Nate the Growing

Taking a newly potty trained three-year-old to the beach isn't easy.  In fact, by the time we made it out of Knoxville, we'd made three potty stops, already had an accident, and all my best-laid plans of not putting Nate in a pull up became a thing of the past.  Ironically, he kept the pull up dry the whole rest of the trip.



Nate did really well at the beach.

He liked the waves and sand.

He liked getting to use the sand dunes for a toilet.

He REALLY liked getting to sleep in a big boy bed for the first time!

He moved from a crib later than the other two because he sings himself to sleep and is a loud roommate and moving to a big bed meant moving to his brother's room.

So far, so good.  Jack sleeps through his singing and likes having the company.

Our biggest problem right now is that when he wakes up, he thinks that Ella should wake up, too, so he runs into her room, turns on the light and pulls off her covers.  "EWWA, IT'S BWIGHT OUTSIDE!!!!"

He's very fortunate that she loves him so much.

Nate is the only one with a cousin his age at the beach - my nephew, Elijah.  He's in the yellow shirt below.  This is how they play together.

I look forward to the fun of having them play as a team later, but for now, they just play in the same space.

Nate's favorite person on earth is my mom.  She belongs to him.

The picture below was supposed to be one of just my parents, but Nate knew that his rightful place was in that picture, holding G.G.'s hand.

On his wedding day there he'll be with his bride, and on the other side he'll be holding G.G.'s hand.

Nate turned three in June, and right around then, he began to speak.

And when I say speak, I mean, clearly.  This kid loves his consonants.

Handsome Hero says he speaks in a British accent.  It is so fun to be able to understand him!

All that majestic water behind him, and he's only interested in a watering can.

There's a lesson in this. I showed him this picture and he said, "Mama, I was pwanting in the sand."

Nate is crazy, temperamental, friendly, loud, interesting, curious.  He notices things.  He is into everything, more than the other kids were.  I am amazed that a three-year-old would think to get into the things that Nate gets into.  Things you don't train for, like covering the toilet seat with stamps of pink tigers.  I just wouldn't have thought to prepare for that.

Or puffing out an entire bottle of baby powder that I didn't even know I had.  All over the room.  Y'all, it was so cloudy in there I couldn't even see him.  Every time I vacuum now, you smell the powder.

Don't even get me started on the the entire bottle of baby sunscreen on the carpet.  I just can't go there.

 He's definitely his own person.  I am enjoying his hilarious personality a lot, and I can't wait to see the young man he becomes!  He was our easiest baby, but probably our hardest toddler.  Even on the tough days, though, he's a joy.    I have a unique opportunity this year to spend time with him.  The older kids do P.E. through the local YMCA once a week and Nate's too young to go, so for two hours, I have him all to myself.  Initially, I was sad about this because I wanted some time alone, but as the weeks go by, I'm enjoying it because I find that I see him in a very different way when we're alone.  He is such a character, and when he's not being overshadowed by older, louder, faster kids, his personality shines!