Update on Nate the Great

It's been awhile since I updated you on how our little guy is doing.  Nate is 23 months old, and he is one awesome little boy.  He continues to be a source of great joy to us.  He laughs a lot, and makes funny faces, and does things on purpose to get a laugh from us.  It's hilarious to play games with him.

At the children's museum, enjoying the view from the stroller.

 

He is also a source of bewilderment to me because he has a horrible temper, which doesn't jive with the rest of his personality!  He's really laid back, until he isn't.  He really enjoys people, until he doesn't.  He eats really well now, until he stops.  He loved taking baths, until he hated them, and then loved them again.  

He is usually willing to be dressed up any way Ella pleases, which usually means dress up clothes or her clothes.

 

Color me confused!  He's been treated as a baby for much longer than our other kids because he isn't walking, isn't talking, and has, physically speaking, been in the infant stage for a long time.  But he's almost two.  TWO!  In a matter of weeks he will be two years old.  He understands things, though to what extent I don't know because as I said, he doesn't talk.  The only consistent things he has been saying are "Ella," "hello," and "Where's Ella?" which sounds like "Whellella?"  He only added "bye-bye" and "baby" in the last couple of weeks.  "Momma" and "Dadda" are rarely spoken.  Who do you think is the favorite, hhmmm?

 

I know it's blurry but I love this picture.  They love to rock together.  She usually sings or reads to him.  He usually honks her nose.  It's a love thing.

 

He is still seeing a therapist who works with him on his speech and physical development.  It's really funny to me to watch him crawl, because he was taught to do so by someone instead of figuring it out himself, so he looks like a little robot crawling down the hall.  Left, right, left, right. 

 

Once he started pulling himself up, the dining room window became a favorite spot.

A couple of months ago he began pulling himself up to the coffee table and stools, anything that was at the right height.  At first he wouldn't shift his feet to gain purchase, so he looked really awkward until he just fell over.  We were concerned that it was the pesky sensory issues again, that he didn't like the feeling of the carpet on his feet and wouldn't move them, but gradually he has begun to adjust himself really well and now he walks along furniture like a champ.  He will walk in the open with both hands held, and has stood up by himself several times, only to fall on his rump, laughing hysterically.

Nate was actually having a really good time here, but Handsome Hero had to stop so I could get a better picture, and he didn't like that.  Notice that Ella is holding reigns.  That man is one amazing dad.

His fine motor skills are pretty much right on for his age.  His gross motor skills and speech are at about a fourteen month level.  We hope to see a great improvement in those things very soon, though, because on Monday morning he is having tubes put in his ears.  We found out that he has had fluid in his ears for a very long time, but it is usually sterile, so he hasn't had an unusual amount of ear infections.  However, he doesn't hear much and his equilibrium is all off because of it, which would, of course, effect speech and walking. 

So there you have it.  A year ago, we were talking about feeding tubes and this was what eating looked like.

 

 

We are indeed blessed.  

 

The Emerald Dresser

Okay, so this isn't a basement update like I had planned.  I'll get to those.  I know you're holding your breath.

We bought our entry dresser back when we lived in Washington.  We needed storage and that house didn't have much.  I used it then for linens and other dining things.  It was stained a dark walnut color, and while it was in pretty good condition, it was very dull and needed some shine.  I have no pictures of it from that time.  It was pre-blog, back when I took pictures of people instead of my furniture. :)

When we moved to Wisconsin, the dresser was my first project.  I sanded it down and painted it.  Now, if I had that dresser in it's original state in front of me right now, I might think twice about painting it.  I didn't know how easy staining and poly-ing is way back then.  So it became teal. 

Very teal. 

Against an orange wall.  The only picture I have of it that color is actually a video of Ella from when she was four.  You don't have to watch the video {it's not academy award winning} - you can just look at the grainy picture.
 

I loved the teal being so bold.  It was gutsy and a little scary and it helped me to jump off the cliff of decorating in my own style. 

Eventually, we brought the dresser into the dining room to use as a buffet.  The teal was CRAZY in there, so I decided to get on the distressing band wagon and paint it gray and then sand it down so that the teal showed through in some spots.  Brilliant idea, no?

 

No.  It didn't exactly work as planned.  I didn't wait long enough for the gray to dry, so it gummed up in the sander and made for a dresser that was less distressed and more haunted house.
 

 

The only things I loved about it were my new knobs, which you can see a couple of pictures up.  Two things to note:  1.  I know the map is too big for the dresser {it was already in place when we brought the dresser in}.  I had planned on changing it out for a picture gallery in that space, but we moved before I got to it.  2.  It is not fair that the little ball of cuteness peeking out at you in the picture below is now four.  Not fair at all.

Well, that sad dresser sat there like that until we moved here.  When it fit perfectly in the entry, it really needed a paint job.  Nothing like welcoming your guests into your doom and gloom.

I debated between red {to go with the chandelier over the piano}, yellow {which of course, we later used on our front door}, and green, but obviously ended up going green.  Normally I lean toward the yellow hued greens, but this time I wanted something richer.  I went with an emerald green, which I LOVE.  It's very bold without being overly loud.

I was a little concerned that it would be on the Hunter Green side circa 1994, but it came out pretty much how I was hoping it would.

Ending thoughts.
-I am not sure that this dresser is actually finished.  I am thinking of sealing it with a clear wax to even out a few places in the finish {in the right light, you can see the spray paint lines}, but I don't know if that would make it really hard to repaint it when I get tired of the green.  I mean,I love the green now, but I think we can all agree that a dresser has had four looks in four years is likely to change again. 

-I chose to spray paint this time because that is what I used last time, so I knew it would stick well to the previous layers.  I have begun to lean away from spray paint in wood furniture applications because of the lack of color options and the uneven finish that can develop{and it's actually more expensive}.  It is easy and quick, though!