Four steps!

Nolan took another 4 steps today! He walked to me, taking 4 steps all on his own! I wish I would have backed-up a bit to see how far he could would've gone, but still so amazed with his skills!

He took his first 2 steps on his birthday, 10/28, so his progress is really impressing this gushing mama :)

Pumpkin Patch Playtime

A few months back, Sarah B, Sarah D, Trisha and I had this grandiose plan of having a quadruple 1st birthday party for Avery, Taylor, Olivia and Nolan since they were all born within a week of each other. This, we hoped, would be a relief for our friends, as they would not need to attend 4 children's birthday parties.

But as we started planning, it just seemed to be more hectic than it was worth. So we opted, instead, just to do our own family birthday parties for the kids, then go to the Pumpkin Patch so they we can get all the kids dressed up and take pics. It was a pseudo birthday party, but we told friends it was just a "halloween" thing so that people didn't feel obligated to bring gifts, etc.

It was a great day, although I think it will be another year before they can truly appreciated the pumpkin patch. Us parents enjoyed it, though, and that's what's important, right? ;)

Nolan in his astronaut flight suit

Birthday Twins! Avery and Nolan

Olivia, Avery and Nolan

"Brothers"! Robert, Connor and Nolan

Nana, Nolan and Mama...with a little cupcake-face

My beautiful spider web cupcakes! Quite delicious, I must say. Pumpkin spice cake, with caramel buttercream frosting.

More pics at:

https://picasaweb.google.com/106573206625619980489/20111030PumpkinPatch#

Nolan's 1st Birthday Celebration

I have always imagined that my baby's 1st birthday would be some huge/crazy event. And since Nolan was lucky enough to have 3 friends born within a week of him (even one on the same DAY), the 3 moms and I planned on a GINORMOUS birthday for the 4 birthday babies.

This, we felt, would be fun for all of us to do together, plus all of our mutual friends would really appreciate not having to go to 4 separate baby birthdays :)

So the planning begun. And the issues begun. "Where are we going to do it?....Well, if we do it outdoors, what if it rains? We need to have an indoor location at backup..... Well, maybe we should just have it indoors?..." But As we began to put the guest list together, it just seemed to get bigger and bigger; 4 birthday babies + 4 families + friends of 4 families + families of 4 families. Oy. What indoor location can accommodate that many people? And how can we manage that many people/children??

So we finally decided to keep it simple. The main things we all wanted: the 4 kids together for a birthday celebration and, of course, the kids in their adorable Halloween costumes. So we decided to just do a "Halloween Pics at the Pumpkin Patch" event and then just each of our family celebrations.

There it is. Simple. Easy.

So on Friday, Nolan's birthday, I stayed home from work to hang out with him. Oh, and do some delicious baking! So all day, my mom and I played with Nolan, made cupcakes (delicious pumpkin spice cupcakes with caramel buttercream frosting) for the pumpkin patch event AND a cake (an amazing banana cake with cream cheese/banana frosting) for his family party.

It was so much fun! I love being domestic sometimes! (I said *sometimes*)

On Saturday, we did our big family event at Sonoma Chicken Coup. It included my mom, grandma, Jarrod, Jenn, Robert, Connor, Francis' mom, and Francis' stepdad. It was a really great time, delicious food, and AMAZING cake (if I must say so myself).

Here are some pics from his family party:

More pics at:

https://picasaweb.google.com/106573206625619980489/20111029NolanSBirthdayLunch#

Wait, what? My baby is 1 today?!!

I am still having troubles coming to terms with it. It can't be...no...how...what? My baby boy is 1 year old today??!!

My feelings about him turning 1 are polarized. On one side, my heart is broken. I feel like time is zipping right past me; what happened to my infant boy that I birthed like...yesterday?

But then there is this other half of me - so excited to see what tomorrow brings. Each day with Nolan is more entertaining and exciting than the last. He is such a little character! I can barely put into words how amazing this little man is. Of course, I will try, though :)

Nolan is truly one of the most affectionate, sweet, loving children I have ever met. When you're sitting on the floor with him, he loves to just come over and smother you with a big hug and (if you're lucky) one of his signature open-mouth kisses on the cheek. When I lay on the floor playing with him, he will play with his toys for a bit, then come over and smother his face into your neck, chest, or lap. He will then return to his toys. A minute later, he will come over to you again to give some more love. What kid does that?? My kid, that's who.

At night is especially cuddly. You can just sit with him and cuddle together...for a bit (he is an almost-toddler, after all) . It's like you just melt together. What an amazing time.

He is such an easy-going, happy kid, too. He is generally always in good mood; as long as he can see that someone is around, he's a happy camper. He is not intimidated by new people, and absolutely LOVES other kids (especially his cousins, Robert and Connor).

When we go to restaurants, and he sits and eats his food and rarely fusses. We have never had to remove him from a restaurant due to a meltdown. Unheard of, right??

One of my favorite things Nolan does: throws himself right down in front of you to tickle him. It's the funniest thing! He'll lay down right in front of you with a little smirk and wait for you to tickle him. After he is done giggling and squirming, he'll crawl away, and a couple minutes later come over over for some more. And recently, when he sees Francis grab his little truck, he will lay down and wait for Francis to roll the truck all over his back. It is the cutest thing to watch!

Let's see...what are some of his big milestones, you ask? Here are some of the ones I can think of:

• says "dada" and "mama", although I think he says "mama" moreso when he wants/needs something, and "dada" when he's generally excited about things
• says "nana"
• says "up"
• said (once) "bye bye"
• said (once) "no no no" (after Connor took his toothbrush away from him)
• can put buckles together
• can unlock an iPhone (why did we teach him that?!)
• climbs up and down stairs
• walks...with assistance (he took 2 steps on his own today, though!) He really doesn't need the assistance because he seems to have really good balance, but he will just stop moving the moment you take your finger away. I guess he's just building up his confidence. He'll get there, though. No rush.
• feeds himself with a spoon
• brushes his own hair
• NOT ONE TOOTH yet. Not even peeking through.
• a million other things I can't think of right now. Good god, the kid changes daily! :)

All I can say is that Nolan has brought such a purpose and contentment in my life. I AM SO EXCITED TO SPEND MY LIFE WITH THIS AMAZING BOY!!!!

Here are some pics from his first 12 months. I actually cried as I went through some of these older pics - I am brought back to all the emotion and joy from each of these moments with him.(sniffle) I'll be okay.

October'10:

My little prince has arrived.

November'10:

My sleeping angel

Dec'10:

Those kissable cheeks!

Jan'11:

From our photo shoot with Katrine

Feb'11:

That funny little smile. It's so contagious!

Mar'11

Happiest baby boy!

April'11:

Easter Sunday

May'11:

Nolan trying to hide under the blanket

Jun'11:

Lookin' so dashing for mother's day

Jul'11:

Hanging at his bestie's (Avery) BBQ

Aug'11:

Just a little bubble time

Chargin' through

Sept'11:

Helping daddy on beer bottling day

Oct'11:

Peekaboo!

My baby's 1st Birthday!

Nana's new biking buddy!

My mom recently got a bike attachment so that she can take the kids on rides. Nana's got a new biking buddy!

Spoon-feeding himself

Nolan has been getting really frustrated with me feeding him; apparently, he believes he is ready to feed himself.

Since he kept grabbing for the spoon, I let him have at it! I would have to say, all in all, he did really well. He dips his spoon into the jar, then puts it directly into his mouth. I guess his downfall would be keeping the spoon straight; so far, half of his spooned food ends up on his tray.

Here's a nice pic after he fed himself. Hard to see all the food, but he somehow managed to get food on his face, hands, tray and....hair. Lovely.

Visiting Portland

Francis & I decided that we should take a mini-vacation/long-weekend away somewhere. Our main criteria was: short flight. This was our test to see if we could fly/vacation with Nolan without complete and utter chaos.

Result: Awesome! Nolan did incredible on the plane (although he didn't even sleep a minute), but he was happy and playful. And for Portland, what an incredible city. So green, clean, lush, and just beautiful in general. We walked all around downtown, visited multiple pubs (surprised?), and even drove around all the neighborhood of downtown. I could easily live in that city!

(oh, and top it off, we "met" Steven Tyler. He was staying in our hotel, even on the same floor! He waved at Nolan and said "hi". Nolan wasn't too impressed.)

More pics from Portland: https://picasaweb.google.com/106573206625619980489/20111002_04Portland?authkey=Gv1sRgCPDl8MTrk822ggE#