Under is more fun!

Apparently, playing UNDERNEATH the play mat is way more fun than on top of it! ;)






(and yes, he managed to get himself under the mat...all on his own!)

Swim Class

As I have been mentioning, I was going to put Nathan in swim lessons...well, we finally started at the beginning of April. Nathan really seems to enjoy them. He splashes and splashes around. Let me clarify though, these arent really swim lessons, they are more "get your child used to the water" type classes. We sing alot of nursery songs, and try to just get the kids comfortable being in the water.











(We are taking the classes with Keaton and Liz, as you can see them in all the photos. It was actually Liz's parents that took these photos. :))

Just TOO Cute!

These two photos are just too cute not to share! :)

Hamming it Up!

Nathan has discovered his tongue about 5 times it seems...most recently he has been just sticking it out and just leaving it there. I am not quite sure what it is about, but it quite entertaining....

Happy Easter!!!

Hey Linus, Where's Lucy??

Events

It has been an eventful week for our Little Nater Tater.

With the weather being so nice, I have tried to get Nathan outside as much as possible. He LOVES it! He is definatly become an outdoor child. We have taken 950,000 walks around our neighborhood...or atleast it feels that way. Anything to get him outside where he can take it all in. We have hit the parks near our house a few times, we have watched the ducks, and swung on the swings, slid on the slides, walked around in the trees...everything! It has been very refreshing and oh so nice to get out of the house!

On Monday, we went to the Zoo with Audrey and Keaton. That was fun...more for us Moms than the kids at this point. Many of the animals just didnt want to perform for us ;). I am not sure the kids even noticed any of them, but thats okay, it was nice to spend the afternoon walking around at the Zoo. We signed up for a season pass, so Nathan will for sure being going back!

On Tuesday, Jonathon took Nathan on his first adventure to....HOME DEPOT! They looked at all the garden stuff, and Nathan got to ride in the cart. Needless to say, both "boys" were very excited at the excursion, and they both garnered a LOT of attention!

Along with these fun adventures...we have also started a little bit of "tough love". In asking around to some friends, as well as realizing that the last time I had a FULL night sleep (minus maybe 4 nights max) was almost 8 months ago...and I am just plain tired...we came to the conclusion that Nathan NEEDED to start sleeping through the night. We are talking ALL THE WAY through the night, not the "through the night" definition that magazines and Doctors give you at 4 months (5-6 hours). He had been doing fine in going to bed at 8 and waking at 4 or 5, but then we went on vacation. Ever since we got back it has seriously been a guess as to what each night will bring. At almost 8 months he was still wanting a full 7oz bottle in the middle of the night...and also waking up a couple more times to be readjusted or to make sure we were still there (held/rocked/soothed). SO, I talked to my cousin, Leslie, who has had 6 kids (afterall, she should know a thing or two about night sleeping!), and she said that Nathan was waking up only out of habit. She suggested diluting his night time bottle with water, and giving him less, to see if he was really hungry or just wanted to be rocked and held during the night. Sure enough, two nights ago, I gave him 5 oz of MOSTLY water, and he was out like a light when that was finished. SO...last night we were going to give him even less and dilute it even more, but he slept through the entire night (well, until 5:30). Of course, this was only after we started the 5/10/15 minute crying session. Leslie also said that we were going to have to let him cry, because that is the only way he is going to learn to sleep without waking...if there isnt a payoff for waking (i.e. no soothing). SO, I put Nathan to bed last night, and he promptly woke up 5 minutes later. Instead of picking him up and rocking him, I let him cry (I DID go in and shh him a few seconds and let him know he was okay). After 5 minutes, I went back in and shhh'd him again, comforted him without picking him up, and walked out. I WAS going to go in after 10 minutes and do the same after 15 minutes, BUT he stopped crying at about 8 minutes and was asleep. He didnt peep until 5:30! As hard as it was to listen to him cry, I think it was something that needed to happen. Hopefully this wasnt just a fluke night. I suppose if it was, we will have to do the same thing. They say it should only take 3 or so nights, max.

As for the waking at 5:30am thing...yeah...the child has my genes and when he is 15 years old, waking that early is a GREAT trait. However, at 7 months...it is a little early to start the day....for me anyways. Although, I am not sure how to make him sleep longer. He really is ready to go at that early. If he could walk he would be downstairs, watching cartoons or out riding his bike or something. He is just an early riser.

And naptimes...yeah, those have become catnaps. Nathan takes two naps a day...but they are only little 20-30 minute naps. I makes the day extremely long. I am SURE he requires longer naptimes, I just dont know how to make him sleep longer. He wakes, and is refreshed...ready to go!

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!

I don't think Naters likes to swing at all. He just looks SO unhappy! ;) He is VERY cute while in the swing. He kicks and kicks his little feet to make the swing go. It, of course, is adorable.

mmmmm....

Wide Awake...

SOMEONE decided that it would be a great idea to wake up at 6am.

Picture of the Day

Naked Nate??

(For the record, he does have a diaper on!)

New Trick...

So, whenever I need to get Nathan's attention while feeding him, I pretned like I am blowing on his food to cool it. I get real dramatic about it...and he takes a look and giggles a little. Well while we were in Arizona, he caught on, and began doing it himself. He started blowing whenever the spoon of food came toward him. THE CUTEST THING EVER! Now, though he blows all the time...and he has started whistling. He doesnt realize what he is doing, as he is breathing in and out to blow, but it does make a whistle sound. He is also very fond of saying "oooo" too.

Spring Break cont'd again...

I liked my cousin Kreed. He helped entertain me a lot :)


Grandma Frentheway has an awsome swing set in her backyard. She has a swing just for me! I really liked swinging...although the sun was really bright and in my eyes a little...


This is my Uncle Zane and I. I LOVE my Uncle Zane. He just cracks me up all the time!


Just me chillin' with my cousins. Kreed is holding me (far left), Dawson and Beau and then Ryker on the far right.

Spring Break cont'd...

This is the way I like to hang...ahhh...sitting in my stroller, by the pool, with my shades....


This is Grand-Mom's friend. She is a real nice lady...she made me laugh :)


Dad, joking around! He takes pretty good pictures of himself, doesnt he :) I love my Dad!


This is my Uncle Matt's family and my Uncle Zane. Uncle Zane is leaving to to on a Mission and we went to church for his farewell talk. He did an awsome job! (from left: Dawson, Beau, Aunt Melissa, Uncle Matt, Kreed, Ryker and Uncle Zane)

My 1st Spring Break! PARTAAY!!!

Here are a few pictures of the Arizona trip (as narrated by Nathan ;)):


Early morning plane ride. Mom and Dad even let me stay in my jammies :) I love my toes!


Grand-Mom and Grand-Dad Gerwing have an AWSOME pool! Its just for little kids like me! Here I am with Mom getting ready to take a dip. Like my shades?



Grand-Mom took me for a dip. The water was warm and the sun was shining so bright. I had so much fun splashing in the water!! I didnt really want to get out, but it was my naptime and my eyes were getting so heavy...

Goodbye Sunshine...:(

Well, we made it back on Wednesday. We are all SO glad to be home...not that we didnt have a good time in Arizona. I was just nice to get back to our beds and all our stuff. Traveling with a 6 month old is not the easiest thing in the world, and Nathan was an exceptionally good boy through it all. :)

However, we left 90 degree weather to come home to rainy days and 50 degrees :( We were getting so used to wearing flip flops and no socks and shorts and sunscreen. It was BEAUTIFUL!!!! Hopefully Spring will SPRING here in Louisville any day and those flip flop days will greet us again. Its close, as the flowers are beginning to bloom and the trees are beginning to bud. Ahhh....Springtime in Louisville :)

Here is a sneak peak at the rough time Nathan had on our little vaca....

Leavin' on a jet plane.....

The Ice family is on the move....well, for a week or so! We are sick and tired of this end-of-winter-when-will-it-be-spring weather, so we are heading west to the sunny state of Arizona! We leave tomorrow morning at 7am, and Nathan and I wont be back until Wednesday or Thursday of next week (Jonathon is flying back on Monday :( ). While we are gone, we are going to spend the first few days with Grand Mom and Grand Dad Gerwing in Scottsdale, then we are going to spend the following few days with Grandma Frentheway in Gilbert. While in Gilbert, my brother (Nathan's Uncle Matt) and his kids (Kreed, Dawson, Ryker and Beau) are going to be there as well. It is actually Zane's (my younger brother, Nathan's other Uncle on my side) farewell for his Mission, so it is an important shindig! The entire vacation should be a lot of fun!

85 degrees, short sleeves and flip flops....HERE WE COME! :) :)

(ps, I will try and post some happenings while we are gone :))

Pre-Nap "Chill" time...

SO...while at Best Buy, I picked up a new Baby Einstein video for Nathan since he only has one. I try to limit his TV watching time, as I would rather him not get too attached to the TV to use as a time waster. Plus, the TV is on a lot anyways (for noise most of the time), so he inadvertantly sees a lot as it is.

Back to Baby Einstein...so I bought him a new one (the one about different movements) thinking that we could make it a special event a couple of times a week...to change things up and maybe to calm him down for nap time, aka Pre-Nap Chill Time. When we got home from Best Buy, he was pretty hyped up and just did not have his afternoon "nap" in mind. So I pulled out his blanket, and draped it over the Boppy, layed Nathan in it, and turned on the new video...it worked.! He totally just chilled for a bit. Played with his toes....took off his socks...talked to the kids on the TV....sat up...played with his toes some more. Then got bored...but it did calm him down! :) Yeah Baby Einstein and the Pre-Nap Chill Time!!!

(Side note: to other mothers out there - I saw a commercial for a new Baby Einstein they are releasing on sign language. I think it is coming out on Tuesday, March 13 or something. Anyways, it looks pretty good, as I would like to teach Nathan a little sign language, if only to help him communicate better while he is learning to talk. SO...the question of the week - What Baby Einstein video is your child's favorite? There are so many, so its hard to know which ones are really worth the money...or the illegal download as it may be ;))

Best Buyin' It...

I had to run to Best Buy today, and I decided to take Nathan out of his carrier and just carry him in the store (he is just too heavy to carry him AND the carrier everywhere!)...man-oh-man do we have a "Little Jon Ice" on our hands! he LOVED LOVED LOVED Best Buy. He was looking all around, smiling from ear to ear. You could just see the wheels turning in his head thinking "man, I could get into some trouble in this place!". As, I am sure he will one day....;)

Public display...of eating

So, Jonathon and I decided to take Nathan to to the mall last Saturday. It was a really cold and snowy day, but we didnt want to stay couped up in the house all day. We BOTH know that by the end of the day Naters would be irritated and bored and ancy and just itching for something different to look at...so why not the mall? Anyway, we ate lunch at this place at Oxmoor Mall called "Yankee Noodle". I had never been there, and as it turns out, it is really quick and tastey!! Nathan's lunch time was going to fall right during our visit there, so I brought along his food. This is the first time that I have fed him, and he has eatin' anywhere than a highchair at Nan's house or at home. I figured it would be interesting to see if he was distracted and would eat. He did SO well!! He ate up those carrots like a pro! He sat in the little restaurant highchair and looked around and ate like a big boy! So cute...and SO grown up :)

(Sorry this picture is a little blurry. We took it with our phone.)

He's Baaack!

Little Naters is back!!!! The sweet little boy that I know and love has resurfaced and is jumping all over the place :)

I think you are right, Jen, he is beginning the whole separation anxiety phase (which, honestly is SOO sweet :)). I think his teeth were hurting him, and maybe the shots did last a day or so longer than normal. Regardless, he is ALL spirits today! He even stayed awake while at the gym so he could take his scheduled 10am nap! :)

Note: I write this very cautuously, because whenever I write about Nathan's behavior, he somehow knows and behaves the complete opposite (ie night sleeping).

Gettin' Real

So...I dont know what that Doctor put in those shots that she gave Nathan last week, but man do I have a different child ever since then! Nathan has been VERY.....I dont even know how to describe it. I could say "whiney", but that makes him sound weak and like a "baby". He has been very "fussy" I guess, and very "clingy". On Thursday, I gave him the benefit of the doubt because he really was emotionally affected by the shots, you could tell that by the way he cried and cried after it was over. Thursday night, he woke up every 2hours, again, I chalked that up to him being sore and not feeling well from the shots. Friday night, however, he again woke up every 2 hours (towards the morning it was every hour)...again, maybe it was because he was still sore and not feeling well from the shots. Yesterday, during the day, he was just "off". Cranky at times...and then he would shoot right into a death scream, or wake up from his naps screaming as if he was in severe pain. My current diagnosis is that his teeth are bothering him. Now both bottom teeth are in and I dont see any signs of the top teeth...but it isnt impossible that they arent coming in, since we didnt really see or feel the bottom teeth until they had arrived.

I just dont know. Last night he did sleep better, until 4am. Though he woke up at midnight crying and was somewhat hard to calm down. I dont like to fuss with him too much when he does that because a lot of times he is still sleeping, and if I fuss with him it wakes him, and the goal is for him to sleep. However, today...he is completely "off" again. Just not quite as easy going and happy as he was a few days ago. He cries when Jonathon or I leave the room, and he cries when we put him down for a nap, or in his jumper, or on his playmat, or in the highchair to eat. This is not like Our Nathan. He has been VERY good about playing in his jumper or on his play mat, while we do stuff in the kitchen. And he has ALWAYS been excellent about going down for naps. He has never really had an issue with self soothing as they call it, until now.

So...experts out there...is Nathan just getting to the age where he is testing his limitations and his "control"? Or in other words...does the REAL PARENTING begin now? Discipline? Is he just teething and needing a little comfort because his mouth hurts? Did the Doctor really give him some personality changing shots in the viles she stuck him with last week? Am I just crazy and in dire need of a massage (hehehe)? All if the above?

He IS such a good little boy and his crying and fussiness just breaks my heart because I KNOW something just isnt right, or is hurting him. I just can't quite figure what it is...except teeth...and there isnt much you can do for that.

OUCH!

So...an update, FINALLY :)

Nathan had a Doctors appointment today, his 6 month well check. I know, I know, he was 6 months a couple of weeks ago, but we couldnt get him in until today...SO let's call it his 6 month and 2 week check up :)

Here are his current stats:
Height: 28 1/2 inches (90%)
Weight: 20lbs 13.5 oz (90%)

The Doctor commented that he is a big boy, BUT is proportional so we had nothing to worry about. PLUS, as I have mentioned many times before, the child is not the Micheline Man by any means, he is a SOLID 21lbs. His weight is a little less that what I had reported a week or so ago, but that is expected since he was in full diaper/clothes and on our home scale.

He has grown in length though! Quite a bit since his last appointment, when I think he was just 24 inches. 4 1/2 inches! Thats a ton...no wonder the kid cant fit into his 6-12 month clothes anymore!!!

Developmentally he is right on target. Nathan is really starting to sit up on his own, though I dont dare leave him while he attepts this. Someone still needs to sit real close to him at all times and watch him, but with more and more practice he will start being a little sitter in no time. He is just so top heavy with that large brain (hehe) that finding enough strenghth and balance takes him a little longer. He IS a smart one :)

OOOh, and he officially has his 2nd tooth! Yes, he grew another one if you can believe it! It is just now starting to surface, so he has been a Slobbering Fool the last couple of days. It is so cute though! He even reaches in his mouth with his fingers and feels his teeth. Oh and he also rubs his tongue on his teeth also, its just a little bit adorable :)

He rolls and rolls now, and is actually quite mobile for not being able to crawl or walk. He could move himself quite a few feet if he sees something he wants. I still have yet to figure out how he actually does this, but he sure does! He is enjoying tummy time a lot more now that he has figured out that he might be able to go somewhere while down there :) He has rediscovered his little play gym now that he can see the mat and all the crazy characters on it :)

Nathan LOVES to laugh. We are talking belly laughs. He is still all boy, and laughs at anything that sounds like a fart or a burp. Someone should video Jonathon and I communicating these days. We both walk around the house making farting noises just to make Nathan laugh. It has gotten to the point where we have both found ourselves, without Nathan, walking around making farting noises. Quite entertaining I am sure (either that or people think we are sick individuals).

I have found that both Nathan and my day go much smoother and we both are much happier if we get out and do a special activity at least once a day. This does not include going to the gym, as that is our normal routine. SO, this week I have really tried to do something new with him...even if it is as simple as taking him out of his carrier and going into Target without the carrier. At least he is seeing a different point of view, so its kind of an adventure. We have also gone swimming, for a couple of walks and out to Nan's. He is MUCH happier when he isnt couped up in the house, and especially in our tv room. I can not wait for better weather when we can start walking with Jeanne and Audrey, or going to swimming lessons and visiting the park playground :)

Nathan HATES HATES HATES peas and beans. HATES them. Its actually very funny watching his face and then seeing him BLOW them out of his mouth. I keep trying to get him to eat a couple of bites so he learns to at least tolerate them...I am not having much luck though, which the Doctor assured me was okay. He does LOVE peaches (homemade are his favorite...Thanks LIZ!), applesauce and just got his first taste of bananas today. He was a little shivery at the first bite but he warmed up to then very quickly! He has become such a good eater, as I think the reason for using a spoon has registered in his brain. I honestly think we could discontinue the bottle at any time, and he wouldnt miss it...except for when he goes to bed at night. Though, I am not sure he really NEEDS the bottle to go to sleep, just the "food" that is in it.

He has become a pretty good sleeper...as I jinx myself saying this...he sleeps from 8pm to 4 or 5am. On the rare, rare occiasion he will sleep all the way until 7am. Though there is also the rare occasion that he wakes up at midnight, 2am, 4am, 6am, and 7am. He still takes 2-3 naps a day, but I really think he is getting to the point of just needing 2. His 3rd nap, IF he takes it, seems to be getting later and later in the day and I try real hard not to let him sleep past 5 at the latest. Its just a matter of getting our mornings together, since they always seem to differ with us hitting the gym.

He definately lets you know when he is tired, hungry, or just sick of being held or in his jumper. He isnt a man of many words, but when he does "speak" he lets ya know exactly what he thinks ;) He DOES try and have conversations with you, especially while you are talking to someone else...he just chimes in as if he knows exactly what is being said. He has said "mmmmuummmm" and "nnnngggg" and "oooh". They say he should be saying "dadada" by now, but whatever, he will say it in his own time I am sure.

He does growl and can roll his "g's" if that makes sense. He sounds like Chubaca sometimes.

What else. Oh the child LOVES LOVES LOVES his dad. He just lights up. I know I have mentioned that, but I do think Jonathon is Nathan's favorite person to play with. He loves just sitting with Jonathon at the computer and listening to music or just hanging with Jonathon on the couch watching basketball.

Nathan LOVES books :) Yeah! he loves just sitting on your lap and looking at the pictures. He doesnt quite understand the whole "reaing" part of book time, but he does get the concept of turning pages. Oh and he likes to make sure the books TASTE good as well :)

Today he has been a little Mama's Boy (not that I mind THAT much ;)) because of the shots he got at the Doctor. Poor little guy just cried and cried for about 5 minutes and then wimpered when we got home and finally let himself go to sleep. He is a little fussy now, and doesnt want me to leave his sight today. It is very sweet, and I am sure I would be yearning for my Mom if I had to get shots in the legs. :(

Thats the update that I can think of right now. I am SURE there is more, but I can never think of it all ....