“Over the river and through the woods . . .”

Or, should I say “Over the snowy roads and through the snow/ice/drizzle”? Our holiday travel plans changed at the last minute due to the impending snow storm. Instead of leaving Thursday afternoon we ended up taking off last Wednesday after work to beat the storm. I’m sure glad we did – there were bad roads up there on Thursday! We had a lot of fun over Christmas. Everyone but Gina and Eric’s family was there on Wednesday night – they drove down on Thursday afternoon (very slowly!). My parent’s house was packed with people – 15 of us! Overall, though, it went really well. The older kids were able to spend some time outside playing in the snow with the boys all 3 days. Lola and Nolan kicked it old school and stayed inside the whole weekend. Nolan had a much harder time adjusting to being away from his regular routine than Lola did, but he survived. Gift opening started on Wednesday night and lasted until Saturday. Emma, Lalayna and Allie thought that was fantastic, and had a blast playing with all their new toys. It’s so funny watching them and listening to their conversations. Princess anything was all the rage, including Barbie’s, calendars, books and tattoos. Nolan made off with a bunch of new fun toys, clothes and books. I’m really excited about the Laugh and Learn Farm he got from Grandma Paula and Grandpa Tom! We were supposed to stay in Browerville through Sunday, but because we were there a day early we decided to trek home on Saturday afternoon. We checked the road conditions before we left and pretty much the entire state was under “difficult driving conditions”. They weren’t kidding! It took us 3 hours and 45 minutes to get home – normally a 2 ½ hour drive! Luckily Nolan hadn’t taken a morning nap on Saturday, so he slept the whole way home.

On Sunday we spent the day celebrating Christmas with the Bleck family at Greg and Ellen’s. We had another fun day, and Nolan came home with lots of cool new toys! It’s too bad he refused to take a nap and was crabby all day:) It’s really hard to completely relax and enjoy yourself when your kid is having a tough day.

This week marks week #1 of Nolan going through the babysitter rotation while Julie is on vacation. Jackie had Monday, Paulette had yesterday and today, and Lindsey has him tomorrow. The report so far is that he's a little crabby, not sleeping that great, and cries through most of his meals. Paulette thinks he's teething, which he may be again - that upper front tooth went back up again and it needs to come down sometime. When he is in a good mood his favorite new game is peek-a-boo. He likes to hide himself around corners and then peek his head around to find us.

Tomorrow is our 3-year anniversary, and to celebrate we went to lunch at Don Pablos yseterday. I know, kinda random, but it's become a yearly tradition for us. We also picked out the convertible car seat that we're going to order for Nolan at Babies R' Us. They certainly don't give those away! We're going to try and make do with one new car seat and see how difficult it is to switch it back and forth between the truck and CRV. I have a feeling we'll be getting a second one before we know it!

Nolan's new game

Nolan has discovered this really great game, and it goes something like this: he dumps all the toys out of the fabric cubby, laying the cubby on its side. He takes a toy (usually his red ball, teething ring, baseball or lion) and places it on a side of the cubby. Then he looks at it for a few seconds and then uses his hand to bounce it off the cubby. For whatever reason this is super entertaining for him! He also discovered he can do this in the bathtub, too, by placing one of his toys on the ledge. He'll stare at it for a few minutes, and then take it off the ledge and put it back in the water. As the saying goes, "whatever floats your boat!"

On Saturday we took Nolan to the Eden Prairie Sears for his 9 month pictures. Both Adam and I were super impressed with the photographer who worked with us. Her name is Arianna, in case anyone is looking for a great experience! We had the first appointment of the morning, and she spent 45 minutes with us. She worked really hard to get Nolan to smile, and it worked in a few of the pictures! After his pics Adam left to go help our friends Kirk and Kate move in to their new house, and then spent the rest of the evening hanging out with some friends. Nolan and I spent a lot of quality time together! I guess that's okay, since I was gone Friday night at my work party. I really wish Nolan could re-set his internal alarm on the weekends. He was up at 5:30 on Saturday morning and 4:30 yesterday morning! Ugh, those early a.m. hours are tough - especially since Adam doesn't do well that early and I usually end up with him.

Yesterday we spent the entire day celebrating our first family Christmas with Nolan. It started out with waffles in bed for the 3 of us (no syrup for Nolan). We ran a few errands and bought Nolan his first sled, which he didn't really like a whole lot when we got him outside! After his nap we delivered the Christmas goodies to the neighbors, and then came home and opened our gifts. Nolan did really well, considering he was mostly interested in eating the wrapping paper! He loves his new Fisher Price singing toy we bought him, and his book. Nolan got Adam some necessities, like new undershirts and socks, and I got something I've been wanting for quite some time - a plush electric blanket! It is the most awesome thing ever. Hmmmmmmm, I wonder if that means I'm getting old?

Nolan is learning to play the "I'm going to be a perfect kid at daycare and then see what I can get away with at home" game. Don't get me wrong - he's a really great kid. However, yesterday he had a tough day that started very early, and he did not want to go down for naps. He didn't really feel like eating a whole lot, and has decided that he wants nothing to do with his sippy cup. One minute he would be smiling, and the next crying and fussy. The report from daycare goes something like this: "How was Nolan today?" "Great. He napped good, ate good and was in a great mood." I talked to Gina tonight and she said her girls do the same thing. When I asked Julie if Nolan uses a sippy cup at daycare she said he does with no issues. At home we literally have to hold a regular cup for him to try and drink out of - which is a slow process and really messy! Julie was nice enough to borrow us one of her sippy cups to try on him, and of course he liked it. I guess he's just figuring out his likes and dislikes, right?

We're really keeping an eye on the weather, as we've been hearing that "the big one" is going to be rolling through the state on Thursday and Friday and may hamper our travel plans. If worse comes to worse we'll head up to Browerville on Wednesday night to beat the storm.

Oh crap

Seriously. I never in a million years imagined I would spend this past weekend changing nasty diapers due to teething! Nolan's upper left front tooth finally broke the skin this weekend, and with it wrecked havoc on our little boy! It started Friday night on our way out the door to a party. Greg came over to watch Nolan, and as soon as Nolan got one look at him freaked out! We weren't sure what the deal was (we were also feeding him dinner at the time), but Adam soon learned that Nolan's pants were completely full and starting to leak. So disgusting. From that time forward every time we changed his diaper (which turned out to be about every 1-2 hours) we had a nasty little surprise waiting for us. He hasn't really had any major issues since Sunday late morning, other than a severe case of diaper rash, or something like that. I told Adam as we looked at all the different ointments we have in the house that I never imagined that I would try out so many different things on a baby's bum!

Nolan has discovered all the presents under the tree and makes no secret that it's where he wants to hang out. As soon as we put him down he makes a beeline for them! The other thing that Nolan has discovered is the door stop behind our bedroom door. He crawled from the hallway in to the bedroom tonight, shut the bedroom door and proceeded to play with the door stop. I now understand what it feels like to give your kid all sorts of fun toys to play with, only to be disappointed when all they want to play with is a box (or door stop!). Nolan also figured out that if he combines the 2 words "hi" and "dad" he can make his first sentence. It is so funny to hear someone that small talk.

Last Sunday we celebrated Adam's Grandma's 96th birthday. She is an amazing woman who not only is still very with it, but drives, walks on the treadmill, rides an exercise bike and goes to coffee at the local cafe. I want to be like that! I'll have to ask her what her secret is . . .

This morning as Adam walked Nolan to daycare he noticed that our fake light up deer had taken on a new pose overnight. That's right - someone decided it would be funny to put the 2 deer in a compromising position! Adam said it was pretty funny. The deer are back to their original place, but we'll see how long that lasts!

Adam thought it would have been hilarious to dress up Nolan in his santa suit to visit Santa this weekend. Even I couldn't go through with that - and you've seen what I dress that poor kid in sometimes!

Ho Ho Ho

Nolan visited Santa for the very first time today. It was hilarious! Adam and I really didn't want to have to go to a mall and wait in line, so we found a local real estate agency that was hosting Santa in Spring Park, only about 7 or 8 minutes from our house. Nolan didn't really know what to think. He was tired and ready for a nap, but in his usual fashion he toughed it out with a very surprised look on his face!

Last night Adam and I were lucky to have Ellen and Greg come over to watch Nolan so we could go to a holiday party in St. Paul. It was so fun to be able to go out with our friends, sans kids, to have a few drinks and hang out. Even though Nolan is easy to take places, it's always going to be a lot less work to go without him:)

This week the crawling thing really kicked in, so here's a little snippit of what Nolan is up to these days.

The Great Weight

I took Nolan to the dr. last week because it seemed like his ears were bothering him. It turned out not to be an ear infection, although his throat was pink, which means it was irritated. While we there the nurse weighed him – and I just about fell over with the results. 20 lbs! He’s gained almost 3 lbs since his 6 month check up at the beginning of October! He’s up to size 4 diapers already, too. He’s growing up so fast.

Over the last week Nolan has really become quite mobile. He’s pretty much crawling and rolling everywhere, so we now have to keep a close eye on him. He says mama and dada (and most of the time to us!), ut (which we think means what), and all sorts of other funny sounds and words. He also recognizes the word light, and love to turn it on (it’s a touch light in our living room). He loves sitting in different rooms in the house with us and looking at all the new things in it. Last week he developed a nasty little habit of waking up between 4:15 and 4:45 again – which we think happened because he wasn’t feeling good. Today was the first day since then that he’s slept in until 5:45! Adam has been getting up with him and taking care of him. Since he’s up so early Adam has decided to start running in the morning, while Nolan hangs out in his jumper thing. Seems to be working well for everyone!

Last Friday I had surgery on one of my toes that was broken 2 1/2 years ago at a wedding. The bone hadn’t healed correctly, so they had to open up my toe, shave the bone down, cut a piece out of it, cut some extra skin off it, and then stitch it back together. Luckily I was sedated! Christianne was kind enough to take to me surgery since Adam doesn’t have any time off work yet at his new job. She took care of me and Nolan on Friday, and then my mom came down for the weekend. It was so nice to have her there to help me with Nolan. Adam spent the weekend in South Dakota hunting pheasants with Eric. His trip was planned before my surgery, so it wasn’t a big deal that he went. I have to wear this really attractive Velcro walking shoe for the next 3 weeks. My toe is also wrapped up in surgical gauze and tape to prevent it from being moved around a lot, and I have very loose tube socks to wear. The new snowfall is providing me with a few challenges as far as getting around quickly. I can’t get my toe wet for 3 weeks either, so I have to wear a plastic thing in the shower around my whole foot, and a plastic bag over the shoe to walk around outside. Hopefully after my last follow-up dr. visit on the 21st my toe will look and feel brand new!

It is so hard to believe Christmas is only a few weeks away. I really wish I had gotten all our shopping done prior to my surgery. The prospect of going to the mall with hoards of other Christmas shoppers isn’t all that appealing! Adam and I are taking Nolan to see Santa on Saturday, so I’m hopeful we can stop at a mall to finish up our list after that. Last weekend I had my annual cookie bake with my girlfriends, so I have lots of cookies to plate up to give to the neighbors! We also got our annual Christmas cards/picture mailed out yesterday. I love getting the mail this time of year because every day we get pictures and cards from family and friends!

Nolan's new tricks

Nolan had a bit of a rough go of it over the weekend. He has another new tooth coming in on the top left, and it is causing him all sorts of issues. He was up at night quite a bit, not really crying but fussing enough where Adam heard him and went to check on him (I, on the other hand, slept through it). When he got in the room Nolan was sitting up in his crib. Good thing we lowered his crib last week after he started to try and pull himself up! He's also saying "da da", "daddy" or "papa" when he looks at Adam, waving bye bye, and giving high 5's - although I should clarify this one. Everyday when I pick him up from daycare we come home and I ask him to show me where the light is. The light I'm referring to is a touch lamp in our living room. He finds the lamp and I tell him to turn it on. He reaches out his chubby hand and touches the lamp 2 or 3 times - 3 times turns it on all the way. After he does this I tell him to give me high 5 - and he does! That's pretty much the only time he'll do it, but I still count it as his first high 5!

Sasha, Chris and Jackson stayed at our house Thursday and Friday night. We had such a great time hanging out with them! Nolan watched Jackson pretty closely, and is now that much closer to crawling and is talking a whole lot louder! Jackson moves around at the speed of light (for a baby) and is a loud talker - which is hilarious! Too bad Nolan couldn't have picked up Jackson's dance moves, too! We had a fun time with Adam's family on Saturday. We enjoyed a wonderful Thanksgiving meal, and were pleasantly surprised to have only a small cake pan left of turkey - out of 42 lbs! The garage may not be the fanciest place to host a meal, but it's heated and big enough to hold everyone! The best part about the food was that Nolan enjoyed his first true Thanksgiving meal. He had turkey, potatoes, green bean casserole and corn pureed together, along with a side of cranberries. He loved it!

Yesterday was a very productive day. We went to church, decorated the house for Christmas, finished hanging the outside lights, did laundry, pureed some food for Nolan and finished the Christmas baking - whew! There was only one minor hiccup. We decided it would be fun to put the tree in a different spot in the living room this year. We did this not realizing that the outlet we plugged the Christmas tree lights in to is on the same circuit as all of our outside lights! After we blew the fuse and Adam fixed it we had to shimmy our decorated 7 1/2 foot tall tree across the living room, back in to its usual spot. Oh well - at least we tried! This week is a very busy week for us. Today is Adam's mom's birthday, so he's helping celebrate her day with Greg, Erica and Dave. Tomorrow night I have a meeting at church, Wednesday we're going to finish our Christmas shopping, and Thursday I'm going to happy hour after work. Christianne is coming to our house Thursday evening. I'm having toe surgery on Friday, and she is my "responsible adult" since Adam doesn't have any time off work at his new job yet. Adam is also going hunting near Pipestone this weekend, so my mom and dad are coming to stay with me and Nolan for the weekend, in case I have a hard time getting around. I'm not sure what Adam and I would do if our families didn't live close enough to help us out!

Black Friday

It's the day after Thanksgiving - and there was no Black Friday shopping for me. I had to work today, but was lucky enough to be able to leave early to start the final preparations for the "Day after the day after" Thanksgiving celebration with Adam's extended family. I rushed home, after stopping to pick up a few last minute items. I opened the garage door and started bringing in all my packages. I was unloading some extra chairs from the car to the garage when I walked by what I thought was a goose decoy. Then I stopped in my tracks, remembering a conversation I had earlier today about Adam's successful goose/duck hunt with Chris. Yes, you guessed correctly. I was ready to start setting up the garage for our guests tomorrow and I found a DEAD GOOSE in it! Adam is on his way home from the Turkey Bowl football game, so you can imagine what his first to do will be after he brings in Nolan from the car!

We thought we'd try to show in pictures how curly Nolan's hair is after a bath. We're 99% sure he will have a full head of naturally curly hair sometime soon!

Happy 8 month birthday!

Nolan turned 8 months old last week! It is crazy how kids change your life in a way that makes it hard to remember life without them. Don't get me wrong, I still have fond memories of making last minute plans without having to find a babysitter, and sleeping in on the weekends - but both Adam and I agree that Nolan has definitely added to our lives!

Speaking of Nolan, he seems to get funnier every day. He is a talker, and it's fun to get him home from daycare because it almost seems as if he's trying to tell us about his day! Last Saturday morning he woke up and was saying "waa waa waa", which is new. My sister Christianne spent a little time with Nolan on Saturday morning and she swears that when he was holding his red ball he was saying "raa baa" - which is close to red ball. Adam and I have heard him say things, but for the most part I think we make it up to make us feel good! Nolan is not quite crawling yet, but when we get him from his crib in the morning he's usually on his hands and knees, practicing for his next big step. On our most list of things to do is lower his crib bed. Who knows what kinds of things he does when we're sleeping, and we'd rather be safe than sorry!

Last weekend I spent Saturday and Sunday with my mom and sisters in St. Cloud to celebrate my mom's birthday - which was in September! We had a fantastic time shopping, eating, drinking and generally just being merry. After spending the previous 2 weekends alone with Nolan I needed a one night breather! My mom got most of her Christmas shopping done, which was the goal. I still have quite a list to tackle, but it will have to wait until at least next week! Thursday we're spending the day with Adam's family in Shakopee at Anna and Josh's house. Thursday night Chris, Sasha and Jackson are coming to our house to stay for a few nights. I have to work on Friday, so Sasha is going to watch the little boys while the big boys (aka Chris and Adam) go goose hunting. Adam is also playing in his annual turkey bowl football game Friday afternoon. Somewhere in between all that we need to cook 2-21 lb. turkeys for Saturday. We're hosting Adam's extended family on his mom's side, and we're expecting 29 people! We're looking forward to it, but we have a lot to do before then. The list is hanging on the fridge as a daily reminder to stay motivated:)

Temper tantrums already?

I know, I know. You must be thinking "how could that be?" Trust me, it's true!

Nolan and I spent the weekend in Mankato with the Jones' family while Adam was away for the 2nd weekend of deer hunting. He slept the whole way down on Friday night and had a great day Saturday - he slept for an hour and a half in the stroller at the mall! Yesterday was a different story, though. Somehow our not-so-little baby has decided that he is going to tell me loud and clear when something isn't to his liking - maybe he doesn't like the toy he's playing with, or what's for dinner, or the shirt he's wearing - I don't know. But I do know he's mastered the art of screaming for what he wants or doesn't want. And it's very loud. I guess I was naive in thinking this type of thing wouldn't happen until he was older! Last week I thought he was acting up because of his new bottom tooth, but I'm pretty sure he's discovered that if he yells loud enough that someone (i.e. me or Adam) will respond to his request rather quickly - just to make the yelling and screaming stop:) Last night I didn't know what else to do with him so he went to bed at 6:10 pm - and promptly fell asleep and slept until 6:20 this morning.

Lalayna was pretty funny this weekend. I sometimes forget what it's like to be around little girls. She's 3 and is way in to pink, princesses and baby dolls. I think the funniest thing she said to me all weekend was when Christianne told her she could stay up late. She came running over to me and announced, "My mom said I could stay up early tonight!". So funny. She also loves to play kitchen/restaurant, and let me tell you - I had some fabulous tea!

Adam was skunked again deer hunting this weekend, but his dad shot a buck on Sunday morning. The funny thing about the fact he's hunting at the farm and not seeing anything is that a few minutes ago he went in to our backyard to get the tarp out of the shed and there was a doe sleeping in our backyard. Adam left her alone, went in the shed, came back out and she was just standing there, looking at him. Too bad we don't live where he could shoot from our yard!

Last Wednesday I had a job fair at UMD. On the way home I heard an ad on the radio in my rental car about a great deal on turkey's at Walmart - only 40 cents/lb.! I knew there was a Super Walmart on the way home, so I stopped. I called Adam but he didn't pick up. When he called me back a few minutes later he asked what I was doing. He was very surprised to hear that I was walking out of Walmart with 42 lbs. of turkey - and an Adrian Peterson jersey for Nolan! Random. We will certainly have a Thanksgiving feast with that much turkey!

The picture of Nolan is him showing off his "model pose". He likes to lay around on his side and balance. He's getting better at pulling himself in to a sitting position, and he's figuring out how to move from a sitting position to a crawling/laying position. I swear on Friday night after I was done feeding him he looked at me and said "up". I'm sure he doesn't know what that means, but it was pretty amazing to hear him say it. He's definitely learning more and more sounds every day!

A hunting we will go . . .

I should clarify - not we, just Adam. While he had fun at deer camp, there were no deer to be had - at least for the first weekend of deer hunting. Nolan and I, on the other hand, saw deer in our yard on Saturday and Sunday. I guess that means Adam should just hunt here, right?

Nolan and I survived the first weekend of deer hunting together with just a few minor meltdowns. I was really proud of myself - I let him get up and do his thing at 4:30 AM both Saturday and Sunday and didn’t go check on him. He’s developing a nasty little habit of waking up to party every day around 4:30, and the only way to fix it is to ignore the party and let it wind down on its own! He managed to sleep until 6:40 both days, which is quite exciting. On Saturday I got him ready for the day and then we headed out shopping – Kohl’s and Target. He did really well and slept through the Target trip. His sleeping schedule was a little off the rest of the day, but that’s ok. We took a really long walk later in the afternoon and he slept through most of it. I showered at 3 when he went down for a nap and managed to get myself ready for my girls night right on time! Paulette and Ryan were nice enough to babysit, and they survived the dinner feeding and struggle to keep Nolan up past 6:30. I think I remember Paulette saying that she thinks it would be a good idea for them to wait a little after they’re married to have kids. Even good kids are a lot of work!

Nolan and I made it to 8:30 church yesterday. He was really good – slept through the last part of it. He is getting more and more active, though – throwing toys in the middle of the aisle, making friends with the people sitting near us, trying to rip the bulletin. I guess it makes for an entertaining hour! He had a tougher day yesterday. He’s definitely developing a bit of an attitude, and he makes it very clear if he doesn’t want something – or if he does want something! Last night I was feeding him dinner and he was getting so mad at me – to the point that he balled up his little hands in to fists, pushed them down in to the highchair and started to shake a little bit – all while his head was turning red! Apparently he’s not a fan of cauliflower! Or, it could be his second tooth coming in on the bottom. Adam and I discovered it tonight. That probably explains why he hasn't been eating very well.

Tomorrow Nolan gets 2 shots - the booster for the seasonal flu, and the H1N1. Both Adam and I will be relieved when those are out of the way. There's no guarantee the shots will completely prevent him from getting sick, but as a parent we try to do the best we can so he doesn't get sick!

The next steps

Nolan is "this close" to crawling - check it out!

What's your sign?

Mine was at 8:26 a.m. on Sunday morning. I was running around trying to get out the door with Nolan to attend church. It had already been a hectic morning - having gotten up with Nolan at 3:15 and then again at 4:15. He decided he was up at 4:15, so I played with him, fed him and then put him back to bed at 5:45 – and he slept until 8 (and so did I). At this point I was feeling pretty good so I thought it would be a good idea to get me and Nolan ready to go to church. It was 8:27 (church is at 8:30) and I picked up Nolan to put his coat on, and quickly realized that I wasn’t going anywhere with a kid with a poopy diaper. Hopefully God heard my extra prayers for patience! I decided to forgo church and stay home, which was good because Nolan went down again for a nap at 9:20 - and slept for 3 hours!

Nolan’s first Halloween was low key but fun. He didn’t nap real well in the afternoon, so he wasn’t very smiley when we took his pictures and took him around the neighborhood. After visiting the neighbors we quickly fed him and then headed off to Chaska for our first party of the evening. Because Nolan didn’t nap well we drove around for an hour before the party to let him get a little shut eye! We stayed at that party for about 2 hours and then headed over to Anna and Josh’s to get ready for our party. Nolan did not attend the adult party - Anna was kind enough to watch him for us so we could have fun! Adam and I dressed up as Robin and Catwoman, and Josh came along dressed as a monk. The party was fun, but we didn't get home until 2:15 (which I guess was really 1:15). I was a hurtin' unit the first 2 times Nolan got up that morning! I used to look forward to "falling back" every fall for daylight savings, but as a mom it isn't nearly as much fun. Nolan's schedule has been off since Saturday night and he's been waking up at odd times. Apparently a 7 1/2 month old just doesn't get the concept! My hope is that "springing forward" will work more in my favor! Later in the day we headed over to Justin and Lori's house to watch the Vikings beat the Packers with some friends.

Yesterday Nolan had a follow-up visit with the chiropractor. She made a few adjustments in his neck and lower back. He wasn't real happy about it, but he didn't scream his head off like he used to do! She'd like to see him again in 3 months. I also made an appointment for Nolan to get the booster shot for the seasonal flu vaccine for next Tuesday. I just read some information that Nolan won't even be eligible to get the H1N1 vaccine until 4 weeks after his booster. Hopefully there will be a bigger supply of vaccine available when that time roles around mid-December.

The next 2 weekends Adam is going to be deer hunting at the farm, so Nolan and I will be spending a lot of time together. I have tentative plans with some girlfriends for Saturday afternoon and evening, so Paulette and Ryan are going to watch Nolan for me. I might also have plans for Friday night, and if that's the case I need to work on securing a babysitter for that night, too!

Leaps and Bounds

In a matter of a few days Nolan figured out that he can pull himself up in to a sitting position from laying down, and made his first official crawling lunge forward. Last night Adam and I were playing with him before bed. Nolan was just rolling around in his diaper, having a grand old time. He got himself in to his "model pose", which is when he lays on his side with his arm on his leg, like he's going to work out. From there he planted his hand on the ground and pulled himself up. I think he was in shock after that happened, so he fell forward on to both hands and knees. He really had no idea what to do so he lunged forward and literally fell on his face! He thought it was funny! When I picked him up from daycare today Julie said he pulled himself up to a sitting position for her, too. It really is the little things in life that get me excited:)

Yesterday when I picked up Nolan from daycare he was sitting on the floor playing with some trucks. Kielbasa (what a great name for a cat!) was in front of him, and Scooby, the other cat, was behind him on the couch. Nolan thought Kielbasa was so funny - he kept slapping his hands on his legs and making noises at her. Julie said it was really funny to watch him when Kielbasa came closer to him - his hands would back off his legs and he would immediately stop talking! I'm sure at some point he will show no fear in chasing those cats around the house!

Turkey, squash and broccoli - all foods Nolan has eaten this week and liked! After he gets through the round of food I just made I'm going to try some new recipes for him that include some spices. We'll see what he thinks of that!

Adam's new job is going well so far. We're adjusting to his new schedule - he usually works 8 - 5. By the time he gets home Nolan is fed and is playing. Adam is taking the morning shift for the most part and getting Nolan to daycare. Today Nolan was still sleeping when I left for work at 6:50! It was hard not to see him this morning - his smile is a great way to start my day!

Double Duty

Adam and I babysat Chris and Sasha’s little boy Jackson on Saturday while they attended a class in Bloomington. Jackson is 9 months old and is a busy little boy! He was so good, though. He’s really laid back and is very happy. He and Nolan weren’t too interested in one another, but every once in a while it seemed liked they were trying to talk to each other! Luckily Adam was around this weekend to help out. Even with 2 good babies I’m not sure I could have done it on my own – or at least as well as I did with the 2 of us! It was really fun to hang out with Chris and Sasha Saturday night after the boys went to bed, too. The crappy weather even let up enough so we could have a bonfire!

Adam’s last day at Park Nicollet was last Wednesday. He is moving on to bigger and better things at UnitedHealth Group in the internal audit area of their Ovations program. I'm really excited for him, but selfishly I'll miss having him across the parking lot. I really enjoyed our lunch "dates" and walks around Wolfe Lake! To celebrate being in betweeen job he spent Wed – Fri in Deerwood at Gina and Eric’s house duck hunting. He loves to hunt, so he was a bit disappointed with the lack of ducks he saw. He sure made it interesting, though – first by poking a hole in his boat and then by losing his cell phone in the woods. While one side of his boat was taking on water he figured out that if he sat on the other end his weight balanced it out enough that it wouldn't sink. He did stop at a boat repair shop in Aitkin and was able to put some stuff in the hole to seal it. Hopefully it still floats! The bad news is he spent an hour and a half looking for his self phone but didn’t find it. Yesterday morning we went to the Eden Prairie Verizon store and he bought a new phone. They were able to transfer all my phone numbers in to his new phone so he has a few phone numbers, but it’s significantly less than the contacts he had in his phone! If you’re reading this and Adam used to have your phone number, please e-mail it to him so he can add it to his phone!

Nolan and I spent a lot of quality time together last week. He is a very content and happy baby, but it’s so much easier when Adam is around to help out. By the time I get home, pick him up, feed him, play with him, bathe him and put him to bed I’m exhausted, and then I have to do my chores around the house! Oh well, it’s nothing new to all the working moms out there, just something I need to get used to! Nolan is getting closer to crawling every day. We don’t have that much time left of being able to leave him alone and know he won’t go anywhere! Yesterday I pureed a bunch of new foods for him to try, so we’ll see what happens. I was feeling domestic so I made a turkey for me and Adam and then pureed some for Nolan. I also made squash, cauliflower and nectarines, and a few weeks ago I made pears and beef. He hasn’t had a reaction to any of the foods yet, so I hope that’s a good sign.

On Friday when I got home from work I noticed the house felt chilly. I checked the temp and sure enough it was quite a bit colder than it should be. By this time Nolan was home with me from daycare so I put a few more layers on him, turned on the fireplace and turned the furnace off and then on again. It started, but didn't kick in. And then I smelled natural gas. To on the safe side I went outside with Nolan and called Centerpoint. After a series of questions the representative suggested I not go back in the house and wait outside for someone to come and check for a gas leak. It's a good thing I have nice neighbors who welcomed us in their house to wait - Nolan and I would have been outside for over an hour! Just as I went back over to our house to get Nolan his dinner the guy showed up - and of course it didn't smell like gas anymore. He figured out that the furnace was starting and the gas was trying to light but the igniter wasn't lighting it. I called a nice heating repair guy around 6:30 Friday night, and by 8:30 we had heat again. The bill wasn't fun to pay, but with Nolan around we figured we best keep the house warm!

There's not a lot going on this week, other than dinner with some friends. I worked out tonight and plan to again on Thursday. Hopefully I can keep my eating habits on track, too!

The video post is of Nolan eating puffs. We started him on that 2 weeks ago, and he gets better at it every day!

PS If you look closely at the picture of Nolan in the highchair you can see his little tooth in the bottom right. No new teeth yet, but he's drooling up a storm so that means something will be happening soon, right?

Rub a dub dub . . .

Nolan crapped in the tub!

Well, talk about a way to end the weekend. After a nice weekend in Browerville at Tricia’s parent’s house with the rest of her family (minus Brian cuz he had to work), Tricia was at home yesterday going through Nolan’s bedtime routine, which happened to include a bath. Well, I was just getting in from running around outside (getting a bunch of the yard stuff and pre-snow fun taken care of) and as I come in the house I hear Tricia talking to Nolan really excitedly… I soon would know why! Well, the youngest member of our family was relaxing in his bath, a little too much! Apparently, as his face turned red Tricia didn’t know exactly what was happening…come to find out Nolan had “dropped the kids off at the pool”-while he was still in it!! Ah, yet again, the phrase “I didn’t expect that” has been use in our house. Call it luck, or just strategery (I love that made-up word), but I hadn’t changed a #2 diaper in about a month. So, I stepped up to the plate and went in, but I should’ve been wearing the clothes pin on my nose that my mom had given me on my diaper changing tool belt at our baby shower! Without getting into too much more detail, I’ll just say I was impressed with the smell that our little guy is capable of producing!

Other than that little incident Nolan continues to impress us, not only is he rolling around on the floor with the greatest of ease, he now also has started to pull his knees up under himself. Our little guy is going to be mobile before we know it! So, thanks to our friends Tammy and Andy we inherited a couple of sections of Plexiglas that we’ll be putting up to cover the areas between the railing spindles next to the stairway heading downstairs. Next we’ll be covering the edges/corners of coffee tables and moving all the breakable items and plants out of little arms reach. If any of you have advice for things you’d recommend or things you don’t think were very necessary you’ll have to let us know!

Our little guy continues to grow and eat like a champ. So far every type of food we’ve put in front of him has disappeared, even the asparagus after a few days of trying!. So, he either can’t taste anything or he might actually like the variety of pureed fruits, vegetables, and meat…mmmm! We are in the process of transitioning the morning feeding to Julie (our daycare provider), so we started that this morning. Nolan gets up at 6 o’clock and is ready to eat, so holding him off for an hour wasn’t the easiest. We’ll have to see how things go, but so far it’s nice to have a little extra time in the morning.

The below pictures are from this weekend. Nolan, just hanging out by himself; Nolan "beating" Lola up by rolling on her; and the kids all dressed up for the Halloween trick or treating at Tricia's parent's house. Yup, they trick or treated in 6 different rooms of the house!

I'm a morning person, but . . .

5 AM on a weekend is just too much for me! Don't get me wrong - we think it's great that Nolan goes to bed so easy sometime between 6:30 and 7 every night and sleeps all night. However, he is developing a nasty habit of an early morning wake up sometime between 5 and 5:30. During the week it's not too bad, but on the weekends it's a killer! We're going to work really hard this week to keep him up until 7 each night. It will be hard, but hopefully it will help in the long run!

Last Thursday Nolan had his 6 month check-up - and it was only 2 weeks after he actually turned 6 months old! He now weighs 17 lbs, 4 oz. (50%), is 27 inches long (75%), and has a head circumference of 17 1/2 inches (70%). While he did gain 2 1/2 lbs since his 4 month check-up he actually went down % wise. The only thing that grew was his head. The rest of him might slow down but his face will keep getting rounder! The rest of his appointment went really well. The only time he cried was when he got 4 shots - 2 in each leg. It's just so sad to hear him cry because he's in pain. He wasn't quite himself all day on Thursday, but I guess that's to be expected. I have to bring him back to the dr. in a month for his seasonal flu vaccine and the H1N1 vaccine. *SIDE NOTE: Working at Park Nicollet certainly has advantages, and one of them is all the information I can access to make an informed decision. Based on everything I've read both Adam and I agree it's in our best interest to have Nolan immunized for H1N1. I'm sure we're not the only parents struggling with this decision. However, if we have the opportunity to protect him as best we can we're going to take it.* Nolan recovered nicely from his shots and other than a bruise on his right leg is fine. The dr. suggested we add a lunch feeding for him, so today we took pureed apples to Julie's. He liked eating with the other kids! He ate pureed chicken for the first time tonight, and seemed to think it was okay. I also started him on some finger foods on Saturday. He knew what he had to do, but you could see that his brain and hands weren't working that well together! By yesterday, though, he figured out how to get some puffs and veggie sticks in his mouth. He's getting better at using his sippy cup, but still has a ways to go. It will be nice when he consistently picks it up himself to have a drink. Nolan also mastered the art of rolling all over the living room, as well as sitting unassisted this weekend. He's making more and more noise and sounds, and this weekend discovered he can say "da da" and "daddy" - but he doesn't quite get the association to Adam yet. It sure is fun to hear him say it though, especially because I think it really means Adam needs to help him out!

I was super productive this weekend. Adam left for a 4 day hunting excursion up north Wednesday night, so I decided it would be a good time to paint the basement. My intent was to paint the area at the bottom of our stairs. On Thursday night I did the first coat of paint at the bottom of the stairs, and got done so fast I decided to add in the hallway. I didn't have a chance to paint again until Saturday morning, when I put on the 2nd coat of paint. Since I had the paint out I decided to continue on and painted the drop part by the ceiling. That wasn't enough for me, and after a short visit to Greg and Ellen's to see Adam's aunts and cousins I came home and painted 2 more walls. Since I was that far in to the project I decided I should just finish it, so yesterday I finished the 2nd coat on the 2 walls and finished the remaining 2 walls and a wall coming down our stairs. Adam helped me put all the furniture back and helped hang all the pictures on the wall last night. I have to say the basement looks so much nicer. I painted it tan, which looks really good with our red wall. It's amazing what a fresh coat of paint can do! You could just say I'm lazy because I don't like to wash walls. It's easier for me to paint! It took me 3 days to finish because the only time I could paint was when Nolan was napping or in bed for the night. Yesterday I also managed to start and finish a few loads of laundry, puree some baby food for Nolan, and pick up the house a little bit. It felt good to be productive, but I was exhausted and ready for bed at 8!

We don't have a whole lot going on this week, other than Adam's farewell to Park Nicollet happy hour on Thursday. Erica generously agreed to pick up Nolan from daycare for us so I can drive us home after happy hour. Adam starts his new job at United Health Group on the 26th of this month. We're not sure if we'll be able to car pool together anymore, but I think we'll give it a try. We save a lot of money by carpooling!

On a lighter topic last week was a great week to be a MN sports fan. The Gopher's played tough against Wisconsin and came up a little short, but made up for it Saturday against Purdue. The Vikings beat the Packers in the highest rated Monday night football game ever on ESPN, and our Twin's played in the most exciting baseball game I have ever, and will probably ever, watch last Tuesday against the Tigers. Despite the fact the Twins lost to the Yankees in a quick 3 game playoff series I am still in awe of the comeback they made to win the American League division. To be back 3 games with only 4 games to play and win the division is a miracle, and proof that hard work (and a little luck) pay off!

This weekend we're off to my parent's house for only the 3rd time since Nolan has been around. Should be fun because on Saturday my sisters and their families will be there as well. The only thing I really need to do this weekend is to sit down with Paulette and figure out when we can have her bridal shower and bachelorette party. June 2010 is coming up faster than we think!

One step closer to a toothy grin

Last week was an exciting week at the Bleck house. Thursday morning I got a call from daycare Julie at work. I answered the phone, and right away she said "Tricia, it's Julie and Nolan's fine." She went on to tell me that he was cutting his first tooth! Adam and I had noticed he's been drooling a little bit more, and Adam kept feeling his gums (and even did so Wednesday night before we put Nolan to bed) but never felt anything. So apparantly he got his first tooth overnight! Nolan also started scooting himself in a circle this week, and he continues to get better at rolling and sitting. As every parent already knows, it's simply amazing what kids do that make you so excited. Nolan added peas to his diet last week, too, and like everything else so far loved them. We'll see what he thinks when we make him eat broccoli in a few weeks!

Friday night we went to the Twin's game. This was part of the tickets we bought for the home opener with a bunch of our friends and co-workers. Ellen and Greg were there, too. Nolan tagged a long with us, and he was so good. This is a picture of him at the game. Jackie was holding him and Keith was making duck noises at him. Nolan thought it was the funniest thing ever and laughed for about 15 minutes. He was laughing so hard his shoulders shook up and down! He fell asleep at the end of the 6th inning, and we ended up leaving in the middle of the 8th to try and beat some of the traffic home.

Saturday morning Adam got up early to go duck hunting with Jared. They didn't get anything, but had fun trying. I stayed home with Nolan. I got up with him around 7 and he went down for a nap at 8:15. He slept until about 10:30, and in between that time I cleaned the house and showered! Nolan and I headed over to Greg and Ellen's around 1. Nolan spent the night there so Adam and I could enjoy ourselves and Nicky and Scott's wedding. Other than being a little crabby because of his tooth he was good - slept for 11 hours for them last night! Adam and I got over there about 10:30 this morning, and Nolan had been down for a nap since 8:50. He didn't wake up until 11:20! We fed him his bottle and then the 3 of us headed to the Minnetonka Apple Orchard. We had a great time making Nolan pose for pictures! The food was fabulous - we each had a brat with apple and onion kraut, and shared some apple donuts and hot cider. We were there for about an hour when Nolan started getting tired as we were waiting in line for the hay ride. We brought him home and he napped for an hour and half while we watched the Twin's game. Greg and Ellen had a fish fry for dinner, so we headed back over there after his nap. I got home with Nolan around 7 and he went right to sleep. I think all the fresh air tired him out!


Tomorrow night and Tuesday are shaping up to be exciting for MN sports fans. Go Twins and Vikings! On Wednesday Adam is heading out of town until Sunday to go deer and duck hunting. He'll be at the farm until Thursday night and then is heading up to Gina and Eric's for duck and/or goose hunting with Eric. Nolan and I are going to be spending a lot of quality time together! I'm hoping to get up to Foley to see my grandma on Saturday or Sunday, and on the opposite day I'm taking Nolan over to Greg and Ellen's to see Adam's aunts (Ellen and her sisters are having a girls weekend). Should be fun!

Socialization 101

Why is it that each week seems to go by faster than the last? I guess if I really stop to think about it, it’s typically because Adam and I are so busy during the week! Last week was a particularly busy week for us, as we were both busy doing something after work every night of the week! Between dinner with friends, happy hours, softball games and working out I really didn’t have time to do a whole lot else during the week. That explains why our house is so dirty right now!

Before I get in to anything else, I have to let you know that Nolan went to bed at 6:15 last night and we woke him up at 6:30 this morning! It seriously is incredible how much this kid sleeps, especially since he took great naps at daycare yesterday.

Nolan got to go on a couple of fun outings last week. On Monday night he went with Adam to his parent’s house for dinner, on Tuesday he was with me in Maple Grove for dinner with my friends from the Monticello hospital, Wednesday he was with me running errands, Thursday he was with Adam at home helping him work on the motorcycle (I was at happy hour), and on Friday he was with Adam again for a boys night in (I went to the Shout House with my girlfriends and then picked up my parents from their Wine and Food Tasting at the new Gopher football stadium). Nolan is at a great age – he’s sitting better on his own and rolling both ways, but when you take him places he just sits still and hangs out. It’s fabulous! We finally got through the 4 different cereals we wanted him to try and have moved on to include green beans in his diet. Adam and I both keep waiting for him to not like a new food, but so far he’s gobbled up anything we’ve given him. Oh, and he’s making more and more sounds that sound like words, for example “hi” and “mama”. We know that he really doesn’t get what it means, but it’s fun to hear him say things that sound like real words!

On Saturday we had Nolan’s 6 month pictures. It’s fun to go, but it’s so hard to know in advance what his reaction and temperament are going to be when we get there for the appointment. His naps are still a little bit all over the place, so we scheduled the pics for 11 am. Nolan didn’t smile and didn’t cry – he just sat there and dealt with the fact he was getting his picture taken by a stranger while his parent’s and Grandma Paula did goofy things to try and get him to smile! After his pictures we headed down to Mankato for our brother-in-law Brian’s 30th bday party. It was so fun to see my family – we hadn’t seen most of them, including our nieces, since the first weekend in August! Sunday on the way home we stopped to see some friends in Prior Lake. We were lucky enough to be there to watch the 4th quarter of the Vikings game!

This week is a little less busy. Adam might go hunting tonight and he has softball on Wednesday, and other than my Monday and Thursday night workouts we’ll be around all week. On Friday night we’re going to the Twins game. Nolan is coming with us – hopefully he’ll make it longer than the 7th inning! On Saturday we have a wedding here in the cities, and on Sunday we’re hoping to get out to the apple orchard, weather permitting.

Nolan is 6 months old!

That's right. 6 months ago today Nolan entered the world. Our life hasn't been the same since - but we don't mind at all! Happy 1/2 Birthday to our babycakes!

He's got skills

No, I'm not talking about Adam. Nolan seemingly overnight developed the ability to sit by himself - with a little support from his boppy. Over the last month he's developed better control of his core, so I thought I'd let him give it another try by himself yesterday. Low and behold he sat there for about 5 minutes! I am so impressed. It's so funny how fast they seem to just pick up a new skill, when in fact they've probably been working really hard for a long time to master it! Nolan also thought it would be fun to start rolling both ways this week. Adam picked him up from daycare on Wednesday and Julie told him that when she went to the kitchen he was laying by the couch, and when she came back he was by the chair! Nolan turns 6 months old tomorrow, so I guess he's probably right on track with his new skills. His 6 month check up isn't for 2 more weeks. I would guess that he'll weigh almost 17lbs. He still fits in most of his 3-6 month clothes at this point.

Adam had planned on going deer hunting this weekend, but the weather was just too warm. Yesterday he spent most of the day fishing, and did get out to his parent's place in the evening to try a little hunting. He saw a very active pheasant and a doe with 2 fawns. Speaking of deer, on Friday night Adam and I had a bonfire. Right after we got it started a yearling came walking up between our house and our neighbor's. We thought it would see us and run away, but instead it saw us and kept coming closer. It came within 15 feet of us, and then turned around. I think we figured out who's been eating the hostas around the fire pit! Nolan and I spent all day yesterday hanging out. Between his wake up time at 6:15 and when we left to run errands at 1 he slept for 3 hours! I managed to get in about a 45 minute nap, too. We went to Eden Prairie Center to run some errands, and he was perfect - just hung out in his stroller.

Today Adam and I had a very early wake up call from Nolan. He bumped his head in his crib and was up at 5:15. Adam brought him in bed with us at 5:30 in hopes he would fall back asleep, but that wasn't going to happen. I got up with him at 5:45, played with him and fed him, and Nolan was back in bed at 6:45. I also went back to bed and slept until 9:20. Adam got up with Nolan around 8:30 and let me sleep a little bit longer. I really needed it, even though I went to bed at 9:30 last night! It was gorgeous out today, so Adam, Nolan and I went on a 3 mile walk. Adam and Nolan pretty much hung out the rest of the afternoon. I went grocery shopping, made dinner, did laundry, and made cupcakes for Nolan's 1/2 birthday tomorrow. The only other thing I need to do is make my lunch for tomorrow. I need to be at work around 6:20 tomorrow for orientation, and if I don't do it tonight it won't get done!

How sweet it is

Nolan has officially made the transition to "big people" food. Last night we took one cube of the sweet potatoes I pureed, warmed it up, liquified it a bit with some formula, and fed it to Nolan. Adam and I were both shocked that he liked it - especially since he wasn't a fan of the rice and oatmeal cereal the first time! Hopefully that means he'll like all the other foods we're going to introduce him to . . . but I doubt it:)

Last weekend we were pretty busy. On Friday night Adam, Nolan and I met up with Paulette and Ryan at Buffalo Wild Wings in Plymouth. Nolan did really well, especially since it was way past his usual bed time of 6:30 or 7. On Saturday Adam was golfing, so I took Nolan to Becky's family cabin near South Haven to spend the afternoon with Tammy, Lori, Nikki, Becky and the kids. It was super relaxing - the older kids played together and the younger kids took naps. That meant that we got to hang out and relax, which was awesome. The bummer of the day was that Nolan very suddenly developed either a cold or allergies. He had green gunk coming out of his eyes, was sneezing up a storm and had a constant runny nose. I felt so bad for him! This is the first time he's been sick. I did manage to get him over to Erica and Dave's house for a little while to see Adam's cousins/spouses. Nolan and I stayed until Adam got there, and then I took him home. Getting lots of sleep always tends to make me feel a little better, so I thought I'd try the same with Nolan! On Sunday Nolan seemed to be doing a little bit better so we went to church at 8:30 and then headed off to Buffalo Lake to see Adam's grandma. We had a really nice visit with her. She is an amazing woman. She's 95, walks on the treadmill or rides the excercise bike every day, and still drives. And she beat Adam at pool in 2 out of 3 games!

Adam is at the Twin's game tonight so after Nolan went to bed I finally had a chance to clean the house. I don't have time to clean nearly as often as I used to, and that's been a hard adjustment for me. I do try to keep it in perspective - where would I rather spend my time, cleaning the toilet or hanging out with Adam and Nolan? Yes, I do choose hanging out with Adam and Nolan!

Tomorrow afternoon Jackie and I are heading up to Fargo for a job fair on Thurdsay. Because it's so darn far away we're staying overnight. It will be fun to hang out with Jackie. It's not something we get to do as often as we'd like!

Unplugged

I picked up Nolan from daycare on Wednesday and all Julie said is "he doesn't need more apple juice." Good to know it works!

The plug

I had my first true case of mommy guilt today. No, it's not because I'm working. It's because somehow over the course of the last week Nolan became constipated and woke up this morning at 6 AM crying while he tried to do his business:( He hasn't woken up crying since he was a tiny newborn! He finally did the duty, but not without a lot of tears of pain. I felt sooooooooo bad for not doing anything. Adam and I had talked about giving him some dark corn syrup if he didn't go by today, but I really wish we would have done it yesterday morning. There is nothing worse than watching your baby cry because he is in pain - and knowing there's not a single thing you can do about it! I had to leave for work early today so Adam took care of getting Nolan ready and off to daycare. Adam called me when I was almost to work at 6:30 to let me know Nolan was fed and happy. I did call the nurseline to find out what we could do, and the nurse assured me I wasn't the first mom to call with these questions, nor would I be the last. Good to know, but certainly doesn't make you feel a whole lot better when it's your kid! We gave Nolan a few oz. of water this morning, and he had a few oz. of 100% apple juice at dinner tonight. We're also going to make sure he's getting 32 oz. of liquid everyday in addition to the 2-3 tablespoons of cereal. If that doesn't work we can give him up to 2 teaspoons of dark corn syrup to get things moving. I feel like this is something Adam and I should have known, but then again Nolan is our first kid and it's not like you sit around and talk about baby poo with people very often!

A funny thing happened in the bath tub . . .

After a rough start, Nolan adjusted really well to eating rice cereal. We got in to a nice routine of feeding him first and then having him drink his bottle – until tonight. We introduced oatmeal cereal in to his diet, and he was not at all impressed. So we went back to what worked at the beginning of last week – eat, then bottle, then finish eating. Hopefully things will go more smoothly for Adam tomorrow morning, cuz he’s on his own! (I’m facilitating new employee orientation so need to leave before Nolan wakes up)

It’s crazy to think that summer as we know it is done, as another Labor Day has come and gone. We spent the weekend at the Bleck family farm. We didn’t do anything too strenuous – after all, Labor Day is a full weekend for rest, right? The weather was fabulous so we spent most of our time outdoors. Nolan was a super good boy – he took really good naps and went to bed by 7 each night. In between naps and sleep he spent a lot of time outside hanging out with everyone. Claire found him especially amusing. She is quite a talker, and she made sure to say hi to Nolan every time he was near her, and made a special point to bring him all of his toys to play with! Nolan experienced his first time in a sandbox and got to sit on a 4-wheeler, too. He wasn't too excited about the 4-wheeler, but I'm sure that will come when he's older! He continues to amaze everyone with his personality. This morning at breakfast he spent about 15 minutes laughing at a yellow rubber duck while Adam made funny duck noises. Seriously, we haven't heard him giggle that much at any other time! Nolan and I did have a chance to spend Saturday morning with my mom and dad at my aunt and uncle’s cabin on Fish Trap Lake. What a fantastic place! It was so nice to spend a little time with them, as they hadn’t met Nolan yet.

Adam and I gave Nolan a bath before bed tonight. While in the bath tub a funny thing happened - Nolan “discovered himself” and started playing with his wedding tackle! We’re pretty sure it was by accident, but we were totally unprepared for it this early! He thought he was hilarious and was just laughing and giggling away. I’m sure other things are going to happen when we least expect it, so we’ve just gotta roll with the punches:)