Nate's 9 month check up (can you believe it??)

Nate went in for his 9 month appointment today and everything went well. He didn't gain any weight since his 6 month appointment, but he has lost much of his baby fat and has started to thin out quite a bit. He started crawling so early and has been on the go ever since, so he works a lot of it off. His new stats are:

20 lbs. 1 oz. - 50th percentile

29 1/2 inches - 90th percentile

Xander didn't start crawling until he was 9 months and so was a bit chubbier at his 9 month check up. But to compare, his stats were 22 lbs. and 30 1/2 inches. Nate came out earlier, weighed more and was longer, but Xander has consistently been the bigger baby. It will be interesting to see where they both end up!

The weigh-in

Waiting for the doctor to come in

Christmas 2007!

What a fun day! I think we took over 50 photos and it is hard to pick which ones to post. Here are just some of the highlights of our day. No ones from dinner - who needs to see pictures of us stuffing our faces?

Discovering that Santa came

Xander was so excited to find that Santa had left a candy cane for him. (I had to find some just days before when he told me that Santa never forgets to give everyone candy canes in their stocking. I hadn't planned on buying any)

Nate finds something in his stocking, and promptly starts to chew on it.

Xander's present from Santa. Oh what could it be?!?

Exactly what he had asked Santa for!

Nate's present from Santa (which Xander can't seem to keep his hands off of)

Daddy helping Nate open another present

While we try to get things cleaned up and catch our breath, the boys head into their room to play with their (Nate's) toys. Aren't the matching Christmas pjs adorable?

I guess I did include one dinner photo! ;-) While Chris worked on dinner and Xander played with toys, Nate and I had a bit of snuggle time while listening to Christmas music. The sounds, the smell of the food, watching my family around me...this is what it is all about!

Early Christmas at Grandma's house

We headed over to Chris' mom's house to open presents a bit early. We thought it would be a good thing to spread it out a bit and not have everything happen on Christmas Day!

Nate has no fear of Max and is very curious. Max is not so sure about this and is a bit skiddish. Just in case, Nate comes prepared to do battle if needed.

My festive little boy! And because of the Polar Express, he is in love with bells! He will raise them up, and while ringing it exclaim "The first gift of Christmas!"

Getting ready to open presents

Nate's first presents to open. I think he is a natural!

And Xander is always willing to lend a hand while Nate gets preoccupied with Xander's new tea pot.

Both boys love tearing at the paper

Toys For Tots

Xander has been begging us to go to Toys For Tots to drop off our toys. For some reason this is a big deal to him. When we got to the tent, they had a big bin to drop them into right out front, but Xander kept asking where the Marines were. We found them loading toys into a truck and they came over to meet Xander. They were so good with him and could tell that he needed to chat them up a bit. So they invited us inside the tent so he could satisfy his curiousity and then they posed for a picture with him. When they asked him if he wanted to be a Marine when he grew up (like he knows what that is!) he said no, he wants to be an astronaut!

Devouring the gingerbread house

After storing his house for a day while he worked off the sugar ingested while buiding it, we finally let him dig into it. I did manage to scrape off some of the gooey treats ahead of time - so he wouldn't go into complete sugar shock.

Taking the first bite out of the roof

Pots and pans band

While trying to get dinner going, I opened the cabinet so Nate could explore the pans inside. Xander is not one to be left out of things and seems to enjoy rediscovering baby activities to no end. And, being the helpful big brother that he is, he feels the need to show Nate how to do everything. So, he laid out all of my baking pans and the started banging away!

My little percussionists

Gingerbread house party

Today was our playgroup's 2nd annual gingerbread house making/holiday party! So much fun! Noni stayed up past 2 a.m. assembling the houses out of graham crackers and frosting. We all brought different candies to decorate with. The kids have a blast globbing frosting and candy all over their houses and eating half of what we give them to decorate with. They run around and play while the moms get to chat and drink coffee. A good time had by all!

Strategic placement of the holiday M&Ms
Putting on the finishing touches

Posing with his masterpiece

Nate

Nate's top teeth are sawing their way through these days and it looks so painful! He really isn't crabby, just wants to nurse all the time. He is such a happy baby. But there is one thing that makes him cry - getting his diaper changed or getting dressed. He acts like he is being tortured! But while he is laying there, being miserable, I thought it would be a good time take some pictures of his emerging teeth.

Here is what happens to his adorable feet after 10 minutes in the tub!

Holidazzle

Our annual trip to downtown to see the Holidazzle parade. It wasn't supposed to be super cold, but it sure felt like it! Xander was so excited and had a great time. Nate? Well...he didn't enjoy it quite as much. He made it through the first half and then I took him into Macy's to warm up. Even though it was so cold, we stopped for ice cream on the way home!

Nate looking unhappy to get bundled up
Nate really isn't eating solids yet and still just mostly nurses, but when he is in the mood to chow down, it is not on baby food. Before the parade, we stopped for a quick bite to eat. Here he is attacking my wrap!

The boys anxiously awaiting the start of the parade

I am trying so hard to keep Nate warm. I may be smiling, but my face is actually frozen and burning red from the cold, wet wind!

The snowman float is always a hit with Xander

Cool shot that Chris took

Trimming the tree

It took us a week to get the tree decorated. With the two boys, early bedtimes and needing everyone to be in a good mood, all the decorating had to be done in stages. So tonight we finally got the put the ornaments on the tree, with much help from Xander. He had fun inspecting every single one!

hanging one on the tree
and putting the star on top

all finished and lit up

the stockings hung all in a row