Joshie lately

Baby Josh is growing so big! He still has no teeth and refuses to eat much (how can he be my child?!)

He tried out the snow but prefered to be inside, playing in the ball pit.

Josh generally hero worships his big brother and can mostly be seen following!

My baby is really quite happy but does not enjoy facing backward, not seeing his brother, on a car ride in the dark. A binky usually does the trick and as you can see, he's very cleverly learned to stick his thumb in the hollow part, thus efficiently sucking both the binky and the thumb.

Josh finally decided to use his hands and knees for crawling instead of the army slither. Both are quite effective in reaching the desired destination.

A chair just right for a Joshie.

Being the littlest Soderlund has its pros and cons: being dragged along to all events is probably top of both lists, although who wouldn't want to be snuggled with their mommy against the cold?

9 Months old!

Nathan lately

Our big kid has grown into quite a big kid! He constantly asks "C'you play with me?" and loves to pretend with his cars. He is still very musical and we love to spy on him (via the spycam moniter) as he sings himself awake in the mornings! Surprisingly, he was very gracious for Christmas this year and we all enjoyed watching him delight in the new concepts (to him) of "Santa" and stockings and family gatherings!
Nathan was excited to have met Santa so many times and often asked what Santa was doing at any given moment. He seemed to understand that when Santa came to our house on Christmas Eve, he would be staying and spending some time playing with the helicopter and dumptruck that Nathan requested!

This was the compromise to letting mommy work in the kitchen.

Nathan loves his brother and hasn't yet thrown a fit for being dressed alike.

Nathan's daddy taught him to eat snow. (Not sure why this is a necessary life skill, but whatever)

The nativity characters (including the veggies and nativity rubber ducks) all lined up to sing "Happy Birthday" to Jesus, or so I'm told.
The trick with Nathan is to give him anything with 4 wheels. Saying he loves his trucks just doesn't paint the whole picture.

He definately got the hang of opening gifts and has given this silly face to almost every request for a photo.

One must take Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head very seriously.

We still have lines of toys in our house. It's more like 20 little lines than one big one now, but Nathan still displays his engineering tendencies.

Time to Party: Happy New Year!

A Plethora of Christmas Photos

Kids with Uncle Tim and Aunt Carolyn

EEK!

Beautiful Trappings (or: Snow fun)

Out our back deck:

We ended up with about 15 inches

I went cross country skiing one night around midnight.

Not a bad view for breakfast

Kids in snow:

The tale of a Snowman named Snuffy

If you were alive over the past month, you know about the big snow in the Northwest. We desperately tried to make it fun for our children who, despite many attempts, never really got the enchantment of a snowday. (It doesn't help that we have neither a sled nor an affinity for cold). I also tried giving Nathan hot chocolate- but he "did not like it" and only wanted to eat marshmallows. SO, we built a snowman.
Here he is (on the left, of course):

However, at some point during the night, our snowman "walked" away, or that's what we chose to tell Nathan who awoke the following morning asking to see him. In truth, the snowman's head had been kicked off into our driveway and his body was smattered across the street. Poor unnamed snowman, may he rest in peace.
Aaron and I chose to build our next snowman on the back deck in the dead of night. So stealthy. Nathan named this one "Snuffy" and enjoyed talking to him over several days. Personally, I think Snuffy was a little creepy the way he stared hungrily into my kitchen.
Here he is:

Then came the rains. Snuffy only got creepier:

All that remains of creepy Snuffy in the New Year:

Our Chunkin' Pumkin

Sweet baby Joshua has literally gained 2 pounds in 1 month. That's a lot for a kid his size. It turns out that I was in fact starving him and he really has a thing for sweet potatoes, rice cereal, and formula (yes, all in the same spoonful).


a preview of tomorrow's costume.

7 months and sitting up; still no teeth.

believe it or not, it's not all fun and games at our house. (I was probably starving him again)

Funny kid

We're at the point in our lives where Aaron and I often have to stifle a giggle at something Nathan has said or done. He makes us laugh every day. Yesterday, as Daddy left for work he reminded Nathan to "be nice to baby Josh and Mommy. . . particularly mommy." Nathan was upset with this suggestion and said, "I don't want to tickle mommy!"


In Sunday School this year, the 2s and 3s are learning about Genesis and we've just started in on Noah's ark. Nathan loves saying his memory verses and talking about what God has done. A few days ago, Nathan was showing his daddy a couple of the "homework" sheets saying "dis one, 'God made the worlh and everythin in it (Acts 19:24) and dis one, 'all aboard, animals."


We've always known Nathan is a social little creature like others in his family. However, I think it may be time to discuss a few boundaries. Earlier this fall, Nathan was walking with daddy and baby Josh to the mailboxes when a neighborhood landscaper parked his truck on the street near my boys. Nathan stopped and asked the man "you done riding dat truck?" He said yes, so Nathan reached for his hand and walked him to the mailboxes. Oh, to make friends so easily!

the Great Pumpkin

Do you have any idea how hard it is to get amazing photos of toddlers at a pumpkin patch? It's rough, let me tell you! So, here are my "trick" shots- I pretty much followed Nathan from behind and then called his name to get him to look! The result is many an unfocused bum and bewildered face.

Genious as we Soderlunds tend to be, we spent a morning at the pumpkin patch trying to avoid crowds, getting lost in a corn maze, and entirely missing the tractor hay ride that was desperately desired by one particular little Soderlund. I think we all had fun, even Josh who slept most of the time, and the sun finally showed up as we were leaving.



which way?


cute boys.

and my favorite picture of the day: I believe Daddy was helping Josh keep his balance, but perhaps he was trying to pick him up by the pom.