Travellin' Man

This was 2 months ago, at least- reading on the couch, with morning hair. My sweetiebug.

So, we are off to Mexico again this weekend with Aunty Nica and Uncle Jeff and their Bump- she's 30 weeks along, and I'm sure will be the cutest pregnant girl on the beach. We are both a little stressed about carving out more time from work right now, I think I'll take my laptop to work on some program stuff.

Nolan I'm sure is getting blase about travel, he'll have been to Mexico twice- Mayan Riviera and Puerto Vallarta, Victoria, Vancouver, London, and Stockholm before he's two, which is a little crazy actually. Good thing he's actually pretty easygoing.

Last night we went for a walk and he walked/ran QUITE a distance along the river valley path, including up a hill, then was REALLY tired and cranky and needing bed during his bath, although I could see it coming, it was hard to dissuade him from walking. He likes to be a grownup I think!

New "likes to say"- shampoo, shower, sankyou!, tub bubbles, button (belly and other). Also a tendency to need MAMAMAMAMA! when upset, especially lately. A bit alarming as he gets inconsolable about it, but I'm sure the phase will pass.

New "likes to eat"- a graham cracked on the couch, with juice and cuddles from mommy, watching Blues Clues. (We use a teatowel as a tablecloth, and ONLY do it when I get home)
Also pretty fond of corn, meatloaf, and potatoes, and Balderson 10y aged cheddar. Loves dipping anything dippable into anything that looks like a dip- sliced veggieburger and ketchup, or more creatively, potatoes and yogourt, meat and applesauce.

18 months old- before the real age of reason, but he's so communicative and interesting that the occasional "lie on the floor protesting" moments don't seem so bad- yet. Such a dramatic boy.

It's a walk in the park!

This pic is about 6 weeks old but is so hilarious. Look at the ATTITUDE here.

Awake, with the added benefit of a stuffy nose.

Nolan LOVES going outside, and hasn't quite figured out that he shouldn't cross the street to the park alone, so we spend some time running after him.

Our park -in front of the house- is GREAT, all of the parents around the perimeter keep an eye on the kids, and it tends to become a very sociable place with all ages pick up soccer games (ball and net left in the park at all times), a place where gangs of kids climb a great climbing tree under watchful eyes while groups of parents chat or go to a neighbours porch for a beer, big friendly dogs whose owners actually pick up after them....

Last night there were about 3 groups of 2-3 adults chatting and watching about a dozen kids play, the weather was great, and I was so happy we lucked into this location.

Nolan tends to run up to the soccer ball in excitement and pick it up, and run wildly off with it, which is cute. He also thrusts both arms in the air vigourously and chants "Go! Go! Go!"- don't know where he learned THAT. He also will kick the ball occasionally, getting big cheers from the bigger kids, who are nice, and protective. Some of the little girls- 10 yrs old or so- just ADORE him to bits and take him around the park in his stroller and argue about who will be his babysitter. He's such a smoothie.

What a great neighborhood, Nolan will grow in a world of friendly, interactive neighbours who look out for each other. As long as the big kids don't accidentally trample him while he's running around underfoot....

Big Boy, Pretty Girl

Blog posting almost daily or more, here, due to insomnia....

So, here is the proof that Nolan is a pretty tall guy. He does come by it genetically honestly, and I see it with mingled pride and uncertainty about why I should be proud of that. It does seems a bit irrelevant as an accomplishment, but the most common stranger compliments to kids are "big boy!" and "Pretty girl!", and Nolan is no exception. Actually, when his hair is long he may get BOTH comments within the same day. Don't people think I am dressing "her" kind of butch?

Anyway, there you go, favorable traits in the eyes of society it seems. However it also means he is the size of an average 27-34 month old, so "why doesn't he talk(walk climb behave-draw) better" is the subtext, while average sized kids skills are much more apparent..

It also makes clothes shopping a bit of a problem- toddler inseams are very variable in length and often gave little to do with stated size, and long things are often rather- ummm- square in cut, so he looks like a box wearing runners.

And, if he was shy of the 50th percentile (as HALF of kids are, obviously) I'm sure I'd be worried about THAT.

Parents. But when you get right down to it, I am more comfortable with his continuing the family trend of tall, and hope he continues to be so (within reason) as at least I can more easily relate to that. And he'll be able to look his dad, and uncles of both sides, in the eye (or close, at least).

Thinking Chair

I have to upload some more photos. In the meantime......

Nolan has become very passionate about Blue's Clues- he didn't nap today- (collective horrified UH-OH!!!) and the only thing to distract him from TWO head- banging- on- the -floor -tears- spurting MELTDOWNS was good old Blue and Joe on DVD. After, he actually went to the corner, grabbed the red "thinking chair" armchair from Oma and Opa, and pulled it in front of the TV. Then he rested his head on his fists JUST the way Joe and Steve do, while "thinking". Good observational skills I'd say, as he wasn't watching the show at the time.

He also is newly MUCh more into crayons and scribbling, and LOVES his new table and chairs, although has an alarming tendency to climb now. On top of the chairs, up drawers, up ladders (the tall slide in the playground, a stepladder at London Drugs...)

Fearless, and therefore scary. Good thing he still tends to bounce his somewhat tall and lean but padded babyframe (ht 110%ile, wt 85%ile) when he falls......

A note from under the table

Sleeping better- (Mexico in feb) !!
Nolan, thankfully, is back on track with his sleep routine (Evadnie is a great nanny) so tonight was a lot better. I think the life experiences of going out on weekends, visiting, playing with other kids and so on is great once in a while but the benefits of a background routine are obvious.

After supper, Nolan went under the table and was having a great animated conversation with ??himself- he's very expressive and his gibberish sounds like it ought to be a language. I was listening to him chatting, and precontemplating doing the dishes, and also thinking about going to the garage to look for some potting soil to transpant a plant into a bigger pot, wondering if I had some sand for the bottom, wondering if we have enough milk....

So I decided to get under the table with Nolan instead. What was so fun down there?? As it happens, there is interesting hardware for the table leaf extension, and tthe tablecloth is pretty long, so it was a good fort. Nolan just BEAMED at me and we sat companionably for a bit. He actually gasped and wiggled in excitement when Mike came over and peeked under the table (Look! FEET! Coming here!!!!) and enjoyed lifting the tablecloth to peekaboo with him.

So, good lesson to self (I can tend to get a bit obsessed and "to do" stressed). Forget about the to do list sometimes, and stop for the toddler's eye view under the table.

Helping

Cute picture from when Nolan went for an unscheduled swim with Kai and Kai's dad Jeff in Victoria. He had a great time. Kai and his parents Satchan and Jeff live in Saskatoon now.

So, he's realized we keep the bathroom door shut downstairs (it's to keep him out of the very fascinating toilet) and he closes the door for us if we leave it open. He also will grab a broom- he prefers the red one- and industriously start sweeping as soon as I start sweeping- he starts in the dining room while I start in the kitchen. His efforts are more distributive than anything else but the thought is very appreciated! He'll even sweep if I ask"Nolan, please sweep the floor"- he runs off for his broom.

He also sings to himself- usually "Old MacDonald", his own version, or else if I sing the first part he softly chimes in with "eeeya eeeeya eeeeeya" at the chorus, it's very sweet. He also makes the appropriate animal noises MOST of the time, but ducks and dogs are both "Woof", and horses don't neigh, they make a popping clip clop sound (a mouth suction/tongue clicking noise, like the San tribe speak in the Kalahari. He picked up that odd skill quite a while ago).

Sweet. Helpful. Stubborn as a rock and hard to sway from a course of action. Occasionally bad tempered- he'll grab your FACE with his pinchy little paws if he is bugged at the wrong time. However, he's quite empathetic so I feel once he figures out that things HURT others he'll desist- he's not a sociopath. Cuddly and affectionate. The latest- if you stand partway down the stairs, or if he is partway up the stairs, and you put your face up to the railing, he'll grin and come closer, and put his face between the bars for a kiss.

Coming up on 18 months old. Amazing, and he's learning so many things every day- it's a lot of fun.