We spent Christmas here in Dallas. It was so much fun to see Nate's eyes on Christmas morning when he saw all his presents under the tree. He's gotten to really understand the whole present thing, since he visited family in Utah at the start of December and received his birthday and Christmas gifts from them then, so on Christmas morning he totally dug in. The kid was spoiled rotten by everybody, as usual. We've had a lot of fun over the last week playing with all his great new toys--thanks grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins for all the awesome presents!
Christmas Eve it snowed here. Yuck. That's part of why we moved here, to avoid snow, and what do we get, but a "Christmas miracle." We only got an inch or so, but it stuck around until Christmas morning, and we played outside in it after we opened presents. It was Nate's first time to really play in the snow--even though he's been around it before, he was either too young or it was too dang cold to get out and play. Nate quickly caught on to Jake's snowball throwing lessons, and I tried to help him build a snowman, but as soon as it was done, he knocked it over. Nate loved walking in the snow, and kept saying, "Fing (fingers), cold!"
Nate's birthday was fun. The highlight was his new trike, which he calls his bike. He got on it for a minute or two, then discovered the handle for parents to use to push their child. After that, all he's wanted to do is push his trike. We're quite the sight, Nate & I walking around the neighborhood, pushing a trike. We took him to Chili's for his birthday dinner, and he surprised me by actually eating all of his grilled cheese (if you know him well, you know this is quite the accomplishment for my picky eater). Even after the whole sandwich, he still had room for a big piece of cake, eaten much more neatly than was last year's. Below are pictures of all 3 of his birthday cakes, the one he had with us here, and the ones he had with the Barney and Howard families when we visited earlier this month.
Here are some favorite pictures from our trip to Utah. We missed Jake, who couldn't come because of training at his new job with the firm, but he came through like a champ with some gorgeous flowers for me for our 6th anniversary! It was fun to be around family, eat at my old favorite restaurants, and just relax. Sadly, Nate & I both had colds for much of the trip, so we didn't get to see much of Kale & Brynlee. On a happy note though, Nate finally warmed up to Brenda long enough for me to snap their picture--it took two years, but it finally happened!
Below are some pictures from Halloween and other randomness that is a couple of months old . . . better late than never, right?
Nate has become quite the jumper and dancer over the past few weeks. Sometimes I'll catch him dancing and singing along with his favorite PBS show, "Super Why." I really need to catch it on tape, it's too cute for words. I'll end with Nate quotes/what he's been saying lately.
"Nate want ____"
"Hey!" (I've realized I start most sentences with this word.)
"Oh, yeah!"
"Sure, true."
"Big hug, lil hug."
"One. Ah, ah, ah. Two. Ah, ah, ah." (Props to the Count on Sesame Street!)
