Hide and Seek

A lesson in object permanence:



 He might be getting too smart for his own good.

Cake Decorating

I've been wanting to learn more about cake decorating for a long time. I enjoy baking and making special treats for family and friends, so for part of my birthday present my mom signed us both up for Wilton cake decorating classes. I'm really glad she is doing it with me, because I don't think I would have ever done it by myself. We've had a lot of fun on Tuesday nights together and the class has been really helpful. I've learned a lot so far. We just completed the basic course, and we are ready to start course 2 next week. Here are a few pictures of our creations.

Any ideas on what Nathan's first birthday party will be? I was getting some practice

Cupcake night was a fun night. These are my mom and my creations.

This was my final project. I thought it turned out cute.

I don't think I'll be starting a new business any time soon, but this is a fun hobby, and Matt's coworkers seem to enjoy the treats.

Weekend Recap

This past weekend was a fun one for our family! Matt was working late on Friday night, so Nathan and I went over to my mom's house for dinner and to help her decorate two birthday cakes for friends. We've been taking cake decorating classes together, so it was a fun project. Nathan played with Papa Joe while we worked. The cakes turned out really cute, but the kitchen, well that's a different story. Turns out cake decorating is a messy business :).

Saturday morning, Matt didn't have to work, so we took advantage of the pretty weather and walked to our neighborhood playground. Our neighborhood has two playgrounds, but unfortunately the playground close to our house doesn't have a baby swing, so we had to walk a little further. The weather was gorgeous, so I don't think anyone minded.Nathan had a blast swinging. As soon as we put him in the swing he started laughing. He enjoyed being out in the sunshine. We also let Rhapsody off her leash so she could run around and play while Nathan was swinging. Both "kids" had a ball at the playground.

After we got home, we ran to Braum's for lunch. Nathan's busy morning wore him out. He slept the whole time we ate lunch. That never happens anymore. He always wakes up when we take him out of the car. Matt and I enjoyed a peaceful lunch together while he napped.

When we got home from lunch, Matt had to go to work (boo), so Nathan and I spent the afternoon together. I fed him his lunch, we played and then I put him down for a nap. When he woke up, we met Erica at the park to go for a walk. Nathan is so content in his stroller while we walk, so Erica and I had a nice visit. Matt made it home about 8:00 Saturday night. We tried to watch a movie before bed, but Matt didn't make it very far before he fell asleep.

Are you ready for this? Matt didn't have to work on Sunday, at all. I can't tell you the last time that man had a day off from work. He's had to work at least a few hours on Saturday and Sunday for the last 3 or 4 weeks.  It was wonderful, that he was off. We took advantage of it too! After church and lunch, we dropped Nathan off at my parents' house and met Matt and Erica at the movies. We have all recently read the Hunger Games series, and were looking forward to seeing the movie. It is rare that Matt and I find a book series that we both like, and it's always fun when we do. The movie was pretty good, but the book was better (that's no surprise). There's just so much that happens in the book, that is hard to translate in a movie. After the movie we all went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse. For the last few months, Matt and I have started a game of trying to match a restaurant with the theme of the movie we watch on our dates. It's been fun trying to come up with a place that fits with the movie. Texas Roadhouse wasn't a perfect fit, but I think we did well. Here's how we came up with it: One of the main character's family owns a bakery, and we all know Texas Roadhouse is famous for their yeast rolls, and the other main character is a hunter, hence the large pieces of meat we all ate. The movie is also set in (the future) United States, and you can't get much more American than Texas Roadhouse. We had a good time visiting and eating delicious food with some of our favorite friends. You can't get much better than a weekend spent with family and friends.

Spring Break

Last week was Spring Break. Even though Nathan isn't in school yet, the break did affect our schedule. Many of our activities for the week were canceled. And since my poor husband is working major amounts of overtime right now on a project with a looming deadline, I thought it would be fun for Nathan and I to take a little visit to Weatherford. We hadn't been back to Weatherford since Christmas, and our schedule doesn't look promising to make it anytime again before Nathan's birthday and our vacation, so I thought it was a good time to go. Nathan and I both had a really good time. We stayed for two days and got to visit lots of family while we were in town.

Granny and Grandaddy were cooking two funeral dinners at the church on Wednesday when we made it into town, so we stopped there first. Granny had lots of fun showing Nathan off to all her friends at the church. She carried him all around introducing him to people. She did the same thing when we were in town for church when Nathan was just a few weeks old. They would all comment on how cute Nathan was, and Granny would say, "Well, I've been telling you that."

We spent a lot of time playing cards. Nathan is learning to play Skipbo early in life :).

We also got a chance to go and visit Momoo and Matt's parents while we were in town. And Granny was sweet enough to invite everyone over for supper on Thursday night. Nathan helped her with the cooking.

Nathan's favorite thing was playing with Grandaddy. Those two played and played. Nathan loved going on walks outside with Grandaddy looking at the birds and the flowers. That kid LOVES being outside. He had a fit on Friday morning when Grandaddy went outside without him. I took him out to Grandaddy and he about jumped out of my arms trying to get to him.

They played at the door a lot too. I'm sure Nathan being there brought back many memories for my grandparents of my brother and me when we were little, including cleaning lots of little fingerprints off the door.

Nathan wasn't the only one who was spoiled though. My sweet grandmas continue to spoil me even as an adult. Momoo made my favorite chocolate cake for me when she heard I was coming to town, and Granny made one of my favorite meals while I was there. Nathan and I had a special visit.  It was a great way to spend our Spring Break!

Springtime

Spring has sprung here in Broken Arrow. Temperatures have been in the 70s and 80s this week. I am loving it! We've been enjoying the warm weather and looking forward to a fun Spring and Summer ahead. Last Spring was especially fun as we were anticipating the arrival of our precious bundle of joy, but that anticipation included carrying around a tummy full of a baby and all the swelling and exhaustion that accompany it. Needless to say we didn't enjoy much of the Spring weather last year. And afterward we were consumed with a newborn and a sweltering hot summer that kept us home bound for most of the summer. While I will never forget those special times cuddling my teeny tiny newborn, I am very much looking forward to getting out and enjoying the nice weather this year with my little buddy. We've spent the last couple of weeks getting ready for a new season!

I didn't have many Spring/Easter decorations, so I picked up a few things this year to make our house a little more colorful and fun.

I always look forward to a change of season and the celebrations that come along with it.

Big Boy

 Our sweet little boy is growing up very fast. There have been several things in the last week that have reminded me how quickly our baby is turning into a big boy.

Last week my mom and I were at Carter's picking up a few things for Nathan. I went to look for some new pajamas for him and realized he had outgrown the sleepers in the baby section, and I had to go to the big boy section of the store to find pajamas in his size. I think my mom and I both might have gotten a little misty eyed over that realization.

We were out running errands one day, and it was close to time when Nathan needed a bottle. I made one for him and gave it to him in his car seat while I was driving. I watched him drink the bottle all by himself even tilting it up so he didn't suck air. When he finished it, he dropped it next to him, found his pacifier and put it in his mouth. 

Recently he learned how to drink out of a straw. That seems really grown up to me.

The other day, my mom called while I was at Bible study and asked if I wanted to meet her for lunch. Since I wasn't planning on eating out for lunch, I didn't pack any food for Nathan, so I ordered him a sandwich off the kids' menu. He ate almost his entire grilled cheese sandwich and yogurt and some of my apple. He was quiet and well behaved the whole time we were eating too. 

We went to Storytime at the library this week. When we walked in, there were two older boys (probably about 2 years old) running around in the center of the circle. Nathan laughed at them, crawled right in the middle of the circle, and started chasing them.


He loves to play with Rhapsody. He knows which toys are hers, and when he finds one, he waves it in the air and laughs while she tries to get it. I'll help him throw it for her, and he'll take off chasing her when she goes after it.

He still impresses me with his understanding of cause and effect. He was playing with a new toy at my mom's house last week. It's a ball toy, where you drop the balls down a hole and they slide down a winding chute and come out an opening at the bottom of the toy. He figured out how to drop the balls in the hole and once he had dropped it, he would look down at the bottom opening and wait for the ball to come out, so he could drop it again.

I thought he looked especially grown up wearing his polo shirt, shorts, and sandals. And only big boys make faces at their moms when they are getting their picture taken.

 (If you can't tell, he is sticking his tongue out and blowing raspberries)

Goodness, gracious, these months are flying by.

10 Months Old!

Nathan,
You are 10 months old! You have continued to grow and change this last month. This month you celebrated your first Valentine's Day, made your mommy's birthday extra special and went to the park for the first time along with all your other daily adventures. It's been a great month!

You wave all the time now. Usually it's just for fun, and you do it most often when you're happy and excited. You are clapping your hands too and will imitate me when I clap. You still love to play peek a boo and laugh like crazy when we play. You also like to play "horsey" and be bounced on our laps, and you especially think its fun when "horsey goes whoa" and we flip you upside down. You also like to play the "passing game" with me and Daddy. If I'm holding you and you see Daddy you'll reach for him, and as soon as he takes you, you'll reach for me again, and so we pass you back and forth while you giggle and smile. We've been going to story time at the library and it's one of your favorite things. You are interacting more and more and you love the songs we sing and watching the other kids play. It sure is a fun time with you.

I've noticed big improvements in your verbal skills this month. You babble all the time when you're playing. New sounds I've heard this month are "ra" "na" and "ma." You also said you first word this month (on leap day) and your daddy wins. I'm just glad I got to be there to witness that sweet moment. Your daddy has been working late a lot lately and so he doesn't get to spend as much time with you as usual. When I was rocking you before bed, your daddy made it home just in time to see you before you drifted off to sleep. He came into your room, and you saw him, reached out for him and said "dada." Oh, it was precious little one. Hearing your voice is one of the best sounds in the world.

  

You feeding schedule is about the same as last month. You get four (6 oz) bottles a day (breakfast, lunch, dinner, and bedtime). For breakfast you usually eat cereal and yogurt. With lunch you'll eat a vegetable and a fruit, and for dinner you'll have a meat and usually some cheese or fruit. We'll give you small bites of what we eat a lot of the time too, and while I'm making dinner I usually hold back a few things that you can have (small pieces of meat, pasta, etc). You snack on puffs, crunchies, yogurt melts, goldfish, and crackers.  Your favorite foods right now seem to be cheese, bananas, and crunchies.

 

Your sleeping schedule also hasn't really changed since last month. When we're home you take a good morning nap (1-1.5 hours) around 9:00 or 10:00. We're out and about most days during your morning nap, so you snooze in the car and those quick cat naps are usually enough for you to make it to your afternoon nap without getting too grouchy. You nap for about two hours in the afternoon. You go to bed about 8:00 every night and you usually always sleep until about 7:00 in the morning. You've had a few mornings when it's been close to 8:00 before we've heard you.

 

We've had a tiny bout with separation anxiety this month, but I actually think we're passed it for this stage. I'm sure it will come back in a few months. When I've dropped you off at the nursery or at your preschool, you would latch onto me when I would hand you to the worker and then fuss for a minute when I left. As soon as you were distracted or I was out of your sight, you calmed down almost immediately and were happy the rest of the time. For the last couple of weeks though, you have been just fine when I've left you.

You weigh around 20lbs. You had a pretty big growth spurt this month and gained over a pound in two weeks. You wear 9 month, 9-12 and 12 month clothes and a size 3 diaper. I'm noticing your 9 month clothes are getting a little snug, and with all the adorable Spring clothes out, I'm sure we'll be out shopping soon!

Your balance is improving this month. You can hold onto just one of our fingers and be able to walk, and you can balance yourself sitting on your knees without any help. Sometimes we see you just barely hanging on to furniture, but you've yet to stand completely on your own for more than a couple of seconds. I think it might be turning into a confidence issue more than a balance issue. You seem to need a little reassurance by having your hand on something solid while you're standing. I have a feeling as soon as you get that balance mastered, you'll be running everywhere. You cruise so fast around the furniture and push your little cart like a reckless driver. You'll get on your tippi toes too while you standing to reach whatever you're wanting. As active as you are, I know you are going to have a ball once you figure it all out,  and your little knees need a break. They are red by the end of the day with all your crawling.

You continue to do wonderfully in the church nursery and at your preschool. This month we had a missions conference at our church and between that and regular service and Bible study, you were in the nursery for five days that week, and we got a glowing report every time we picked you up. You play really well in the nursery even when you're with bigger kids. I volunteered in the nursery one night during the missions conference and it was fun to watch you play and get a peek into what you do when you're in there. You are very active and don't sit still for very long. I remember one night when we took you, we had dinner at the church before we dropped you off, and there wasn't a place to let you get down and play, so you had to sit in our laps for almost an hour. By the time we took you to the nursery, we put you down and you crawled in all by yourself. You were very ready to get down and play!

You still love your paci's. If you have a paci in your mouth and find another one, you'll take the one in your mouth out, to put the other one in. Sometimes you'll switch them out several times almost like they taste differently. You definitely keep us laughing, little one. Your favorite toys right now are your elephant that pops balls out of its trunk, rattles, books and your music table. You love to pull your books off the shelf. As soon as you see them on the shelf you rush over to pull them down. Needless to say the floor in your room is almost always covered in books and toys. I sure wish you thought it was as much fun to put them back on the shelf as it is to pull them down. You also have a fascination with doors and windows. You open and close doors all the time now, and you crawl up to the window and look out and play with the blinds. Sometimes you and Rhapsody will both be looking out the window at the same time.

Sweet baby, these last 10 months with you have been the best in our lives. We don't know what we would do without you in our family. We love you more than we ever thought we could.