Nate's First Halloween

Sorry this week's posting is a little late...I actually went to the beach this past weekend with three of my high school girlfriends so Michael and Nate got to spend some quality time together. I had a great time but of course missed my boys (this was my first time away overnight) and I think the boys had a ball as well.

Luckily there was still a fun event this week to post about! I debated for weeks about whether to dress him in a costume or not and finally landed on the decision not to. We don't really get that many trick-or-treaters and he starts getting ready for bed around 7 so it just didn't seem worth it to make him cranky in an uncomfortable outfit for a couple of hours. Turns out it was the right decision. But I did get him a little Halloween outfit to wear so he was still festive! Next year we will torture him with the costume and take him around getting candy for ourselves. (Note - you can tell from the pics that he is doing a lot of finger chewing and drooling...so we are assuming he has some teeth that could be making an appearance soon.)

After the Halloween fun, we put him in the bath for his nightly scrub down...he must have gotten a sugar rush from smelling all of the candy because he turned in to a splashing machine tonight! So, we kept taking pics of course! He was getting water everywhere, so Cameron decided to join in the fun. We may need to think about putting him in the tub for baths now.

So, needless to say, after the evenings festivities he was ready for bed...I don't think he made a peep after we laid him down...

Pumpkins & Cereal

Sunday was a big day for Nate...after church we had lunch with his Neena and his Alie and then we went to the Pumpkin Patch to pick out our pumpkins. He had a great time...he enjoyed the pumpkins but he also enjoyed watching the cars on the nearby street (as you can tell from the pics - he is looking toward the street in most of them).

After that outing, he came home and rested a bit and then had his first cereal feeding. He wasn't sure about it at first (probably because he had cameras in his face the whole time) but he got the hang of it pretty quickly. But, of course, that didn't stop him from making a huge mess. I know feedings won't always be funny but it was pretty entertaining this first time around. Speaking of funny...Nate has started laughing and it is the funniest thing I have ever heard. He gets tickled and it sounds like he has the hiccups. He has been cooing and smiling for a while now, but this new laugh is hysterical!

Trip to Knoxville and Sick Baby Update

We had a nice visit with CC and Grandpa Steve last weekend in Knoxville. The Cox family met for dinner Saturday night and Nate got to meet some of his cousins - the girls were adorable with him, they just wanted to touch and pet him. Nate did great at dinner and enjoyed being the center of attention.

What a hectic week...the good news is that Nate is doing much better. We are at the end of our antibiotics (which he has taken like a champ) and no more breathing treatments. He has been back at "school" this week so I am sure our next illness is right around the corner! Tomorrow we get our 4 month shots (they didn't give them to him earlier because he was sick) so hopefully that goes well! I will post more soon...here are a few pics from this week in the mean time...

Sick Baby

We have had a rough start to this week. I kept Nathan home with me yesterday while I worked from home because he had some symptoms that I wanted to keep an eye on. We woke up this morning to projectile vomiting and thought it might be best to take him to the dr. Luckily they fit us in right away and we found out that he has a respiratory infection and an ear infection. They gave him a breathing treatment (I don't know who it upset more - him or us) which seemed to help and now we are giving him albutirol and an antibiotic - and he gets a week out of school! The poor little guy has been a trooper...he is clearly sick but he has managed to stay a smiley baby and really hasn't been that fussy despite any discomfort he has had. (I hope I don't eat those words.) We go back Friday morning for a follow up...we are hoping he is all better so that we can have a fun visit with his grandparents in Knoxville this weekend!

If you look at this picture close up you can tell that Nate looks like he got in to a wrestling match with a kitten. Apparently 1) I am not a very good baby manicurist and 2) baby nails grow at warp speed. I am getting better but it is really hard to cut and file the nails of a flailing infant! I even do it when he sleeps and he hates it. I am open to tips from the experienced...

The trouble with being a parent in this day and age is that there is too much information and too many hazards that you are made aware of on a daily basis. Everything poses a risk to your baby...right down to the bottles they drink out of. You can either turn in to a paranoid freak or try to tune it out and make your own choices about what is safe. Case in point...we just pulled out these cute blocks for him to play with and he was pretty interested in them. It wasn't 6 hours after this picture was taken that we hear that they were recalled. See that innocent looking blue block with the happy little turtle on it? It contains lead and is dangerous for him to play with. What's a parent to do??

Nate's 15th Weekend

Wow, has time flown...Nate is 16 weeks old today! His "birth day" feels like yesterday, but at the same time it's hard to imagine life before him! He is such a sweet and happy baby...and he is sleeping 11 hours at night so life is good for everyone! I know thumbsucking isn't a very good habit, but it is just so cute! I guess that's how it starts...


This weekend wasn't particularly eventful, but we did get out and about some to enjoy the beautiful, mild weather. Friday evening was so nice out, so Paula and I took the boys to walk at the park. It is supposed to be exercise for us, but normally it turns in to a baby photo shoot about half way through.



Tummy time is an important daily event in our house. Nate likes to get a little lazy on his tummy and just lay his head down after only playing a short time, so I bought him a new toy this weekend in an attempt to keep him interested. I think it is working...



On Sunday we went to visit Davis. We try to get there every season to put new flowers out and clean his marker...sadly, it had been since his birthday that we had been there. But miraculously, the little dinosaurs that we took to him for his birthday were still there. I have thought a lot in the last year and a half about how we will talk to our children about Davis, and I don't know that I have those answers yet. But we took Nate with us this weekend and I hope by going there it helps to open up the door for that conversation as the years go by.

And, on a much lighter note, here are some goofy pics of Nate...