I have a pretty cool bike

We celebrated Nolan's 3rd birthday on St. Patrick's Day. He had so much fun. He loved the Lightning McQueen and Towmater cake I made for him, had fun playing with his cousins and friends, and LOVED opening his gifts. He loved every gift, but asked "can I open another one?" after each one. We had some friends over that evening, but the kids didn't make it very long - they were tired from playing outside all day! The weather was amazing - a balmy and breezy 82 degrees! On Nolan's real birthday, the 21st, we surprised him by letting him pick where to go out to eat. He chose the local pizza place. Let's just say we had our first "you're those parents" moment, when both kids (thankfully at different times) had meltdowns. Nolan started in the bathroom so we should have known something was up. We ate quickly, got home and decided not to let him open gifts or get his cupcake - he was way too emotional. While I was putting Kale to bed Nolan decided to go to the bathroom - and that explained the "my tummy hurts" remark we heard in the car on the way home. After that he was back to his old self - so much so that we had a great time celebrating his birthday! His favorite gift was his new bike. When he saw it he stood back and admired it. He took a few laps around the house and then announced "I have a pretty cool bike". It was fun for me to come home on Thursday and see him riding his bike in the driveway, with his helmet on. He can't quite pedal all by himself yet, but he likes working on it.

Kale is still surprising us with his physical abilities. We've been spending a lot of time at the park lately, and it only took 2 trips for him to realize that he can climb up the tubes to the big kids slides, all by himself! He so badly wants to do whatever Nolan does, and he picks it up so quickly! He even goes down the big slides all by himself - no fear. This weekend we visited Lake Minnentonka Regional Park, which is a slide park. It was so funny watching the kids. There were a couple of bouncy bridges that connected the slides. Kale ran right across without missing a beat. Nolan, on the other hand, stepped a foot on it, backed up, announced it was bouncy, grabbed the railing, and proceeded to test the waters before finally slowly making his way across it. Birth order has never been more accurate! The weather has been cooperating so we've spent a lot of time in the wagon and stroller, too. We have to keep our eye on Kale, as he loves hanging his hands out the wagon and putting them on the wheels as they move.

We had the 3 year and 18 month appointments for the kids on Friday. Nolan is 37.25 inches tall and 34 pounds. It was fun to watch the testing they did with him. I was happy he was able to answer all the questions about colors and shapes, and to draw what our nurse practitioner asked him to do. He also passed the vision and hearing screenings. Kale is 34.75 inches tall (96%!) and 26.2 lbs (52%). Our nurse practitioner couldn't believe he grew 6% in 3 months. No wonder people are always asking us if they're twins - there's not a lot of height difference between the 2 of them! Both of the kids did so well at the appointments. Kale hasn't sat that still in a long time! The only time things got sketchy was when the nurse took Nolan for his screenings. Kale started crying and calling Nolan's name. When Nolan was coming down the hall back to our room we could hear him asking where his brother was. It's so cute how they look out for one another.

This weekend we took the kids for their 3 year and 18 month pics. Nolan did really well and we had quite a few good ones to pick from. Kale, on the other hand, threw down the hammer. He would not put down his snack cup or sippy cup. At one point he went and stood by the wall with his back to yes, saying "uh uh" everytime I asked him to go and sit down. The very patient photographer was able to get 2 pictures of him, both of them with his sippy cup and snack cup. Oh well - it perfectly sums up the photo shoot! After pictures Adam and I dropped the boys off at Greg and Ellen's for an evening away. We got the best send off from the kids - they both sat on the step waving and yelling "goodbye!" When we went to pick them up yesterday they were both sitting in the jeep, with Nolan behind the driver's seat. The best part was that they were driving backwards in circles - and every time they passed Greg and Ellen Kale would wave at them. It was hysterical! We were pleasantly surprised to hear that Kale's first night outside of a crib or pack n play went well, and he stayed in one place to sleep! The next step is for us to go and buy a mattress for him. I'm trying to avoid it as long as possible, but he seems to be quickly outgrowing his crib!

The highlight of our weekend was meeting our new niece, Hattie. She is just a little peanut and so cute! Erica and Dave are due any day now, and Paulette and Ryan are due in June. It's now confirmed that our boys are the only boys on my side of the family. We're looking forward to finding out what Baby W is soon!

The napkin

Last week Jane asked Nolan to use his napkin to wipe his face. He replied "I'll just use my tongue", and proceeded to lick his face clean! He is such a funny kid, with some unique talents, too!


Jane asked Kale yesterday where Thomas the Train was. He shrugged his shoulders and said "I don't know". What a stinker!


I ran my first 5K last weekend - 100% Irish for a day! Other than boot camp I didn't do a ton of other training, and surprised myself by running the entire time, with a personal best time, too! Adam, the boys and Greg came out to watch me. It was such a great feeling of accomplishment, and I never in a million years thought I would be able to do it. It felt so good that I've set a goal for myself to complete a 10K in the fall. I will have to do a little more training for that, but the nice weather should keep me motivated!

The bus and the bike

Tonight on the way home from daycare we saw a city bus stopped at a red light. The bus had a bike on tied to the front of it. Nolan saw it and started laughing.

N: Mom, there's a bike on that city bus!
M: I know - isn't that funny?
N: That's pretty funny.
M: You'll have to tell Dad when he gets home.
N: Okay

When Adam got home Nolan was still in the bathtub. The first thing he said was "I saw a bike on a city bus!" We all got a good laugh out of that.

We reached another milestone with Nolan tonight. He has known his ABC's for quite a while, but he has refused to sing them at home. In the tub tonight he randomly started singing them, and finished the whole thing without any mistakes. After Adam heard about the bike on the bus I asked Nolan if he wanted to sing dad a song. He said sure and sang the whole thing again. As little as that sounds we were so proud of him! His preschool screening is in a month, and I'm feel more and more like he's ready for it. He undresses himself at night and gets himself to the potty. He needs help getting his shirt on, but he can get his underpants and pants on (if we have time). He likes to try and get himself in to his carseat, but it's quite a long process, so we don't always have the time to wait. We try and slow down a little on the weekends so he can learn some of this stuff!

Kale is copying Nolan more and more each day. He likes to shoot the basketball from the same place as Nolan, sit on the potty like Nolan, and buckle his booster "seatbelt", just like Nolan. He's also talking a lot more - love you, excuse me, thank you, please, Nolan, strawberry, potty, water, books. Night time prayers are getting more and more fun. After we say our group prayer we ask the boys who they want to pray for. Each night they take turns (Nolan loves talking about who goes first and who goes second). When we ask Kale he starts naming off a whole bunch of names. We can usually make out dad and Nolan, sometimes we hear Jane and we usually have to remind him to say mama. The best part of it is when Nolan and Kale give each other a kiss goodnight and say love you. It's a great way to end the day.

We've noticed in the last month or so that every once in a while Nolan calls Kale "Kaley", which we think comes from the girls at daycare. We're trying to correct it, but it's actually kind of cute. I wonder what kind of nickname Kale will have for Nolan someday!

All birthday, all the time

Nolan is currently obsessed with talking about his birthday. Multiple times each day he tells anyone who will listen "My birthday's coming up". This weekend he asked if I would cut his cake and blow out his candles!

He even talks to Kale about it.

N: "Do you want to come at my party, Kale?"
Translation - do you want to come to my party, Kale?

I sure hope his big day lives up to his expectations - it's still 2 weeks until his party and 2 1/2 until his actual birthday!

My name is

Nolan and Kale were eating breakfast this morning. Adam was laying in bed (trying to sleep) and I was up with them.

K: Daaaaaad.
N: Stop yelling, Kale.
K: Daaaaaaaaaad.
N: Kale, my name isn't Dad. It's Nolan Bleck.