The Sweetest Sound

Nate Note: Recently we found a *tickle* spot on Nathaniel. This tickle spot gets him laughing so hard. The technique is this - you place your hands over his chest while tickling under his arms while speaking kind of funny. He leans his head back and has the absolute best toothless grin while he just giggles away. You can't help but smile yourself. He has been laughing for awhile, but this laugh is very consistent with the tickle spot. We are going to try to get a video of it this weekend. Mostly so that if I am ever stressed out or grumpy I can just play that video. You'd have to be heartless not to smile after witnessing it. I know everyone that has seen their baby (or any baby) laugh must just think they have witnessed a tiny piece of Heaven.

Easter Con't - Just cute pics :)

Are the ears girly?  Nah, they are blue!

See his name on the blanket and cute bunny tail?

This is Nate's favorite way to be held by Kevin.  Arm underneath Kevin's arm

Easter Con't

Nathaniel got his own Easter surprise from Grandma Johnson and Aunt Krista.  He got a first Easter basket and book from Grandma and spiffy outfit from Aunt Krista.  The Easter basket is plush and the animals inside are rattles and crinkly things.  He really likes the rubber duck that came with the Easter basket and uses it when he takes his bath.  Mocha tends to steal that one ALOT - it must be the rubber smell.  Here are a few pics of him enjoying his basket and chilling in his cool clothes.

Easter Surprise

We celebrated Easter in Baton Rouge at Kevin's brother's house (Steve). We decided to drive down there for 2 reasons 1) to visit Steve's family and 2) to surprise Kevin's parents (they were there from FL visiting Steve for Easter). They did not know we were coming down there as well. We showed up on Saturday and I do believe they were surprised to see us. What they didn't know is that we weren't actually down there for Easter (well we were sort of), but we were there primarily to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. To make the 40th anniversary celebration complete Kevin's sister Kristin flew in from Antigua. On Monday we (Kevin's parents, us and Steve's family) drove to New Orleans for some tourist activities. We had Kristin waiting at Cafe du Monde to add to the surprise. It had been a VERY long time since all 3 siblings had been together. It was neat to see how happy Kevin's mom was to see everyone together.

On the jazz cruise

French Quarter

French Quarter

We took a Jazz cruise after stuffing ourselves with beignets and lattes. I was hesitant to take the jazz cruise since I hadn't planned on it and am always so anxious committing to anything with a little guy. But, it was great. The jazz music was very good and it was a nice view of the mississippi. We ate some cajun food that night YUM.

It was very special having everyone meet Nate. Also, it had been so long since we had seen Steve's kids (Gideon, Noah and Autumn) so it was nice to see them in real life versus pictures. Nate got to meet all sorts of people. I wasn't sure how he'd handle different people holding him, but he didn't seem to mind. We don't have too many visitors so we are never sure how he is going to react. So far he seems to be a pretty chill kid.

It was another new travel experience since we stayed in a hotel. Nate slept great in his pack n play at the end of the bed. He also napped just fine in it when we set it up at Steve's house during the day. He ate jarred room temp food - no problem. He travelled without crying almost the entire time, both directions. So far I think we have been pretty lucky :)

It was a great trip (we did drive through the LSU campus, but I didn't see the tiger, maybe next time). Congratulations to Sandy and Ted on 40 years!

Nathaniel with Grandma and Grandpa Hahm after Easter Service

Dinner at the Cajun restaurant

Diaper Dog

Ok, so we all know that Mocha can be somewhat of a hooligan. It is his hooliganness that actually makes him endearing. Don't get me wrong, there are some days when I walk in to a room and see shredded fluff everywhere I am so mad... but there are other days when I walk in to that same mess and he looks at me like, 'What - did I do something wrong?' and I can't help but chuckle a little. He is especially addicted to shredding paper or paper like things. You can't leave a receipt or letter just sitting around all willy nilly or it will be stolen and shredded into a million tiny pieces. I am not sure how many bills we have sent in with the corners missing, we will catch him before the whole thing is destroyed. (yep we don't do all our bills on line yet, most, but not all. After moving 40 times a year one tends to keep things simple).

Anyway, back to my favorite paper shredder. I think he just likes to hear things make a ripping noise. Anything that can be ripped has a high risk factor if you leave it out. Moving has always been really fun for Mocha because the paper they use to pack up your stuff is like Disneyland. It is everywhere and there is so much of it crumpled like a ball just waiting to be stolen.

Well, he has now discovered how FUN it is to steal diapers and shred them into a million pieces. Not dirty diapers, clean ones. He does it so quiet too. I won't notice he is gone and then all of a sudden my heart skips a beat and I think to myself 'DIAPERS'... and yep... there he is with 3 diapers shredded. There is diaper fluff and granules everywhere. The worst part is for some reason he likes to actually eat the diaper. Most of the time he just shreds stuff and leaves a mess, with diapers he eats most of the evidence. But, as you may have guessed that evidence shows back up in the back yard :) Now the diapers are pretty much kept in a high place where he can't reach them.

Diapers are not the first baby thing to be destroyed. He is racking up quite the list. I actually thought about keeping a Mocha Destruction Tally on the home page of the blog. It would go something like this

Burp clothes - ~3

Blankets - ~ 2

Diapers - ~ ?

PJs - ~1

Pacifiers - ~ 2

Bottles - ~1

Toys - ~ a surprising 0 (as of now)

If there is a positive side to this, it is that he keeps you on your toes. You aren't leaving baby stuff everywhere since you can't or it will be stolen. We have several burp cloths with a hole right in the middle where he chewed. It is funny... and not funny at the same time. He does steal Nathaniel's toys right out of his hands when he is playing. He is super gentle and takes it super slow. It is actually quite impressive how gentle he is, but he is in fact stealing Nate's toy. We discipline him anytime he is around Nate in a way where he could step on him just because he is so much bigger, but we do laugh since it is just sooooooo MOCHA (he does this with Kona too). Kevin and I tease about how many times little Nate is going to be saying....'Mmmmoommm Mocha took my toy again'... It makes it worth it though when I'm holding Nate and Nate is kicking Mocha repeatedly (not hard just little baby taps) when Mocha sits by me and Mocha doesn't even flinch and just lays there like a good dog. He will be a great kid dog so in the grand scheme of things that is what is important - a few chewed things becomes less of a big deal.

gotta run I think Mocha just snuck into Nate's room looking for some fun ;)

Easter Preview

We road tripped and spent Easter in Baton Rouge, LA.... stay tuned for the details, but here is one Easter picture to enjoy while you wait for the blog ;)

Clap clap clap

Well, we have discovered that one of the most fun things about having a kid is when random things just happen and catch you by surprise. Starting Friday Nathaniel has consistently been clapping. We looked over and he was just clapping.... we were like... 'good job little buddy'. Now he is a clapping fool.  We tease that he is clapping for himself when he eats all his food or he is clapping for us when we change his diaper.  It is kind of nice to have a constant cheerleader around. 

I have mentioned that I clap sometimes when he does something like role, or smile or whatever... I guess he caught on :) Enjoy the video.

~6 month pictures

Just relaxing

Nate in his Easter Gingham

It is a stare off

I put weight on my feet now and bounce around

I just love after bath pictures (I bet you've noticed)

What was that I heard?

It started out as a whisper. I couldn't quite make it out. Then it got a little louder... 'da da da da' .... 'da da da da'. Nathaniel babbled his first consonants last Wed. (March 28th). Kevin said he heard it the day before, but wasn't sure. When he came home from lunch and I told him about it he then said I confirmed what he thought he heard. It is funny because when he starts to say it he still starts out whispering it. He hasn't added any other letters yet (no p, m or b). Usually 'da da da' turns in to a raspberry sound or other experimental sound. Lately there has even been a higher pitch babble added to his repertoire.

Now back to 'da da da'... What happened to 'ma ma ma'??? ;) I'd feel bad except he doesn't know what he is saying. The actual content relation will come in the next few months. At least that is what I tell myself to feel better. Regardless, it is so cool to see him develop all these new sounds. Before being a parent I would have never imagined there were so many different ways to babble.  Once I can actually capture his new talking I will post a video.