One of Nathan’s favorite book series of the last few years has been Aaron Blabey’s Bad Guys books. There have been 14 books that we’ve read multiple times. Me to him and him to me.

Nathan expressed an interest in trying out a FitBit to see how many steps he takes especially with an upcoming vacation we’re going on. So Katie dig out her old pre-Apple Phone FitBit Versa and we charged it up.

One of the big things I was always looking forward in being a parent was introducing my kiddo to Star Wars and watching through them all with them. 

Today, Nathan went in for oral surgery to remove a backup of teeth in his mouth.

Katie and I introduced Nathan to a new-to-him animated film, and by way of doing so, re-introduced ourselves after more than two decades… Anastasia.

The other day, we bought Nathan and new mattress and box spring for the new bed we built for him a handful of months ago. The problem? Katie and I each drive a Hyundai Sonata. Not exactly the best for getting a mattress and box spring home.

To the overly vocal minority, a big piss off.

I love that Nathan has his “thing” when it comes to entertainment. Movies, TV shows, music… he certainly has his favorites.

Nathan has his “own” bathroom which basically amounts to the off-suite hallway bathroom upstairs in our house. When he’s going to have guests over, we pull the shower curtain closed in his bathroom just to give it the added illusion of cleanliness.

Freaking Artie is juicing it up these days. And with Cap’s help, no less.

I totally forgot to mention that, last week, Nathan had a pretty unique experience. A pair of twin brothers in his class at school had a birthday party at a local Taekwondo studio.

It amazes me what nuggets of knowledge kids possess. Not the normal stuff, but the oddball bits you wouldn’t expect.

I just thought I’d share some random photos I snapped this weekend with y’all. Just ‘cause.

Nathan asked an interesting question as we tuned in to the latest episode of Marvel’s What If…

I don’t know how it happened so quickly but, as of about an hour ago, Nathan is now nine years old!

Nathan had an orthodontist consultation. This is the first of two consultations we have scheduled to deal with a tooth that has refused to come loose for a couple years. better to have two opinions and the consults are free. 

Bear with me on this weird little game of Six Degrees of Separation: Nathan Style, will ya? 

It’s always interesting to see what happens when Nathan decides to play with the selfie camera on his iPad. 

Man, Mother Nature did not want to cut us a break these last three days. 

I find it kind of funny the memories that music evokes. Be it a personal experience that you tie to a song or some other media like TV or movies. 

Six years ago, Katie’s family treated us all to a Father’s Day morning at the track. Arlington Race Track, more specifically. It was my first and only time ever at the track as I do not like gambling and only deal with horses via the Kentucky Derby on TV. 

I totally forgot to post pictures from Nathan’s last day as a second grader. Yeah, can you believe he’s going to be starting third grade in the fall? I sure can’t. 

There was a time when we could get dozens of photos of Nathan in a single session. Then he started moving and didn’t stop. Or, if he does stop, he doesn’t give us a photo friendly face.

I was scrolling through my Photos app and found this little gem of Nathan on one of my last days at work with the City of Naperville in 2017. 

Nathan left just a few minutes ago to spend the night at my parents’ house with his two cousins. My mom came to pick him up before she picks up the two girls and heads home. 

Man, this kid was stylin’ back in the day. It’s all the hat and the ‘tude.

By the time I turned three, I was pretty fully immersed in all things Star Wars. It was my life. 

Nathan and two of his cousins spent the night last night at my parents’ house. As part of the sleepover fun, this morning, my mom took them to see a movie. 

Got an email from Nathan's school district the other day. It read, in part...

Seeing that it hit the mid-50s today, we decided to bring down the bicycles for the first day this season and go for a quick ride. We knew it was coming but there was no longer any question, seeing Nathan on his bike, that he was way too big for it and it was time for a new one. 

As I mentioned last week, Nathan has developed an appreciation for The Scorpions. Yes, it has moved beyond just “Rock You Like a Hurricane” into other tracks.

As I’ve stated before, it’s both a blessing and a curse when modern kids movies revisit old music to add to their soundtracks.

Nathan really digs on popular music. He discovers it mostly from movie soundtracks and YouTube videos and has us add tracks randomly to a playlist we created for him in Spotify. 

Think someone’s excited for tomorrow?

As we can’t do what has become our annual holiday tradition and go on a Park District-sponsored trip on the “Polar Express,” we took part in a new event.