Holidays and Dancing

The holiday season is officially over. It flew by! I go back to work on Monday (boooooo). Nolan had a very happy Christmas with both sides of the family. He made out like a bandit with a ton of clothes and toys! Jason's and my gift to Nolan was a tent with balls (a ball pit) and a tunnel. He loves it! He especially likes it when I go in there with him. Silly guy.

Nolan is still as active as ever! He still loves to climb on everything and anything. He also LOVES to dance! He will dance to commercials, TV shows, the little tune that his farm toy makes, anything! It's so cute. Jason really likes it, since I'm not much of a dancer. Nolan's two favorite things to dance to are Psy's Gangnam Style and the original Beverly Hills 90210 theme song (yes, I still watch that show). Here are some videos of him dancing.

Gangnam Style

Beverly Hills 90210

Here is a video of Nolan knocking down a tower of blocks. He gets so excited when he sees that we've built a tower!

Nolan's expressing his sweet side more and more. He now will come up, put his arms around my neck, and hug me. He kisses two different ways - one way he leans his forehead against yours and lets you kiss him, the other way he will (open mouth) kiss your lips. It is so sweet! Here is one of my favorite videos - he was playing peekaboo with me in his closet and every time he saw me he would kiss me.

Nolan has put two words together a few times. Of course they mostly center around food. He loves to eat! Although he is getting a little picky. So far he has said "mo mama" (more mama), "bye da" (to Jason when he was leaving for work), "aaa du" (all done), and "oh no!". He gets so proud of himself when he says a couple words. He grins and claps with me. 

Here are some of my favorite recent pictures I've taken of Nolan on my phone. 

Those eyes!!! (no filter was used on my phone)

Pretty proud of himself

Looking dapper on Christmas Eve

Having fun with his ball pit and tunnel on Christmas morning

Sweet boy on Christmas day

Out to eat with mama and dada

Having fun at Edinburough

Wee!!!

hey cutie

Ooooh!!!

All week he has been practicing saying "ooooh!" in a concerned voice. 

Ready to cheer on the Vikes!

"Oh no!" He was unable to turn my laptop on :)

A month later...

The past month has been crazy and busy! A week after Nolan's birthday party, we went to Chicago with my parents to celebrate Thanksgiving with my Aunt Ginny, Uncle Bob, and family. Nolan did really well on the plane, napping in my arms, which I loved. He had a blast running around Bob and Ginny's beautiful new home. What was extra nice was that there were no stairs to worry about, so no baby gates! We had a wonderful time with the family, playing a rousing game of Who Wants to be  a Millionaire. On Black Friday we planned to go downtown, but Nolan ended up with the stomach flu! My mom generously took care of Nolan for the day, urging Jason and me to go downtown with my dad and Uncle Bob. Nolan felt a lot better by the time we got back (thank goodness for babies having mild cases of our illnesses!) Jason and I thought we had managed to escape the icky flu, but literally within an hour of getting home we both ended up getting sick. We are so thankful that we didn't get sick on the plane or in the airport!

Last weekend my brother Jeff got married!!! He and Jenaye got married in a private, outside ceremony at Aamodt's Apple Farm. Afterwords, there was a huge reception with family and friends at the Marriott near the Mall of America and airport. Nolan had SO MUCH FUN running around, eating yummy food, and dancing! He didn't go to sleep that night until 10 pm! It was a busy, exhausting, fun day.

On top of that, Nolan has been busy learning how to climb. He now easily climbs up onto the couch, the table, a chair, you name it, he climbs it. He also loves our Christmas tree. He looks at it and yells until we turn the Christmas lights on! Then when the lights come on he stares at them in awe, smiles, and says, "ahhhhhhhhh"! So cute.

Nolan is starting to say and do some more things now. He understands a lot of what we say. I tell him that I'm going to go get the mail and he runs to the front door ahead of me. Or I tell him that it's time to feed Keegan and he runs to Keegan's dog food container. He also tries to brush his hair with a brush and he is spoon feeding himself (ok, he's messy, but he's doing it!). It's amazing to watch him learn and do things.

Here are some pictures from the wedding. I have pictures on my other camera from Thanksgiving, which I still need to upload, and some cute pictures on my phone, which I also still need to upload. Look for those in a future post. :)

hey blue eyes :)

peekaboo!

We see you!

Our little family at the groom's dinner :)

Jeff + Jenaye at their beautiful outdoor ceremony

Excuse me, mom, I'm trying to watch my uncle get married!

Husband and wife!

Picture time inside Aamodt's

Love this

The groom and his nephew

Stop it. Too cute!

Sooooo pretty!

Silly cousins!

Bunny face. Nolan's favorite look for when he's mad, frustrated, silly, or for any reason, really. 

Sweet speeches.

Dance time!

Dada and Nolan having a blast on the dance floor. :)

One Year Old!

Our sweet little boy turned one year old last week! It's so hard to believe that Nolan is already one! The year absolutely flew by.

On Nolan's birthday he had cake batter pancakes for breakfast (thank you, Pinterest) and his favorite, grilled cheese, for dinner. He also got to open a present from Jason and me, a toy cell phone. He loves it! Nolan also got a handmade card from his favorite buddy, Abigail, and a birthday card from Mamie and Papa (my parents). It was a good day!

Nolan's birthday party was last Saturday. It was so much fun! We decided to make his party a train theme because one of Nolan's favorite books is I am a Train and it is in the shape of a train. He loves it when you make the book ride across the floor and say, "chugga chugga chugga choo choo!" I found most of the ideas for our decorations on Pinterest. That site is amazing, but so addicting!

Both Jason's family and my family came to celebrate Nolan. Thank you to everyone who came. It meant so much to have you there! Nolan loves all his wonderful presents. :)

The kids had fun playing in the cardboard train. They looked so cute in their conductor hats! Also, Jason put together a slideshow of all the Nolan pictures we took this year. It is so much fun to watch and see how much he has changed and grown!

Nolan shyly grinned and stuck his fingers in his mouth when we sang Happy Birthday to him. But he dug right into his smash cake! He loved it so much! He got chocolate all over himself and then waved at us. It was hilarious.

All in all, the party was a huge success!

This past Monday Nolan had his 12 month doctor appointment. He is up to 31.5", 92%! He weighs 23.3 lbs, 57%. Healthy little guy! He received 4 shots and had to have his blood drawn to test his hemoglobin and lead levels (both were good). That was not fun. At all.

Nolan has become quite the climber. Now that he is taller he is able to climb up on stuff. He climbs up onto the couch (he stands on a pillow first), he turns over the cardboard boxes from his train and climbs up on them, he climbs up on a riding toy dinosaur, he climbs on everything he can! I showed him how to turn onto his tummy and back down feet first. He caught onto that quickly. Nolan is always so proud of himself when he successfully climbs up and back down from something. He looks at us, grins and claps. It is so sweet.

This past year has been amazing. Jason and I feel so blessed to have such a healthy, happy little boy. We can't wait to see what Nolan will learn and do this next year!

Birthday boy playing with his new phone

Bittersweet - our last monthly photo! 12 months old

The awesome train cake Jason made

Snacks and Sangria

I think people knew they found the right house

Watch out for a train crossing!

The Nolan Express :)

Party boy wearing the conductor hat

Reading a book and riding on his new rocking toy Jason and I gave him

Happy birthday dear Nolan!

He did not hesitate to dig right in

Tasting the chocolate

yum

Licking the chocolate off his hand

Waving at the audience :)

Brunson, Nolan, Abigail and Blake riding in the train

So cute!

 

Our happy birthday boy <3 

Little Ham

There's so much to catch up on, but this will have to be short and sweet. Jason and I leave for Mexico in 8 hours and we aren't finished packing. But I have been dying to get these videos posted and secured on my computer. I would be devastated if something happened to my phone and I lost them.

Nolan is such a little ham. About a month ago he started fake laughing. He does it when other people are laughing and he wants to join in. He has learned that his fake laugh makes me laugh, so now he'll do it just to make me laugh. It's so adorable.

A few weeks ago Nolan started laughing like The Count from Sesame Street. I have no idea how he learned to laugh like that, because he has never seen Sesame Street. But I took the opportunity to teach him to laugh like The Count when I ask, "What does The Count say?"

This video captures both of his unique laughs.

Also, Nolan lets us know when he is ready for bed. One night around Nolan's bedtime, I randomly asked him if he wanted milk. He grinned and took off running for his bedroom where we nurse. I thought it was just a one time thing, but he has been consistently doing it! If he isn't ready for bed, he'll just smile and keep playing. But when I ask 5-10 minutes later, he's usually ready for bed and will run to his bedroom. My mom has tried this for nap times at her house when I'm at work. She asks, "Do you want to go night night?" And he'll run to the bedroom where he naps and say, "Ni ni." So cute!

Here is a video of Nolan running to his bedroom ready to nurse and go to sleep.

I will have tons more to post in the next few weeks as Nolan turns ONE! There will be birthday pictures, professional one year photos, and birthday party pictures. Jason and I can't wait! :)

A walker...and a talker! (Plus videos!)

I've heard from multiple sources that a baby is a walker or a talker. The brain focuses on one big thing at a time, so if a baby is an early talker, he/she probably won't be an early walker, and vice versa. Nolan was an early walker, so he wasn't talking yet. Over this last month he started to say some words, and it is so fun! He now says mama, dada, nana (banana), ni-ni (night night), and num num. He also says mmmmm for moo. We have been signing with Nolan since he was 6 months, and it has been obvious for awhile now that he understands a lot of the signs. For instance, just the other night I asked him if he wanted milk, and he took off into his bedroom and ran to the rocking chair where we nurse. When I sign for drink, he turns his head and looks at his sippy cup. He does sign "eat", "milk", and "more". It's so fun that he understands some of what we say now and is able to let us know what he wants!
Another completely adorable thing that Nolan does that melts our hearts is kiss the air. He smacks his little lips together and makes a kiss noise. My mom says that he will walk over to the baby gate that I meet him at when I pick him up after work, say "mama", and kiss the air. SO SWEET! Last weekend my parents watched Nolan overnight while Jason and I went to his cousin Jamie's wedding. It was Nolan's first overnight (he did better than I did, I think). He did the mama/kiss thing that weekend. He must have missed me! Then this work week he was eating lunch in his highchair and started saying "mama, dada" and kissing the air. It is the cutest thing ever! And Nolan is generous with his kisses. The other day when we were hanging out at my mom's before I went to work he went up to my mom and looked up at her and kissed the air. What a sweetie!
Today our little man turned 11 months old. I know I say this in the majority of my posts, but I cannot believe how fast time flies. Seriously. One more month and we will have a 1 year old on our hands! What!?
In the meantime, here are some pictures and videos of our little guy. Enjoy!

Playing under a table at a restaurant 

Cheesy smile

Love this.

Sweater made by my mom's friend Kathy Kallas when my mom was pregnant with me! Love it. And I love the red khakis. :)