As some you know I had a lot of friends that were all due to have babies right around the time I was. I had several of these crazy phone calls where I called to tell someone I was pregnant only to find out they were too, and due just a few days or weeks after me!

Everyone has had their babies now, and they are all healthy, happy and beautiful. Nine babies in all between March and August!

And in addition to all the new babies, I can’t leave out the leader of the pack, Olivia, who was born in March 2006. She’s a beauty and paving the way for the rest of us.

With all these cute kids out there, I figured a photo album was in order, so you can see them all here.

We had Nathan’s four month appointment earlier this week. He doesn’t technically turn four months until next Tuesday, but he’s had a lingering cold so we moved the appointment up.

Our boy is getting big! He’s 15 lbs 8 oz and 23.5 inches. Both of these measurements keep him around the 50th percentile. He got another round of immunizations and did pretty well with the shots. It hurt my heart to have to drop him off at daycare when all I wanted to do was go home and cuddle him all day. But work I must, so I lingered at daycare after dropping him off and then the teachers gave him some extra love for us.

As for the cold, we are in week three now and he’s still fighting it off. It’s just been a stuffy nose and thankfully it finally seems to be getting better (knock on wood), but I think we have to accept that we are going to be dealing with constant colds and other illnesses for the next, oh, decade or so. The trick is keeping Gary and I from also catching it! We were, unfortunately, not so successful with that this first time.

In other Nathan news he’s doing better and better at propping himself up on his elbows so maybe we’ll see some rolling soon. He’s also using his hands a lot more. He’s started grabbing his feet when we are changing him and makes these jerky motions with his arms as he tries to grab for dangly bright stuff that we put in front of him. It’s very cute.

Being with Nathan just gets better and better as he grows and develops. I mean seriously, what’s better than seeing your baby smiling from ear to ear at you as you talk nonsense in high-pitch tones?? It’s so awesome to watch as he changes and figures things out, and it just blows my mind when I look back at pictures of how tiny he was just 4 months ago.

Four month pictures coming soon so keep an eye out. Ill try to do my usual photo shoot around the 28th.

It is widely known that little boys have an annoying habit of peeing while their diapers are being changed. I don’t know why this happens but it does, and Nathan has been no exception. He has gotten Danielle a number of times and tried to get me several times. So wisely we have been covering him with a wash cloth as we change his diaper in case he gets the urge to go.

All this month we have been noticing how his motor skills have been getting more and more refined. He has started being able to grasp things and hold on to them. So this morning, Danielle was changing Nathan’s diaper and, as usual, had him covered with a wash cloth. Only this time Nathan reached down, grabbed the wash cloth, pulled it away and then peed all over himself and the changing table.

He thought it was quite funny, as did I. Danielle…. well not so much.

As Gary mentioned in an earlier post, we took Nathan to Ocean City this past weekend. It was not only his first trip to the beach but his first overnight away from home. Since this was also OUR first time traveling with Nathan, its safe to say we overpacked just a little bit…did we really need the activity mat, the bumbo AND the bouncy seat for a 3 day trip? Probably not. The bathtub might have been overkill, but I did use it one night since we’d put sunblock on Nathan. And I’d love to say that we’ll know better next time, but I bet our car is just as overloaded for the next trip…which will be to Ithaca for a wedding and to see my mom…so mom, be warned!

Nathan was very smiley and chatty and had lots of fun talking to everyone most of the weekend.

Nathan and Oma

Nathan got to spend a little time with his cousins, Ben and Jacob. I think they are mildly amused by him but he’s not terribly interesting to them yet. Maybe when he’s older and they can all wreak havoc together. Nathan was a little fussy before the picture but Jacob had the magic touch and he was good to go as soon as Jacob was holding him.

We made a big family excursion with him to the beach one evening for family pictures. I don’t think he was particularly thrilled with the wind and cool humid air, but once we had him a little more bundled up and he’d expressed his frustration by spitting up on mom’s shirt, he did just fine.

It appears none of us were particularly thrilled with the sun in our eyes and the wind in our hair. Opa definitely had the right idea with the sunglasses.

Oma and Opa watched Nathan one night so Gary and I could have a nice dinner out. We had a great meal, and a little much needed time as a couple.

Here’s our little family right before we left for dinner

We even got Nathan dressed up for the occasion. It was a somewhat wasted effort since, unfortunately for Oma, Nathan was so pooped he fell asleep shortly after we left and didn’t make a peep the rest of the night!

We took Nathan mini-golfing with us one afternoon. We put him in the bjorn and I tried to keep him shaded most of the time. I somehow managed to have a pretty good one-handed golf game.

Our last morning there, Gary and I took Nathan back down to the beach for some family time in the sand. Nathan was so excited about it that he slept through the entire excursion.

So that about covers it. There are a lot more pictures from our trip in the photo albums link.

Next year- Outer Banks!

Nathan and his big sun hat thank you for reading about our first traveling adventure.