A Halloween Break

A quick break from our usual updates to give you our annual Halloween picture.  Because #BabyCressman seems to attract media attention, the Halloween photo was already "leaked" via the front page of our local newspaper that is delivered free to EVERY household.

Anyway, here's our little Dragon.  We still haven't mastered how to train him.

And, in keeping with tradition (see last year's blog post here), here is this year's Pumpkin TimeLapse.

Be safe out there! 

7 Quarters

Nolan is a week or so past 21 months.  21 months seems equivalent to turning... 28 or 29? There's nothing really significant. But, the post one-year photoshoots were documented every 3 months, so here you go.  I've stopped referring him as "months old" and give the blanket "almost 2." Everything about him screams toddler, so "almost 2" seems more appropriate.

 

Sidenote: See Scott's InstaGram for what taking pictures with Nolan is like. And, if you're wondering how he got so big, join me on Facebook as I scroll through his monthly picture album (though, I'm behind the screen all emotional and teary about my baby getting too big).

In the world of Nolan, everything is about trucks, trains, books, and balls.  If it doesn't fall into the four categories, it doesn't exist to him.  If you combine books and trains, you're in for a squealy, excited little guy who just can't fathom going to bed until it's read four times.  He also is very much into doing things on his own.

After picking up Nolan, we had to head to a rushed Meijer trip, before we went home and cooked dinner.  Well, we went by the milk aisle, and Nolan had a breakdown when he saw chocolate milk (sidenote: the pediatrician  got him on this when she was trying to get him to drink more milk). I, feeling bad about not seeing him all day and maybe he really was super thirsty, gave into him.  We go about our shopping for a few minutes while he drinks nicely.  I see that he's gulping it down and decide to help him lift the container as it gets lower.  Of course, he was mad because I tried helping him. So, he dramatically tugs back and it resulted in this.  Naturally, wipes were quickly added to the sticky shopping list.  And, if you're thinking I'm a nut, those are also opened goldfish next to him... because it was just that type of shopping trip.

In closing, I truly love this kid.  I would be completely fine with him staying this age forever.  I have probably said that about the last few stages, but it truly is so exciting watching him grow and learn.

Slightly Overdue

We officially have a 1.5 year old.  He's quite the little bundle of energy, and certainly keeps us on our toes. He's also perfecting terrible two's early... just so we're prepared.

This picture was awful to take and resulted in very little to work with.  He was in a great mood, but Nolan does not like sitting when other people are not sitting with him. And, the only time he laughed was when he got to throw the elephant off.  Did I mention we've crossed into toddler?

So, first a bit about Nolan:
He knows about 10-15 words.  He regularly uses: ball, airplane, dad, cat, stinky, hi, apple, quack, hot, more, and all done (notice mom is still not on that list!?!). He loves playing, climbing, and getting into stuff he shouldn't be. I'm at home now (hallelujah to summer!), and we spend ever morning exploring metro Detroit's toddler-encouraged locations.  He's just getting into splash pads and climbing gyms.  But, we both tend to get a little crazy if we're cooped up for too long.  He's still eating well, but getting pickier.  He still loves bananas, grapes, chicken, mac & cheese, and fruit snacks (he would eat fruit snacks all day if I wasn't such a mean mommy).

And, for the rest of the family:
Selena? Nothing new... except, let me emphasize once again, I love summer.
Scott? Well, he's officially a 3rd year resident (out of 5).   It's a bit of the same as Year 2, except Year 3 is notoriously the worst for scheduling.  So far, we've learned that we have zero holidays (well, we have 4th of July off and Labor Day). But, every other holiday will be spent at the hospital during the day or night.  This year, he'll start figuring out what he wants to sub-specialize in (chest, abdomen, brain, mammography, body, etc.).  So, to recap, 10/14 (or 15) years of preparing to be a doctor are complete (post high-school).
And the older brothers? They just celebrated their 5th birthday.

Until 1.75, here's to another great few months.  We are thoroughly enjoying our little guy, so I'm sure you'll continue seeing thousands of pictures.  I'm definitely one of those moms. But, someday, despite his baby book still not being complete, he'll have documentation of everything else.

1.25 Update

... Fooled you.  You thought you we were done with our month-by-month updates, but we couldn't resist going quarterly.

This big guy is quite the ham.  He's definitely on-the-go, all boy, and is quite the sponge.  Lately, we have noticed how much better he is at communicating and responding to commands.  Most noticeably, he created his own sign for water and brings me my shoes (and his own) when he wants to go outside.  With that, he also has learned how to throw a giant fit, complete with rolling around on the floor and stopping to see if anyone is looking at him.  He's definitely a toddler.

He also loves hats.

He's obsessed with balls and balloons.  Easy, cheap entertainment.  We also tried bubbles for the first time, but he thought dipping the wand was just as exciting as the bubbles (just as exciting as dipping ketchup, ranch, salsa, etc.).

In other news, we are eager for warm weather.  Nolan hates when he can't play outside.  Yesterday, it started to rain while we were outside.  That didn't deter him from going into the garage, maneuvering his way around to his tricycle and pulling it out to us.  He then pointed at it until we took him for a ride.  We have about 9 weeks left until summer.  Almost there!

These last few weeks are going to be tough though.  Scott is starting call again (weekends, nights, etc.), and end of the year in schools is always busy.  Never mind the 8 no-shows in conferences I have to reschedule.

Other than that, I think everything is basically the same. I need to go back to working on my spring-break goals: cleaning my house.  So far, we've successfully avoided cleaning by going to two different zoos. Nolan is going to have quite the reality check when work starts back up again.  He's been spoiled a bit too much.