Everyday Sweets

I was all set to write about yesterday, today, and tomorrow, but it turns out I don't have very many interesting things to say (I barely remember what I did yesterday.... grocery shopping? yeah, that's the stuff of a great blog post -- and I have no real plans tomorrow, maybe we will go to a park with a carousel and ride it?) EXCEPT that I did try a new masters swimming class thing at my gym this morning. I worked hard and it was really fun. Maybe I will have more thrilling things to say about that at some point but for today: giant smiley.

And  with nothing else exciting to report, look at these sweet things that happened this week.

When Mark took the big kids to tee-ball on Tuesday, Charlotte and I lazed on my bed and talked and snuggled and took selfies and oh man she is still just... delightful.

All my babies, thumbs in mouths, watching Mister Rogers per our Saturday evening tradition. You know, just average everyday things that make your mommy stop in her tracks and melt a little.

Whoa. I HAVE THREE KIDS. Sometimes it just hits me all funny and I'm a little in awe and then I smile a lot.

Creeper Mommy Blogs By Night

One of our tactics for reining in the recent bedtime naughties has been to put Nathan in our room for an hour to read before he goes upstairs. (He's at that age where he doesn't really need to go to bed so early, but we need him to be done for the day. Grownup time after the kids are down is still a sanity priority for us.) It protects our quiet time, and lets him stay up a bit later, and keeps him at a safer non-giggly distance from Anneliese.

I cringe at the added "complication" to our bedtime routine, but it's been going much better this way. Except for the occasional night when he falls asleep in our bed, and we don't find him until hours later. Tonight was one of those nights. Since Mark is working, I decided just to let him stay in here with me.

Which means I'm now That Creeper Mommy, sneaking pictures of my sleeping child, then huddling next to him under the covers to write a blog post about it.

Earlier when it was thundery and Nathan was nervous, we cuddled together here and watched videos of him as a baby. Like this one as a toddler brushing his teeth in a DC hotel room. And this one meeting Anneliese. And he got a kick out of this one from the day he was born where I talked to "future Nathan" -- the Nathan in my bed right here right now tonight! (It's enough to blow a preschooler's mind.)

He thought it was hilarious that I still think he looks just like then. That when he sleeps, I still see his newborn lips and his toddler nose. That my long lanky boy is really still a curly squishy baby.

We talked about it before he fell asleep and he agreed not to grow up anymore.

Just kidding he totally insisted he has to turn five in a few weeks. Oh, fine. If you must. *sigh*

But for tonight, we snuggle.

G'night.

Nathan at (Almost) Three

My baby boy is going to be three on Monday.*  How did that happen so fast? 

Nathan has grown and changed so much over the last year.  And he's doing great these days.  Some of our favorite (and notsomuch favorite) Nathanisms right now:

- Loving on Anneliese.  I continue to be amazed at how he shines as a big brother, and how the whole two-kids thing has been so much better than I thought it would or could be.

- Always another question.  Where's Daddy?  What's he doing?  Is he working?  What kind of working?  {sigh}  In the last few days, we've also had our first few why?s.  Each time, I took a deep breath and ignored it, while panicking on the inside.

- When he falls or stumbles or hurts himself, he immediately points his finger and says (through his tears) no sir mommy, that's naughty, don't do that!  Something he has clearly heard us say when we're we need to get his attention.

- His memory is unbelievable.  He remembers things from months beforehand.  He notices seemingly everything, and retains so much more than we think he is.  He remembered my friend David (and his beard!) from the half-hour they spent together seven months ago.  Amazing.  An observant little fella, for sure.

- His "helping."  He wants to choose his own yogurt every morning, choose his own spoon, open it himself, and lick the lid.  Lunches and dinners and chores and outings have their own versions of this independent streak.  We hear a lot of "Nathan do it!  Mommy's not gonna help you, right?"  A lot.

- He loves to pray.  At first he was just repeating what Mark or I would say, but now he chooses what he prays about, and we try not to interfere.  He almost always thanks God for his family, his food, his house, his church, and usually he'll throw in one or two things that make me want to giggle when I know I shouldn't (and thank you for the orange cement truck)... and he almost always wraps up the whole thing with a quick OkILoveYouAmen.  So sweet. 

- He is finally (finally!) turning into a snuggler.  He loves to sit in our laps and rest his head on our shoulders and cuddle.  "Snuggle with Mommy?"  is fast becoming one of my favorite questions to hear him ask (except the middle of the night.  We're dealing with night wakings, and night tantrums.  I don't want to snuggle then).

- He loves to sing, but he gets shy around other people (and the camera).  But one of my favorite things is singing songs with him before bed, or in the car.  His favorite songs are Row, Row, Row Your Boat, The Wheels on the Bus, Jesus Loves Me, the ABC's, and Jesus Loves the Little Children. 

- He's very... particular about how he likes his things.  Lined up neatly, stacked up neatly, sorted in order, etc.  And he likes doing things in a certain order, or a certain manner.  Especially if he's tired, going too far out of our routine makes him a little panicky.  He likes to know what to expect.  We talk about new things a lot before we actually do them.  He is a creature of habit, for sure.  We can't tell if this is just normal toddler control-freak type behavior, or if he's really got a more compulsion-oriented personality than some.  It's not causing any dysfunction in his life (yet), so for now it's (mostly) just endearing.

- His favorite toys are his trucks, his books, and his paper and crayons for coloring.  Yesterday when he was coloring, I asked him what he was working on.  He said he was making a list.  I have no idea where he got that idea.  ;-)

- He is so obedient and easy. Whenever we're in a group of kids, I am struck by how easygoing he is. As much as I'd like him to be comfortable coming out of his shell a little more, I'm also secretly really grateful that I have The Easy Kid in the group, pretty much every time. It's just how God made him. And I'll take it. :)

Nathan, you made me a mommy, and for that, I love you more than life itself.  I can't believe how quickly you have turned from that teeny newborn into my big and smart boy.  Sometimes I think my chest might fill up and burst with how much I love you.  My feet wiggle and I want to jump up and down, because I can't physically control the energy that my love for you sends pulsing through my veins.  You're amazing.  Happy almost-three, sweet baby boy.

*He was supposed to be three TODAY. You didn't think I was going to forget to mention that this year, did you?

18 Month Update

It's been a while since I've done an update on Nathan, and since he's 18 months today, I thought now would be a good time.

Walking Boy - After taking his first steps in mid-December, Nathan spent about a month only walking when we explicitly asked him to. (Nathan, stand up. Take some steps.) And that only worked sometimes. But a couple of weeks ago (has it only been a couple of weeks? wow it's been crazy around here) he started walking to actually get somewhere. And now there's no stopping him.

Handsome Boy - I like this picture because it captures him so well. His natural smile (open-mouthed, of course... for two earlier versions click here and here), and you can actually tell he's taking a step. I'm glad that his 18-month portrait captures him so well as he is... now. Plus, again with the cute. :)
Talking Boy - I think I mentioned a few month ago that we have long stopped counting words Nathan knows. When people ask me this question, they are met with a blank stare. It's probably a hundred or more. It's way too many to keep track of, that's for sure. Of all the words he knows, his favorites are what's that? (yes, still), applesauce, outside, big truck, help please, Bowdy (Bowden) and Sy-eeee (Simon). Before you start thinking what great parents we are to have taught Nathan good manners, you should know that he says help please for almost everything (which is not helpful, we usually need to ask "help with what?" to get more clarification on what he wants), and says "thank you" only rarely. And only when prompted. We're working on it.

Playful Boy - Nathan's favorite toys right now are his blocks, his fish book, his instruments (still loves noise), and recently he has formed an odd attachment to the stuffed hippo his Uncle Sean got him for Christmas. I say odd not because there's anything wrong with the hippo, but because as of yet Nathan has not been terribly attached to any comfort object. He has been known on occasion to ask for his stuffed cow at bedtime, and we can tell it's the most-loved of all his animals, since it's missing a nostril. (That's true toy love, people.) But even that pales in comparison to his recent fascination with the hippo. We'll see how it plays out.

Growing Boy - He weighs 26 lbs (53rd percentile) and is 33.5 inches tall (82nd percentile). Which is a far cry from losing weight, and falling off the charts like he was this time last year. He's bounced back like it's no one's business. Amazing. And now that we're on this side of the situation, his growth chart is almost humorous. Almost. Plus, he's about to be in size 4 diapers. Some kids never get out of 4's before they're potty-trained. Also, the child on the size 4 packaging is a kid, not a baby. When I look at Nathan, I can hardly believe it's time for the diapers that the kid on that packaging wears. Sure sign of growing up.

Nursing Boy - yes, I am still breastfeeding Nathan. I was talking to a friend a week or so ago, and made mention of the nursing, and she was really surprised to hear that. She jokingly called me a closet nurser. Now, I have jokingly said that, too - Nathan doesn't want it every day, and when he does, it's almost always right after he wakes up -- so we're at home. Which means it's just me and him. Which is private by default, not by intention. Her comment bothered me not because she was surprised I was still nursing, but because she thought I was trying to hide it. As if it was something to be ashamed of. As if I were going out of my way to avoid the judgement of other people. Me. Yeah.... not so much. I'm not trying to flaunt it or make a big deal about it (it's not a big deal), but I am certainly not trying to hide it either! So let the record show that I am still nursing Nathan, and my current plan is to continue to do so until he is ready to completely wean. (In my mind, the weaning has already begun, since the nursing sessions are so infrequent at this point.) And that it's still good for him. And that I have no shame in it. And that I reserve the right to revise the plan without notice, of course. :)

Hungry Boy - While I wish he would eat a bigger variety of food, Nathan actually does ok. He likes applesauce best (he'll eat it on anything), and he also likes baked beans, mandarin oranges, sunflower seed butter (we use it instead of pb since we can't send nut products with him to church), french toast, and pasta. Or anything Daddy has on his plate. Or anything we tell him is applesauce. [Side note - Mark feels bad lying to him, so he tells Nathan the food is like applesauce. "Sure, this is like applesauce, it's chicken but it fits on the spoon like applesauce," and other such nonsense. But as long as Nathan hears the word applesauce a couple of times, he's pretty likely to eat it. I just lie. Don't judge me, you've lied to your kid about trivial stuff too.] Nathan has also started feeding himself with a spoon. So cute. And oh-so messy. We got him some curvy spoons to help get the food into his mouth, but they're only made for righties. And he usually prefers to hold the spoon in his left hand. Though I'm not sure if that's because Mark taught him how using his right hand, facing Nathan, so he just learned in his left, or if it's because he's actually a lefty. Time will tell.

Loving Boy - The best thing (to me) that Nathan has picked up on recently is hugging and kissing. I've mentioned before that he's not much of a snuggler, so when he actually wants to hug, Mark and I know to freeze and let it happen. Now he also thinks it's great fun to kiss me. He has no idea what it means, and I know that, but I still love it and it makes me absolutely giddy with happy-mommy endorphins.

So, Nathan... don't listen to Daddy, this is your half birthday! It's worth celebrating because you're our big boy, growing up so fast, and we love you more every day!