Little Fish

I finally got around to signing Miles up for swim lessons! By this time Nolan had been in 3 classes...oops, poor 2nd baby! You would never know though because my little water baby loves swimming! He is a natural and acts like he was made to be in the water. Maybe it's because he was born in the water but I think it's probably because Miles is in general pretty happy (as long as he's been fed). 

Thank you to Aunt Carolyn and Gigi for sponsoring our little swimmer in his first lesson, as you'll see he loves it!

We have been in class for a few weeks now but Yaya was in town and was able to take a few pics for me. Thanks Yaya!

kick, kick, kick, kicking!

When lessons started the instructor invited us to try out the big twisty slide. I was the only one who took him up on the offer, I just figured why not? Miles loves slides, the bigger the better! And when we got up to the top Miles was pumped!

He wasn't so sure afterward but decided it was fun after all.

Back to business though it was time to get swimming.

On this assignment he is supposed to walk off the side of his little stage and swim toward me. In true Miles fashion he had to have something in his mouth to give this task a try. A few rubber duckies were perfect!

Don't mind me, I'm just reminding him to pull his head up out of the water.

Success!!

Proud little fishy. :)

2 years old

The big boys went camping this last weekend which left Miles and I on our own. There was a lot of sleeping and even more eating. But in between all this wonderfulness we snuck away to "Our Beach" in West Seattle for a date night picnic.

I just so happened to grab my camera (shocker) and did his 2 year old portraits while there. See if you can spot the food in his hand or mouth in all of the following pictures. We were there for 3 hours and he was NEVER without food, even when he was in the water he had a bagel in his hand. He's very coordinated!

I really wish I could take credit for the Seahawks theme going on in this pic. I grabbed the sweater but Miles picked out the cookie. I told him he could grab something from the bakery and he loudly declared that he wanted the "BALL!"

And yes, that sweater has elbow patches, swoon!

He recently got reattached to his blanket. Just this week it has gone everywhere with us. Luckily he doesn't seem to notice that I sneak it out of his room every night to wash it.

I should've added sleep and making a mess to his likes list. The following morning after our date he slept in until 11:30! It's amazing what happens when the house is quiet. Then the rest of the weekend consisted of him dumping out every single toy bin, puzzle and book shelf or smearing peanut butter in his hair. It was a perfect weekend with my littlest man.

I'm adding a few more fun facts before I forget:

When I carry him around, he grunts and makes a bunch of exasperating sounds like HE'S the one lugging around a solid toddler. 

He loves to dance! I am determined to get some of his new dance moves on video because his face is super serious when he dances. 

He also likes to beat box, thank you yo gabba gabba!

When we go up the stairs I carry him but he moves his feet like he's going up them. 

He's reading! It's been one week since he started kindergarten and Nolan has already started reading. Today in the car Nolan was being quiet and listening to music. Suddenly he perked up and said "mommy, that sign says zoo!" And it did! I asked him if they were learning about zoos at school and he said no that he just knows zoo is spelled z-o-o. I'm in total shock, it's all happening so quickly!
So tonight at story time I asked him if he knew any of the words on the page. He picked out the, that, go, is, and if. He was tested last week on these exact words and he didn't know them. LAST WEEK!
So proud of him, but now Pat and I will need to come up with a new system when talking about what we are having for dessert after the kids go to bed. It's just a matter of time before he can spell i-c-e c-r-e-a-m.

Back to School: Kindergarten!!!

The moment we've been waiting LONG time for has arrived! Nolan started Kindergarten. This is why we moved from our beloved city, it is actually happening! I don't know who was more excited, me or Nolan. I'll admit I was definitely more nervous. There is A LOT to remember, fill out, and do before they let your kid start school. I was terrified that I had forgot something and they would send him back with a big DENIED stamp. So far so good, no huge mistakes. 

In a completely well intentioned way, I took Nolan to get his hair cut last weekend. Somehow a little off the sides became this:

Oh well, we bought some hair gel and made it work. Thank goodness that boys hair grows ridiculously fast.

I had a super cute outfit all picked out for his big day and then Pat and my sister forbade me to let him wear a tie. Boo! So this outfit was my plan b since it was the shirt I originally wanted him to wear, just unbuttoned and no tie.

Good call after all since every other student in his class was wearing some character tee or sweatshirt. Things have definitely changed since the days of wearing your Sunday shoes on the first day. Oh well, I don't mind him being the overdressed one, it is after all a special occasion.

This is his "Are we all done?" pose. I guess so, it was off to school.

They have the Kinders line up and wait as everyone gets off the bus, Nolan was happy to entertain the crowd.

Then it was off to their classroom. :(

I yelled out to him that I love him and to have a good day and you can see how sad he was to leave me in the photo below. He's the one with his hand up waving goodbye without even turning around. So heartfelt! 

The hardest part was when Miles started calling out for Nolan as he walked to his classroom. I don't know what that little guy without his ring leader. Spoiler: He played with all of Nolan's toys, jumped on the trampoline without getting pushed over and ate snack with out sharing...pretty much he has been in paradise.  But I did get a little bit of a lumpy throat watching him walk away. I know he will do great, we are only on day 2 and he's in love. I can't wait to see what all he learns, it's just hard to let go.

And because I can't let any transition happen without thoroughly documenting it, I got right on this years questionnaire. This picture was taken after school (and after a celebratory ice cream stop) so he was feeling especially good/goofy. He declared he wanted to pose like an explorer. So here he is Kindergarten Explorer Nolan:

And just for reference, last year's version (same rock). I'm pretty sure some sort of time traveling took place in the last year because the above version Nolan looks about 15 years older. Seriously! Some fun changes though in his answers, including a new favorite color!!

Nolanisms

I was moving one of our ginormous couches and Nolan told me "You are strong like a buffalo!"

Nolan was getting too rambunctious with Miles, grabbing his head at each ear and shaking it around. When I asked him why he is so rough with his brother he said "mom, it's just science!"

And we will soon have to start a Milesism post cause my baby is speaking in sentences!! When we had guests over this weekend I was serving ice cream out and Miles yelled from his high chair, "I want that!!" Needless to say, the boy got some ice cream. I can't wait to hear what else he has to say.