No Cry Baby here

We survived Nate's first haircut and I didn't even cry. Ok, the truth is I would have cried except that I was so busy just trying to keep him from getting down from my lap or getting his ears cut off because he moved at the wrong time, I just didn't have time to think about crying. So the event was tear free and mostly blood free. Poor Tina nicked herself while cutting Nate's hair. I felt so bad. She is a true professional, and a true friend.

We really didn't cut that much off of him. But his bangs are out of his eyes and the "wings" over his ears are much smaller.

Here are a couple of pictures of the little man and his new do.

This is after his bath and before going for his haircut. I think he was a little nervous - one drink just wasn't enough.

The last picture before his haircut



The first cut.

 

"You sure we want to do this Mom?"





Thanks Tina! 




Playing is much easier when you're hair isn't tickling your eyes

My Big Boy



Don't Cry You Big Baby!

Tomorrow morning Nathan will be getting his hair cut for the first time. While I am very excited to have the "wings" gone from above his ears and the hair out of his eyes, the very thought of cutting his hair brings tears to my eyes. Well if I'm totally honest I have to admit that most of the time the tears actually fall from my eyes and roll down my cheeks. Pathetic, right? It's just hair after all, and hair grows. But no matter how rational I try to be, it still makes me sad to admit that my little boy is growing up.

So tomorrow I will try to contain my tears. I will try to be less of a baby than my baby. I wouldn't hold my breath if were you, however. The fact is, I'm pretty much a great big cry baby now a days. I would never have described myself as an emotional person back in the day, but that is now no longer true. I cry at commercials, tv shows, music on the radio, looking at Nathan and Rob playing, you name it and I cry. Oh well, I guess emotions aren't that bad after all.

New Toy

This is a video of Nathan seeing his newest (and now favorite) toy for the first time. It's so amazing to watch him climb up and down, dance on the platform, shoot baskets at the basketball hoop, or throw the football through the holes on the side. It seems like moments ago that we were waiting for him to take his first steps and now it's hard to get him to stop. What a joy to watch the pride grow on his face as he realizes he can do something new. I love listening to him squeal and giggle as he plays. He loves to explore and climb. He is ALL boy!

Bedtime Hijinks

Wave a white flag to surrender. Fly your flag at half mast to mourn. Hang your flag upside down when you are in distress. But what does it mean when your 16 month old waves his green striped froggy pajama bottoms over the edge of his crib? Is he declaring war on sleep? Calling a truce? Surrendering?

It's definitely not a sign of surrender. That I know for sure. Last night Nathan was in one of his "I'm completely exhausted but not in the mood to sleep" moods. He was nearly asleep in my arms so I laid him down. This is our normal routine, usually resulting in a tear or two but then sleep generally comes in a couple of minutes or so. Sometimes he cries for a while and I go back in to his room to help him calm down again so sleep can take over. When I went back in to his room last night, he was standing quietly at the edge of his crib (not too strange of sight) but then as I looked more closely I realized that he had taken his pants off and was waving them back in forth in front of the bars on his crib. I've not figured out if this was some form of protest? An act of rebellion? Exploration of his interest in becoming an exhibitionist or nudist??? I guess only time will tell.

The good news is that Nathan fell asleep shortly after I got him back into his pants and slept throughout the night. The bad news, he woke up with a nasty cold and has had a runny nose and eyes and has been sneezing all morning long. Poor little guy.

A Special Day

Today Nathan and I went on an extra special adventure. We drove to Virginia (Nathan's first trip out of North Carolina) to meet some extra special friends for lunch. Nathan fell in love with them right away. He is a pretty easy going kid and warms up to people pretty easy but I've not seen him connect quite this fast. Within just a couple of minutes of meeting, Nathan reached out for Elizabeth as if he had known her his entire life. I guess in a way he has known her all of his life. You see, I began playing her "Be Still" CD to help put Nathan to sleep when he was very young so in a way he's been getting to know her through her music nearly all of his life.

Scott and Elizabeth were a great source of encouragement and support over the years as we were waiting on the Lord for Nathan. It was such a blessing to have them meet the fruit of their prayers, especially since Elizabeth was with me when I found out I was pregnant the first time and she was one of my greatest confidants as I was grieving the loss of that baby(See my posts from July of 2007). What a blessing to watch them enjoy getting to know Nathan today.

Waiting for Scott and Elizabeth to arrive.

New Buddies.






I am so thankful for this opportunity to spend time catching up Scott and Elizabeth and pray we don't have to wait as long to spend time together again next time.

Sharing Some Doggone Fun

On the Fourth of July Nathan got to spend some time with Wally, Uncle Rick and Aunt Marcia's dog. As you can tell he LOVED playing with Wally. I have a feeling as soon as he starts talking Nathan will be asking for a dog of his own.


Over the last couple of months Nathan and his cousin Ivy have been becoming good friends. After dinner on the 4th Nathan and Ivy were sharing some puffs when Nathan decided to feed Ivy some of their snack.

That's How He Rolls!

A couple of days ago we took Nathan to the zoo for the first time. He had a great time. Here's a little video of one of his favorite adventures while we were there.

N8 Playing

Our little Nate Nate has had a very busy few weeks. He has grown 5 almost 6 teeth, which means there have been many sleepless night around our house. Learned how to crawl (on his hands and knees, not just the army crawl). Learned to drink out of a water bottle and regular cup, although he hasn't quite mastered holding the water bottle or cup while drinking from it without giving himself a bath. Learned to drink out of a straw. Learned to walk on his knees. AND...learned to walk! He's been a busy, busy boy. As soon as I get the video of him walking I'll post it here but until then enjoy a little video of him having a blast playing with some blocks and a basket.

Nathan's first birthday and cake

Here is a video Rob took while Nathan was trying to figure out what he was supposed to do with the cake we placed in front of him. He really seemed to enjoy having all eyes on him and clapped often. Enjoy!

Birthday Update

We had a great time celebrating Nathan's first birthday. "Auntie" Nicole flew in from Arizona to help us celebrate. Nate loved having her here. She has posted some photo's and videos from her trip, click here to see them. I was rather domestic and made a celebration plate AND Nate's smash cake. They turned out rather well if I say so myself.

We started the day with a bath and then breakfast. I stole the Rhyno's family tradition and made a pancake in the shape of a one for our little man. Then on Saturday we had the official party. Nathan did not take a nap before the party so I was anticipating a major meltdown, but Nathan did fabulous. He laughed and clapped throughout the entire party. When we gave him his smash cake he didn't know what to do. He had never had sugar and wasn't really sure about it. He didn't smash it but he seemed to enjoy all of the attention! The party was a huge sucess, what a blessing to be surrounded by friends and family as we celebrated our miracle boy.

Happy Birthday!!!!!

It's official, baby Nate is no longer a baby. At 4:24 this afternoon our little man becomes a one year old! Everyone tells you how fast time flies when you have kids and now I know what they mean! I can't believe that one year ago today we met Nathan for the first time. This has been an incredible year. I can't believe how much I love that kid. He makes my heart smile each and every day.



I'll post some birthday pictures later today so you can see our big boy enjoying his special day (like he's really going to know what's going on, haha). We are starting some birthday traditions today that I'll post for you. Thanks for all of the prayers for the years before Nathan came to us and for this year too.