The Davolts

 Nathan's Aunt Jennifer invited us over for early morning pool time yesterday. Nathan wasn't always sure about the water, but enjoyed when his Dad would pop up from underwater! It sure was a great way to start a hot day and I hope we can go back again soon.

Nathan (in navy t-shirt) and I drove to Ridgefield today for Toddler Time at the Library. There were bubbles to pop, stories to read, and bells to ring while we paraded around the library.

So, in writing about this second pregnancy, I find I always have to start by going back and rereading the posts I wrote while pregnant with Nathan. I suppose that's part of the point of keeping a blog; to share ideas and experiences, then later review, remember and reflect. If you're interested in rereading a post at the same stage in my first pregnancy, you're welcome to check it out: 25 weeks pregnant with Nathan I dragged Jeff along for today's appointment. He hasn't been able to attend hardly any this pregnancy, and given we had errands to run together while Nathan was in day care, it was settled. The nurse informed me that today would be my glucose test and I was offered a choice between an orange or lemon lime flavored drink. I do have a sweet tooth so the drink is bearable, but I wish I didn't have to drink so much in so little time. The glucose test is a timed test, so after ingesting a bottle of sugar, I had to visit the lab for a blood draw. I...

Summer officially started at 3:30pm last Friday June 21st.  That was the time that both Erin and I were done with not only students, but also various meetings and trainings for the summer.  You may be wondering what will be in store for us this summer, and let me tell you, it is shaping up to be quite busy. Originally, I was planning to work a full five weeks over the summer and to basically get just two full weeks off, but one of the two summer programs I was set to teach had a low enrollment freeing up three weeks of my summer.  I was slightly disappointed because this particular program had me teaching 6th graders that included using iPads and daily PE time that usually involved throwing frisbees at kids, or playing kickball (plus the extra paycheck is nice). But, I was also excited to have more time at home with Nathan and Erin.  Now I am just working two weeks with incoming freshman. With work out of the way I could fully participate in what we might as...

Nathan just turned two, and with him turning two the expectations of speech have started mounting.  Now Nathan has been communicating with words for quite some time.  We decided to teach him at least a few ASL signs so that we could communicate with him without him just crying.  All Done, Help, Please, are his go to signs that have served him quite well. Nathan also has been talking for quite a while.  He started with Mama and Dada, and quickly picked up shoes and Bible.  All Done is also one of his favorite phrases, but if you have spent anytime around Nathan you know that Uh Oh, is his favorite phrase.  He uses it for just about anything, whether it happens on purpose or is an accident Nathan likes to say Uh Oh, quite loudly. Following closely behind is something that we've interpreted to be "What's that?". Over and over again, Nathan will point to things and say the words, which means over and over again, we are repeating the names of things and encour...

For Nathan's second birthday, we decided to keep the guest list to just family. While there was still ideas to organize and prepare, it was certainly a lot less stressful than having a large crowd over. It was also nice to visit with our dear families who arrived over the course of his celebration day, all of whom had driven from distant places. We truly appreciate and feel blessed that the Murray and Davolt families  came to celebrate Nathan and support us. The weather turned out beautiful and even a little warm at times. Anytime we have company over, I like to use it as an opportunity to try new recipes. I suppose that's always a risky venture, but oh well. For Nathan's birthday, I decided to make a cake from scratch. Two days before his party, I tried one recipe to make cupcakes for Nathan to share with his classmates. On the eve of his party, I tried a variation of that first recipe but got a little impatient while trying to whip the egg whites. As a result, I mad...

So, this post is only nearly two weeks overdue, but oh well; life has been busy around the Davolt household lately! In that time, Nathan has reached 2 years old and I am now 23 weeks along in this pregnancy.  Nathan received this tiger for his birthday from Great A. Sherry. He calls it "Rawr" and wants to cuddle (and drool) with him every night since. At Nathan's appointment, we spent a nice hour with Dr. Chrissie catching up on what Nathan is up to. Which is a lot of coloring, blowing bubbles in the backyard and LOTS of matching. We feel spoiled that Nathan will sit with a coloring book and box of crayons for an hour sometimes, happily drawing on all the pages. Fortunately, he is well stocked with new coloring books and crayons after his birthday! Also, Nathan loves to find symbols or pictures in duplicate locations. Sometimes he'll see a picture on the front or back cover of a book and then gets very excited to find the same image in the pages of the bo...

Last year I wrote Nathan a letter for his birthday, and I thought I would do so again this year.  This will make a bit more sense when he can actually read, but hopefully he will one day look back and ready them. Dear Nathan,    You are turning two years old today.  These past two years have been truly special years.  You started off so small and quickly grew quite large and now are just perfect.  Just in case you grow up to look goofy like your father, you should know that you were a very cute toddler.  People often stop to let us know how cute you are.  That definitely comes from your mother.     The first two years of your life were very special, it was just you, your mom and I.  We had a nice little family and focused on making sure your every need was met.  We had lots of great times.  It was so much fun to watch you learn and explore this great big world of ours.  We certainly did some crazy things when mo...