*Snap*

*Snap*, that is the noise I made while filing a life moment into my memory. You know, a pretend picture you take to remember something that isn't actually captureable (is that a word?). My memory picture is of Nathaniel running up to his Aunt Krista and hugging her. Hugging her legs to be exact. He is just a little guy still ;) At one point he pushed me aside and ran to hug her. Why am I chopped liver, I don't know... But, that hug is a special moment. There are few things better than seeing your son hug your sister. It felt like I gave her a new piece of my heart. That is probably why my heart skipped a beat or two watching it.

 

 

What is the saying - 'Great sisters get promoted to Aunts'? Well I guess its true. I just loved seeing him at this age hanging out with her. He is so much more aware. He would drag her around the house and show her things, laugh hysterically as he chased her around the kitchen, snuggle with her and watch a show, and tons of other fun things, but I think my other favorite *Snap* is the smile he'd give when he'd see her for the first time in the morning or after a nap.

 

 

Things are so much easier with an Aunt around too. You can do a few things around the house without rushing, you don't have to push the stroller the entire time somewhere (zoo, mall), you can pawn the 5th, 6th, 7th time of any activity off to them.... haha that is the best!

 

 

Plus, with an Aunt around you get to get out of the house and go to a fancy dinner or play bar trivia or shop without the kid or husband (not that I don't love, love, love that normally, but you know what I mean). I had such a nice time catching up and joking around. I don't know how I (or Nate) will move on without her. I cannot wait to take more *Snap*'s ... so until next time..... we'll be missing you. 

 

 

Hanging out at JJ Wine Bar

 

I never get them both in the same picture.  Pretty doggies.

 

Krista snapped this pic outside the outlet mall.  Who is that handsome dude? 

 

 

Reunion Road Trip

The Hahm family reunion was finally upon us. A few fun filled days in the Lake of the Ozarks Missouri. As you may have guessed Lake of the Ozarks Missouri isn't in Tennessee. This meant a road trip. It was the first time we have travelled with Nathaniel during 'awake' hours. We usually travel in the dead of the night so that he sleeps the whole time. We had no idea how it would go. Seriously, no idea. Maybe he'd sleep the whole time, maybe not, maybe he'd whine the whole time, maybe not... who knew. Armed with an iPad, a bunch of cartoons and easy access to milk and food we hoped for the best.

 

Right away he slept for about an hour... woo hoo.. then he decided to be awake for the next 7.5 hours of the drive... then sleep for the last 20 minutes of the drive. Luckily, he just hung out and watched WWAAAAAYYY to many cartoons.

 

We made it to our condo at Lakeview Resort. Kevin's parents and his brother and sister's families were already there. We hung out and caught up with the family. I'm pretty sure Nathaniel headed to bed about 10pm ish. He was so excited to see everyone and have a new place to explore. Then we decided to put him to bed .... dumm dumm dumm. He hadn't slept in a pack n play in a very long time. And it is still a very long time. He cried and cried at the top of his lungs. He was having none of the pack n play or bed. Yes, for the first time (really first time) Nathaniel slept with us. I'll have to admit it was kind of fun snuggling with the little guy. After 3 nights of this it was determined that his favorite sleep position is head touching dad and feet touching me. Picture the letter 'H'. He woke up early and hardly napped the whole time. He was having too much fun at the reunion.

 

The reunion. Nathaniel was the youngest of the 43 attendees. Kevin's dad has 3 brothers so it was all 4 brothers and their families. It was so nice seeing everyone. There were so many people I hadn't seen in years or ever. Nathaniel really enjoyed just watching people and making Kevin or Grandma Hahm carry him everywhere. There were games, field trips and meals all planned. It was really organized and a lot of fun. We even wore matching shirts one day. Each brother's family had their own color. While I kind of laughed at this, it ended up being really cool. It makes the family photo interesting and everyone was proud of their clan.

 

We swam, chit chatted, ate, explored and laughed. We even got to stop at the St. Louis Gateway Arch on the way back. The trip went so fast - I can't wait until our next trip! Not that we have anything planned, but I want to plan something.

 

There are of course a few fun stories to tell, but one in particular I'd like to share. Only me and Kevin knew what was happening, but it was so funny. Remember my F bomb blog? Well, during a speech and prayer before dinner Nathaniel kept looking up. There was a fan. The fan was off. So Nathaniel thought he'd let the whole room know ** Fan Off** Well, his F words all sound kind of incomplete... so it sounded sort of like he was saying 'F*^% Off'... I glanced at Kevin and we both were chuckling. Silly kid. (maybe silly mom and dad) I'm sure his F words will sound better soon, but for now they are still cracking us up.

 

Thank You Hahm's for a great few days in the Ozarks. It was so neat to see the family tree and the old pictures and get to know everyone a bit better. It was fun to show off Nate too haha!! Can I say that? Well, I did anyway :)

Our clan t shirt color

Nathaniel looking off the balcony - one of his favorite things to do there

Ha Ha Tonka State Park

The Natural Bridge at Ha Ha Tonka State Park

At the St. Louis Arch

 

Pregnant?

No not me silly! Gotcha! I figured this was a fun way to let everyone know that Nathaniel loves pickles. :) He can almost say the word too. Every once in awhile this kid surprises me with a love of some food that I hadn't thought about giving him. I guess I need to start experimenting more. I definitely get in a food rut with him. It is so easy to just give him stuff I know he likes and is easy to prepare.

 

Beyond the pickles he still LOVES fruit. Almost all fruit. Bananas are so so and cherries aren't going over well this season, but everything else is fair game... melons, strawberries, peaches, grapes.... he especially loves blueberries and pears. Meat is murder is still his mantra (more proof that he is my kid) Ok ok, he doesn't quite say that, but meat is still spit out. Veggies go over quite well too. Carrots, broccoli, green beans, peas, corn, tomatoes, cucumbers. He doesn't like potatoes, even with cheese on them. But, he will eat an occasional french fry (if I bend and give him a few). Pancakes, waffles, Macaroni and cheese, cheese quesadilla and scrambled eggs are his favorite main entree. Occasionally he likes noodles and red sauce. He snacks on crackers, veggie stix, wheat chex, O's, smoothies, yogurt, but his most requested is tortilla chips. He still likes a lot of milk throughout the day and he gets a pouch or two of pureed mixes.

 

I know kind of boring, but I figured a few years from now I won't remember what he liked (what am I saying I probably won't remember a month from now) Pickles are still one of the biggest surprises for me. Oh I guess he likes sucking on lemons too... maybe the sour thing is his thing.

 

I amost forgot and guess I should mention that the only ice cream he has tried that he likes is mint chip (granted we haven't had a lot of ice cream, but chocolate and cake batter were duds)

Every article, book, advice column, neighbor, friend, stranger you eaves drop on at the park all say that at some point your toddler's favorite word will be 'NO'. Because of this I figure it is only a matter of time before I hear this word a lot more than I currently do. I feel like I know the basics (real simple basics). For example, you aren't suppose to use the word 'NO' so much that your toddler becomes immune to its meaning. Or use it so much it becomes their favorite word.

 

Honestly, this is so hard. I find myself using the word all the time. I'm consciously aware of trying to not use it, but it just happens. I tend to use it a lot with Mocha too so that doesn't help. (I love that dog to death, but he is still an explorer)

 

All this has led to Nathaniel having an on/off love affair with this word. He actually has two versions 'No' and 'No, no, no'. Yep, he gets that from me. I tend to use 'No, no, no' when I'm using a *soft* no like if he is headed towards a gross trash can or giving crayons to Mocha. Kids do really pick up on everything you say! His use of 'No' has been sort of funny for the most part and not overly tantrumy or bratty - we'll see if that changes. He has used the word conservatively for months, but recently there has been an uptick in its use. Here are some 'No's from the last couple of days.

 

Mocha ran off with a toy (that Nathaniel actually gave to him) and then he came to me and pointed to Mocha and said, 'No, no, no' 

 

Kevin asked him if he wants a million dollars.... 'No'

 

I asked him if he wanted to change his diaper ... somewhat of a stern 'No'

 

Kevin asked him if the light was on... he said 'No' (it was on)

 

I asked him if he was the cutest boy ever...apparently the answer is 'No'

 

He showed me the water faucet he left running...while pointing and looking shocked he added 'No, no, no'

 

Do you want to eat dinner... 'No'

 

Do you want to give me hugs ...'No'

 

Do you want milk...'No' (while grabbing his cup and downing the milk)

 

Kevin asked him if he wants 2 million dollars... still 'No'

 

Did you poop your pants ... 'No' (he was right)

 

I wish it wasn't so darn cute when he said it. He says it with such certainty. I teased Kevin and said this trait of saying things with that assertive certainty starts early for boys. I was sort of kidding (cuz girl toddlers all do this as well), but kind of not too. It brought me back to my working days when I would notice in business meetings (heated, not heated, super important or not) that women usually showed more doubt in their answers then men. Most likely, at least from my experience, if a woman really doesn't feel at least 80% confident in an answer you can tell right away because there is some wavering. Men usually only had to feel 37% confident in the answer to come off like they knew exactly what they were talking about. I've confronted a few male friends about this... the answer..it is easy to change the answer later. Also, a lot of people don't remember what was said (or don't care) and at least they came off as confident leaders.... something to think about... huh? Maybe it starts with a confident toddler 'NO, No, no' ;)

 

So I asked Nathaniel do you ever say 'YES'.... he said 'No' (pretty true, but there are some exceptions - like tortilla chips - he says 'YES' to those) His love for tortilla chips is part of the DNA I gave him, YUM

F Bomb

So my sweet sweet little boy has been dropping the F Bomb for a few days. I'm thinking to myself, 'Where in the heck would he have heard that word?!?' Did I accidently say it in a stressful moment, Did Kevin?? Neither of us say that word so I really doubted it. The bummer was I couldn't blame it on relatives or friends because no one has been here recently.... it has to be something we are saying. Uh oh

 

I decided to figure it out after I could not stop laughing after an ipad incident. I was like a 7th grader in class laughing goofily at a fart noise. Here was the situation. The internet wasn't working so his 'animal sounds' video (mentioned in the previous blog) wouldn't come on. He kept saying 'F*%k' over and over again. I was laughing so hard. I tried to get the video on again and it wouldn't come on... he said it again and again 'F*%k' 'F*%k' ... He was using it in the right context. He was laughing because I was laughing.

 

We put the ipad up and went and did something else. Then after awhile he said the word again 'F*%k' and pointed to a statue that broke the day before. Again, sort of using it in the right context. What the heck is happening?

 

Then a light bulb went on over my head. After he pointed to the statue I said, 'Don't worry I will fix it'.... and he said it again 'F*%k'... and I said 'FIX' and he said 'F*%k'.... hahahahahaha... he was saying 'FIX'. I remembered that when the ipad wasn't working I said I have to fix it.

 

Thank goodness. Now, I must admit Kevin and I are getting a little bit of a kick out of his pronunciation of the word. You can't help but laugh when he says it.

On/Off, Bounce, Again

Nathaniel, on occasion, is a bit obsessive. I don't know if this is a normal toddler behavior, but it is sure Nathaniel's thing. He really doesn't mind doing the same thing over and over and over and over... you get the point. How does he not get bored or want to do new things?? What is perplexing is that his attention span is about 1min, but if it is something he is obsessing over his attention span is still 1 min haha.. so how does having a short attention span and being obsessive work together? The answer: short repetitions of the exact same things.

 

For example, Kevin showed him how the ceiling fan goes on and off (thx Kevin!). Now that is one of the most fun activities of the day. Actually, other things that go on and off are fair game too. Dining room lights, kitchen lights, lamps, water faucets. But I could be holding the newest, coolest thing ever and making balloon animals and dancing on my head and juggling the dogs and if I looked over at Nate he'd just say..'OFF' and point to the fan. And if I turned the fan 'OFF' and continued doing amazing feats of awesomeness he'd just look back at me and say 'ON'. I gave in and decided to teach him new words to go with On/Off... like the fan is going FAST and now the fan is going SLOW. Yep, so he learned those and just throws them in the mix. How many times can the fan be exciting? I guess until Kevin shows him some other thing. Oh wait, he already did.

 

Bounce. Bounce. Kevin and Nathaniel love bouncing on the exercise ball. To be fair Nathaniel has always liked bouncing on that ball, but lately it has become a ride. While it is good for my thighs, I think, getting asked to bounce in between turning the fan on and off can be quite tiring.

 

Again, again, again, again. This is the newest word for replaying youtube videos. Oh when I say youtube video(s)... what I really mean to say is youtube video. We don't get to watch a variety of videos only 'La La Lullaby (mentioned in a previous blog) and now 'Animal Sounds' by kids123 tv. The video ends and he looks up with this huge smile and says 'AGAIN'

 

So are you starting to see how part of my day goes. On/Off, bounce, again, On/Off, bounce, again.... Luckily, he will be obsessed with something new by next week. Now you might ask - why do you just do what he wants to do all day. Have you tried reasoning with a 21 month old?? Good Luck. Although mostly it is because he snuggles during the youtube videos and I'll take snuggles when I can get them. The dogs are usually in the room with us (of course) and I would love to know what they think. Mocha sometimes looks up when the fan goes back on as if to say ' seriously wasn't that just on - just leave it on - I can't sleep with the breeze coming and going'