha and my mom I didn't want that as a gift for Nate because he doesn't need to be entertained at all times, and we should do other educational things first, or he can entertain himself....Trisha proceeded to call me a hippie mom :)  I still don't think he needs to watch hours of tv or watch it the whole ride home...which he doesn't, and I have no problems being a "hippie mom" so...  Bite me Trisha!

Last fall fall falling montage....it happens a lot

Well, there was Christmas in a nut shell.  Hopefully, I will be blogging more consistently now that we are technically up and running!

Hi all!  Sorry I'm continuing to be an absentee blogger lately.  Still some technical difficulties at our house so I'm continuing to get the laptop in working condition again.  Unfortunately I don't have any of the new pictures to share but I'm loading a few videos from my phone so you can see the little monster...who just yesterday turned 11 months!
   Our Christmas was great in Monroe and now that the New Year has passed we're back to regular life again.  Nate is obsessed with walking around our coffee table since we've gotten home.  He makes about 100 laps a day around that thing.  He's getting very interested in walking on his own but is not stable enough...that doesn't stop him from launching himself though.
Here's a few seconds of naked drummer boy.  Of course the videos are sideways cause I don't know how to put them upright.  Nate is a HUGE fan of being unclothed.  The minute you take off his pj's he laughs and smiles like crazy.  Might have a streaker on our hands.  Nate loves this wooden spoon in the video and will hit anything in the vicinity with it!

This is the example of crazy laughing baby.  This whole thing started when I got up to go to the fridge and Nate started shriek laughing for no reason.  Then I started to say boo and he thought that was the funniest thing on the planet.  This game in the video below is definitely a Ruf/Olson household favorite.  I may sound terrifying but it's only because the phone is so close to me when I'm barking at him.  After this video, we probably did this for 15 more minutes and it has manifested in to a fun game we play every day.

Funny right?!....once he starts that laugh I can't stop laughing back at him.  He laughs that crazy too when Joe gets home and crawls up the stairs to play "Catch the Baby".  Nate tries to get away but Joe catches him and the laughing continues......my, how our ideas of fun have changed :)

Can't think of any other thrilling news...Nate is continuing to grow and we have his 1 year old checkup in February.  Nate and I went swimming with Aunt Trisha at her apartment this weekend and he was a big fan of the pool.  It was one giant bath to him and he splashed away and loved spinning in circles.  He holds a bottle or sippy cup on his own now which he's been doing for awhile.  He is now permanently standing in his crib every morning I go in to get him.  He has a huge grin every day and starts to bounce up and down to get out.  He says mama and up too!  Trying to teach dada but hasn't gotten the hang of that one yet.  Alright, have a good week and I promise to get the pics up soon!