New Hampshire

We just got back from our annual trip to New Hampshire and Camp Nelson. It was, as usual, a lot of fun. This was Nathan's first year of being able to enjoy the water and the dogs and friends so it was extra special watching him discover and explore his new surroundings. The Dixes (Andrew, Bridget, and Marion, age 3 1/2), the Nelsons, the Wrights, and Emily and Andrew were all there to relish in the quiet, fishing, swimming, and eating that Moultonborough has to offer. Nathan especially enjoyed the dogs - Sierra and Maxi. All day long he would chase them around the house and outside and laugh at their antics. He was particularly in love with Maxi and Maxi returned the love by "kissing" Nathan every morning before breakfast. It was quite adorable.

Nathan's second favorite things was swimming in the lake. After many tears in the life jacket and finally convincing him to sit in his swim float, we settled on a swimming compromise whereby one of us (me or Scott) would sit on two noodles and hold Nathan so he could "swim" unencumbered. Yes, he is spoiled. Nathan loved to blow bubbles and kick his legs in the water and got braver and braver with sticking his face in the water. And as I was told by my spies at the lake house, when Nathan was with his daddy in the water, he particularly enjoyed roaming free on the floating dock while Scott kept a "watchful" eye on him. This caused minor panic attacks in the observers and certainly would have caused me to have a nervous breakdown had I seen it, but Nathan I am sure loved this freedom. That's why there are moms and dads, I suppose so that kids can have "balanced parenting."

Nathan's third favorite thing at the lake (or rather, person) was Marion Dix. She is now almost three and kept reminding us of that fact by letting us know all the things that she could do that Baby Nathan couldn't because he was a baby. It was quite cute. But she was really sweet sharing her toys and playing with Nathan and keeping him entertained. He loved watching her and trying to copy everything she did.

The weekend was all too short but we had a lot of fun. Worth mentioning is that Nathan has expanded his repertoire of animal noises which he showed off during the car ride up - he now knows ducks, bees, and snakes. He also started clicking his tongue which we don't know how he learned.

Thanks to the Nelsons for a great weekend. Now we are home for a while until the next adventure. Nathan waving to the camera in the adirondack chair
The "boys" - couldn't seem to get Nathan's attention for this picture - he was distracted by beer
Nathan and Marion
Splashing with Daddy in the lake
"The Girls" and Nathan

G.G. and Pop Pop and Daddy's Birthday

After Grandma and Grandpa Wilson's visit, G. G. (Grandma Geri) and Pop Pop came to spend time in New Jersey and celebrate Scott's birthday. It was great fun showing them around and catching up on Nathan's activities since their last visit in April. Grandma Geri is just thrilled with everything that Nathan does, and definitely agrees that he is the smartest, cutest baby in the world. So we are all on the same page.

Nathan was fascinated with his Pop Pop, mimicking everything that Lee did and trying to catch his attention. I dare say that Pop Pop is smitten with his grandson too.

To celebrate Scott's 34th birthday, Geri made her usual delicious checkerboard birthday cake and we spent the day together, going out to breakfast and then opening presents over lunch. Nathan gave his daddy some kiddy lacrosse sticks and golf clubs, in the hopes that the two of them can play together. Scott got a myriad of other goodies from everyone and we all enjoyed being together for the birthday. In the evening we actually got some adult time, going out to dinner with our friends the Cabarcoses and Mike Grubbs. It was a great weekend - beautiful weather which our Floridian relatives enjoyed - and we were very sad to see them leave.

The pictures below were taken by Grandma Geri - you can tell who the photographer is by the fact that she is not in any of the pictures....Where's Geri?! I can assure you she was there - she wasn't going to miss a minute of anything!
"Cool Nathan" in Daddy's shades
Nathan riding a bike (borrowed) at the playground
Happy Birthday Daddy!
The Evanses (sorry about your head, Lee)
Pop Pop and his grandson

Hip Hop Nathan

Hip Hop Nate
Nathan and Daddy on Father's Day. Obviously both were excited and raring to enjoy the day!
Nathan at Battery Park Playground - he loves the sprinkling water and running around. It is a very messy experience.
Nathan the daredevil at the playground....(with Daddy in the background)

I forgot to publish these photos a few weeks back....I thought Nathan looked cute in his little Adidas shoes, jeans, and shirt but he does look like a hip hop mogul...Oh well.

Grandma and Grandpa Wilson Come Visit

Well, we must begin with a doctor's appointment and a trip to the zoo before we get to the visit. Nathan had his 15 month checkup on Friday the 13th and is doing very well. He weighed almost 27 pounds and was 32 3/4 inches - 2 3/4 inches more than at 12 months! He has obviously sprouted since his last appointment. Nathan was a gem at the appointment - the doctor and nurses commented on how easy he was to examine because he is not afraid of strangers. He smiles and blows kisses and looks with curiosity at what they are doing to him. That is, until the nurse gave him three shots and then he didn't like her so much anymore.

Overall, Nathan is doing very well. He is in the 77th percentile for weight, 85th percentile for height and 95th percentile for head circumference. Haha. It's all those brains he has...He is really well developed in his motor skills and communication skills, though he cannot verbalize much at this point. I laughed when the doctor asked me if he understood simple commands like "bring me the book." Nathan understands very complex commands like "Mommy is tired and really needs to call Daddy but the phone is in the other room....can you get it?" Nathan promptly got me both of the telephones in the apartment - one in the den and one in the bedroom, just to help me out. The other day our friends Laura and Marco were over and Nathan was "sweeping" and Laura said "does he vacuum too?" While we continued talking, Nathan ran to the closet to get the vacuum out. Needless to say, the kid knows what we are saying. He also showed the doctor how well he knows his body parts (after the doctor suggested that we start teaching them to him). He knows head, hair, eyes, nose, ears, belly, mouth, tongue, hands, feet, toes, knees, chin, etc... The doctor also suggested that we start teaching him how to use a spoon and I asked if a fork was ok because he is pretty good at that. SO, we pretty much played show off Nathan at the doctor appointment but it makes me feel as if we are doing something right!

So on to the zoo..Nathan loved seeing the animals and going to the petting zoo. His favorite was the cow which he kept mooing at. A little scared of the polar bear but otherwise just loved seeing all the animals.

After the zoo we went home to wait for Grandma and Grandpa Wilson who surprised us with a visit. Nathan loved hanging out with them and showing them all of his toys and tricks. The weather was beautiful so we spent lots of time outside walking around and had some good meals as well. Nathan loved shadowing his Grandpa again so they went on walks in the afternoon and flew "airplanes" (aka model Delta and Navy jets). It was the first time Grandma had seen our new apartment so it was great to share our life with them. And we also did an early celebration of Scott's birthday. It was a great weekend and we can't wait to see them again. Nathan "mooing" at the cow
Shots and the zoo can wear a boy out....
Brunch at Madame Claude's with Grandma and Grandpa
Happy Nathan walking to the farmer's market with Grandma and Grandpa
Scott's birthday dinner - family photo

Lake George Take Two

Nathan has had a busy few weeks - we had a wonderful trip to Aunt Sarah's. No pictures, however, because I lost my camera....left it at Chick Fil A after a very hectic attempt at getting myself and Nathan lunch. Nathan proved to be a real trooper in the car, provided I had the Music Together CD as a backup for moments when he freaked out. We loved being with Sarah and having some "girl" time before Baby McDonald arrives and life changes dramatically. (As a post script, Chick-Fil-A did return my camera to me without even charging for postage - what a wonderful company).

So, after a great trip to Virginia, we set out for Lake George the following Saturday to celebrate Walter and Erin's wedding weekend, even though we weren't able to actually go to the wedding because it was Friday night. Our attempt at leaving "first thing in the morning" took longer than expected and we also took a detour to make sure we got to see the Schillers on the road (yay) so we got to the Lake around 4pm. The time was short but we really enjoyed seeing the Wrights (all of them) as well as some of the other Lake George regulars that we used to see more often when Joel and Becca lived up there. Nathan had a blast at the lake - ran right into the cold water - and enjoyed Erin and Walter's dog Biga as well as running around in the great outdoors. It was a wonderful weekend and made us miss our more regular visits to the Lake. The Schillers with Nathan
Nathan showing off his tongue
Nathan and his playmate Biga
The Wrights and the Evanses
Silver Bay!