Goodnight Moon

(via)
I have been reading to Nathan since he was born. In the first few weeks, he mostly just slept as I read. Then in his first few months, he realized how delicious books are and it became more of a struggle, me trying to turn the pages, Nathan trying to eat them. But now he's old enough to sit and listen and he seems to really enjoy being read to.

Goodnight Moon has become one of our favorites. Will and I take turns reading it to him before bedtime each night. Even if he's fussy the whole time we change his diaper and put him into his pajamas, as soon as we sit down and open the book, he immediately calms down. He sits in our lap, following along, often pointing at the images or the words, and occasionally looking up at us and smiling. I am trying to cherish these moments as much as I can because I know not too far down the road, he will be reading it to me!

Baby's First Christmas

Nathan's first Christmas was a huge success, complete with lots of family and lots of presents. We were in Melrose for 6 nights and had a great time visiting Santa, going to my aunt's Christmas Eve party, opening presents in our pajamas on Christmas morning, visiting old friends and hanging out with my brother, sisters, and parents.















In addition to celebrating his first Christmas, he also got to experience his first snowstorm!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Christmas has always been my favorite holiday. I love going home and seeing the tree, decorated with all but each of our own personal ornaments that our parents always leave out for us to hang ourselves when we get home. I love going to our family party on Christmas Eve and seeing my aunts and uncles and cousins, that I don't get to see often enough. I love wrapping presents in the dining room of my parent's house, calling out to anyone I hear poking around nearby not to come in and try to get a peek. And of course, the best part is coming downstairs on Christmas morning and seeing the mountain of presents waiting to be torn open. But my brother, sisters and I outgrew the "magic" of the holiday a long time ago.

But this year will be different because it's Nathan's first Christmas. Santa will be making an appearance at our house after a very long absence. In addition to his bag of toys, Will and I agreed to each spend a certain amount of money on Nathan but keep our gifts a surprise from each other. So I will open the presents Will bought and he will open the ones I bought and Nathan will most likely just want to play with the torn wrapping and tissue paper, too young to understand what's going on.

I suddenly feel like a kid again, counting down to the excitement of Christmas morning. We've got 3 days to go....

Wild weekends

The aftermath of yet another crazy Saturday night in the Chenivan household.

Enough is enough

Nathan decided to take matters into his own hands tonight. Perhaps he will become a hair stylist when he grows up?

Hands off!

Making baby food for Nathan is not hard. Making sure Will doesn't get to my ingredients before I have a chance to cook them ... not so easy.

What's for dinner?

There are days when before I know it dinner time is here and I haven't prepared anything for Nathan. That's when living in Manhattan is so great because I can run to the market around the corner and grab an avocado. No cooking required, it's an easy, healthy option - just cut open and mash with a fork.




As seen in the photos below, Nathan is a huge fan. I can't wait until he's a little older and we can add some lime juice, tomato, onion, some salt and pepper and introduce him to real guacamole!

Baby, it's cold outside!

Once you have a baby, gone are the days of getting out the door quickly. You have to make sure you have diapers, and wipes and extra clothes in case of an "emergency" and toys and snacks. Now that the freezing cold weather is upon us, it takes even longer to get out because I have to make sure Nathan is warm enough.

I had to run a quick errand tonight with Nathan and getting out the door involved the following:

One long sleeve undershirt + one pants outfit + socks


Plus one pair of fleece booties


Plus one sweatshirt


Plus one fur lined hat (Faux of course)


Plus one super warm, hooded snowsuit


Plus one blanket


Equals one very unhappy, but warm baby and we're finally ready to go!

Baby Ruth

**WARNING** Nathan's Boston relatives should look away immediately.

I know NOTHING about sports other than the one basic rule that every born and bred Bostonian knows.... Sox rule and Yankees drool!

So it pains me to post these photos. But to be fair, Nathan is a New Yorker and his Daddy is a Yankees fan so....





Nathan got his first Yankees shirt from our friend Maria, his first baseball from his cousins Ethan and Evan and his first Yankees hat from his Daddy. I have to admit, he makes one cute little Yankees fan!

I take comfort in knowing that we'll be in Boston in exactly 10 days and we can pull out his Yankees Yuck shirt that Auntie Jonelle bought before he was even born!

Finger Food

Nathan moved onto the wonderful world of finger food last week.
Watching him attempt to pick up a little puff and get it into his mouth was oh so adorable. He reminded me of a very valuable life lesson, if at first you don't succeed, try, try again!






But once he finally got it, he was beaming with pride!



And the floor was covered in puffs.