Nibblin' on Spongecake

Resolutions Check-in

2012-01-31T14:31:00.001-05:00

So I made some resolutions this year that I have been taking quite seriously. It's almost like I needed something to aim toward. It's been a fun month working on my self. Here's my update:

Use my ME time more wisely. I've decided to stop trying to make the book club meetings of a Mommy club I belong to. The meetings are never at a great time (Sunday nights at 8pm) and I am not always excited about the books they pick. Frankly I'm not always excited about the attendees as well. So it's ok to not participate even though I like to read. I've also decided that I will not be renewing my membership with another club I belong to because I feel like an impostor, just using it for daycare and grown-up time, not for the content of the meetings. I have also begun seeing a chiropractor for my neck which feels appropriate to me. I'm skeptical of them but also feel stumped as to how I can start to feel better and less achy. This should, overall, improve my well-being if I'm not in pain or achy each day.

Be a better recycler. Dave and I have both improved on this front. We've begun keeping a bag for recycling upstairs rather than downstairs. At one point the recycling bin was outside, dumped in transit to the car and forgotten outside. Last year I would have just thrown the recycling into the garbage can because of ease or laziness. But instead I piled the recycling up and added it to the big can when I retrieved the indoor recycling bin.

Drink more tea. While I haven't been super about replacing the booze with tea, I have been better about treating myself to an afternoon cup of tea. I've tried at least 10 new teas, many I have discovered I don't like. I got a few sampler packs and after giving away a fruity kind since I don't like fruity tea, I had someone bring me an iced tea from Starbucks of that same tea. It was delicious and a gorgeous purple color. This discovery made me look forward to summertime. Surprisingly I haven't found a tea I really love yet, but I have found some I don't love. I've far surpassed my threshold of two new teas each

month.

Date night in. January was a tough month to do two ABT (After Bed Time) meals but it was done. One night we gobbled in front of the tv and another night we sat and had a lovely meal while Nolan was babbling away in his crib. Nolan has had some really awful evenings so these might be used more than twice a month.

Stop keeping score.Unfortunately for Dave I am still keeping score but I am trying to not let that affect my actions or reactions to things.

Take it easier on myself. Treat myself better. THIS is what I really need to work on. I am taking it easier on what Nolan should eat and it gives me pleasure that he pushed away the macaroni and cheese from a box as well as the cheese puffs offered to him at a class we take. But I am trying to be more relaxed about that. I'm also trying to be more relaxed with me. I've been better to myself but this is a tough resolution.

DO things, stop thinking about doing things. This has been a super duper resolution. Sixty seconds is a long time. I can take the garbage out, I can pop upstairs and change my clothes. I can do a lot of things in 60 seconds which helps me be able to cross all that stuff off of the to-do list. I got a ton of stuff done in January. Every day I accomplished small random stuff. Most days I make a list during the morning of stuff i need to do each day and try to find a way to get them done. Things in the house like washing all the blankets we use while watching tv or taking down the Christmas decorations. Taking down the lights outside (it was super warm one night after nolan went to bed I did it. It took less than 15 minutes by my self). Writing these things down somehow makes it easier for me to do it. Perhaps is because I actually remember what I wanted to do.

Very Close

2012-01-30T15:17:00.000-05:00

I'm quite certain that Nolan doesn't need glasses...

but could he get is face any closer to the paper he's drawing on?

I'm not sure where he picked this up, getting really super close to the page but I find it hysterical.

Maybe he likes the smell of the markers?

Give This Kid a Blanket!

2012-01-29T16:17:00.001-05:00

There are so many rules new parents need to follow. Some you take in stride, others you follow to a tee. Every parent is different but there are a few rules that Dave and I have truly taken to heart. One is that nothing should be in the child's crib until he's two years old.

That means, no blankets, no stuffed animals, no toys, no books etc. Since Nolan is such a great sleeper we don't see any reason to mess with that. We fear he'd throw the blanket or stuffed friend out of the crib and then wail for it. Or he'd strangle himself with whatever he has since he loves putting things around his neck. Then he started tucking himself under the sheets on the bed. Yes, he was yanking the sheet up and wiggling his way under it. He was, in essence, tucking himself in.

And if you read this blog, you know how much Nolan LOVES snuggling with anything soft. So this weekend was the weekend. We gave him a blanket. We joked that he'd sleep until 830am since now he had something to snuggle with.

He didn't. But you can tell he just LOVES it. So now he sleeps with a blanket... around his head.

Video Friday: Diaper Change

2012-01-27T13:16:00.003-05:00

Today was a really amazing day. I am not sure why I find today to be so remarkable but Nolan was playing the Elmo game on the computer. Then he said something that sounded like Zoey. I asked what he said and he said it again, clear as day: Zoey. Then he pointed to a small image of Zoey from Seasame Street! How he knows who Zoey is, I do not know. I suppose a few of his books have Zoey in them but we don't watch Seasame Street. (He gets bored when it's anything other than Elmo and then starts asking, then begging, then whining for Elmo. It wears a woman down. Then I fast forward through the show looking for Elmo, thus never seeing Zoey). So THEN, after I could have been blown over with a small gust of wind he pointed to the blue furry monster and said somewhat clearly: Grover. Seriously? It's amazing and so FUN to hear him start to talk more.

AND this week he started to pretend things on the pages of his books were real. He was pretending to pick up the baby chicks and hand them to us. He pretended the pizza was real and took it off the page and pretended to eat it. He pretended the frog jumped off of the page and that he could pick up all the flowers in a book. This is a really interesting and quite fun stage. I don't know if it's typical but it's kinda cool that his imagination is working.

Enjoy this video of Nolan trying to change himself. What a silly goose.

Really Sweet

2012-01-26T14:59:00.001-05:00

Nolan has taken an interest in our wedding album. NOT the uber pricy one but the one with the 200 proofs in it. It's been on a shelf since we got married and in the past week we've looked at it more than probably the last several years. Thank you sweetie, for making us remember a really beautiful day.

What's so cute is he points to people in the pictures naming them. Even though we all look different and a few years younger, he gets them all right... well, except for Nana and Auntie. Sometimes he confuses them but I mistook Dave's aunt for his mom on our wedding day too, so let's be fair. They are twins, after all.

Changes

2012-01-25T13:18:00.000-05:00

Things seem to be changing so quickly. Just last week I was frustrated at Nolan's speech, that it seems he's stalled in the development of it. And this week he's doing 2-3 word statements. It's really amazing. As adults we don't change very often. When we do it's often a declared change, like I will go to the gym every day, not a natural change. As an adult, when there is change, I find it exciting and sometimes I get giddy.

A change I've implemented are these shelved. Before they were both installed I was already looking around the house for more corners to put more shelves. I LOVE these shelves. These shelves were installed to fix a problem. When we/anyone walks into our kitchen they put down the stuff in their hands on the counter. I hate it. I do it myself, and I hate it. So now we have shelves! AND I LOVE THEM!

See how clear the counter can be without stuff on it? Doesn't it look gorgeous!?! I LOVE IT. Other changes include: Nolan eating cereal in a bowl with milk and new cups. Some of Nolan's friends who are younger are required to drink from a cup in a new daycare classroom. Since Nolan is many months older I figured we'd better get on it too. So here are some new cups. He is thrilled and wants to drink out of the 'blue cup' or his 'new cup'.

He is very proud of his accomplishments. And still doing a great job smiling for the camera!

After the Snow

2012-01-24T13:03:00.001-05:00

We played outside in the snow for about 30 minutes. It was still snowing, sort of, so when it hit your face it was cold. Nolan occasionally complained about his hands being cold- his min-mins (mittens) are not waterproof.

But when our neighbor started using their snow blowers, Nolan would not be stopped. We walked down the road to watch him use the snow blower, all the while saying 'snow blower'. My take on it is that a snow blower is merely a wintertime lawn mower, so of course he'd be really interested in it.

Once inside we undressed. But Nolan didn't want to take off his boots which meant his snow pants were staying on for a little longer too. And since his hands were so cold, he just tucked them in.

Sometimes he just cracks us up. As I'm trying to lighten up with Nolan's eating I wondered what age was appropriate for hot cocoa? So in spirit of the snow and my attempts to be more free spirited about what he's eating I made him a small cup of tepid chocolate with 2 marshmallows.

He wasn't interested in it. At all. In fact he poured the luke warm cocoa into the mug I made it in and crushed the cup. I guess he wasn't ready. Either that or the hot cocoa wasn't to his liking. I prefer mine really chocolaty with 3 marshmallows.

Snow Day

2012-01-22T16:37:00.004-05:00

Yesterday it snowed. And Nolan boycotted clothes. Generally he keeps his clothes on but this day he simply refused to put clothes on after his bath and for a few hours was naked (what he calls Nay-Nay)

We did eventually get clothes on him. Only to have him remove his pants. Have I mentioned how much he likes wearing boots? Any boots- snow boots or otherwise.

But with the promise of going outside to play in the snow we wrangled him into a onesie and finally got some clothes on this kid.

And put him to work! He did a fair job shoveling. I think he needs to work on the pushing technique.

But he definitely has the dumping part of shoveling down pat. In fact he says 'DUMP' when he does it for added effect.

Maybe next year we can get him to start making some money shoveling snow.

Video Friday: Fresh Out

2012-01-20T12:56:00.001-05:00

I am fresh out of new videos. Sorry kids. So I dipped into the archives and came upon this one that was recorded one year ago. Funny that we went to KidCity today and this video was from a visit to the very same museum last year.

This weekend is an exciting one- Nolan will be attending swimming class with Dad. Also on the list of things to do is date night. Whoo Hoo! That's my kind of list! I suppose I better add to the list: take more photos and videos for the blog next week.

New Scarf

2012-01-19T13:35:00.005-05:00

Nolan really loves our scarves. In fact, he will take a belt and pretend it's a scarf! He puts everything around his neck like a scarf.

So I decided he needs one. We have several each and he loves when we wear ours. Especially when we tickle his head with the fringe.

Going on the guess that scarves for toddlers are a choking hazard I made him a scarf. I wish I considered the softness of the yarn when I was making it because it's a tad scratchy but Nolan picked the color and was quite opinionated on that.

While he looks like he loves it, I am really not sure if he does. He wears it for only short amounts of time, unlike the belt to my bathrobe which I need to hang in a spot that he can't reach because when he does it's impossible to get it back.

But we're working on it. Hopefully he'll enjoy the scarf this season. I know how to fix the mistakes I made with this one and can probably make one more quickly next year if needed.

(but on a more important accomplishment, notice Nolan smiling and looking at the camera in these photos, not reaching too it with fret on his face? We're working on saying 'cheese' and smiling when the camera comes out. He's doing a great job with this!)

Snow Day

2012-01-17T13:03:00.002-05:00

We woke up to snow! Well, about 1 inch of it, but still. And for Nolan, that meant school (the class we made PPS) was cancelled. SNOW DAY! So we put on co-co (comfy cozy) pants and nolan insisted on wearing his boots and mittins inside while walking around begging for his friends to arrive so we could get outside to play in the 'no'.

Getting outside requires all this:

And once it was on, he stood at the edge of the yard for a bit until he watched me and his friend's mom make a snowman. Yeah, the moms made it. Unfortunately it's not intuitive for two almost-2-year-olds to know how to make a snowman. So we made it. And you know what? It was a LOT of fun!

So we made another one when the third friend arrived. TWO snowmen and three wet moms and three cold babies. After a few trips down the slide in our back yard we headed inside.

What a great snowday! I wish my camera battery didn't run out.

A Well Deserved Break

2012-01-16T13:08:00.003-05:00

We ALL took a break this weekend. A break from the world, it seemed. We stayed in, licked our wounds and healed. And while we all don't feel or look 100%- in fact none of us do, we feel MUCH better than we did on Friday.

Oh, did I forget to mention this week that Nolan got rug burn on his nose? Well, you see, it was minor compared to everything else. It was the first time after my neck/back injury I picked Nolan up voluntarily and it was only because people were watching. But, I digress...

So we took a nice break. We layed on the couch, we watched some football and some Chuggington, we went to bed early (some of us on the couch) and we hung in our co-co (comfy-cozy) pants. Nolan took a marathon nap, I made Carrot Ginger soup with homemade chicken stock.

It was what we needed to help us all feel better. We're on the mend. We're hanging in there. It was such a nice weekend.

Video Friday: Icing on the Cake

2012-01-13T13:57:00.000-05:00

So you read my whaaah from yesterday. I feel mentally in a better place today if you were wondering... but I'm sure no one really reads this blog to read about me. So let's chat about dear sweet Nolan. Nolan woke up today in fine spirits but sounds like a 2-pack-a-day-smoker after climbing 10 flights of stairs. The kid is raspy. But when he coughed I knew he was not 'fine'. So we watched some tv this morning (twist my arm) and headed to the doctor- croup. Great. So we'll be taking it easy today.

(please enjoy this video I took a few weeks ago- where do you think he learned to get the truck un-stuck with his foot? Sometimes he is just hilarious)

Apparently this is how Nolan 'takes it easy' by keeping his running around like a maniac to only one room. Clearly he seems fine but if your volume is up you can hear him breathing in the later part of the video. I think he likes that sound and is trying to get his throat to make that sound. I don't love it.

On The Verge

2012-01-12T13:53:00.000-05:00

I feel really proud of the way I've been dealing with this quarter close. You see, four times a year Dave works late hours which means I work late hours. So instead of counting the clock until 6:00 when Dave should be home, these 2-3 weeks I count the clock until either a) 5:45 rolls around which is my designated time it's ok to watch tv; b) 6:30 rolls around which means I rush around the kitchen preparing dinner for Nolan and myself; or c) 7:00 rolls around which is the time bedtime begins.

So back to me... this quarter close I think I've done a good job. I scaled back dinners so I can eat with Nolan and still give him the 'family meal' experience. I've also scaled back my expectations of how these days will go. I've utilized any help and play date offers that came my way or that I forced on others, I think I handled this quarter really well. (by the way, this picture is Nolan just waking up, notice his legs are up in the air against the bed rails- so cute)

So all was going well and I was feeling super about this quarter until Monday night when I tweaked/hurt my back/shoulder while pulling up the blanket in bed. Yeah, it sucks. So I have been walking around with a stiff and now crooked back for a few days. My neck is so tired from holding up my heavy head. I've trained Nolan to climb into the carseat and I've changed his diaper on the floor (since I can barely look up, the floor is a much better spot) which makes for having to pick him up only about 5 times a day. I've been sleeping terribly because every time I move in bed I wake up in pain and I smell like Icy Hot.

Today I woke up with a tickle in my throat. One of those tickles that feels like a cold coming on. And that coupled with being tired and in pain and the fact that a baby (not mine) took a significant fall and was wailing nearly sent me off the ledge. I feel like I'm on the verge of losing it. Only a few more days of this. I can't wait until Dave gets home Friday night whatever time that may be because that's hopefully the end of it. At the very least he will be home Saturday and Sunday. Saturday I have a massage scheduled and it couldn't be better timed. And I really could use a break, some comfort to my sore back and a good cry.

Mad Cow

2012-01-10T13:37:00.001-05:00

I struck out at the Stride Rite super sale for sneakers for this kid but the trip did not disappoint. The ONLY item in the store that was his size were the last pair of these cow slippers. I wasn't sure if I should get them.

Then the clerk said they were $5.20 and the cow's eyes lite up when he steps. Perhaps the red eyes on the cow slippers are a little scary but this was an awesome purchase.

Sometimes

2012-01-08T13:12:00.001-05:00

Sometimes Nolan takes his shirt off. It's not often but he looks funny with his naked little white body running around. One night he took his shirt off for about 1 hour. This is what he did, generally speaking.

He got into bed and pretended he was asleep. This is him tucking himself into or under the covers.

Still in the sleeping position, butt up, knees under, but face tucked under the blanket.

Until he rolled over. I don't think he expected the sheet to be so cold.

The funniest part of his nakedness was when he put on his yellow hard hat. He looked like he was from a miniature version of the Village People.

Video Friday: A Triple

2012-01-06T20:35:00.003-05:00

Here are three videos to make up for the weeks I missed posting videos. Here Nolan is diligently weed whacking. Listen to the sound he makes, that's his version of the weed whacker. I think he looks like an old man with a metal detector.

Here Nolan put the goggles on himself. Very funny when he comes around the corner with these things on.

And here is Nolan drawing on his board. He is so focused. Don't mind the bucket he is sitting in. This happens to be one of his favorite chairs.

Pretend Play

2012-01-05T22:02:00.003-05:00

Nolan has just entered a phase of pretend play. I must confess, I LOVE this phase. It's fun, as a parent, to watch him pretend to share, care and play with random items. For example, he sometimes scribbles on a board and then tells me what they are: cow, fish, whale, etc. Here Nolan is showing Paper Plate Snowman (let's call him PPS from now on, since I suspect we'll be seeing a lot of him) his music train.

Here he is trying to hand PPS one of the cars of the music train. For the record, it's not easy to get PPS to stay on the chair and I've witnessed many meltdowns while trying to perform this task.

Don't mind this totally random Hawaiian shirt. He found it in a box of hand me down clothes. But in this photo if you can see past that loud shirt he's wiping the noses of the three ducks on the train with a tissue.

And here PPS and Nolan are working in the kitchen together.

Nolan is a really sweet kid. The sweet bursts come fast and furious, occasionally he slows down to give a brief snuggle. But watching this form of tenderness really melts my heart. He's a growing changing boy. I'm not sure I'm ready for Nolan to have imaginary friends or anything like that but I enjoy watching his imagination take off. As a grown up I forgot how to use my imagination. Spending time with him has really brought mine back but it's rather dull. I can't wait to explore with him.

Portraits

2012-01-04T20:01:00.001-05:00

One day Nolan took control of the camera and seemed to want to take pictures. There was a LOT going on at this particular time, namely Uncle Shawn tickling anyone smaller than him (most humans are smaller than him) who came within arm's reach. Those small humans would then scream, run away and run back for more torture, er, I mean tickling. But Nolan decided to begin a new hobby or perhaps this is a budding career.

I call this is self-portrait. Although I snapped this one.

Gramma. Also known as Beebie

Cousin Emmett

Grampa Jack, also known as PaJa or maybe PaJack

Auntie Jill

Uncle Shawn and cousin Kaye (being tickled).

I'd say that while the angles aren't ideal he did a really great job taking these photos. And after this it seems that he actually seems to understand that when someone is taking your picture you stop and smile at them. Perhaps this was all he needed to allow me to take his picture. Well, maybe this lesson and a snowman made from paper plates.

School

2012-01-03T22:15:00.002-05:00

Today Nolan had his first day of 'school'. He talked about going to 'school' all morning. I think he expected to ride the school bus but he didn't. It's really a little class that involves a snack and a craft. Aside from finger painting (once), playdoh and crayons, he's never done a craft. And he sure loves that craft.

At first I thought to just let him put the pieces on wherever he wanted but after I observed all other kids' crafts being done by their parents, I realized I was supposed to basically do the craft for Nolan. He helped by smearing glue on the pieces and drawing the mouth. He also helped with the first (blue) button and one eye (I placed the other one so it looked normal). At any rate, HE LOVED IT. He was worried we'd forget the snowman at class. Then when we got it to the car he was upset he couldn't hold it on the way home (it has staples, otherwise that would have been fine with me). When we got home he carried it into the house.

So I took his picture. He looks very proud in this photo above. Then, I kid you not, he put snowman down and gave snowman the hammer to play with. Yes, Nolan gave up the well-loved hammer to the snowman. We then brought the snowman downstairs to play and occasionally Nolan would peer around a toy to make sure snowman was still there. I guess the kid likes crafts. Or snowmen.

Randy Randoms

2012-01-02T14:53:00.002-05:00

Christmas was FUN this year. Nolan had a blast and it was fun to enjoy the magic of Christmas and all the stuff that grown ups forget about. Grownups are generally too caught up in what we're serving, where everyone will be sitting, if the house is clean, if there is enough toilet paper, etc. But this year it was really fun to make cookies FOR SANTA. To decorate them FOR SANTA. To see what Santa brought for us on Christmas morning etc.

But what was also really fun was seeing my family. I don't see my family very often, my parents are in Florida and my brother and sister-in-law and their 3 kids... well, that says it all, doesn't it. THREE kids. I can't imagine. But we saw a lot of them last week and Nolan really really loved it.

From all the tickling and the chasing after, the new toys, the sugar, the madness- it was a real blast for Nolan. While it was utterly exhausting to have all that chaos, it was awesome. Last week I was thanking the moon and stars for having our house back, for eating like normal again, for having no more cookies. But that tune has changed. I miss it already.

But it's over. This week is the week the world resumes some sort of order. When we go back to the kiddie classes we sign up for, when people go back to work, when the world gets quieter. In a big way I'm anxious for the normalcy to come back I also already miss the sheer chaos of the holidays.

2012 Resolutions

2011-12-31T14:20:00.002-05:00

This year I'm planning to take more time to myself. To be selfish and do what I want. Not what I think I should be doing. Not what other people think I should be doing but what I want. Lower my expectations of myself and just let me be me. Here are ways I want to be more ME in 2012.

Use my ME time more wisely. Stop doing things I don’t want to do or feel obligated to. I belong to several clubs that I don’t really love and have decided that I won’t renew my membership. The obligations are not much but it doesn’t make sense for me to commit to something when I don’t really want to be doing it. If I don’t want to watch tv, then don’t. It’s not quality time to sit next to my dear husband and watch in silence and then think of all the things I could be doing. I could use that time to make a phone call or be a better self.

Be a better recycler. We throw a lot of things out that should be recycled. I confess sometimes it is easier to throw it away than to rinse and recycle. Stop making excuses, this is a very easy way to make a small difference in the world my son lives in.

Drink more tea. Try two new teas each month to find a few that I really like. Enjoy them in the afternoon or after dinner in place of wine or beer. Appreciate the process, the smell, the warmth of a cup of tea.

Date night in. Two times a month (once when I cook and once when Dave cooks), eat dinner after Nolan goes to bed. While I know having a family meal is important I also know that eating a leisurely meal while speaking to your spouse is equally important.

Stop keeping score. I am terrible about keeping track of who took out the garbage, emptied the dishwasher, changed the toilet paper, etc. Then I get mad and resentful for the score being uneven, even if I’m a bad scorekeeper. Things need to be done. Just do it. If I need help, ask and be specific about what I want and in what time frame.

Take it easier on myself. Treat myself better. We are all our worse critics. I am terrible. I take a yoga class in a room with mirrors and criticize my body the entire class. I put so much effort into thinking about the ‘right’ thing to do I have trouble just being me. Silence my inner critic and treat myself to things that I will appreciate. I enjoy pedicures but not as much as a yoga class. Take the yoga class and paint my own toes. Relax my conscience about what Nolan should be eating and just let him enjoy food.

DO things, stop thinking about doing things. If it takes less than 1 minute, do it when I think of it. If it takes less than 10 minutes, do it during Nolan’s nap or after dinner. Make a list and get it done. Stop putting things off, it only frustrates you to see it not done. After dinner, get ready for bed.

Christmas... more

2011-12-30T17:01:00.003-05:00

Nolan got a sufficient amount of 'man'ly tools this christmas. Here he is putting his tools on his toolbelt.

He got some great books from Uncle Jim which he tried out with GaGa.

And when Nolan wasn't looking, his little cousin AJ got in some weed whacking. All boys love power tools, huh?

Here is Nolan and Daddy in their matching hats. A very good christmas was had by all.

Christmas Re-Cap

2011-12-28T19:22:00.002-05:00

Christmas was a really wonderful celebration. Enjoying the spirit of Christmas through a child's eyes was by-far the best way to enjoy the holiday.

One of Nolan's favorite gifts was his new bathrobe, which he nearly refused to take off on Christmas and after his first bath. He looks so silly and absolutely adorable.

He also got a weed whacker. He is a big fan of his big cousin's lawn maintenance tools and this was a favorite of his.

Even Dad got into the action wearing the construction hat he got with his tool belt. Dad didn't put the toolbelt on though.

Christmas Morning

2011-12-27T17:19:00.001-05:00

Santa brought a kitchen to our house for Nolan. And Nolan really liked it. He went straight to it and began to play. He filled up the coffee pot and served some to us. He opened the oven door and closed it with his foot about 5 times and he seemed really excited about it.

Then we went to the living room to see if Santa ate the cookies we left out for him. Nolan peered over the table and saw there was a little cookie leftover.

And he helped himself to the remaining cookie. Because nothing says Christmas morning like coffee and cookies.

This little munchkin sure has developed a sweet tooth during this holiday season. He sure loves coo-coos.

Christmas Eve

2011-12-26T14:12:00.000-05:00

On Christmas eve we decorated the cookies for Santa. These are the ones Nolan decorated. While he said he was giving Santa two cookies, we didn't want the reindeer to be hungry too. While decorating them, Nolan didn't try to eat any and hardly licked his fingers when he got frosting on them.

When we took the plate of cookies into the living room to leave near the chimney, Nolan was very hesitant. Later Dave said he thought Nolan believed Santa would be in the living room. He did seem to be looking around for Santa. Next we began to read Twas The Night Before Christmas. In the middle of the story Nolan jumped down and took a few bites of cookies.

Then he offered the cookie to the Santa in the book.

Once he seemed to understand that Santa wasn't coming to the living room until after he went to sleep we attempted the rest of the story.

Gearing Up For Christmas

2011-12-23T21:32:00.001-05:00

My parents arrived on Wednesday for Christmas and to stay with us for a week. It's always different having someone else in the house. Our routine gets thrown off, Nolan acts out a little bit and with Christmas arriving soon we have lots to do which means less attention for the Prince.

But this year he's been a great helper. Unfortunately the camera has decided to delete the photos of Nolan helping to make the cookies (perhaps it did get damaged when I dropped it last week). He did a great job helping to cut the cookies, just like playdough. Tomorrow we will decorate them and leave some for Santa.

Nolan only wants to leave Santa two cookies but I don't think that's enough for the big guy so we'll leave more than that. He's been doing ok, hanging in there with all the different activity going on. He did great opening his first presents from his cousins, though I fear present opening with him can take hours, he's a tad slow. He also thoroughly enjoyed climbing and banging on the boxes.

What a good little boy. Hopefully we can find some photos of the cookie making and perhaps be able to keep some from Christmas. What a bummer, looks like I might need a camera for Christmas this year... is it too late?

The Train

2011-12-20T20:15:00.003-05:00

While Nolan was less than excited about the visit with Santa, Mrs. Claus, Rudolph, Pedro the Penguin and the elves on the Essex Steam Train Santa Ride he was thrilled to see all the trains. This is what he did at each train.

Then he would 'Choo Choo' at it (he's so my child). Anyway, so he was really excited to be around all the trains. Excited means lots of pointing and grunting and waving his finger. He was thrilled.

It was a really fun day even if he slept through the train ride. Really, a wonderful day!

The Santa Train

2011-12-19T20:48:00.001-05:00

This weekend we went to Essex to ride the Santa Train. A 60 minute train ride on an old fashioned steam train where Santa, Mrs. Claus, Rudolph and Pedro the Penguin come through the train cars to visit with the children. We were super excited. Nolan LOVES trains and is a big fan of Santa. We hoped he would sleep on the car ride to the station so he'd be well rested for the train ride. Unfortunately he didn't nap. This is Nolan seeing Santa come onto our car right after the train began to move.

This is Nolan when Santa got near him. I don't know what happened? He became a clinger monkey, gripping me really tight- you can see he's got my back in his grip in this photo, meanwhile giving Santa a high five.

This was our attempt at getting a photo with Santa and Nolan. Nolan just clung to me. Tightly.

Promptly after Santa moved onto to other, more willing, children Nolan fell asleep on me. THIS was monumental. The last time he slept on me was our dreadful West coast trip 13 months ago which made us swear we'd never change time zones with a baby again.

And when Santa came back through the train at the end of the ride Nolan woke up briefly for a sleep, yet still clingy photo with Santa.

Overall this trip was awesome. I hope he'll enjoy the ride a lot more next year. Though I must confess, having Nolan nap on me for 50 minutes or so was pure bliss.

Snowman Decorations

2011-12-17T15:01:00.001-05:00

Nolan has a few ornaments that are 'his' which is to say they are on a shelf that he can reach and they are not very breakable. Every day he rearranges them, on the same shelf, or sometimes on the counter or another shelf.

So it was very funny when one day he took them into the bathroom and got his step down, put one snowman on the step and the other on the edge of the counter and proceeded to pretend wash his hands.

He is really funny about the decorations but this was priceless.

Video Friday: Ho Ho Ho

2011-12-16T12:46:00.003-05:00

A few nights ago Nolan and I played with play dough for A FULL HOUR! You have no idea how excited I was that for a full 60 minutes he played with something. ONE thing. He was interested, he was happy and he was generally focused. It was so awesome. Wow. And well, in the spirit of Christmas we made a Santa. We talk about Santa in our house very often. We've met Santa a few times, he's even sent us a video message from the North Pole and we'll be seeing him again this weekend. SO FUN. Enjoy Nolan's Ho Ho Ho-ing.

Let the Gift Giving Begin!

2011-12-14T13:17:00.001-05:00

Sorry for the random photos, I dropped my camera this week and lost all the recent ones. And well, Nolan's not that easy to get pictures of anymore. Anyway, today was the first of our gift giving. It was our last music class before Christmas and we had a little something for the teacher. He really seemed to love giving her the gift. It was SO cute to watch. He's really precious. This year has been interesting with gift giving. There are a lot more people involved in our lives and having to figure out who to give gifts to has been a challenge. Do we give to our babysitters? The mailman who we see quite often since he generally comes during Nolan's lunch and often when eating lunch Nolan says 'mailman'. The daycare ladies at the gym? The hairdresser? So we decided to gift small somethings to them but I'm stumped on my hairdresser so please provide your thoughts on that, she's 25 and super hip and probably doesn't want a candle.

No Idea

2011-12-12T14:57:00.002-05:00

What is so funny about Christmas this year is that Nolan really has no idea about the magic of Santa. He LOVES the books we have about Santa. He loves seeing lit up reindeer in the neighborhood (and says 'Santa'). He re-tells his story of meeting Santa: 'Santa... oh oh ho... caca (candy cane)' and then Nolan pats his lap- yes, you sat on his lap. But really, Nolan has no clue. And next year will be so fun.

So for this year we will enjoy finding every single Santa in every single book we have. We even have an I Spy book about christmas where we look only for Santas on every page (sidenote, if you don't know what I Spy books are and have kids, look it up. these things are awesome). And it's fun to talk about Santa.

It's fun to look for Santa. It's fun to hear Nolan say 'ho ho ho' but it sounds more like 'oh oh oh'. It's so fun. But he really has no idea.

Oh Christmas Tree

2011-12-10T19:41:00.001-05:00

We got our Christmas tree today. I LOVE CHRISTMAS!

Nolan was really interested in decorating the tree, we let him pick where the non-breakable ornaments would go. He did a really great job clustering them all in one area.

He inspected many, tried to throw a glass ball (one down, 37 more to go) and to confuse him even more, we have a baseball ornament... tricky.

He seemed stumped by this one, a pine cone with a fake bird and fake birds nest on it. He picked some pieces off it. Overall he made decorating the tree really really fun this year, if not a little stressful and very fast. Once one was laid in the tree he ran back to the table to get another. Dave was in charge of hanging the ornaments where Nolan placed them. I was charged with giving him another non breakable ornament to place on the tree.

And in true Mom-form, he grabbed the mini wine bottle ornament and put it to his mouth... I swear he's never seen me drink wine from the bottle. Promise.

Now we have to convince him to no longer touch the tree... hmmm... that's confusing right? One day he is allowed to put the lights, beads and ornaments on the tree, the next day he's not supposed to touch it? Oh we're in for a long few weeks, I predict. But super duper fun ones too!

Video Friday: Balls

2011-12-09T12:32:00.001-05:00

This is the room Nolan met Santa. After spending 45 minutes in the room, playing with trains, visiting Santa, watching kids visit Santa, drawing a picture, eating a candy cane, waving to every single Santa in the room and pointing out all the snowmen he suddenly realized there were balls hanging from the ceiling. Like 20 of them. This kid LOVES balls (he calls them Babas). Some things are just too darn funny.

Look at this smile

2011-12-08T14:25:00.001-05:00

This could this be the first time he sat still (sort of) and smiled for a camera. Look at that pose. He's perfect. I hope we are moving into a really awesome phase of sitting still. Lately we've been playing this 'baby' game where he wraps himself up in a towel or blanket and says 'baby' in the CUTEST voice ever and snuggles into me. I can read him books or just sit and rock him. While he doesn't stay still for long, he does go back to this game over and over. I LOVE these snuggles. LOVE them.

The Boys

2011-12-07T14:51:00.001-05:00

Sometimes I find Dave and Nolan just hanging out. They play so differently than the way Nolan and I play it's fun to watch. Generally it's more energetic and a little rougher which is fine by me. I like that I'm not the person playing that way. Nolan's getting big. Soon (feels like very soon) he'll be bigger and stronger than me.

But when this weekend I heard they were quiet I had to go see what they were up to. This is what I found. Now this might look strange but this was in between sets of Nolan's triceps push ups, when Dave lifts Nolan up while he's in a sitting position and does it for 15 reps. Nolan loves it. It's hysterical. And Dave is getting a work out.

Just two guys, my guys, hanging out, working out. I love these two.

I think we have a problem

2011-12-06T19:42:00.001-05:00

So, while it seems really innocent and cute, Nolan has been convincing pretty girls to let him rub their hair on his belly. It's weird. These are not, unfortunately, the only two incidents.

Great. Another really fun and awkward phase. I might I'd prefer him hitting other children over this phase.

At least now I know to forewarn people and tell them not to do it, even if he looks really cute asking and they don't mind. Oh dear me, this one is something else.

*as a side note, this is funny. It's funny until it's awkward. We are trying to let it run it's course but also suggesting that people don't partake in this and suggest he use his blanket or stuffed animals rather than girls' hair to rub on his belly.

Decorations

2011-12-05T13:26:00.001-05:00

The decorations are out. Yes, me and Mr. Goofball (that'd be Nolan) put up the decorations last week. His favorite are, no surprise, the snowmen. And also the Santa hats.

Not only did he wear one but insisted that I wear one too. So the two of us walked around the house putting up our few decorations, laughing at ourselves in the mirror.

I really can't wait until he gets older. And when we get more decorations. Our house is hardly Christmas-ized. We will be getting the tree next week. That'll help. When are kids old enough to drink hot cocoa? Sing Christmas carols?

I really love this time of year.

Candy Cane

2011-12-04T13:21:00.001-05:00

I'm fairly certain the highlight of visiting Santa was the candy cane. According to Santa, these are authentic, straight from the North Pole. It's what coaxed Nolan to see Santa again, he didn't get a candy cane after his first exchange with the jolly old elf.

In these pictures, Nolan is keeping a watchful eye on Santa while other children are visiting with him. But really what was strange to me was giving him a candy cane. They just don't seem like kid friendly treats, when you think about it. Despite it being pepperminty, Nolan devoured it. I'm surprised. Peppermint isn't really a kid-friendly flavor in my mind. Also is that it's thin so children (Nolan) can bite off small pieces and choke on them. Nolan didn't chole but he also didn't enjoy the candy for too long before he was a sticky mess, bit off a piece and we took it away.

After having some thorough discussions with people about what their kids eat, I feel pretty proud of the choices/neglect we've made for Nolan. He doesn't use ketchup or dressing or any dipping sauce that many kids his age use, mainly because we've never offered them to him. He does use fake syrup (yes, straight up High Fructose Corn Syrup) when we have waffles or pancakes and he loves it which is why we made the decision to delay any more dipping sauces. We've offered him hummus, pesto and a few other grown up flavors which he rejected but over all I'm pretty proud of his eating, no matter how weird it seems to other people. And we are a united front on this matter.

So while he really loved his candy cane here, I don't think that means candy will endlessly be in his future. He'll have enough to get him through this holiday season and I'm sure many cookies but hopefully we can hold off ketchup for a while longer.

Visit with Santa

2011-12-03T13:15:00.001-05:00

As Nolan was sprinting down the hall to see Santa saying 'tanta, tanta' over and over I wondered how he would react upon meeting the actual Santa. We've talked him up, read books about him, sang songs about him and described him but there is nothing that can really prepare a child for meeting the actual Santa. Once we entered the large room with Santa sitting in one end of it Nolan quickly got very quiet, ignored Santa and played with the Choo Choos while I tried to convince him to wave to Santa. He wouldn't even do that at first.

Once Dad got there and after we'd been there about 20 minutes, Nolan wanted to give Santa a crumpled up piece of paper. Other children were coloring a picture or writing a letter to Santa but Nolan just crumpled it up and offered it to Santa, starting from about 50 feet away and step by step moving closer and closer until finally, with dad as reinforcement, the paper was handed off.

We seized the opportunity of closeness and Santa also got a high five. Then Nolan ran away.

After another 10 minutes of getting comfortable with Santa being in the room, we went for a second more forceful attempt. Nolan was placed on Santa's lap where he stayed for several seconds before sliding off his lap. Even after we showed Nolan how soft Santa's suit was, he wasn't staying for any longer.

After a good 45 minutes of Nolan being in the same room with Santa and after consuming a candy cane which seemed to heighten his excitement, Nolan was very excited to be there and turned in an enthusiastic waver, not only at the real Santa but also at every Santa decoration in the room. This was very fast waving, almost frantic.

I think after all that, Nolan and Santa are friends. I hope so, we'll be seeing him again next weekend.

Video Friday: Hyper-Speed

2011-12-02T14:37:00.001-05:00

This guy is completely nuts. Lately he acts like he is on hyper-speed. People comment on how fast of a runner he is (although no comparison to one of his little pals). He's been really interested in dancing (running around in circles and jumping) as well as jumping off of things, like a small box or my leg. I would say this is Nolan dancing. As you can tell, his dancing genes are recessive. But what he lacks in skill he makes up for in enthusiasm.

A New Buddy. And Some Milestones

2011-12-01T14:15:00.001-05:00

Nolan really loves scarecrows. Maybe it comes from his love of snowmen, a love he discovered last winter. But this kid can find a scarecrow from down the street, pointing and saying 'scarecrow' or his version of it 'Coco'. While there aren't as many snowmen out on display, he is just as good at spotting them. So when I brought home a new decoration, Nolan was thrilled.

And gave him lots of hugs. We are hoping he will not try to hug all the decorations once they are put up. But this one is ok to hug.

Nolan seemed to take a turn this week. While he hasn't been napping very long, like he often does, he did snuggle with me (or flop around on my lap wrapping himself up in a blanket) for about 30 minutes yesterday (that's a lifetime for him). Earlier this week he played WITH a friend. Never before have we really seen him play WITH another kid, only run around with them, follow them, play in the same room, grab toys out of their hands or play next to them. It was awesome, she and he were playing with toy food and she put it on a plate and they were pretend eating it and laughing with each other. It made me hope that maybe we have moved past the hitting and shoving phase he was in.

Then, last night when I was making dinner I asked him to play by himself (something I often ask him with little to no results) and he went and got some toys, brought them into the kitchen and sat at my feet playing with them, engaged and not pulling on me or whining, for 20 minutes or so. A-mazing.

All kids are different, I know, but these seemingly minor milestones are so utterly huge for him. My heart swells with tenderness thinking of our snuggle session and with pride thinking about him playing WITH another child and on his own. He is growing up so fast.

Running Solo

2011-11-30T06:11:00.001-05:00

Dave's been out of town the last two days. It's been ok. Nolan has been fine but aside from knowing the days will be long, one thing has been a lot harder than I imagined.

In the mornings, Dave normally does morning duty with Nolan. He gets him out of bed, changed, bathed etc. And the rule in our house is that regardless of what time Nolan wakes up, we go to him at 6:30 or later. So that means that on days like today when he wakes up at 5:25, I must lay in bed for the next hour listening to him call for us, cry, sing, whimper, whine, etc. That has been a challenge.

Somehow knowing it is Dave's job to do this helps take the anxiety away- sort of. This morning I lay in bed wondering why he's up- too hot? too humid (I just installed the humidifier last night)? Is he wet? I can't wait for Dave to get home and for 6:30 to get here!

Too Sunny

2011-11-29T06:26:00.001-05:00

This is how Nolan spent most of his ride on Thanksgiving. The sun was in his eyes and he clearly needs some shades. So this is him, in his carseat, with his blanket over his head to make it darker.

Sometimes we play a game like this, not in the car, where he puts his blanket over his head and stands really still. Then I ask 'where's nolan? Is he hiding behind a chair?' And Nolan will stand very still but a voice from under the blanket will say 'no'. I continue to ask where he is and he continues to say no until I find him. I think it's hysterical. He does too. But for very different reason.

Back to the Grind

2011-11-27T19:00:00.001-05:00

Tomorrow is back to the grind. Mondays are always tough but I'll be running solo for the next few days and that can be difficult. I hope this little angel is on good behavior.

But what an awesome weekend we had. I feel exhausted from it, so much going on, so much to eat, so many things checked off that to do list. Wow.

And the weather was amazing. I mean to play outside several days in late November is a real blessing. I can't get over how nice it is.

Thank goodness for nice days. Ahead the forecast is warm but rainy. Boo. Maybe we can dodge some raindrops and hit the playground (or back yard) again this week.

But it's back to the Grind for us tomorrow. Boo.

Learning Colors

2011-11-25T08:04:00.001-05:00

Nolan knows that things have colors but he is not very good at getting them right. For a while everything was blue. Then everything was red. Before this video was taken we had a conversation that went like this:

Me: Nolan, what color is that?
Nolan: Blue.
Me: No, that color is Red. Can you say red?
Nolan: Red
Me: Nolan, what color is that?

Nolan: Blue.
Me: No, that color is Red. Can you say red?
Nolan: Red
Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.

So I was disappointed when that conversation didn't translate to video because it was so funny. However, it is possible that maybe he is learning colors. Or maybe just some lucky guesses.

More Yardwork

2011-11-23T19:41:00.001-05:00

If you read this blog often or if you know me, I am overwhelmed by our small little yard. While it is small, the previous owners were avid gardeners. Our back yard is gorgeous when properly maintained... which is to say the first month we moved in, it looked wonderful.

I spent years trying to figure out what plants are what, how they need to be prepped for the winter, when to prune, how to prune, how to tell a weed from a wanted plant (still not that sure) and how to make it look wonderful. Then we had this beautiful creature.

Since then, when I do have time to do work I am exhausted. I moved quickly from organic gardening to using Round Up to rid our garden of poison ivy which wrapped itself all around the wildly overgrown holly bushes we have (turns out we had 6 after hacking back that massive bush. now we have 4). And now that we're done with all that scary, child-unfriendly stuff, we can work in the yard freely.

And that is just what we did. A few weeks ago Dave said Nolan helped bringing the broken branches from the back yard to the street and it was really fun to 'work' in the yard with him. To be honest it never really occurred to me that Nolan would want to 'help'. Generally I have sharp tools or poison ivy in my hands. But this time, equipped with solely a rake, this kid LOVED helping. We had a mini sized rake left behind from the previous owners which was perfect for him to use. He LOVED playing in the leaves.

And I love that we are moving into an era where, not only do I feel like I have a handle on the yard, but that I also have a little helper. Oh man, bring it on, Springtime. But I will enjoy this winter. Snowmen are in our future, FOR SURE! I think this kid also needs a snow shovel.

Hat-N-Mittens Weather

2011-11-21T14:21:00.001-05:00

This weekend it was Hat-n-Mittens weather. We still took our walks but got all bundled up. This thrilled Nolan to pieces.

He LOVES his mittens which he calls 'minmins'. He pulls them on when he's inside the house, when he's heading out for a walk, when he sees them.

After he gets his minmins on he claps his hands because that's what Dave does after he puts his gloves on. Monkey See, Monkey Do.

This morning, despite the temperatures being around 50, Nolan put his hat and minmins on himself and wouldn't take them off. So he wore them, and the hoodie seen in yesterdays post, for his walk today.

Pockets

2011-11-20T20:08:00.001-05:00

Nolan LOVES his pockets. He loves putting his hands in his pockets and finding new ones- like the ones on the back of your pants. Sometimes he even pulls his pants down while he is trying to smush his pudgy little hands into the pockets.

He looks so funny with his hands in his pockets. Sometimes he just stands there waiting for me to look at him. Other times he walks around the house.

It's so funny to witness his discoveries. Who would have thought pockets could be so interesting.

Video Friday: A New Skill (?)

2011-11-18T13:02:00.001-05:00

Suddenly Nolan doesn't need his utensils. He's been doing this more and more frequently. Now, if we had a dog and he saw it eating perhaps it would make sense but this kid just does what he does. It's funny. And I think he knows we think he's funny.

Nolan is a lot of fun at this age. We are having fun keeping active and playing but also hearing his words. He's using words that are sounding more like they should- like More, Milk, Rupert, play, yeah, Dad and Mom (very funny). All of these words make life a little easier. And he's broadening his vocabulary in words we can't quite decipher like penguin and blanket.

More from Halloween

2011-11-17T13:06:00.001-05:00

Where was I? Before the storm threw off my regular blog habits I was doing some Halloween stuff. Here are some never before seen photos of Nolan the monkey. We are at a nearby town's library. He loves this place.

He was stunned and had that funny expression on his face for much of the time we were there. He also chewed on that doll for most of the time we were there.

Here is a bad monkey. Time out at the library is always tough but it was a good opportunity to get a few photos. He legitimately earned a time out though, I didn't just put him there for the photos.

Here's my silly boy. He did have fun! He really loved halloween. Now we're gearing him up for Christmas. We've shown him photos of Santa and told about Santa's busy night. Maybe he understands some of it.

Fun With The Camera

2011-11-15T20:23:00.001-05:00

Nolan LOVES the camera. But he doesn't love having his photo taken. We wants to look at all the pictures I've just taken. This makes it difficult to get a good photo of him doing something fun or cute because after he sees the flash, hears the camera click or just senses I'm taking a photo he jumps up grunting at me to see the photo I've just taken.

Then we discovered the delayed shutter. My camera has a 2 second delay (and a 10 second one). The two second delay is really fun.

Especially when we put the camera on one of Nolan's toys and then immediately look at the photos we just took.

Especially when Nolan gets to push the shutter button. Then he runs back to me and jumps into my lap. This is the result. And I love it.

Big Helper

2011-11-13T20:31:00.001-05:00

Here's Mr. Big Boy pushing baby AJ when we were at the zoo. Yeah, Nolan was so proud of himself for doing this. And AJ? Well, he had other plans.

All By Himself

2011-11-12T15:24:00.001-05:00

This week we had a lot of exciting activity on our street. In one single morning, AT THE SAME TIME, there was a truck with a claw picking up the debris from the broken trees and putting them into a dump truck, a school bus AND a cable truck with the worker in the cherry picker working on the wires above.

So we sat outside and watched. It was awesome. Nolan was captivated. This kid loved it.

These photos are from earlier that week, maybe he knew that the trucks were going to come? I don't know, but whatever it was, it's really cute.

He loves the pumpkins on the porch and he loves the scarecrow that we have too. I'm not sure if he was just enjoying their company or what he was waiting for but whatever it was, he was happy out there.

Just look at this guy. He's like an old man sitting on his front stoop keeping tabs of all the neighbors. Oh who am I kidding, he already does that when he drags his step from the bathroom to the front window to see what's going on.

Video Friday: A New Game

2011-11-11T12:59:00.001-05:00

Here is a new game of Nolan's. We don't know what to call it but he loves it. It's fast paced, he is in the box shrieking and tossing the blocks out while Dave tries to get all the blocks in. Sometimes Nolan is quite strategic in where he tosses the blocks so Dave has to scramble all over the room to get them and toss them back in. At any rate, this kid loves this game. And I think Nolan enjoys it too.

How does he know?

2011-11-10T13:03:00.001-05:00

Sometimes I'm amazed at silly little things. Like how does Nolan know this is a phone? I am fairly certain he's never seen me use a phone with a cord, but then here he is playing with one exactly like he might have seen me using the phone... 20 years ago.

Gone are the days with corded phones except for work. Everyone has cordless or cell phones. So how does he know what to do with this? Really amazing. So we unplugged this phone in our hotel and made it a toy. This poor phone was dragged all over the room but kept him interested for a while.

And here's a photo of Nolan doing some tired-play. He's laying on the floor pushing the truck back and forth. Poor kid, it's not like he didn't get good sleep this week. It wasn't past or even near naptime, he just was resting his head.

More Snippets

2011-11-09T13:14:00.001-05:00

It seemed to me that last week Nolan changed developmentally a whole lot! He started singing along with songs on the cd from music class, he seemed to be interested in pretend playing a lot more, he just seemed to grow up a lot last week.

And physically he looks different too! I mean, first of all, you can SEE his hair on the top of his head. And look at him here- doesn't he look like a 5 year old? I mean, not that he's tall but he doesn't look like a baby anymore. When the heck did that happen?

This kid swam like a fish in the pool at the hotel (yes, we remembered our bathing suits for the chance that there might be a pool at a hotel but not our winter coats). He was hesitant to get in but once he was wet he just wanted to swim laps. He seemed annoyed that we needed to hold onto him. He even jumped in off the side about 20 times.

And while I'm slightly jealous of the fact that our child won't sleep in a bed with us while there are other people who have super duper adorable photos of their kid in bed with them during the power outage (Jenn), I'm also thrilled that him sleeping in our bed isn't an issue we need to worry about. But he loved getting into the giant bed in the hotel once he was up. And when he was out of the bath.

Gone are the days of the hooded towel, Nolan seemed to prefer a normal towel wrapped around him. He especially loves seeing himself wrapped up. He will asked to be 'wap'ped and then see himself in the mirror, fling the towel off and then whimper while saying 'wap' until we wrap him up again.

Some other ways we spent our 'vacation'

2011-11-08T13:56:00.001-05:00

When we weren't doing the crazy cool stuff like the aquarium and the zoo, we spent some of our time running up and down the hallways of the hotel we stayed it. It DID help that our room was about half a mile from the elevator. Nolan loved this game. To everyone who stayed at the hotel we were in, I'm sorry if our over enthusiastic child woke you from running, screaming and giggling his way to and from the elevator.

One day we headed to the Liberty Tree Mall in Peabody to check out the children's play area. I expected to see an indoor playground- slide, climbing structure, etc. I did not expect this oasis.

Seriously! Look at this place, it was awesome. It was about the size of a football field separated in thirds. The first third had about 50 riding toys (seriously look at them all). TWO bouncy houses, some slides, a climbing structure and some little girls to push around.

Then there were some mowers and tons of balls. Look behind that 'fence' near the tree on the wall- that thing is filled with balls! Ah, pure bliss.

In another third of the room was a giant pirate ship structure that you could climb up and pretend to drive. it was cool but limited in it's coolness.

The final third of the room had some baseball tees and soft bats, some soccer balls and nets and some video games. Overall this place was awesome and well worth the $8 to get in. AWESOME. Especially considering we didn't pack very many toys.

Here is a video of Nolan just taking it all in. He was definitely stunned and overwhelmed at all these toys. It was awesome.

Fun in the Dark

2011-11-07T13:57:00.000-05:00

One of the benefits of having the power out was being able to take some photos of Nolan without him seeing the camera. As a result, we got a few good photos. Notice the mess of delivered pizza goods in the background...

So on Sunday after 4 hours of no power it was time for Nolan to go to bed. Geared up in two pairs of long footed pajamas (and his baseball hat) he ran around the house shrieking having a grand old time.

He loved playing with one of the two flashlights we own (mental note: buy more flashlights for next power outage) and seemed to enjoy the array of tea light candles scattered around the house (mental note: buy a candle or two that burn for longer than 2 hours for next power outage).

He also seemed to really love that Nana and GaaGaa were visiting during this fun and exciting dark night. He was a riot and we got some really great photos.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

2011-11-06T13:31:00.001-05:00

Halloween happened a few times for this little monkey. First on October 26th at the library, then on October 31st with baby AJ. Then again on November 5th from 2-6pm in our town.

Nolan REALLY loved trick or treating. I was surprised how much he loved it. After the first house it was almost as if it was a natural instinct. Or maybe it is: when someone offers a basket of food to you, take some and put it in your basket and then run away to find more. I mean it IS instinctual.

So after running from house to house taking candy that he doesn't even eat (well, ok, he eats it now and really loves it) he seemed upset that we couldn't do more houses. Even in AJ's neighborhood where he knows none of the neighbors, he wanted to do more. It was a really fun halloween, I can't imagine what next year will be like.

Snippets

2011-11-05T19:46:00.000-04:00

Nolan is attempting to stay warm in our house on Sunday morning when the indoor kitchen temperature read 55 degrees

Nolan stacking blocks with AJ. If you ask Nolan about AJ, he will say 'JJ' and then make fake crying sounds until we say 'Yes, AJ cries'. Then Nolan will make fake laughing sounds until we say 'Yes, AJ laughs'. Nothing gets past this kid.

Here is Nolan at breakfast day 1 in the hotel. We forgot his bib so Dave made this one. I think he looks absolutely hysterical.

Here is Nolan looking at the turtle at the Boston/New England aquarium. He LOVED the turtle and we looked for the turtle often, anytime we went to another part of the aquarium we went back to the giant tank and walked around it until we could find the turtle again.

What seemed like a great idea to this scuba diver was NOT a great idea for Nolan. I am not sure I've seen him more scared before and anytime we saw the scuba diver he totally freaked out.

A snowstorm in October?

2011-11-04T17:45:00.000-04:00

I want to swear in this post. Maybe I will... So forget about all that lovely Autumn pumpkin festivals blah blah blah, we had an effing snowstorm. I will be the first to admit that I under-rated this 'storm' just like I did Irene and it bit me in the ~~ass~~ bottom. First of all, I bet Dave that it would snow less than 2 inches. It snowed between 6-8 inches here. The winner (Dave) gets from 8am-noon one weekend morning, IN the house, alone, with power (an add on after we lost power). OOOh, I'm SO jealous already!

So I know what you people not in New England might be thinking, what's the big deal, you New Englanders get snow every year, what's the big deal? Well, here's a little lesson... when it is WINTER there are no leaves on trees and when it snows the snow sits beautifully on the bare branches of the trees. It's lovely, really. When it is BARELY Autumn, there are leaves on the trees and when it snows the flakes land, not only on the branches but also on the leaves weighing down the branches of the poor trees. See in this picture above, the branches are TOUCHING the ground? Those branches are about 10 feet off the ground when they are not being weighed down by snow.

Ok, so totally freak storm, right, what's the big deal? Well the power went out. And it's cold. And for those of us with electric heat, hot water and stove, the power being out when it is 29 degrees at night makes for some seriously cold living. After driving around our neighborhood looking at the destruction (jesus, we've only lived here 4 years and this is our third major catastrophe- the tornado of 2006, hurricane Irene and now this, it's amazing there are ANY standing trees left in our town), we realized this storm was pretty significant. We attempted to check into a hotel nearby which was booked until Thursday, it's only Sunday!! Yikes. We called around to a few others who were also booked. So Dave and I did what we do best- calmly panicked.

We went home, decided to pack some things and drive north. We started talking we'd drive until we found a hotel to check into but then bagged that idea and drove to where Dave's parents lived, found a suite on hotels.com and checked in for 2 nights. After one night we extended our stay through Saturday. Once we decided this was our plan and that dave would take a week 'vacation' we could relax a tiny bit.

We did our best to consider this a vacation but really couldn't. Nolan did great and LOVED his time with his cousin AJ and Nana and Grampa. I think Nolan also really liked watching TV. He probably doubled his tv watching this week. Vacations can do that. We got word our power was restored yesterday afternoon but decided to stay the night in the hotel and come home today/Friday.

We had some really lovely little adventures this week, including some awesome Halloweening photos. Halloween is postponed until Saturday from 2-6pm in our town so there are more opportunities to photograph Nolan the Monkey!

Here Nolan is entertaining cousin AJ and stopping a few times to give AJ a hug. This is really precious, Nolan and AJ had such a great visit together.

Grain Pit

2011-10-28T13:57:00.001-04:00

What's better than a ball pit? A grain pit? Yes, that giant pit is filled with corn kernels. It felt really funny on our feet. Nolan didn't love it at first, then he did, then he didn't.

But what he was really interested in was the tractors. This was a replica of the tractor that pulled the hayride. Nolan was REALLY amazed by it. He says 'tractor' but it sounds a lot like Dada. Anyway, a boy and his tractors. This was was especially large.

It's funny how kids know to move the steering wheel and push the center as though it were a horn. He just thought this was the best. That was until he saw a field of pumpkins. I mean, could this kid's day get ANY better?

Tractors

2011-10-27T14:53:00.001-04:00

Have I mentioned how much Nolan loves tractors? So at this pumpkin patch there were tractor type bikes and this little track you could ride on.

It took all we had to keep him from climbing over those tiny hay cubes and into the track. So I signed Dave up to take Nolan for a ride.

Despite these photos, Nolan LOVED it. And it looked like lots of fun so I wanted a turn.

Nolan was a tad squigglie for me which made the steering and getting comfortable a challenge but he did laugh a bit on our ride. It was really awesome and I kinda wanted to take another ride.

So did Nolan, but actually he found something else he suddenly needed to inspect. Photos on that tomorrow... with a video.

Pumpkin Patch

2011-10-25T13:50:00.001-04:00

On Saturday we went to Fair Weather Acres Pumpkin Patch. It was a really great way to spend and Autumn day in New England. Seriously, we could have spent hours there, I think. Of course, Nolan found all the soft animals. Luckily he was wearing a onesie, Dave and I could see Nolan trying to figure out how he could rub his belly on this giant stuffed bear.

This was what he ran to first, of all the 'scarecrows' around, he ran to the giant stuffed polar bear. Strange Kid.

Then he found Little Bo Peep and petted her sheep for several minutes while Baa-ing at them. Mind you, his baa is not gentle but sort of an angry roar-type baa. Regardless, after we convinced him to leave the stuffed sheep, he ran to the wine barrel horse.

So he climbed aboard the fake horse and surprisingly grabbed the stirrups while Neigh-ing and hopping up and down.

He was really excited about all the 'scarecrows'. I can't wait to show you more photos from this really wonderful day.

Strike A Pose

2011-10-24T14:38:00.001-04:00

This weekend the first of Nolan's little friends turned 2. And so we begin the second birthday circuit. Between now and April pretty much all of Nolan's buddies will have a birthday.

So we tried to put Nolan into some party gear. He just wasn't having it. The really cool trendy party shirt (hand me down Kenneth Cole, Reaction) would not be worn.

The little suede blazer that goes very nicely with the Kenneth Cole shirt was worn, but only for a brief modeling stint.

I don't know what possessed him to climb up on this box but it was so funny and perfect to snap a bunch of photos.

He looks like he loves the jacket right? Wrong. We didn't get out the door with it on. Even though he looked especially dapper, the jacket might have put him over the top as far as dressing up for this party.

But if you got it, flaunt it, right? He still looked great and was charming. More dapper gear to come. I love this time of year when the weather makes you consider sweaters... love it!

Fingerpainting

2011-10-23T16:09:00.000-04:00

Here is Nolan's first attempt at finger painting. I remember enjoying it as a child and that strange odor from the paints.

The paint was thinner than I remembered but Nolan seemed like a pro after his initial hesitation. Generally he doesn't love his hands messy (or even sometimes a single drop of water on his high chair tray) but he didn't mind this.

well, he didn't mind it until he was done. Then he was ready to have his hands cleaned.

Pretty proud of himself, he was. Pretty Proud.

Video Friday: Here's the Proof

2011-10-21T14:51:00.001-04:00

I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried. At least he knows it feels good. So what's the consensus, does he need to wear a onesie everytime we go somewhere that has something soft? Or just let him do this in the middle of library class? Please leave a comment or email me.

Is this Inappropriate Behavior?

2011-10-19T13:08:00.000-04:00

Ok, to start with, I'm still unsure if I should put this post out for the world to see. So, dear Nolan, if you are reading this when you get older and decide you want me to remove this post, I will. But it's so darn funny I have to share with the world.

Over the past several months Nolan has become fond of a few of his stuffed animals. They are mostly the soft ones that he will take it's paw and run it under his chin, on his lips or on his cheek. It's so sweet to encounter him doing this gentle movement. Then it moved into him taking the animals hand and making it do things, like open a door or use the mower or eat or play.

Then one day he discovered that the bear feels really soft when he rubs it on his belly. So he would take Rupert's paw and rub it on his belly. Then he started sitting up, pulling his shirt up and holding it with his chin while rubbing Rupert's paw up and down his belly.

Next he discovered he can pull up his shirt and then put the whole body or Rupert on his belly to maximize the softness on his belly. Which generally results in Nolan rolling around trying to get Rupert perfectly positioned to feel soft on his belly. Once properly positioned, Nolan will flop on top of Rupert (or another animal, though mostly Rupert) and make slight movements to make it feel like Rupert is rubbing him.

Then a few days ago, during all of Nolan's shirt pulling up, he discovered his nipples. Last night he discovered that if his simply removed his shirt completely he can do both: rub Rupert over his belly and touch his nipples.

This wouldn't be such a big deal except at library class yesterday he hiked his shirt up and rubbed the star over his belly while the rest of the class was singing twinkle twinkle little star. Then he grabbed Clifford the Big Red Dog (we all know how Nolan feels about him, right) and started rubbing Clifford's ear on Nolan's belly which turned into Nolan lifting his shirt up and flopping on top of Clifford in the middle of the circle while other children were all sitting quietly in the laps of their parents reading a book about Fall Leaves... oh my dear child...

Now THAT's What You Call A Tractor

2011-10-18T13:38:00.003-04:00

Can you see little Nolan on this giant tractor? He's right in the middle.

Despite feeling pretty rotten, Nolan had a super time at the farm with all the animals and the tractors.

In fact, during his hunger strike, er, I mean mystery illness, he opted to not have any snack of homemade muffins and scones but rather to take this opportunity to climb all over the tractor alone, without any other small people to push out of the way.

He was a happy boy, on this here tractor. A very happy boy. Until he remembered how badly he felt. Then we went home...

Tractor Lessons From a Pro

2011-10-17T13:28:00.000-04:00

A boy and his tractor. I mean what more does a boy need?

Well, apparently he wants it to 'go'. He gets some helpful tips from his cousin and tries to get it to move like the other kids.

She explains where his feet should go and how they are supposed to move to make the tractor move.

And finally he gets what he wants, a push. What a clever little boy. And what a super big cousin!

Another Day with Goats

2011-10-15T12:50:00.000-04:00

Goats are funny animals. I mean, what sound do they make? Why are they hardly ever in children's books but are at every zoo, petting zoo and fair in New England? It took a while for Nolan to warm up to the Gooos (what he calls them).

Surprisingly he fed the goats. Not just from the ice cream cone that the food came in but in his fingers.

We were there early so he was one of the first to approach the Gooos with food, clearly they were hungry.

And when the food was dumped out on the ground or given to the goats, he offered them the ice cream cone too.

He was an excellent Goooo feeder. Strangely he was afraid of the pig in the fence but chase the one in the petting zoo oinking at it (which is really aaaah aaaah).

Video Friday: Garage Door Opener

2011-10-14T12:44:00.003-04:00

Most mornings Nolan 'opens' the garage. Sometimes he climbs into his stroller and sometimes he waits for me to put him in it. I'm not sure if he realizes that he's not really opening it but he seems to be awfully proud of himself for it.

The Kid Table

2011-10-13T14:50:00.001-04:00

When my mom was in town we had too many people to sit around the table. So we had a kid table and a grown up table. We sat Nolan in his high chair with the grown up table. He had a fit. He was whining and pointing and we couldn't figure out what his issue was until we sat him at the kid table.

In fact, as we were moving him over to the kid table he was giggling like crazy. Then when he sat down he was just happy to be with his cousins.

While he didn't eat anything he was thrilled to be at the kid table.

A New Look

2011-10-12T13:53:00.002-04:00

The changing of the seasons is always a turning point for me. It's the time that the new decorations come out which gives the house new flavor. It's time for the new clothes to come out, which always feels like I just went shopping finding old clothes that have been in a box for 6 months. And, this time around, the blog has a new look. What do you think of it?

I just LOVE sweater season. I'm not sure if Nolan will but he does love zippers and this particular sweater has a half zip (how trendy). So with him in his cords and sweater (well, these are both hand me downs from Nolan's very generous cousins) he looks dashing.

I just can't get over how grown up he looks. Some days I wonder who replaced my baby with this little boy. It's hard to believe he's 19 months old.

Beeba? Gramma? We miss you already!

2011-10-11T14:09:00.001-04:00

The door to our guestroom has about a 2 inch gap between it and the floor. I have no idea why, no other door in the house is like that but it is what it is. Often we play a fun game with Nolan where we lay on the other side and put our hands under. But it is also a way for Nolan to keep an eye on Beeba/Gramma, while she is visiting.

While not her preferred method of waking up, it's also not a bad one when Nolan lays under the floor calling Beeba until she opens the door.

They had so much fun this week while Beeba was visiting. Nolan was sleeping when Gramma got out of the car at the airport but woke up shortly after wondering where Beeba is. It was such a true pleasure watching and listening to Nolan play with my mom.

I wonder how many days it will take for him to realize Beeba has gone to her home. That her suitcase, boots, glasses and cell phone are also gone- all some of his new favorite toys. We miss Beeba already.

Pumpkin

2011-10-10T14:18:00.003-04:00

Nolan loves looking at all the pumpkins out and about town. Not as much as the scarecrows, but is a very big fan on pumpkins. So when I brought some home to roast for a delicious soup he was VERY interested.

He was especially interested in watching me taste the pumpkins trying to determine if they were sugar pumpkins.

He motioned like he wanted to try the pumpkin and he loved it. I couldn't get the spoon to scoop pumpkin out fast enough.

So we sat on the floor and dug in.

He hasn't eaten a bite of pumpkin (or anything including pumpkin) since.

Visitor

2011-10-08T13:37:00.002-04:00

My mom is visiting from Florida and it has been an ultimate joy to watch Nolan and Beebob play together. He takes her by the hand to lead her to toys he wants to play with and this morning banged her door open to get her up so they could play. Nolan, FOR SURE, misses his Dad this week, especially since we don't play with him like this:

it has been a true treat and a big help to have some extra hands around the house. I can only imagine how sad Nolan's going to be when Beebob goes home but Dad is still working crazy hours.

Other Big E Rides

2011-10-06T22:14:00.002-04:00

Nolan and I also took a ride on this super duper slide. And if I had a moment to think about it I might not have done this ride but we waited in line, gave our tickets, climbed up all those stairs and then I handed my child to a stranger at a high level and waited for him to hand him back to me. In hindsight this is terrifying however everyone else was doing it.

So we climb aboard our burlap sack and thankfully the attendee does not drop Nolan off this really high slide and hands him to me and we ride down. This was a seriously wicked slide. I kinda LOVED it. Nolan, well, I think he would have rather been on the carousel.

Actually he really wanted to be on the motorcycles but he was too short (and wiggly) to go on them himself. The height limit was 42 inches and I'm certain he would not have stayed on just by a loose strap. But he desperately wanted to go on these and caused quite a scene as we had to pick him up and move him (kicking and screaming) to a place he couldn't watch. And we didn't walk that way again. Bad move, rookie parents.

First Fun Trip(s) on the Carousel

2011-10-04T21:28:00.004-04:00

While at first he looks scared or terrified, he was excited to get on the horse again. He ran over to the carousel and pointed seeming saying "I know what that is and I'm not afraid".

But then he did look a little scared, or maybe that was the goldfish coma he was in, at any rate, he rode on the carousel. FIVE times.

And my cheeks hurt watching him go round and round enjoying himself. I wonder if his cheeks hurt. He sure looks like he was FINALLY loving it.

Yes, we went on this ride five times. It does seem like overkill but we bought enough tickets for us each to ride it two times only to find out that grown-ups don't need to pay with tickets.

Thank goodness because look at this kid, he loved it. OK, I admit, I absolutely loved it too. He was laughing so hard and smiling so big I was surprised I didn't cry. Perhaps I was overstimulated. The Big E can do that to a person.

Big 'E'ating

2011-10-03T13:56:00.000-04:00

Nolan doesn't really seem too interested in food. If we're eating, typically he could care less. Unless it's crackers, specifically fish shaped crackers. We're working on trying to get him to eat what we are eating but it's proving to be a challenge, especially when we eat exciting dinners like Bobby Flay's spicy meatloaf which is delicious but, well, spicy and chock filled with veggies and ground meat (something Nolan isn't really into)

So heading to the Big E where there is junk food a plenty (fried oreos, fried butter, ribs, fried dough, burgers, gyros, loaded baked potatoes, candy, fudge, whoopie pies, etc) Nolan hardly was interested in what we offered. But he was very interested in the whoopie pies we had. He's not dumb.

He could care less about the gyro and the fried mushrooms but was interested in the pizza only a little bit and the fried dough with sugar. Mostly he was thrilled to have a large cup of goldfish crackers to munch on and was bummed when that cup was empty.

I wish I could have really captured how messy he was after eating the fried dough, he has sugar on his chin and on his shirt. He was basically a sticky gross mess at the end of the day, certainly a day well spent at the Big E.

The Big E

2011-10-02T13:00:00.001-04:00

We went to the Big E on Friday which was quite an adventure. After the 3 hour drive there (which should normally take 40 minutes) we arrived. Our plan was to stay for 3-4 hours or so and be home around 4pm, but when we finally arrived at 2, well, that was just the beginning of a crazy day.

Surprisingly Nolan went in the stroller after the long car ride. We got through the gates and all 3 of us were overwhelmed by it all. The crazy fried food, the glittering lights, the sounds, the people, the smells- whoa. Our first stop was to watch the elephant rides. Nolan was completley capitvated which resulted in the first of his mini (and sometimes major) meltdowns. After watching for a bit we stumbled upon a petting zoo.

I expected him to be scared but he wasn't. We took him out of the stroller and he was running around, so excited to see the animals. Some of them he petted, some he just watched but he was so excited, running back and forth between Dave and I holding our hands and pulling us toward the various goats, sheep, donkeys and cow. The cow was his favorite- no surprise there.

The petting zoo area was small but perfect. It was shaded and colorful and the animals were friendly but slow and calm (probably overfull from the endless children feeding them) but it was a perfect beginning to a very up and down day.

Who is this Big Boy?

2011-10-01T15:53:00.004-04:00

Nolan loves the phrase 'big boy'. Sometimes we deem things 'big boy' things and he is suddenly interested, like when he's eating and he no longer wants to use his fork we offer him ours and call it the 'big boy' fork, then suddenly he's interested in eating.

But really, look at this guy, he's not a baby anymore. He IS a big boy.

Or a little man. Either way, he's still a clown and his smiles can light up a room.

Video Friday: tall grass

2011-09-30T21:06:00.000-04:00

I wish this video were longer. Nolan loves this decorative tall grass. He must think it tickles, like hair, but anytime he gets near it he laughs like a hyena. So enjoy this. And I promise (I think) this is the last post with photos/videos from the zoo.

Nolan is really into zippers and well, dressing and undressing himself. Sometimes we find himself half unzipped or pantless in the morning. Sometimes we find him with both of his legs stuck in one leg of pants he's trying to put on. I hope we can figure out how to get him ot keep his pjs on as the days get colder- duct tape works for the diapers but not sure how it will work with the pjs...

Big Jump

2011-09-29T21:15:00.002-04:00

Trying to mirror Libby, Nolan attempts to jump off of the curb. Since he just mastered jumping in the past few weeks, this proved to be a very challenging task.

He thought about this jump for a while. Eventually he stepped off the curb and then jumped.

Close, my dear, close.

Nolan's First Game of Tag?

2011-09-28T15:17:00.001-04:00

As Dave pointed out, I took not one single photo of a live animal. And Dave now refers to this zoo as the Cee-Ment zoo since the pictures I took are of the kids with cement animals. Sorry!

So I think this was Nolan's first game of tag. Or at least it is the first documented game of tag. This was so funny, the globe statue is the first one you see as you enter the zoo. And the last one you see. So this was at the very end of our day- I can't believe they still had so much energy!

They kept running in circles, giggling and laughing and screeching. It was so cute!

Then Libby caught up to Nolan and ...

Got him! With lots of tickles and more giggling.

They are so much fun to watch together. So funny and Nolan just adores her, a mom can tell.

Two Little Monkeys

2011-09-26T12:54:00.001-04:00

So yes, more zoo photos. What was really fun was to watch Nolan and his pal explore. It seems like mostly Nolan watched her to see how to react.

Or waited for cues from us like "Nolan, hold her hand". They were very cute and very fun to watch.

Especially when they discovered this gorilla statue/bust. They both seemed to explore it the same way, touch it then climb on it.

Two little monkeys, what silly gooses.

Video Friday: Bouncing

2011-09-23T21:55:00.000-04:00

Here's Nolan doing what he does best, clowning around. He's been doing some really silly stuff lately keeping himself busy. I must admit, it's funny to find him doing something like this. It is moments like this I really really love.

Zoo Take Two

2011-09-22T13:26:00.001-04:00

After the peacock cut outs, Nolan and his pal ran around to every statue they could climb on and did just that.

While it was really cute to watch him do this, it felt weird that there was a real live tiger roaming just a few yards away from the cement turtle that we could watch. He was way more interested in this.

He did get on the turtle with some help.

And Nolan was thrilled about this giant gator and made the chomping movements when he saw it but was completely stumped as to how to get on it. So he got a lift. And he stayed there for a while unsure how to get off of it. His pal was not stumped and climbed all over the gator.

Two little monkeys

Toddlers at the Zoo

2011-09-21T13:24:00.002-04:00

I think I can probably do a whole week's worth of blogs from photos of Nolan and his pal from the zoo. It was so fun and exciting for them. This zoo was great, it was not busy and the cost was marginal, add that to a gorgeous day and it felt nearly perfect.

But getting toddlers to do anything you want them to do is a challenge. Especially when the camera is involved.

But looking at the outtakes in succession makes for a comical story.

This is just the beginning of our trip to the zoo. In fact we haven't even seen any animals yet and these monkeys have probably run about 1/4 mile. We were all tired by the end of this day.

Who Needs Blocks?

2011-09-20T07:38:00.001-04:00

I've been thinking about how much fun Nolan had when we went to someone's house and he played and stacked big blocks into tall towers. You remember those big cardboard blocks that look like parts of a brick wall?

I considered how much space they would take up and how long they would keep his interest and still haven't gotten them.

And really, after this I'm not sure if we just need to leave our shopping purchases on the floor for longer or if he really needs some big blocks

Catching Up, Weekend update

2011-09-19T12:52:00.000-04:00

My birthday was last week. It's funny, this year it just didn't feel as exciting as in the past. Perhaps because I'm old or perhaps it's because I don't spend every day with/talking to the same people who might remember if I remind them daily for a week leading up to it that it's my birthday. Or perhaps I'm just learning to be subtle- though not likely.

Meanwhile Dave had a killer week and he has no idea how much I appreciate and love all of the ways that made me feel special on my birthday. Despite all of his extra working he still managed to make me a cake (his first ever!) and shower me with gifts and special little things.

The plan was for him to take my birthday off and spend it together but unfortunately he couldn't take it off, something came up. So instead we started the day off right, with coffee and cake. Yes, even Nolan got cake for breakfast and really, everyone should. It's an awesome way to start the day.

After cake, Nolan and I headed to the zoo with a friend and her little one. When we got home Dave was home and I took a NAP. Yes, I did. Ahhh, what a treat. Then we had some champagne and went to dinner without the Prince. What a great day. Thanks boys, for making my day special.

Video Friday: Observed- Snack

2011-09-18T10:18:00.000-04:00

Nolan has begun to offer his stuffed friends snacks. What I love about this video is that Nolan is doing the chewing for Bear. Also that we FINALLY got him on video saying 'raisin'. He says 'raisin' by wagging his tongue back and forth in his mouth (same with melon/watermelon). I have no idea why he started doing this but it's hilarious. You also hear him say 'brown'. He's learning his colors but isn't great at identifying which color is which, kinda like his mom. Nolan has also begun saying 'yes' by nodding his head. I've been working on this since he has 'no' down perfectly. Anyway, enjoy this clip and sorry for the lapse~!

Duck Tape

2011-09-15T13:50:00.000-04:00

Nolan has taken his diaper off two times now. I mentioned it to some of my friends with older children and a few suggested using duct tape. One said she brings her daughter to Target to pick out what color duct tape she gets for her diaper. Another said it was recommended by their doctor! So after carefully considering how to use the duct tape (tape the diaper to his skin? Wrap the tape all the way around the diaper? Around the diaper and up over his shoulders?) we figured we'd try this approach.

This immobilizes the tabs so he can't remove the diaper. That's not to say he doesn't try to take it off like shorts but it does prevent an easy removal. Now he has to work harder.

Lawn Maintenance

2011-09-14T13:15:00.002-04:00

This weekend Nolan watched studiously while Dave mowed the lawn. During the entire time of Dave mowing the front yard, Nolan did this.

What he has in his hand is an Amish lawn mower (I kid you not) given to him by a neighbor. Nolan seems to be studying his mower while watching his Dad.

I should have taken this time to do something (or SIT DOWN) but instead I just laughed and took photos.

Not until Dave got to the back yard did Nolan turn away from the mower. So adorable

Considering how obsessed with lawn maintenance Nolan's cousins are, I'm not surprised he inherited some of the obsession. I suppose we'll need a toy weed wacker, hedge trimmers and leave blower now...

Sand Box

2011-09-13T14:13:00.001-04:00

Recently I've noticed that Nolan doesn't really know what to do in the sand box. I'm not sure why, he generally walks around watching other kids (sometimes with his hands behind his back like an old man) or pushes trucks around in the sand.

It's funny because he plays with his sand box in the yard just fine, filling up containers and dumping them

Maybe he needs to bring his trusty blue shovel with him. He loves the sandbox at the playground, but doesn't really 'play' in it.

Pretend Play

2011-09-12T20:14:00.001-04:00

Nolan has begun to pretend play. Interestingly his pretending is mostly feeds his stuffed friends (well, and mowing the lawn,carpet, sofa, etc).

Here he is feeding Bear. I'm not sure why he has bear up in his high chair but he must have been pointing and grunting to him.

It is really cute to watch Nolan play like this. It's really the first delicate/compassionate play we've witnessed.

(aren't his crossed feet just so cute?) He continues to pretend feed his pals.

I just love this part of parenting. This age is really fun, every day it's something new and some new skill he's acquired along the way. Really amazing.

Intro to What's Cooking, Good Looking?

2011-09-11T13:26:00.001-04:00

I am hoping to do this post regularly. Before we had Nolan, we were eaters. One might consider us foodies. I didn't but I would self proclaim myself an excellent eater. We liked to eat food. For a while I was obsessed with knowing where my food came from, I devoured (see what I did just there?) books about food, eating, organics, free range, etc. We got endless food/recipe magazines each month and cooked many recipes in them. I was really consumed by food.

While many amazing things have happened since Nolan came along, many other things have gotten brushed to the side because of our limited free time. This week, however, something changed and I'm finding myself thinking about food, cooking and creating recipes in my head. Cooking, for me, takes a lot of mental energy as well as physical energy.

So for those who do not know how Dave and I work, every week we trade off cooking duties. Last week was my week to cook. We have recently added cooking/providing food for Nolan to that task. And since last week energized my desire to cook and talk about food I have created a 'What's Cooking, Good Looking' feature to the blog. So... here goes nothing...

Last week our menu was inspired by a new magazine Everyday Food by Martha "I don't eat that kind of food" Stewart. (ten points to the person who knows where that quote comes from). We made a HUGE portion of Orzo Salad with Zucchini, Corn and Feta. I also made two fritattas that each included 4 cups of orzo salad. One fritatta went directly to the freezer and the other went for my lunch. Unfortunately Nolan didn't like the fritatta, which was a big disappointment. I loved it.

I also made zucchini and carrot and corn pancakes (recipe from Parenting magazine), also a dud for Nolan. Dave and I liked them, Dave more than me. For Garden Club pot luck supper I made Chocolate Bark, a candy. Also for the pot luck was a summer fruit upside cornmeal cake from Cooking Light and our cookbook and Martha's Plum and Blueberry upside cake. Both were beautiful but not what I was hoping for- a tad on the dry side. I made my first (and second) attempt at some Mac N Cheese. This was Nolan's first taste of homemade mac n cheese- I think he liked it but has been so tired at meals it's hard to tell, definitely didn't devour it. This morning I made Bacon, onion and cheddar scrambled eggs. And tonight I'll be attempting homemade gnocchi with pesto, chicken and garden-grown cherry tomatoes. Then I'll be 'off' for a week. AHHHH.. Next time there will be photos of the food and recipe links but for now I think this post is long enough. ENJOY!