Happy Half-Birthday, Nathan!

Nathan is 2 1/2 today! And yes, as I've said before, half-birthdays are a real thing. Don't argue with me on this one. I will win.

When I was growing up, half-birthdays meant getting to eat off the I'm The Best plate, and maybe a Little Debbie Cake or some other small treat. I liked having those little traditions, simple though they were. So last year we decided that our family needed a half-birthday tradition too. (Well, I decided. Mark rolled his eyes.)

So instead of other people bringing us presents, like on our actual birthday, in our family the half-birthday kid will give presents. This afternoon Nathan and I will go over to Interact (a non-profit in Raleigh that our church helps support) and bring some things that our family needs less than they do -- diapers and toys and formula for the women who are sheltered there with children.

And we might have a cupcake later too. :)

When I think back to where he was a year ago today-- barely beginning to walk, just tentatively back on the weight-gain track, right on the verge between baby and toddler... well it seems like a lifetime ago. Now, even when I try really really hard, it's difficult for me to see the baby in him. I just see a kid. A big boy. How did that happen already?

But Nathan is doing really well these days. He loves being a big brother. He and Anneliese will sometimes sit and babble and grin at each other for an hour at a time. He loves to go into her room in the morning and climb up on the crib rail and peer at her with a hi, cutie! So sweet. He loves to read to her and hug her and kiss her. I remember when I was so worried about seeing Nathan as a big brother (would I love them both enough? would he handle the shared attention ok? would he like her or resent her? etc) and those thoughts seem like the distant past now. Now I can't see him as anything but a big brother. It's kind of cool.

He is still very (very very very) into trucks and cars and planes and anything that goes. His favorite toys right now are his matchbox cars and his big ambulance. He calls it his ambu-lamps. And every time we drive anywhere, I have a constant narration from the backseat about all the vehicles we're passing. More than once we have gotten into almost-arguments about what he sees. (He doesn't agree with me that a hummer is a kind of suv; he just wants me to call it a hummer. He also can tell the difference in a crane, a utility truck, and a cherry-picker -- and it tends to annoy him that I sometimes get them wrong.)

Another of his favorite activities these days is coloring. He will sit in his high chair and color for close to an hour before he gets tired of it. It's so funny how he puts his face down so close to his work!

His favorite foods are bagels, bread, bananas, pineapples, applesauce, gummy fruit snacks, mandarin oranges, spaghetti, and fig newtons. We call it the all-carbs-all-the-time diet. But that isn't really true because he also loves yogurt (egg-oat, he calls it) and peanut butter and baked beans and milk. Still not very much into meat, but it's getting better as he tries more and more things. And he does love sloppy joes and tater tots -- it's one of his favorite dinners, just like his Uncle Brad. (Fun fact: if you tell a toddler that his okra is a tater tot, he'll eat it even though it's a vegetable. True story.) Also, he eats pretty much anything better if he can dip it into sauce, especially barbecue sauce. Many meals seem to just be a long chorus of dip it! Dip it please Daddy!

Nathan is still again a very good sleeper, back to his infant pattern of about 12 hours a night, from 7 to 7. That's been interrupted this week since he has a little cold and some kind of infection in his eye, which means he's been a little uncomfortable at night and in need of some extra hugs.

I have to be honest and say that I am loving life with Nathan right now. Yes, he's a complete chatterbox, but I find that sort of endearing. Yes, he throws the occasional tantrum, but on most days I can deal with that too. And it remains true that his arms around my shoulders are one of the best feelings in the world. And that love you, mommy is one of the sweetest sounds in the world. I love you too, Nathan. Happy half-birthday.