Calli

Calli is used to getting a lot of attention- then Nathaniel joined our household. She is starting to warm up to him (she even licked him on the nose this morning), but mainly she just ignores him. Here are some of her attempts to get me to pay attention to her while I'm paying attention to Nathaniel. Poor girl.

Naps

Grandpa likes to take naps with Nathaniel:

Cavalcade of Cooperating Co-habitators Comes to its Conclusion

The first two weeks after Nathaniel was born was a bit of a challenge for us without having our parents and siblings around to help us. Somehow, we muddled through and survived. Then came our willing and able assistants.

First, Kristina's mom, Cynthia, and her boyfriend, Greg, came for a long weekend to give us a hand. Cynthia was also out the week before Nathaniel was born and helped us greatly around the house and making lots of meals for the freezer. Then, the week of Thanksgiving, Christopher's parents, Arnie and Cindy, came to lend a hand. Then we only had to get by for 4 days before Kristina's dad and stepmom, Mike and Karen came out for a week and a half to watch Nathaniel while Kristina started work again. Finally, Christopher's sister, Jennifer came out for a long weekend.

Sadly, that is the end of our help. At the culmination of over 3 weeks of help, we can't help but wonder if we can do this on our own. One thing's for sure, we got lots of helpful advice and a ton of help. We thank you and love you all for your help!

Here's a rogues' gallery of our assistants with Nathaniel:

Grandma Cynthia

Grandma Appelt

Grandpa Appelt

Grandpa Howard

Grandma Howard

Aunt Jennifer

Christopher

What's that?

Nathaniel made a big discovery yesterday. His swing has a fish mobile! And it moves! Here he is discovering the fish:

Diaper Changes

I've mentioned before how much Nathaniel hates getting his diaper changed. I thought I should document it so in the future when I'm telling his girlfriends I can pull out my evidence. Now in his defense he is actually getting a little bit better. Here is what a diaper change at the Appelt residence looks like:

Sleeping on the job

Nathaniel agreed to help with laundry yesterday. We had a good time sorting clothes and learning the difference between a shirt and pants. However, Nathaniel quickly tired and decided he would take a cat nap instead:

Favorite Things

In Nathaniel's short time with us he is already developing a list of favorite (and least favorite) things. As you can see from his shirt, his favorites include mommy, kisses, and hugs. Nathaniel ran out of room, but would also like to include food, sleeping, his swing, and naps with daddy.

His least favorite things include: diaper changes, baths, changing clothes, mommy and baby yoga (I haven't given up hope), tummy time, and taking too long to feed him.