Long Time No Hear! (17 month Update)

Wow! Where to start! I must admit, I’ve been a bit remiss with my journal. It seems I’ve been too busy “going” I haven’t had time to reflect. But, Mommy and Daddy say I need to slow down now and then to smell the roses and reflect on days past. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride (hee-hee)! As you know, I turned one in March. I was such a baby then. Now I’m a big 17-month-old. I can run, scream, sign, climb into and onto seemingly everything (just try me), and cuddle. Oh, there’s one more verb that Mommy doesn’t like to talk about, “bite.” Grandma Breyen thinks it’s hilarious whenever Mommy vents her frustrations. She just laughs, “Hah! The biter got a biter!” So I guess Mommy used to bite, too. I’m pretty sure she’s over that phase.

What else am I into? I love flipping through books and I dig cars. I can spot a car on a poster, billboard, cereal box, book, magazine ad, in the road, on a truck, in a toybox, etc. No car is safe from these eagle eyes. And by car, I mean anything with wheels. If an airplane flies over the house, I drop my toy cars and yell, “car!” If a truck starts its engine outside, I run to the front door and yell, “car!” If I see a boat on the lake, I point and yell “car!” (OK, boats don’t have wheels, but their trailers do.) For those of you who have seen my obsession first-hand, you understand how compulsive I can be when I empty the toybox in order to find every single car; then line them up. Or sometimes I’ll make one pile of cars and move them one-by-one to another, better pile.

Other than biting and cars, what have I been up to since March? Roadtrips and entertaining! We drove up to Abilene, TX because Mommy & Daddy are crazy, but also to meet Rusty and Fenny’s new baby, Reagan Evers. We took an earlier trip to College Station, TX to see more friends from Okinawa, Brian & Ann Gwinnup. They were passing through on their way home to Florida after Ann gave birth to baby Jackson in Denver a lot earlier than planned. It was fun to play with Riley (I’ll give Jackson a few more months)! Over Easter, I went on two Easter Egg hunts and to a petting zoo. When the farmer gave me a handful of oats for the baby goat, I ate them. The man assured Mommy it was “just like trail mix.” We made a couple of trips to Granna & Papa’s lake house in east Texas this summer, too. In May, I tried swimming for the first time. I don’t know which style of “swimming” I like better; sitting in my floatie and leaning back against the headrest, or laying horizontal in the water with my hands folded across my chest in my life vest. It's a rough life. Since then, Mommy has tried to get me used to the water. I can blow bubbles and I’ll even let Mommy dunk my head under water. But when we go to the water park at SeaWorld, I just like to climb up and down the big stairs OVER & OVER again.

Daddy took his last final on May 12. Then he had TWO MONTHS of summer vacation. I liked having Daddy home so much! We went to the lake, SeaWorld, the zoo, etc. We met up with Ms. Jen and Noelle Matherne (our friends from Okinawa) in Austin. We played in a really big park ( Zilker Park) and went swimming. I also got my first real taste of traditional Texas BBQ in Dripping Springs. We then hosted Brian & Janelle Cahill for almost two weeks while they were here in San Antonio. I had fun playing with Brennan & Sarah at the Children’s Museum, the Science Museum, the zoo and exploring new restaurants. I also got to entertain baby Kate Manion when her Mommy & Daddy flew down to San Antonio for lunch (ah, the life of an airline pilot). Over Memorial Day Weekend I got to see my god-sister, Remy, when Martin & Kelly Towey flew down to SA in their plane (ah, the life of a private pilot). We explored SeaWorld, the Science Museum and Mommy & Daddy shared one of their traditional red-wine dinners with the Toweys.

I’m not sure what happened in June. Mommy took me to a bunch of playdates, storytime at the library, walks through the neighborhood, and errands. Daddy pulled up the carpet from downstairs and installed something called “wood laminate flooring.” Whatever it is, I can run a lot faster on it. At the end of the month, Mommy and I took another airplane trip; this time to Minnesota. Daddy joined us a few days later (after his summer AF course). I loved it up North! I got to eat lunch and play cars with my Great-Grandma Breyen, snuggle with my Great-Grandpa Folck, play with my cousins Ethan, James & Emily, and see a lot of my great aunts and uncles—and that was all in the first day! Whew! I told Mommy to slow down, or I won’t be able to keep up my cute-and-charming gig for 2 weeks. Up in Bemidji, Grandma & Grandpa Breyen had a very kid-friendly backyard! We had a swimming pool, swings, climbers, and TRUCKS, CARS & BULLDOZERS (my favorite)! I loved playing with my cousins, Anna, Sydney and Ashley again. Those girls are crazy! They liked to use Grandma & Grandpa’s fireplace hearth as a stage. We sang quartets of “The Wheels on the Bus,” “Twinkle Twinkle,” and “The ABC Song.” My role was to look cute, dance and, every now and then, throw in a hand motion.

On the 4th of July, I went to the Kolarsky's cabin. There, I went on another boat ride. I’m not too sure about boats. I don’t cry, but I don’t smile. I just sit there, expressionless and motionless while we’re moving. This past weekend on the Gulf of Mexico, I found out sailboats are a different story! When we returned from MN, Daddy started school. Mommy and I had three days at home; then we piled into Granna & Papa’s Navigator for our roadtrip to Mississippi . Daddy’s family reunion (on his Mom’s side) has been going on in Summit, MS for over 150 years. This was my first time (and Mommy’s, too). It was FUN! My cousin, Skyler, and I played with cars, wagons, bikes, tractors (big & small), fed the cows, rode horses, etc. We ate fresh blueberries, fresh peaches, butter beans, fresh tomatoes, and even chocolate cake! I went swimming in the creek—Mommy jumped of the really high rope swing! We went to church every evening, but sometimes I was already asleep. We were having so much fun that Daddy caught a same-day flight into Jackson for the final weekend of Camp Meeting. He was there for the hayride, Big Sunday and the road-trip home! Camp Meeting is a little boy's paradise!

When we got home, Mommy was really busy recruiting for the MS-Toos (the med school spouse’s group) since it was orientation week for the firstyear students. Daddy was busy studying for his first round of tests. My fall schedule is filling up quickly. If you’d like some cuddle time, you’d better call soon. I’m a busy baby. I have Bible Babies at our new church on Sunday. (Last week Mommy & Daddy got paged during service because I was crying so hard—an angry cry, too. The older people kept saying something about the onset of "separation anxiety." I just know I wanted my Mommy and Daddy.) On Tuesday, Mommy and I attend MOPS (Mothers of Pre-Schoolers). Wednesdays it’s the MS-Too’s playgroup. Thursdays Mommy is trying to get me into a Mom’s Day Out program so she can have one afternoon to herself a week. (I don’t get it; after all, the universe does revolve around me. Why would she want alone time?) Mommy’s trying to start a neighborhood playgroup. The two houses across the street each have a two-year-old boy. Oh what I could learn from those older boys. I think that about catches you up on my summer—lots of friends, family, trips to the Zoo, treks to the water park at SeaWorld, books and cars.
Until next time, Nathaniel