| November 26, 2001 |
| Come and see what Nathaniel has been doing during his first year! |
| I really am sorry that I didn't start this earlier. Nathaniel has grown and developed so much over the past 5-1/2 months. There is much to tell. It is so amazing to watch our son grow. He brings us endless joy and laughter. He has such a wonderful personality. He went from screaming through his baths to absolutely loving them. Yesterday he learned that if he hits the water, it splashes. He is having fun with that. When I pour water over him, he tries his hardest to catch it. Since Nathaniel was a newborn, I have been sticking out my tongue at him. It always brings about a smile or a giggle. Nathaniel has learned that he too has a tongue and that he can stick it out. He often is the instigator and will stick his tongue out looking for a response. If we stick our tongue out at him, he sticks his right back out. A few days ago, Nathaniel learned how to blow "rasperberries" with his lips. Between sticking out his tongue and blowing rasperberries, he doesn't have very good manners - laugh! |
| Nathaniel is growing by leaps and bounds. We have watched our little man grow from a helpless infant into a little person with his very own personality. He brings us constant joy. Come take a look at what he is doing today and get a glance into his day! |
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| November 27, 2001 |
| Nathaniel slept the entire night in his crib! I am very proud of our little man. Granted he woke up 4 times, but it's a great start. We have been having a hard time getting Nathaniel to sleep in his crib. He has been sleeping in his swing and it was time to make the transition. I know that every night will get better! We think that Nathaniel is a very smart baby. This morning I had him sitting up in front of me and we were playing together. Nathaniel is able to see a toy and grab it. Sometimes he lunges for the toy and topples over. It's very cute to watch. While he was on his belly, he spotted a toy that was out of reach. He wanted it and was trying to figure out how to move so he could get it. He started trying to lunge himself forward by kicking his arms and legs while stretching himself out as much as he could. He is still far off from being able to crawl, but a least he is realizing that he can move and get that toy - if only he can figure out how! Nathaniel has been on solid food for about a month. He loves his food! We let Nathaniel taste our food as long as it is safe for him to taste. Now when I am eating, I have to "share" my food with him. When I take a bite, he opens his mouth. When I eat the bite, he looks at me as if to say, "hey, I wanted that!" This morning I had to give him tiny tastes of the syrup that was on my waffles. |
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| November 28, 2001 |
| Babies are so amazing. They grow and learn so quickly. Nathaniel has already learned how to pick up a toy that is out of reach. I just love it, but he is growing up too fast! Today we spent a good part of the day down on the floor playing together. He can now sit steadily for however long I keep him there. I had him sitting on the floor and I was sitting behind him. I had several toys spread out in front of him. He had a great time grabbing and tasting each toy. He was very proud of himself. The best part is that he kept looking back at me and smiling. While we were playing I could "see" Nathaniel thinking. He would get a serious determined look on his face while he pondered on how he was going to get that toy. I was there cheering him on the whole time. I truly am blessed in being able to be a stay-at-home Mommy! |
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| November 29, 2001 |
| I don't believe it! Nathaniel has amazed me today. We were sitting on the floor together playing with the Rack N' Stack. (It's one of those cone shaped toys that you put colored rings on.) Nathaniel figured out how to take the rings off the cone. I know it wasn't a "mistake" either because he kept doing it over and over again. Nathaniel can also stand in front of the couch and support himself with his hands. I am there to catch him in-case he falls or throws himself backwards. He likes to push off the couch with his hands. I know that it won't be long before he can stand all on his own. He has learned so many new things this week that I don't know how I will ever keep up! |
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| December 10, 2001 |
| Nathaniel had his first bath in the big tub! He loved it! It took a few minutes for him to warm up to it. He wasn't afraid of it, but he didn't know what to think when I first sat him down in the tub. After a few minutes, he realized that he could slap his hands against the water and make noise. He was so excited. He also loved chasing around his rubber duckys as they floated away. Sunday in church, Nathaniel was very happy and talkative. He thought that he should be giving the homily. Nathaiel has learned to babble and loves repeating these phrases: ma ma ma, may may may, na na na, and nay nay nay. It is so sweet. Del sat him down on top of the pew when we were standing hoping that he would quite down. He started kicking his feet on the back of the pew. He realized that if he kicked his legs, it made a noise. It was so precious to see him make that realization. He kept doing that over and over again. We were amazed! |
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| March 23, 2002 |
| Today Nathaniel had his first swimming lesson. He loved swimming and being in the water. We signed him up for a parent/infant swimming class. He smiled immediately and thinks that splashing the water is great fun!! In the water the instructor had us hold the babies in lots of different positions. We even dunked him under water. He didn't seem to mind being dunked and didn't cry. After we "played" in the big pool, we moved over to the small pool. It is very shallow - shallow enough for Nathaniel to stand up in the water. He liked to do that too! He stands better in the water than he does on land. |
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| March 30, 2002 |
| Nathaniel took his first steps behind his push toy today!!! I was shocked! Grammy Joan and Grampy Del bought Nathaniel a push toy for Easter. I put him behind the toy and just expect him to hold onto it and look at it. I was so excited when he took some steps behind it (I was holding onto his arms). I know it won't be long before he is up and walking! |
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| April 7, 2002 |
| Nathaniel has his first hair cut tonight! He didn't really like being "held down" by Daddy, but he desperately needed a cut. I took 1-3/4" off the top of his head. Wow! He certainly has a lot of hair. He looks so cute with perfectly groomed hair - just like Daddy! |
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| April 12, 2002 |
| Nathaniel is turning into a big wiggleworm. Today he was so cute (as always, of course). He is really trying to learn to pull up and wants to do nothing but stand. He was grabbing my hands and using them as support to pull up from a sitting position to a standing position. Once he was standing he would get the biggest smile on his face and laugh. He was very proud of himself and wanted to do this over and over again. It was neat to see him purposely grab onto and hold my hands. So sweet! |
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| April 25, 2002 |
| Somedays, like tonight, I can't even believe how smart Nathaniel is. What he can do at 10 months of age is so amazing. Tonight he was playing with the remote control to the t.v. and he knows that if he pushes the buttons something happens to the t.v. I don't think he fully gets the concept, but he knows it's "special." We wanted to watch a program so we gave him the remote to the VCR to play with. He took one look at it and threw it on the floor. :) He whined for the other remote, so Del gave it back to him. Del then tried to trick him into the VCR remote by taking it away and re-giving him the VCR one back. Again he threw it on the floor. Then Del put both remotes side by side and let him choose the one he wanted. Without hesitation he grahbed the one for the t.v. Then Del offered the 2 remotes again but this time he put the VCR one easily within reach and the t.v. remote out of his reach. Again without hesitation, Nathaniel stretched to reach the one for the t.v. Granted they do look different, but we still find it amazing that he knows which one works and which one doesn't. There is no tricking him! |
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| April 30, 2002 |
| I'm all excited! Nathaniel said the word dog today! I have been wondering for the past several days if Nathaniel was saying/trying to say dog. Today he said it clear as a bell. He said it as soon as Lucy went over to sniff him. So, I guess he knows what it means. It's sooooo sweet. His vocabulary now consists of mama, dada, uh-oh, and dog (and of course - all the jibberish). |
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| May 5, 2002 |
| Nathaniel is funny. Lately when we wakes up, he has been sitting up in his crib. In the middle of the night, he starts crying because he is sitting and doesn't know how to lay back down yet. Del says we have to teach him to lay down. :) This morning at breakfast, Nathaniel was sticking out his tongue with his mouth open and saying "aaahhhh." It was pretty cute. I did it back to him and the game began. He is very humorous! Nathaniel now understands the phrase "can I have a kiss?" If you ask him this, he leans forward with his mouth open for a kiss. It's a little slobbery, but sweet too. I asked him for a kiss in church this morning, and he kept leaning forward with his mouth open for more kisses. He likes to stand backwards and hold onto the pew. This morning he was doing that and then he would grab onto my shirt and "walk" over to hang onto me. He kept switching back and forth between me and the pew. When he switched back to me, he would put his head against my shoulder for a snuggle. Just melts your heart! Nathaniel was a busy boy in church today. He was playing "peekaboo" with his burp cloth. He would put it over his head and then take it off. I would whispering "peekaboo" in his ear and he would smile away. |
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| May 7, 2002 |
| Nathaniel is 11 months old today. I can't even believe it. Where did the time go? I can hardly believe that next month he will be a year old. It has gone by so fast and he has changed so much... Nathaniel made a new discovery today. He was walking (holding my hands) and walked over to the entertainment center. He sat down and pulled on the knob to the drawer. He was surprised when it opened. He kept opening and closing the drawer. I was cheering him on the whole time. Everytime he opened the door, he would look at me for the praise. I would say "yaaaay" and he would get the biggest smile and close the drawer. He is getting so big and very smart! |
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| May 8, 2002 |
| Nathaniel has a new game that he likes to play. Today while I was changing him out of his pajamas into clothes for the day, I hung his onsie off of his foot. He kicked his legs until it fell off and then started laughing. We kept doing this and he thought it was hilarious. |
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| May 19, 2002 |
| Nathaniel crawled for the first time today! We are very excited and so very proud of our little guy! We knew that he was close to crawling and we waiting for it to all click in his head. For several days now, he was been taking about 2 crawl steps and then sitting up. Today Del put the remote control (his favorite thing) out of reach, and Nathaniel crawled right over to it and picked it up. He is starting to get the hang of this crawling business and is starting to crawl all over the place. He likes to crawl up to the dog and poke it - laugh! The best part is that I sat on the floor and said to Nathaniel, "come see Mommy" and he crawled right over to me. Just melts my heart! |
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| May 22, 2002 |
| It still amazes me how quickly babies master a skill once they learn it. Nathaniel has all but lost his "Quasimodo crawl" as Del calls it. The first couple of days Nathaniel was crawling, he would push off with his left leg and drag his right one along behind him. Now he is almost crawling normally. Nathaniel did the funniest thing today. He was sitting on the floor playing with his pull along turtle, "eating" the pull string. He decided that he wanted to go investigate something else and started to crawl away - pulling the turtle behind him by his mouth. I ran for the video camera, but by the time I got back, he had stopped. He also did the sweetest thing today. He can now crawl into my lap. That is the best feeling in the world! He crawled over to me, pulled himself up, and just hugged me. It melted my heart! He would hug me, then pull off, hug me again, pull off, ect. He is a sweetheart! |
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| June 7, 2002 Happy First Birthday, Nathaniel! |