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!

Happy Birthday, Nancy!

Nancy's birthday was on Friday, and on Saturday night we all went out to dinner to celebrate. We went to Sushi-Ya for a delicious meal that was worth the wait on a busy night. Then we went back to Dan and Nancy's house for cake and ice cream.

One of the birthday presents we gave Nancy was a series of photos we did of Nathan wearing one of Todd's baby outfits, posed on Todd's baby quilt with his teddy bear, Hebby. Nathan was not pleased with the photo shoot at all and screamed the entire time, so we decided to embrace his crankiness and picked three of the best crying shots! :)


This is no fun at all!


Who decided this would be a good time?


Hebby, help me out here!


Cuddling with the birthday girl


Hanging out with Grandpa