Easter Weekend

Dear Nathan,
This past weekend was Easter and we got a chance to do lots of exciting new things. On Saturday, we attended our Church's Easter Celebration. There, you got your arm painted,

A green kitty cat, because you really like cats. 

 and then you participated in your very first egg hunt. Here you are too excited to go look at the eggs that are on the ground.

 By the time you got the hang of it, other kids and parents stormed in and took all the eggs.

But it was ok. You were happy and proud of the ones that you were able to pick up.

Afterwards, we went to the petting zoo area. You were fascinated by the animals and giggled when you saw familiar animals like sheep and bunnies, but you were very cautious, remaining close to me at all times. 

 Then, you sat on the Easter bunny's lap. You weren't afraid or anything, but there was something that caught you attention away from the camera and you were pretty intent on looking at it.

Towards the end of the celebration, we hopped on the train. You really enjoyed the ride and was laughing for most of the trip. You liked watching the other kids squirm and laugh when the conductor drove the train really fast.

After your nap, we all went outside to do some work. You helped daddy wash the cars. You even figured out how to spray water from the hose. You got daddy pretty good a few times.

On Easter morning, you helped me make cupcakes for evening church. You helped me with dumping the ingredients into the mixer, turning the mixer on, and throwing things away in the trash can. Afterwards, you decided to do some baking of your own.

You are using mittens to put and take things out of the oven...just like me. 

 Before lunch, you got to look for some more eggs that the Easter bunny left behind. You were pretty interested for about 5-6 eggs, but then the watering can looked much more fun to play with.

On Monday, we had ribs. I had forgotten how much you liked those things. You chomped away 3 ribs on your own! You showed some interest in the asparagus, even put one on your plate, but you didn't try it.

One morning, we had a playdate with your best friend, Abigail. Here are some of the pictures that we took at the wildflower center.

No new major milestones this week. But you are refining your stepping down from a step skill. You no longer have to bend down and hold onto the ground as you step down a shorter step. 

No new words this week, in fact, it seems like you are regressing in your speech. Your "m" and "n" sounds are being used interchangeably, as well as the "b" and "d" sounds. I can understand what you are trying to say, but someone else may not. 

You are doing better with nodding to respond "yes" and sometimes you will even say "yes" as you nod. 

Most things that you refer to still sound like "stssss:" dip, ice cream, cereal, grapes, but luckily you are sometimes using your signs to help make your communication more specific. This week you have learned yogurt, strawberry, ice cream, and potty. 

This week you have also started to show signs that you are thinking before you act. For example, you tried to take a doll with you upstairs, but when you reached the first step, you handed me the doll and started to climb up. You were able to foresee that holding a doll would hinder you from climbing the stairs. Another instance was when we were feeding your fish. After I turned on the fish light, you ran out of the room. I followed you to see where you were going and found you in the bathroom, trying to push the step stool out. I think you wanted to use the step stool to look at the fish. 

You are also starting to be obsessed with buckles. You will spend lots of time trying to put the buckles on lots of your things together. You will even sit in the car seat after we have arrived at our destination and try to put the buckles back together again. 

Oh, one last thing that you are starting to do more and more is yelp and screech. I understand that most of the time, you are imitating a dog or a bird, but sometimes when you don't get your way, or when something doesn't happen immediately, you start to screech. We are trying to get you to use your words so hopefully this is a short phase and will soon pass. 

Being pregnant with your sister has me in a lethargic state lately. I don't know if it's the heat, or just the largeness of the bump, but I find myself taking my sweet time when doing things. When I attended Zumba today, I felt like I had bricks on my feet and back. I just couldn't move as fast as the instructor, so I just marched my way through many of the dance steps. I'm also finding that I'm running out of breath easier. Even a short climb up the stairs causes me to take a few extra breaths. Oh, and sinus congestion gets pretty bad at night, and only at night from 9 pm - 2 am. It's weird, but I remember this happening when I had you and thankfully it went away in a week or so. 

We are getting ready to go camping. I'm a bit nervous about it, but I think in the end, the experience will be a good one. We all love being outdoors and the weather will be perfect (although a bit on the warm side). I am praying that things will go smoothly and we have a fun but safe mini-vacation. 

You are now 82 weeks old and your little sister is almost 22 weeks old. Exciting. 

Until next week,

Mommy