Nathan's Teacher...

Tomorrow, Nathan gets to meet his new preschool teacher, Mrs. Luigs. He told me he wanted to draw her a picture. Great idea! So I got out his crayons and some paper and asked what he was going to draw. He really thought about it for a moment and then went to his toy box that has all of his action figures and people in it. He dug around until he found a "teacher" figure (she came in a box of community workers that he got for his birthday last year). Anyway, he set her in front of him and said he was going to draw a picture of what he thinks Mrs. Luigs looks like. He worked so hard, and this is his finished product!

I hope she's not offended! Ha!

Aquarium at Grapevine Mills

Mama and Papa were on vacation last week and got back on Sunday. Since we were all missing each other, we went to their house to visit first thing Monday morning. After visiting at their house for a while, Mom and I decided to take Nathan and Charlotte to the new sea life aquarium at Grapevine Mills Mall. We've never been to this aquarium, but I knew Nathan would have fun because he loves seeing any kind of animal. Plus he just got a container of sea animals for his birthday to add to his massive animal collection. And because he loves to have whatever animal with him that he is looking at, we stopped by the house to get a sea animal. A shark is what he chose!

The aquarium was really neat because it was small, but had tons to look at with lots of interactive displays. There were tunnels to go through and windows to climb into so it felt like you were in the tanks. It wasn't very crowded so I got Charlotte out of her stroller and let her walk and explore. She was so cute! She was all over the place, but Mama stayed right with her. She wanted to climb on everything and press her face to every window.

After the aquarium, we had a big lunch because we were all starved! We will definitely have to make another trip to the aquarium, and try Legoland next!

Charlotte, 15 Months Old

At 15 months old, Charlotte's personality is really coming out. She is the sweetest thing in the world! From the time she was a little baby, I could already see a difference between her and Nathan. Even as a baby, Nathan was very independent. He was very sweet and loving, but was also always on the go. Charlotte, on the other hand, is perfectly content to be in my arms or sitting on my lap. She absolutely loves to cuddle! Now that she is walking, she is a little bit more adventurous. But the times the she walks the fastest, almost runs, is when she thinks I'm leaving the room. That's when her sweet little waddle turns into a speed walk! When I took her to the doctor yesterday, she weighed 22 lbs 15 oz (60%), and is 30.8 inches tall (75%).  Whenever Nathan used to have his check ups, he always smiled at Dr. G, played with his stethoscope, and babbled. Charlotte was very serious and had a death grip on my arm! The only time she really smiled at the doctor was when I was holding her...she laid her head down on me, wrapped her arms around me as tight as she could and then smiled at him. Towards the end of the exam, Dr. G. wanted to see her walk, so he took her away from me and walked to the other side of the room. As soon as he set her down, she was running into my arms like we hadn't seen each other in months! And when she walks, she has her arms held up to her chest with her hands flopping down and her little bottom sticking out...Wayne and I have nicknamed her "Little Miss Thang" because of the way she prances around!

Not only is she walking all over the place, she is also wanting to climb on anything she can find. She loves to climb onto chairs and sit with her baby dolls. I love it when she climbs into her rocking chair and rocks her babies. She will also sing to them! The other day, she got her baby dolls and Nathan's Buzz Lightyear. She laid them all down on the floor, walked into my bathroom and got a towel from the tub, then took it into the living room to cover them up. What a girly girl!

Nathan's 4th Birthday

My baby boy turned 4 on Saturday! He is such a big boy now, but he still has his "baby" ways. This pose was his idea :) We had his party at the Fire Station right by our house. Nathan was so excited about meeting the firemen! I thought we could have a fire truck cake and plates/napkins since it was at the fire station, but Nathan wanted Transformers...I think the days of me picking out his things (like cake and Halloween costume) are over. Auntie Carrie and Uncle Chris came for the party which made Nathan and Charlotte really happy!

On the day of the party, Nathan was so excited, and he was acting like such a big boy. He told us he would use his nice manners and tell the firemen thank you for letting him have his party there. And he did! The firemen had a lesson for the kids where they talked about fire safety, and they put their fire gear on for the kids so that they would understand that even though they look different in the gear, and maybe a little scary, they are still the same guys. So don't be afraid of them if they have to come to your house. Fire Fighter Jason and Fire Fighter Larry asked the kids lots of questions, which a lot of them knew the answers to! One funny thing that Nathan said was when they asked the kids what they call if there is an emergency. Blake shouted out 911, and we all clapped for him. Then Nathan said, "Except I don't have a real phone to use, just my pretend one." It was so cute!

The kids (with Nathan as the leader) also got to tour the station and also the fire truck. I think that was their favorite part. And Nathan loved it when they turned on the lights and siren...you can see that all of the kids are covering their ears for that part :)

After our fire station party, we went home to open presents. Nathan got so many wonderful things and was so happy to play with his new toys. Later on that evening, Mama and Papa and Grandmother came over for swimming, more presents, and a taco dinner. We had such a great time!

Happy birthday to the best boy in the world!