"Dead-Eye Marchant"

When I was growing up we used to refer to my dad this way when we were playing basketball. It seemed that no matter how much time had passed since he last played basketball he could always drain the shots from anywhere on the court/driveway. His shots were always "dead on."

Yesterday was my birthday, and, other than this annoying head cold, it was a good day. When I got home from work we ate dinner, and then Michelle went to pick up the babysitter so we could go out. We decided it would be fun to go to the shooting range. I've wanted to teach Michelle to shoot my gun for a while, and this was a good opportunity.

I went over a lot of basics, and probably missed some things, but she was doing pretty well. Her first shots were a little low, so I remembered to tell her to squeeze the trigger instead of pulling it. Here are her targets from the night.

You can see the first few shots on the target on the left were a little low. I think two shots went under the target. That's when I realized about the trigger. Her next shot? See that hole that took the 1 off the 10? That's the one. She finished off the magazine in spectacular fashion. The one on the right is her second target (she only wanted to take a few shots). I think this qualifies her to have a new gun slinging nickname to be used whenever we go to the range...Dead-Eye Marchant!

10 for 10

Nate is already 10 months (actually closer to 10 1/2 now) so I better do an update before he's 11 months!

We're on the home stretch to one year!

                    1 track mind (especially for open toilets, computers, open dishwashers, and laundry detergent)

                    2 naps each day

         Climbs 3 stairs up into Camden's bed

                    4 different laughs/giggles (high pitched, Camden copycat, throaty, full out giggles)

Often needs  5 or so verses of 'I am a Child of God' to fall asleep (but we're getting better!)                

                    6 steps at one time

    Wakes by 7 am.

                    8 teeth

                    9 seconds for a diaper change, if it were up to him!

      Roughly 10  meals or snacks a day

Ok--some of those were a stretch, but none were altogether false.  :)

I'll get pictures up soon.

Nate 9 months

Nate turned 9 months on Valentine's Day!  If you split up a baby's first year into 3 month sections, it means he's on his last lap before he's not a baby anymore.  And, I enjoy him more and more as he gets older. Here's his 9 month snap shot in writing:

~He loves to climb up on things and doesn't seem the least bit afraid.  A couple days ago he climbed up on Camden's stool (where Camden was brushing his teeth), put his little hands way above his head to cling onto the counter, and looked up at me, as if to say, "Can I brush my teeth, too?"  Also likes to climb onto things to get to the piano.

~Really really really loves bath time.

~Is starting to stand without holding onto anything.

~Loves to be upside down

~Says, "mommommommom" when he's sad, and "dadadad" when he's happy.  

~Is super smiley when around other people.  Not so much when we're just at home. 

~Has a bit of a temper.  It's easy to believe that Camden sat on him or annoyed him in some other way, but often that's not the case.  We'll have to be careful to determine who's innocent as they get older.

~Still loves Camden!
~Oh, and he has 4 teeth on the bottom, 2 on the top, with 2 more top teeth that will be here any day now.  

This picture is one of Nate's favorite spots--the tiny space between the chair and the couch.  He loves to hang out in there, especially if there are piles of folded clothes or other things blocking the way in.  

We think it's kind of strange.  :)

 Reaching up so high!

Bath time with Camden! (It's hard to get a decent picture of two boys in the bath!)

Nate wants to eat big people food so much!  This day, we let him try his hand at spaghetti.