Snapshot

I never want to forget Nate at this age. His chubby little fists and triumphant smile when he figures something out, the way he kicks and squeals and smiles so big when I come get him out of his crib- this is the good stuff, man. So mostly for me, here is a snapshot of what Nate is like at 7 months.

Things Nate Loves

•Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? Easily his favorite book. Must be the colors. 

Cary hates this book because cats are not purple and horses are not blue.

•Jumping in the bouncer. Funniest little guy, jumping so enthusiastically in this thing! He usually lasts a good half hour in there while I work out in the morning. It's a lifesaver.

Looking cute and hilarious in his sun hat.

Work out buddy

•EATING. Especially eating what Mom and Dad are eating. This kid is like a little golden retriever and will eat until he pukes. Gross.

Triumphantly stuffing some cantaloupe in his mouth that he snagged from Mom.  

Gimme dat. 

•Sitting up. He looks so old and so proud of himself, sitting there playing with his toys!

I mean, seriously? How is he so cute?

•Playing with Dad. The best of friends.

My heart. 

•Walks. That crazy expensive stroller was so worth it, because Nate looks so comfy and happy and loves to be strolled around.

This is his cousin's doll stroller, and when Nate was being outrageously cranky, being pushed around in this thing cheered him right up. Goofy baby. 

How Nate enjoys many of our strolls. Looks delightful. 

•ABBY. Nate is the laziest baby on earth, but the promise of grabbing a fistful of Abby hair and stuffing it in his mouth will get this baby to scoot when nothing else will. This boy is seriously so lazy. He finally rolls both ways, but doesn't usually feel particularly compelled to do so. He has never attempted crawling or pulling to stand, but I'm not in any hurry for him to be mobile. He can stay contentedly sitting on his blanket for a looooong time. 

Such cute friends. Abby is especially fond of Nate when he is eating/feeding her. 

•Grabbing everything. Hair, napkins, forks, phones, everything- if it's grab-able, he's grabbing it. And it's going straight for the mouth.

Silly baby. 

•Glow rattle. Grandma got him this little glowing rattle and Nate LOVES it. Most of his toys aren't that exciting to him, but if someone snags his glow rattle from him, he loses his mind.

•Face-timing with family. Not sure if he just likes looking at his own cute face, but he loves it anyway.

•Dog book. Other favorite book. It has lots of things to touch and moving flaps and he's a big fan.

Seriously the best book ever. 

•Squealing. Especially during quiet moments at church.

The swing elicits many joyful squeals and hilarious kicking of chubby legs. 

•Blowing raspberries. This is Nate's love language. He gets so thrilled, like we're all speaking some secret special language, when we do it back and forth.

Laying on the ground, blowing raspberries to himself. Such a goof. 

•Baths. A happy time of the evening for all. He especially loves drinking bath water. Gross. And swimming is extra awesome because it's like a giant bath, with Mom and Dad in there!

He's since graduated to sitting in the tub like a big boy and it kind of makes me want to cry. 

•Cuddling with blankets. One of Nate's most endearing and adorable habits is laying his head down on blankets and rubbing his head into them when he's tired. So so darling.

•Hobbes. We wake up in the morning to Nate and Hobbes having a very adorable conversation.

And sometimes he also enjoys making out with Hobbes. 

Things Nate Does NOT Love

•Napping. Argh. 90% of Nate's naps are 45 minutes, and then he throws in a 2.5 hour nap in there every now and then just to confuse me, and only if I have somewhere I was supposed to be. The stinker.

•Nursing when he's not in the mood. If Nate is not in precisely the right mood to nurse, he is such a pill. Back arching, pushing away, yelling, the whole works. And if I'm hot or he's hot, it's downright offensive to even offer to nurse.

•Being hot. See above. Poor little dude is pretty sensitive to the heat and gets all red and sweaty and cranky pretty quick. This makes summer in Alabama a bit challenging.

•Being tired. Despite his hatred of naps, he sure acts like he wants them. Being woken up makes him so mad. So like his Dad...

This little friend has logged an impressive amount of travel hours in his little life- 75+ hours of car trips so far, and 5 flights, and he is such a trooper. But homeboy loves himself his crib and sleeping is always a bummer when we're traveling, which is too bad since we've been traveling for about 1/2 of his life. 

•Getting things taken out of his hands. So rude.

•When the food is gone. Also rude.

•The snot sucker. I would hate it too, bud.

•Green vegetables. I did all of the right things and only offered vegetables first and I continue to try them over and over again but he just will not do it! The only vegetables he'll eat are squash, carrots, and sweet potatoes. If it's green, it aint happening. But if it's mixed with fruit, he'll eat it.

Nate's sleeping is possibly improving. He is in the middle of a good streak, but he's fooled me with these streaks before... He'll be sleeping great for a few days, maybe even a week, and then he will completely dissolve and wake up 6 times a night for a week. It makes me fairly nutty. But he's so darn happy and sweet, I can't be too mad about it. Whenever we are out and about, people always comment on what a sweet-natured and mellow baby he is. He really is just the sweetest. But then people always follow that comment with "Enjoy it now, it won't last." Pfff, I'm just going to continue to live under the delusion that he will always sit sweetly and cherubicly in the high chair while we eat lunch, don't go prematurely raining on my parade!

He is a dynamite Target shopping buddy, and never judges my food court Diet Coke or my impulse purchases.  

I love having my little best friend around. He is currently a delightful errands running buddy, as long as we aren't out too close to nap time, and everyone stops to enjoy his chubby and grinning self. But for as darling and sweet as he is, he always plays hard to get whenever any stranger comes to chat with him. He goes from babbling and grinning to giving a pretty decent crusty stare, and occasionally flickering his eyes to me, wondering if he should cry or not. That's okay- it makes his laughs and giggles that much more endearing when you have to earn them.

I love watching him play with Cary. It melts my heart. I was getting ready for church the other day and Cary was reading Brown Bear Brown Bear to Nate, making all of the animal sounds, and it was one of those moments you want to put in a bottle and save forever. I'm a lucky lady.

I can't believe how tiny he used to be. When I look at these pictures, I feel a little bipolar. One the one hand, I miss his teeny little self who used to curl up on my chest and sleep for hours and his little newborn sounds and just general brand new perfectness. But on the other hand, newborn days were a rough go for us, and I'm kind of glad they are behind me. And he is so much fun now, and I love watching his little personality develop. Geez, it goes fast. If only someone had told me that... Ha. Being a parent means constantly wishing you could pause, rewind, and fast forward; sometimes all at once. But this little babe just keeps growing and I love him more every day.  And especially on the days he sleeps well.