Our daycare has a Back to School Night coming up and they sent us the cutest invitation for it. It was really nice to get something so creative and fun from them and know that they involved Nathan in it. Nathan did his first artwork at daycare too, which we’ll get to see at the Back to School Night. I can’t wait to frame Nathan’s first finger painting!

I have to say that our daycare has been really wonderful so far. Sure, there are kinks to work out, but overall they are wonderful with him and really seem to love him. One of the hardest things has been going back to work and sending Nathan to daycare. After talking to some of the other new mothers I know, this seems to be a common feeling. There is, of course, sadness about leaving your baby with someone else and missing that time with them. But there is also some guilt that you can’t be there for them as much. It helps tremendously to feel like the people caring for your child also have his best interest at heart and take their jobs seriously.

I spent a few hours at the daycare last week so I could see how Nathan spends his day. It was really nice to see the toys he plays with and some of the things they do with him. I have to admit that I had really mixed emotions when he was giving his teacher lots of huge smiles. Im thrilled that he is so comfortable with his caregivers and that he obviously likes them, but there is a little smidge of jealousy that they get so many smiles during the day that Gary and I are missing. Or even more extreme, he’s rolled over for them but not for us! It took me a little while to get over that, but now I’m just happy that he did it and can’t wait to see it for myself. Currently he’s not doing it for anyone, probably because he’s too busy talking, blowing raspberries and trying to eat his feet. His new noises are quite cute and watching him lick his toes is a guarenteed laugh.

Nathan enjoyed his first Ravens Game this past weekend. I’m looking forward to a lot more family Sundays watching football. It’s a good excuse to just hang out on the couch together and not worry about any of the other stuff we have to do for a couple hours.

Gary ordered Nathan a cute Raven’s onsie for the occasion.

Nathan Does!
I took this picture of Nathan as he was looking at up Gary. This was the first time he’d seen Gary after coming home from daycare. How happy does he look???

This was too cute not to post.
The mat they’re playing on has sensors in it, so when Nathan touches parts of it, it makes noises. He was amused for a few minutes since there are bright objects to look at, and I think he’ll love it in a couple of months when he figures out what he can do with it.

9/9/07

Nathan in his bouncy seat earlier this month. He loves kicking stuff right now and gets excited about the toys on this, which are activated when he hits them.

Nathan in his Bumbo seat. I think this is from August 26.
He always looks very serious when he’s sitting in the Bumbo.

Nathan and Danielle on August 26.
Nathan spent a good part of this weekend yelling. He wasn’t upset or tired when he did it, I think he just liked the sound of his voice. We were trying to get it on tape, but of course he stopped doing it as soon as we started filming.

Here is a short clip of Nathan’s first time in the sand. This is from the weekend we spent in Ocean City in late July.

Nathan attended his first annual crab feast with Gary’s family this weekend. He was quite handsome when we arrived, even sporting a pair of baby Chucks. But of course, within 15 minutes of arriving he was down to his onsie and stayed that way the rest of the afternoon.

Nathan had a lot of fun visiting with the family, some of whom had not seen him since he was 8 days old at his Bris. I think he was a hit!

One thing Gary and I have noticed is that it’s a bit harder to go out now that Nathan is older. Nathan loves it for the most part, but when there is so much stimulation its hard to get him to nap and that makes for a very overtired and overgrouchy baby. I’m guessing (and hoping) that this is something new parents get better at as time goes on.