Spoke too soon....

Sorry that I haven't posted here in a bit... so after Nate got better, I came down with a version of what he had. It was horrible, the worst type of cold ever- caused by a nasty virus that causes hand, foot and mouth disease in kids.... it took me a good 14 days to get over it, and I'm still not 100%. Nate had a great couple of weeks, until this weekend. He started with a low grade fever yesterday and was just miserable by the afternoon....rough night and then again, he was pretty miserable... maybe teeth? Who knows... all I know is that Mike and I didn't have a very relaxing weekend. Here are some pictures from the last couple of weeks! Enjoy!

Ok, I'm having a lot of issues posting photos on here at the moment... so hopefully I'll have better luck posting them on the photo website

Whew- spoke too soon

Made it.....

Whew- "under the weather" is the ultimate understatement for what the last 2 weeks have meant for us. Nate had 'hand, foot, and mouth disease', which then resulted in a secondary bacteria infection from one of the sores...sigh... so now 2 weeks later, and he's finally cleared to go back to daycare, and we're finally cleared to have a full nights rest! We luckily had Grandma to come and help take care of Nate and us :) Nate had plenty of one on one time with Grandma, and then Grandma took care of the parents! :)

Grandma and Nate just goofing around!

Walk like a duck!

Bam! They all fall down......

Percarious position.......

Cool dude- ready for summer... too bad its winter.....

Nate has been especially drawn to his blue blanket these past two weeks, he rarely went anywhere without it....

First, he'd only eat macoroni, then he moved up to pasta with marinera sauce....

Bath night! All clean in the doggie towel (and yes, he was saying "woof woof" when wearing this...)

Nate got to see Little John again- we went over to their place to go sledding on Saturday - the boys had a blast and it was nice and lowkey for Mike and I as well... Too many to post here, check out another picasa web album! http://picasaweb.google.com/Cwhetzel2008/Sledding

Uh-Oh!

Being contemplative as he waits for Grammie and Papa to arrive.....

That's what everything is right now... uh-oh! He first says "uh-oh" then proceeds to chuck his sippy cup... He's been under the weather for the last couple of days, so we've been getting better and recouping at home. Here are a few pictures from last weekend.....

Being contemplative with Dad's mountain dew bottle......

No, honey, those aren't monkeys- they're squirrels!

Somehow I don't think its such a good idea to have him walking around with the mountain dew bottle in his mouth......

Big shoes, er, wicked good slippers, to fill!

Hey, I"m getting the hang of it!

Touch down!

Finally caught this on video...its a bit weak, but you get the idea.... :)

Some things to catch up on...

It doesn't take long for a child to change now does it? It seems like Nate is moving a step toward being a little toddler every day. I mean he can toddle, but he's starting to really exert his independence.... He's not saying much yet, but that sure doesn't stop him from sounding like he's talking. Lets see here... what has he added to repetoire of tricks... he now says "nana" for banana- even the mention of the word "banana" he immediately starts making the more sign and points to where we normally keep the blessed yellow fruit. I can understand why parents start spelling out words....."eat your protein and then you can have a banana" meanwhile he hears the mere mention of the word "banana" and dinner is all over and suddenly, crap, you realize that you mentioned the "b" word and there's no way he'll eat more meat....sigh.... We also taught him to hiss like a snake tonight... I don't think he even knows what a snake is, but if you say what sound does a snake make, he says "hisssssss".

Enough of my rambling, on to the pictures!

Show me your muscles!

Not much snow, but the sled sure went!

Ok, I'm going to try something different. This blog is being annoying when it comes to loading pictures. So I'm going to post a link- click on it and it will take you to more pictures!

Click here - http://picasaweb.google.com/Cwhetzel2008/TheLastTwoWeeks

When you're on the webpage click "slideshow" and then you can see the pictures larger with the captions I wrote. To get back to the blog, click the "back" arrow in your browser.

I've included pictures from Mel's baby shower down in VA as well as our play date the other weekend with the twins, Willem and Fiona, Nate's other two friends Little John, and Ada.

Enjoy!

Some pictures....

As promised! Enjoy!!

Whew!

I swear I have some more pictures of Nate, I just haven't had time to download them yet, and since I"m currently at work and my camera is currently at home, I'm unable to down load pictures now.



Two things for today 1) Can Toddlers grow a couple of inches in one weekend? I say that because both Mike and I noticed this morning that Nate's head is officially above the top of the high chair when he's sitting in it.... His budda belly has receded- so I'm thinking that he grew out and then UP! AND I thought I'd be good for a bit with 18month clothing... I'm noticing that 18 month onesies might not last us much longer....he's too long.... I put one on him this morning and it looks like a scoop neck tee shirt! AHHHH!!! So either I"ll have to go with shirts that aren't onsies, or get some 24month shirts... luckily it looks like the 18mon pants will last a little while longer. No wonder he had a crabby night on Saturday night- he must have been growing! I asked him this morning to get me the pig (small plastic animal) and he went and found it and brought it to me. He waves, he blows kisses regularly now. He knows how to smell flowers, and he can identify his slippers from his shoes. He makes a "fishy" face, and can currently (though not regularly yet) make sounds for: duck, dog, cow and a pig. And, he says "Touch Down" for any sports what so ever. I have a video clip of him saying it, though its a weak one- I need to try and catch him saying it like he typically does. (Yes, he says "touch down", though he hasn't said "momma" yet.) He does the sign language symbals for: hungry, eat, all done, juice and down. He can find his head, his nose, his knee, his foot and his belly. And, thanks to Little John, he has the hand gesture for "I don't know". Though last night when we were putting him to bed, and the cat wasn't there (Max typically comes in to say good night), Nate was pointing to where the cat usually sits and was doing the "I don't know/where" gesture-as if to say "Where's the cat?" a complex thought. He amazes us with everything he comes up with. He can point out pictures of- ball, slide, dog, bus, pig, chicken, cow, sheep, monkey, car and a lion. He's also learning to put away his books and toy cars. Anyway, just wanted to share!



ok, and (drum roll please....) the second item I'd like to update you on is...... Nate's cousin (our nephew) will be arriving from Ethiopia within the next 6 weeks! (exact date is TBD at this moment....) Since the adoption is officially, well official, I can post the picture of Kai! :) The family is having a baby shower this coming weekend to help Mel and Kev stock up! :)

That's all for now, I'll try and post some more pictures soon!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Sorry I haven't updated through out the last week- its been a whirlwind of a week. We went down to Chambersburg to spend before Christmas with Mike's family- went down to VA (I stayed in Chambersburg to work on my dissertation), came back to Chambersburg (he had a fever for most of the time we were in C-burg and VA-but was better by Christmas), then headed to Lancaster to spend the rest of the week with my parents. We left Nate with my parents for Friday and Saturday and they brought him back up to State College on Sunday so that Mike and I could finally unpack and settle our house a bit more. Nate had ear tubes put in at the Geisinger Facility in Danville on Monday Dec 31st. We had to get up at 4am to get him to Danville for his 6:45am reporting in time- needless to say that Mike and I were wiped and went to bed early- so the ringing in of the New Year was quite low key this year. Santa was ridiculously good to Nate (and us for that matter) this year- I have some pictures and videos of him the last week. Nate's doing great after his surgery- you wouldn't even know he had them. For all of you who didn't know, Nate has been on 8 rounds of antibiotics since Oct, for he had major fluid in his ears that wouldn't clear, and thus he kept getting ear infections. We couldn't get him into the ENT (ears, nose and throat) doctor up here in State College until March (which we weren't going to wait that long for...there are so many antibiotics, tylenol and advil that a kid can have in his lifetime, let alone in a 6 months)- we were able to get him into the Geisinger Facility in Danville PA ( about 1 hour 30 min from SC) for his consult on Dec 19th, which it was evident that he needed tubes and she got him into surgery for Dec 31st, thank goodness! Hopefully this will help us avoid ear infections for the rest of the season.

I'm sorry that I didn't get to send out Christmas cards this year either- it doesn't mean we love any of you less- we've just been ridiculously busy- i.e. sick kid, buying/selling a house, working on my dissertation etc.... Hopefully you've been able to get your "Nate" fix here on the blog. Hopefully as the writing of my dissertation progresses and the house gets settled, I'll have more time to keep in touch!

Enjoy the pictures and videos! :)

Puffs with Papa

Playing music from Great Nana and Pa

AND..... the ball pit from Grammie and Papa- more of this to come....

Nate sitting in the sled that Grandma and Granddad gave him....

That's our little angel!

Here is Nate helping Grandma to open her gift.....

This is Nate's "special" tree- notice the legos and cheerios that decorate the tree.... he also didn't leave the hat on long for the outfit....

Hopefully this is a video of Nate and the ball pit/slide

Nate helping Daddy put together the ball pit/slide....

(Yes, he has learned how to sit down to slide down....)

Nate's tree at home! :)

That's all folks! More to come....