Bouncing Baby Ball

On the last day of our Guys' Weekend. Nathaniel and his Grandpa Appelt played with a beach ball from the parade. As you can tell, they had a great time.



Christopher

I Love a Parade

On the last day or our Guy's Weekend, we went to the Southside Irish Parade here in Chicago. Kristina and I have wanted to go to this Southside tradition for several years, but we've always been away during it. Unfortunately for Kristina, this trend held true.

However, we guys were ready to take full advantage of the timing and our location. We're a mile and a half from the parade's starting point. So, Nathaniel warmed up for our trip by doing a few reps on the farm (see left).

Actually, we didn't go all the way to the beginning of the parade route. We stood about a block before the starting point. That way, we got a good view of all the floats and received various goodies without dealing with the the crush of people along the route and the rather...umm...inebriated people a bit further down.

The stroller from Aunt Stephanie was very
handy for the 3+ miles we walked. Nathaniel
found the ride to be pretty smooth and comfy.

Nathaniel received lots of goodies at the parade including
his green fireman's hat and beads. We ate his candy for him.
Like many at the parade, he preferred to hit the bottle instead.

Christopher

It's Like Having a Garden Gnome...

That's what my dad said several times as we took photos of Nathaniel at the various places we went during the first day of our Guys' Weekend. Don't let the fact that he appears to be asleep in every photo fool you. Nathaniel got into lots of mischief during our trip.

The first stop was the Lion's Club Pancake Breakfast in Evergreen Park. We thought it was a very "manly" thing to do. The photo on the left is from when we were spending a long time standing in line. Nathaniel tried the old "sleeping baby" trick, but it didn't let us move up the line any faster.



As you can tell from the photos, Nathaniel was excited to eat some pancakes and sausage. He polished off two plates!


Next we did some "manly" clothes shopping. Nathaniel needed some bigger clothes, so we hit a couple of thrift stores. As you can tell, he was building up quite the stack of clothes before we cut him off. We had to intervene a couple of times when he picked pants that made his butt look big...in hindsight, maybe that was the diaper.


Doing all that shopping, we built up a "manly" appetite. Nathaniel had 4 taco supremes and followed them up with 2 chalupas. We're not sure where he put it all.

This is a gratuitous "cute" shot
of Nathaniel sleeping between
the tacos and the chalupas

Because Nathaniel had acquired a "manly"....er...diaper rash, we
ended our outing at the drug store, where we picked up some Desitin.

Christopher

Boys Behaving Badly: Beers, Bottles, and Bumping Beezers

Last weekend, Kristina went away to a conference in Seattle. She left on Wednesday and returned on Sunday. I was flying solo with Nathaniel until Friday night. My dad flew out to join Nathaniel and me for a "Guys' Weekend."

That's right! Guys only! No moms, wives or sisters allowed. No girls...well, except for Calli, but she's been fixed, so we're pretty sure we could make an exception for her.

In short, we had a blast! In long, it's going to take me a few blog entries to share the fun things we did. I'll spread them out over the next few days. In the meantime enjoy these teaser photos. Remember: what happens at Guys' Weekend, stays at Guys' Weekend...at least until I blog about it. ;-)

Nathaniel had a lot of fun playing
with his Grandpa Appelt.

One of Nathaniel's favorite new games is
"Bumping Beezers," which involves touching
noses. Apparently, that was something my
Grandpa Appelt used to do.

Of course, no Guys' Weekend is complete
without kicking back and having a few drinks.

However, someone, who shall remain
nameless, was hitting the bottle a bit
hard, and didn't know his limit.

Christopher

4 Month Update and Good-Bye to a Beloved Friend

On Tuesday, Nathaniel went in for his 4 month check-up and shots. As expected, he did not enjoy the shots. They also gave him a fever, and I think he was out of sorts for the better part of the week. For those of you tracking "Gigantor's" progress. He weighed 18lbs 2oz and was 28 inches long. Both of those put him above the 95 percentile. Interestingly, his head circumference puts him in the 75 percentile. I think it gives him a head:body proportion that looks like that of a "big boy."

Unfortunately, this rapid growth means we have to say good-bye to our favorite pajamas. So below is a photo and video tribute to the "Dinosaur PJs." You've probably seen these before, but we wanted to honor them before they head to that "big box in the basement."


This is probably one of the last photos of Nathaniel in these PJs.


This is one of the best photos of Nathaniel in these PJs. Very cute.


This is one of the most popular movies on YouTube ;-) and features a Dino PJs clad Nathaniel.


Christopher

Bedtime Blues

Tonight, Nathaniel didn't want to go to bed. He employed this new technique to distract us. It bought him a little extra time. At least enough for us to grab the video camera. He's been practicing his B sounds all weekend. Now we know why. Let us know what you think.




Christopher

Grandma's Visit

Grandma Cynthia came for a visit last weekend. Nathaniel really enjoyed playing Patty Cake with his grandmother. He also showed off his skills on the farm- which is still one of his favorite toys.

Living the High(chair) Life

In keeping with the "hand-me-down, rummage sale, pick-it-up-off-the-side-of-the-road" theme for obtaining stuff for Nathaniel, we have acquired a lovely highchair from one of my former students, who generously donated the chair to "Nate."

Finally, we have photos in which Nathaniel actually appears small rather than obscenely huge. As you can see, it looks very nice (click on the photo to get a closer look). It also matches our dining room furniture rather well.

Nathaniel seems quite comfortable in it, as you can gather from the photos below. We haven't started feeding him solid foods, yet, but I think both he and his mom are ready to give it a go.

Umm...I was lead to believe there would be food here.

Okay...I'm ready to start eating!

Christopher