Amazingly cute

Nathaniel did an amazing beautiful baby thing last night.

Every night, he half falls asleep laying on Amanda's lap. I ask if it's night-night time, he always says "no," though with differing levels of fervor based on how tired he is. Once he's tired enough (or it's getting later than he should be up), I pick him up, lean him over to give a kiss to his Mommy, hold on to him while he and Amanda blow kisses to each other and say "bye-bye" several times, then take him to his crib.

As I take him into his dark room, he usually gives me a hug and kiss, then I lay him down, cover him with a blanket and give him his froggy. He frees an arm from his blanket and waves and says bye-bye again before blowing a kiss or two.

Well, last night I guess I forgot to give him a kiss just before setting him in the crib, so he struggled under the blankets, as he usually does ... but then he stood up, stood on his toes next to the crib railing and puckered up for a kiss. Once he got his kiss, he layed back down and allowed me to put the blanket over him before waving bye-bye and blowing kisses.

I thought it was fantastic that he rearranged his routine because it was important to him to get that last kiss. What a great baby!

Less than two weeks until he turns 2. Amazing.

almost 2

If the calendar didn't tell us Nathaniel was almost 2, his actions certainly would. If he doesn't agree with our decisions, he lets us know about it. This morning, he wanted to watch Thomas the Tank Engine ... I didn't want to turn on the TV, so I got about five minutes of screaming from him, punctuated with the occasional "No!" and a strong pointing in my direction. He apparently was telling people at daycare yesterday that he was in charge. Fierce little guy we're bringing up. And it's great to see how he's learning about interacting and trying to get his point across. Sure, his efforts could use some fine-tuning, but it's a really fun start.

growing so fast

Nathaniel has been growing so much lately. He's almost 30 lbs., he's trying to assert his will, he's using building blocks, he's starting to understand shapes, colors and more. It's amazing to see and we're looking forward to seeing so much more.

Recent items:
-- Another ear infection. At least they don't happen too often, but the result is we don't know why he's in such a terrible mood and unable to sleep. Made for a very rough night for all of us, but he's doing a lot better now (he has an ear-nose-throat appointment today, so we'll get a better idea of how things are going from that).
-- He seems to be getting closer to potty training. He tells us when he's poopy and he sits on his potty, but he hasn't used it yet. He has sat on the potty in the bathroom and paged through a book ... I guess he's copying daddy a little too closely, perhaps.
-- He'll be 2 years old in just a couple of weeks. His Oma, Grandma, Grandpa and aunt will be over for a smaller gathering than last year. We're all looking forward to it.

Christmas and more

What a hectic time! Even with all the time off for the holidays, I still couldn't find time to blog. Sorry about that.

Nathaniel had a blast on Christmas. Sure, he still doesn't quite get what's going on or why, but he definitely enjoyed some of his new stuff. He was deeply enamored of his new Thomas the Tank Engine playset -- he couldn't stop playing with the trains and saying "choo! choo!" (which comes out more like "shoo shoo," which just makes it cuter).

We also got him a Tickle Me Elmo, which appears to be more fun for adults than for kids, if you ask me. Nathaniel likes Elmo alot, but he was a little unnerved by the falling over and random movements. He kept trying to help put Elmo back on his feet and also squealing and kicking when Elmo got too animated. Nathaniel also seemed to decide the best way to carry Elmo was to grab him by his eyeballs and lift. Very cute.

Overall, Nathaniel was a little exhausted by the whole thing, as were Amanda and me. So it was good we had other days off.

Two days after Christmas, Amanda and I took the little guy to the Garden State Discovery Museum. Our review: Not that nice a place, but the kids seem to love it. Nathaniel loved playing with the bubbles and just running around all over and exploring. On the downside, it got really crowded and there seemed to be little control of anything or anyone. Still, Nathaniel enjoyed it, so we may go back.

We're thinking Nathaniel may be getting some molars in right now, as well, as he's a little extra cranky and drooling. Sleep hasn't been quite as good, but it's been OK.

Hope everyone had a great holiday season and is ready for the new year.

So everyone knows ... I'll be wrapping this blog up shortly. Nathaniel is almost 2 years old now, and I never intended to go as long as I have. Overall, I'm just spending more time with Nathaniel, which leaves me less time to write about spending time with him.

Also, we'll shortly be changing the Courier-Post Web site, and the blogs are going to change a good bit different when that happens. So, by the time we make the switchover, I'll probaby stop writing this blog as well.

Thanks for reading!