Nate

18 Months

Nate is truly the sweetest baby boy!  He is starting to phase into toddler hood with some minor tantrums every now and then, but overall he really is the most calm and good natured baby boy.  It is rare to see anything else but a smile on his face.

Stats at 18 Month Checkup

Height: 33.5 inches (80th %)

Weight: 24.13 pounds (30th %)

Head: 18.5 (25th %)

 Things to Remember about Nate 

Nate officially started walking on May 4th, 2010 at 16 months.  Such a huge difference from Josh who started walking at 9 months and running by 11 months.  I have really enjoyed having a late walker.  He took his first steps at about 11 months, but decided he preferred crawling for a long time.

Nate has the cutest walk.  He sticks his chest out and his bum out and has a confident swagger.

Nate waves, smiles, and says hi and bye to everyone he sees anywhere he goes.

Nate loves his daddy.  Every time he hears the garage door open he immediately starts smiling, flapping his hands in excitement, points to the door while saying "daddy, daddy, daddy," he then runs to daddy as fast as he can to give him a great big hug.

He loves to give hugs and kisses out of the blue.  I love it!

He loves the outdoors.  His favorite thing to do is probably go for walks, hence he often says the following sentence over and over while pointing at the door "I wan go fow wa walk"(I want to go for a walk) most days.

Yesterday John and I were about to leave on a date and Nate came up to me with pleading eyes and said "Gnohn Go"(Don't Go).  It was so cute, and tempting to just stay with him.

Nate loves Josh.  They get along most of the time.  They love to laugh at each other and just be with each other.

Nate loves to play outside, loves to swing, play golf, jump on the tramp (mostly wants mom or dad to hold him while we jump on the tramp), still loves to throw his food (hoping this phase will end soon), loves to throw balls, loves to throw rocks in the pond nearby, loves to play cars and trains, he loves to draw and is able to draw pretty straight lines and is really proud of himself when I tell him good job.

Sadly Nate hardly ever lets me read to him, but he still loves books, but he wants to read to himself.

He loves to have me sing to him and he loves to sing with me too.  His favorite songs to sing are Twinkle, Twinkle and ABC's.  He mostly uses vowel sounds or "da" when he sings the notes.  For 18 months he has really good pitch.

He loves to snuggle with his stuffed animals, tag blanket, and blankets.  He loves to read books in bed at naptime and bedtime, but I began taking them away last night because he will look at one book for hours instead of sleeping and just yesterday ripped up a page. 

I love how Nate always waves bye-bye to me and says night night when it say good night to him.  He goes to bed really well most nights and seems to look forward to it most nights as well.

Nate gets excited to eat.  When he sees the food coming he immediately flaps his arms and laughs in an excited anxious manner.  He is a great eater.  He eats most anything.  About a week ago, I was making dinner and Nate wanted to eat right then instead of waiting, so I gave him several stems of raw asparagus and he devoured them.  I was very surprised.  What kid eats raw asparagus?

Josh

I cannot believe his natural swing.  Notice in the pick he keeps his head down the whole time he is hitting the ball.  I'm impressed.

Josh made this whole dinner for us and was so excited to surprise us.  He set the table and got all of us carrots, cheese, crackers, pineapple, and cereal.  I have to say I was impressed that he got all of the food groups for the meal except meat.

Things to Remember about Josh

4 Years

Josh had his 4 year old checkup and weighs about 32 pounds and is in the 20th percentile.  He graduated from his 1st year of preschool on May 18th, road his bike like crazy on their last day (all the kids get to bring their bikes and ride around in the parking lot) and got his cast off the following day May 19th.  He couldn't ride his bike or jump on the tramp for a week after, which was really hard for Josh, but he could finally use both hands and be more independent which is Josh's nature.  Josh's left arm is still bent, the doctor says that it will straighten out as Josh grows (hope he's right).

Things Josh Can Do All By Himself 

Bathe, put on lotion, get dressed, make peanut butter and jelly sandwhich, make simple meals, get in the car and buckle his carseat, can fold laundry and clean his room when he feels like it, goes to quiet time and bed all by himself most days.

Josh has made me breakfast in bed 3 or 4 times in the last month.  He usually brings me a bowl of soggy cereal with the command to not spill.  One time he brought me cereal with milk and yogurt.  It made me laugh inside and I pretended to eat it.  The other times I would take a few bites and secretly get rid of the rest.  It is always so cute to see his face light up when I tell him thank you for the breakfast.  He really is becoming so sweet and thoughtful.

He also loves to secretly make dinner when he knows quiet time is almost over.  He has surprised me and Nate with dinner on several occasions.  He gets so excited to show me his surprise dinner and he always eats everything he makes all gone, while me and Nate just eat some of it and give Josh the rest of ours.  He has a little bit different taste in food than Nate and I (Josh only eats very plain and bland foods).

I'm always trying to get Josh to eat new foods.  His favorite dinner has been rosemary chicken pasta for the last 2 years, but I can't make it all the time, so I've tried variations of that meal and Josh will eat them, so this week I tried fetticine alfredo and he kept telling me he didn't like it and I kept telling him that I made it just for him, but he still refused.  A few minutes later I saw him actually taste it out of the corner of my eye and then he enthusiastically and passionately said, "I love it!!!  I love it!!!" Yay!!!"  He said this 10 times, no joke.  It really made me feel good and it was so cute.

The other day, I gave Josh a "present" an art kit.  He opened it up and he was so excited and exclaimed so happily, "You got me glue!!!"  Thank you!!!  He has been using the art kit alot.

The following morning, Josh burst into my room with a box of Fruit Loops and exclaimed, "You got me Fruit Loops because you know I love them!  That is so nice!  Thank you!  Can I eat them for breakfast?"  He is always so happy and enthusiastic about so many things.

That afternoon Josh came up to me really excited about something while I was cleaning the kitchen and said;  "Mommy, I am going to get you a present!!!... Soap... because you will love it!!  Me and daddy are going to go to the store tomorrow and get it for you!"  It was cute and apparently I love soap, of course, since I use it all the time and am telling everyone to use soap all the time.

Josh loves to read and especially the scriptures.  Every night without fail Josh asks if we read the Book of Mormon.  As we read I ask him questions.  It truly amazes me how much he understands and comprehends.  Josh's favorite scripture story is Jonah and the Whale.  He also loves any story about Nephi.  Josh goes through phases with being resist to praying.  Mostly, I think it is because he doesn't like being told what to do.  He is learning more and more how important it is and prays often, when he decides he actually wants to.  He is a stubborn boy.  Probably takes after his mom  =O

The older Josh gets, the sweeter and more cuddly he gets.  He loves to give hugs and kisses and he wants to cuddle every night.

Josh loves friends.  He loves kids all ages from infants, toddlers, to big kids.  He will play with anyone who wants to.  The other day he told me that he loves everyone and has no enemies.  I thought that was really cute and it is such a great quality that Josh has.

The other day, I felt that I had lost my temper with Josh too much.  I went to apologize to him and this is how our conversation went: "Josh, I'm sorry I'm such a mean mom."  Josh replied very firmly looking me straight in the eyes in an exasperated tone.  "Mommy, you are not a mean mommy!  You are a nice mommy!"  "You didn't think I was being mean?"  "No, you are nice!"  He then gave me a big hug and kiss.

Josh has become my personal trainer the last couple of months.  Without fail everyday when I lay Nate down for his nap Josh says: "Let's do a workout video.  I'll pick it out."  He definitely makes sure I lift weights and do pilates everyday.  Sometimes he even works out with me.  He is always saying the funniest things to me to get me to continue working out, for example: "Mom, you are not done yet!  Keep working out!  Mom, you are strong and getting stronger!  Good job, Mommy."  Often after I finish a cardio/weightlifting video, Josh will say "Mom, you are not done yet, you need to do pilates now."  This kid is definitely whipping me into shape.

Josh loves to go golfing.  A few weeks ago the neurosurgery department had their annual golfing tournament and Josh was able to go.  He loves it.  He played in a scramble with John for 18 holes and he hit at every hole.  At the end of the tournament he won a prize for being the youngest golfer and won a set of real kids golf clubs.  He loves to golf almost everyday and to go the putting green and driving range with his dad as much as dad can take him.

Both of my boys bring me so much joy.  They are demanding and challenging much of the time, but they are more than worth it.  I feel that time is going way too fast.  I want it to slow down because I know this season of life with my young boys will be gone soon and I really want to enjoy it and soak it all in.