Nate's birthday

I can't believe I have a one year old. I think that technically makes him a toddler, even though he can't toddle yet. I just can't believe it has gone by so quickly but that so much has happened.

We had a get-together for Nate's birthday on Saturday. My friend Casey made cowboy invitations (using the cowboy picture I took of Nate several weeks ago), so I made a cowboy boot cake, though that ended up being the only "decoration."


Family and close friends came over, ate snacks, and hung out. All of the kids enjoyed playing with Nate's new toys, including a bunch of sand toys, a dump truck, balls, and a combination basketball/football/baseball toy.

The highlight of the party (as at most one-year birthdays) was Nate eating cake for the first time:


I carried Nate straight to the bathtub after this meal for a quick clean-up before he joined the party again. :)

Then, Jon fired up the grill and made hot dogs for everyone. It was a great time!

Wonder of wonders

Nate started crawling this week! He's still getting the hang of it, so he isn't a speedster yet or anything. In fact, he doesn't yet realize that he can get anywhere. He is so used to being able to reach things within only a few feet that he often doesn't go after a toy if it is across the room, and he still cries if I leave the room, not realizing he could follow me. It's funny!

Trip

We are going to Virginia next month. I leave with Nate May 17, and Jon arrives May 20. Then our friends Neil and Casey arrive the next day! I am so excited they are coming. I was so thrilled and a bit surprised when they booked their tickets and it was true they were actually coming; so often, you talk about these kinds of things with friends, saying, "We should get together for dinner some time," or "We should all go to such-and-such one weekend," but it never happens. It is actually happening with Neil and Casey! They are definitely follow-through friends, and it is one of the reasons I love them. :)

The five of us will probably stay at Hanshill, the house in the country (15 minutes away from my parents' house). My parents will probably stay at their house at night. It will be so nice to relax, enjoy the not-too-hot-or-humid-yet weather, go on walks, explore, read, eat together, etc.

Then on Wednesday, May 24, we will leave Nate with my parents, and the four of us will drive the three hours to Washington, D.C. and spend three nights there. Neil, Jon, and I have never been to D.C. except for driving/flying through. We're going to stay in one room at the Washington Marriott. And it looks like we are going to be able to get a private tour of the White House, as Jon's cousin is in the Secret Service! We are all very excited about that. We haven't scheduled any other activities, but I'm sure we will eat good food, visit a museum or two, see some monuments (Mount Vernon is on the list), and have a wonderful time. Jon and I are going to consider this trip our fourth anniversary gift to each other.

Neil and Casey fly out of D.C. on the 27th, and Jon and I will drive back to Lynchburg, where he flies out late that afternoon. Nate and I will stay with my parents for several more days before flying home on May 31.

Although I'm really looking forward to a refreshing few days with Jon, I'm pretty nervous about leaving Nate with my parents while we go to D.C. The nervousness has nothing to do with my parents' ability to take care of him; it's more because he has spent nearly every moment of every day with me for the past year (more if you count the pregnancy). I'm sure the separation will be harder on me than on Nate, but I still have a worried feeling in the recesses of my heart that he will somehow be emotionally damaged. I know, I know, it sounds crazy. If he could understand language, I would already be preparing him and talking every day about the fun time he is going to have with Granny and Papa (those are not the official names yet, as my mom keeps wavering on what she wants to be called and my dad hasn't said one word about a name for him) while Daddy and Mama go on a trip. Since I can't do that with him yet, I'm left with this nervous feeling and know that I just need to pray! :)

Surgery update/Happy Easter!

Jon is doing great today! He slept for most of the day yesterday and then all night last night (thanks in part to a prescribed Zanex). He woke up with his eyes feeling a bit dry, but he used the eye drops the doctor gave him. I drove him to his follow-up appointment this morning, and I went into the exam room with him for them to do his test. He sees 20/15 in his right eye and 20/25 in his left! That's better already than he saw with his contacts. With contacts, his left eye was 20/40. And the doctor said they will probably get even better as they heal. Jon looks completely normal/fine and says he feels fine too. It's amazing how fast the eyes heal. He isn't supposed to do any heavy exercising like basketball for a week or two (and then they'd like him to wear sports glasses), but he can go running and do regular activity starting today, just making sure he's careful. He isn't allowed to rub his eyes for 3 months! (That's because they actually cut a flap in your eye for the surgery, and obviously you don't want to aggravate that or open it back up.) We asked the doctor when Jon can start driving, and he said today, so he drove home from the appointment. I'm so excited for him.

We're still going to take it easy around the house today. I am going to make chocolate-covered strawberries as one of the desserts we're bringing tomorrow for Easter, since we're having Easter dinner at Scott and Kim's house (Colleen and Jennifer left for Missouri today). I'm going to bring the strawberries tomorrow and am just going to buy two pies for dessert--there will be 16 people there tomorrow at the Eichlers', and I don't think I have the energy to make enough desserts for that many people today. :)

Surgery

Jon is having LASIK tomorrow. We are excited! Jon has worn glasses (or contacts) since he was in grade school, so this is really cool for him. Recovery is pretty easy, but he is supposed to lie down and take it real easy for the rest of the day tomorrow, so I'll be his nurse.

UPDATE 4/14/06
Jon's surgery went well! He is on his way home right now (his dad's driving him) to rest for the day.

Howdy! I'm 11 months old.

Nate

Yesterday, Nate started "fake laughing." He doesn't smile when he does it--he just makes the laughing noise, kind of like someone just told a joke and he doesn't get it. I think he hears us laughing a lot and wants to imitate it even though he doesn't quite know what it means.

His top two teeth have started coming in this week. That just has to hurt.

We're off to Bible study tonight, and then I'm driving up to Thousand Oaks with Colleen (and Nate too) tomorrow to attend a baby shower.

Unexpected fun

I took Nate to the Spectrum yesterday to watch the fountain he likes to see. Just as I was sitting down with him on the ground, a girl from Kiddie Kandids (it's a portrait studio) came up to us. She said she was training and would like to take pictures of Nate, and I would get a free 8x10. Nate was in a good mood so I said yes. It was so fun! For the first pictures, they put Nate in a big cooking pot and put fake vegetables around the pot, and then they put some flour on his nose and cheeks. Oh, and I took his shirt off. ;) They also did a couple of regular close-up shots that ended up being really cute, and they did another of him "topless" in a galvanized tin old-fashioned bathtub with baby soap, towels, bubbles, etc., on the floor next to it. That's the one I got the free 8x10 of. I'm going to frame it and put it in the guest bathroom. The last one they did is of him standing up holding onto my leg (while I'm standing up too) and one of my hands holding onto him. It was fun to have the employees (three of them) oohing and aahing over Nate. :)

About me

Oh yeah, and I created a Johari window like Ashley did. Check it out!

San Francisco

We had a great two days in San Francisco this week. Nate and I left from John Wayne airport on Tuesday morning and arrived at Oakland just a few minutes after my mom's and Kathy's planes landed. We took a van to the beautiful Hotel Monaco and quickly got settled before we walked around the city a bit, finding our way to Chinatown after waiting out a few minutes of rain.

On Wednesday, we ate breakfast at the hotel, let Nate take his morning nap (in the crib they set up in our room), and then were off for a full day: we walked to the Ferry house (shops where my mom bought some delicious white balsamic vinegar), took a trolley to Pier 39, ate lunch at the Crab House, watched the sea lions, took a cab to Mission Dolores and toured around, took another cab back to Ghiradelli Square (where I had a delicious mocha), walked to the Cannery (more shops where my mom bought Nate a toy in the John Deere store and bought me some socks in Sock Heaven), and called it a day soon after this. We ate appetizers back at the hotel while we waited for my mom's two other friends to arrive from Arkansas. They got to the hotel around 7:30.

On Thursday morning, we had another good breakfast at the hotel, Nate took his nap, and I got ready to go! My flight home from Oakland was at noon. All in all, Nate did very well and wasn't too fussy, even with the disruption of sleeping somewhere else and not getting his usual naps. He slept until 7:00 both mornings (this is good)!

It was a fast but fun couple of days.

My favorite picture:

Nate

Nate is still not crawling... but that's OK. Starting pretty early on in his life, I stopped reading the "What your child should be doing now" e-mails and books, because Nate was always behind (at least for motor skills). He will develop at his own pace and is healthy and happy!



I am taking Nate with me on Tuesday when I fly up to San Francisco to visit with my mom for two days. She is having an annual get-together with friends up there. :)

Swinging

Last week, I made a stop on our usual walk around the lake. I discovered one of Nate's new favorite things:

Change of plans

Hello--still from Virginia! Nate and I were supposed to head home today and end up at John Wayne airport 11:00 a.m. California time, but Delta called my parents' house last night to say my first flight (6:00 a.m.! out of Lynchburg) today was cancelled. After two hours on the phone with them, we rebooked for tomorrow, Wednesday, leaving Lynchburg at 4:00 p.m. and arriving in Orange County at 10:30 p.m. That travel time by far beats what they had originally offered: leave Lynchburg at 11:00 a.m., endure two plane changes (Atlanta and Dallas), and end up in Orange County at 9:45 p.m. (14 hours total). Why don't they try doing that with an 8 month old... :) So, with this unexpected extra day and a half, we are relaxing. Lucy and I hung out today and got coffee, and Lucy, Mama, and I took Nate on a walk. Daddy took Mama, Nate, and me out to dinner tonight (Friday's), and some of us are going to watch a movie when Lucy gets home from work later. Tomorrow I'll probably bring Nate to my mom in the morning so I can sleep, and then we'll have coffee and/or brunch with my aunt Leigh (and maybe my aunt Anne too).

Amid all the fun, family, and relaxing, I really miss my husband. A week already was too long apart, but an extra couple of days is way too much!

Hello from Virginia

We are having a lovely time in Virginia. Jon flew home on Tuesday, and I already miss him very much. A week is the longest we will have spent apart since we were married.

I have spent most of the time here relaxing and letting the family enjoy Nate. We opened gifts and had breakfast together on Christmas morning, then we had Christmas dinner at my aunt's house with all the relatives. That night, everyone came over to my parents' house to sing Christmas carols (with Daddy on the piano, my cousin Laura on violin, and me on flute). A couple of mornings so far, I have gotten up to feed Nate in the mornings and then given him to my mom while I go back to bed until 9:00 or 9:30--glorious! :) We have also made many runs to Starbucks; Lynchburg got its first Starbucks only relatively recently (in the past couple of years), so it is still a novelty to go there (there isn't a whole lot else to do). Mama, Lucy, and I went to a 9:30 movie ("The Family Stone") last night after Nate went to bed. Today, Lucy and I went by the J Crew outlet, and I bought a new magic wallet (this one's pink) for $5. Nate now recognizes his grandparents and aunt and uncle--it is so fun to see him smile when one of them walks into the room. He has also mastered the johnny jump-up we borrowed from my cousin, and he loves it so much that I won one for him today on Ebay. :)

Two more days!

We leave for Virginia in two days. Jon is staying until December 27, and I'm staying with Nate until January 3. I'm looking forward to seeing my family, letting them have lots of time to get to know Nate, eating my mom's cooking, and relaxing. We might even have a white Christmas!

Nate cut his first tooth! I felt it this morning along his bottom gum. That may explain his seeming to have a cold this week.

Merry Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving

I just finished making potato casserole (my mom's recipe) and a better-than-pumpkin pie (Jon likes this even better than regular pumpkin pie. It's a cinch to make). I'll bring them tomorrow to Jon's parents' house for the big meal.

Last Thanksgiving, I wrote that I was thankful for "my salvation; my husband, his leadership in our home, his work ethic, his love for me, his gentleness; my husband's job; the miraculous little life growing inside me; the abundance of food, shelter, clothing, and every necessity God has provided for us; Scott and Kim and the other close friends God has blessed us with; [and] our families." This year, I am especially thankful for God's grace and mercy in loving me and sending His Son to die for me; my understanding, funny, handsome, hardworking husband; my precious, hilarious, growing, lovable, beautiful son; my friends, especially Casey; and the provision God has made for us, especially that I can stay home to be with Nate.



Oh yeah--Nate has starting sitting (as you can see)! He isn't very steady yet, so he falls over after a few seconds if he's on the floor, but he can sit for a couple of minutes on the bed. In another week or two, he'll be sturdy enough to sit on his own on the floor. :)

Six months

Nate had his six-month check-up yesterday. I had been both looking forward to and dreading it: it's fun to have him measured and find out the statistics, but holding him down to get shots is no fun. The main thing I worried about is his reaction to the shots--last time (two months ago), he had a fever and swelling/redness at the injection sites. This time, though, his reaction doesn't seem as strong--yay! Now the fun(ny) part--the stats:

Weight: 16 pounds, 8 ounces (30th percentile)
Length: 26.5 inches (52nd percentile)
Head circumference: 17.5 inches (73rd percentile)

That's right, our kid has a big noggin! :) We knew that already, though.

Here are some pictures I took today:

Halloween

Nate is doing 100% better now, and all of my editing is done as of today--two great feelings.

Although this is Nate's first Halloween, we aren't "doing" anything for it. I didn't buy or make him a costume, and in fact, I haven't even bought any candy (sorry, trick-or-treaters). Having children makes you think about how your family is going to celebrate certain holidays (if at all). I am not a big fan of Halloween. What does it celebrate, really? I think it is a celebration of evil, or at least of fear, and I find knocking on a stranger's door demanding candy to be rude, tradition or not. How, as Christians, do we allow our children to have fun but not participate in traditions we find questionable--without sheltering them too much?

Editing and sick children

I've been inundated with editing jobs this week, which is a blessing financially but also makes me feel a bit anxious and stressed. I'm thankful that Nate is feeling better, though (he was sick with a bad cold--we even took him to the emergency after-hours doctor). I wouldn't be able to get any work done if he were still sick.

Speaking of sick children, I have decided it is one of the worst feelings ever as a parent. There were two or three days last week where Nate was just miserable (see picture below as proof!): he couldn't breathe and he didn't know why, and he spent all day either crying or trying to sleep but not being able to because he couldn't breathe very well. I could barely think about anything else. I would have given almost anything for him to have felt better. I would have rather been sick myself ten times in Nate's place. Before I became a mom, I knew it must be awful to have a sick child, but I didn't know how hard it really would be!

Nate sick:


Nate feeling better before going to a harvest festival on Saturday:

Happy fall!