Nathan's 1st Thanksgiving

How cute is our little turkey?!?!?  We had a wonderful 1st Thanksgiving with Nathan!!!  We went over to Grandma and Grandpa Krestel's early in the morning and spent the entire day eating lots of yummy food, watching tv, napping and just visiting with each other.  We are more thankful than words can express for God's blessing of Nathan!!!  We love him SO INCREDIBLY MUCH!!!

A little family photo!

In addition to Grandma & Grandpa Krestel we spent the day with Uncle Steve and Aunt Hanna.

It was a pretty day on Thanksgiving so Daddy and Nathan went for a walk to try to shed some of the pounds that were gained at dinner.  Daddy just loves wearing the Ergo and having Nathan so close and cuddly.  This makes for some special time indeed - and Nathan is so content in that little carrier!

What a cute little bear our Nathan makes!

Baxter was treated to some turkey gizzards and they seemed to send him into a food coma with the rest of us.  He didn't even seem to care that Nathan was kicking him!

This past week our friends Kim, Steve and Laurel popped by for a visit on their way in from Kansas City to visit Kim's family in Illinois.  This is Laurel - she is so good with Nathan and even let him pull her hair a few times!

They brought Nathan some Christmas gifts and this is a picture of Laurel helping Nathan open his very first Christmas gift.

No surprise - Nathan was more interested in the bow than the gift!

I'm king of the world!  (that's for all you Titanic fans)

A big event of the week was Nathan's first shower!  Daddy actually took him into the shower with him a few times this week - it's so quick and easy.  We'll still do baths because Nathan loves them so much - especially now that mommy introduced bath toys a few weeks ago - plus, he loves to kick and splash so much.  But, he really seemed to enjoy the shower too. 

I just love this picture - what a cutie!!!

Nathan really seemed to like the water streaming over his face.  He didn't shed any tears when the water got in his eyes - he was such a little trooper!

So, Daddy uses the Ergo and Mommy uses the Snuggle Wrap.  I used to wear Nathan facing in but now that he's bigger and likes to really explore the world around him I've started wearing him facing out.  It's wonderful!  He gets to be entertained by everything around him and I get to be hands free.  Baby wearing is the way to go!

As you can see, Nathan still has Mommy's baby blues!

What an absolute doll!  We're working on getting Nathan to sit up by himself and the boppy is so helpful!  As you can see, our little guy is still crazy about his fingers!

I just love this little sweat suit!

Ah yes, the bear picture is getting a little more challenging each week as Nathan no longer just sits and poses - he likes to play with the bear.  He's just growing so much we can't get over it.  We actually returned the swing we borrowed to our friends the Seecks because Nathan was just too big and heavy for it.  We would turn it on and it would barely move, so we figured it was time to move on.  I just know that before I know it he'll be getting his driver's license, leaving for college, getting married, etc. etc.  Where in the world does the time go?!?!?!?

Nathan Turns 5 Months Old!!!

I am still in shock that my little baby boy is 5 months old!  It is going WAY TOO fast!  I keep asking Nathan to slow it down but he's just charging full steam ahead!  Here are some cute pics I took of him on his birthday.  What a smile - it just melts our hearts!

Below is a shot where I was trying to get a picture of his two teeth; it was more challenging than I thought it would be and we never did get a good shot of his pearly whites.  But look at his sparkly baby blues - aren't they just gorgeous!!!

So last week when Nathan grabbed the pour cup out of my hand and started chewing on it during bath time I decided it was time for some bath toys so we pulled down the basket full of fun bath toys that has been hiding up in his closet and chose some.  These are some cool plastic sea creatures that squirt water (this holds Nathan's amazement for quite a while - he's really mesmerized by water these days).  Of course he enjoyed chewing on them too!

GAME DAY!!!  This past Saturday was Nathan's first Ohio State University vs. Michigan game (they've been deemed college football's biggest rivals).  Joyfully, OSU won 21-10!  Below are some pics of the party we had; guests included Grandma & Grandpa Krestel, Uncle Steve and Aunt Hanna (in spirit...she had to work that day but she called to be part of the hoopla)!  Nathan was digging the sodie-pop bottle; perhaps he was confused by the look of it and thought it was feeding time?  Speaking of that, this past week was an adventurous one as far as feeding goes...he bit me good a few times with those little teeth - and WOW are they sharp - they remind me of a puppy's pointy daggers!

What a cutie - totally posing with Uncle Steve!

The 3 generations!  This is what Nathan will look like in his 30's and in his 60's.  Those Krestel genes are STRONG!!!

Ok, below is one of my all time favorite pictures of our little guy.  I took this on Sunday before church.  What an absolute doll!!!!!!!

This week's bear picture was funny because not only is Nathan interested in his own feet but he kept trying to chew on the bear's feet.  I finally got a shot of him without his head down on the bear's tootsies.

Nathan Got ANOTHER Tooth!!!

Can you believe it?!?!  Our little guy got his 2nd tooth this week!  So now he's got his two bottom center teeth.  Thankfully it wasn't nearly as eventful as when he cut his first tooth last week.  As a matter of fact, there were no tears and no lost sleep (whew!).  We're trying to get a picture of his little white friends but we just can't seem to get his bottom lip and tongue out of the way.  But, here are some other cute pictures of him.  Aren't those eyes gorgeous?!?!  We're still curious if God will keep them that beautiful blue.  We think he's decided on his pointer and middle fingers as his favorite soothers.  You may think his hands look huge and they are!  Oh, and he's taken to crossing his legs down at his ankles - it is just too cute!

Nathan has really been enjoying his feet and has been trying to get his socks off and get his tootsies into his mouth.  Here's a picture of him in action.  It was so funny, I was changing him the other day and I sat him up to button his shirt and he grabbed a hold of the quilt hanging on the wall and into the mouth it went.  I thought he was going to rip it right off the wall!

Nathan has been enjoying this cool tummy time contraption that he borrowed from his friend Jet.  It's a rotating ladybug pedestal that he lays on and there are fun things for him to play with on each petal and he can pull himself around the flower. 

Mommy went out of town this weekend with some girlfriends and although it was wonderful girl time (and I enjoyed sleeping in) my heart was ripped out of my chest everytime I saw a baby.  But, Daddy and Nathan had some fun male bonding time!  Nathan helped Daddy clean up the leaves in the yard; Daddy wore him in the Ergo carrier and Nathan actually fell asleep.  Here are some fun pictures of Nathan playin in the leaves.

Nathan's buddy of the week was Bashful the dwarf; he enjoyed gnawing on his hat, nose and beard!

On Sunday we were over Grandma and Grandpa Krestel's house and Grandpa was giving Nathan some piano lessons.

We've got two bear pictures this week; I love the first one - it looks like he's doing some karate moves on the poor bear!

Nathan Got His 1st Tooth!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's right folks...on Saturday, November 7th, at 4.5 months, Nathan got his first tooth!  We read in our "What To Expect The First Year" book that teething is hereditary and apparently Kevan got his first tooth at 4 months and I got mine at around 4.5 months, so Nathan is right on track!  He was waking up in the middle of the night - very fussy - on Thursday and Friday which is out of the ordinary for him and on Saturday night he just wouldn't go to sleep.  He was doing his death squeal and we couldn't calm him down for anything and Kevan put his finger in Nathan's mouth and announced "He's got a tooth!"  Sure enough, we could see a little white tooth popping out.  We immediately applied some baby Orajel and baby Tylenol and that seemed to do the trick.  He's still been a bit of a crabby guy, but we can't blame him - he seems to be in a lot of pain!

That's obviously the highlight of the week but of course we've got some other fun stuff to share because he seems to be doing something new every day.  Let's see...he now enjoys sitting up in his bouncy seat rather than reclining in it like he's supposed to; I'm still trying to get a picture of this because it looks so funny.  He's able to focus now and he can't seem to figure out why in the world he can't pluck the turtles off his bouncy seat fabric (but it sure is fun to watch him try)! 

Here's a picture of Nathan in his big boy outfit - jeans and a shirt.  When he's not wearing a onesie he just seems so much more like a little boy than a baby.

A momentous event for mommy this week was that she finally got to hear Nathan laugh!  We were visiting Aunt Carrie and Sweet Sarah and while Aunt Carrie was tickling him he let out a laugh!  It was such a sweet sound and one that will never get old!!!  We now have a ritual every day - I tickle him on his neck and his belly while he's on his changing table and he laughs away - I just love it!

A sound that's not quite as sweet as his little laugh is his new cry.  He seems to have finally found his lungs and his soft baby cry is a thing of the past!

This week we finally put his bathtub in our bathtub and boy oh boy, is he having a ball splashing like crazy!  He just loves to kick his feet and splash all over the place!

He also has this new thing that he does that is adorable; when he gets upset or frustrated he kicks his right leg. It's so funny - he'll lay on his changing table or in his crib and just kick his right leg up and down repeatedly. Oh, he also started pulling on his feet with his hands this week and has been trying to pull his socks off; he hasn't been successful yet but I'm sure he'll get it any day.

This week's pal was a cute monkey blanket with his name on it.  As you can see, he enjoyed chewing on the blanket part.  I'm curious to know which animal will end up being his "woobie." 

Speaking of chewing on things, he's been eyeing our food a lot lately and this week I was multitasking and eating my cheese quesadilla while holding him and he just reached out and grabbed it.  He ended up with a handful of salsa and sour cream - just a picture of what I have to look forward to when he starts eating solids.

Last, but not least...this week's bear picture - enjoy!