Boys Will Be Boys

Oh these boys are going to be a handful, I tell you.  It's almost like I have TWO children at home sometimes :)  But, they are so cute together and Nolan just adores his Daddy, so I can deal!  I only hope that Nolan will learn to save his roughhousing for his Daddy, and not try to pounce on the kids at school - ha!

 

This is actually Nolan giving Daddy a "kiss"

 Not sure whether to let his hair grow or cut it...it's wild these days!

We watched the final play off games this weekend, and Nolan wore his Lynch jersey (since my Mom has all of a sudden become a huge Seahawks fan, we pulled for them).  Turns out, he was their good luck charm, and the Seahawks are going to the Super Bowl!

 

We tried to tell him that he should be holding his football instead, but he would not let go of that golf club!  Now, much to my chagrin, I have been ordered NOT to wash, touch, or clean in any way that jersey until after the Super Bowl this weekend...ick.  We have Wolfie wearing it in his room right now for safekeeping.  I guess whatever works, right?!

Around The House - Picture Dump!

It's been a long time since I have done one of these, and there are so many pictures I don't want to lose!

 

Am I lucky or what?!  My hubby vacuums AND watches the babe :)  Apparently, this also puts Nolan to sleep...

 

Oh my adorable little boy...

 

Proof that your children eat your brain...I wore TWO different boots to work one day, AND it took me until 11:15 a.m. to realize it!

 

 

You can barely see, but ALL of this was from when I dumped Nolan's carseat out in the parking lot of Starbucks (minus the tea bag.)  I am officially THAT mom with Cheerios and all kinds of crap in her car...sigh...

 

 

Nolan decided his dump truck should be ridden instead.

 

 

Nolan meeting his cousin "A" for the first time (and stealing her toys!)

 

Yes, we dress alike, yes we do :)

Too Fast

Nolan started his first day of his new class today, and I don't like it one bit :)  Actually, I really do like the teachers over there, and I know it's time for him to get a change of scenery and learn some new things, but I just want him to do that AND stay little forever!

He is now a "Toddling Turtle," and the name cracks me up.  Too bad he doesn't have a shell helmet he can wear everyday, since this kid's head is a magnet for bumps and bruises!  I guess that's a little boy for ya - I don't see any of the girls in his class with eggs on their heads!

His schedule will remain basically the same as his last class, but there will be a new curriculum and the toys and things are different.  I am excited to see the new things he learns, and now he is back with some of the kids he started with in his last class.

Of course, I had to document the occasion, and I imagine by his first day of high school I won't follow him into class and take his picture anymore ;)  (Maybe...)

 

Cell phone pic...bad quality, but still cute!

Bargain Shopping at it's Best

Everyone knows that kids' clothes are so fun to shop for.  And EVERYone knows that they grow out of them or stain/ruin them before you can blink!  Some days, I don't even want to ask what Nolan has on his shirt after daycare.  What color is that and why is it crunchy?!

Luckily for us, Nolan hasn't grown out of his clothes at lightning speed, but he still needs some new things and will, of course, need a new wardrobe for Summer.  I found another consignment sale here in Raleigh, and so Mom and I went to check it out, thinking it would be something fun to do and we could always get a head start on Nolan's Summer clothes.

It turned out to be and awesome deal, and WAY bigger than the one we went to right before he was  born!  It was held at the Fairgrounds in Raleigh, and I honestly think it would take 3 days to cover everything.  It would have been nice to have more time to peruse the toys and things, but he didn't really need any of that so we focused on clothes!

Since I am a dork (and way OCD), it turns out we got the following for only $138.00!  There is no way we could have gotten a fraction of this even at Target.  Wish I had a way to figure out the retail value of all of this...

-  2 pairs of jammies
-  24 shirts
-  6 shortalls (what do you call overalls that are shorts?!  Sounds like a Grandma - ha!)
-  2 jackets
-  11 pairs of shorts
-  2 pairs of shoes
-  1 book

Pretty good if you ask me...I can't wait for Nolan to wear some of them!

15 Months (And 15 Month Appointment)!

We had a very busy month this month, and Nolan has really made some strides in development!  This past month took us through Christmas and the New Year, all of which were even more joyous with him in our lives.

He pretty much has everyone that he encounters wrapped around his little finger.  His teacher at daycare even mentioned how she could tell that he was around family over the Christmas break because he was very clingy and wanted to be held when he came back from being out over break.  I told her that of course he was spoiled - he was surrounded by grandparents and his aunt and uncle all week - his feet barely touched the ground!

I love that he recognizes everyone now, even if it's been a while in between when he sees them.  Being closer to home makes it a bit easier now, and it will only be better once we can do many more things together as a family!

 

This is how he decided to use his dumptruck Aunt Mo gave him...

Here is what little man has been up to this past month:

Eating - He still pretty much eats anything and everything we put in front of him.  Sometimes he will be in a mood where he doesn't really want to eat (usually in the evenings when he is tired), but we can still get a good meal in him.  Even though he is still really tiny, the doctor said he sounds like he is doing great and to just keep doing what we are doing.  Some of his favorites right now are: blueberries, yogurt (still), Bojangle's plain biscuit (our Saturday morning tradition), and Party Mix (a new discovery from Christmas!)

He eats breakfast plus lunch and two snacks at school, so I don't have an exact meal plan for what he eats there (we get the menu each week and I usually cross of some of it).  But, on a weekend when he is home with us, this is what he usually eats:

Breakfast:
Bojangle's biscuit (if we went that day!) or
Oatmal with a bit of cinnamon
Some type of fruit
Yogurt

Mid-Morning snack (usually one or two of the following):
Sometimes more yogurt
Applesauce
Whole Wheat Chex or Cheerios
Cheese Cubes

Lunch:
Some type of bean (he LOVES them!)
Cereal (usually brown rice or oatmeal)
Some type of fruit
Plus a little of what we are eating maybe

Other snacks:
Some variation of what he didn't have earlier in the day

Dinner:
I have quite a few meals I have made ahead for him.  Most of them are still in a somewhat pureed form, only for ease of getting him to eat them.  If I had him eat these meals whole, it would take 90 years and he wouldn't get half of it down, so chunky mixes are where it's at right now!  I will usually do one "mix" meal, plus a side and a fruit.  Sometimes we give him extra yogurt too...

Chicken, quinoa and broccoli mix
Spanish rice mix (brown rice, hamburger, turkey, peppers)
Meatloaf (with oatmeal and sausage)
Fish sticks
Sweet potato/carrots
Green peas
Fruit medley (not canned)

He decided to just eat right out of the bowl...it worked, but wasn't so pretty :)

Talking:
He still has the same regular "vocabulary" I guess I would say, but is becoming much better at understanding new words, and I swear some mornings he will repeat ANY word I say like one time.  I have said "bible," "pillow" and "bath" and he repeated it instantly, but wouldn't really say it again - sneaky little guy!  He officially says "dog" but it comes out as "gog."  He really put that one together when Skye was with us over Christmas, and now he is so excited when he sees a "gog."

He will, however, grunt at what he wants and will now go to the pantry (for a snack) or the refrigerator (for milk/water) when he wants it.  It's true what they say - he understands a lot more than he can speak at this point!

Other fun things:
He has become a big fan of moving objects from one place to the next.  He will take all of something out of a container, and put it all back in, one by one.  Then repeat :)

He also started blowing on his food the other day after watching me blow on his food before I fed him - it was too cute!

He has developed a lovely pterodactyl shriek, and it's hilarious.  He and Anthony will play a sword game with his playmat bands and he will shriek to the top of his lungs.  It's so funny, but also ear-shattering!  Anthony has quite a few videos of this that make me giggle - he get so serious with this game!

He has started to drink through a straw officially, and loves it.  I got him a new sippy cup with a straw and that is his favorite right now.

He officially has 8 teeth, but I am afraid molars are working their way in right now.  He has his top and bottom front teeth, and top and bottom eye teeth.

15 Month Appointment:
His appointment went just fine, and he seems to be doing great after his ear surgery and whatnot.  His ears are clear (minus his new black tubes), and he looked great.  He is still very tiny, but that's just how we like him!

Length:  28.5 inches (under the 1st percentile)
Weight: 18.2 pounds (2nd percentile)
Head circumference:  18.3 inches (48th percentile)

He also got three shots: Dtap, Hep A, and the flu shot.  Here is hoping the flu shot doesn't make him sick!

 

Cutest little peanut I have ever seen!

Nolan's Ear Tube Surgery

I realized something after Nolan's ear tube surgery; that I am a lot like my Dad in certain situations.  The ordinary, everyday little things will drive me nuts, but when it comes to the "big" things (surgeries, weddings, birth, etc.) I am pretty calm and collected.  I learned this after Nolan's surgery the other day (January 6, 2015 to be exact).

While I was absolutely dreading this (no one wants their baby to have surgery), I was also calm and amazingly slept the whole night beforehand.  Having to get up at 4:30 helped that some no doubt!  But really, I knew it was a quick ordeal and the end result I was praying would make it all worth while.

It hasn't been long enough to really tell if the surgery will cure him of his constant ear infections, but we have noticed he seems happier.  He was already a sweet fun little guy to begin with, and now we see even more smiles which I LOVE.

I wanted to do a quick timeline of our day, since I am sure I won't remember much of this way down the road!

4:30 a.m. - Anthony and I woke up (actually, I don't think Anthony slept at all that night.  We are opposite: big things freak him out and he is easygoing otherwise!)  I did a few things around the house and gathered Nolan's snacks and things to take with us for afterwards.  I planned for the worst and tried to bring things to entertain a hungry, thirsty, little guy since he couldn't have anything to eat or drink before the surgery.  We both got ready and left getting Nolan up for last since we wanted him to sleep for as long as possible.

5:15 - We woke Nolan up and gave him his breathing treatment and did a quick diaper change.  My goal was to have him up for only as long as to do those quick things and then we could hustle him straight into the car so he wouldn't wake up too much.  We left him in the jammies he slept in, and luckily, he didn't wake up too much!

5:30 - We headed out.  I know we left pretty early, considering our arrival time was 6:30 a.m., but since we live out in the middle of nowhere I wanted to be safe :)  We drove through Bojangle's just so I could get my daily Dr. Pepper dose and we were off!  Thankfully, Nolan dozed most of the way there.  We did end up arriving about 25 minutes ahead of time, so I drove around a little while to let Nolan sleep a bit more since we hoped the less time he was awake would mean less time for him to get hungry/thirsty/cranky!

6:15 a.m. - We arrived at the surgery center and were so surprised that there were already a ton of people there!  I guess surgeon's start early.  There were also a couple of other parents in there with children about the same age as Nolan, and I guessed they were there for the same thing (turns out I was right: Nolan was the THIRD tube surgery of the morning!)

We killed as much time as we could pacing around the waiting room.  They finally called us back to the pre-op station at around 7:30 or so.  It was good timing; we were about at our limit!

7:30 a.m. - Pre-op was basically lots of people coming in and introducing themselves and asking lots of questions.  I didn't realize it took so many people for one 5-minute operation!  I liked the anesthesiologist, and he made me feel comfortable about the gas they used and Nolan's breathing issues.  We saw the doctor again and filled out more paperwork.  About 15 minutes before the surgery they gave Nolan a little "cocktail" to help settle his nerves.  He was actually doing just fine, but was starting to get a little cranky so this helped him mellow out.  He played with a syringe from the diaper bag for a good 10 minutes - you could tell he was feeling pretty good because he never sits still that long!  Supposedly this was to help him not be afraid when they carried him back to the room and he was surrounded by strangers.

Getting his hospital gown on (and not liking it)

 

 

The "mesmerizing" syringe...

Really, this kid has no "stranger danger" so I think he would have been just fine, albeit a handful!

8:00 a.m. - Finally the doctor told us he would be with us very soon, as he just had two other tube surgeries before us.  We held him and gave him lots and lots of kisses and then they came and carried him to the back.  I held it together and did really well!  Proud of myself - I am usually a cry baby!

We took turns going to the bathroom to kill time, and Anthony fixed himself a cup of coffee.  According to my cell phone and the group texts I was sending, they took him back at 8:20 and I sent a text saying he was done and we had just spoken to the doctor at 8:31.  So quick!  It was a couple more minutes before we go officially go back to see him, and that's when we got anxious and excited to see our babe.

They warned us that Nolan could be quite out of sorts when he was done, and the anesthesia usually causes them to cry and lot and seem a little whacky.  Well, Nolan was no exception and Anthony about bolted down the hall when he could tell it was Nolan crying at the end of the hall!  We got to him and sure enough, he was a mess.  But, he was doing just fine according to the doctor so we were fine too.  I decided to nurse him just to calm him down and of course, that worked like a charm :)

9:15 a.m. - I would guess it was about 9:45 when they finally told us we could go home.  Nolan got a bit fussy while we changed his clothes, but took down water just fine so we were cleared to go.  We heated up the car a bit and he pretty much snoozed the whole way home!  My last text message to family was at 10:11 a.m. when I said that we were home and he was eating an orange.

But wouldn't you know - that little stinker didn't take a nap that day until I drove him around and he fell asleep at 3:45!  Totally that would be our case :)

Overall, it wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it would be, and Nolan did as well as you could expect from a 14-month old.  However, I am very glad it's over - here's to hoping it helped!

Happy New Year!

We had a wonderful, low key, quiet New Year's this year, and that is just what we wanted!  After having family in town and being sick, a nice evening home with my boys was JUST what I wanted.  Our little family and our routine is comfort to me.  Rarely do I get bored or what to do something else.  Our little life is all I could want!

Here is hoping to a healthy, happy, gracious, New Year!  Bring it on, 2015!

 

Pajama Party!