Thursday, February 25, 2010

Nathan turns 8 months old!


As you can see, Nathan has begun a rigorous workout routine!  He just finished lifting weights and was getting ready to start some strength training exercises when I shot this picture.



Here he is doing some push ups.



Grandma Pratt is making sure to keep him suited up in Penn State gear (thanks Grandma and GO NITTANY LIONS!)



Helping Mommy with the laundry.  Don't you just love those two bottom teeth!?!?  Oh, speaking of teeth, Nathan got his top two teeth on the 15th!  We just can't picture what he'll look like once they grow in completely!  Guess we have to say goodbye to that adorable, gummy smile!



Looking like such a big boy! 



His first taste of banana.  We think he liked it - he's just making a face at the pink spoon we used!



Back for more "nana."  He also had peaches last week for the first time and they were a bit too potent for him at first.  He made the cutest sour puss face but, unfortunately, we didn't capture it on camera.



Last week Daddy went on his annual guys ski trip to Vail so Mommy and Nathan went to visit our friends, The Elsberrys, in Kansas City.  Nathan fell in love with Kim and Steve's daughter, Laurel, who was so great with him (and very helpful - changing diapers, bathing, lotioning, dressing, brushing his hair, you name it)  Did I mention she's only 5 1/2?!?!  Whenever Nathan would catch a glimpse of her he would grin from ear to ear!  Here she was pulling him around their basement in this fun wagon (and of course he needed pom poms to make the event complete).



Nathan's saying "Woo Hoo!  I'm driving!"



Not a fan of crawling up the stairs!  Doesn't his look just say, "Help me Mommy!"



Nathan is always standing these days.  Here he is digging through his suitcase.



Here's Laurel teaching Nathan how to drive!



Kim and Laurel loving on Nathan before we left.



When we arrived home, Nathan had his very first valentine waiting for him, from his friend Sarah Ross.



Here's his bear pic from two weeks ago.  Doesn't it look as though he's encouraging the bear, "Come on, buddy, it's not that far of a drop, I think we can make it!"



AWWWWW!  Nathan's first official boo boo!  Last Wednesday we were over our friend Melissa's house and Nathan and her son, Jet, were playing when all of a sudden Nathan took a dive (he was standing up holding on to a toy and lost his balance) and fell into a rubbermaid container.  I ran over to him, picked him up and was comforting him; when I pulled him away from my chest I saw blood and screamed to Melissa, "he's bleeding!"  I was a mess but Melissa calmed me down and assured me that this would be the first of many mishaps with my little boy.  Nathan only cried for a few seconds and then wanted to get back to the toys; Mommy cried for a bit longer!



Nathan is still enthralled with this toy that Grandma Pratt got him for Christmas but now he's a big boy and likes to stand to play with it, so...


We put the legs on it and this seems to work much better for our little man!



Last Thursday our friend Adam (Daddy's college friend who lives in Chicago) was in town on business and came over to meet Nathan and visit with us.  Adam got Nathan this super cool set of keys with a key fab that makes sounds like a horn, a car starting, the "beep beep" of a car lock, etc.



Nathan's newest trick this past week was climbing up on the bottom shelf of our picture table.  This is now one of his favorite places to hang out!



How adorable is he in this Pooh sweatsuit from cousin Nikki and her hubby Austin!



Another fascination of Nathan's this past week has been Baxter's tags on his collar.  As always, Baxter is the ever patient and enduring pup!



Entering the picture table shelf from the side.



Nathan is officially a carnivore (sorry Tammy).  Here he is having his first meat...yummy chicken thighs that Mommy baked up for him!  Baxter just loves the smell of the chicken and now sits next to Nathan's high chair begging.  Nathan constantly sticks his fingers in his mouth after every bite and every now and then he'll pull his fingers out and put his hand out to Baxter who jumps on the opportunity and licks off any morsels he can find until Mommy yells at Baxter (and promptly washes off Nathan's hand).



AHHHH!  I think this is one of the cutest pictures ever of our sweet little guy!



Nathan on his 8 month birthday!



He's working that dimple on his right cheek!



Does he look like a little Baby Gap model or what!?!?!



Now that he's all about standing, he can reach the middle shelf of his bookcase and boy does he have fun pulling down the picture frames.  Mommy really needs to find a better place to keep them!



WHOA!  When Mommy went to get Nathan up from his afternoon nap this past Sunday she found him STANDING in his crib!  Wow, are we glad that we lowered his mattress a few weeks ago!  When we got to church he was moved up from the Lamb room to the Bunny room since he's now a crawler - what excitement!



Daddy reads Goodnight Moon to Nathan every night before bed and as you can see, Nathan truly enjoys it and actually pays attention!



Just lounging with the bear for this past week's photo shoot.

Monday, February 8, 2010

Such Fun!

Nathan is really enjoying crawling around and gaining some independence!  A daily ritual of his is to crawl over to his bookcase and pull out some books for Mommy to read to him...



Here he is in action...



Motoring along...



Sharing Baxter's bone...



This past weekend Grandma and Grandpa Krestel came for a visit to see Nathan crawl.  Nathan just loves standing (always holding on to something or someone) and started traveling along the couch this past week.



Now that's a mischevious look...



Here he is looking at Grandpa - he's just mesmerized by all the crazy sounds Grandpa makes...



New this week... this is how I find Nathan when he wakes up from his afternoon nap (or when I check on him when he should be napping)...



As much as Nathan appreciates all of the fabulous gifts he got for Christmas, he has some new favorite toys this week.  He's learning to play percussion with this creamer container I cleaned out and filled with some pennies...



When he's not conducting his imaginary orchestra with the wooden spoon he enjoys chewing on it...



As well as the spatula...

By the way, he had some new foods this week including butternut squash (he really enjoyed it), avocado (he didn't enjoy it for breakfast but thoroughly enjoyed it for lunch) and sweet potatoes (now who can refuse this tasty treat)!



Here he is busting a gut while Daddy was tickling him...



Looking suave with the bear...

Monday, February 1, 2010

Tarzan is CRAWLING!!!

That's right folks, this past Friday Nathan made a huge shift from reverse to forward and is officially crawling all over the place!  What was the thing that motivated him to get forward mobile?  Baxter's big red bone!  Don't you love this action shot!?!?  He has a funny technique where he straightens out his left leg and practically stands as he crawls...



  Oh yes, and his new nickname is Tarzan because he enjoys yelling at the top of his lungs and he truly does a spot-on imitation of Tarzan's call! 

Well, what do we have below?  A picture of Grandma Pratt's 2nd cake that she made for her cake decorating class.  She made the clown bodies and everything!  Thanks for dedicating it to Nathan!



We finally received Nathan's Christmas gift that was on backorder; it's Follow Me Fred!  What a cool little toy - it barks, growls, pants and whines just like a little puppy.  Plus, the best part is that it's feet are little wheels so it cruises around which was a definite motivator to Nathan (but apparently not as much as the big red bone).  Fred can go straight or you can bend his accordian body and he can go in circles.  As you can see, he initially just enjoyed chewing on Fred's crinkly ears.



But eventually got the hang of following him around...



Until Friday Nathan was still crawling backwards and finding new things to get stuck under (such as the ottoman in the living room) and he also started scooting!  He would get up on all fours, sway back and forth and pop his knees forward.  It was quite amusing to watch and you could tell he felt like big stuff, but was so frustrated that he wasn't all-out crawling.  All week he was just sitting up on all fours and would whine or cry because he wanted to move forward.  Who knew by the end of the week he would make it happen...



Watch out Baxter and Hobbes, Nathan has his eyes on you and will be coming for you before you know it...



This week Nathan has started grabbing onto things and tried pulling himself up (like the couch, the ottoman in his room, the basket of stuffed animals in his room, the bottom shelf of our picture table in the living room and of course, Mommy).  Here he is getting into position and bracing himself; he did end up standing up (while bending over to keep his hands on the shelf).  Unfortunately, I didn't get a shot of him standing because it was so quick; as soon as he stood up he looked at me like "now what?!?!" and sat back down!  He's also been trying to stand up in his crib, but no worries, Daddy moved his crib mattress to the lowest position, so he won't be able to stand up in his crib and topple out!  Oh, another milestone this week is that he went from laying on his belly to sitting up all by himself.  He flipped from his belly to his right side, tucked his right knee under him, pushed up with his right arm and formed a little tripod and then...POP...he was sitting! 



Here's a shot of Nathan reading on his very own...



Nathan just loves these wood blocks that my friend Tracy passed on from her kids (thank you Lauren and Luke for sharing!).  He just enjoys chewing on these so much...



For dinner on Wednesday night Nathan tried carrots for the first time!  We heard they stain so we stripped him down to his diaper and put a bib on him.  Here he is anticipating his first bite...



His face may not show it, but he really did enjoy them...



And welcomed another bite...



So sweet loving on Daddy.  This past Thursday he actually said "Da."  We've been working with him trying to get him to say MaMa and DaDa - he's making progress!



Helping Daddy brush his teeth...



Mommy went nutty taking pictures of Baxter and Nathan.  I love this picture because Baxter is playing with Nathan's wood block and Nathan is playing with Baxter's red bone.  How cute is the little bone on Nathan's butt!?!?  I'm just glad Baxter didn't try to take a bite out of it...



Buddies...



Baxter was guarding his bone because he realized Nathan's infatuation with it...



But eventually gave in and let him play with it...



TOO SWEET!  Still not sure who's jowels are bigger...



This is one of my favorite bear pictures ever - what a smile on our little guy!