Friday, December 22, 2017

Tres.

I think every birthday is difficult as you watch your baby grow up, but there's something "big" about 2 to 3. He's now a preschooler.

He hasn't changed much since our last post. He's still our goofy little guy. His obsession with Legos continues to evolve, and his curiosity and love for new facts continuously brings me joy. A typical diet for Nolan (if he got to choose) would be fruit snacks, cheerios, chicken nuggets, and mac & cheese.  He's starting to dabble with "red soup" as well.  It's absolutely disgusting if it's called tomato soup before dinner, but red soup is perfectly acceptable, delicious, and messy.

This year, for his birthday, he has asked for a pink and black police car.  Ya know, the only gift that is not sold. So, like any crazy parents, we shopped, requested others to shop, and stalked Toys R Us, but ultimately painted a pink police car. This will be affectionately referred to as the slime car, because it looks like it was just rolled through pink slime. But, I am looking forward to him having the birthday cake with the police cars on top, as he hasn't changed his mind in the last month.

We're still balancing the Christmas/Birthday/FamilyChristmas act. It's still messy, but he's content with a week of presents. On an unrelated note, I hereby propose that we do not have school this close to Christmas. I'm exhausted, but after baking cheesecakes, buying gifts, distributing gifts, cleaning the house several different times, and 24 Christmas-loving second graders, I'm ready to snuggle my two boys.



Oh, Nolan. Thank you for bringing mommy and daddy so much happiness this year!

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Tuesday, October 31, 2017

Halloween - 2017

I just realized I have 3 different drafts that I've written since our last post, that I haven't published for various reasons... but I'm going to publish this one despite my terrible track record. This blog has turned into my own sort of TimeHop. I can quickly find pictures I've used in the past for Christmas cards, or our annual pumpkin carving.

Anyway, Happy Halloween from us! :)


Here's our annual video. I am not ashamed to admit that Pumpkin Carving + Time Lapse + Family Costumes is one of my favorite times of the year. #Traditions. However, one of the three of us said the family pictures may be getting a bit too much. ;)


And, for good measure:
2016 - How to Train your Dragon
2015 - Rubber Ducky, you're the one.
2011 - Our first video.


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Saturday, June 24, 2017

The Big "30"

While the title is about Nolan being the big "30" months, aka 2.5., we also had another family member hit the big 30 this past month.

As of a couple of days ago, we officially are at the halfway point of the terrible twos. As I see Nolan's little body strut around our house trying to be Mr. Independent, I can't help but already realize how much my future self is going to miss these days. I'm about 6 days into my summer break, and I already have seen such a different kid.  With the hustle and bustle of school, schedules, and daycare, I sometimes forget to notice the little developments.  I took Nolan into his checkup and had to fill out a long, detailed questionnaire.  The survey included questions about how he could walk up steps, throw a ball, respond to my questions, draw a vertical line, a horizontal line, a circle, etc.  It also asked Nolan to identify a half-drawn figure with missing pieces. In other words, would something that looks close to a person still be a person in his little world?  When asked what it is, Nolan was supposed to respond "man" or "snowman" or something along the lines. Instead, Nolan responded with, "Oh no? Happened? Missing eye. Draw a leg, mommy.  Draw an eye, mommy. There." I couldn't help but laugh as I sat there debating whether he was using 3-word sentences and he was worried about not having a complete picture (I decided that counted as a "yes" on the survey).



His favorites haven't changed much.  His mind works on balls, wheels, and trains. He's very particular about them, too.  I tried playing legos with him today, but I kept frustrating him because I would put something in the wrong spot. He finally told me to go sit on the couch.  He also can open and close our primary door, and can open the pantry to find his "bunny snacks." He's an excellent younger brother to our cats (and cares about them deeply when they run outside and don't come back inside when he asks). He can be so sweet, but also can be quite goofy. For instance, today, we went on a date to Meijer. When all of the older ladies stopped to "ooh and ahh" at him, he'd respond "hello" in a loud, growling, monster voice.  It caught everyone off guard (I should be used to this), but he thought he was hysterical.

In other aspects of our little world, it's been a crazy few months. I wrapped up teaching my first year of 2nd grade.  While the students were still young, I still learned a lot from them (always one of my goals), and enjoyed seeing the eyes from a new world.  While I miss teaching higher-level (well, middle school) mathematics, I do enjoy settling in some foundational skills, and laying ground for some more kindness and compassion.

While I feel like my busy life is over for a bit, Scott's has unfortunately went on overdrive. He's working more than over, while applying for Fellowship.  As a reminder, he's done his 13 years of education, 4 years for his bachelor's degree, 4 years for his medical degree, acquired his "doctor" status, and now we're about to start year 4 (of 5) years of residency.  However, despite 2 more years to go, we're now applying for fellowship for the year after residency.  This will be a one-year training (most likely in abdominal radiology) that will sub-specialize him and hopefully make him more marketable. I can't imagine life not in training, but applying for fellowships seems more "almost there" than the past stepping stones.  These 2 remaining years come with a sucky workload, likely selling a house that I love, possibly a move, a short stay for Scott in Washington DC, and a daycare switch this summer. Our biggest focus, right now, however, is getting applications and hopefully some interview requests for Scott. Fingers-crossed! :)

I think that's enough rambling.  It's been a while, so I figured an update was appreciated.  I have lots of time available now, so feel free to come visit us! At least 2/3 are available.

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Sunday, January 8, 2017

The Terribly Terrific Twos

Well, if we do this right, you'll be seeing less of me.  Or, at least Nolan.  For those keeping track, we're down to every six month updates. Slowly weaning.

This isn't our best picture (poor lighting, stuck inside, two-year-oldness), but I can confidently say that he's still stealing our hearts. Nolan was unsure why the elephant had to keep interrupting his hockey time. So, you got a bit of everything.  For parents out there, two-year-olds are no joke. He's stubborn strong-willed, and we're learning what makes him tick, but so fun to hang out with.  He's very proud of his speaking skills, and I'm censoring myself more and more.  For instance, if Nolan wants something and I don't have it (crackers, donuts, and giant fish stuffed animals to name a few), Nolan looks at me with his serious face and says "go buy it."

Our evenings are spent watching this video (how can you deny the phrase "more fweeze pweese"?) and organizing toys.  He also enjoys swimming in our jet tub without the jets, climbing through tunnels, picking out his own books, and dumping snacks that he vehemently refuses to eat in his chair.



Gosh, some nights I'm an emotional mess when I think about the picture below.
I want the weekends to last longer, and for time to stop all together.  We've reached that point where I no longer enjoy spending time with him just because he's my baby, but I truly find him fun to hang out with. He's silly, spunky, full of attitude, and has this bizarre sense of humor (who am I kidding, it's just like his daddy).

I have many goals and worries as a parent, but for now, I think I'll just focus on how to make him sit long enough for a diaper change and how to make sure he's not tackling his friends (his approach when someone steals his toys).  We've finally broken the pacifier during the day (still using it during naps/nighttime), but we're no closer to potty training or knowing the difference between colors... not even remotely.

Anyway, let's go back to medical school life, as we're getting lots of questions about it.  It's fairly up in the air right now, but I think that's probably because we've been in semi the same location going on 2.5 years, which is a record for us in this medical journey. So, it does seem fitting to ask "what's next?"

His residency is 5 years, and we're just about half way done. This year isn't the most fun.  Third year residents get all holidays, so this year we've spent most holidays at home.  I'm okay with that, and it hasn't been that bad.  Nolan isn't the best traveler, and I'm becoming more of a homebody than I have been in the past (our fireplace and new instant pot is getting lots of use). 

Sometime this coming year, Scott will spend a month in DC and will begin interviews for Fellowship (remember this post?)  I shudder at thinking about all of that, but I'll be eager to go to our next step.  Fellowship will be 1-2 years, and then we'll be done.  14-15 years post high school is normal to start your career, right?  As for locations, moving, etc. my answer is yes.  Yes, I'm still wondering all of that too. We're still 2.5 years away, but I know things will start flying once we get through this summer.  My new's year motto (along with my annual list of far too many goals) is to live for now.  I'm not going to keep waiting until we're finished, waiting until we are in a different place financially, waiting for a free weekend to get XYZ done, waiitng for summer, etc.  Why not do it now? Time will never be perfectly aligned. So, live for now. So far, I've made 8 days of that motto, and I'm enjoying it. 

Scott is reminding me that no one needs to read sappy posts and is instead laughing hysterically at trailers for the Batman Lego movie, so I think that's my cue to get off the computer.  Have a good week! 

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