These are a few of my favorite things....Part 1

I added "Part 1" at the end of the title because I'm pretty sure I'll have things to add to this, already, ever-growing list!  There's so many things that make me smile throughout every day spent with Nolan (and some things that make me grind my teeth or mutter under my breath, but that's a different list I don't want to focus on).    Instead of fighting the urge to blog about every cute moment, I thought I'd just begin to compile a list. 

So here goes:

1.  That toothy grin (all 4 of 'em!) 
2.  The way he points his finger at something, while shaking his head and babbling - like he's a disappointed parent or teacher, dissatisfied with something
3. Speaking of babbling - he could go on forever in his own little foreign languge and Joe and I just look at each other, shrug our shoulders and laugh
4.  Nolan's kisses - you ask for a kiss and he either offers his forehead to you, blows you a kiss or dives in, mouth wide open!
5.  Coming home from an errand to find a piece of board in our living room which Daddy informs me had been used as a ramp for cars and trucks (who was having more fun here??) 
6.  Nolan loves to play Ring Around the Rosy now - he falls on the floor laughing and clapping and then promptly gets up for another round
7.  Nolan watching and listening intently, swaying back and forth when Joe plays the guitar
8.  Those chubby bare feet! 
9.  And how he offers you his foot when you say "Where are your toes?"
10.  The way he attempts to blow bubbles - Thhhhhppppppppppppttttttttttt!!! 
11.  When he's tired and you pick him up and he pats you on the back as he lays he head down on your shoulder
12.  Any snuggles in general - now that he's walking and is busy, busy, he doesn't always have time to sit and cuddle
13.  Seeing that toothy smile and blue eyes peering through the rails of the crib when you go in to get him in the morning or after naptime
14.  When he shrieks with laughter
15.  How he claps his hands to say "more" and he's trying so hard to learn "please"
16.  Trying to repeat things you say
17.  The words he does know - Momma, Da-da, Daddy, Doggy, Turtle (which usually means he wants to go outside because that's where his turtle sandbox is), That (or more like Dat) for "What's that?", Bubbles
18.  And I think he's starting to say "Dirty" for anything used to clean up - the vaccuum, the broom, a cloth...
19.  His love for the outdoors, even when it's raining (Just like Daddy)
20.  How he and Buckley get along (or manage to co-exist in this small house) so well - even when Nolan throws one of his own balls to Buckley and Buck knows he's not allowed to put his mouth on it or when Nolan crawls on his bed while he's sleeping and screams in his face
21.  His strange affinity for cords - a power cord, the camera cord, the cord for the computer, the cord to our electric griddle, etc.  (not plugged in, of course!)  But cords will occupy his interest for lengthy periods of time.  He's often carrying one around
22.  How he sleeps through the night and has since he was about 3 months old (with a little bump in the road around 6-7 months)
23.  And the kid sleeps in late, too!  (okay, so he doesn't go down until about 8:30, but that's because we wanted to spend so much time with him in the evenings through the school year).    For the past week or so, he's been sleeping until 10:00.  He's really embracing the summer vacation...
24.  He's at the helping stage - he wants to help screw the cap back on the bubbles or the toothpaste.  Give him a cloth and he'll wipe things down for you.  Or a small broom and he'll "help" sweep up!  So cute to see what he's interested in doing.
25.  When he walks over to you, grabs your legs and looks up at you and you know he just wants to be held.  Love it.

I'll stop there for now - this list is already getting long.  There's so much I love about this kid!  Stay tuned for Part 2!

Bedtime with the Big Boy!

Tuesday night was Nolan's last.bottle.ever.  Since his 12 month appointment, we had been taking bottles away one at a time and replacing them with milk sippies.  The last to go would be the bedtime bottle - Nolan's most needed, psychologically and emotionally for the three of us!  The bedtime bottle was Daddy's time with Nolan to snuggle on the couch and Mommy wasn't sure if the bottle had anything to do with his ability to sleep so well through the night (which, when I think about it logically, I know that's not the case)  Over the past couple of weeks, we reduced the amount in the bottle.  We had decided we would wait to take it away altogether until school was finally over.  Nolan had already been through a couple of changes with daycare the last week of school and we didn't want any more disturbances to occur at the same time.  Besides, we weren't sure how he'd react when the bedtime bottle was no more.    Well, Tuesday night came and we put that last scoop of formula into the bottle - all 2 oz of it.  Needless to say, Nolan sucked it right down in no time.  A part of the ritual that used to take 10 minutes, now only took 2.   We were off to bed and I couldn't help thinking as I rocked him how that next night would go. 

Wednesday night, we got him ready as usual.  I had already cleaned and put away the bottle warmer, hiding any evidence of its existence.  He didn't even glance at the bare spot on the counter it used to occupy as we walked through the kitchen.  Instead of sitting on the couch for that bottle with Daddy, the three of us cuddled up for his favorite bedtime story Pajama Time! by Sandra Boynton.   He sucked on one of his puppies and listened without any fuss or any search for his usual bottle.  After the story was over - "Shhhhhh! Good night! Sleep Tight!" - we gave kisses good night to Daddy, waved na-nights to the dog, and Nolan walked all by himself with puppy in hand down the short hallway to his room.  He turned around and smiled at me as I followed him, and he pushed open the door to his room.   I stood in the doorway and watched him toddle over to the rocking chair.  He looked at me and patted the seat of the chair, indicating to me to take my usual spot.  I sat down and scooped that big boy up.   We said our prayers and I thanked God for such a sweet, happy, easy-going, and special little boy.   I sang the usual "Dream a Little Dream," and he squirmed around in my arms towards the end, letting me know he doesn't need to be rocked completely to sleep anymore and that he was ready to call it a night!  (I like to drag out our snuggle time by humming the end of the song for a while)   :)   With one last "I love you" and a few more kisses on the forehead, I put him in his crib, turned off his nightlight, and walked out.  I can hardly believe sometimes how big he's getting; how much he's grown in just these past (almost) 14 months.   We are so blessed and we remind ourselves of this everyday.   It might not always be this easy, but for now we'll enjoy it while it lasts.  

Summer!

176 student days + a teacher day + one grueling day of math training later summer has finally arrived!   The 3 of us having been waiting for this day for a while!  (well, at least Joe and I have!  Nolan just doesn't realize it yet.)    After Nolan had spent 2 days home with Daddy, he and I needed a special Nolan and Momma day.  We had a lovely breakfast of blueberry pancakes.  

Then I put him on my back and we walked to the local library to get some summer reads for me while Nolan played with all the awesome toys in the Children's section.    We will definitely be back on rainy days.   Nolan threw quite the fit when it was time to leave! 

Back in the backpack, it was time to head to the playground just down the road.  There he enjoyed a little snack of graham crackers and water before playing. 

At this point he was getting pretty tired, so back in the pack and we headed home!

Is it nap time yet??



He napped, I ran and did some yard work and after he woke up, it was back on the road!  We met up with some friends down in Portland for a pre-dinner snack.  He lasted about an hour and a half, and then I knew it was time to head back home!  It was quite an eventful day and Nolan was good to put up with me and all my over-ambitious plans.   I have many of them in store for this summer!  Hang in there, little buddy!  I promise we'll have fun! 

And if you're good, we can get ice cream....a lot.  Heck, we'll get ice cream even if you're bad.  

We Have a Walker!

Last Sunday it dawned upon me that Nolan was gaining more confidence and taking more steps.   He was up to 8-10 steps as he moved from the couch to the Leap Frog Learning Table, his walking toy to the kitchen chair, his Mega Blocks truck to my arms.   I picked him up from daycare on Monday and said "Did he try walking at all today?"  The provider looked at me funny and said "He walked back and forth across this living room all day!"   Sure enough, we got home and you could see the difference.   He was walking farther with less falls.   By mid-week, he was able to pivot around and go in the other direction and get up from the floor into a standing position and take off!   I started to wonder "When is a child officially a 'walker'?"  I guess I don't really need to spend any more time wondering because Nolan is definitely walking now.   At times, it seems he is running!

And it's hard to try to draw a line in the sand trying to decide "When did he learn to walk?"  I guess it begins when they take that first unassisted step (at a funeral home in the direction of a complete stranger).   The learning experience begins then and continues even after the child is toddling around the kitchen barefooted as his mother prepares dinner.  I think many milestones from this point out will be this way - without a date that can be "officially" recorded on a calendar.  I've already got a few stickers floating off in the margins; not being able to pinpoint an exact date of when something occurred - Discovers Toes???   Stands Alone????   2nd Tooth????    Not sure about some of those although I know they happened....

So the sticker for "Walks Alone" is dangling off to the side of mid-June.   He still crawls from time to time; after all, it is still the quickest way of getting from Point A to Point Momma.   But after a while, even that will fade away and new milestones will take the place.   It's bittersweet really.   But that is what growing up is all about....they can't stay babies forever (no matter how much we want them to!!) 

Here's a couple of videos to share how excited Nolan is about this new accomplishment!   You can just see the joy and pride on his face!    Enjoy!

The Nest

I have a couple of longer posts I wanted to update with, but for now and the sake of my ever diminishing time (although in 7 school days I'll be ALLLL done for the summer!) I will have this fun little update. 

When Nolan first transitioned to his crib, I put all the things I used in the bassinette in the crib - elevated sleeper with bumpers, rolled up blankets, and all the same bedding.   He was sleeping through the night at  3 months and me, being superstitious, chalked a lot of it up to the supports he had in the crib.  One friend called his crib his "hamster cage" because of all the stuff in there.    I took that stuff EVERYWHERE!!  Finally, I realized he was getting too big, he was starting to roll over, and it was just getting ridiculous.  

So I started to take away items one at a time.   I'm not just a cold turkey kind of girl.   Eventually we got to where we are now, although he still has a lot of stuff in there now!  But fun stuff - his favorite blankets and all his favorite stuffed animals for chewing on.   He's still sleeping through the night and lately has been squirming his way out of my arms while I'm trying to rock and sing to him, letting me know he's ready to just go to bed!   When I lay him down on his back (where he used to stay and just sleep like that all night) he immediately flips over, grabs as many puppies as he can, and snuggles up, one of the puppy's ears in his mouth.  I say "goodnight" and "I love you" one last time and slip out.   We listen to him as we sit in the living room flopping around in there and getting comfortable.   This can last anywhere from 2 minutes to 30 minutes - and one night, one hour! 

The best part is going in to wake him up on the mornings we have daycare.  He is absolutely NOT where I saw him last.   He's usually on top of a pile of blankets with puppies all around.   I refer to this as his "nest."  I laugh every time and usually run out to grab the camera.   And here's how we end up with shots like this:

And this:

One of my favorite things....(which will be one of my next posts).

My Partner-in-Crime

Nolan and Momma, Momma and Nolan.   We're pretty tight.  I love this kid for many reasons, and yesterday we added a new one to the list.  

It's been a rainy week here in Maine.   Like drive-you-up-a-wall rainy.   And that's pretty much where I was yesterday - up the wall.  Nolan had turned into Sgt. Fussypants and I decided that what we needed was a change of scenery.   We'd been holed up in the house long enough.  So we all (me, Nolan, and our shadow Buckley) piled into the mini-van and headed into downtown Brunswick.  It's a quaint little downtown with your typical Main St. dotted with shops and cafes.  First we stopped in to my former employer, Maine Running Company.   Nolan is fascinated with shoes so this was the perfect place to spend some time.   I chatted with one of my work buddies while he stared at the walls lined with sneakers and watched people trying on box after box of sneakers.   Then I indulged in trying on my favorite sneaker - the Saucony Triumph.  Swoon.  (Hmmmm...pay for a week of daycare or buy a pair of new sneakers????  Tough decision.)     

After leaving MRC, we headed over to my most favorite place downtown - Gelato Fiasco.   Joe is not really an "ice cream" kind of guy.   He likes candy.  Me, I could eat ice cream every day.  I don't, but I could.   So I figured I'd treat Nolan and myself to some gelato.  This place makes their own fresh gelato on a daily basis.  And the flavors are endless.   Often they'll have an interesting flavor they're trying out.   They're culinary artists, really.   So after browsing the gelato case and sampling a few flavors, I chose Junior Mint for myself and Strawberry Balsamic for Nolan.   The boy could not get enough of the sweet stuff.  I could barely enjoy my own because he wanted that red spoon in his mouth every 3 seconds.  

Love me some gelato!

Mmmmmmm....







Keep it coming, Momma!

I'll just take that spoon, thank you!

So I have found my new partner-in-crime.   I forsee many trips to Gelato Fiasco this summer.  Forget Dairy Queen!     Joe can keep his candy.  

So after our little gelato date, we headed down the street to check out our new local Cool as a Moose/Life is Good store.  So many things I want....so little money.  Ah well.   Then we played with the Brio train table at another favorite store.   It ended up being a lovely afternoon.   Nolan and Momma, Momma and Nolan.  

"Ma-ma"

Best.sound.ever.    Last Wednesday I was washing bottles at the sink.   Nolan was standing over at our kitchen window looking outside.   All of a sudden he dropped to his knees and started crawling quickly towards me.   "Ma-ma, Ma-Ma" he said.   And when he reached me, he grabbed onto my legs and stood up.   My heart burst.   This was the first time he had said it - "Ma-ma."   Needless to say, I stopped what I was doing, scooped him up, burst into tears and smothered him with kisses.   Then we spent the rest of our evening outside walking around, swinging and blowing bubbles. 

Life is too short.  Savor every moment.  <3