Monkey Business

Well, Nathan is officially in the double digits; he is 10 weeks old today! I decided to use some of my last morning of maternity leave (I go back full-time starting tomorrow) to do a long-planned photo shoot of Nathan with all of his monkey friends. Todd has a well-loved monkey from childhood named Chelsea that has been passed on to Nathan, Curious George was a shower gift from Veronica, the big snuggly monkey is from Aunt Gillian, and Aunt Hillary made him a sock monkey! The fact that Nathan also has a monkey-themed outfit made the photo shoot a no-brainer. :) The timing of my project was a little off, as I didn't get myself organized until right before naptime, so instead of smiley, happy Nathan, you get tired and not sure about Mommy's monkey project Nathan! Right after this, he let me know that I'd pushed it too far, and had to be cuddled to sleep, which he's doing right now in the Baby Bjorn while I type this.

Bumbo seat

Nathan has gotten so much stronger lately--especially in keeping his head up (although he still randomly forgets that he has to hold it up, so he's still a bit floppy). While Suz and I were enjoying a beautiful snowshoeing expedition, Todd and Nathan had fun trying out the Bumbo seat. Nathan's still to little and floppy to sit in it for very long, but he really liked being able to sit up and look around.

Family Dinner

Stuart and Erin came into town this weekend, and Nancy and Dan cooked up some delicious fish tacos for dinner. Unfortunately, Jordan had to work, but the rest of us enjoyed a relaxing evening of good food and good company. Nathan was actually awake for most of the time we were there, which is unusual--he seems to always be sleeping when he hangs out with Grandma Nancy and Grandpa Dan! So everyone had fun with how smiley he is now. :)

Hanging out with Aunt Erin and Uncle Stuart


Taking a call on the cell phone that Grandma got for him.


Snuggling with Grandma


Deuce looking forlorn in an attempt to convince us to let him in (it worked)!

Now that is a good looking group!

Just because it's Thursday

Just a few pictures because my little guy is so cute! When I take a shower, I put Nathan in his bouncy seat, which entertains him and keeps him safe. Now that he is so much more interested in the world around him, I attached the little bar with fish on it to his seat. It is battery powered and the little fish twirl around and water bubbles. Today is the first day that he really seemed to notice all this action, and he thought it was pretty great!

After we were both clean and changed, I decided that a little self-portrait session was in order. With all that excitement, Nathan was a little overwhelmed and a bit hysterical (that was a lot of visual stimulus to process!). He is currently sleeping off the adventure, all snuggled up in his Moby wrap with me and his pacifier. :)

Look at how blue his eyes are getting!


Hanging out with mommy.

Loving the bouncy seat!

Two Month Dr. Appointment

Nathan had his two-month-old well baby doctor appointment today. I was a little worried about how it would go because the appointment time and his eating time coincided exactly and Nathan is not one to exercise patience when he is hungry! Luckily he was very charming for the nurse and Dr. Dyk--laying on the exam table dancing, smiling, and cooing. However, it was like he had a premonition, because as we were waiting for the nurse to come back in to give him his immunizations, Nathan had a total meltdown! Luckily a little breastfeeding calmed him down, and he only cried for a short time after he got his shots. I think I cried more than he did! Here are his new vital stats:
Weight: 10 lb, 8 1/2 oz (25%)
Height: 22 1/4" (25%)
Head circumference: 15 3/8" (25-50%)

Two months old!

Nathan is two months old today! In some ways it's hard to believe that it has been two months already, and in other ways it is unbelievable that Nathan's only been in our lives for two short months. He is getting bigger and learning more every day--it's amazing! He's really figured out how to smile, and is working on different coos and sounds. It is so much fun to have him get more interactive every day.

I had my first day back at work yesterday. This week and half of next week I am just working in the afternoons, which is making the transition easier. Still, leaving Nathan at daycare yesterday is the hardest thing I've done. It is the first time I've done something that went completely against my mommy instincts. Even though I really like the in-home daycare that we are taking Nathan to, it just felt wrong to have someone other than me or Todd taking care of him. Luckily Mary, the daycare provider, has a lot of experience with first-time moms on the first day of daycare drop-off, and she was very reassuring. Nathan had a great time on his first day, and I survived as well!

Here are some photos from today, as well as a video:




Mom, get that camera out of my face!


I can't help it, I think his pout is adorable!

Sound asleep in the Moby wrap.

Video showing off and summarizing the skills Nathan's learned in his two months of life:

Videos

We have taken several videos of our little man and his general cuteness. The grandparents and great-grandparents have already seen them, but I thought the rest of my readers might like to see them too!

Valentines Day


Eight Weeks Old


10 Days Old


10 Days Old

Valentines Day

Almost every Valentines Day that Todd and I have spent together has also been spent at Bilbo's enjoying delicious heart-shaped pizza. This year Mom and Dad, as well as our new little Valentine joined us for the festivities.

Such a snuggler!

As I know I've mentioned before, Nathan loves to snuggle, and sleeps the best when he is on Mommy or Daddy's chest. Sometimes he wriggles himself into funny positions while he's sleeping. While I was talking to my dad on the phone yesterday, Nathan decided that he needed to seek shelter in the crook of my arm. Of course, we had to capture the moment!

Nathan is absolutely fascinated by the ceiling fan. He loves to watch it, flirt with it and smile at it. This morning was no exception!

Walk in the Woods

Today when Todd got home from work we decided to bundle Nathan up and take him for a walk in the woods behind our house. It wasn't super cold out (well, not by Michigan winter standards anyway) and all of us have been itching to spend some time outside. Todd carried Nathan for a little while so he could look around, and Nathan was wide awake and checking out his surroundings for a good portion of the time. Then the wind started to pick up so we tucked him in the baby carrier for a snuggle with me and a snooze. Deuce thought he had won the lottery to have all of us together and the woods to romp around in!


Ok, this picture isn't from the hike, but he looks so cute in his little hoodie sweatshirt (just like Daddy's!) that I had to post it.


All bundled up in his snowsuit and ready to go!


Checking out the world.


My two favorite boys!

Yes, we still have a cute dog, and we still take pictures of him sometimes! :)

Snuggling with mommy.

Household chores

Yesterday Nathan was hanging out on the bed while I was folding laundry, and before I knew it, he was surrounded by piles of clothes! :) What a good little helper to work security for the laundry piles. Can you find the baby in these pictures???

This morning I couldn't resist the urge to have Nathan and Ozzie cuddle. A perfect photo op, and I had to post it. Aunt Joanna, these are for you!! Do you think Gertie will be up for a cuddle session??? haha!

Outfit from Great-Grandma

Today Nathan is modeling the outfit that Great-Grandma Florence sent for him when we found out we were having a boy. He looks so sweet and snuggly in it that I had to post some pictures. :)

Fresh Air!

Today was a real gift for February in Michigan; it was sunny and 50 degrees today! It felt like the whole world was celebrating. Todd and Nathan hung out on the deck for a little while, which was the first time that Nathan was outside for more than the time it takes to rush him from car to building all bundled up. He was a little disturbed by how bright it was out there, but seemed to really like the warmth of the sun on his face. I went for a great run this afternoon. It is so nice (and so much easier!) to run on pavement than on packed snow.

My birthday present from Todd was going out to dinner just the two of us. Tonight was the first night that it worked out for us to do it. Dan and Nancy came over to babysit for the first time, and Todd and I had an absolutely delicious meal at Bistro 120 in Paw Paw. We had baked oysters as an appetizer and then huge portions of jambalaya. Yum! Nathan was very well behaved for Nancy and Dan; he slept in Grandpa's arms the whole evening. I'm really glad he was sleepy, because lately he has had some really fussy crying periods in the evenings, and I'm happy that Grandma and Grandpa didn't have to deal with that while we were out enjoying our date.

Nathan's first experience basking in the sunshine!


Grandma and Grandpa reporting for babysitting duty.


On our way to a delicious dinner, just the two of us!

First Play Date

Today Nathan had his first "play date" with his first friend, Thomas. One of the women in my birthing class, Elizabeth, is also a classics professor at K. We are in the same yoga class, and were friendly before the birthing class, but as a result of the class we realized that we have quite a bit in common. Prior to the babies arriving, Todd, Elizabeth, Matt and I had a really fun dinner together at the Corner Bar (we were excited that they are also big fans of cheap burgers and beer!).

This morning Nathan and I met up with Elizabeth and her son Thomas (born about 3 weeks before Nathan) at a coffee shop near campus. It was so much fun to get out of the house, to catch up with Elizabeth, and to talk about all the obsessive new-mommy stuff with somebody else who is equally obsessed! :)

Nathan slept through the entire play date, and Thomas was awake for about half of it--but the mommies had fun! :) It was a lot of fun to finally meet Thomas, who is adorable, and get a preview of all the development that Nathan will go through in the next few weeks (no wonder he's been cranky lately!).

Cuddle time

Nathan has been growing and changing like crazy! He is becoming more aware of the world around him--sights and sounds in particular. It is really fun to watch him get excited and smile and wiggle when he sees his favorite toy, the dog, or himself in the mirror, and to have him turn to try and find the source of a new sound. The challenging side of this new development is that he gets distracted when he's sleepy or awakens easily if he hears a noise while drifting off. He also gets bored being in one place too long because he's too little to entertain himself. The result of that is I spend a lot of time moving him from bouncy seat to playmat to crib to swing to dancing around the house, and not so much time showering or eating! :) Nathan always likes to snuggle during the day, and that has become even more pronounced as he wants to sleep but keeps getting distracted. Sometimes the only thing that will calm him down is a good snuggle on the couch with one of us. Yesterday was a particularly strong example of this, and we each spent several hours napping with Nathan!

Super Bowl Sunday

We went up to my parents' house for Super Bowl Sunday. Dad made a delicious pork recipe, and we enjoyed a relaxing evening just hanging out watching football. We left at halftime since it was getting late, but I'm glad I got to see at least some of the game and the funny commercials. We also spent some time (of course!) taking pictures!


Nathan snuggling with Todd in the Moby Wrap.


Modeling his first pair of SmartWool socks, courtesy of Nancy!




A self-portrait of Deuce and I spending some quality time together. Poor doggy, he used to be the one in all the pictures!



Self-photographed family portrait


Kisses from Daddy!