Lioness

6 Weeks

Today I was outside hanging laundry when I noticed how lovely the afternoon sun was shining through our fence. I'd been meaning to do Miles' 4 week old portraits for...well 2 weeks now :) so I figured why not today? and ran inside to grab him for an impromptu photo shoot. He did pretty well considering I woke him up, stripped him down and made him sit in a drink bucket for 20 minutes. He's such a trooper!

I'm determined to do these shoots somewhat regularly. I'm not going to commit to any set schedule but I do want to make sure I take a little time every few weeks/months to document his achievements and growth. We'll see how that goes.

Evidence of said smiles.

I love how you can see my reflection in his eyes.

I added this one because it clearly shows the birth mark on his chest. You can see it wraps around his right nipple and looks like a giant C...for Clingman. He's been branded!

Tummy Time for 2

Nolan and Miles spent a little time with the baby jungle gym this evening. 

All was going pretty well.

Until it wasn't.

So Nolan showed Miles how it's done.

Preschool

After months of being on a wait list that got us nowhere, finding a new school (with a newborn), months of breaking Nolan's heart telling him we don't go to school in the Summer and a few tantrums as a result...Nolan FINALLY started school today! We've been counting down the days since we found out he got a spot at Sweet Pea Cottage Preschool. This morning I went in to wake him up his first words were "Am I going to school today?" and I almost cried when I said "yes, today we are going to school." Seriously I almost cried...damn hormones!

He didn't put up a fight at all this morning, going potty, getting dressed and eating his breakfast were done quickly and peacefully...he was on a mission to get to school. I of course paused our morning routine to capture a few pictures for our annual first day of school portrait. These are the outtakes or practice shots.

This is the smile he makes if he is asked to smile for the camera.

I interviewed him this year instead of answering the questions on his behalf. I did my best to let him answer his own way. The only time I jumped in was if he needed clarification on a question. Otherwise the answers would look like this - favorite activity: toast (what he was eating at the time of said interview).

He kept running around in a circle yelling "yay school!"  so we didn't too many pictures that weren't blurry.

But we got through it in a few sittings and I was pretty surprised with some of his answers. Like how his favorite color is blue now, it has always been green. I did jump in on one question, the 3 words that describe him. He doesn't grasp the use of adjectives yet and when I asked him to describe himself his only response was his name - Nolan. Good enough. Here is the final result.

Then we were off to school. At the orientation we went to last week the teachers talked a lot about transitioning your child during drop off. I knew this wouldn't be a problem for Nolan but wasn't positive now that our family dynamic has changed with the addition of Miles. Sure enough he marched right into his class and didn't look back. His teacher asked if he wanted to say goodbye, he turned and waved and continued on. They were really impressed with his confidence but told me sometimes the kids start to struggle after they've settled in a bit. I assured them that Nolan probably won't have any problems but said they could call if needed.

When I arrived to pick him up I was surprised to find his folder full of the art and activities he had done that day. He was sent home with a little progress report detailing what he did that day so we could talk about it when we got home. Here's a close up of that.

The line, "Nolan sat still during French" makes me laugh as last year his biggest challenge was sitting still during circle time so we've been working on that a lot (we stop reading until he sits down during story time, have him stay seated during dinner, etc) so I was really happy to hear he did well. That and my 3 year old is taking french! This month they are learning about Eastern Europe so they are having Polish lunch today: dill buttered noodles with cabbage. I love this school! They are offering him things I could never even imagine.
Also in his folder was a little tomato. The little girl that was doing show and tell brought in a tomato she grew in her garden for each of her classmates. Nolan was so proud of it he wouldn't put it down. He even asked me to take a picture of it and the C - cat he made.

His actual smile...genuine happiness!

He asked if he can go again tomorrow and I again got to say yes! I love seeing him so excited about school and hope it lasts for a very long time.

Remlinger

We went to Remlinger Farms last Summer as seen here and had a great time (go check it out, Nolan is still so baby faced back then!). So when groupon was running a 2 for 1 deal I snatched it up. It was another Sunny Saturday this year and an even bigger hit as Nolan was super brave and tried a bunch of new things.

Like riding the horse. His was named Cucumber which just so happens to be one of Nolan's favorite snacks...maybe that played a part?

Pat even got Nolan to pose with the Halloween decor while I was feeding Miles. 

I've never been able to get him to stick his head through these things. I'm in love with my little cowboy.

But this day was extra special because Nolan's bff Annabella and her dad came out to the farm with us.

Adventures are always more exciting with company.

 They rode in a canoe,

drove a car,

and took turns riding the Flying Pumpkins.

When it was time to go they were literally falling over each other in exhaustion.

A fun day had by all. 

Dentist

Nolan had his first trip to the dentist last week. We talked a lot about what was going to happen at his appointment, so when they called his name he marched back there without hesitation.

First they checked the bears.

Then it was Nolan's turn, still no tears.

They counted and polished his teeth.

He loved the straw sucky thing...a lot!

Then the dentist came in to check for cavities, he was all clear!

I was shocked that he didn't put up more of a fight, I had prepared myself for tears but he seemed to enjoy it and cooperated through it all. I'm constantly amazed at how easy going he is about trying new things. Lord knows he didn't get that from either of his parents.

Sunsets

We've managed to stay pretty busy these last few weeks. Surprisingly busy considering we stayed inside for the first 3 months of Nolan's life. Miles has already experienced so much more in his short 6 weeks. With a busy toddler underfoot, it's better for all of us to get out then to stay cooped up inside driving each other crazy. I don't do to much when I'm alone with the boys, maybe a trip to the park or library, but when Pat gets home, we venture out. We tend to stick around our neighborhood catching up with all the fun sites West Seattle has to offer.

One of my favorite sites is from this stretch of beach just south of Alki. It's in a pretty quiet neighborhood and therefore no one seems to be around when we are there. This is where we walked when I was super pregnant so it's amazing to see Miles here now, remembering how badly we wanted to meet him.

We usually just walk the stretch of beach to kill time before Nolan's bedtime and watch the sunsets. Due to the earlier and earlier sunsets, we've been packing up our dinner and bringing it down to maximize our time outside in the fresh air. Nolan loves to watch the sky change colors.

On this night Nolan was being especially sweet to his brother. He was running around and suddenly stopped, gave miles a hug and kiss with a quick "I love you Miles" before he was off running again. This was the first time he said that and it melted my heart.

Train Rides

For Yaya's Birthday in September we rode the Mount Rainier Scenic Railroad. I bought tickets months and told Nolan that we were going to go ride a train but we had to wait until baby brother came. When Miles arrived it only took a few days for Nolan to start asking about the train ride (how does he have such a great memory already?). So when Miles was 2 weeks old we drove down to Elbe and met Yaya for a train ride.

Showing off his ticket...the back of it at least.

Miles' first train ride, he slept through most of it.

I wanted to make sure we took a picture of the 4 of us since we didn't have one yet. Nolan was tired and ready to go so this was what we got before he bolted.

I wanted a picture of mom with the boys but Nolan wasn't cooperating. Once we got him strapped down in the car we took this one.

And about 5 minutes later we got this one.