Tales of Baby McCabe: 2015

Obviously it's been quite a while since my last post. We had a fantastic summer filled with lots of swimming at wading pools, going to parks and the splash pad, walking around the maze at centennial lakes, playing outside, going on play dates with friends and cousins, visiting both zoos, and going to the lake. Summer flew by and we were sad to see it end.

So far this fall has been pretty darn good, too! Nolan started preschool in September, Tuesday and Thursday mornings. He was apprehensive at first, but he is really enjoying it. I'm so glad! It's been good for him to get out of the house and have something all his own to do. He is making friends and is already learning so much. His dinosaur themed 4th birthday is coming up in three weeks. I can't believe he'll be 4! He's still our hilarious daredevil with the biggest heart. He cracks us up with the things he'll randomly say or do (dancing naked In our window, telling Pam to "Measure my butt!", and being naughty at swimming lessons and yelling, "I'm sinking! I'm sinking!") He keeps us on our toes!

William turned two last month with a construction themed birthday. He is talking more and more, stringing lots of words together. He loves to count. He will skip 7 and 8 when counting, so I'm working on that with him right now. He still loves cars and trucks. He has really gotten into puzzles and can do 24 piece jigsaw puzzles on his own. It's so fun to watch him. He is just the sweetest boy and always so calm and patient! Jason and I have been taking him to swimming lessons. He absolutely loves swimming, but gets so cold! The poor guy's lips turn blue. The school needs to figure out their heating. William has recently gone through a growth spurt and now is 34.5", which is the 54th%. I'm sure his height will keep fluctuating, but I'm so happy he has made it this high on the growth charts.

Our biggest news is that we are adding another sweet boy to our family! In about two months (due date is December 6) we will be a family of five. The boys are so excited for the new baby. William isn't convinced it's a boy, but he's a little young to totally get what is going on. Nolan had also thought this was a girl, so he has made us promise that the next one will be a girl. Ok, buddy! We don't have much control over that. Haha. He also told me that he wants to have 100 brothers and sisters. Way to dream big, Nolan, but that's not happening. :)

But both boys love babies and have gotten lots of experience with their new cousins Hadley and Morgan. They're both so sweet with babies so I can't wait to see them with their new brother. Nolan sings to my belly and kisses it. William got to hear the baby's heartbeat at my last appointment and is still talking about it. It will definitely be a crazy, busy holiday season!

Here are a few pictures from the past few months. I have more recent ones, but the app I've been using to upload has changed and the pictures aren't showing up on this blog. Hopefully that will get figured out soon.

Last pontoon ride of the year

Liam and Hadley

Williams big present! Both boys love it

Construction party

Love him!

Paw Patrol at the state fair

Trolley ride at Lake Harriet

Nolan's last day of soccer

Feeding giraffes at Como Zoo. so cool!

MN Zoo

Splash pad

Nolan meeting Morgan

Backyard fun

Linden Hills wading pool

Handsome guys

Shooting some hoops

Silly Keegan

Fun at Mamie and Papa's

It's been so long since my last post. We thoroughly enjoyed June and many different summer activities. Such a different June than we experienced last year! We've gone to parks, the splash pad, a few wading pools, the MN Zoo, a bunch of walks (with Nolan cruising on his balance bike) and the lake.

Both boys are doing well. William is entering the tantrum stage that comes along with two year olds. Since he's a few months shy of two, I'm hoping it will come and go quickly. Fingers crossed. Ha. He is saying more and more and putting 2-3 words together. He's such a sweet boy, very affectionate and loving. Sleep isn't his strong suit right now, though. We're probably going to take away the pacifiers when he turns two, so I'm hoping after the initial shock, when he gets used to it his sleep will get better.

Nolan is really growing up. He makes jokes and talks more like a kid now than a toddler. He really thinks things through and comes up with clever ideas and comments. He's mastered his balance bike. We have to give him some practice on his training wheel bike now. For the most part he really listens to us and behaves pretty well. Both boys are very energetic. They definitely wear me out! But they have been getting along really well. Well, for the most part. They do get on each other's nerves as all siblings do. But their bond is really growing. It's awesome to see.

The 4th of July was a crazy, fun, busy weekend. We went down to the lake on the 3rd and had fun playing at grandma and Papa's, going on a pontoon ride, and playing on the Gibbs' lily pad. Nolan was a brave boy and jumped into the lake on his own off the lily pad (with his life jacket on of course) and kicked around a little bit. He had been clinging to Jason the whole time he'd been in the water, so it was a big step for him. William got in the water a little bit too, which was fun. Keegan also jumped in and did a panicky doggy paddle until Jason helped him back into the dock. Silly dog needs to practice swimming.

We had a huge scare that evening though, when Nolan begged to go down to the docks before bed. We went down there for just a minute, so we didn't put life jackets on. Nolan impulsively jumped onto the pontoon and then tried climbing off onto the dock. I was in the process of telling him to stop and wait and that I'd help him, but he slipped into the water. It's all a blur to me, but I yelled twice for Jason and ran to Nolan (I was very close to him) and just as I was bending down to the water he popped his head up. I reached and grabbed his shirt and pulled his head/shoulders above water. He spit some water out, but didn't cough. He had the look of death in his eyes. Jason grabbed his arm and pulled him onto the dock. Nolan (and Jason and I) were shaken up, but Nolan didn't cry. He just said, "I'm all wet! I want to go up to Grandma's now." I am thankful that it was shallow water, that Nolan had been in swimming lessons and had instinctively held his breath, and figured out how to come back up to he surface. We had a bunch of talks about how he did a good job doing those things, but that he's not allowed to get on or off a boat without an adult helping, and that he needs to be right next to us on the dock. I get so much anxiety just thinking about him falling in and getting the image of him under water. It makes me sick.

Moving on from that horrifying incident, the 4th was a happy day. We went back home and dropped Keegan off, then headed to the Richfield parade. The boys were thrilled to get handfuls and handfuls of candy and enjoyed the different floats and people in the parade. They were also so happy to see their cousins again, Abigail, Anika, and Johnny, who had been in Hawaii for the last week. They were also happy to see my parents, too, of course. After the parade we went to the Sowl's 4th of July party. Nolan had fun running around with my friend Heather's son, Grayson, who is also three. It was fun seeing and catching up with friends and eating good food. The boys crashed hard that night, and Jason and I watched the St Louis Park fireworks from our backyard. They put on a really good show.

Here's the photo bomb!