Rolling...

Novak has finally figured out how to roll to his stomach.  It's fitting that as I started to wonder if he would EVER do it (knowing that when he was ready, he would), he takes the opportunity to blow me out of the water.

This morning, I put him down on his back under the play gym as I always do.  I looked over a few minutes later, and he was on his stomach.  I was so excited, I took a bunch of pictures to document the event.  With Tom gone I wanted to be able to have photo proof.  I was thinking maybe it was a fluke, and I was afraid he wouldn't do it again for a while, maybe even a few days.

Yeah.

Right.

The kid has rolled over no less than eight (8) times today.  Pretty much every time I've laid him down on his back.

I think he has it figured out.

Fantastic Four!

On Saturday, Nile turned four.  I was going to put together some thoughts on Nile, and who he is at age four.  But right now I don't have time, so I will do that later.  This will just be the "how we spent Nile's birthday" post.

We decided just to have a low key, "let him pick" kind of day.

The morning started off with chocolate pancakes. How can a day go wrong when it starts with chocolate?

Then we had swim lessons - both of the two older boys started a new session of swim lessons on Saturday.

After swimming, we picked up a Dairy Queen ice cream cake (plain, undecorated, more on that later) and Subway for lunch.  Nile got his usual - white cheese and white bread, nothing else on it.  Apples and a juice box.

After lunch, the boys had a quiet time - at one point, everyone, including Tom, was asleep while I was able to get a few things done.  I decorated Nile's birthday cake, wrapped presents, and even had a bit of time to work on a knitting project.  It was heaven!  I sat down for about 10 minutes...then Nate woke up.

Then we all headed to the basement to paint.  Yep, Nile wanted to paint the basement for his birthday.  We were happy to let them help!  

Even Novak got in on the action!

Nate, painting the bedroom.

Typical Nile pose.  

After painting and a quick shower for me, we headed out to dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings.  

We came home to the previously mentioned ice cream cake and presents.  Nile was thrilled to get a catcher's mask, catcher's chest protector, and a pitching net.  

The cake - and a boy actually looking at the camera for once!

Checking out his reflection in the window.

Love. Defined. Kind of.

Kindergarten teachers sure know how to get at a mom's heartstrings.

I'm wondering if I should be worried about number 1, though...

Chinese New Year

Nate's class celebrated the Chinese New Year last week at school.  His picture made the Southwest school home page!

 

It's good to be king...

Let it never be a question who is king of this house...

Mmm...plastic!

Novak seems to want to chew on everything lately. Unfortunately, he isn't quite coordinated enough to grasp a toy and get it to his mouth. However, with some help from me, he finally found a toy he can hold and get to his mouth. This entertained him for a few minutes, at least.

Instagram

I found a new photo app for the iPhone that changes regular pictures into cool, vintage-y shots. Here are a few of my "experiments."

Rolling, rolling, rolling

Novak rolled from his back to his tummy this morning. He's been rolling to his side for a few weeks now, but this was the first time he made it all the way over.

Of course he got really mad once he did!

I wanted to get a picture, but I couldn't leave the poor thing stuck on the ground like that!