Nathan and I were in Lowes a few times this past month, and each time he got so excited about the lawn mower display. I'm not sure if its the bright colors, the big wheels, the hood ornaments or what, but this boy is smitten!

We had some beautiful weather a few weekends back and it gave us all some time to be outside together. I can't wait until the warm days are here to stay!

WE'RE BACK!!  Brian and I had a get-away to Atlantic Beach last week while Nana (Carroll) stayed with Nathan at home.  Everyone had a great time and I'll fill you in more in the coming week.  But for an easy post tonight...

Nathan loves shoes, have I mentioned this? He loves the word, he loves that it means we're going somewhere when we need to put our shoes on, he loves trying to put them on and take them off himself. He also loves to try to walk in any of Mommy and Daddy's shoes that happen to be laying around. Here he goes with a pair of my slippers.

Here are three "takes" of him walking in the slippers. What cracks me up is that they all end with him saying "Na, Na!" (Nathan) and reaching for the camera so he can see what I just filmed of him. It's getting harder to take videos and pictures of Nathan because he always wants to see what's going on on my side of the camera!

I really like the idea of involving Nathan in my daily chores, mostly because that means they're easier for me to get done with he's awake and I'm not spending my valuable nap/evening time doing them.  But I guess its also good so that he knows that helping around the house is expected of him as he gets older.

We've started folding laundry together on the master bed within the past week, and it's been going really well.  And by "really well", I mean that Nathan is entertained and sometimes "helps" me by unfolding what I just folded.  Nathan especially likes trying to put any sock that's within his reach (right now he calls socks "shoes", but we're working on that).  He's been trying hard to figure out how to hold the one end open and then maneuver his foot into said opening, but its harder then it appears.  Even with the extra -large socks of mine or Daddy's that he snags from the laundry. 


But, like sweeping, Nathan's love of this chore can be a two-edged sword. The other night after dinner, Gran and Nathan went to the basement to play while I cleaned up the kitchen and worked a little on my bible study lesson. About 20 minutes before bedtime, I went downstairs to collect Nathan and realized that I had a load of laundry ready to take out of the dryer. Nathan was super excited about the laundry and as soon as we got to the top of the stairs, he headed straight to the my room and stretched up onto his tippy-toes as he tried to climb onto the bed. I picked him up and tossed him onto the bed (I learned that from Daddy), and dumped the laundry on top of him. Working quickly, as bedtime was fast approaching, I folded all the towels and a couple of shirts and then I told him that we were done and it was time to get ready for bed.  Apparently, he wanted to do some more laundry and threw a small temper tantrum as I took him to his room.  But I guess there could be worse things for him to get upset about!

A few weeks ago, Brian moved Nathan's swing from the basement to the huge oak tree in our backyard. Nathan loves to swing now more than ever! One afternoon a few weeks ago, Nathan swung for 40 minutes straight - and that's not an exaggeration! Thankfully I had my ipod in my pocket so I could do a little reading during the marathon swinging session. More recently, though, I seem to be having the opposite problem. I was in the middle of cooking Sunday afternoon when Nathan decided he wanted to swing. After 10 minutes of telling Nathan to wait and just a minute (and Nathan NOT waiting patiently), we went out to swing, but after 1 minute he tells me he's "all done". Oh well, at least he keeps me guessing!

So last weekend (Great) Aunt Karen made the trek down from Maryland for another wonderful weekend visit. Brian was busy studying on Friday for an in-training exam that he took Saturday morning (the test is like a practice anesthesia boards), so I was super excited to have Karen hang out with me and Nathan.

We stayed at the house Friday afternoon, playing with Nathan and listening to stories Aunt Karen told about her childhood, my grandparents, my dad and uncle, the snowmobiling trip to Yellowstone, and much, much more. I love to listen to Karen telling stories - it amazes me how good her memory is, whereas I have a hard time remembering what went on two months ago (hence part of the reason I keep plugging away at this blog).

Saturday morning, while Brian was taking his test, we hit the stores and got Nathan a few pairs of new shoes and some other things. Nathan was really funny when I had him put on a pair of rainboots at the store. They were a little big and I guess a lot heavier than the tennis shoes he usually wears, and so he was picking up his feet really high as he was trying to walk, but after about two steps he decided he had enough and started signing "help Nathan, help Nathan" and "all done!"  Then later that afternoon, I put them on Nathan again for Brian to see, and he did the same thing - "help Nathan, all done!" I guess we're going to have to practice some more with those before we put them to use outside.  Then we put another pair of shoes on him, and I guess he was done with new shoes, and he threw a HUGE tantrum! Unfortunately, those are happening more frequently these days. He stood there and clenched his hands at his side and just SCREAMED. Brian and I have agreed when he does this, we just pick him up and put him in his room with one door cracked and tell him he can come out when he calms down. Usually he quits pretty quickly, thank goodness.

Here are a few of the other good memories from the visit:

• Aunt Karen and I showed Nathan how to push the button on some of his stuffed animals that makes them "moo" or "oink" or whatever the appropriate noise is.  He was really excited about his new skill and would throw out one arm whenever he pressed the button, as if to say "ta da"!
• Nathan started chewing on a raisin box and Aunt Karen made a "yucky" noise.  Nathan thought the noise was HYSTERICAL and kept saying "more, more" or chewing on the box to get her to do it again as he cracked up.
• Aunt Karen had a bottle of soda she was drinking and Nathan became really fascinated with her bottle.  So I found an empty water bottle for him and he loved taking the top on and off, and then he would throw his head all the way back and pretend to take a big drink out of it. 

The visit flew by, like they always do, but I think we all really enjoyed our time together.  Maybe one day we'll all live a little closer to each other and be able to visit more often, but until them I'm so thankful that Aunt Karen makes the time every few months to come and see us.  We love you, Aunt Karen!

Monday: Nathan wakes up very early in the morning and is fussy all day long (crying, screaming, hitting Mommy, can't be 2 feet away from Mommy without a meltdown).  Even when Brian gets home, all Nathan wantes to do is hang onto me or be held by me.

Monday Night: Nathan is awake in the wee hours of the morning.  I try to take him into bed with us, but he can't go to sleep.  Brian wonders aloud if Nathan has an ear infection.  I say nothing, but wonder if he's teething.  Ninety minutes later, Nathan finally falls asleep after Brian has to get up.  Mommy wakes up with a crick in her neck from the awkward sleeping position next to Nathan, but at least I got another hour of sleep!

Tuesday: Nathan continues to be very fussy.  Brian is on call, so Mommy is on duty the whole day long.  Emphasis on LONG.  Daddy is more tired than usual due to Nathan's middle of the night antics.  I determine that Nathan has, in fact, cut one tooth (bottom left incisor) with possibly the bottom right incisor soon to follow.  This brings our tooth total to 7, working on #8.  Nathan has a poor appetite all day long.  I rule out ear infection because of the confirmed teething.

Tuesday Night: Nathan wakes up at 10:45pm telling me "eat, eat."  I feed him graham crackers and applesauce and thankfully he sleeps through the remainder of the night.

Wednesday: Nathan gets up early and STILL is fussy.  After Brian wakes up from his post-call nap, he takes Nathan downstairs to let me get some things accomplished.  I have to run an errand and poke my head in the playroom to tell them I'm leaving.  Nathan has a major meltdown as soon as I leave. 

Wednesday Night:  Nathan wakes himself up multiple times during the night, and I have to go in once to settle him back down.  He asks for food, but I just give him milk.

Thursday:  Nathan wakes up early and fussy.  I'm at my wit's end and call the pediatrician for an appointment.  We both take long naps - hooray!  By the time our appointment rolls around in the afternoon, Nathan shows some signs of feeling better, but we go anyway.  Nathan does have an ear infection in his left ear (third one in four months, all in the same ear).  Thankfully, by the time we get home with his medicine, Nathan is already acting more normal and actually leaves my side to play by himself for a few minutes.  Thank goodness, because I was worried I might loose it if I had another day of the ridiculous-ness!