Happy Balemtime's Day!

Georgia is becoming quite mobile, though she hasn't figured out how to crawl forward yet. She can scoot herself backwards, pivot around, and roll, so she can be across the room within a few minutes. But she gets so frustrated that she can't go forward. She ends up "flying" with her belly on the ground and arms and legs up in the air, and the look on her face says, "Why am I not going anywhere?!!"

That hasn't stopped her from getting into trouble! Last week she figured out how to get out of her car seat! (Not strapped in--she's not that good yet, but just give her a year.) I sat her in her infant carrier in the living room while I was doing something with her and Nate in the floor, then I walked in the kitchen to get something, and when I came back, she was on her belly in the floor happily playing. Hmmm. How did that happen? The next day at therapy, I sat her in her carrier for a minute while I was talking with the office manager, and I looked down and she was wiggling herself out of there! Her feet were on the floor already, her belly was up in the air, and she wasn't making a peep hoping I wouldn't notice. :)

Then when I was showering this morning, I had her on my bed with pillows all around her so she couldn't roll off. Halfway through the shower I looked out and she had kicked a pillow off the bed and backed up so that her legs were dangling off the bed and she was about to make an escape! Georgia! Moral of the story: I must cage her or strap her in because she is not to be trusted! Good thing she's cute.



Future embarrassing picture.





This was at music class. She's so intent on watching the other kids ... and trying to eat that maraca.

She sat by herself for a whole song!

Here's a (sideways) video of her laughing at Nate. (If you're viewing this on facebook or email, go here to see videos: http://whatnatesaidtoday.blogspot.com/)


On to Nate. This week he's been consumed with the snow and "Balemtimes Day." On Monday I got Elizabeth to go to Walmart with me and the kids to let Nate pick out valentines for his classmates. So glad she was with me cause Nate was a wild man. Another shopper actually suggested a harness (aka kid leash)! I was proud! We ended up with Handy Manny valentines and candy hearts for each friend, but the class party was postponed until next week cause of the snow.


Some things he's been saying lately:

I'm the MAN!

Bye! Come again soon!

I have a big burger in my nose!

Stinky ... everything is stinky. Nate, do you want some chicken nuggets? No! Chicken nuggets are stinky! They're stinky! Yes they are, they're stinky!!!! Nate, do you want some cheese? Is it stinky cheese?

For the last couple months at hippotherapy, Nate's been riding a pretty white horse named Charlie. But for the last two weeks we've had to reschedule for one reason or another and had different therapists, so he's been riding a shaggy pony named Daisy. She is old and cute as can be. And for the first time, he has been riding in a saddle instead of just blankets. Last week the therapist had Nate standing up in the stirrups, which was great exercise and just really cool.

Today was a fun-packed Saturday! First we went to music class--we also went yesterday, but we crashed the Saturday morning class today to make up for one we missed. Then this evening we went to our buddy Brock's birthday party! It was a gymnastics party at a place called All About Kids, and it was a blast! Nate was running around like a maniac, and it was really neat for me and Blake because this is really the first time he's been to something like this where he could do all the stuff that the other kids were doing! Here are some pictures of the party.

He's been working really hard lately on walking up and down stairs, and he is doing so great at it!

Georgia came too, and she so wished she was big enough to play with the big kids!

Nate went in this bouncy house and almost immediately came back out and said, "It's too hard." :)

There was this huge inflatable slide, and to our shock, Nate wanted to go down it. So Blake and I both were just staring at this thing wondering how we were going to climb up there (it was like a puffy rock climbing wall on one side) until one of the party workers offered to take him up. She just hopped right up there! We felt old.

But Nate loved the slide! Such a daredevil!

Have you ever played in a big pit of foam blocks? It's nearly impossible to even move in there. You should have seen Blake trying to pull me out!

He climbed up this thing all by himself to go down a big slide into the foam blocks.

He also went down a humongous enclosed slide that dumped into the blocks, bounced on a trampoline, and he got to run on a long trampoline then jump into the blocks. It was so funny the first time he did that--he ran as fast as he could until he got to the edge of the blocks, then he stopped, turned around, and carefully climbed in! After a couple more times, he was letting me sling him in.

They ate pizza, and he was getting quietly frantic about when he could get some cake, but he was very patient.

Brock is 4. Every year his birthday makes me start preparing myself for Nate's next birthday. 4! That is so big boy!

Here's a video from the party. Blake says he's now very sore, but that's what you get for throwing 40 pounds around!

Tomorrow we're going to visit Memaw and GrandBob to have a birthday dinner for Blake! Nate can't wait to see them, and all day he's been working on their Valentine's present--which is currently a pile of toys, clothes, magazines, and papers in the floor.

Happy Balemtime's Day!