"That's My Favorite!"

Before we know it, I will be posting Nathan's fourth birthday party pictures with more updates.  Time sure goes by fast; that is why I enjoy creating this blog for family and friends to view, but also to be able to look back on how much he has changed. I like to re-read what he was into at each stage of his life.  I hope that someday when Nathan is older, that he will enjoy having this.   

June Highlights (continued from last posting):

At the end of June Nathan stayed with his Uncle Tyler and Aunt Jamie for a week while Mommy and Daddy shared some R&R time together in Hollywood, Florida.  Tyler and Jamie were really excited to have Nathan stay with them and I'm sure they were really excited for us to come back home too.  They did a great job taking care of Nathan and he did really well for them.  We brought home a surprise for Nathan from the Disney Store in Florida; Nathan loves the strawberry smelling plush bear named Lotso from Toy Story 3.



Mommy and Daddy in Florida!



Nathan at Tyler & Jamie's home

Doing the Flick pose (ant from A Bug's Life movie) 



Back home again - Nathan opening his surprise

 

When Nathan saw Lotso he said "I love him" 

July Highlights:

Nathan loves to play outside, especially in his sandbox.  He likes to have a little bucket of water to play with while making his creations in the sandbox - this must be a boy thing.  He also likes to gather a bunch of sticks or leaves to fill up his yellow Tonka dump truck, dump them out and refill the dumper again and again.  He likes to have a stick in hand and dig around in any dirt he finds. But...any little bug that may get near him he moves away from and says "Eew, bug!"; unfortunately I think he picked that up from me.  It's cute when he spots a fly because he calls it a "shoo fly".  

A couple years ago Nathan was intimidated by playground equipment at a school or park but this is no longer the case.  He loves going down the slide.  He may be a little too brave as he likes to climb back up the slide or peak over the edge making his Mommy and Daddy nervous.  He loves the swings too, wanting to go up high and he enjoys climbing around other equipment as if he's a little monkey. 


August Highlights:

It is great that Nathan is staying dry during nap time each day.  He is having trouble staying dry through the night so he still wears a night time Pull-Up to bed; on occasion he will wake up dry.  A few times he woke up during the middle of the night saying he needed to go potty.  This is great but it's hard to express excitement in my voice at 1:00am in the morning saying "Okay, let's go potty!" while rushing to the bathroom to assist. For Nathan's encouragement to stay dry through the night, we bought him Spiderman underwear that he can wear once he has mastered this last important potty training task!

The Wiese/Campbell families met in Omaha for the weekend.  Our visit together usually involves going to the Henry Doorly Zoo but that did not work this year; it rained the day we planned to go and it was cold outside so no one was dressed for the colder temperature! Regardless, we enjoyed the family time together and Nathan fell in love with a girl - Kodie (Uncle Brandon's girlfriend). The whole weekend was all questions about Kodie.  He is a little flirt already; scary!

Look at those googly eyes of Nathan's towards Kodie!







Nana took Nathan to a Build-A-Bear store

September Highlights:

He is interested in playing with action figures and super heroes now.  Before it was all about cars, trucks, and trains but now he has become interested in playing with guys that fight each other and he talks to them.  Nathan has a great imagination while playing.

Even though Nathan has that classic boy mentality, he has a soft side to him as well.  He loves his stuffed animals and has about half a dozen of them in bed with him along with little blankie and big blankie each night.  Surprisingly he does switch out a few stuffed animals for different ones at times but he always has puppy (the musically puppy that no longer works) and Lotso in bed with him.   

Isaac and I are pretty sure Nathan doesn't understand the definition of the word favorite yet since he comments on many different things saying "that's my favorite!" but we just smile and agree with him.   

For the past month or so, Isaac and Nathan have created a Saturday morning routine together.  The two of them go to Hy-Vee to get donuts to bring home for breakfast and Isaac picks up Caribou Coffee for us on the way home.  This is a nice bonding time for the two of them; plus a great time for me to get ready for the day with no interruptions. 

It was great having Nana, Papa, Uncle Brandon, and Kodie stay with us over Memorial weekend.  Papa rode his bicycle in the Triathlon again this year. 



Quality time in the sandbox with Papa



Nathan and Nana spending time together

Uncle Brandon, Nathan, and Kodie



"Look who's lap I'm sitting on!"



It's a Nathan sandwich!



As part of Isaac's birthday weekend, we spent the day in Omaha on Sunday going to the Henry Doorly Zoo (what we missed out doing last month).  Daddy's present from Nathan is an Iowa State Man Cave sign. 



It was sweet of Isaac to let Nathan blow out the candles



Papa brought the wagon from their house for Nathan ~

He loved riding in it...



...and so did Mommy!





It was great to have Nana, Papa....

...Uncle Tyler, Aunt Jamie....

...Uncle Brandon, and Kodie join us at the zoo.

This winter Nathan will be wearing 4T long-sleeved shirts, pants, and underwear.  His shoes are size 11.  Nathan shows interest in his clothing now - he gets really excited with new clothes and likes to show them off to his teachers at daycare the first day he wears a new shirt.  This is the last size of clothes and shoes in the Toddler section, Boys sizes are next!  I think I might shed a tear when I start shopping in the Boys section because our little boy is growing up.