Blankies!!

Nolan has been a blanket fan since he was pretty tiny. In the beginning his blanket was easier than a toy to grasp so he could play with it when toys were not yet manageable. I tried to push two different blankets in the hopes he would pick one of those as his favorite and one of these two would eventually become his "blankie". They were both super cute and tiny too! Much easier to manage than a full size blanket when your baby wants to drag it everywhere.

The first was made by Nolan's Great-Aunt and has fun tags along the edges. It was his favorite for quite some time and you could always find him playing with the ribbon tags (and still can). I really thought this was the forerunner for the title blankie as Nolan would always be sure to grab it. It was one of the first things he grasped and even at a few weeks old he managed to keep it in his hands.

The second was given to Nolan by his Aunt and Uncle Cindy and Mike. It silky on one side and soft on the other and has a monkey head attached to it. Nolan loved the idea of toy and blanket combined into one and would gnaw on the monkey every chance he got.

I'm sure you're at the edge of your seat wondering which one he picked, right? I think we have finally determined who the winner is. Of course, it's neither listed above! It's just one blanket in his stash that I happened to cover him up with at night and it somehow made the rotation more than the others.

How do I know he has chosen? Last night after not feeling so well, Nol had to have an emergency bath. The process of removing him from his blankie was so upsetting that he was hysterical the 5 minutes it took to bathe him and clean of his blankie so it was at least bearable for him to sleep with. I've noticed for a while he tries to sneak his bed blanket and pacifier out of his crib when he gets up for the day. Only now that he was feeling bad it became apparent that he had to have that specific blankie! I also have found him pulling the blanket through the crib slots when I put it in the crib for the day.

Here it is.

I ordered two more today so when nastiness happens and I have to take it away at 9 pm he isn't hysterical. It's cute but of course not portable size!! Nolan still grabs his favorite tag along blankets and loves to play with those when mean mommy makes him keep his blankie in bed!

Bouncer!

We pulled out Nolan's baby bouncer this week to get it ready for our guest baby who has started joining us twice a week. Nolan thought it was fun and much more interesting than when he was little and the actual size for it! He is still not over the weight limit, not surprisingly, but I think he'd stand and carry it like a turtle if I strapped him in. Here is Nolan in his bouncer right after it was bought for him.

Here he is in it now.... one year, one month, and two days later!!

I miss my tiny baby but love the big boy he is becoming!

MOSH Fun

Nolan and I needed to get out of the house for some fun so we headed to the Museum of Science and History. It's pretty small but a fun place still.

Nolan played in the water table and splashed all around.

One of his favorite things was swinging the guard rails!

There was lots of exploring all on his own and he even managed to walk with me the whole time like a big boy! That is really a first as usually he runs in the opposite direction and has to be corralled.

Another favorite was in the dinosaur exhibit. They had a play area where kids could practice being archaeologists. Nolan was great with the paint brush and discovered some giant dino bones!

He got a little to into it though! (Yep those feet are off the ground and he is stuck) Overall it was a fun trip!

One of those....

Don't you just hate it when one of those days turns in to one of those weeks and if it happens in early January it's one of those years!! Argh. At least I have this goofy boy there to make me smile!

...and of course a wonderful hard working husband.

Crafty Book Sling!

I have been wanting to get Nolan some sort of book organizational system for a while. I really liked these types of toddler shelves but the reviews always said they didn't last, they don't match our furniture, and they weren't cheap.

Yesterday, I decided to google do it yourself book sling and I came across a great blog and tutorial. With a Christmas gift card I was off to JoAnn's to find the perfect fabric. Just a short time later, and of course after Nolan's bedtime, it was finished. Tim hung it for me today and I'm thrilled. I only wish the curtain bracket allowed the opening between the two dowels to be a bit wider for some of his chunkier books. Now I need a few more of these!!

Disney

This past weekend was Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party at Magic Kingdom that we won tickets to. We took our good friend Ben and his girlfriend. Besides it feeling very much like winter, we had a great time.

Nolan was a champ and rode with us on numerous rides. He was mesmerized by the It's a Small World ride, had fun spinning on the tea cups, flew high on Dumbo and Aladdin's carpet, and even nursed on the Haunted Mansion ride.

....Tim forgot he was filming and turned the camera at the end. I haven't had a chance to use our software to edit that part yet!

Nolan with Ben!

Nolan and Daddy on It's a Small World

Nolan fell asleep at about 9:15 and slept through the fireworks amazingly. he woke up pretty upset and we had to visit the baby care center to warm up a bit. I put him in the ERGOBaby carrier and zipped him under my coat where he slept through the late night parade too. He awoke just in time to leave the park and take the very windy and chilly tram ride to our car. He has a fun stuffed Mickey to remember his first Disney trip!

Momma Kangaroo holding sleeping baby.

We won't mention just how horrible it is to have a poor sleeping 14mo old in a hotel room!

Oh to be a...

KID!!

Nolan and I went with our meetup.com Mom's group yesterday to O2B Kids. I wasn't sure what all they had but I knew the day would start with a puppet show then some free play time.

The place was amazing. I'm still gushing about it because we had such fun. As members, every Tuesday and Thursday they have a play group day. Basically starting at 10 for an hour they have different activities based on the ages of the children. Yesterday as guests we got to participate in everything and get a feel for the place.

We started with a morning puppet show that introduced songs, rhymes, letter and numbers. Nolan had fun and was ready to run up on the little stage himself. Next, was art class which I was a little leery about. I've wanted to start doing such things at home but still was afraid he was too young. Although he enjoyed the Play-doh toys more than the actual dough I was just glad he didn't eat it (yes, he chewed on some of the toys)!

 Seeing my little baby sitting on a big boy chair was definitely adorable too.

 They had a fun "sand table" which was an idea we might borrow for home. In "sand" consisting of rice and pasta noodles of various sizes and shapes were different digging and scooping toys. It was much cleaner than sand and probably safer if eaten too!

We then got some energy out in the gym. This tumble area had a great running trampoline, a balance beam, and lots of fun foam shapes to climb. It was a blast and by the end Nolan would even jump a bit on the trampoline. He was a jumper as a baby in his different toys but now that he walks it is really a difficult skill to master. I was glad to see him trying.

We finished up our day with some free play in the toddler area. There were plenty of toys to climb on and explore here and a nice area for moms to sit and relax!

This last picture says it all... WE HAD FUN!!!

P.S. Anyone know how to put two pictures side by side in Blogger?