Our Big Boy

Today was quite a day for our little man....and we didn't even know the day would be so eventful when it started. We have been talking about it for awhile, but today ended up being the day that we turned Nolan's crib into a big boy bed. Nap time didn't go so well as it was a pretty exciting development...he ended up playing in his room then knocking on the door and asking to be let out.

After that I changed his diaper and he asked to use his big boy potty. He rarely asks, so I got excited about his request and sat him on his potty. He played around for a little bit and peed for the first time in the potty! We were VERY excited!!!! He did get a little pee on his hand and he asked me to kiss it...I declined!

Later in the evening he had a bath because he was a VERY messy eater at dinner time. Afterwards he ran around in his dinosaur towel that his Aunt Jessica & Uncle Chris gave him. He sat down for a bit and all of a sudden we see a stream shoot across the room. Nolan was as shocked as we were and he tried to stop the pee by catching it mid-air. Brian and I just LOST it and couldn't compose ourselves. I fear we are scaring our kid and he will never be potty trained!!!

Tonight I put his pajamas on him while he was standing on the floor (not on the changing table) and sat next to his bed and read all his bedtime stories. He asked for a hug and kiss and cuddled in with Doobie Moo. I closed the door and left my big boy to drift off to dreamland. I assumed I would check on him later and he would be perched on top of his bookshelf reading or hanging from the light in the middle of this room. But I was wrong. He was sleeping soundly, in the spot that I left him. My little man is growing up so quickly...how am I going to deal with the big milestones when sleeping in a big boy bed brings tears to my eyes???

Time with Twos Class

Every Thursday this quarter Nolan and I are attending a class offered by the local tech college. I believe it's called "Time with Twos" but we just call it "School". Today as we were driving away from school I asked him what he did today. He replied "Ummmmmmmmm" with his finger up to his mouth, pondering the question for a bit (he learned Ummm from his friend Dean). Anyway, after his long pause he said "I take turns". I was SOOOOOOO proud I nearly cried. We've been working a lot on taking turns and sharing and he has been doing so great lately.

The other day Nolan's friend Portia came over and she had her favorite hat on. I thought Nolan might enjoy wearing a hat like his friend, so I got out a baseball hat he got for his birthday. He now cannot live without this hat...it's pretty cute because he wears it to the side a little bit. I'll have to get a photo!!

The rest of today will be fairly uneventful...a trip to Target or the grocery store. Thrilling life we have! :)

My grace lives on...

I was a very clumsy kid. My mom would frequently comment that she should have named me Grace because I was oh so graceful. I fear I passed this on to my son! Today we were at the Food Co-Op and I went to the bathroom. As we were leaving the bathroom he ran for the door, tripped and bashed his head into the hinge on the door. It had a little black grease on it, and now that grease is on the top of my child's head. He got over it pretty quick, and even let me take a picture of it. He looks very silly. But I am thankful that since he does crash so often, that he recovers so quickly! :)

Yesterday we had a fun morning with a friend and Nolan and Malaki did a great job taking turns. In the past there was a lot of screaming and such. It's nice to have a little break from that stage! :)

Today we went to Jump Around Fun Zone with the mops group. It was very busy! Nolan enjoyed playing with the sink, water fountain and candy machines more than bouncing!! Right now Nolan is avoiding a nap while I'm watching a friend's girls who ARE sleeping. Tonight we'll have a friend over for dinner which should be fun too!

It's a busy week...but we are having a great time and able to talk to daddy lots between cell phones and Skype! :)

I wasn't able to do our Muffin Tin meal yesterday because we were so busy...so I guess we'll skip a week and see what next Monday brings! :)

While Daddy's away, Mommy & Nolan will play!

There will be lots of blog entries this week...but they might be somewhat boring! :) This week Brian had to go to Alaska for work. I know I won't get to talk to him much due to cell & internet service up there....and if I try to tell him everything we did during the time he was gone, I'll for SURE draw a blank. So...I decided to use our handy dandy blog to journal our fun times! :)

Today is Sunday. Brian left at 8am this morning and as I type he's probably flying over Canada somewhere. Nolan and I enjoyed homemade blueberry pancakes for breakfast then ran to Target for diapers and Grocery Outlet for groceries. It was pretty uneventful, other than Nolan being a pretty darn good boy in the shopping carts (rare!!!) We ran home, had lunch and now we are headed out so that Nolan can visit his friend Dean and I can go do a Tupperware party!

This evening we plan to go to a friend's house to watch Survivor...I fear Nolan will not sleep at their house, but he has been staying up until 9 or 10 talking to himself...so one night of staying up late at a friend's house probably won't do too much harm! :)

We'll update through the week and hopefully I'll have some funny tales to tell! :)

My promise...

I promise to update this more often because there are SOOOO many Nolan-isms that go untold because I let months go by before updating. So ya, I'm going to be better! :) Of course some of the stories you just have to be here to see because it's hilarious, and if I were to put it into words it just wouldn't be the same.

I've also decided to update weekly with a new project....Muffin Tin Mondays. I got the idea here

We planned to start this past Monday...but we had company and I postponed it til today. Nolan thought it was a fun and we even made it into a picnic in the living room (although the weather was so nice I really should have done a real picnic!!)

Today's theme was the letter A and the menu included:

Apple Juice

Apple slices

Avocado

Animal Crackers

Artisan Bread (ok...the Artisan Bread I had went bad due to being full of goodness and no preservatives...so I lied and gave him regular old wheat bread)

Asiago Cheese (I lied again...I don't have Asiago cheese...I have string cheese!!!)

Ok...so the letter A was harder than I anticipated!!! I had asparagus in the house...but he won't eat that! :)

Next Monday's theme is 'Birds and nests". Not entirely sure what we will make as the only thing that comes to mind are robin's eggs (you know that yummy easter candy?) and I don't think that is a healthy lunch for a toddler. If I can't come up with anything I'll just do my own theme of the Letter B...which should be a LOT easier than the Letter A!!!

Nolan of course continues to grow and change and is a really fun kid. His passion for rocks is almost as intense as his love for cars. We've been working on sharing and JUST today shared with two kids without throwing a massive OH-MY-GOSH-MY-LIFE-IS-GONNA-END fit. So that's my win for the week!!

I have photos...but those will have to be posted later! See you next Monday!!

Happy 2nd Birthday Nolan

Happy Birthday Nolan!

On March 27, 2008 at 10:28am you came into the world and changed our lives forever. You brighten our days with your giggles and smiles. The way you crinkle your nose when you are being silly melts our hearts and although your screams of excitement are blood curdling, they are still insanely cute (maybe not when we are in public though!)

You are one passionate little boy with a love for trains, cars, bugs and mud puddles.

Your innovation is impressive, as I type you've pushed a truck up to a bookshelf so you could be 8" taller and reach the books that are special for bed time.

You are completely fearless when it comes to everything. You'll eat anything and everything in your path and you don't pause for even a second before scaling the 18 foot ladder and throwing yourself down the Jump Around Fun Zone slide. You have been trying to jump with both feet off the ground for months, and recently, most likely with some help from the JAFZ, you can jump with both feet and you are so proud of yourself (and so are we!!)

You are now talking SO much. You are saying your ABC's and you really like saying "WX" and "HIJK" when you get to LMNO you sometimes say Elmo, which is pretty stinking cute! You can even point to a letter and correctly identify it!

You have a creative way of counting, right now you say "2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9. 0, 11, 14, 15 YAY"

You have perfected tantrums, we never wonder whether you are happy or sad, you really let us know!! Shopping carts seem to be your arch nemesis and getting you to sit in them is a battle, but you realize at some point that mommy and daddy WILL win and you give up! We will continue working on this one!

You are SO creative. You are so great at playing the drums and your coloring is great! You can draw circles and you even told me one of the circles was an Apple! You will play with stickers for hours if I let you, especially car stickers!

You enjoy playing with your friends, although you don't so much dig sharing with them.

You help mommy with the dishes by handing her plates as she puts them away and you love helping mommy with the laundry, although we have to watch to make sure you don't put a random toy in while you are helping!

You are a joy to have as a son and we love being your parents! We have enjoyed the last 2 years more than we can ever express and we look forward to watching you learn and grow. We love you Through and Through...yesterday, today and tomorrow too!!

2010

Edited because there were changes to our exciting 2010. On March 22nd we found out that we lost our baby. We are heartbroken but hopeful.

On with happier things....

Nolan is growing like a weed and we are already planning his 2nd birthday party for next month. He is such a fantastic kid. Right now he's very into A,B,C's (although when he "sings" the song he only uses vowels), enjoys counting (well, he counts 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 10 YAY!!!) Pretending to sneeze and pretending to snore. He has a very vivid imagination and plays by himself easily. He has a major obsession with trains and says choo choo from sun up to sun down! He is fairly dramatic, but I blame myself for that one! :) We are amazed each day by the things he comes up with and how wonderful he is.

Stay tuned to more news about the house and the new baby....2010 is already a GREAT year!!!