What's New with Nathan

Nathan is 19 months old and is getting closer and closer to being the big TWO! Time is going by so fast, and we can see Nathan changing every day. Part of me misses the baby stage, but Wayne and I are having so much fun with toddler stage. Nathan brings us so much happiness. We really can't believe how blessed we are! So here is a list of what's going on with us now:

1. Separation anxiety - Nathan went through a stage around Thanksgiving where he did not want me out of his sight for one minute. Actually, he wanted to be in my arms a majority of the time, but would settle (if he had to) on being within arm's reach of me. This was really hard because, although I love him more than anything, there are times that we have to be separated. Taking a shower and going to the bathroom are just a few! Plus, it's a little hard to make dinner when you have a baby in your arms. It was like he thought I would disappear and never come back! Nathan is finally getting over this. I think he's realized he's stuck with me!

2. Temper tantrums - Nathan is normally very happy, silly, and loving. But he has also become very independent (as independent as a 1 1/2 year old can be). Nathan knows what he wants, when he wants it, and how he wants it done. If things don't happen according to his plan, he tends to have a meltdown. During the months where he couldn't bear to be away from me, if things didn't go just his way, he would throw himself down on the ground, scream and cry, and kick his feet. These tantrums have gotten so much better now that we've started "time out" and we are firm about not giving into what it is he thinks he wants when he's acting this way. They do still happen, but are not occurring daily.

3. Time Out - We started this a couple of months ago. I really thought that Nathan was too young to understand the concept but was pleasantly surprised that he picked up on the idea rather quickly. We don't do it with him ALL the time. In the beginning I picked one behavior that I wanted to change...throwing food from his high chair. When he threw it, I gave him a warning, and when he did it again, I immediately put him on the floor facing the wall and counted to 30 (we're working on increasing this as he gets older). I did have to keep putting him back several times because he kept getting up. But he finally stayed there. After a few more days of doing this, I'm happy to say that he is no longer a food thrower! Now, we only do time out when he deliberately does something he knows he's not supposed to do. There was one time that he hit me because he was mad, and I put him in time out right away. I turned my back and started counting. As I was counting, I thought I'd add a little bit more this time since he's been doing so good with staying there until I get him up. I took a quick look at him and saw he was still sitting there and turned back around to count a little longer. When I finished I turned back to get him, and saw that he was gone! I heard some giggling and saw that he was in the dining room, crawling away! I guess we're still working on perfecting this :)

4. Daddy's Shadow - Nathan has gone from wanting to be with me every second of the day, to wanting to do everything with Daddy. He still wants to be with me as much as he can, but once Daddy gets home, he's the one Nathan wants. In the morning, they have their own little routine. Once Nathan hears the shower turn on, he yells "Daddy, Daddy!" He takes his toys into the bathroom and keeps Daddy company while I'm getting our breakfast ready. Wayne props him up on the sink to watch him shave and then when it's time to brush his teeth, Wayne and Nathan do that together. It's so cute! Wayne holds him and puts toothpaste on both of their toothbrushes, and then they watch each other in the mirror brushing their teeth. Nathan tries to copy Wayne EXACTLY. He even spits into the sink!

5. Talking - Nathan talks so much now. There are so many words he says but what I love is how he puts several words together in a simple sentence. He loves to say thank you whenever he gives something to me or I give something to him. When we're in the car, Nathan will take off a shoe, hand it to me, and say "Thank you Mommy." Then he'll take off the other shoe, and do the same thing. This goes on and on until there is nothing more in his reach to throw up to me and say "Thank you Mommy." The other thing I love that he says is "Sorry." It sounds more like "rorry" when he says it. Nathan says sorry whenever he bumps into anything or anyone. He even says it when he hurts himself!

"Rorry" I went on and on. I just want to remember everything that is happening with Nathan! Here are some pictures and videos from last week:



These two pictures were from last weekend when we took Nathan to get his Easter picture taken at the mall with real bunnies. Nathan LOVED the bunnies and was really good. Although I did have to bribe him with several suckers to keep sitting and smiling. I think Nathan had 3 suckers in an hour! After the photo shoot, we took him to see the Easter Bunny. Since Nathan loves rabbits, we figured he'd love the BIG rabbit. He was fine just looking at the Easter bunny, but when I tried to put him on his lap, he screamed no, and had a death grip on me. I tried several times to set him down. I even sat down next to him, but Nathan wanted NOTHING to do with that scary bunny. When Nathan realized we were walking away and that we weren't going to make him sit with the rabbit, he yelled "Bye, Bye rabbit!" and was as happy as can be :)


And these next two videos are of Nathan playing with his new punching bag toy. He thought this was the most fun toy ever!