Nate on Vacation

Nate and I took our annual mother-son vacation last weekend. We went to see my best friend, her mother, and step-father. Nate had a great time!

We had lunch on the road...



Nate played with Legos (a vacation gift from Daddy)




Nate did get a boo-boo on his big toe, but some funky Band-Aids made it all better




Nate enjoyed some ice cream (Note the ice cream mustache and beard)




We took a walk through the marshes...




and stopped to look at the cranes with Aunt Mary




Nate liked the sharks at the Virginia Aquarium & Marine Science Center



Maybe we partied just a little too hard (LOL)




So we watched a little Phineas and Ferb to recharge

Catching Up -- Adventure Aquarium

Looking at Lobsters

Playing with pretentrRays before trying to touch the real thing

Taking a rest on a turtle

Looking at the sharks in the touch tank

Trying to touch a ray

Catching Up -- Nate's First Hair Cut

June 19, 2010

Catching Up -- Nate's All Wet

Taken in May 2010

Hands Down!

Nate and I were playing trains yesterday and Beo (our big black lab) was sitting right next to me breathing down my neck. I said something to the dog along the lines of "missing daddy bub?" when Nate asked me "Mommy, is Beo missing Daddy?"

I responded, "I think he is buddy. Are you missing daddy too?"

Nate said, "Yeah, I missing Daddy too."

I said something among the lines of, "He'll be home soon," when Nate looked at me and asked, "Mommy, can Beo play trains without hands?" and he held up his hands in illustration.

[My jaw hits the floor and I stare at my toddler as if he had just explained the origins of the universe to me]

I responded, "No, buddy, I don't think Beo can play trains without hands. Why did you want him to play with you?"

Nate looked a little sad and said "Yeah mommy."

Is it just me or was that pretty deep thinking for 2.5?

The Blur

Waiting for Arrival

Last night Jon went to the supermarket to get rolls for dinner and some sort of treat for Nate.

When Jon left Nate asked me where daddy was going and I said to get you a treat for after dinner.

Nate was running around aimlessly, so I asked him if he wanted to go and play with the PlayDough and he turned to me and said, "No, mommy... I am waiting for my treat to arrive!"

On the Big Slide with Daddy

Current Pics

Play with trains at Grandma's house

Throwing water on mommy

Playing with pizza dough at Bertucci's

After Dinner Treat

Growing Up

Yesterday Nate decided to stop calling me "mama" and start calling me "mommy." More specifically "my mommy" either in reference to me or to Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa, (we have the same haircut). It is super cute to hear but it also means that he is growing up... {{sigh}}.

It was bound to happen, I know... but a mama's, oops I mean mommy's heart breaks just a little.

In other news, I gave Nate his first hair cut last night. It was a trim really. Just a little off the back to even things up and a little around the ears so he didn't look so shaggy. I will freely admit that I missed a few spots that I will clean up tonight, but all in all he looks pretty cute... and a whole lot like the big boy he is.

Lancaster, PA

Yesterday my mom and I made a "quick" trip to Lancaster to do a little outlet and fabric store shopping. Shopping with a toddler is an "interesting" experience. A lot less time is spent shopping and a lot more time is spent taking breaks... luckily for us there are a lot of playgrounds and petting zoos to keep Nate entertained.

Starting out the day right... on the slide

Meeting a Pony... he reached right up and stroked his mane
(mommy was SO PROUD)
Towards the end of the day... resting in the shade

All tuckered out on the way home

Mr. Fix It

Nate received a couple of belated birthday gifts recently, one of which was a tool box. He LOVES it! Here is Mr. Fix It in action.

Lost

Yesterday Nate woke up from his nap early. I was in the middle of making cinnamon buns so I gave him some books to read in his crib while I got the cinnamon buns in the oven to rise.

When I went back up to get him out of his bed he looked at me, cocked his had to the side and with arms outstretched (palms up) he asked "Where go mama?" I asked him if he wanted to know where mama went and he said no. So I asked his what it was he was looking for and he put his finger up his nose. "Nate, did you lose a booger?" and he looked at me and said "Yeah mama... where go?"

I was laughing too hard to answer him yesterday but today I can say, "I don't know where your booger went Nate... and I'm not going to start looking now."

Hungry Hungry Hippos

A Conversation with Nate

Me: So Nate, what do you think Beo and Jax (the dogs) do when we're not here?

Nate: Play, mama.

Me: Oh, what do they play with?

Nate: Nate's choo-choos

Me: They play with your choo-choos? ok, do you think they color and play with stickers too?

Nate: NOOOO, mama!!!

Apparently Nate has some insight into a dog's min that I do not have... I would have thought they would like stickers

Better Late than Never... Nate Turns 2

Since we were all sick for Nate's first birthday we decided to have a blow out second birthday party for him at MyGym... it was a HUGE success and he loved every minute of it!

Catching Up In Pictures

December

24" of Snow

Daddy has big boots to fill!




A train table set up for Christmas morning




Hanging out

2 Year Checkup

Nate Turned the big 2 last Friday (pictures will be coming soon I promise) so on Monday I took him for his 2 year check up.

Nate is progressing very nicely and is now 2'9" tall (in the 5th percentile which is where he has always been) and 28.5 pounds (50th percentile). Developmentally he is right on track. No shots this time and we go back in a year.

Toilet Trouble

Not of the potty training type, I know what you're thinking. No, Nate likes to flush the toilet. We let him do it once or twice since it is a good way to introduce the subject of "the potty" what its for, what we put in there, etc.

This morning while I was blowing my hair dry I was, admittedly, not paying that much attention to what Nate was doing. He wasn't trying to swim in the toilet so I figured he was ok.

Apparently, what he was doing was taking vast amounts of toilet paper off of the roll and putting it in the toilet. Then he did what he LOVES to do and that was flush. This is when I took notice of the goings on (unfortunately, not the goings down, if you know what I mean). After exclaiming "Nate, what are you doing?!" (as if that was going to do any good), I noticed that the water level in the bowl was slowly rising. I was dressed for work and, as always running late, so a flood in the bathroom was not on my agenda for today. I watched for a minute hoping that the situation would just resolve itself, but as the water approached the rim of the bowl I knew I was going to have to intervene.

So, I plunged my hand in and pulled out the massive lump of toilet paper. The water went down, crisis averted. Now, let me just state, for the record, that everything was clean. There was nothing in the bowl but clean water and paper (OH THANK GOD!!!), but it is still a little unnerving having to put your hand in there.

The moral of the story... Nate and I are not allowed in the bathroom without supervision!

Updates

I'm not feeling very creative today so I thought I would provide a snap shot of what Nate is doing now at 23 months:

-- Says "No" (alot!)
-- Is out of a high chair and into a booster seat. He can climb in and buckle himself in without any assistance
-- LOVES to climb on anything and everything
-- He has started speaking in sentences (albeit short ones)
-- He can climb onto mommy and daddy's bed
-- He can climb in and out of his crib if the side is down
-- When he picks up any phone he says "HELLO!"
-- He has started to "fake sleep." He finds a spot on the floor, covers himself with a blanket, and starts snoring. I don't know where he learned it, but it is hysterical.
-- When he does something surprising he says "Ta Da"
-- Loves to dance (and loves dance music)
-- Is only using a binky when he is in his bed. He has adjusted pretty well so far.
-- Tells us when he pees and will sit on his frog potty.
-- Like to flush the toilet for you
-- Is completely obsessed with Thomas the Train, Buzz LightYear, and Doc Hudson from Cars.
-- Loves our dog Jax more than anything else in the world

Sentencing

Nate occasionally strings two words together like "Nate up" or "down please" but that is really about it. Yesterday I was going upstairs to get his juice and told him to stay in the family room with daddy, and that mommy would be right back. Nate had other ideas and declared, "Nate-Nate go mama!" (translation: "I want to go with mama!")

Now whether or not you consider Nate-Nate one word or two, that is a real sentence!