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Our little firecracker is now a one year old! I remember wondering, shortly before he was born, how he would fit into our family. My visions of him always defaulted to a kind of clone of Caleb. I figured he would have the same eyes, brown hair, small stature and sweet disposition. But when he came out with blonde hair and pink, beefy limbs, screaming the loudest scream I had ever heard, I was taken aback. He didn’t look or act anything like our firstborn.

I spent the first few weeks adjusting to this new little life in our family. He slept perfectly and was an instant hit with his big brother. Thankfully, with our busy lifestyle, he was mellow and adaptable, often sleeping wherever we were and easily adjusting to new environments. As he grew he blossomed into a hilarious, intense little guy who loves attention and is always moving. He is 100% boy and loves cars, dirt, dogs, balls, and anything that goes fast. He even struts around like a little man.

At his twelve month check-up he measured average on everything; 55% for heigh (30″), 58% for weight (21.14 lbs) and 62% for head circumference (46.5″). This surprises me since he seems so much larger than all of his baby friends; I’m assuming he just doesn’t wear his weight well. He can now feed himself with a spoon and prefers this over any other way. He loves to spin around in circles, especially with Caleb egging him on. He is starting to lean how to jump but really can only bend his legs and straighten them quickly. He’s quick on his feet, but hasn’t figured out running yet… thankfully. He loves to “run” away as fast as he can. At least Caleb is still faster than he is and can usually stop him. Some new words he says are “hot” and “wow”. He loves throwing things away for me although I often have to fish out many non-trash items from the garbage as a result of his enthusiasm. He loves playing peek-a-boo and patty-cake. I’ve tried to get him into reading books, but he really only wants to grab the book from me and do his own thing; so different from his brother who would sit through dozens of books at this age. He really loves going fast; whether we’re pushing him in the shopping cart or pulling him around in the laundry basket, he always squeals with delight.

Recently, he has been teething molars back to back. this prolonged state of teething has made him quite a mama’s boy. I joke that he has a “mommy radar” that goes off as soon as I breach his radius of comfort. He could be immersed in something terribly interesting, but the moment I leave the room (even silently) and he immediately starts looking around for me. It’s endearing, but slightly suffocating at times. However, I know this is short-lived so I am soaking it up.

We had his first birthday on Sunday with some family and a few close friends. He loved hamming up to everyone and had lots of fun playing with his friends. He (and Caleb) loves all of his gifts.

This year has been a whirlwind of diapers, feedings, playtime, brother bonding, scheduling, training, and most of all, joy. I have loved every second of this year. This spirited little man has definitely won over this family’s heart a love. Even though he initially surprised me with his individuality and completely unique appearance, He has woven himself into the fabric of this family and we love the outcome.

As soon as we reached the condo we all took the short walk to the shore. This was the boys’ first time experiencing the ocean and I really had no idea how they would like it. But as soon as Caleb’s toes touched the water, he was in love. He loved jumping over the waves. This land-locked child had could not figure out the physics of the waves. If he looked down at the moving water, he though he was moving, got instantly dizzy and toppled over. Every. Single. Time. We could not stop laughing. He would be fine in the sand but as soon as his feet were covered in water, he would sway, fling out his arms and fall over; giggling the entire time. Eventually, we had to teach him to look up or out in order to keep his balance. Nathan, my little water baby, took one look at the ocean and made a b-line straight for the waves. if we didn’t scoop him up, he would toddle right into the ocean and straight to China.

Caleb about to fall over

Fearless Nathan

Caleb and his “Auntie Em”

The second day, we went to Sea World with Andy’s Aunt and Uncle who live near SD. This was my first roller coaster in ages since I always seemed to be pregnant the last few times I had to opportunity to ride one. We had a blast petting star fish, watching belugas/sea turtles/dolphins /manta rays, feeding sea lions, riding rides, and eating ice cream.

Caleb on the Elmo airplane ride

Waiting in line for Manta

Haha!

Caleb feeding a sea lion with his great uncle Eric

Watching sea turtles

This boy loves snuggling with his grandpa

Baby and a beluga

At the dolphin encounter

By the end, everyone was wiped. I made the classic mom mistake of slathering my children with sunscreen but forgetting to put any on myself so I was a bit lobsterish by the next day. We still managed to catch some beach time that evening. On the way there, Caleb found a shovel that he just had to have. Little did we know, this shovel would be the highlight of this little boy’s trip. When he got to the sand, he started digging…. and didn’t stop until we made him. Who knew hard manual labor could be such fun?

A boy and his shovel

The next day, we spent a few hours at the beach that morning. I started coming down with a case of sun poisoning (terrible headache, fever, shakiness) so I went back to the room with Nathan to take a nap. Caleb stayed at beach with Grandma and Emily to play some more. That afternoon, Mom, emily and I went for a walk on the boardwalk and shopped some of the surrounding stores. After dinner (fish tacos!) we headed back to the beach for some sunset pictures. before this trip, I had a vision of beautiful sunset beach portraits to hang on the family room walls (since they currently only had baby pictures of Caleb on them from two years ago). Unfortunately, the first night, The kids were worn out from Sea World and wanted no part of sitting peacefully in the sand… or doing anything except convulsing into sobs from utter exhaustion. We struck out again this night since the clouds came rolling in. I decided to let go of my obsessive perfectionism and embrase the cloudy skies. It was a lovely evening full of volleyball, shoveling, baby grins, melancholy backdrops and even dolphins!

The next day, Andy and I caught a morning date (reason #45,823 to bring the parents along). We strolled the beach, following a pod of dolphins (with a tiny baby!) and picked up seashells. Then we ate some fresh from-scratch cinnamon rolls at a local bakery. The whole family got some brunch with with Aunt Amy and Uncle Eric. Caleb ate the most delicious banana bread french toast (so much food!). We then walked the pier and watched the locals  fish off the edge. The kids were basically passed out by then so we took them home for some quality naps. Afterward, we met back with Amy and eric to visit the tide pools. This place looked like the edge of the world; rocky cliffs and blue ocean forever.

After dinner, we went to a beautiful small beach surrounded by enormous rocks and cliffs. The beach was so small that by the end of the evening, there was not much of it left as the tide came in. We stayed there until sunset playing in the sand and wave, climbing on rocks, building sandcastles and burying our legs. The sunset was exquisite and thankfully, I had my camera. I was able to capture these three images; my vision could finally be hung in my house! This concluded our amazing vacation. We can’t wait to go back.

Our littlest one is growing fast and furiously. He is walking everywhere, easily keeping up with his brother now. Since his bipedal milestone, his motor skills have sped up exponentially. He can throw, hit golf balls with his toy golf club, feed himself with a spoon, wave bye bye and more! He loves to strut around the house looking for trouble. He can say Mama, Bubba, Dada, Hi, All done, and Yes (although this one really just sounds like a ssshhhsss). He’s also an adrenaline junkie. He squeals with delight as we throw him down the slip-n-slide and immediately screams for more when he stops. He loves the water and is not afraid of getting splashed or dunked. He is all over anything fast and daring.

He loves to make faces, i think mostly because funny faces are a sure-fire way to make Caleb burst into giggles. We’ve recently switched him to a convertible car seat so now they can see each other better. This has made car rides much more interesting. The two of them can often be heard from the backseat trading funny faces followed by fits of laughter.

A few days ago, Nathan woke up from his nap refusing to put any pressure on his right leg. He held it up whenever he was on the ground and would only crawl. He never complained about it until we tried to straighten it. Dumbfounded, we took him to the doctor and had some x-rays done just in case it was fractured. Nothing showed up and sure enough, he was fine a few days later. I’m guessing it was just a twisted knee from too much roughhousing. He’s such a bruiser and hardly ever cries when bonked, pinched or knocked down. But just look at him; he definitely doesn’t look fragile and has enough padding to protect him from the worst minor injuries.

A month from now, we will be celebrating his first birthday. Since we will have just gotten back from our beach vacation, his party will be small and intimate, with just a few close friends and family members. I am trying to enjoy every last moment of his infanthood, but it’s like sand slipping through my fingers. Try as I may, he’s growing up. I think I’m in denial a bit. I will shamefully admit that I still manage to swaddle this great big boy and put him in the swing with a kiss and a paci. He still sleeps in my bed most nights, and I still can’t go too long without him by my side. And you know what? I really don’t care. Knowing this is going to be our last tiny baby makes me totally fine with he fact that I still cram him into a blanket or that his legs droop over his swing to where they’re practically dragging the floor (a bit of an exaggeration, but a funny mental image nonetheless!). Neither do I care that he still loves snuggling up next to me at night while I watch him dream. Because these days are almost at an end. There will come a day where I will drop him off at nursery to have him excitedly run away instead of tearfully reach toward me. I will have trouble recalling these memories and will forget what it’s like to hold a sleeping baby or how it feels to be needed, even if I’m just in the other room. I have few crystal clear memories of Caleb as a baby; memories I intentionally burned into my mind that will forever be with me. But there are many more I have lost. I know the same will happen this time around too. So I’m a little sad. But I’m also excited about what’s to come. And I see a wonderful brotherhood developing, I see two young boys who will be loved and nurtured and challenged. God willing, They will grow up to become strong, humble and compassionate men of God. This is what I set my hope in for these boys. This is why I can let go of infancy and welcome childhood with open arms.

Much to Andy’s chagrin, I got the itch to paint something again. I had just refinished the bathroom cabinets white and really loved the result. So much that I couldn’t get past the terrible builder’s grade oak cabinets in the kitchen. I thought and schemed and eventually talked my way out of doing it several times until I resolved myself that I had to accomplish this before the fiery summer was upon us. I will spare you the gory details, but after about a week, my cabinets were beautiful and white, my walls were a light peacock blue, and my nesting beast was appeased once more. Here are some before and afters!

Before: orange oak and red red red!

After: Blue blue blue!

Before: Gotta love red curtains on red walls.

After: Ahhhhhh… Do you like my fridge-o-instagrams?

Dining room before:

Dining room after:

It seems like this blog has been overrun with Nathan’s cuteness. With good reason since babies develop at the speed of light. But I wanted to update everyone on sweet Caleb. Especially since he is 3 1/2 now. He has been such a delight, even in the midst of the terrible threes. His absolute favorite thing to do is cuddle. I couldn’t have asked for a more snuggly kid. We have recently gotten him a new “big boy” twin size bed and his favorite thing about it is that we can lay down with him now. He is such a sensitive and sympathetic soul. He doesn’t like conflict at all and when we have to discipline him, he immediately demands a hug and asks if we’re okay now. I have to be careful what I say around him as far as how I’m feeling. If he thinks I’m upset, he becomes distraught and tries to help me feel better. He loves learning how certain things work - especially anything mechanical. A tour around a garage rivals the excitement of Disney Land. He constantly asks to tinker around with my vacuum, iron, and dust buster and they keep him occupied way longer than anything else we buy him. This kid would choose gadgets over toys any day.

He is doing very well learning how to read. I’ve given him a few reading lessons and mainly encourage him to read words in order to figure somthing out (like what to press on the remote, find out what kind of food is in the can, etc) he has really taken off. He can easily read three letter words and some phonetically simple four and five letter words. This is a video taken a few month ago reading from a Dr. Seuss book:

His word pronunciation is getting increasingly better. He has always had issues with leaving out consonants or being lazy with the more difficult sounds. He still calls his little brother “Nafun” and watermelons “waterlemons” and sometimes is in such a hurry that he just jarbles everything together into a vocal mess. But he has definitely come a long way from saying everything with a “d” or “b”.

We are beginning to see a true proficiency in hand/eye coordiation from him. He has always caught on to sports very quickly; kicking around soccer balls as soon as he learned how to walk. and now he has impressed everyone with how well he plays baseball. He is able to hit the ball more times than not and even hits overhand pitches. And the bonus: He’s a southpaw. MLB is already keeping an eye on him.

We’re still working on his shyness around strangers. As a mother, I appreciate his reservations. It makes me feel better that I know he’s not just going to walk away with a stranger, but whenever someone unfamiliar (and even family members) greets him, he turns to stone or runs away and hides. It’s been a process to help him understand that most people are friendly and care about him and he should reciprocate those feelings. He can usually warm up within a 5 minute span and then compensates for his previous behavior with off the wall silliness.

The summers here are scorching to say that least. We’ve kept ourselves busy with lots of play dates and fun activities around town. We have lots of friends who join us on these excursions and I’ve enjoyed seeing caleb develop his own friendships with kids. Our church hosted a Vacation Bible School a few weeks ago and at first, I was concerned that Caleb would clam and not be able to handle all the new people and structure, but he had the greatest time. He came home everyday with lots of stories and things to say about his experience. I got the chance to watch him since I spent a few days photographing the event. Seeing him play with his friends, make crafts, learn to dance to songs, and be immersed in a classroom setting made me realize just how fast he’s growing up.

He has been the best big brother I could have imagined. He not only plays with his baby bro, but he enjoys it immensely. They literally spend all day playing made up games and chasing each other around the house. Where one is, the other is sure to follow. At times, I am almost bored because they are so content with each other. Caleb has really stepped up and become a great assistant; helping me with dishes, laundry, grocery shopping, and baby supervision. He is a bright, curious little guy who always keeps us laughing.

Milestone alert! Nathan is walking! Two days after he turned nine months, he took his first step. It was a bit by accident as he was crying and stunbled his way to me. He knew he did something right when we all (even Caleb) shouted with excitement. Since then, he’s been working hard on perfecting his new craft. He can now toddle across the living room with no problem. He walks voluntarily about half the time and once he learns how to stand up without help, he’ll take off.

Right now he still gets a kick out of us applauding his efforts. Caleb loves to “help” him by holding his hands and leading him around. Nathan loves the attentions and loved the ability to do even more things that his brother does. They have a wonderful game of  ”dive in the pool” where they stand up by the bean bag, raise their arms high into the air and fall into the bag. Even after several bonked heads, they still play it quite often.

He is still a big boy with a very intense personality. He loves to make what I like to call “evil villan” faces where he scrunches himself up, opens his mouth and eyes wide and shakes. It’s really too funny to watch. Pair that face with his buik and you get one intimidating baby.

This past month, I have seen more and more of this little man’s personally blossom. He wants so desperately to communicate with his brother and parents. He has figured out how to kiss and will give anyone who asks a slobbery opened-mouth smooch.

He loves to blow raspberries back and forth with Daddy. He has discovered pointing and fans at the same time and will seek out, and proudly point at any fan he sees. He still only says “Dada” but will say it with meaning and gusto. if someone mentions “daddy” he will blurt out  a round of “Dada”s exuberantly. He is using his pincher grasp like a pro; delicately picking up peas (his favorite) at every meal. In fact, he’s officially on table foods and actually enjoys my cooking (yay!). He follows Caleb around everywhere and tried to do everything he does. They play in the sandbox, color, make lots of messes, explore the “kitchen table jungle” play the pots and pans drums, tear up old magazines,

If Nathan had an intensity meter, it would only stay at 2 or 10 permanently. The child knows what he wants and makes sure everyone knows it; especially if he’s tired, hungry, thirsty, bored, or in any way discontent. His volume meter acts the same…unfortunately. When you mix this disposition with any public place, especially church, it’s always very interesting.

Nathan is still above average for size. He weighs 20lbs 4 oz (62nd percentile) and is 29 inches tall (77th percentile). He is able to stand on his own and is becoming more confident with cruising. With his desire to keep up with his three year old brother, I’m predicting I will have two very busy walkers soon.

Month 7 was a busy time for our little guy. About a week after the last blog post, Nathan learned the benefits of crawling.

He was slow and steady at first but is now zooming around the house leaving scuff marks on his knees and toes. He is now mastering pulling up on furniture and “walking” while holding on to something. Even with all this physical activity, he is still maintaining his voluptuous figure, although I do see signs of his baby fat shrinking. I hope he keeps it around for a little longer. I can’t bear to part with his little rolls and fluff.

He has learned how to say “Mama” and will sometimes say “Bubba” and an occasional “Dada” along with other baby gibberish. He loves making faces at anyone looking his way and often befriends strangers with his charm and humor. Peek-a-boo is a favorite game as well as imitating funny noises. He has also learned how to clap and willingly does it on command.

Water is still his favorite medium for play. I will often find him crawling to the bathroom just to gaze into the bath tub. His fascination of water has led him to learn how to drink from a sippy cup and straw. Now I can’t take a drink without him grunting and grabbing for my cup. I wish he was as exuberant about food too, but he is slowly becoming my picky eater. He’s not really big into baby food anymore, but he will gobble down a bowl of chili. I’m starting to realize that this child hates bananas too. Too bad for him.

Nathan was a part of his first Easter Sunday a few days ago. He actually wore his brother’s second Easter outfit he wore when he was 16 months old. This just proves how big Nathan is.

The boys each got a home made stuffed bunny that you can see in the picture above. Caleb named his Mozy and Nathan’s Gozy. The new companions have already been thoroughly cuddled, loved, slobbered and affectionately chewed on.

I leave this post with two images that stir up much sentiment for me. The first one is from Nathan’s newborn shoot. He was 5 days old and just shy of nine pounds. Although still a big boy,  I could easily fit his little body comfortably in my arms. And that’s where he stayed for a good part of his first month. The second image is from yesterday. His body noticeably larger, longer, and chubbier. His limbs now too long and wiggly to fit into my arms. His muscles, strong from crawling and standing. His face alert and smiling; so different from the snuggly sleepy newborn so oblivious to the world around him. I intentionally cherished every one of those early days, yet I still feel like they all too quickly slipped through my fingers. I know, one day when my boys are grown so much that I have to reach up to hug them, I will look back at the days of their childhood and wonder where they went. So I’m putting these two pictures side by side as a reminder to show just how much life can happen in seven months.

For his whole short life, Nathan has been relatively placid and laid back for many things. But this past month, he has realized that he is an equal member of the family and wants to be heard. Don’t get me wrong, he’s still very content. But when Caleb removes a toy from his blanket, he doesn’t hesitate to make his disapproval known. When I’m holding him and he sees a  ball on the floor (his favorite toy bar none), he lunges forward, oblivious to the height, trying to get at the ball. He is days away from crawling and can transition from sitting to hands and knees and vice versa.

Last week, when he was with his daddy in the playroom while I was in the office, he was apparently looking around for me because he said “Mama” for the first time. But as soon as I bounded into the room he stopped saying it, obviously satisfied that I has responded to his summons. His observations of other people is growing. He is finally not so shy any more and will spend a considerable more time with people other than Mom. He loves singing and will get caught up in fits of giggles when we sings the Marching Ants song before bedtime. We have started giving the boys baths together since Nathan is now a solid sitter. A tub full of fun water and his big brother in one spot makes this event a huge highlight of his day. But poor Caleb has to deal with a squealing, splashing baby during his otherwise calm bath time. Caleb’s a good sport though and loves to help scrub him down. Althouh he’s still a big boy, I see him thinning out a bit as he becomes more active. But since Caleb was such a little guy, I predict Nathan catching up to him in no time.