Milestone Moment: First Steps!

Nate took his first unassisted steps yesterday, October 29, 2011!  Nate was "helping" Dad load the dishwasher, while I was standing back watching the cuteness.  They closed the dishwasher, and Nate stood with his hand against it.  Then Dad bent down and beckoned Nate to walk to him.  Low and behold, Nate let go of the dishwasher and toddled three steps into Daddy's open arms.  Like any adoring mom, I then went nuts!  It was so surreal seeing him take actual steps on his own and I couldn't believe what I was seeing.  He is getting to be such a big boy!  No more steps yet since then, although we've seen him stand on his own for a couple of seconds a few times.  We are getting there!  Little guy is so good at crawling, crusing and climbing that I think it will be a slower transition to walking...but, once he realizes what he can do without hands holding onto something, WATCH OUT!

Pirate Party - Part 1

Well, it has been awhile.  We've been really busy this fall/winter, and I just haven't felt motivated to blog.  This is conflicting because I do want to record all of these memories we're making on this blog, especially since I'm not really completing a traditional baby book for our little man.  So, I didn't stress about it and took a little break--making sure to keep taking pics along the way.  Now, its just a matter of getting everything on here.  A little at a time...

My last substantive post on here was a sneak peek of Nate's first birthday party.  I went with a pirate theme, mainly because, I thought it would be so cute!  Little boy, pirate stuff...it just goes together!  And, it was exactly as I had envisioned.  Precious.

To capture everything about his party, without having a post that takes 30 minutes to read, I'm breaking things up into parts.  First up, decor.

I absolutely love party planning (possible second career later on in life??  Maybe!)!  And I think decor plays a big part in any event.  I had a blast decorating for Nate's big bash.

I didn't get a picture of it, but on our mailbox (which is the variety that attaches to the brick next to our door) was a big red X that I cut out of foam board and hung from the mailbox with twine.  X marks the spot for this pirate adventure!

Entry way parrot!

Dress up station.  We had hats, bandanas, eye patches, and wrist bands for all the little pirates.
You can see a couple of the other pirate books I had setting out as well. 

Just inside the door, the treasure maps to lead the guests to their loot!

Close up of the maps.
I created the maps using Powerpoint, printed them off, and then  made them look the authentic by tearing the edges and tea staining them.  Once they dried, I rolled them up and tied them with some twine.

Inside of the map

Treat table!
We had various red, black and gold candies for the party guests to help themselves too, and a few cracker items too.  This table also held the cake pops and Nate's smash cake.

Cake pops!  So cute!



I made this pirate ship out of Styrofoam, poster board, fabric and wooden dowels to hold the cake pops.

View of the buffet table.
I had a couple of pirate themed books  scattered around for decoration and playing.  This book was specifically designed for Nate.

Another buffet table pic, in progress.

With the food!

Fruit bowl close up.

Drink station with Pirate Grog and Adult Pirate Grog.
I found the Ahoy cups at the Target Dollar Spot.  Couldn't be more perfect!

Love these blocks!  The "one" is from Hob Lob.  I painted it red and added a ribbon to theme it out!

Monthly Pics from Nate's first year.
I mounted each pic onto scrapbook paper, affixed it to a dowel and pushed it into each  bucket (from Oriental Trading), which had a small styrofoam ball in the bottom and was covered with black mesh fabric.  I added a few pirate coins to complete the look.

Outside table set up.

This Pirate blow up was awesome.  It came from Oriental Trading.

Nate's b-day gift: a pirate sandboat!
Found this at Wal-Mart {dot} com for 1/2 of what it sells for at Chasing Fireflies {dot} com.  Score!

Another view of the boat.

Water table.  The kids loved playing with this!  Another Wal-Mart {dot} com purchase.

Baby pool.  Another big hit! $5 from Target!

As you can see, I used red, black and white as my color scheme, with a few teal touches thrown in.  I decorated with a printable collection from Shindig Parties to Go, made a few tissue paper poms to hang around, and then accented with any and all pirate goods I could find.  Most items were from Oriental Trading company, Target dollar spot, or Hob Lob. 

Next up, activities!

Then and Now

When exactly did my baby turn into a little boy?  Love him so much!

12 Months Old! The big ONE!!

Nate is officially one year old.  A toddler...well, sorta.  He's not walking yet, so I can still get away with calling him an infant occasionally.  Makes me feel better.  We had a great birthday party for our little man, which I will detail in upcoming posts.  In the meantime, here is what our little bugger has been up to.

Weighs 20 lbs 9 oz (20%), and is 29.5 inches long (60%).  His head size is still about 15%.   Long and lean like his daddy!

Wears size 3 diapers (we’ve moved to the “cruisers”), 6-12 month, and 12 month clothing.

We’ve cut down on his milk intake and are working on weaning from the bottle.  He now takes whole milk only and probably has 15-20oz a day.

He eats some solids 3 times a day, plus a couple of snacks. He still enjoys fruit and veggies, all bread products, and crunchies.  His tastes are very similar to his daddy’s!  We’ve discovered that chicken nuggets and popsicles are delicious!

Sleeps from approx. 7pm-6am, but may wake up once during the night.  We had a terrible time with constipation while transitioning to whole milk, which caused some night waking.  Poor little guy!

Is still cruising away.  No real interest in walking yet and we aren’t pushing him on it.

Has 4 teeth!  His top two teeth came in this month.

Still chatting away.  He makes “words” for several things.  He consistently says mama, dada, dat (that), ball, dog.  He’s also said mum mum and booger.  Those are him just repeating things, but every now and then, something comes out clearly!  So much fun.

Loves to laugh and thinks everything is hilarious.  He is just a silly and sweet baby.

He loves the dogs.  He will pet them (which is indistinguishable from hitting them, but we’ll go with pet!), and has figured out how to drop food for them.  He also has realized that if he holds his hand out, they will lick it.

His favorite toys right now are his Tool Bench, Music Table, fire truck ride on toy, wagon walker, and pretty much anything that isn’t his.

He adores Ms. Amy, and loves his GB, Abuelo, Nana and Grandpa.  Aunt Mandy also makes him laugh!

He loves outside, and water activities.

It is absolutely amazing how much he’s changed in one year.  As a friend said, the days are long, but the months/years are fast.  So true.  We can’t wait to see what next year brings.

Happy 1^st Birthday Nate!!  We love you to the moon and back!

 

Everything is Cuter in Miniature

Nate got some new shoes. They are too cute!

1st Birthday Party Sneak Peek

Nate's 1st Birthday is just around the corner!!  I've been knee-deep in party planning and being all kinds of crafty.  Michael thinks I've gone off the deep end, but is also quick to acknowledge it should be a fun party.  Here is a sneak peek of the theme:

Arrrg!  It's a Pirate Party!  I can't wait to share all the details soon!

First Nightmare?

I am pretty sure Nate had his first bad dream this week.  Poor little guy!  He woke up in the middle of the night crying, but didn't do his typical "stand up and whine for mom" routine.  I grabbed a small bottle and went to his room, where I found him laying on his tummy in his crib, rubbing his eyes and crying.  I picked him up and he immediately settled down.  I offered him some milk and he really wasn't that interested (which is not typical).  He pretty much fell asleep in my arms so I put him down again and he slept until morning.  I'm thinking he just had a bad dream that caused him to cry in his sleep.  He's getting so big!  Now the question is, what does a 1 year old have bad dreams about??  Empty bottles?

Nate...dreaming of monsters??