Dear Nathanael (12 Months)

My dearest Nathanael,

Happy first birthday, son! One year ago, we wondrously and joyfully welcomed you into our family; no one could have adequately described how blessed we would be by your presence in our family. We celebrate your life today and the incredible gift of God that you are to us. We rejoice in the Lord over you, Alim.

You are measuring somewhere around the 30th percentile for both weight and height, about 29 inches and 21.5 pounds. We are constantly amazed with how much you can eat. This past week has been exciting as we've introduced you to whole milk and egg whites. You loved eating your very own slice of veggie, bacon, and cheese frittata! A couple other (not so healthy) food highlights were pepperoni pizza and Texas Roadhouse rolls (without the honey cinnamon butter, unfortunately). And we can't forget to mention the birthday cake! To our surprise, you quickly spit out your first bite of banana applesauce cake; hopefully when you're older, you'll appreciate the cake's resemblance to Mr. Bear. :) We introduced you to a straw this month, and you love drinking your water out of a straw cup. Though you seem to go through days where all you want to do is chew on everything, you have made it to age one without any teeth!

With visits in Kansas and then travels through Oklahoma and Texas, you have seen so many new and old friends this past month that it would be impossible to list them all! We can suffice it to say that you have been thoroughly loved and cherished and prayed over by many people dear to our family. Despite your inability to sleep well in the car, you were a great traveler (for the most part) and showed incredible adaptability with our hectic travel and meeting schedule. A couple family highlights for Mom were introducing you and Dad to Baylor and a family hike in Cameron Park.

This is such an exciting age as you are taking in everything around you. You loved visiting families on our travels, closely observing and imitating all of the other kids (and dogs). You began sharing (handing objects) with other people and kids, and you also transitioned from only taking things apart to actually piling and stacking items now. One of our favorite developments in this way is how you choose a book and bring it to one of us to read to you. It's adorable, and we will stop almost anything we're doing to sit down and read to you when you do this. You love to tackle us when we're on the ground, usually smothering us with kisses and zerberts.

You say "MahMaw" for Grandma (which you know she loves), and you pointed to a baby in a book the other day and clearly said, "baby". You are beginning to respond appropriately when we ask you to point to a nose or eyes, and you are pointing at everything for us to identify many new words and objects each day. You recently brought Mom our family photos and asked her to identify all of your grandparents and uncles and aunts. You have a loud, boisterous, two syllable laugh now (haHA) which makes everyone around you laugh. You sometimes seem to be practicing consonants, "s" and "th" being the most noticeable ones. You growl at your big bear. You try to imitate Mom's fish face and the elephant noise.

Nathanael Alim, we love you, son! What a joy it has been to watch you grow this first year. Happy birthday!

Lovingly,
your daddy and mommy

Nathanael Alim - constantly in motion 12 month old

And a few outtakes:
Crazy fearless kid...
"Why are you holding me, Dad?"
Carrying Mr. Bear around by his ears

Compare these to his 11 month pictures here.

Birthday Celebration

Grandpa was home today, so we took advantage of the rare family time and celebrated Nathanael's birthday a day early!

What could be more appropriate than a Mr. Bear cake?!

He wasn't really into the sweetness of it. Can you tell?

But he had fun squishing it between his hands!

And he gladly offered it to the rest of us.

He enjoyed opening a few special gifts and cards as well.

And lastly, we created a homemade hand impression to remember Nathanael's one-year-old hands for years and years to come. (Getting the imprint from Nathanael was way more difficult than I imagined!)
A special day indeed...

On the road again

In a few days, we will load up our car and venture out again, this time down I-35 through Oklahoma and into Texas. I have been looking forward to this trip for months, years really. Gregory has never visited my alma matre nor met most of my dear friends down south. Too bad we won't be hitting Baylor's Homecoming!

Other than all of the incredible people we're visiting, I am looking forward to warmer weather (it's snowing in Emporia right now - what?!), pictures of Nathanael in the Texas bluebonnets, and maybe even a Dr. Pepper float during Dr. Pepper Hour at Baylor! Yummm...

I am not looking forward to meltdowns in the car with Nathanael; he is not a fan of his carseat, so this should be quite interesting. I'm not looking forward to a somewhat hectic schedule which will make naptimes and playtimes a little challenging for the little guy. And I am not ready for the shock of potentially hot weather (defined here as 80 degrees or warmer).

So here we go!

The next post on this blog will likely be Nathanael's ONE YEAR BIRTHDAY! Ah!

Here's little Kimi in the Texas bluebonnets at age 14 months (April 1982).

Dear Nathanael (11 Months)

My dearest Nathanael,

You are eleven months old! We celebrate you today and the gift of God that you are to us. We delight in God through your life, dear one.

You seem to have leveled out some in your growth, still measuring around 29 inches (40-50th percentile) and 21 pounds (35-40th percentile). You have almost completely transitioned into table foods now, joining us in eating most of our meals. You especially love mac & cheese, meat (beef, chicken, salmon, pork), potatoes, and green beans! In fact, you prefer to feed yourself now (with finger foods) instead of having us spoon feed you. You are fascinated by silverware but definitely haven't figured out how to use it functionally on your own. Still no teeth!

This month has been quite a busy, busy month for you as you transitioned from crawling everywhere to walking everywhere! It is amazing to watch you waddle, fall, waddle, fall all over the house and yard. You are quite thrilled with yourself in this development as well. Sometimes you almost look like you're running! With your increased mobility, you even managed to unravel an entire roll of toilet paper once before we caught you. With the weather warming some, we have been able to spend more days outside; every day (multiple times) you walk over to the front door and hit on the door to let us know you desperately want to go outside. And one of your favorite things to do outside is ride in the John Deere wagon! You've managed to eat a little dirt and moss already - yuck! And you simply love to take things apart, whether it's emptying drawers and cabinets or unstacking books or toys or moving rocks from a pile. You've figured out how to climb over objects, including climbing up stairs.

Watching how you go down to sleep really shows us how you are growing up. You love your routines and thrive when we're able to stick to them. With our current lifestyle of lots of traveling, this has been difficult at times, but we have been amazed at how well you pop right back after a hard day of traveling. You are aware of when it's time to nap or go to bed and are great about going to sleep (sometimes after playing in your crib for a while, meowing at the animals on your quilt, making your car noises, etc). And to our delight, for the most part, you continue to sleep well, which is no surprise with how active you are all day!

You are communicating more and more each day, pointing being one of your biggest developments this month. You continue to say "dada" and "mama" and "breh" (bread) but haven't really ventured beyond those words. You wave bye-bye and goodnight all the time, play peek-a-boo, and sometimes raise your hands into the air when we ask how big you are. You also make your objections known quite clearly. Unfortunately for you, we don't always let you have your way. (For example, your nails must be clipped, and your diaper must be changed, and you cannot be outside every moment of the day! haha)

Nathanael Alim, we love you, son! Happy eleven months!

Lovingly,
your daddy and mommy

Nathanael Alim - 11 month old

And a few outtakes:
"Why is Mr. Bear's foot touching me?!"
Cracking up while kicking Mr. Bear's foot away
Spotting the cat and scheming how to pull out the most hair

Compare these to his 10 month pictures here.

A Funny Bedtime Story

Hmmmm... Somehow I'm not sure this bedtime story is really soothing him to sleep. :) At least they're having fun!

(over a month old, from early February)

Walking!

As of Wednesday, we have a walking boy!

He took his first steps in Michigan at Granddaddy & Grandmom's home. But just a few days ago, he really started walking longer distances and with more stability. Here are four 10 second videos. The last one - Walking to Daddy - is the best!

How to Pray When Disaster Strikes

My friend Audrey Eusey linked to this article - How to Pray When Disaster Strikes - on Facebook today. I found it an extremely thoughtful guide, one I will most definitely be using in the days ahead. Audrey and her husband and one month old son will be moving to northern Japan in August. Please pray for them as they prepare to plant their lives among these people whose lives have been forever changed by today's events.

Here are the main points from the article:

1. Pray for those in need of rescue that it will come swiftly.
2. Pray for the rescuers – safety, rest, encouragement, in the midst of horror and unrelenting pain.
3. Pray for families that have witnessed the unthinkable, are worried about loved ones, and fearful for their own safety.
4. Pray for children who need comfort and safety, hugs and reassurance – even if they are physically “fine.”
5. Pray for governments and authorities that all red tape would disappear and corruption would cease.
6. Pray for relief agencies to have wisdom and compassion to make a lasting difference.
7. Pray for those around you that they would respond not just with what they can do, but with their heart.
8. Pray for yourself that you would have a heart of compassion – start now and it will grow.

I would add one more: Pray that people would turn to the only One who will truly complete the work of restoration and healing.