NIGHT WALKER

We have always been fortunate that Nate sleeps fairly well during the night. Occasionally he might wake up crying but will go right back to sleep after we comfort him. HOWEVER...........just last week he started something new. It was 1am and I must have been half awake because I heard our bedroom door squeak open. At first I thought it was the dog needing to go to the bathroom but when I looked up, I saw this small dark shape standing by the foot of our bed. It took a moment to register that it was Nate. "Nate?" I asked and suddenly the little figure turned and ran out of our room. I got up and walked out and Nate was standing right outside our door just looking at me. No crying, no distressed look, no sweaty head from a bad dream, no......nothing. He was expressionless, just staring at me and didn't say a word. It was kinda creepy. I told him to go get back in his bed and go to sleep...and he did. He stayed in there until we got him up a few hours later.

Weird, huh?

Well EVERY night since then, he has got up in the wee morning hours and run to our room to open our door. At first we thought he was sleep walking but we've discovered he seems very much awake (and a little TOO consistent). When I put him back in bed and tell him he needs to stay in his room and call out for us if he's scared, he nods his head yes and says "yes". We've always kept his door closed and a nightlight on.

I don't know why he's decided to come running to our room every night, expressionless and seemingly fully awake. When he goes back to bed, he'll stay in there until we get him up in the morning. Frankly, it's bothering me because, 1: I don't enjoy waking up between 1am - 4am every morning and 2: I'm worried if I don't hear him get up, he'll find other things in the house to amuse himself with...that are not very kid-friendly.

Sooo..........anyone have any suggestions or experienced this before? I thought of putting up a baby gate but it looks like we still need to teach him to stay in his room until it's time to get up and to call out to us if he's scared (which I don't really think is the problem at this point). Maybe it has something to do with the newfound 2-yr old independence. By the way...he's also got a 2 yr molar poking through. Ahhh....fun.

MORE HOLIDAY FUN

My dad fixed the child seat for our bikes and took Nate for a test run! He also got him a Thomas Train helmet which Nate, of course, loved.





Yesterday we went to La Encantada Mall in Tucson and had lunch at A.J.'s Fine Foods. It was very "not crowded", relaxing although A.J.s was fairly populated.




Nate checking out Santa and the iPhone at the Apple store.




"I'm done posing for the camera!"


Lunch at A.J.'s



Two peas in a pod. They even have the same facial expression!

MORE CHRISTMAS FUN

Snake??!! Renee....it is your classic goldfish in the tank. No way I'm going to have a snake or other critter escaping and making a home in MY bed. haha. Don named all them: "Red, Goldie, Mr. & Mrs. Spot, Goldfinger, Gold in My Ear, Schfin - (I spell it like he says it)". Nate was fascinated by his Santa gift although we did have to drain the water later after he decided to feed them and dumped the entire packet of food in the tank. Doh!

We went to Denny's on Christmas morning...a "stay-at-home" tradition. It's always fun and everyone's happy and saying "Merry Christmas!" We had a simple dinner...although I totally forgot to get the cranberry sauce and rolls. I also forgot to set out the Santa cookies and milk the night before! I attribute that to either hitting 40 or having a 2 yr old or maybe both. ha!

I think I prepped Nate too well about Santa coming because as soon as he heard us getting up, he opened the door to his room to come out! Now...this was our first Christmas where he is much more aware of everything and I didn't have the camera or anything ready. So I was a mean mommy and told him to stay in his room until we came to get him. Yeah I know what you're thinking. But I was willing to risk a few tears to capture the moment on camera. Don't worry, he settled down quickly. When we were ready, I went in to get him and asked, "Do you want to see what Santa left for you?" He said "Yes!" and the look on his face was priceless when he saw his Santa gifts! Nate was so funny opening his gifts. He would recognize a car or truck and say, "Whoa! Wooow!! Truck!!" and excitedly open it as fast as he could. Then he opened some clothes that my parents gave him and immediately threw them behind him so he could get on to the better stuff. haha. We pretty much chilled for the rest of the day. It was cold and rainy and not much fun to get out. The snow levels came close to town but not to our area. Hopefully we'll get to take Nate to play in it soon. Have a great holiday break!!

CHRISTMAS MORN

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE

"Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house......."


"not a creature was stirring....."


"not even a mouse....."

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL!!

THE GRANDPARENTS COME TO TOWN

My parents arrived yesterday from Georgia..yay! It took Nate a little while to warm up to them. He wouldn't even look at them at first but finally got over his shyness. Within an hour he was bringing grandma his books to read and playing with his trains and cars with grandpa. Mom and dad brought Don's favorite fruitcake, soaked in Apricot Brandy (no wonder it's his fav. ha!) Mom also brought all her Christmas goodies so needless to say we've been eating vegetarian the last couple of days. haha. Nate's been enjoying dad's endless stash of movies..."Kung Fu Panda", "Wall-E" and others to name a few. It's great to see my parents again and be able to spend Christmas Eve service and Christmas day with them!

CHRISTMAS IS COMING!

Tomorrow my parents arrive from Georgia to spend Christmas and New Year's with us! I'm very excited to see them because we haven't seen them since Februrary. I told Nate Grandma and Grandpa Ramos were coming to see him and he said, "Yayyyyy!!" It was too cute. I hope he remembers he said that and doesn't go into a crying fit when he sees them. haha. Since he's turned 2, he has figured out that he can be a drama King when he doesn't want to deal with people or a situation. So, I am freaking out a bit because we had a busy weekend and the house is a mess. I suppose I shouldn't be spending this time blogging. Doh!

This morning, Don spied our next door neighbor sneaking up to our house in her p.j.'s and coat. She dropped off a Christmas tin with some super awesome goodies and left an anonymous card. Look at these clever little "mice" she created with chocolate covered cherries....my FAVORITE! Hope you all have a fun Christmas and Happy Hanukkuk week!

BUBBLY SNOW

I was really looking forward to tonight. At a nice outdoor mall, here in Tucson, they do a Christmas snowfall using the bubble machines like they have in Disneyland. It's totally fun and festive and they have Christmas carolers, etc. Well, after a 30 min drive in crowded traffic, we got there and the mall was PACKED. Not a single parking space to be found...seriously not ONE! Don dropped Nate and I off but after continually circling, he was never able to find a space. I was able to get some good snow photos but we left after less than an hour because it wasn't much fun with only 3/4 of the family! I was really bummed and was looking forward to a festive family evening but it wasn't to be. Don was irritated from driving all the way there and spending the entire time in the parking lot so we got some Starbucks and headed back home. It didn't occur to me until AFTER that we could've parked at the Starbucks across the street and walked over. *SIGH*! Anyway, here's the photos below. Nate seemed to enjoy it but he wasn't fooled and said "Bubbles!" the entire time. Too cute!