Socialization :)

So the recent goal with Nate has been to get him in to some activities.  Now that he's over a year and our friend Maria just watches him, I think it's about time he hangs out with some kiddos his own age so that he isn't so stunned the times he is around other little munchkins.  I took Nate to a "My Gym" class on Friday which is a lot of playing on swings, balance beams, ball pit, and much more.  We also sang songs in a circle with other moms and babies, not really my cup of tea and in that moment I really questioned what had become of my life  :)  Kidding, kidding, (a little) but it was more entertaining to watch Nate interact/ or his lack of interaction.

This was Nate's typical get away position from new activities.  When we first got there I don't think he could have clung any tighter to me for about 10 minutes.  I then tried and help him clap and sing through the songs and he kept looking back at me like I had lost my mind.  I had thought so too :)  Then we played in the ball pit where he screamed and whined mama mamam mamama.  Once we got on the swings they hook to the ceiling...smiles started to crack on his face.  After that was "independent play" where I got to observe Nate be the passive guy who got shoved down, his turtle taken away from him, and trampled by other 1 and 2 year olds.  He pretty much just looked at them and found something else to play with.  No aggressiveness shown yet!  It was a lot of fun but the class is about 40 minutes away so  I found a music class up closer to our house that we're going to start this week.  I'll let ya know how it goes!
Nate's new toy is one of my old whistles from when I used to work at the afterschool program.  He figured out how to blow and make it work in about 15 minutes and hasn't stopped.  I let him wear it to the grocery store because he didn't want to take it off...he blew the whistle throughout the meat section....don't get excited, it wasn't loud or anything just breathy, spitty. little whistles!

He calls a lot of traveling!
Saturday we went to our friend Jake and Jamie's.  Their daughter Jacqueline is 9 months and Nate had his first co-ed bathing experience!  They had pizza and peaches for dinner and were messes.

Nate was a gentleman for the most part and only grabbed himself a couple of times instead of the usual 50 or so.  Eventually, he was a bit ruder and desperate to get to the toys that kept floating away from him.

Poor Jacqueline took a bit of a spill after that but it was her first big tub experience and she did great with spazzy boy!  Nate of course stood up, sat down, bonked his head, and splashed around as usual.
Have a great week!

Howdy strangers!

Hey all!  The blog still works, it was shut down for a while because there was "suspicious activity" on my gmail account so they dismantled the blog.  That seems to be taken care of so we're back! 
Nate and I went home last weekend to visit fam.  Joe and I bought new car seats for our vehicles so now the big man is facing forward!  He was not thrilled with his new seat at first and was very irritated that he could not recline.  He kept trying to throw his body backwards and keeps on trying to push the buckle open. This picture is pre mom buying some nice pillows to rest his head on.

 Post mom finding nice little pillow friends for our ride home to Monroe.

This is from the way back from Monroe where Nate got angry at his new pillow friends and decided to sleep on his own.  He grunted for about 20 minutes while he proceeded to rip them off of the straps.  He's nothing if not persistent!

Nate did great on the drive again and on the way home it only took 5 hours.  I just stopped once to change him but he ate food and drank his bottle on his own!
Here's Nate at the house checking out his new car seat.

Nate and Grandpa Jimbo posing in their Dodger sweatshirts.  Jimbo got Nate his first Dodger gear for his birthday. I love this first picture of the two of them because it looks like they are living the straight thug life!

Montage of Nate not being interested whatsoever in taking a photo but instead trying to watch his favorite t.v. show Little Einsteins.

Well, we tried to get a smiling one :)
If you look past all the clutter in the house you can see a little man trying to break free out on to the deck.

Nate's walking on his own now so watch out world!  He started doing it when I went home last weekend.  My mom and I were out in the back room and he took about 5 steps on his own.  After that he's just started heading off on his own.  He still prefers to hold on to something but he's pretty willing to walk to someone now and can go about 10-15 steps!  I don't have any video of it yet but I'll try and catch him soon.

Our babysitter Maria tries to spike Nate's hair every day.  He's working on a very nice mullet in the back and Joe won't let me cut it yet because he of course wants it to keep growing!
Nate also has 8 teeth that have popped through at this point.  This past week he has been a monster and waking up in the middle of the night screaming.  Come to find out, there are two new top teeth and two more on the bottom....soooooo great that they all decided to come in together.  The drool doesn't stop flowing at this point :)
Have a good weekend!

Happy Nate and Mama Birthday!

Ok, so we aren't going to celebrate every date that has a memory from those first few weeks but this one is a special one.  As many of you know, they kept me at the hospital for 5 days after Nate was born to make sure I was ok, stable, and to lower my blood pressure.  That meant I couldn't see Nate until the 15th...5 days after he was born!  Not a good time for me once the drugs wore off and I started to realize what was going on :)  Anyways, I didn't even remember videos being taken when I got to meet Nate but here is one of them from a the 15th a year ago when I first met him on the outside.  Joe was nice enough to wait and let me be the first one to hold him....thanks Joey!

I've been trying to upload the one where the nurse hands him to me because you can see just how tiny he was but it won't work.  Anyways, too much time I've spent looking at old pics :)
Today was his check up....a traumatizing one, more for Joe and I.  I had to football hold him down while they gave him the chicken pox vaccine, MMR, and Hep A.  The doc said they burn going in and he definitely silent screamed for a while.  Then he had to have a finger prick to check hemoglobin.  I made Joe hold him for that one!  Once we got home he was fine, but he was not happy while we were there!  Nate weighs in at 22 pounds and 30.5 inches.  His weight is 35th percent and height was 70th. The doctor was happy with everything and he's doing great!

What a difference a year makes!

Was just going through all my photos on the computer reminiscing about the past year a bit and thought I'd re-share some of the old photos.  It's insane how far Nate's come in a year.  I am actually quite proud of him and us for getting to this point.
In a way I don't like some of these photos for the memories some of them bring, but I love them too because they remind me what to be grateful for and where we've come from.

Now....the beast :)

1 year check up is on Tuesday the 15th so we'll let you know his weight class then :)

Little Man turns 1!

Nate is officially now 1!  I worked in the morning and took the afternoon off yesterday to hang out with him since I never really did a year ago!  We stopped at my work to visit with my coworkers and then we stopped at Unity Hospital where Nate was for weeks to visit with the nurses and say thanks.  One of our favorites Gina was there so that was really fun.  We walked in and she goes, NATHAN!  We've been back there before and they seem to appreciate us stopping by now and again.
  Nate shockingly let me put this hat on and he didn't even attempt to rip it off!

I may have blinded him when I had the flash on my phone :)  That is not actually a full set of teeth on the bottom, although it looks like it.  I believe it's some rice cracker thingy.

Here's Nate in his first birthday shirt from Grandma Olson.

Here's his permanent stance at the coffee table...one leg up, one leg down

I forgot to take a picture with the nurses and near Nate's old living quarters at the hospital, but I whipped my phone out on the way out.  Here's Nate looking out the window to the parking lot...exciting I know :)

He never got this view when he was there before :)
My boss Sheila has this birthday cake hat that is quite funny on.  He didn't try to yank this one off either, he must have realized it was his birthday!

We're having a party on Sunday for his birthday so there will be more pictures to follow!  Thanks to all of you who've supported us and Nate so much this past year.  We are definitely beyond blessed and happy to have you all and Nate in our lives!  Happy weekend to everyone!

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!