8.05.2010

Nate-isms: Volume 4,006

Nate has been TONS OF FUN this summer. He's definitely at a challenging age and nothing is more challenging than teaching your child, well, EVERYTHING.

Let me share with you a little bit about this child of mine. His hair. It's BLONDE. People always ask where it came from. Karl and I were both blonde-ish as babes but THIS? People pay for this, yes?

It's straight as a pin and impossible to cut. Plus, Nate REALLY hates haircuts. I want to enjoy the blonde as long as possible so I'm not too worried about keeping it short.

Nate has been into sharing his food with his toys and the characters in his books. Here he is feeding Buzz, Woody, Jessie and the 'horsie neigggggghh' (Sarge?) some of his peach.

Annnnnnd eating it himself. I love how IT LOOKS PAINFUL.
We told him last night that "Food goes in your belly" so he promptly lifted up his shirt and began smashing chicken fingers into his belly button. LITERAL. (I love how that little mind works!)

We've been spending a lot of time in various pools to beat the heat. Even in the water, I get worried about being outside too long. WE ARE IN A HEATWAVE folks and it ain't pretty! But we do manage to get in lots of pool time. We have a little pool in our backyard too - it looks like THIS:And by this, I mean REAL CLASSY LIKE! I initially gave Karl a lot of flack for purchasing it but it's been great this summer! It has chemicals and a vacuum (you know about Karl and his vacuums right? THIS POOL IS CLEAN!). If you've ever owned a baby/blowup pool for more than a few uses, you know those things get pretty nasty. This, my friends, does not. The water comes up to about Nate's chest so he can walk in it comfortably. We bought him a boat (read: small water raft with sides and handles) and he jumps around in that or we play FORT by flipping it over and getting beneath it. FORT is my favorite game ever. There's something special about giggling under an inflatable flotation device with your child. It just feels like summer and childhood and happiness. Kisses, bubble blowing in the water, singing.... those FORT moments might be my summer favorites!

With the heat, we've also let him watch a little more TV than usual (it really is too hot to play outside for an extended period of time). We introduced him (cautiously) to Dora. His first impressions were "NO WATCH YOGURT NO WATCH YOGURT." This was confusing until we realized that the yogurt we occasionally buy Nate was, in fact, emblazoned with smiling Dora faces. (Branding!) We've also been watching the movie Up. I thought he might be scared but he kind of loves all the dogs and balloons.

We are on DAY THREE of paci-freedom! He was only using his pacifier at night and nap time and we were strict that it was only for those times. We told Nate "babas (what he calls them) are for babies" and he hasn't asked for it since! He went down for naps and nighttime without it and without a problem. I thought this was going to be a HUGE issue and I've been putting it off, but sometimes he surprises me. We went to celebrate with ice cream after his first day Baba Free. And, finally, we are holding on to that afternoon nap with all our might. And by we I mean me. He's been skipping days here and there already or taking a nap from like 5 p.m. to 6 and then going to bed at 8. One day we went to the Little Gym for an hour, the grocery store, the post office and the pool for an hour. That's enough activity to exhaust me! But that day? Nada on the shut eye. I'm enforcing quiet time anyway on those days. Sigh. ITS FINE. MOST TWO YEAR OLD DROP NAPS COMPLETELY, right?

Anyway, thanks for reading! He is a handful and a joy and, as always, so much harder and easier than I ever thought it would be.


11 comments:

melissa said...

i LOVE his arm all twisted around eating that peach. get it any way you can, right? you know what else i love? this whole post. your nate-isms posts are my favorite posts. not just because we get to read and see all about how effing cool and smart nate is, but also how beamingly proud and amazing and tough and cool you are as a mommy. i'm gonna come over and help him squish chicken fingers into his belly button. love love. :) xo

Aubrey said...

LOVE this post. Everything about it. The sweetness of summer and babies. Ahhhh.

P.S. Can we come over and play FORT sometime??

sdhorton said...

Nash tried dropping this nap twice this week and was a holy terror because of it. That and with him starting MDO in a couple of weeks. I am trying to make him keep the naps going. I am so jealous of the no paci thing. Hopefully we will get there soon too.

Bethany said...

This heatwave sucks. All Parker wants to do is go outside, the pool is a lifesaver. Way to go on the paci! I hate the no nap days-they are killer. I will not allow it, I need a nap too.
PS the horses name is Bulls-eye...

Our Happy Married Life... said...

he is so cute! love your pool. friends of ours got one and they live in it. :)

Panamamama said...

I knew your blog sounded familiar but my mommy brain was in full effect last night! (Great to meet you BTW!) I love reading your blog. Your little guy is precious. My kids all had blonde hair as babes and my middle son is still white-headed and is 8. Hopin' it stays that way and like you I still can't stand to cut it for fear it will all come back in dark like ours!

Jennifer said...

Loved this post. And Nate and you, oh and I guess Karl too. Love all around.

La'Tonya Richardson said...

Eating that peach, it's priceless. Kids at that age are so special... Sometimes, I miss my kids being that age.

Saturday night was a blast. I hope we can do something again soon. It made me feel so grown up, and it really validated my blogging.

Kate said...

he is so adorable!

i say keep the nap routine going as much as you can, even if he fights it; enforce the quiet time idea, etc. b/c chances are it will come and go in waves. a month from now he may start napping like a champ again. i'm no doctor, but he seems a little young to go without on a regular basis. but hey, all kids are different, so who knows.

funny about the TV, b/c for us we turned a bit more to TV in the winter b/c it was SO DANG COLD. I guess the extreme weather on either end of the spectrum drives everyone inside.

enjoy those fort days!

Unknown said...

I love that you are the kind of mama that plays Fort with her kid! Some days I wish I was that mom...Hugs to you sweet Kat!

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