almost one.

My baby boy turns one in four days. Where has the time gone? This time last year I was counting down the days until his arrival and frantically trying to get everything ready for him. Now, we spend our days chasing him around!

Nate is showing us how inquisitive he is with each and every day.  I'm really enjoying watching him explore and learn.  My favorite new things that he is doing:

*Wants to hold your hand while he walks around
*Hides under the dining room table when he poops (something only a mother could love, I guess)
*Spins around in circles to make himself dizzy
*Figures out how to undo anything that is baby proofed, even if it means that I have to buy a new trashcan, new coffee table, and who knows what else. Our latest adventure with oven knob locks was a bust - he found that he could rip the whole thing off, knob and all, and rattle it to make noise.

Even though we're four days away from the real birthday, we are doing his first birthday party at our house tomorrow with lots of family and friends.  I can't wait, but at the same time, I hate to see him turn a year old already.  Little man is ready to roll!

new food.

Nate has decided that he really does not like baby food anymore - or rather, any vegetables or meats are off limits. He would much rather have the 'big boy' equivalent.  Here is a little video of him as he discovers his love of corn on the cob!

jump, jump.

I was a little apprehensive to have Nate out for fireworks - it was his first fourth of July and I wasn't quite sure how he would handle it.  Instead, we went to the celebration downtown, came home to grill out, then watched the D.C. fireworks on t.v.

While we were downtown, Chris wanted to have Nate do one of the little kid activities that they had set up. I as a little hesitant, but the safety restraints looked good and Nate ended up really liking it. Here are a few pictures of Nate's big jump!

roanoke.

Last weekend was the annual Stanley Family Reunion.  Chris had to work, but I took Nate down so that we could see family and make a few extra visits.  The reunion itself was a lot of fun - Nathan played with one of his little cousins for a long time. It was so cute to watch them follow each other around! We also visited my Great Aunt Virginia, a new war memorial in Vinton that has my grandfather's name included, and my Nana - who just had surgery and was still in the hospital.

Here are a few shots from our trip - see how much fun Nate had in the hotel? :)