an ornament for Nate

I had told Rodgers that one thing I'd really like to have is a table and chairs set for the balcony. We went to Lowe's this week (or was it last week?) to look at some. The Christmas section just happens to be in the patio section. Of course I looked at their Christmas stuff!

As I was perusing the ornaments, I found very cheesy pewter star ornaments for sons and daughters. The son one says:

Son
There is no greater
gift than the love
of a son.

It wasn't exactly the "baby's first Christmas" type of ornament I was looking for. But it would be an ornament in honor of Nate.

Knowing how cheesy my husband is, I knew right away that he'd love it. I took it to him (he was still looking at patio furniture). He was, I'm sure, inwardly rolling his eyes that I'd found something Christmasy to buy. After reading the text, though, he told me, "If you don't buy that, you can't buy anything in this store!" Which is his way of saying that it was the best, most meaningful item in the entire Lowe's store.

It now hangs on our tree.

my tmi blog

Some of my readers know that I started another blog a few months ago. Some of you don't know, which is why I'm posting this PSA. It is about my recovery from childbirth. I call it "my tmi blog," and it is not for the faint of heart. TMI describes it accurately. Seriously.

There are only seven posts over there; I don't post on that blog often. I just posted an update, though. I don't expect that everyone wants to read it, but I think there are probably a few of you who would be interested.

You'll find it here: http://mamakibuyu.blogspot.com/. And seriously, if you're queasy about childbirth or female anatomy, don't read it! [I think that would make a rather good tagline for my tmi blog...]

our Christmas tree

Yes, I know it's still the first half of November. I don't have a "no Christmas before Thanksgiving" rule. I have a "start Christmas as soon as you can" rule!

The past 2 years, I've been borrowing the top 2 tiers of my mom's Christmas tree. She wasn't going to put it out, and the whole thing is way too big for an apartment. So I took the top and middle pieces. It actually made for a very cute apartment-friendly tree.

Being that we have a wee lad this year who gets into everything and is in demolition mode, I decided we should not have decorations he can reach, destroy, or pull down on top of himself. I had thought about getting some garland to hang over the bar and fireplace (way up high), but then Rodgers suggested getting a small tree to put on the bar. Actually, he first suggested to not decorate at all, but I wasn't having that! So, we got a 3' tree from Hobby Lobby a week or so ago.

I saw no reason to put it away in the storage closet only to bring it out again in a couple of weeks to decorate, so I put it up almost right away. I strung the lights a few days later, when I wanted to procrastinate cleaning the bathrooms. And I put ornaments on a few days after that.

Since it's so small, I only used our memory ornaments. We have a lot of gold and clear glass ornaments, as well as some odd ones that just sort of tickle my fancy. But my favorite ornaments are those that represent certain memories.

For example, last year, we got a Texas State Parks and Wildlife ornament on our honeymoon, a Santa on South Padre ornament from our babymoon, an "our first Christmas" one, and a "parents-to-be" one. So as I was decorating the tree, I had these little reminders of all the great things that happened in 2009.

I wanted to do the same thing this year, and I want to continue this as kind of a tradition. I am debating whether I should get a general "baby's first Christmas" ornament or a picture frame one for a "first Christmas" picture of Nate. I haven't decided yet, but there will definitely be one for his birth in 2010. Not that we need a memento to remember that, but I want something special for him.

We went to England and Kenya this year. It was Nate's first time to fly, and my first time to fly with a baby. That was a significant adventure for the two of us. When we bought our little tree, I found an airplane ornament, which now represents that memory. Then, I found a zebra ornament. We didn't see zebras while we were in Kenya this time, but they do have zebras there. Also, the reason we went to England was for Cat's wedding, and she loves zebras. So that is a great symbol of our trip!

Pooh. ::snicker::

My inner 8 year old loves that Winnie the Pooh is called Pooh for short. The ear can't hear a difference between Pooh and poo, you know.

Nate has a lovey/security blanket that has Winnie the Pooh on it. We keep it on the changing table. He usually needs something to do with his hands when he's getting a diaper change. I think it's fitting that his diaper change toy be Pooh Bear (well I call it Poo Bear, but it sounds the same).

This picture is from Bonanza, but that's the one he has.

A few weeks ago, the Atkinson IIIs were here visiting us. Trey was reading Lauren a book of Nate's about Winnie the Pooh. He eats too much honey and gets stuck in Rabbit's door, which is a rabbit hole. The other characters get together to help Pooh get unstuck. At the end of the book, they succeed. The line goes something like, "And Pooh popped out of the hole!" I had tried to stifle my laughter, but who can keep from laughing at that?

And then I remembered (and was reminded again today by Lamebook) that there is a book carrying the unfortunate title of Cooking with Pooh. No lie.

And my inner 8 year old giggles with glee.

a new tab

Since I use this blog as a way to brag about my baby, I decided to add a "Nathanael" page/tab. This is where I will keep updated stats about my baby. Sort of a one-stop-shop for info about Nate. Today I added this:

Stats
Birthday: January 15
Height at birth: 21 in
Weight at birth: 9 lbs 7 oz
Height (as of 10/20/10): 28 in
Weight (as of 10/20/10): 20 lbs 3 oz

Likes: monkeys, Elmo, falling down, bathtime, music, rough housing
Dislikes: vacuum cleaner, teething, waiting, diaper changes

Milestones
sits
crawls
pulls up
cruises
climbs
feeds self finger foods
holds own bottle or sippy cup
signs "milk"
occasionally calls Mama and Daddy by name, usually just babbles
has 4 teeth

Schedule (all times approximate and subject to change based on the mood of the baby)
7 am wake up
7:15 6 oz bottle
9 4 oz bottle and dry cereal
9:30-11 nap
11:15-12:15 6 oz bottle and solids (either a jar of food or finger food when we eat lunch, he usually has at least a 30 min break between bottle and solids at lunchtime)
1:30-3:30 nap
3:45 4 oz bottle and fruit or yogurt
6 6 oz bottle
7 pm bedtime

EDIT: if you read my blog through a reader or Facebook, the link to the page is here: http://rodgersrachel.blogspot.com/p/nathanael.html