Downward Facing Dog

Something I should do more of is yoga. I did it a bit at the beginning of my pregnancy and certain poses throughout my pregnancy (child pose, cat and cow) and it really did feel great stretching. It felt especially good to stretch and make that right side pain feel a little better when possible. A pain that did indeed go away immediately after that kicking little baby was out of there like the doctor said. Anyway, what I never knew would happen is that Nathaniel would practice a yoga pose at such a young age. He can be seen doing 'downward facing dog' several times a day. I guess Mocha and Kona taught him the move. He doesn't quite do it with the precision of an experienced yoga expert, but he is well on his way. 

Or.... instead of being a yoga expert.... it could be the beginning stages of trying to stand up. He is FAR from being able to balance, but he is trying to do something. The something does look a lot like downward facing dog though :)

The funny thing he does is walk and stand on his toes. When he is playing in his walk around toy my mom got him he pushes himself around on the top side of his toes. Yes, it is a little strange, but the way the walker is set up allows him to do that kind of easy and still whip around fast. Also, when he stands up against the couch or window sill he likes to stand up on his toes (at least the bottom side of them instead of the front which is a little better). We figure once he realizes he can't balance very well that way he will try some other methods. Or maybe just maybe he will be a ballet dancer.

Music with Mommie

Nathaniel and I have been attending Music with Mommie for 2 weeks now. It is a group class for kids 5 months to 5 years that has songs and musical instruments and stuff. I, of course, took advantage of the first free class to see if it was any good. Because we don't get out much around other kids Nate pretty much just stared at them. Granted most of them are older and mobile so I think he was amazed they could grab their own instruments and walk around.

It is funny when we are suppose to make motions with a song. To help him have fun I move his arms etc. ... for example the song might say 'swim like a dolphin' so I move his arms in a swimming motion. The problem is that he locks up and won't let me move anything. He becomes as stiff as a statue. And when we are suppose to be snuggie during an 'I love you' type song he is jumping (on my leg as I hold him) and worming all around. He was also more interested in the live frog that was sitting next to us more than the music at times... me too though so maybe he gets that from me.

The second class was a little more crowded than the first. Which would be fine except for it is in a back storage room of a toy store so it got a little crowded and hot. I do think he likes it and enjoys watching the other kids so I'm going to stick with it for at least a session or two. There are 2 other kids about his age so that is good. The registration fee included an intro musical instrument pack and cd. He LOVES the egg shaker. I'm thinking since he has used it so much at home he may actually try and use it during class next time, which would be cool. I ordered him a few more kid friendly instruments. Maracas, another egg shaker and a baby sized tambourine. If he gets familiar with them at home he may be a little more open to them during that part of class. He also really enjoys sitting under the parachute while the moms wave it above the kids heads. (and yes it is a sexist class I think... there are no dads)

Class is on Wednesday mornings - so feel free to have the image of Nate as stiff as a statue and me singing off key on those mornings (and feel free to laugh at me as I strain to get up and down a billion times during class because I'm old and out of shape.... by the end of class I'm just as tired as Nate. Actually towards the end I smile at the older kids and get them to put our instruments back in the bucket after each song so I don't have to hahaha)   

So So Funny

Man, where is time going. I always give a little chuckle when people say, "enjoy it, his childhood goes by fast" because it always sounds so rehearsed and just what people say during small talk. But, Holy Moly I'm starting to think that statement is hugely understated. I just got a blanket email from some website mentioning baby milestones. The milestone was Nathaniel's first birthday. WHAT WHAT. I started to panic. I don't have a theme, as a matter of fact I don't have any plans for his first birthday. We don't even really have anybody to invite since most of our friends and family live elsewhere. So as of right now Nathaniel is going to have some lame cupcake, a cardboard bday hat from the Dollar Tree and me and Kevin singing some off key birthday song. AAAAaaahhh I'm going to win the worst mom award. Good moms would have 1000 ideas posted to Pinterest by now. I'd have themes narrowed to 3 top choices. I'd have a homemade 'I'm One' t-shirt made. The cake would be planned. People would have cute homemade invites to look at even if I knew they couldn't realistically be here. Then I spiraled out of control thinking... I don't have anything planned for his Halloween costume yet either. And no Christmas traditions being worked out. AAAaaahhh, what preschool will he attend? Do we have enough saved for his college fund? ...... ok ok ok, after a deep breath I regained my sanity. 

To be fair, I am still a little panicked about making his birthday special. I'll keep you posted on my neurosis.

Ok, now on to so so so funny..

Nathaniel cracks himself up on occasion. It is so cute. I really can't get enough of his laugh. Now that he is an 'expert' crawler he loves to crawl over your legs. He basically high centers on your legs and then face plants into the ground. As he is face planting he is laughing hysterically. It looks a tiny bit painful, but apparently not. He will do this several times and just loves it every time. It is only slightly less funny for him when he goes over a fluffy pillow. Another thing that is so so funny is playing chase around the couch. he crawls off in one direction and if you go in another and pop out from the side he flops over and just laughs. When I'm driving I'll hear a giggle from the back seat. This one is still a mystery to me, I'm not sure what is so so funny. I'm not sure how he is actually cracking himself up back there. He kicks the mirror with his feet, throws his toys at the door (something I like to call the backseat toy graveyard) and make motorboat sounds (YES, he still loves to spit all over himself - is this a boy thing do you think?) .. it could be any of these things or perhaps something I haven't witnessed, but what I do know is random laughing happens on occasion from back there.

Overall, he is a pretty happy baby still. This is something I try every day not to take for granted. Don't get me wrong he has gotten quicker to let you know when he isn't happy about something. He has a kind of a 'whiner whine' about him. He doesn't cry, but gives this 'whiner whine'.

Nate Note: For a month now Nathaniel does this 'No no no' thing. He kind of smiles and shakes his head back and forth super fast in a 'no no no' sort of way. It is actually kind of cute and we think he has fun doing it. I don't think he has any clue what the word NO means so we aren't sure why he does this. He does it at random times too. It isn't just when he is tired or excited or hungry or full. He has done it during all of those times and many more random events. Once we figure out the mystery of the 'no no no' we will let you know.

Historical Note: Ernie Els won The Open Championship today by one stroke.  I only bring this up because we saw Ernie Els at The Square Grouper when we were in Jupiter, FL for vacation while I was pregnant with Baby Hahm :) Ernie had pulled his yacht in and he and his friends sat at the table right next to us.  

Who Can Sit? I Can Sit!

For about a week now the little guy will sit up from a crawl. See video below. He is so much more mobile now. One of his favorite things to do is crawl to the dog's water dish and stick his hands in the water and play with it. Not exactly my favorite thing for him to do since he sticks his fingers in his mouth to taste the water. Needless to say, I change that water out quite a bit (which happens anyway because Kona won't drink unfresh water) and redirect the curious boy to different areas several times a day. He still poses while he crawls too.   

Looks like Nathaniel will have to share his pool... or is it the
other way around and Mocha will have to share his pool.
I'm pretty sure Kona is looking at him like he is crazy.

Mocha, "It is sooooooo Hot - Thanks for the pool"

What Time Is It?

What time is it?  Did you guess?  It is time to lower the crib.  It became quite a game between Nathaniel and myself - I'd lay him down and he'd giggle and kneel on the side of the crib.  This went on about 50 times. I decided to leave the room to see if he'd actually try taking a nap and he decided instead of kneeling he would stand against the side of the crib.  I, of course, ran up the stairs just as fast as I could.  I didn't think he'd stand up that fast from kneeling.  Although it was sad to take his fun new game away, the crib was lowered pretty much immediately.  He did not take to it very well for the first nap, but after that he has done just fine.  Little stinker.  On a side note, the lowered crib is much harder for a shortie like me to change the sheets and pick him up (I guess Kevin will just have to change the sheets from now on... woo hoo)

Showing Off

Two of my VERY favorite people in the world

The Fourth of July had many exciting fireworks this year. It started off on July 3rd with my sister coming for a visit from Arizona. YaY. If you remember we visited Arizona just a bit ago (I still need to write a real blog entry for that trip). Well, Nathaniel decided to show off at Aunt Krista's and start crawling. The army man crawl. He has become a master at that technique. He can get around pretty fast. It is a true army man crawl where he gets his legs and arms going. Occasionally, he gets on all fours with his stomach off the ground and rocks back and forth. Of course since my sister was here in Nashville he decided to show off again for her. He took the rocking back and forth to another level and started a real crawl. So July 4th was his first real crawl moves. He would go about 2-3 moves and then revert back to army crawling. By the end of her visit he was going a lot more than 2-3 moves and is becoming quite efficient at that type of crawling. Here is a quick video below. We have some better ones, but this was a quick one on the iPhone :)

It was fun having my sister here for the 4th. We actually went and watched real fireworks on a blanket in a park and everything. Kevin stayed home to watch Nathaniel (Although Nathaniel was almost in bed when we left and Kevin rented 'Act of Valor' to watch and had a Samuel Adams to enjoy so I'm pretty sure he had a good time too)

This is his 'old man' face ... he does this lately and it is so goofy

Nathaniel also had his first high chair experience in a restaurant. We had been using his infant carseat in a restaurant for his seat, but since we now are using a convertible car seat that isn't an option any longer (hhhmmm have I mentioned that yet? He has transitioned to the next carseat). I have my new floppy seat to put over the high chair so we decided to try out. My sister and I headed to Bosco's for happy hour appetizers since we were hungry. Here is a picture of Nate enjoying a teething biscuit sitting in the high chair (And no he doesn't have any teeth yet so he was just gumming the biscuit). He was showing off as usual and was super good. He just hung out in the high chair while we enjoyed our snacks and didn't even get too squirrely.

This showing off continued at a few other restaurants we went to while my sister was in town. He loves looking at the people at the other tables. His head looks like it is on a swivel as he glances from one side to the other. The people around us seem to get a kick out of him looking at their tables. If I stare at a table next to us they think I'm creepy, but if Nate does the exact same thing apparently it is cute ;) Looking at people and eating Organic cheerio like snacks kept him pretty occupied while we ate. He only gets a little antsy towards the end when he lets you know he is ready to go.

My sister left yesterday afternoon :( It was so nice to hang out. Nate is going to miss his Aunt showering him with snuggles and playing with him. He was even a good boy while she babysat while me and Kevin ran an errand. Actually, I was a little insulted he didn't cry or anything while we were gone - isn't he suppose to have separation anxiety from us at this age?!? haha, I'm glad he isn't showing signs of that, but it is a little insulting ;)

He poses as he crawls.  This is his crawl-crawl-crawl-pose look

Kevin and Nate at Arrington Vineyards

Aunt Krista and Nate at Arrington Vineyards

Aunt Krista and Nate in downtown Franklin, TN.