Nathaniel Turned 3!

Way-too-quickly after Christmas -- as in, we barely got our Christmas decorations down in time for his party! -- Nathaniel turned 3!

This boy is the light of our lives! I surmise that because he barely uttered a sound until about 9 months ago, he spent the first 2+ years of his life developing the most expressive facial and body movements ever seen in such a young child. When he's happy, he doesn't just smile, his entire head lights up and his back straightens and he seems to literally jump with excitement! When he's sad or moping, he doesn't just get a down-turned face, he hangs his head and droops his shoulders and does this crazy, lumbering walk while his arms droop and swing.

And nearly every day over the past nine months, Nathaniel has amazed and delighted us with his new-found words, expressions and songs. He is amazing! (Oh, and also a genius, of course. I mean, really a genius!!)

We had small celebrations with our little family for Naffy's first and second birthdays and for his third -- the first birthday he really, truly "got" -- we had a really wonderful party.

Nathaniel's birthday was on a Friday and our party was going to be that Saturday. But, I wanted to do something to help make his actual day special.

Inspired by a few posts on Oh Happy Day, Lucas and I made this little party hats and ribbon neckties for our dino collection. They greeted Nathaniel at his seat on his birthday morning.

Lucas was pretty pleased with our work!

Panda-cakes are Nathaniel's favorite breakfast (food in general, actually!) so he enjoyed a stack of three pancakes topped with sprinkles and a candle on this birthday morning!

For our BIG celebration on Saturday, we decided to fill the day with Nathaniel's favorite things. There's nothing this boy loves more than WATER! We invited a few families to join us at a local indoor pool for some fun time splashing!

After an afternoon break to give the littles time for a nap, we invited those friends back to our house for a good old-fashioned birthday party filled with playtime, pizza and cupcakes!

Using things we had around the house, I was just thrilled with the little table scape I put together while Nathaniel was napping and Abel was on the pizza and beer run! (If you have a Wegman's nearby, they sell these awesome sheets of pizza which serve 32!)

When Nathaniel woke up, I told him it was time to put on his fancy clothes, to which he immediately replied, "Spiderman!!!" That wasn't exactly what I meant, but why not let the birthday boy wear whatever he wants? I dug out his Halloween costume and he couldn't have been happier!

Does it get any better than this? I don't think so!

Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!

Trusting Our Instincts

I think one of the hardest parts of being a parent is trusting your instincts, especially when it comes to the health of your children. How many times have I been absolutely certain that one of the boys had an ear infection, only to have the doctor tell me everything was perfectly clear? Or what about the times when I thought it was just a cold but it ended up being a "raging" ear infection?

After a few months of wonder and worry, Abel and I sought out some extra help for Nathaniel last year when he wasn't talking. I'm so glad that we did!

I wrote all about it over at The DC Moms and I'd love for you to go check it out.



Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!

Making a new friend

Since Lucas started at a neighborhood, in-home daycare at three mos., he immediately had a built-in set of friends, many of whom and their family remain wonderful friends for our entire family today. And since so many of Lucas's friends have younger siblings, or Abel and my friends have young children, Nathaniel also got a built-in set of playmates.

The other night, one of these families came over for dinner and a quick marshmallow roast. Their oldest was one of Lucas's earliest daycare friends and their youngest is just a few months younger than Nathaniel. The boys, E. and Nathaniel, have been around each other many, many times. But for whatever reason -- their ages 2 1/2 and 2 3/4 -- or the fact that their older siblings were ignoring them, the boys were playing with each other and truly interacting for the first time.

It was so incredibly adorable!!

The moon was full (this was just a few days before Sandy swept into town!) and at one point they were both running around with small nets. E. looked up and threw his arm and the net into the air and announced he was going to "catch the moon." Nathaniel quickly joined him and they spent several minutes jumping and extending their little nets into the air while exclaiming, "Catch the moon! Catch the moon!"

I do believe the moms' hearts melted at that very instant.

It was so fun to watch my baby make his very own friend and I look forward to many, many years ahead of this friendship developing. Next year, they'll both be in the same preschool class and then soon after that they'll start kindergarten together as well.

Here's to new -- and hopefully life-long -- friendships!



Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!

Halloween 2012

I feel like we did barely any prep for Halloween this year. Basically, Abel opened up a bag of hand-me-down costumes from my cousin and Nathaniel fell in love with Spiderman while Lucas was pretty psyched about the skeleton. Done and done!

Spiderman was missing his mask, which was fine because we're certain Nathaniel wouldn't have tolerated it anyway. It was nearly impossible to get a photo of this adorable little guy because he loved loved loved his costume and was a ball of energy in it!

We had impulse-purchased this awesome hat for Lucas when we bought his new batch of uniform pants over Columbus Day. The band is hard to see, but it's skulls inside of paisley. It's super-cool and we weren't even thinking of Halloween when we bought it. We painted his face for the Saturday town parade, but Lucas really didn't like it.

So here's the crew last night. Lucas went without any make-up and, in my humble opinion, was a super-cool skeleton. Abel jumped in on the fun this year, too.

 

Here's a close-up of the clown that surely terrified children all over town last night. 

Creepy or what??

 

The boys trick-or-treated for about an hour while I handed out candy. Then, Abel and Nathaniel stopped by a friend's house for some adult libations (and juice boxes!) while Lucas came home to help me hand out candy. I honestly think he had more fun handing out candy than anything else. He was freaking adorable! He even gave a lollipop to every adult who had even a bit of a costume on, saying in a grand voice, "My rule is you have a costume you get candy!" It was hysterical! That kid has a joie de virve that I pray he never, ever loses.

As for me, in raiding the loot, I have rediscovered how delicious Baby Ruth's are. Yum!!




Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!

Big Boy Bed Blues

Our little monkey Nathaniel had been climbing out of his crib for a few months. He didn't do it very often, and we never actually witnessed the act itself, but the evidence was clear! Luckily he really is a monkey (remember some of his early days of climbing?!) and can scale things with great ease and dexterity, so we weren't really worried about him getting hurt.

During our August vacation to the Pennsylvania mountains, Nathaniel slept on the bottom bunk of bunk beds with a bed rail and when we got home, we brought Lucas's old toddler bed down from the attic and set it up.

He was thrilled!

Why yes, that is ink on his right cheek from a little self-adornment session!

I expected some transition issues -- after all, now he could get out of bed without any effort at all. But, I was not expecting weeks of night time challenges. Finally, last week, in pure exasperation, I threatened to get out his crib again.

He agreed with excitement!

Total backfire! The crib had already been sent down to my sister in South Carolina!!!

So, I got out the pack 'n play, thinking he'd never want to sleep in that, especially since he's about 1/4 of a Nathaniel too long for it. Silly me, he climbed right in, happy as a clam.

So now he has the pack 'n play and his big boy bed tightly squeezed into his tiny room and he is mostly choosing to sleep in the pack 'n play. His occupational therapist suggested that maybe he likes/wants/needs the confined space the crib and pack 'n play provide. So, we attached the bed rail to the side of his toddler bed and that seems to have helped.

Our little guy is only getting bigger, though, so we're not sure what we'll do next.


Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!

So polite!

Little buddy Nathaniel is one of the most polite 2.5 year olds ever, IMHO. He is fantastic with please (peeeeeese!) and thank you (tan too! or more often No! tan too!) and even excuses himself after burps (me me!) and from the dinner table (quse me pees!).

One thing that has been cracking me up lately is the encouraging tone he uses when he wants us to do something for him. He'll say, "Mama you can do it!" when he wants me to do something. I like to think his encouraging tone is modeled after the encouraging tone I use with him when I want him to try to do something on his own, "You can do it, Nathaniel!"

And while we are trying to help Nathaniel be more independent, what Mama can resist such a gentle and encouraging, "Mama you can do it!" and not respond by helping a buddy out?

Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!

Pro Parent Tip: Minimizing Splashes

I truly wish I could take credit for this awesome parent tip, but, alas, full credit goes to #1 Dada, Abel. Like his brother before him, Nathaniel loves, loves, loves the bath. And, of course, accompanying all that fun is a lot of splashing!

Now that he's old enough that we don't have to be right next to him the entire time, we close the liner, throw the curtain up over the top and let him splash away 'til his heart's content (or 'til his little piggies are prunes!). The closed liner stops 99% of the water from escaping the tub. It's brilliant!

Oh, here's a bonus pro tip I can take credit for -- I often use this part of bath time to multitask and do some bathroom cleaning -- toilet, sink, etc. I'm in the room with him and interacting but still getting an unpleasant task completed.




Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!

This Boy

This adorable 32 pounds of awesomeness simply hasn't gotten enough spotlight on my blog. And so I'm here today to tell you about how fantastic he is. Nathaniel is the light of our lives. We all adore him. Even his big brother whom he frustrates to no end and idolizes like no other.

This boy spent two years barely letting a mumble escape his lips. And we're convinced that during that time he was sucking in every bit of knowledge possible about the world around him.

Because this kid? He's a genius.

And now that he is talking, he is sharing every want, desire, demand, question and thought you can imagine. And we can't get enough of knowing what our boy is thinking and wanting.

A daddy's boy through and through, Abel claims that he asks for me when I'm at work, but all I know is that all he wants is his Dada. Even at bedtime. Especially at bedtime. Even at 2am. Especially at 2am.

I do it, Mama.

Darling Nathaniel/Naffy/Fanny/Fafafa/Faffy/Nafaffer, you are amazing. Your smile and laugh light up our days.

We all love you a bushel and a peck and a hug around the neck.


Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!

Dream Building

LEGO heaven!

When was it that the Mega Millions was up so ridiculously high? I have no idea. But I do remember that I bought a ticket. Two, actually. Because when your chances are infinitesimal you might as well make them infinitesimal times two, right? Anyway, like most, I got my full $2 worth by day dreaming about what I'd do with the millions.

#1 was take a long vacation (perhaps rent out a cruise ship?) with everyone I know and love. Also high on the list was a new home. We live in a very modestly-sized (read: small!) 1940s colonial. Oh what I wouldn't give for a master bath! A bigger kitchen! Heck, even an entry way and coat closet!

But we adore our neighborhood so much, I could never leave it. I don't even think I would want to leave our block. So, I decided, as a multi-hundred-millionaire lotto winner, I'd just buy out one set of neighbors and build our dream house on the new double lot!

Of course I promptly forgot about that dream after I was, indeed, not the winner. But I remembered it again on Sunday when we were invited to a special event held by the Gulick Group at the National Building Museum.

OMG. Their houses are stunning! (And let me tell you, they know how to throw a family-friendly event!!).

We arrived and were treated to breakfast, including many kid-friendly options AND some adorable LEGO-inspired krispie treats.

Donut + Stick = 2yo heaven!

It's an 8 block! No! a six block!

Then we had the opportunity to explore the LEGO Architecture: Towering Ambition exhibit. I've really been wanting to take the boys to the exhibit and the LEGO playroom but just hadn't done it yet. Folks: this is a MUST DO!! We had so much fun!

Plus, you can check out one of the Gulick Group's signature homes built in LEGOs! (Seriously, if I owned one of their stunning Winthrop homes and was indeed that multi-hundred-millionaire lotto winner, I'd totally commission my home in LEGO, too!)

Nathaniel, newly obsessed with Bob the Builder, was in love with his new yellow "hard" hat. He was completely engaged with the LEGOs and kept saying that he was "building like Bob da Builder" -- it was so adorable.

Even with a blurry photo have you ever seen a more adorable builder?

Meanwhile, Abel and Lucas went to town on a dragon/tunnel/pagoda and kept requesting that I get them more bricks!! more bricks!!! more bricks!!!!

Please won't you click over to the Gulick Group's FB page and give this awesome creation a "Like"? Lucas is super-proud of it!! And, you know, I do have that competitive streak! :)

Just a quick break after so much work! (Union rules, after all!)

Disclosure: We were offered free admission to the National Building Museum and exhibits as well as a delish breakfast but were not required to blog about it. All stories, opinions and comments are my own.



Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!

The Sand Box

At some point over the past 12 or so years, I mentioned to Abel that when I was growing up my family had a big tractor tire as a sandbox.

I have very fond memories of that sandbox -- losing and rediscovering Star Wars characters in its depths, no matter how grubby the middle sand was, still being able to dig into pure white sand inside the rim -- and Abel got completely hooked on the concept.

You'd be surprised, though, how hard it is to find a big, used tractor tire.

A few months ago, Abel was out at a sod farm buying some sod for our backyard hilltop sanctuary (more on that later!) and he noticed they had a handful of old tractor tires stacked in a barn. How much for one of those? he asked. Take one! they replied.

So a few days later Abel bribed a friend and his pick-up with some beer (consumed post-drive!) and brought the tire home. These are two strong guys and it was an effort for them to get it off the truck and rolled into the yard. It's one big, heavy tire!

Abel dug out a donut for the tire to sit in, put some weed cover fabric down, and filled it up with sand.

He even built this handy cover out of wood from another project:

And this little guy fell in love. The first weekend I found him laying--face down!!--in the sand. He can't get enough.

Many toys have already been lost and re-found in its depths. I wonder if, come September, there will still be clean sand to be found around the edges....



Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!

An Artist at Work

We broke out the paint on Sunday and darling Nathaniel created the sort of masterpiece only a 2 year old can create: layers and layers of colors that ended up mostly brown and took forever to dry!

But, when I cut up his masterpiece and glued rectangles of it onto plain ivory cards, they turned into Monet-inspired masterpieces...perfect to mail for a certain holiday that is fast-approaching!

 

Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!

Sunflower Fort

After we spent our first three years focusing completely on the inside of our house, Abel has spend the last three years completely obsessed with the outside of our house! He's completely re-landscaped the front yard and has done amazing things with the back yard! (Think: stunning stacked stone wall, beautiful laid stone patio and a hilltop retreat!) Although I often get annoyed about the amount of TIME he's outside working and MONEY we've spent on landscaping supplies, we really do have a beautiful and relaxing outdoor retreat.

His latest project is a sunflower fort. Since I'm horrible at remembering before photos, I'm thrilled that I had the foresight to snap these quick pics the other day. The photo above is the footprint of our eventual fort -- Abel planted seeds for giant sunflowers in the square shape, leaving room for a door.

Here's one of the little sprouts:

With some luck, watering and stakes, we should have giant sunflowers later this summer which will give the boys an awesome hideaway fort!

I can't wait!

P.S. This project fits in perfectly with this awesome Etsy print from YellowHeartArt. Making forts is my go-to rainy/snow/boring day project for the kids!

Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!

Getting Unblocked

Friends,

It's been two and a half months since I've written here or anywhere. I've been blocked, stuck, choked, or any other synonym for being unable to write. Not for lack of topics. No, the topics are everywhere.

At first, I was waiting to get my act together with photos to document my darling Nathaniel's 2nd birthday.

And then Susan died.

And how could I write about anything else before I wrote about that?

I couldn't. And I didn't.

But last Sunday Lucas opened a toy and it gave me the inspiration to write again.

And so I wrote about getting outdoors with your kids, about our favorite spot in DC and about a silly and vain topic.

I wrote in those other places and soon I will write here. I'll write about Susan and write the post the future Nathaniel deserves for his birthday.

And I'll write and I'll write because I need -- really, really need -- to write.


Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!

Halloween 2011

We had such a fun Halloween this year! As always, it was a little hectic (especially since I had to get home from work!) and there were a few minor costume incidents, but overall, it was fabulous!

I took a picture of our treats this year (above). I was totally RADICAL this year and didn't give out ANY candy. None at all. Only one child yelled back to his friends, "There's no candy here!" But I got lots of "wow!" "awesome!" "look mom!" comments, so that was very cool. We gave out boxes of temporary tattoos which I got on clearance last year, glow stick bracelets (15 for $1 at Michaels!) and, Halloween comic book samples which the comic book store gave to Abel (literally about 100 of them!) for free when he and Lucas stopped by to pick up some new kiddo comic books earlier that afternoon. (If you don't already know, there are some really neat kid comic books out there--Lucas really loves them and they're the first "books" he's sat looking at for long periods of time.)

But of course you really just want to see the costumes, right?

Nathaniel was an adorable fire fighter! I picked this expensive costume up at the thrift store last September for about $15. It's really nice material (heavy canvas with reflective strips) and we already had the hat. Nathaniel spent our town holiday party on Saturday trying to strip out of it (and succeeding!) but didn't try to wrangle out of it last night.

This cutie pie LOVED trick-or-treating. He loved running after his big brother from house to house, loved saying, "HI!" "THANK YOU!" and "BYE!" to everyone. He did get quite spooked at the scariest house in town, but quickly got over it when Lucas ran on to the next house!

Lucas made an awesome Captain America. As you can see from the expression below, he was quite serious about it! His poses were awesome! Abel (aka The Best Dad in the World) hand sewed that star, the red and white stripes and the arm bands. And, he even shortened the fingers on those long red gloves so they'd fit perfectly. The coolest thing is that Lucas can now wear his Captain America sweat suit all fall and winter! And, of course, the mask and shield will make for fun toys.

(In this last picture you can see that Lucas still has his saber tooth tiger face painting on from earlier in the day! He didn't want to wash it off but also didn't want anyone to see it and be confused! Too cute!)


Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!

Baby Boy Stroller, Part 2

Do you read Apartment Therapy's OhDeeDoh blog? I just love drooling over their featured nurseries and kids' rooms. Anyway, today I just had to laugh because they featured a post about the oh-so-elusive non-pink toy strollers. My post on the same topic from nearly THREE years ago is still the #1 Google search hit to my blog!

Okay toy stroller manufacturers, you heard it here first: there's a BIG market for non-pink or purple toy strollers! Go forth and create, please!

P.S. Lucas's overpriced toy stroller is (thank goodness!) still going strong and is currently one of Nathaniel's favorite toys!




Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!

Told you he was crazy!

I've mentioned that this little guy is crazy, right? This pic is from last weekend. A ball rolled under my parents' Honda Pilot and he went right in after it...the ball kept rolling and he kept going! That's Abel's arm on the left: he was a little stumped about what to do. My mom oh-so-helpfully pulled out her phone and snapped this pic! (But, seriously, thank goodness she did: I'll treasure this always!)

Luckily he crawled out the other side!

Oh, Nathaniel, how you keep us on our toes!

Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!

Good Fortune

Abel and I used a months-old gift card to enjoy a lunch date at P.F. Changs earlier this week. What a treat! I just love lunch dates. Of course, our darling companion Nathaniel tagged along although he had already eaten. (Lucas was at school--shhh don't tell!)

Nathaniel spent the entire lunch watching all the activity of the restaurant. His head turned to follow every server and he did quite a bit of flirting with the table of three ladies to his left (and behind my back!).

At the end of the meal, Nathaniel chose his fortune cookie and this was his fortune, "Your happy heart brings joy and peace where there is none."

I thought it was so perfect for our happy boy. His lovely nature and constant smiles (he always has one at the ready for anyone who gives him even a glance) bring such joy to our little family as well as all friends and strangers we encounter on our journeys. I am so grateful for such a sweet baby.

____________

My own fortune was one to remember as well: The simplest answer is to act. (The fortune cookie version of Just Do It!) Too often I dither or worry or get stuck in the circles of my own thinking. I need to just get out of my own head and act much more often. Maybe I'll put mine on the fridge!


Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!

Up, Up, Up

Our little guy loves to climb...


Happy as a clam on top of the table. He's never even considered sitting in those lovely chairs!

Usually this stool is against the kitchen sink so Lucas can easily wash his hands...now I have to make sure it is in the middle of the floor or I'll find Nathaniel standing at the sink playing with whatever (usually breakable!) things are in there! (Note that he's climbing from the back and not going the easy way via the step on the front!)

His goal was to climb from the cart onto the top of the shelves. But as he reached, the cart slowly rolled back. Of course I had to snap a quick pic before helping him!

Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!

The Twins

Exhibit A:



Exhibit B:

Which is Nathaniel and which is Lucas? Everyone says that Nathaniel looks like me and Lucas looked (and still looks!) like his dad, but I think these two boys look so much alike!

In a last-minute decision, we sent both boys to my parents' house this weekend--both boys gone for three nights and two days! It was great, we got a lot of campaign work done, I made some dents in our mountain of laundry and ironing and we even went out on a classic DC date night (dinner followed by a moon-lit tour of a monument!).

I was nervous about being away from Nathaniel for so long because I'm still breastfeeding. And, it did pose some challenges. Pumping was fine for about 24 hours then my body fully rebelled about the fact that there was no baby involved. Luckily in just the first few hours of Nathaniel being back things seem to have, um, regulated.

Answer key: Exhibit A is Nathaniel, B is Lucas. Did you guess correctly?

Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!

Brothers

Lucas drew this picture of a good deed during Children's Liturgy at church last week. It's a picture of him standing next to Nathaniel's crib and singing to him. Indeed, that very thing had occurred just the day before. Someone was at the door and Nathaniel woke up from his nap and started crying. Before I could say goodbye and close the door, Lucas was up the stairs singing to his baby brother. It was the sweetest thing you can imagine.

Original post by Smiling Mama. Thanks for reading!