Date Night

Annabella came by on Thursday night for a little play date. They were so cute together. Whatever one was doing the other had to do first. Here is Nolan cutting in line for the slide, such a gentleman.

But the real fun started at snack time. Allow me to narrate for you how the incident went down.

"These raisins don't do it for me, and I've already eaten my banana, I wonder if she will give me her banana?" Nolan thought.

"I know, I'll feed her raisins until she is too full to eat her banana! Mwa ha ha ha!"

"Um, why does my finger hurt? Did she just bite me?"

"YES! Yes she did bite me, and it hurts!" he cried.

What I did not get a picture of is him hijacking her banana when I picked him up. Sneaky dude!

**Don't worry parents out there that are gasping at the horror of biting children. It was an innocent mistake, his fingers are just about raisin sized and I believe he let them linger just a few seconds too long. Besides, no skin was broken!

Just a Social Guy

My friend Heather and I decided to take our babies to the water park the other day. They are three days apart but Heather has a little girl Annabella, who I've mentioned here before. It has never been so apparent the differences between boys and girls until this outing. Annabella sat still, playing with a shovel. Nolan ran straight into the deep end to play with the big kids. Annabella sat perfectly still while her mom changed her diaper, applied sunscreen and did her hair. Nolan alligator rolled to keep away from the clean diaper, and I think I was able to cover most of his back with sunscreen as he ran away. Annabella, stayed within 5 feet of her mom, Nolan couldn't get away fast enough. You get the idea.

I started to think that maybe Heather just had better control of her child, and that I was doing something wrong. But as we played at the pool I observed the other kids there. The girls stayed on the outside, playing pretend while the boys whacked each other with those floaty noodle things. Sigh, it's going to be a rough couple years! But that's not the point of this post, so I'll get on with it.

I have learned that Nolan is a naturally curious, social guy. While we were at the water park, I fought him to stay in the pool. At one point i gave up and just let him do his thing while keeping an eye on him from a distance. It turns out, he just wanted to go and say hello to all the parents outside the pool. He went right up to them, raised his hand and said "hi baby!" to each and every one, and when he was done he got into the pool. I was hoping that this charming nature of his sticks around for a while to counter balance the wild boy streak.

I think it just might as yesterday when we were at the doctors office there was a little girl there who was probably 6 or 7, but had some degree of autism. Nolan leached onto her right away and became her shadow, bringing her toys and playing hide and seek. Her mom and I watched them play and when it was time to go, the little girl waved goodbye and said Bye Nolan! The mom stopped in her tracks, she told me that they had been working on peer socialization with their therapist for nearly a year and this was the first time her daughter had verbally acknowledged another child. Maybe it was a fluke or just good timing but I like to think that Nolan has that way about him, the ability to touch those around him and leave a lasting impression.

Arts & Crafts

I love to craft, I hope to pass this love onto Nolan. So the second that I found out that 18 month olds can actually start understanding and enjoying crafts I jumped on it. We started out with some dyed shaving cream finger painting...messy but fun! He thought the shaving cream was a snack, my mistake for putting him in his high chair to do craft time. But he figured out pretty quick that this snack was way more fun to paint with.

This was the aftermath, I didn't get a shot of the wall but I'm sure you can imagine. The house smelled like shaving cream for days!

We then moved on to the less messy marker art project. I had been trying to get Nolan to color for months, I bought him special triangular "toddler" crayons but he likes to throw them more then color. I thought maybe markers might do the trick, if i can keep them out of his mouth!

Success! Note the binky blocking any potential marker tasting, my plan worked! This was our first day with markers so there wasn't a lot of actually coloring getting done. I've learned that Nolan really likes to explore something fully before he experiments with it. But the next time the markers came out, he knew just what to do. He drew this little piece of art.

Swoon! I'm so proud! How soon until he can get on that sewing machine?

18 Things About Nolan

Yesterday Nolan turned 18 months old, which means as of today he is closer to 2 then 1...scary! Someone asked me if I was going to do anything special, do people actually celebrate half birthdays now? I didn't have anything special planned but i have been assembling this list of Nolan Fun Facts, so in honor of this monumental occasion, here are 18 very important details about Nolan at 18 months old.

1. His favorite foods of the moment are berries (specifically blackberries and raspberries) he can eat entire cartons of them in one sitting, he also really likes hummus and broccoli, let's hope these good habits stick!

2. He has 2 lovies, they are both blankets that are made of the same type of material but with different patterns. He has to have at least one with him at all times but both must be in his crib for him to sleep.

3. He must be in either a crib or a car seat to fall asleep, I have tried many other methods including holding him, putting him in a backpack baby carrier, and putting him in a regular bed, it didn't work out. He did fall asleep in his stroller once, it was a good day.

4. He loves to play guitar with daddy but prefers to put the pick inside the guitar instead of actually strumming it.

5. His naughtiest behaviors are when he alligator rolls at diaper changes so i can't get a new diaper on and when he climbs the back of the couch to push the buttons on the alarm system. I still consider myself lucky as i know it could be much worse.

6. When he gets really excited he shrieks at a decibel that would make Ned Flanders jealous.

7. He loves books and reading. His favorite is "Let's Find Koa" which he forces us to read multiple times each time he finds it (which can be several times a day).

8: Words he says: Mama, Dada, Papa, up, Hi, baby, all gone, night night, yeah, book, kitty, cool, uh oh, cup. Words he signs: more, milk, all done, and he blows kisses for bye bye.

9. He is super ticklish, especially his feet.

10. He still sleeps 12 hours at night, takes a 2.5 hour morning nap and a 1 hour afternoon nap, we are so happy to have such a great sleeper, he must have gotten that from me!

11. He has figured out how to turn on my iPhone, eject disks from the Playstation and open doors...he's a genius!

12. I thought the "everything goes in my mouth" phase was over but I was very wrong, his favorite things to sample are rocks, dirt, sand, puddles on the deck (he gets on all fours and slurps it up), bath water, anything found on the floor, and cat fur. Yep, i have that kid. I hope this phase passes soon.

13. He is obsessed with bellybuttons, he likes to see what toys will fit into his and if it doesn't fit he will try mine.

14. He is quite stubborn and impatient, he knows what he wants and he wants it now. No surprise to me, when i was pregnant he was very active at all the wrong times and no matter what i did to try to get him to calm down, if he wanted to kick and move and twist, he did it.

15. He loves anything to do with water - bath time (insert shrieking here), pools, fountains, washing his hands, the cat's water dish.

16. He is an incredibly light sleeper, we can't make any noise as he is falling asleep, sneezing in another room with his door closed has woken him up before, no joke!

17. He prefers to play with anything but his toys. His favorites right now are: the cats, pen caps, clean diapers, his baby toothbrush, mama's jewelry, couch cushions, rocks, sticks and paper.

18. I feel that I should wrap this up with some kind of mushy sentiment about how the last 18 months have been wonderful, that having Nolan has brought out the best in me and changed my world forever, these things are all true but I'm just not the mushy type. I will say my favorite thing about Nolan at 18 months is that he is and always has been one of the happiest, most content babies I know, I hope he can always find joy in the everyday as easily as he does now.

Beach Vacation

My sister Emmie planned this vacation back in November. The 4th of July weekend seemed so far away then, Nolan wasn't even one, wasn't walking or talking or doing much at all. I wasn't sure what going on vacation with an 18 month old would look like but I was up for the challenge. Lucky for us, Nolan loves to be in new places, seeing new things and meeting new people, if only he was so tolerant of long car rides!

We stayed in a little beach community called Seabrook, about 20 miles North of Ocean Shores. It was adorable! It's a brand new development but all the homes are craftsman/cottage style which makes it feel super charming. There were parks and playgrounds to play on, bikes you could borrow, a pottery painting place (we decorated cookie jars) and a cute little market that had everything you might have left at home, plus the most delicious mint oreo gelato.

Nolan and Clementine loved being able to spend so much time together. The first night we put them in the same room for bedtime and they stayed up late playing and giggling in their beds. They did lots of stuff together as narrated through pictures.

They blew bubbles.

Went on bike rides.

Played dress up.

Sat around with Jack.

Made play doh animals

Played on the playground, lots!

Of course we took some time to have our usual breakdowns, but there was much less of that on vacation.

When we did finally make it to the beach, Nolan of course loved it. Although i was surprised that just Clementine wanted to splash in the waves, Nolan wanted to run on the sand and eat everything that would fit into his mouth. I got a lot of running away from the camera shots, but I love his little caboose so it's alright.

PS- to all my loyal blog followers who didn't know Nolan had started walking since i didn't post this major achievement...Nolan became a full time walker on June 12, 2010, after a long day of practicing in the mall he came home took a few hesitant steps and off he went, never looking back. I'm so relieved to have that milestone behind us and I don't even mind chasing after him everywhere we go...for now.

I love his shadow on this one, it was after 6:00pm but the water was warm so we let him go to town in just his onesie bottoms.

And this one with his wobbly zombie walk.

and the end result of eating sand, shells and rocks.

We had so much fun and are already planning for next year. I wonder what it will be like to vacation with a 2.5 year old?

Look What I Made!

My creative energy has come alive in the last few weeks. I blame this on my new addiction to the All Things Thrifty and Etsy websites. I have spent many hours on these sites admiring what people have created or recreated to make into something fabulous.

All that time admiring other's creations inspired me to make a few things of my own. It started when my friend Jodi asked me to make her an apron that she can wear while she is pregnant (baby due in early august) and that she can also wear it after she's not so pregnant. This is a challenge as most aprons go straight across your waist and if you haven't been around a very pregnant person, there isn't much of a waist to be found. So i designed a pattern with this in mind, something that would accommodate a belly, but lie flat when the belly is gone. My mom saved the day and helped me take my design and concept to actual apron and did all of the "advanced" sewing for me, but i did all the detail and basic sewing. I loved how it turned out and it looked especially cute on Miss Jodi who also loved it. Here she is modeling it for me.

After I completed that I moved on to a wreath for our door. I needed a break from sewing

as my fingers were sore from being poked and handling the rough material. I fell in love with a wreath made out of sea glass on a beach cottage website (sorry i can't find it again to link it) and figured i could pull that off. Lucky for me my mom and granny had quite the beach glass collections and were willing to hand them down to me so i could give this a try. I was worried i wouldn't have enough but surprisingly this wreath doesn't take all that much glass and I had a ton left over. It was a quick and therapeutic art project as I sat there with my hot glue gun and buckets of glass. I was able to finish it within one of Nolan's naps and i only suffered 2nd degree burns on two of my fingers, bonus!

I think next time I'll leave off the brown glass as that made it look more like a recycling project then beach glass but it's still pretty cute.

I just picked up the fabric i needed for my sister's apron so it's back to sewing. But that will have to wait a few weeks because we're going on vacation! First to Ocean Shores for the 4th of July and then on to Bend, Oregon for a family wedding. Stay posted for pics and stories from our adventures.

I LOVE this City!

I love Seattle. I consider it my home, and when I'm away I miss it like a family member. I think it's because i have so many great memories here and very few negative. I take it personally when people insult it or say it's not as good as their hometown. I frequently read the top ten lists online or in magazines for things like best places to live, raise a family, have a picnic, whatever, just to be sure that Seattle is on it (and it often is) and if it's not i seriously consider writing the author to take a closer look at the Emerald City.

I never dreamt that we would be able to buy a house and raise our son in the city where we fell in love, but here we are. I never knew that the city that I loved as a single teenager would remain so important to me at this stage in my life. But Seattle offers so much to families, there are hundreds of things to do everyday and right in our backyard.

Last weekend reminded me why i love it here so much. It was one of those perfect Seattle days. I had to go to Ballard in search for the perfect fabric for a project I'm working on. It was a sunny Sunday, there was great music on the radio and no traffic! We pulled up to Joann's and there was an open spot right up front!! We found our fabric and on the way out I look across the street and there is this adorable little park with lots of Nolan sized kids playing. So we wandered on over to check it out. It turns out it wasn't just a park but a skate and water park!

I was so pleased with this great find, i let Nolan play in the water despite us being horribly unprepared for getting wet. He was dressed in play clothes (not a swim suit or swim diaper), I had no towels, sunscreen or even another diaper to change him into but I said screw it, when do we get to do things like this?

I rarely allow myself to be spontaneous although I always wish I could let go of my plan out every detail tendencies and just let things fall into place. I want Nolan to find joy in the little things each day offers not just the well planned, perfectly executed ones. It felt great to let loose and splash around in this hidden little gem and Nolan loved the surprise. He wound up soaked through and very pleased with himself. Luckily I had a picnic blanket in the back that we used to dry off and I drove home a very happy, naked toddler. It was a very good day.

Clarification

It has been brought to my attention that my last post was a bit melancholy. No need to worry about me, I am not going though a blue period I promise! Although this Seattle weather is zapping my energy, ugh! I guess this is the problem with blogging, tone can be misinterpreted.

Just for clarification, I am quite comfortable in my mommy-dom these days. I won't lie, I have my moments of impatience and confusion (what do you do when your toddler won't hold still for a diaper change?) but I am feeling very optimistic.

I mean this doubt thing isn't new for me. When he was younger I was worrying about is he pooping enough? How much spit up is too much spit up? If I bring him out into the gross germ-y world and he gets sick will I ever forgive myself? I just didn't blog about it, and I kind of wish I had.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that I want this blog to capture all my experiences as a parent, good and bad, doubts and celebrations. So one day I can look back and realize all these ups and downs are part of the journey. Hopefully it will remind me that whatever we are dealing with at that time will soon be forgotten. Sorry to cause any of you concern!

And because no post should be without a picture, here you go. A picture of Nolan from almost one year ago. He was so chunky back then!

One Giant Step

Saying I am aching for Nolan start walking is an understatement. He is almost 17 months old and although this places him in the "late walker" category its not officially a delay for another month. He has taken a few encouraging steps but I definitely wouldn't classify him as a "walker".

I can't even count how many times I've been told not to worry, babies develop on their own time, or that I should be grateful for these extra few months of not chasing down a toddler. I know these comments are meant well but that doesn't change the fact that his delays have opened a Pandora's box of concerns for us. What if this delay is just the first symptom of a larger developmental problem? Will he always be behind his peers? Is it something I did/didn't do that caused this?

Luckily Nolan is oblivious to the fact that he is the only one of his friends that isn't walking yet. But as he cheerfully scoots among his peers I fight guilt, shame and embarrassment of failing to keep my child on track. After talking with other mommy/parenting friends I'm convinced that these feelings might just be part of the parenting experience. One friend who's child is walking is embarrassed because her child isn't talking, another baby won't give up their binky, and another has a complex about never being able to breast-feed. It makes me wonder if parenting is possible without all the doubt and second guessing? Maybe by the second one?

I know deep down that one day he will decide that he wants to walk and it will be done and all of this worry will be forgotten (or more likely the worry will be about something new). Until that day I will encourage every little step he takes toward becoming a true walker.

On that note, one giant step he took this week was walking behind his walker. I have been trying to get him to do this for months and last night when i put it in front of him he took two timid steps forward and then started high tailing around the living room, like this is something he does all the time. Of course, I got it all on video, this is honestly the first few minutes of him playing with this thing.

First Hair Cut

Pat has been talking about getting Nolan a haircut for months now. I keep waiting for the curls to come back so I want to let his hair keep growing. But the other day, he started looking pretty shaggy and I gave in. I called around to see who does toddler haircuts, all three places charged $20!!! He has like 7 hairs on his head. No way was i going to pay that much so after a lot of convincing I decided to do it myself. Before the haircut.

During the haircut, not a huge fan of the clippers!

And after the haircut, There are some questionable areas but overall I think it's an improvement.

Profile shot of the spike-y hairs on top.