up- Up UPPPP! UUUPP!

A Day at the Park

Ok. The sequence goes:

Nice day (warm, sunny, a bit windy), lets go to the park. Try to put Nolan in the stroller, but child refuses to bend at the midsection so abandon plan. Try to walk with him, but child refuses to go in planned direction. Carry wailing child half a block until he calms down, walk with him without incident until he starts to stomp through puddles to a neighbours front door, looking quite intent to enter. Pick him up and carry to park- mud on his shoes now liberally applied to coat front because of flailing feet.

Then, help him up the steps to the slide. Observe his mild uncertainty, but he gamely sits and- "whee!" down to the parent at the bottom. Moment of dawning realization- that was GREAT! And "Up. UP! UUPPP!". To do it again. And again. And again, with a break to visit the neighbours dogs. And again.

And, at the end of the day, a starring turn as Nolan the Intrepid Aerodynamic Bath Tub Climber.

P.S. We got the new camera, and will at some point learn how to use it properly.....

Shoes

I picked this photo by opening a folder randomly and taking the 10th file. So there you go, a first birthday pic with Cousin Will and Elise.
Awake since 0230 for no reason except training after this wakeful week- but Nolan is still asleep. Lucky little man. The internet is great for these hours- I have looked at Japanese cigarette etiquette signs, watched a archived video of nuclear testing in Nevada destroying untidy and unpainted homes while the clean, neat, painted ones survived (really), and read my favorite blogs.

Nolan now says lots of 'sh" words, like shoes, wash and so on, and loves to say "ock" for clock but several times has accidentally used SWEAR words, which I carefully don't react to, but it is quite funny than random toddlerspeak can result in that.

We ate out last night (Urban Diner) and went to Mountain Equipment Co-op after, to see if they had baby aquasocks after looking all over the city for some to take to Mexico. Seemed quite a long shot, but a nice MEC guy looked in the back and found some! They are far too large but have a toggle to tighten them so hopefully will work as an alternate to his sandals, which don't look all that comfortable. At one point, Nolan was wearing one thick soled shoe and one aquasock and climbing up and down the shoe testing ramp- basically using it as a slide -and ending up on his back on the floor, laughing.

He's quite adaptable to new adult situations when we take him out- he just starts investigating and seems to enjoy it. Weirdly, he has apparently been more shy at his playgroup with other kids. I wonder if he knows he's a little kid, or thinks he's an adult, or isn't sure?

This is a post without direction so I'll just stop. We ALMOST have a new camera....

3:30 AM, Nolan's House

This is a picture of Nolan, me and Llew and Uncle Conor in London, at the wedding in June. Nolan had no teeth. I am nostalgic about this. See below.

I am awake. I have been awake for an hour or so. Mike is awake, with Nolan downstairs having a snack prior to trying to trying to sleep again. I have been bitten. There has been Ibuprofen for teething pain, and handwashing and toothbrushing- the kid is a hygiene freak. When he gots up, he almost immediately said "Shhhh?" (short form for "wash") which can mean toothbrushing with much dipping in the running tap, while I hold him up at the sink, or handwashing with deep affection for bars of soap. Sometimes if I am brushing my teeth and he is waiting for me to pick him up he actually DANCES from foot to foot in anticipation. Cute, weird. I passed him off to Mike after the NOT cute bite though. Oww.

This obsession explains the toothbrush issue in our house- Nolan has loved toothbrushes for - well, months anyway- and takes them to bed, walks around with them....as a result they intermittently go missing and we get replacements, then the old ones show up. So Nolan has three toothbrushes, but borrows ours anyway, and now I have three on the go. As does Mike. Every bathroom sink has 3 or 4. Sometimes there is one in the bed. A visitor would wonder if this is a house full of OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) dentists.

GTG. Bunkie is upset and it's my turn- I think he's close to being able to settle down.