Baby Steps...

Uh Oh...almost time to invest in some gates...:)

FYI...

I think I have fixed the "comment" part of Nathan's blog...you should be able to leave comments if you would like. Sorry about that, one of the settings somehow got changed at some point.

:)

Precious.

Nathan is a VERY lucky little guy. He has SO many people that love him and want what is best for him. Two of which are his Nan and Paps. Nan and Paps come over every Friday to snuggle and kiss all over Nathan. Nathan also gets to spend every Wednesday over at their house, which they all three just love! :) Well, today, Nan made a very good point...a point that I should have realized prior to her saying something...there arent any pictures of just her and Nathan. That is AWFUL on my part. He really needs to know how much his grandparents and great grandparents love him. So...I took the opportunity to snap a few photos of the two. I dont think they like each other at all ;)






Also...as a side note...Nathan as learned to really ham it up for the camera. He knows that when he sees the red light on the camera, the flash is about ready to go off...and once he sees the red light, he knows its time to smile. No more Stone Cold Nathan for photo shoots! ;)

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 :))