My little boy turned 2 years old on March 19th. I can't believe how fast he is growing up. He has been the sweetest and funnest little guy to have around. He is such a good kid. We adore him. We had all sorts of festivities while we were in Utah to celebrate. We took the whole family to Jungle Jims and I've never seen it so packed. It was crazy, but the kids loved the rides all the same. Nathan even went on the roller coaster with Scott. That thing is pretty fast! We also had a sunday birthday dinner complete with Toy Story decorations. Nathan is currently obsessed with all things toy story and plays with his toy story "guys" non stop all day! After dinner and cake we had some classic party games like the limbo (go Mike!), freeze dance, and a pinata. It was a great time. The celebrations continued in St. George at Pizza factory with the classic 2 shaped pizza. What a great tradition. He was a spoiled little boy!
The kids' birthdays always make you think of how much life has changed since they've been around. Nathan has been so good for all of us- especially his sisters. He has taught them some patience at times, and brought out the motherly side of them at other times. Maddie and Bella really do love Nathan and are so good about playing with him and making him happy. He loves to chase and wrestle and I love hearing the classic boy sound effects he makes when he plays. He has been my constant little buddy and side kick- especially with the girls at preschool 4 mornings a week. I've loved having this time with him. We try to do story times and fun outings, but he also gets dragged on all my errands and is a good shopping buddy- most of the time. (A lot of the time he tries to run away and I lose him in the store!)
I think I've also really enjoyed Nathan because he was my first time taking care of just one baby. It was a whole different experience than the girls in many ways. It wasn't my first time figuring out how to take care of a little person either, so I know I did some things different and learned from a few mistakes I made with the girls. Having two big sisters has changed the dimensions and helped in many ways too, but I can honestly say that Nathan has been a total joy. He is so sweet and gives me lots of loves all day. He is entering that independent stage and wants to do everything himself and his way, so we do have our battles too. He knows how to push the girls' buttons and he does require some bribing but what kid doesn't?
I'm a little nervous about a new baby coming into his world in a couple months. I remember when I was about to have Nathan that I started feeling guilty thinking that I wouldn't have enough time or energy to give to the girls. I've started feeling this way with Nathan and our new little girl to come because a lot of the time he is still my little baby. They'll be just over 2 years apart too. When we were thinking about having another baby I really wanted a sibling close in age for Nathan because I love how Maddie and Bella have each other all the time. They are the best of friends, and I wanted a playmate for Nathan. I'm trying to remember that now as we get closer to baby. I know it will be hard on him at first, but in the long run I hope he'll have a great little friend.
While we were in Utah he had a hard time sleeping in a pack and play. He has just gotten too big for them and so a lot of the nights he would end up in our bed. Now that we have come home he has suddenly decided that he is too big for his crib and he is sleeping in his big boy bed (our guest queen bed). We are moving him into the bigger guest room so he has more room for toys and we won't have to buy a new bed. We'll make his current room the new nursery. It is definitely an adjustment I wasn't quite ready to make, but here we are. He wasn't climbing out of his crib so I wanted to keep him in it as long as possible. I like knowing he can't get out of bed. He isn't having the crib though, and we are all trying to get used to the big bed. It is mostly hard at nap time, because he wants me to lay down with him while he falls asleep. Otherwise he just plays and won't fall asleep. He has been doing pretty well going to sleep at night though. I hope we all get adjusted soon. The other night I looked at him, this tiny boy in a huge queen bed, and it totally made me cry. I wasn't ready for him to grow up so much, but I guess since we'll have a baby very soon, it is a good thing. It is kind of like how he gave up the pacifier all by himself just after a year. One day he just wouldn't take it anymore, and I kept trying to give it to him, but he was ready to be done with it. Although we had some sleep struggles for a little bit, it worked out nice eventually that I never had the battle of taking it away. Now he has decided to be done with the crib, so I've got to roll with it.
He had his 2 year old doctor apointment today and is 80th percentile for height and 75th for weight. He was very brave about getting his shots too. I always hate watching them get shots! Anyway, this turned into a little novel, but I haven't been good about keeping a baby book for Nathan, so I wanted to remember a few things about him. Happy two years to my sweet little guy. Nathan, I love you more than you'll ever know.
