Nolan: 50 Weeks

Two weeks and counting!  I really need to get cracking on Nolan’s birthday party décor/ideas.  I have a general idea of what I am doing, but am trying to make most of it, so I have lots of crafting hours ahead of me.  I hope it’s awesome in the end.  I know he won’t care one way or the other, but everyone knows that first birthday parties are for the mom’s anyway J

Nolan has discovered a new voice this week – whining J  It may be that little man has not been feeling well.  We were up  last night pretty much all night with a lovely “throw up” bug.  Nolan has never really thrown up like this before – most of the other times were related to spit up or taking too much/too many different kinds of medicines for his little tummy.  This smelled so bad, poor thing. We woke up around 1:45 on Tuesday night, and realized he had thrown up in his crib and pretty much rolled his whole head in it.  After we got him all cleaned up he threw up three more times (all on me), so we all didn’t get much sleep that night!

I stayed home a bit late on Wednesday to make sure he was okay, then had to send him to daycare because I absolutely couldn’t miss anymore work!  Luckily, they had sent another kid home that morning for vomiting, so at least I know it’s most likely a virus and not the turkey I fed him for the first time!

 

We one more super fun development this week, even though he decided to break my heart today :(  I was finally able to see him do a true "hello/bye bye" wave today!  It was so cute.  I walked in to pick him up at daycare and he just started doing it!  I love it.  However, he also decided (for the first time), to not want to let go of his teacher, Ms. Trisha, and come home with me!  Broke mommy's heart.  I mean, I am super happy that he loves his teacher, but he should want to go home with me - ha!

Other than that, this week has been pretty much status quo.  We had a pretty low key weekend, and Nolan spent what little time we had with his G on Saturday.  My poor mom has been traveling all over the country for the last three weeks, and we miss her!  We are ready for her to retire and spend more time with us!

Mid-wave :)

N = (Now weighs) Will see at his one year appointment soon...

O = (Oomph!)  Bless his heart - you would think after the literally hundreds of breathing treatments he has had, he would be cool with them by now!  Not so much.  If he is tired he will sit/sleep through them, but if he is awake it's constant bouncing him in his rocking chair until it's done.  Thankfully, though, it seems to be working!  We are still on the twice a day dose...

L = (Loves) Wolfie!  My alma mater would be very offended (at least it's not a tiger), but Nolan loves the NC State Wolf that Ollie gave him.  He has started to look for him whenever he goes into his room, and will point and grunt when he sees him.  I have read that this would start happening at this age (that they would find something that they may become attached to), and it's really cute.  Wolfie (for now), is in high demand!

A = (About this week)  Aside from the quick 24-hour stomach bug, Nolan has been doing really good.  He has tried cauliflower and turkey this week, and I keep giving him chunks of his steamed veggies (to no avail).  I haven't given him turkey again, because I fed that to him the night he got sick and it scared me! 

N = (Not a fan of) See above regarding his breathing treatments.  Oh, and wearing socks :)  It's almost our morning routine while I drive him to school that he tries to take his socks off and I try to reach him before he throws them (or eats them).  Not exactly safe driving habits, but it's funny!

Grandma + A Wedding

Despite our crazy week, we knew we had to make the effort to go to my cousin Dionne's wedding this past Sunday.  For starters, we wanted to support her, but also Nolan had not met anyone on that side of the family yet, and it was about time!

Another reason was this special lady: my Grandma.  She is 89 years old, and I spent SO much time with her when I was little. I have the most fond memories of this woman, and I couldn't wait for Nolan to meet her.  Sadly, she has the beginnings of dementia, so she didn't know who he was (or who I was, for that matter), but she was still super excited to see him, and went to pick him up right away!

 

Around the House - Picture Dump!

 

 Oh my, this boy LOVES his Daddy :)

This is a picture from daycare showing me how he fell asleep that day - ha!

 

Oh this shot - that sweet little neck...I could eat him up!

Nolan: 49 Weeks

I feel like we are in the home stretch!  Only THREE more weeks until we have a ONE year old, and I don't like it one bit!  Don't get me wrong, I am thrilled that he is growing up, and he is such a good boy, but it just seems like time is going by so fast, I just want it to slow down a little bit.  I have tried throughout my pregnancy and this past year to just slow down and savor every moment, but it still blows my mind that a whole year has almost gone by.

We have made it these past 49 weeks strictly breastfeeding, and I am so proud.  It's been a lot of work, and I will truly enjoy not having to count every.single.ounce by being able to supplement with cow's milk if I need to.  I know he will be able to make this transition, and it's the perfect time because I think my body is slowing down too :)  Sadly, I won't have the excuse to eat like a maniac anymore!

This week has been pretty low key, and that's a good thing after last week!  My work has even slowed down a bit which I am so thankful for, since it's been driving me nuts lately.

We spent the weekend at Dad and Leslee's before heading to Winston-Salem for the wedding, and it was a whirlwind trip but I think very much needed.  I adore having such an easy trip to make it to see family, and having my mom and Tom close by is great.  I am glad that Nolan will now have the ability to spend time with his grandparents like I did, and I believe those bonds are so important.

Nolan has such a sweet little personality, and is a true cuddle bug.  He is starting to really put words and objects together.  Just last night he picked up the telephone and held it to my ear so I could talk into it.  He has also learned how to go down the stairs backwards.  This is terrifying, but we are always next to him so I guess it's okay!  The stairs provide a wealth of entertainment nowadays :)

He is still doing really well in daycare, and loves his teachers.  He does an okay job of eating finger foods there, but still takes his bottles and the pureed foods I make him.  They usually move them up to the next room around 1 year old, and I am so sad that will happen!  I am comfortable and used to this class now, and have finally found a place that I am happy with, and I don't want to change anything up!

N = (Now weighs) I still guess 20-21 pounds...

O = (Oomph!)  This kid could be a little Freddy Krueger...his nails are insane, and hard to cut.  I usually try to file them instead, because doing it while he is asleep isn't possible anymore.

L = (Loves) For some odd reason, he loves to chew on his hair brush! I usually end up handing it to him when I am getting him ready for bed so that he will hold still, and he always turns it to the bristle end and eats it!  Now, the "bristles" aren't exactly thick or sharp, but it's still weird.

A = (About this week)  Continuing on with the hair brush thing, our little guy has quite the head of hair!  So much so that brushing it at night is a necessity so that he doesn't end up with crazy cowlicks in the morning.  The back is getting quite a bit of length on it, and I think will develop a cute little curl once it gets long enough!  I still haven't decided if I want to cut it or let it just grow wild for a little while.  I love it when it's combed over to the side, but something seems so free and cute about just letting it grow and see what it does naturally.  We shall see...

N = (Not a fan of) Still the common stuff - chunky food, books, getting his nails cut...

Nolan: 48 Weeks

Let's just say that this year hasn't been the best for us as far as health goes!  We have been (collectively) to the doctor so many times I have literally lost count!  I am so thankful that eventually we all are healthy, but it's been nuts.

Last night (Wednesday), we ended up in the emergency room with Anthony.  I knew that his stomach had been bothering him all week, and knew that he was in some pain too, but had no idea to what extent.  He tends to always have stomach issues, and usually won't complain if he is in pain.

Well, at about 3:30 a.m. he basically crawled to me from the bathroom and said we have to go to the ER.  I bolted up and got him dressed, woke Nolan up, changed his clothes, and rushed to the car.  Now, we live in the middle of nowhere, and we hadn't yet been to the ER, so I had no idea where I was going.  I ended up having to call 911 to ask them where the closest ER was, and I was thisclose to just having them come pick us up.  Anthony was in a severe amount of pain, and I had no idea how I was going to get him inside along with Nolan.

Three hours, pain meds, and a CT scan later, Anthony was released and Tom brought him home.  Turns out, he had a virus (seen on CT scan - weird), and a possible bleeding ulcer.  They couldn't diagnose that there, but most signs pointed to such.  We were given instructions to follow up with a primary care doctor the next day (Friday).  I ended up taking those two days off, since Anthony was not in great shape and I wanted to go this doctor appointment with him. I took Nolan to daycare each day anyway, just to keep him on routine, and to free myself up to help Anthony.

Nolan, thankfully, is doing great and has been so fun this week.  Now that he is "talking" a lot more and is so interactive, it's so cute to be around him.  He is VERY active and won't sit still for one solitary second!

Case in point...the two best pictures from his weekly photo op...

 
N = (Now weighs) I would guess 20-21 pounds...

O = (Oomph!)  Drool monster in the house!  I swear his teeth take forever to come in...still holding steady at 2 on the bottom!

L = (Loves) His puffs - oh man, I can't say this enough.  I will usually put him in his highchair while I make his dinner and shake out some puffs to let him snack while he waits.  As soon as he sees the puffs carton, he lights up and squeals...ha.  Loves food like his Momma! :)

A = (About this week)  Our sweet boy turned 11 months old this week - time please slow down!  I want him to stay in this first year forever!

N = (Not a fan of) We have been on a rough patch sleeping this week - he will wake up around 3:30 lately, and not go back down for like an hour.  So, I would guess I would say he is not a fan of sleep right now ;)

Nolan: Eleven Months Old!

Everyone knows that I am a sentimental person.  Ridiculously so.  So there is something so monumental to me about his last month as what I consider an "infant." Pretty soon, I won't be able to refer to him as a "__-month-old."  He will be a YEAR old!  When we moved to NC he had just turned 6 months, old and now that time has almost doubled!

I truly don't believe he could get ANY cuter if he tried.  His skin is just creamy and beautiful.  I am sure he will tan one day, but for now, he is quite fair.  Everyone comments on his huge eyes, and I can't figure out where they came from!  However, they melt me.  He also seems to get tons of attention at the grocery store - I am constantly stopped by people to comment on him - grown men even say how cute he is, which kinda tickles me.

We have added some fun new foods to his repertoire, some being edamame and pineapple.  I can't really tell which food he exactly loves best - he literally will eat anything and everything we put in front of him, and rarely leaves anything on his plate (err bowls).  He still eats three "food" meals a day, and will nurse in the morning before school, have to 6-6.5 ounce bottles at school, and then nurse before bed.  We have managed to get to the point where if he wakes up in the middle of the night we can get him back to sleep without nursing.

We took his pack-n-play with us this past weekend to my dad's house, and bless his heart he pretty much touched each end of the thing when we put him down to sleep!  Not sure what we will do when we travel from here on out, because this won't work anymore!  And to think: we used to use that pack-n-play to change his diaper on when he was little; we had room to lay him down and still had his little bin of supplies at his feet with room to spare.  Oh my goodness!

However, he is pretty much the tiniest little guy in his class, with the exception of a couple of those younger than him.  I love it - my sweet little boy!  I imagine he will be just like his Daddy - compact and super strong :)

We are still holding strong with two teeth on the bottom.  We all get convinced that he is going to cut some, and then his symptoms go away and no teeth!  I bet he will end up getting like 4 at a time or something.  Hopefully he will have some more teeth by the time he gets to eat cake! :)

Nolan: 47 Weeks/Labor Day Recap

We had a great week celebrating a fun Labor Day weekend.  Dad, Leslee and Cade came into town, and we had a cookout planned for Sunday night with everyone.  Anthony, Cade and I went on a kayak trip Saturday morning, and it was so much fun!  It was so nice to get out and do something active.  The start was just about a mile from our house, with Neuse River Tours.  I drive by there everyday, and knew it was something we needed to try.  Anthony and I shared a kayak (bad idea - ha!) and Cade went solo.  We went about 2 miles on a 2 hour trip, and that was just the right amount of time.  Our path actually took us right through our neighborhood (the Neuse River runs along the golf course), and Cade even came about 3 feet from getting hit with a ball!  That poor person must be terrible at golf :)

Nolan got a super cute motorcycle from his Papa and Nani, and took no time to try it out.  He fits perfectly on it, although he would rather push it (which is good since it converts for both).

Sunday night we had Ollie, G, and other family over for a yummy cookout.  We had a bunch of people at the house, and it was wonderful.  Anthony and I looked at each other for a moment in the backyard: Dad was grilling, Leslee and Mom were on the porch with Nolan, and our friends were playing bocce ball in the backyard - THIS is what we dreamed of!  Little Vegas was even out running around too :)

We also were able to get a few projects done around outside, but there are plenty more!

N = (Now weighs) Sometimes I look at him and a lump gets in my throat at how big he is getting!  I know for sure he is gaining some weight now, but we won't know for sure until his big One Year appointment next month!  He still wears mostly 9 month clothing, but some of his older clothes are getting a little tight.

O = (Oomph!)  We get about 1 (maybe 2) all-nighters per week right about now.  I think my body rejects too much sleep at this point :)

L = (Loves) Having family around, and I believe he is starting to remember/recognize folks after not seeing them for a while - melts my heart.

A = (About this week)  His little gums are still quite swollen, but if it's anything like his first two bottom teeth, they will take their sweet little time to come in!  He also has a little rash on his chin, which I think is either from teething or some remnants of the thrush.  I am going to start his thrush medicine again and see if that helps...

N = (Not a fan of) Very few things, but for is for sure starting to let you know it!

 Showing off his super cute kicks...