Patrick, Elise & David

Little Man

Elise — Sun, 17 Sep 2006 22:08:00 +0000

David has changed so much over the last month I can hardly believe it! He is a little mover! He started the walking thing pretty carefully. He would pull up on furniture and take a few steps between Patrick and I. Then he started wanting to go after the dogs. That gave him a bit of a challenge because they move so fast. It took only a couple weeks before he looked like a pro. He still has to pull up on something to get going, but once he takes off, there is no stopping him (except the occasional shoe or toy on the floor that wipes him out).

David has also been learning to say a lot of new words like light (da-ight), giraffe (gerf), dogs (Da!), and banana (nana...his first word). When he can't say it, he will sign it. He has another good collection of words he can say by using sign language. We have been teaching him words for basic needs like: hungry, more, tired, all done, cheese, cookie, drink, and even things like fish and cold. The picture to the left is David saying "eat" or "hungry" (sometimes used for "more food" too). I think it makes David feel more in control when he can communicate what he wants.

Proof!!

Elise — Thu, 20 Jul 2006 23:19:00 +0000

I finally have proof of how much David is like his Daddy. I know everyone looks at things that are more obvious like his face and expressions to see the similarities. I find there is one more glaring example of how they are so similar. Do you see what David is doing? He found the button that makes the fun noise on the gutter of his little house. No need to actually play with the balls. If he hits it over and over he gets the same result.

David does this with almost any toy that has a little hidden button to push. That is just like his Daddy. Patrick finds things more enjoyable if he can first figure out how they work...take it apart, put it back together. I think I'm going to be seeing a trend here. I better hide all my valuable trinkets.

Recap

Elise — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 18:03:00 +0000

I know a lot has happened since I last made a post. For some reason I am having all sorts of difficulty working blogger.

I had yet to mention about David's first trip to the beach back in May. We went to our usual retreat in Sea Grove Beach, FL with Nonna, Papa, Ashlea, Tim and Seth. David loved it. He ate a good bit of sand, slept under the tent mostly, and occasionally played in the baby pool with cousin Seth. However, we had to learn the hard way that swimmer diapers only keep in certain things, the rest it does not.

He also had his first birthday June 24. He had all his friends and family in town. It was a lot of fun. The kiddies got to play out in the pools and the slip and slide. David did not tear into the cake as we suspected but carefully nibbled at it so as not to make a mess. (He is a boy right???)

At the McNary's hotel, we all went swimming in their pool. That was David's first swim in a large pool. Grandma McNary was able to stay with us an extra few days. He always loves being with his grandparents!! Now we are back to our old routine...

Goofy Baby

Elise — Mon, 17 Jul 2006 18:30:00 +0000

Ahh... the fun of parenting. I really think God gives children the ability to make us laugh so that we can survive the moments when we would rather cry!!! David has been such a goof lately. I know most of you have seen these pictures by email. I wanted to post some of them here.

After his birthday party we decided to use the paints that aunt Bekki gave him to do some hand pictures. He mostly wanted to eat the paint. Things are always better in the mouth anyway. He had a good time. In the end it looked like he was trying to pass for having hit puberty already. Hehe.

I am very happy to say that David's nose picking incident has only happened once now. He discovered his nose and was very curious. I would try not to laugh and support it but it was hard not to. The funny part was that he would keep losing that slippery nose. He'd poke around on his cheek or by his eyes. He would find it again eventually.

This last picture was taken today at lunch time. David has been having a rough day or so for unknown reasons. I think it could be teething. He isn't napping well and is pretty cranky (those are the days I feel like crying too). I guess after his short 30 minute nap this morning he couldn't wait to finish his meal before catching up on some sleep. After this picture was taken David cracked me up! He jumped back with a shocked look on his face, threw his arms up in the air, then grabbed another pea and put it in his mouth - all just to drop his head back down again. That is when I knew it was time for bed!

David's Friends

Elise — Mon, 19 Jun 2006 15:01:00 +0000

All along the way David has been loved by so many. I just wanted to add some of my favorite pictures of David with some of these great family friends.

Jenny got to see David for the first time when he was only 1 month old. It was such a sweet visit having her here.

Natalie came to visit us back in January when David was 6 mon. old. David loved to stare at her. I have a feeling this might have been his very first crush!!

We were able to visit with Tasha, and old friend of Elise's, in New Orleans. This was her first time to see him. He really loved her necklace, as you can imagine!! Ha!

Jill came over to visit us at Grandma's house in New Orleans as well.

We recently got to visit with Chad and Michelle Hanning and their precious girls, Phoebe and Abigail. I think David was quite taken with Phoebe. (I'm glad he is now going for girls at least his own age!!)

A Quick Overview

Elise — Tue, 25 Apr 2006 16:25:00 +0000

Sorry that it has been so long since I have posted. No doubt David has changed tremendously since December. Very quickly, let me give you an overview of how David developed over the last many months...

Christmas was spent with Nona and Papa Norman in Birmingham. We had a lot of fun visiting everyone. Right before we left for Birmingham, David sat up by himself unsupported (about 6 mon. in age).

January was the first time we introduced "solids" to David. Of course it was mostly just thick milk. He seemed to enjoy it.

By about 7 months old David just started to creep a little bit. It didn't seem to take him long to become a pro at the army dude scoot. (This became his only way to get around. He was so fast at the scoot that he still hasn't gotten into an official crawl. He can do it now if he wants, but never very long.)

We have learned a lot about this little man along the way. One thing we picked up on pretty quickly is that David has a flair for the theatrical. This face is not a real cry. He has a collection of these "fake" cries now. Unfortunately, I don't think laughter is the response he is looking for...or is it??
However, I must say too, we have also learned that he is a very sensitive guy. He loves to please and has a gentle heart.

Once March rolled around and David was 9 months old, he was no longer content with floor mobility only. He started pulling up. Not only that...but Climbing!! This is when it became necessary to watch him at all times. A time or two I would leave for a minute and he'd be eating something or sucking on a power cord. The world just opened up for him and he wanted to explore it!

David's Baptism

Elise — Sat, 17 Dec 2005 14:44:00 +0000

November 20th was a special day with fun, fellowship and celebration. David was baptized at Redeemer Pres with many family and friends present. Pastor Mike performed the service. To our surpise, David only woke for a brief startled second as Mike baptized him with water. David graciously allowed his momma to enjoy the entire service for the first time without even a peep.

Afterwards the crowd gathered at the Norman house for lunch and a chance to visit. The little disciple only visited a short while before excusing himself for a long nap that afternoon. Of course he couldn't take a satisfying nap without a good laugh with his Nonna first.

David is very blessed to have such a loving and God centered group of family and friends who will help to raise him up in the footsteps of Christ. He is a precious and unique child with the stamp of God on his entire life. He was knitted together by the greatest Crafter. If you look closely enough at this little one, you'll most likely see the very fingerprints of our Maker.

Stud Muffin

Elise — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 21:05:00 +0000

Despite his first run-in with a little cold and fever, David is still a stud. We aren't supposed to share this bit of info, but we have word that David will be featured in the GQ magazine sometime soon. Don't worry, we will try not to let it go to his head.

What a fun time!

Patrick — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 21:16:00 +0000

This past weekend, my Nonna and Poppa came over and we had a blast! See what torture my Dad and Poppa put me through!

4 Months Old

Elise — Tue, 25 Oct 2005 15:17:00 +0000

Ooooooo!!!
mamma's in trouble with Daddy!!!!
She cut off all my hair. I'm a bald baby. Now I have to live with peach fuzz.

Well my new hair style isn't all that's new. I have a newfound fascination with my toes. My hand coordination has also become a lot better. I love to grab my daddies beard. I'm also getting to be quite a mover. I love to roll back and forth. I've also finally decided that I should let my mom rest a little. After all, we know she needs to catch up on her beauty rest.

It's been nice chatting. But I need to go. I have an appointment with Johnny to do a little jumping.
See ya later alligator!!

GG's Stay

Elise — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 21:12:00 +0000

One of the most precious parts of G'ma's stay with us was the chance David had to get to know his GG. By the time she left, all she had to do was walk into the room and he would light up. What a sweet little connection they shared!

Thick As Thieves

Elise — Fri, 14 Oct 2005 01:35:00 +0000

Look how cute they are! They are twinkies!!! D sure loves his G'ma.

Family

Elise — Thu, 13 Oct 2005 19:56:00 +0000

It has been over a month since the hurricane swept through our lives, leaving many questions unanswered about the future. The many plans we had set in our heads are now indefinitely changed. Sometimes we feel we are stuck in a huge tangled mess. Nothing that we knew before will ever be the same. However, not all is a loss.

Some precious possessions from G'mas house, as I understand, have been spared. As everyone knows, I am mostly excited to hear about the Christmas decorations. For with Christmas comes precious family memories. When Christmas time comes we can always count on all those beautiful handmade reindeer, the nativity set, and little mice ornaments to be out on display.

What those remind me of is all our family gatherings, from when I was a child to the present time. I loved always helping decorate the tree, deck out the house, and pass out gifts. It reminds me of walks through the park, finding gifts from Santa under the tree, candlelight songs at church, and our recent snowball fights. But the true blessing is not from what was spared, but whom was spared. God's hand of protection was on our entire family, and for that I am most thankful!

XML feed

Patrick — Sat, 24 Sep 2005 03:41:00 +0000

Hey - Just in case anyone was wondering how to be able to add this blog to your customized Google page, or to My Yahoo, or any other Blog viewer, simply copy in http://blog.normanfam.net/atom.xml.

Hurricane Katrina: The Aftermath

Patrick — Wed, 14 Sep 2005 02:15:00 +0000

Just a note to say how thankful we are that everyone in the fam from New Orleans is safe and sound. Things we can replace, people we cannot! Praise God for his faithfulness to His people and for his watch care over the entire McNary/Watkins fam!

Also - I have set up a blog at katrina.normanfam.net for everyone to update their status, location, images, etc...