Nathan is 1 year old!

Happy Birthday Nathan!

Today our little man turns one year old! He's such a joy to us all, and we love him so much! 

Nathan is starting to talk more, making more sounds and generally being a more vocal baby.  He still adores Emma and loves to hug her.  He's also starting to show his feelings when he doesn't like something happening.  He's good at growling and is now hitting things, us included.  I'm trying to use this as a learning experience for Emma.  If she's always pushing and knocking him over and generally not being gentle, then that is what Nathan is going to learn.  So when she knocks him down and then he gets up and screams and hits her back, well, then she needs to think about she treats him.  We are of course working on it and I know this is the beginning of a trying phase, toddlerhood, but the good and great moments are all around us, if we can stop to appreciate them.

Nathan is still learning to feed himself.  He just really doesn't have a huge interest in solid foods yet.  He does love blueberries and he's even eaten a few bites of grilled cheese sandwich.  I've offered him scrambled eggs but he had no interest, would not even touch them.  Some days he will eat a few bites of whatever we are having, but still there are more days when he just shoves the food around and drops it on the floor.  He still nurses for most of his nourishment and I don't see that changing until he gets more teeth (he still has only two on the bottom) and shows more interest in food.  The top front four teeth in his mouth are so swollen and I can see the outline of his teeth under the gum.  The last few days have been rough and I hope these teeth cut through soon!  He does drink very well out of a cup with a straw.  He loves water and will carry his cup around under his arm!

He's an expert walker now, and really wants to climb onto the couch.  He's not quite there yet though.  He's really interested in being outside, and we would go out more if it wasn't still hot, plus he is putting everything in his mouth.  He gets upset when I'm constantly taking rocks and leaves out of his hands and mouth.  He loves the pool and bathtub and he's so much fun to watch splashing around.  He still sits in his bathtub seat, otherwise he's a slippery little fella trying to climb and walk around the bathtub! 

He loves to play up stairs in our play room, and he watches the gate carefully.  Once he got out when the gate was left open.  By the time I realized it, he had crawled up on his own and was playing by himself!  He loves dogs and our cat Chloe.  He stands at the back door and talks to her while she eats her breakfast.

The only word that Nathan really says is Mama.  Mostly he says this when he's crying for me.  He does understand quite a bit.  I can ask him to find certain toys, like the car, ball, cow, and keys, and he can find them and bring them to me.  I really want him to learn to say Emma's name so I repeat that too him a lot, along with Daddy too of course.  If I tell him that we're going upstairs to play he will immediately go to the gate, ready to crawl up!

We are so blessed to have our little Nathan Tyler in our family!  We love him and treasure him everyday.  Thank you Lord for our little boy!