nolan sings A LOT

I know it's been a long time! I'm back to blogging (sort of) and thought I would share some recent videos of Nolan singing various songs (all in the car when he can't run around!). He really loves to sing! Enjoy...

Nolan sings itsy bitsy spider



The ABCs



Twinkle twinkle

wheels on the bus, nolan style and some pics

Here is a new video of nolan's interpretation of his favorite song...

and a few recent pics from the indy children's museum (before the haircut seen in the video!)

nolan dances for elli

Nolan likes to perform for Elli. Poor poor elli.

and this is what happened at the end of nolan's dance party...

nolan and his animal sounds

nolan--working on his animal sounds.

nolan's first haircut

a few days before Christmas we took Nolan to get his first haircut. He was very good (just sitting in my lap) and the result was a great looking haircut.

before and after shots (with Amalia)

doggies!

laughing

This was taken in Maine but I forgot to put it up here...enjoy

new videos!

Nolan loves Elli...but it's safe to say that Elli is taking awhile to warm up to him (that may be an understatement)

Nolan is so close to walking! Practice, practice, practice

crawling...FORWARD

Nolan has been pushing himself backwards for a few weeks but this past Sunday he started pulling himself forward. And man he can really move especially if it's towards the cat or the cat's food bowl.

nolan's new smile

Nolan has changed his smile a bit now that he has teeth. He crinkles up his nose a lot more. He just loves pulling himself up and standing up on anything and everything. No crawling yet but he can sure get around!

P.S. Those are blueberries on his shirt. He loves blueberries.

Traveling!

Follow my brother-in-law as he travels around Indonesia!

www.swarasonora.blogspot.com

Leave him a message too...if you are so inclined

Nate and Nolan

nolan rocks

Nolan has taken to rock back and forth when he hears music or a song. Here's just a short example of his new trick.

ALSO, he got his first tooth two days ago! Woo hoo!

a few new videos...

Nolan is learning his consonent sounds.  We've been trying to get him to make other sounds outside of "ooohhhh" and "ahhhh" and he just busted out with "da da da" recently.  Check it out!

He's also rolling over like crazy.  We took this awhile ago when he was just discovering that he could roll.

budding musician...

Nolan practices playing piano with Grandpa Harry a few weeks ago during our visit.

Easter and Solid Foods!

It's been a really busy couple of weeks! Nolan had a great Easter at my parent's house and then we got home and Nolan had his first taste of rice cereal.

He loved his little chicky in the Easter basket and he got a book and some sunglasses which he wasn't too sure about but he tolerates them pretty well and he looks so funny!

Outside at my Grandmas on Easter sunday. It was sunny and a bit chilly but we had a good time!

His first taste of rice cereal...he was not a fan. But a few days later he LOVED it. And now he eats all kinds of things--rice and oat cereal, carrots, peas, green beans, squash, sweet potatoes, pears, bananas and he loves it all. We are introducing new foods every day!

Stay tuned for pics of Nolan's first Cubs game (go Brewers!) and his first swim "lesson"

new things for nolan

We borrowed a jumper from Nolan's friend Ben to see whether he likes it and he loves it!  He doesn't quite grasp the concept of jumping but he definitely moves it from side to side.

He also got a "highchair" this weekend.  It's just a little seat that attaches to our countertop.  He likes that too!  We'll be starting to introduce solid foods after Easter.  Exciting stuff!

Joel got a new guitar from Harry for his birthday and Nolan loves listening.  He even got to strum a bit!

Shake, rattle and roll

Nolan loves his new rattle...

Shawano...Colds...Aunt Nora

The weekend of the February 21st, Nolan made his first trip up to Joel's hometown (Shawano, WI) for the annual ice fishing derby.  We saw lots of old friends and Nolan met everyone and was in good spirits despite coming down with his first cold on Saturday.  He had such a bad cough but he handled it like a champ.

Sunset in Shawano...

He met lots of new friends!

Leonard and Carol Kary with Nolan (above) and Joel's goddaughter Elizabeth and her dad Chad with Nolan.

He's been really vocal lately-making lots of noise but it seems like I just can't get it on camera!  Everytime I turn on the camera he clams up.  In the video below he stares at the camera for over a minute and doesn't make hardly a peep.  What a stinker.

I did catch him making a few noises in this video!

Finally, Aunt Nora (my sister) came for a visit from Tallahassee last weekend and enjoyed lots of time with Nolan.  He stayed home from daycare just to visit with her!

It's been awhile...

A long while since I've posted anything...I never finished posting about France...maybe someday. Highlights included the 36 hours in a French hospital because Nolan (then referred to as Baby Krueger) made me really sick and I couldn't stop throwing up (a mix of exhaustion and morning sickness). But outside of that little detour, we spent some great and relaxing days in Paris.  Nora and I spent a lot of time in cafes.  

Summer was pretty low key with no other big trips although we did travel quite a bit around the midwest for three weddings (my cousin and two of Joel's childhood friends-see below). Also, the summer saw my belly expand to monumental proportions AND my parents move out of our childhood home into a condo. I also had two really nice baby showers in the late summer/early fall.

Travis and Barb at the reception.  Yea!

Tina, Chad, Greg, Joel and Eric celebrating Chad's wedding. Congrats Chad and Cheyna!

John giving a speech at his wedding.  Gina is on the far right.  Congrats you guys!  

And now onto the best part. Nolan was born on November 12 at 3:33pm. I went into labor at 1am. He was 9 lbs. 5 oz and 22.5 inches long! Yikes!

On to more recent events. My parents were up for a visit this past weekend and it was so nice we went downtown to the Art Institute and Milennium Park.

Nolan, Joel, me, dad and mom all reflected in the bean (officially Cloud Gate in Millennium Park).

Papa Mike and Nolan at the art museum.

Riding in the stroller like a big boy (his first time)!

This is his favorite expression! Lots of smiles!

He got a new chair from some friends (thanks Jeff and Beth!) and I put him in it for the first time.  It should help him learn to sit up.  He was a little unsure at first but now he loves it (please note the buddha belly)!

I'm going to try to post every week or so to get some new pics of him up and update on what we've been doing...and for those of you on facebook...I'll try to put some different pictures up!

Viva La France! Part Trois

Friday May 2: The Loire Valley continued...

We decided to stay in the Loire Valley in the morning because we wanted to check out another castle and see a winery. Our next castle was Chateau d'Azay le Rideau. It was built by a French finance minister and when the King saw how elaborate and expensive it became-he confiscated it. The inside of the castle was much better kept than the prior castle because this castle was a national monument and one that the French government maintains.

It's all about symmetry for the French-the view down the walk.

A castle is a castle is a castle...

The family seal above the fireplace: this castle was really well maintained. Some of the tapestries looked like they were practically new even though they were over 100 years old.

Mom, Dad and the castle.

After the castle, we headed to a winery in a nearby town. I wasn't feeling great so I stayed in the car while the rest of the family went to a wine cave where they age the wine. They ended up with these caves when they were digging out stones to build the castle. They all said it was a great day (and they bought lots of wine!).

Then we all piled into our cars and headed to Brittany to try to get to Saint Michel (a famous Abbey) before it closed...we made it and the pictures will be up shortly!