Nathan And The Shore

So, this post is only about four months too late. I know I should have posted this way earlier, but I think the appropriate phrase here is 'better late than never'. This year we decided to take Nathan to the shore. Ocean City, Maryland, more specifically. It was a fantastic time, even if Nathan wasn't able to walk. While at the shore he made a few pretenses at moving from butt bopping to crawling, but mostly he bopped around on his butt or rode his wheelie bug around the condo (which occasionally led to him falling backwards off of it when he tried to jump over the sliding door grooves).

The first day we were there, we forced him to the sandy beach even though it was slightly chilly. We allowed him to walk with the help of two people and he didn't seem overly fond of the sand or surf.





If you think he looks grumpy in these photos, you should see his face should you actually put him into the ocean water. We did so on our warmest day there, and he acted like we were inviting sharks to eat him simply because we put his toes in the water.

He wore a hat or sunglasses nearly the entire time we were at the shore, even while in the pool. This thrilled many people at the condo center or on the boardwalk. They'd all ooooh and aaaah at him, especially in the pool. We got several comments to the effect of, "Oh, your baby is the one that wears those cute shades!"





We had great breakfasts, and then we went swimming EVERY morning for at least two hours, and most days Nathan would fall asleep in my arms as I walked around the pool with him. After he fell asleep or close enough, we'd bundle him up in the biggest, driest towel, shower him clean, and give him a bottle pre-nap, and then Paul, Nathan, and I would all nap together for several hours. Those were some of the best mornings of my entire life.

After nap, we'd wake up, have a small snack, and prepare to hit the beach again for kite flying, or go to the boardwalk, or go out for a nice dinner.





We made Nathan go on baby friendly rides such as the Ferris Wheel, which my mom thought would lead to his death, or the puppy ride, or the Merry-Go-Round.




Those rides did not thrill him nearly as much as the ice cream we let him sample did. Nathan was pro-ice cream, anti-rides.

It was a good time, and I wish I had blogged it a little more while I was there or right after, because I feel like I've forgotten some of the best moments, such as my mom's attempt to devour all of Ocean City's crab, or Nathan's ewok look, or the way Nathan loved to sit on our balcony and splash himself in the face.

Nathan At The Park

One of my favorite autumn activities with Nathan is the playground or park. We visited several times in the summer, but he still needed to be carried then since I didn't want him crawling on the dirt, and he enjoyed the swings, but swings would only provide him with a few minutes of happiness before he'd simply look bored. Combine that with the dislike I have of being super sweaty hot and my dislike of grass and dirt, we'd simply go home after a very short visit and our visits were few and far between.

In the last months, things have vastly changed. The weather has cooled remarkably, but is still within the 'nice' range. Paul has started to come home earlier due to a change in work location. Nathan's started walking and climbing around the playground sets.

Now, when he sees a tunnel, he's the first to try and crawl through it.


Or he'll rush up the nearest set of stairs, without looking to see if I'm behind him until he's more than halfway up.


That's given me several heart attacks, I assure you. He enjoys playing on the playground stuff like slides and stairs most, and he's figured out how to slide on his own. ("Sit down near the slide and SCOOT SCOOT!" His dad taught him the scoot and he's mastered it well.)

But, where I enjoy him most is the swings.




Sometimes when he swings, he laughs every single time he is heading for me. Today, he kicked his feet all over the place when I went to push him because he was laughing hard. I laughed just as hard, which is pretty hard. Both Nathan and I have loud voices and laughs. I'm lucky, though. Now that I got him with me, the rest of the world seems to love to hear us laugh.

First Hair Cut

Earlier this month, I had decided that Nathan's wispy bangs were getting to me and had to go. Unfortunately, and I knew this, his lovely curls were probably going with the bangs. Knowing this, I kept putting off the cut, but finally forced myself to go with Nathan and Paul to the child's salon at the King of Prussia mall. They had a Thomas the Tank Engine¹ area set up, which Nathan flipped about.



Ironically, the slogan of Rollercoaster Cuts is "Haircuts kids will scream for!" This is not an inaccurate slogan. I would go so far as to say that Rollercoaster Cuts uses truth in advertising, and they might like to use this photo underneath that phrase.



Our hairstylist would not let me give Nathan a pacifier, telling me I was coddling him. Nathan did not want to watch the Teletubbies or whatever other crap was playing on the television to entertain him. He did not want to be amused. He did not want his hair cut. He wanted me to take him out of that chair and move him back to Thomas the Tank Engine. I thanked God we had gone at night and no one else was in the place.



After a while, Nathan calmed to merely sobbing hysterically rather than screaming outright. Finally, everything was done, locks of hair were put away, Frank was thanked and tipped, and our boy photographed. Having already gone through anger and depression phases of hair cutting, he finally moved to quiet resigned acceptance.



He's still ridiculously cute with his haircut, but I miss his sweet little curls so much. This is a bit like when he first got his teeth in for his smile. They were adorable, but I missed his gummy smile. Well, I'll get used to this less curly hair. He still has his chubby cheeks, after all.



1. Woe betide you if you call him Thomas the Tank or Thomas the Train. Children between the ages of three to six will look upon you as if you were the most stupid individual on the face of Earth. I one time called Percy "the green train" and a little girl of about five said to me, "That's Percy" in the same way I might state "That ball of light in the sky is 'the sun'."

Fifteenth Month Doctor's Appointment

Fifteen month old baby coming at you! Do you like looking at him sliding and losing his sandal (which no longer fits him) because he unvelcro-ed them from his "tiny wide feet"? The "tiny wide" thing is from the Stride Rite people we saw today when we got him measured for his new sneakers. Them shoes cost money, it's true, but they were helpful, sweet, and honest. When we were looking at the shoes, the person helping us told us not to take some of them because they weren't up to snuff.

We went to Nathan's fifteenth month doctor's appointment today with Dr. Chin. I still love her, but she's going on her maternity leave so she won't be around for his eighteenth month appointment. I resisted the impulse to tell her she didn't look like she was eight months pregnant, and she didn't, because I remembered everyone telling me that all the time.

Nathan decided on this visit that he hated the doctor's office, he hated being locked into the room while I stripped him, he hated the nurse, and he hated the doctor. He decided to tell each of these things and people and events how he felt by howling and crying. After his visit with the doctor, the nurse came back to give his vaccinations to him. I mentioned to her that he had cried during his visit with the doctor, and she laughed, and said, "We heard." I flushed red, I'm sure.

Nathan is still sitting at 50% for height and weight, but he fell to about 80% height. I am not sure how accurate the height or weight measurement were considering Nathan was howling the whole time and clinging to me. He's doing fine for walking (ie, he is walking unassisted at this point) and for feeding himself, but he's on the low end of normal on his speech. He doesn't like to talk to us in real words, and he uses Mommomomomomomo and Daddadadadad more as babbles than as a way to get our attention. He does say "go" an awful lot, and he's started to say "wow" after I say it when he's done something with his toys that is neat. Like, if he sorts his toys correctly, I say "wow" and then he says "wow". Or if he puts his stacking rings in the right order, we repeat this wow process.

Two updates in two days, folks, try not to get used to it. I think I'm just posting here to avoid my knitting/sewing blog.

Nathan -- The Update

Okay, it's not really really an update about Nathan. Well, it's a bit of an update. He's 15 months old, officially, and he can walk! I realized the other day that I wasn't posting here, and Paul asked me to post something.

I should really be using this space more to post about what he does and to show you all photos of him at his cutest. I've been trying to get back into the habit of photographing and videotaping him, because I know one day I'll want to remember the days when he easily falls asleep in his car seat after a big party, or when he can barely stand up on his own.

So, I'm really just writing here to say I'll be trying to write here more often. If nothing else, I want to post pictures of our vacation in Ocean City, Maryland from July!

Cute Nathan moment of the day: When Nathan, my mom, and I went to the Shins' apartment, Nathan did not want to talk to them. He kept hiding his face in my neck, or against my chest, or against my legs. He didn't even want my mom to hold him, constantly trying to shove into my arms when she took him away. I held him until he calmed down, and which point, he was all about playing with their tennis ball and smiling at everyone.