Monkey See Monkey Do

Here's a sample of the mirth that ensued during our trip to Louisville back in November.  Liam loves to imitate Nathan in all things, even if it's as silly as falling down over and over again.  The entertainment is seemingly endless.

Liam Rolls Over

Liam passed a milestone this past weekend; he learned to roll over from his stomach to his back:

Grandma and Grandpa B were visiting this weekend, so they were on hand to see it. As you can tell, he definitely enjoyed the excitement that followed his accomplishment.

Clemson Pig Pickin'

Yesterday, we drove out to Fairfax Station, Virginia--a beautiful, semi-rural part of Fairfax county that we never knew existed--to attend a Clemson alumni event.  The "Pig Pickin'" lunch was held at the home of two Clemson alumni, a nice large house with a pool that backs up to farmland.  We went hoping to redirect Nathan to activities other than the pool, but that proved to be impossible.  Fortunately, though, he was content to dip his feet in the water and wade around along the side of the pool, so we didn't have to get in all the way.  As hot as the day was, though, it was nice to sit down beside him and dip our legs in the water, too.  In addition to the pool, they had setup an inflatable Moon Bounce in the backyard, complete with a long slide.  Even though we later discovered that Nathan didn't meet the minimum height requirement to play in the Moon Bounce, he played in it several times during the day, even riding the slide several times:



The lunch itself was quite good; the name of the event notwithstanding, there was barbecue chicken and beef in addition to pork, with three different sauces to choose from, potato salad, cole slaw, and baked beans.  The baked beans were very good and had an unusual flavor; I asked one of the caterers about them and was told that they were cooked with ginger and Sriracha sauce.  Nathan, however, was not very interested in any of the food other than a hamburger bun and some Cheetos.  There was too much to do there besides eat.  All the activity turned out to be quite effective; Nathan slept the entire way home, took a nap when we got home, and still went to sleep easily that evening.  At least, he slept soundly that evening until he figured out how to take his diaper off.  Uh oh...

Nathan Expresses His Love for Mama

Nathan has started picking up a few words, and although he doesn't appear to understand their significance, he still loves to repeat them over and over. At least, he sometimes does...

A Walk in the Sun

We took advantage of the great weather this weekend--a stark contrast to last weekend's four inches of snow--and took Nathan outside to test drive his toy train on the sidewalk. He loves pushing his train up and down the hallway, so it seemed logical that he would enjoy a longer track, especially one with some sunlight. He liked being outside so much that he made three trips up the sidewalk. Uphill was the only route that really worked; the train tended to get away from him on the downhill, so we had a few derailments. But even though today was also his first time in shoes, he took off with almost no trouble at all.

Trying for Liftoff

Nathan has been using his time at Grandma and Grandpa's to try out lots of new talents. Just the other day, he did his best to flap his wings and fly away.



We're trying to keep him anchored to solid ground, but it's hard work.

Helping in the Kitchen

My previous comment about Nathan helping Grandma rearrange her kitchen towels deserves some visualization. On multiple occasions, Nathan determined that either the zen or the aesthetic arrangement of the towels was inappropriate, so he helped Grandma improve the arrangement by giving her a clean slate to work with.



What a helpful little boy.