Happy St Patrick's Day

What in the world is this on my head?

OH!  The headband I've been wearing for weeks.  It must be some special day.  But why did my mom dress me in orange?  Doesn't she know it's the day I'm supposed to be wearing my Oscar The Grouch shirt?  Oohhhhh... that's right, I LOVE this orange shirt.  Ah, well, at least it's a color on the Irish flag. 

 Even though we thought he'd love corned beef (salty meat) he had to be bribed with left over cupcakes to eat a whole slice of it.  Ah, we've come a long way from this and an even longer way from the days we had a St. Paddys Party and bought SO much beer we decided to buy a beer fridge rather than let all the excess beer get skunked.  My things have changed.  

Now that the kiddo is asleep I need to go convice Dave to do an Irish Car Bomb just for old times sake!  Happy St Patrick's Day!

Video Friday: Final Birthday Re-Cap

If you ask him about birthdays he'll start to sing the Happy Birthday song and then he says 'Blow Candles' and 'Eat Cake'.  I mean this kid GETS birthdays.  Here is his party song.  He was pretty excited about everyone singing and very excited about the lit candle. What's also quite funny is how after he blows the candle and we take the cake away he looks for the cake almost as if to say 'hey!  where are you going with my cake?'

Party Highlights

Here are some highlights from the party.  Notice the watch Nolan is wearing on his wrist?  He LOVES his new watch.

 He also LOVES his backpack which we've brought everywhere we've gone this week. It's much better than a diaper bag and he's the carrier... most of the time.

 He also loves his new electric guitar.  He really loves the guitar but also so did the grown ups at this party.

 Nolan had a Thomas themed party- here's his cake.

 He loved eating the cake!

 A lot.

Birthday Re-Cap #2

Another thing that go along with being the big OH-TWO is sitting forward facing in the car seat.  This is really exciting for both Nolan and me.  I can't believe how big he looks now that I can turn around and see him.  Actually I think he looks so small and vulnerable facing forward but such is life.  This kid really enjoys facing forward and I also think he enjoys not losing feeling in his feet because his legs were so long they were as high as the headrest when he was facing forward.

Something else we did last year and will do every year is measure him on the wall in our basement.  Check out the growth on this kid.  Near his ear is where he measured last year.  Official measurements from the doctor will come tomorrow but we measured him to be 36 inches, a 5.5 inch growth from 12 months ago. 

 And then, of course, the happy birthday song, blowing out candles and eating cake.  This was just a giant (FREE) cupcake from Whole Foods.  Thanks Whole Foods.  This was absolutely gorgeous and huge but didn't taste that great.  But thanks anyway.  It was fun to watch Nolan try to eat it.

Ah, and the presents.  This was cool to watch.  He started with the largest present, unwrapped it and then demanded he play with the toy.  He played for about 15 minutes with each new toy before he moved onto the next largest wrapped present.  Smart kid.  Very fun. 

Birthday Re-Cap #1

On Nolan's birthday we went to Mystic to see the fish again.  We did it last year and he seemed to have a super duper blast.  This year he was much more interactive and running from place to place.  He seemed to REALLY love the whales.  Then he ran into the aquarium and found the shark touch tank.  None of the sharks came anywhere near him- I think they were afraid of Nolan.

 So we ran from place to place, most of the time I wondered if he even saw the fish.  Then we got to the big shark tank.  He watched this for a few minutes.  Maybe the bigger the fish, the more attention they get?  He was also very interested in the sea horses and spent much of the day saying 'Sea Horse' with a long pause in between those two words.

 We also enjoyed the Sea Lion show, when he wasn't saying "sea horse" he was saying "sea lion".  I was impressed by him sitting watching the show.  He did a great job and clapped at the right times too!

 Then we found the penguins.  Nolan loves his toy penguin we got him last year on his birthday trip to Mystic.  These guys certainly kept his attention too.  They were a lot more active than last time and it was fun to see them swimming around instead of just standing on the rocks.

I can't believe this guy is TWO.  Wow.  It was a very exciting week for him.  And for us!

Another Hair Cut

We brought Nolan for another haircut.  This time we went to a fancy kiddo hair salon.  Nolan was super excited about the possibility of sitting in car while getting it cut.

 Nolan picked the YELLOW car.

 Then we told him that 'that lady' will be cutting his hair.  He was excited about the penguins on his cape.

 All in all I think he liked it. 

Video Friday: Happy Birthday to Nolan

Today Nolan is TWO!  Wow, where did the time go.  It's amazing to remember where I was two years ago (or to try to remember).  It's amazing how rich and full our lives have become in the past two years.  I had no idea my life could be this beautiful.  

Nolan is getting the hang of this birthday song.  We've been singing it for everyone and anyone we can think of.  Often its for his cousin, Mom, Dad, and of course, himself.  Here he is, singing it to himself.  While the words aren't too clear, you get the picture.  

What an amazing day- TWO years old.  Wow.  Happy Birthday Nolan.