Happy 18 Months Nate!!!

Sweet!
Crazy!

Nate will be 18 months tomorrow and he had a great checkup today (minus the MMR shot which was hard on everyone... poor baby). Our chunk is slimming down and his height and weight are finally equivalent on the growth chart (this makes our doctor happy, he was getting a bit worried about Nate's man thighs). Nate weighed in at nearly 30.5 pounds and was almost 34 inches (though it was hard to get an accurate height measurement as he was throwing a fit about being naked in a strange place. Nate saves his nudity for home people). His height is at or above 95% and his weight is 92%. Clearly we are not feeding him enough. 

Nate is a sunshine boy! Full of laughter and love! How is our baby already 1.5 years old! 

Apple picking (and other fun weekend adventures)

A line of big strong king men! 

So serious as we start to look for apples!
Running like a wild man through the rows of apple trees! look at that happy grin!

We had such a fun Sunday (saturdays are for house stuff, the little gym, grocery shopping, etc... still fun but less dramatic!). In the morning we headed to a gorgeous nature preserver (Lake of the woods). It has wide nature paths cut into the meadows and fields (complete with butterflies, creeks, and a mind-blowing number of crickets). We pretty much just unleashed the men on one of the paths and they ran up and down hills, hid behind bushes, chased butterflies. We got a bit stuck when Nate found a half-dried mud hole. The boy was so content in the  mud he was practically like a hippo! 

After nap-time we headed to the a local apple orchard/pumpkin patch for apple picking. The boys were unimpressed with apple picking. But Eli was totally into pulling the wagon and running wild, and Nate was fascinated by EVERY SINGLE APPLE on the ground! It was so fun to be out and about after being cooped up for so long! 

Crush On You Natty-Bear

Eli's Crush: Natalie Kenagy

Eli has a crush on Natty Kenagy! She is fiesty like her Mommy and a whole lot of fun! Natalie is also as sweet-as-can-be because she sent Eli a great get well soon book called " how do dinosaurs get well soon" ! We have read it 8 times already and Eli always tell us that he is brave like the dino's in the book! Until we meet again sweet Natty-bear! 

Meet our Creature

Trying to hide behind the crib for his favorite game of hide-and-seek! He loves to be "caught"
Playing his first favorite game "peek-a-boo"!
Taking off his diaper and about to make a break for it!

Meet the Creature! Yesterday while we were all playing in the backyard Nate was running from bush to bush trying to play hide-and-seek while squealing like a maniac! Eli looks at us and asks " Daddy, What is that CREATURE doing?" 

Where does Eli come up with this stuff! Such a joker!

Painting fun

Eli loves to mix up his colors
Happy boy with a paintbrush!
Nate's first masterpiece!
What else! Nate eating paint!

So the boys and I are pretty much stuck at home for the next week (while Eli finished up his NEW antibiotics). This means that all of our favorite kid friendly hangouts are off limits (playgrounds, preschool, book stores, library, etc...). So we have been getting even craftier than usual! I have finally resigned myself to the fact that Nate is going to eat stuff and non-toxic art supplies wont hurt his iron tummy! So we can paint to our hearts content! The boys loved it! After we painted we went on a LONG neighborhood nature walk and collected leaves, twigs, tree bark, flowers, dirt, etc... Tomorrow we will glue our nature treasures to some colored paper and make art! 

P.S. Eli has a nasty antibiotic resistant pneumoccocal bacteria infection and we had to switch antibiotics... again! So this new antibiotic is our last great at-home hope. If it doesnt work we have to go back into the hospital! I think it is working because Eli has been extra NAUGHTY today, which means he feels well enough to act like an almost 3 year old! Is it 5:30 yet?

Poor Eli

A snuggle and read with daddy always makes Eli feel better!
Looking a bit pale and skinny (but still absolutely adorable) after a rough week!!! Sweet face!

Eli has had a very very hard week! Last saturday went to the dr. and he was diagnosed with a nasty ear infection and he had a small perforation in his ear (leaking a little fluid). By that afternoon after starting antibiotics his fever spiked to 105 and pretty much stayed that way until Tuesday night. 

The short version of this saga is that we called the Dr. multiple times, went to the ER on Monday for suspected meningitis and finally ended up checking into the hospital on Tuesday night after his eardrum ruptured and his ear swelled and stuck out from his head (like a dumbo ear). This was one sick little boy. 

Eli was diagnosed with Mastoiditis (infection of the mastoid bone behind the ear.) After his CT scan on Wednesday morning he was also diagnosed with a total sinus infection in addition to the ear infection. Essentially, our poor baby was a mess! 

It was a very frustrating week because we knew in our gut that something was really wrong with Eli and the Pediatrician and ER doctor did not listen to us! Thank goodness for Uncle Doctor Chris who got involved and helped set Eli up with the care he needed! Uncle Chris is the best! 

Eli was released from the hospital on Thursday at noon! He was such a trooper for the two nights we were in the hospital and was very very brave through all the tests, IV's and medicine! He got to watch a couple of cool movies and TV shows (which is extra special as we never watch TV in our house). He was the sweetheart of the hospital with those gorgeous blue eyes and sweet smile. 

The best moment was the day we were discharged when the Doctor and residents were doing rounds. We were all circled around the bed and talking about Eli and he just burst into song because 1) he had an audience and 2) we were not paying attention to him! Such a joker! 

Sam and Nate became best friends forever and manned the house! They came to visit every day and Eli and I missed them like crazy! 

We are not totally out of the woods yet. After being discharged Thursday Eli's fever spiked again Thursday night and we had to head to the pediatric critical care clinic to get some antibiotic shots in Eli's thighs. Eli received a second round of antibiotic shots yesterday and today we are back to the oral antibiotic. So far so good so keep your fingers crossed that he responds well to his antibiotics and heals quickly! 

We will keep you posted! 

Wild man Nate

Tall enough to open doors, mischievous enough to get into trouble!
Random cheerio on head! This provided much humor at breakfast this morning! what a nut!

Nate is exploding physically and mentally right now!  He has a crazy vocabulary and has already started memorizing his favorite books and songs and signing them back to us (books: "Go dogs go" and song "Baby Beluga").  People in our music and little gym classes always comment on how totally happy he is! He is a big, smiling, rolly-polly happy guy! He is starting to run (which means I am starting to chase him). He climbs  on everything and laughs like a maniac while he does it! His temper has mellowed and we only very rarely see it these days (he saves it for serious business like not being able to climb on something he wants to).  He is almost 18 months and I cant wait to see what his stats are at his appt.  We are so infatuated with this little boy! 

Rainy Day Easel Time

Eli loves the dry-erase board because he can change up his pictures and start over
Nate loves to eat dry erase markers, then color, then eat crayons, then color, then eat dog food, then color, then hide under the dining room table, then eat more crayons... since a theme here?
Eli at work and Nate thinking about whether he should eat a marker or a crayon! Tough choice!

The best way to spend part of a gloomy, rainy midwest friday morning? Drawing with the boys at the easel! Such fun! Such artists!

My Guys

In this picture Eli is pretending to be a famous paleontologist who found exciting stegosaurus bones! No really, that is what he is doing! He has a CRAZY imagination!
My Guys coming home after a night-time neighborhood walk! Such a handsome group!

Farmer Nate doing it old school style with converse sneakers! Look at those chunky cheeks and his cutie-pie snuggly body! I love my pork-chop!

Funny story time:

Eli and I started his art class this week (Art Smart for Toddlers). As he is painting at the easel his art teacher asks him about the circles he is painting (in such happy yellow and orange colors) and he tells her he is painting a picture of his baby Nate's perfectly spherical head! The Art teacher looked like she was going to fall over! Thats my boy! 

So Sam, Eli, Nate and I were in the car and Nate was playing with a police car that had an Elmo stuffed doll in the driver seat. Eli asked "What is Elmo doing?" Being a daddy to boys and a guy himself, Sam replies "Picking up Chicks"! So at this point Nate pipes in with "Chicks" wearing that ridiculously cute gap tooth smile! Yep, I worry for the girls in our neighborhood! Watch out the King Brothers are on the loose! 

Nate is now learning colors and always knows the color blue! His new word of the day (other than chicks) is caterpiller! Eli is a counting and letter maniac and continues to floor us with his vocabulary, logic, and imagination! 

Happy Birthday Auntie Becca!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AUNTIE BECCA!!!

Happy Birthday to You

Happy Birthday to You

Happy Birthday Auntie Becca

Happy Birthday to You!!!

We wish we were in Georgia to give you Big Smoochies! 

Love, Eli, Nate and Milo too!!!