Fear, Fun and Funniness

A lot has been going on lately as usual. As you know, Nolan is quite tall. I guess I didn't realize this until Sunday when I got him up from his nap. His crib side is all the way up and the mattress is lowered all of the way and the side only comes to a little above his waist! Jeff and I joke that we'll need to put padding on the floor. I am very fearful that he will jump out soon. I have caught him trying to throw his leg over the edge. Yikes!He had tons of fun at Allie's first birthday party. It was held at the Nature Center in Madison Heights, a little known treasure. We bundled up and went on a nature walk. I realized that if I am going to be a mom, I need to brush up on my nature skills. I didn't know anything! I definitely wasn't paying attention in Biology! Nolan got to see his Allie, her mother Marcia who is also Nolan's sitter and his other girlfriend Addison. They light up when they see each other. Allie's grandmother said that the first time she smiled that day was when she saw Nolan at the party. Awwwwe...

Sunday, Nolan got a new toy. We couldn't wait until Christmas. He got a racetrack. It has a ramp for the cars. Well, Nolan seems to think it's a slide for him although it is only about two to three inches wide. I put the toy together, he crawled over to it, stood up, turned around, sat on it and slid down the ramp! We were cracking up. He is a goofball!Please excuse the disaster in the background. We couldn't wait to play.

In this next picture, look at Nolan's right heel. It is almost flat to the floor. This is thanks to his day and night braces. They are giving him a good stretch so he can eventually put his heel on the ground. This will prevent him from walking on his toes, limping or tripping on his foot.

So, Nolan saw his neurologist this week. She thinks he is making great progress in most areas. We are still concerned about his speech and eating. She is requesting a speech evaluation and swallow study. Hopefully, we can get that done before the beginning of the year.

Nolan's diet has added a few items: rotini with alfredo sauce, breadsticks, cereal bars and watermelon. We are now supplementing his milk with protein powder and an organic fruit/veggie powder for all of his vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. I think he's gained five pounds this week from the protein. At least that's what it feels like!

He Did It!

Nolan ate a whole piece of pizza and a breadstick last night...in the record time of 1 hour, 10 minutes. It is taking me until today to post it because I am still tired from the event. I hate to feed my baby pizza, but at least he's eating I keep telling myself.

In that hour, I obviously had a lot of time to take pictures.

We Have a Three Footer!

Nolan had his 18 month well baby visit this week. He's officially three feet tall now! I can't believe that he is potentially half way to his adult height at only 18 months old. As you know, we have been struggling with Nolan's eating. It's hard for the doctor to be concerned as Nolan still registers in the 95th percentile for weight. He has lost a few pounds in the past six months, but he has also grown four inches. Now that he is moving more, it is common for their weight to drop a little. Where Nolan is now in his physical development, most children reach at 10-12 months. The doctor gave us a protein powder and a vitamin/antioxidant powder to put in his food to help him out. We will go back at 20 months, instead of 24 months, for a height and weight check to make sure he isn't losing more. We have developed some new techniques with meal time and things have been going pretty smooth this week. We pray it continues. The newest item in his menu is grilled cheese. However, from time to time, he opens the bread, picks the cheese off and throws it on the floor. sigh...... Nolan's other new trick...he is now tall enough to stand at the sink and pull the dishes out. I caught him cruising along the kitchen counter. He saw his sippy cup with old milk in it on a heap of dishes and pulled it out. He was so proud. Now, I have another thing to monitor...dirty dishes. I also caught him trying to pull the pans off the stove. This is a whole new world for me. We're so used to him barely moving, now he's everywhere. It truly is a blessing that he can move like this now. We weren't sure if we'd ever get here. Thank God we have.

Goin' to the Top!

Nolan has been really excelling this past week. He started cruising along the furniture and really liking to stand and take steps back and forth. He has started talking more and singing often. He likes to say, "Ha-ro." That is his way of saying 'Hello'; however, he sounds like a parrot when he says it. It is adorable. He is saying "bu-bye" and "nigh nigh". We have songs that we sing and I will stop when he knows a word and he says the word. It is so amazing to me. Jeff thinks he is singing the tunes from his cricket machine, too. He has really become a fan of his full size football that Daddy bought him. He especially likes to throw it at the dogs' head.

He is showing himself the football in the mirror.We use the football a lot to work on balance while standing and for squatting down to pick it up and return to the standing position.

We had the rare opportunity this evening to go to the playground. It's November 4!

Oh, and one last piece of other exciting news, Nolan ate an apple today. That's huge! He loved the crunchiness and crispness of it. He did choke from time to time, but he handled it well. His OT said this week that he is almost on schedule with his fine motor skills. Go Nolan! You the man! Do you know anyone that has a better work ethic than Nolan? I certainly don't!

Go Grandma!

Nolan has a message for his grandma. I hope you can read it.

We are the Champions!

Jeff is the coach of the Huskers, a flag football team that is part of City Mission. They had the most wins for their age group. At the All Star Game, the team he coached won as well. It was a great year for the kids.

Halloween-y

Nolan is still unaware of what Halloween is except his parents dress him funny and try to get him to wear things he hates. This year Jeff picked out his costume...a fighter pilot. The suit was ok, the sunglass and headset were not. We couldn't even get one picture. Nolan got to wear his costume to therapy two days in a row, once at Miss Marcia's house when she took him and Allie to the zoo and once on Halloween night at the Weatherly's. We went Trick or Treating at the Weatherly's with him and Dominic in the wagon. Nolan was only interested in drinking milk, snacking and enjoying the ride.

Here he is posing Halloween night in front of the house before we left.

This picture is one of my favorites. Nolan is scared of his friends' costumes and they are looking at him like, "What the heck is wrong with him, we look sweet?"
Dominic took Nolan's cup and he is TO'd.Nolan spent the remainder of his time at the Weatherly's crawling through the leaves while we passed out candy.
Can't wait until next year.