Happy Halloween!

13 Months & Kindergarten Update.

Nathan with 90-year-old Great Grandma Bessie. They were buds at the last Mullet gathering.

 

Our kiddos, cutest EVAH!

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Nathan is now officially over 1 year old. I seriously can't believe it. He's crawling up and down stairs on his own, so now we are to the point where he'll disappear and play downstairs happily by himself.  Or he'll crawl upstairs to play in his room or sissy's room. What a relief to know he knows how to get down stairs without tumbling now. This makes my life so much easier. Emily and Nathan are playing a lot more together, and now Emily is realizing Nathan always wants to be with her, so it is adding a tiny bit of frustration. But she really does love him so much.

Nathan is a sweetie, so mellow in nature. He's social with others: waves hi to everyone and LOVES giving other babies kisses.  His sleep habits are not as wonderful as Emily's were, but that would be pretty hard to top. Emily was a rockstar sleeper. Nathan is cutting a few more teeth, so I think that's a reason why he has been waking at night. Ergh. Not much of a talker this one, but he certainly understands what we say. Oh - he's a super big fan of Papa. :)

His new tricks? Standing solo for long stretches and taking a few steps here and there. He's super close to walking. He is also voicing his opinion more these days during diaper and clothing changes. He's learning if he pokes Emily in the face, she doesn't like it, so he does it more to get the reaction. So anyway, here we go into the 2nd year. Hooray! ;)

Emily is really enjoying Kindergarten. Her teacher is fantastic, and I'm having a wonderful time helping out in class my one morning a week. I'm getting to know the kids very well, and I'm becoming more comfortable working with them. The class had their first math test yesterday with partitions up and all. I felt really proud about how all of them performed. It was a 4 page test that took 25 minutes, and they all finished! I'm really proud of how well Emily has adjusted to full day kindergarten. We haven't had any more than maybe one really tired, meltdown kind of day since she started. She definitely feels at home at her new school.

Happy 1st Birthday, Nathan!

 Nathan, or 'Goo' as his big sister affectionately calls him, turned 1 on September 9.

Oh, sweet boy. How we love him! He's such an easy-going, happy dude.
He's about 25th percentile for weight and height, so he's on the smaller side. But he's cruising around this place like a champ - crawling, opening cabinets, cruising furniture, crawling up stairs. Basically, he's preparing us for his big walking debut. Emily didn't walk until 14 months, and I bet he'll do the same.

He has TWO bottom teeth! If you'll remember, Emily didn't get one tooth until the age of 2.

He's a great eater, eats everything! He especially loves meat and veggies. Not a huge fruit fan, but he does like bananas, strawberries, cantaloupe and blueberries. He definitely loves sweet treats more than Emily did at this age. He dug into his birthday cupcake without much hesitation.

He's a pretty good sleeper without much protest: 2 naps during the day and about 10-11 hours at night. He has been waking up around 4:30 a.m. the last week, so I hope this phase passes. He hasn't done this since 6 months old, so I think it's some kind of growth spurt or milestone sleep disruption.

Now that Emily is in full day Kindergarten, I have lots of alone time with Nathan. I am so lucky I get to have this time like I did when Emily was a baby. It's so very important to me (thank you, Matthew!). So we are back to stroller walks, library time, baby playdates and music classes during the week. Brings back many memories.

Nathan isn't much of a chatter like Emily was. He makes a few animal noises here and there and says 'uh-oh' and that's about it. He definitely understands what we say though and follows pretty good direction. So far, if we tell him 'no thank you' when touching something he's not supposed to be, he's pretty good at listening. That will change!!

We kept our celebrating low-key for Nathan's 1st. We had grandparents over one night for dinner, and a few baby friends over in the morning of his birthday for cupcakes.  He was very happy to see everyone.

Emily is a great playmate and a wonderful babysitter for me! She is very aware of what he should and shouldn't be doing, and she is quick to tell me if he needs a diaper change. They are little buddies.

Happy birthday, Nathan! We love you!!!!

11 Months Old, Summertime and Kindergarten!

 Oh my word! What a summer we've had here in Seattle. It's the best I can remember temp-wise. 

75-80 degrees every day from June until September. Little rain, lots of fun. 

We didn't travel anywhere, but we sure kept busy.

Nathan is 11 months old, going on 1 YEAR! Oy vey. He's such a little cutie with the sweetest demeanor. We took the kiddos camping with friends a couple weeks ago, and it was the best camping trip yet. Both kids played hard, slept hard and loved it. We took Emily for her first time when she was 2.5, so having a baby was definitely different. Lots o' stuff to pack! We could barely fit Jonas in the car, but a miracle repack job by Matt made it happen. 

Nathan did fantastic. He loved playing in the sand and looking at all the tall trees, birds and dogs around the campsite. He didn't put any dirt or rocks in his mouth, which was totally unexpected and shocking. His fave spot was in the pack with Papa. Unforgettable.

At 11 months, he's attempting to stand up solo and signing 'more' at the dinner table. He's getting his first tooth now, too. No true words other than 'uh-oh' and babbles spoken yet, but he does know what a sheep says: 'Baaa-aaa-aaaa!' He's sleeping well, eating well. I'll start taking him to library story times and music class next month. He dances to everything! This kid is a maniac when it comes to music. Enjoy some pics of our camping adventure:

Emily was a flower girl this summer for our cousins Adam and Christina. She was edible. Purely edible.

Took Emily to the Fair this year again - just her and me. We had a great time. She was big enough to ride on the BIG rollercoaster this year. Woot! She loved the thrill.

 Emily is starting Kindergarten September 4th! I'm really having different feelings than expected at this point. It's all so exciting, but at the same time, this has been the longest I've ever been away from her in a weekday. Think about it...the teacher will see her more in waking hours than I will! It's a lot to wrap my brain around. We went school shopping the other day and, clearly, Emily will be one of the the stylish ones in class! She's such a sassy pants. She's ready to start. Her teacher's name is Mrs.Verrall and she will be attending a k-8 Co-op in Edmonds, the best school academically in the district. It was a lottery drawing to get in, so we are feeling incredibly fortunate. We believe in the public school system, but parent participation being required is what makes this school stand out. She'll do great, and I will be there every step of the way to see her succeed! Oh, the places she will go!

Look Who is 10 Months Old!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_videoeditor&v=ctnpkOB1ylA


Nathan has developed quite an affliction with music. Since about 6 months old, I noticed him dancing to such simple things as the dog lapping up water, a clock ticking and clapping and singing...immediately. This video is of him 'singing' with his stand-up toy during one of its songs...something I noticed he was very enthusiastic about a couple weeks ago. Notice how he pauses then sings when the singer does. I was really impressed!!

(You'll also notice big sissy playing with her toys in the background. Too cute!)

He is an absolute love. I adore this age so much!!! He's just happy to be alive, noticing everything. Today he laughed uncontrollably over virtually nothing for 20 minutes. Everything was making him laugh...mostly his big sister's crazy, loud antics. A baby's laughter is such a joyous sound.  They are not touched by the world's pain yet. It's an amazing time of life.

We love him so much...our wee blue-eyed, blondie. Such a little hunk-a-lunka with a smile that melts hearts everywhere. He's now pulling himself up to standing, army crawling, showing the sign 'all done', and waving 'goodbye', 'hi' and 'night-night.' His first word is 'uh-oh!' He eats all sorts of food. Still on 2-3 naps with 12 hours at night.

Life is good. We are so glad he's here. With a dog, a cat and two healthy kiddos, our family is most certainly complete. We are so grateful.

Xoxo.

Last Day of Preschool

Our little graduate off to Kindergarten!

We are so very proud of our sweet Emily, now a graduate of preschool. She can write her name, all the letters of the alphabet, do basic math addition and subtraction, and she can read beginner 3-letter word reading books. She's come a long way since 3 and she's ready to DOMINATE Kindergarten at Maplewood Co-op K-8!!

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And look who is 9 months old!!

Little Nathan is eating almost everything we put in front of him, as well has baby food 3 times a day. He is sleeping a full 12 hours at night with 3 naps a day. He is up on all fours now and lunging/rocking forward to grab things. Pretty soon, he'll be crawling all around this joint! He says dadadada, mamama, vavava. He's a pretty easy going baby, sleeps on the go like a champ. He loves to be held and talked to and he smiles at every stranger, but definitely prefers to be held by Mama. We love him to bits!

Happy 5th Birthday, Emily!

Dearest Emily: 

Your outgoing personality practically bursts out of the seams of your soul. It's only fitting your birthday is the anniversary of the day Mt. St. Helens blew its top. At times, it seems your exuberant, infectious laugh can be heard from miles away. Lord knows the entire staff at MLT pool has heard it. Your glowing smile paired with your beautiful blues melts our hearts. You are the funniest kid we've ever known, you are confident yet emotional and sensitive. You are incredibly smart and you are passionate about the people and things in your world. Kid, you WILL move mountains one day. We are so darn proud of you. Happy 5th birthday to our Emma Lemma! Love, Mama, Papa, Nathan, Jonas and Pumpkin the cat.

 

 Emily had an awesome time with all her friends!

The following day, we had family over to celebrate. 

What a lucky girl!

Thank you to everyone who helped celebrate this very special birthday. Love to all!