Pre-Christmas with Nona

The past few weeks have brought us many visitors! First off was Nona, who came to stay for a week and brought early presents and many laughs to Nate. Nona got to witness Nate's soccer class, go look at newts and ride the steam train in Tilden, jump in puddles and help Nate perfect his new photo smile. And she took some great family photos with her fabulous camera. Nate is still enjoying his bulldozer and kitty cat and his hat just like Daddy's, and after all of the yarns Nona was spinning about the bulldozer driver, Nate still keeps asking us, 'what he do now?' to which we say, I don't know, you'll have to ask Nona!

Catching up with Nate

SO, since we got back from Florida, things have been busy and apparently we haven't taken many photos! But that is changing with the recent visit of Nona and the impending visit of Mio, Grampy and Uncle Andy... so keep watching this space. In the meantime, here are some good ones from the past month!

Fun in Florida!

Something went screwy with our camera and many of our FL pictures are blurry, but these will give you a general idea of how glorious it was. First we spent two nights in South Beach at a swank hotel, where Nate had his first dip in a swimming pool, ventured onto the windy beach, and enjoyed using our curtains to be a monster. Then we drove up to Delray Beach to visit Ed Sr, Ed Jr, Grandma Cathy and many other Smith family relatives. Ed and Paige were wonderful hosts and we loved their gorgeous place! Nate had a blast playing with the dogs and the cat, meeting his cousins, riding the waverunner, swimming in the pool, seeing all the birds, and going to the zoo. He still talks about everyone (especially Pop Pop, Daisy and Oscar) and is already asking when he can go back.

Off to Florida

The whole little family is off tomorrow morning - well, in just a few hours actually! - to Miami and then Boyton Beach, Florida to visit the Smith clan. Parker and Nate especially look forward to meeting Grandma Cathy, who made Nate's beautiful quilt which he loves. Also looking forward to some warm weather and days on the beach to relax and regroup after the crazy election. YES WE CAN!

We will have many fabulous photos when we return. In the meantime, thanks to Mio and Grampy for coming out to visit and helping take care of Nate this past week and a half. We miss you already!

Halloween: Toonces the Cat

For Nate's first conscious Halloween, we finally found the perfect costume - a little black kitty cat. This was ideal since Nate has recently taken to referring to himself in the third person as a kitty cat, as in "mama carry kitty cat?" and "kitty cat go night night" etc. We had a laugh when he wanted to drive the car, since it reminded us all of that old SNL skit of Toonces the Driving Cat...

Anyway, we went trick-or-treating with our old nanny share partners but hadn't told Nate anything about t-n-t so he had no idea what was going on at first. But once he got the hang of it, he was hooked! We didn't manage to get it on video, but for a while he would walk along looking into his bag and saying "Nate got bag! with something!" This 'something' is of course candy, but he doesn't have any idea what that is, and being a super finicky eater, wouldn't even try a piece of chocolate when I offered it to him. Oh well, more for us!!

Election Day 2008

Gotta love these 'Rednecks for Obama'!

My favorite quote from one of them: "My dad used to say, 'A poor man who votes for a Republican is a fool.'" Here's the link to the full article: 'Rednecks for Obama' defy conventional wisdom
Tony Viessman (left) and Les Spencer of Rednecks for Obama make it clear where their votes will be going at Washington University in St. Louis on the day of the vice presidential debate. (Michael Mathes / AFP / Getty Images)

Almost doesn't count, Red Sox

I guess this just wasn't enough to make the difference. Oh well! This year we'll be rooting for the Phillies!! Plus, Nate can still say "Vote Obama" so we're hopeful about that one.

silly boys

I went to the grocery store on Monday night and came home to find that Nate and Dadda had created a new game. Nate loves to use a cup and his dump truck to pretend he is collecting garbage in the can and then dumping it in the truck, etc. Well, Ed ripped up some junk mail and squished it into little balls to make pretend garbage, and somehow the game evolved into Nate trying to put the "garbage" in Ed's mouth. Hysteria followed - I could hear Nate laughing from the stairwell! Sorry the video is dark, but the sound is more important anyway.

Trip to Grass Valley

This past weekend we went up to Grass Valley (north of Sacramento, on the way to Lake Tahoe) for a little weekend trip. Parker was speaking at an event on Friday evening and we figured we'd make the most of it by staying an extra night. We had a great time running around town and enjoying the cold fall weather and the local harvest festival. Nate has been telling everyone about the highlights from his perspective - the trucks and toys in his own little room at the guest house, eating one of several delicious apples, driving a firetruck, petting goats and cows and getting honked at by a goose, and checking out his first pumpkin patch. You will see all of this and more below.