Christmas 2011

Shawn and Nolan on Christmas eve before we headed to our annual Christmas Eve Seafood dinner. This year we went to Ocean Grill and had lobster, oysters and seafood chowder. It was delicious. After dinner we headed home to make cookies for Santa. Nolan got a kick out of frosting the cookies and kept saying "coocoo, coocoo."

Nolan started to understand Santa a little this year, and he really understood opening presents!! We put him in his Santa PJ's and let him open one gift on Christmas Eve. This year it was Mickey Mouse. He loves the Mickey Mouse ClubHouse on Disney, and he calls Mickey, HotDog. It is seriously so cute. He took Mickey right over to the couch and started to hug and kiss him. It was so sweet to see him so excited about his new stuffed animal.

The Knicks had their season opener on Christmas Day, so we didn't open the rest of our gifts til the late afternoon. This is Nolan Christmas a.m. with Mickey.....good thing at one he didn't understand that Santa had been there to deliver more gifts!

My dad flew in on the red-eye from CA to celebrate Christmas with us. Nolan was so happy to have his Papa here. Papa takes such great care of Nolan and they have a beautiful bond.

After the game I cooked a big Christmas dinner. It was the perfect ending to a great day, including a Knicks win over the Celtics!

Santa...not so much!

We went to see Santa at Macy's. We went on a Wed a.m., so we really didn't have much of a line, but as you can see, Nolan wanted nothing to do with Santa. Last year we got off so easy. I had a feeling this year would be more of a challange. At Macy's they have a bunch of huts, and each one has a Santa. I think it is a great way to keep the line moving. I do have to say that Nolan was not into Santa, but Santa was ot into Nolan!

Yea for 21!

I've been counting down the days until Nolan turned 21 months.  We had a rough go with 20 months, so I   am truly hoping that 21 will be better.  As we deal with a lot of fun things like new words, more adventure and gearing up for the holidays, we were also dealing with Nolan's frustrations.  He was dabbling in some hair pulling, pushing, hitting and worst of all biting.  When I say biting I don't just me Shawn and I, but other kids in his classes and playgroups were becoming victims.  Normally I can see the look in his eye and stop him before he makes contact, but sadly that was not always the case.  I was so upset that I bought Toddler 411 in hopes of some much needed guidance.   Luckily that book is filled with good advice, and I was able to start disciplining in a more effective way.  If he was mean once, he was removed from the situation, put in time out, then back to the kid to say sorry.  The second time we left.  As for biting and other physical things at home we were putting him in a time out chair, and it just didn't work.  We started to put him in his crib, because we really have no other safe place in our small apt, and that has been very effective!

So here's to 21 months and more of the cute stuff and less of the stuff that puts this very tired mom in tears!

Chicago Thanksgiving

Miles and Nolan loving the "ball pit"

OK, Now you sing Uncle Phil

Bath Time

It was a little cold, but the boys had a great time at the playground

Yum, Thanksgiving Dinner

Bennett Album Cover. Downtown Chicago

I love the boys in matching PJ's.  Clearly getting a posed shot of the together was out of the question!

Fall Pics

The leaves this fall have been extra beautiful. I finally remembered to bring my camera out a couple of days in a row. Here are some pics of Nolan. Please not that I have pretty much NO pictures of his face. He doesn't look at the camera and is always on the go.

Oh Yea, Today is also Nolan's 20 month birthday.  Good bye teens, hello, 20's :) Also, a shout out to my mom, because it is her Birthday today!  We love you Grandma Peggy!

Happy Halloween

We had another great Halloween here in 69th St.  We had a fun party filled with lots of super cute kids and their parents.  I made my first batch of Chili for the season, and we so much fun hanging out and listing to Halloween music!

Here are a few pics of our NYC Turtle:

 NYC Turtle with 80's rock groupie and a newly retired Tony La Russa

Nolan was not in a very good mood this Halloween, but we still managed to hit up a few apartments for trick or treating!

Chatter Box

Nolan is talking non stop this day, and unlike previous months, things he is saying are actually making sense!

Top New Words:
Car
Airplane
Uncle
Tatie (Katie)
Please
Than Tu (Thank you)
Boo (book)
Cheese
Cracker
With Halloween a few days ago, the newest word is candy or cookie
Ello (Hello)
Is dis dis
Its broke
Toes
Eyes
Teeth
Nose

Give me that camera Mama

See my toes

I'm very serious today.  I'll say something witty in a bit. 

Nolan does the most hilarious thing when ever he sees anything that is round and black....he thinks it's a microphone, and he starts to yell and sing into it.  We have no idea where he came up with this, but it is so funny.  Shawn gave him one of my make up brushes the other day, and he walked all around the apartment "singing!"

Go Cards

I have to give a shout out to the Shawn and his team the St. Louis Cardinals for winning the World Series.  It was a crazy run for them, and it was a fun series to watch.  Shawn went to game 2 in St. Louis, and even though they lost that game, they ended up winning it all.

 Nolan rocked his Cardinal's gear all throught the series.  He also went to his class dressed as Albert Pujlos, eye black and all!

World Series Champs:
NY Yankees when I was pregnant with Nolan
SF Giants his first year
STL Cardinals his second year

What are the chances of those three teams winning back to back to back.  The only thing that will make the run sweeter is to see the Oakland A's win it in 2012!!

18 months

I guess at 18 months you are no longer considered a baby and are now a toddler.  I feel like Nolan has been running, talking and eating like a toddler for months, but we're now getting a taste of the terrible 2's! While the fits are short, we're trying to nip them in the bud.  We've also been trying time outs.  Even the most advanced one and a half year old doesn't really grab the concept of being disciplined, but we're willing to put in the effort!!

Lots of new things are happening with Nolan this week.  We started a combo class for kids 18-24 months at New York Kids Club.  Nolan did pretty well, and I think he did really well in the art, snack, story section.  The class has two part; one part gym class and the other a more focused sit down with a teacher. I think it is so great to give him a little taste of preschool with the comfort of having me there to help guide him.  Nolan doesn't like circle time, but I'm hoping that as he learns the routine he'll be more cooperative.

Nolan is down to just one nap.  He is going to bed by 7:15, up around 6:30 a.m. and down for his nap at noon.  I am still getting used to the longer waking hours in a row, but it has allowed us to get in a better routine with eating, classes and play dates. 

Our boy continues to be full of life.  He runs, sings, dances, claps, blows kisses and gives hugs all day.  He loves talking to all the doormen in the neighborhood tell them hi and bye as we walk by.  He also now fully recognizes our apartment.  It is so cute when he points and says "bubba, bubba."  If you point to another apartment and ask if he lives there he says, "No, no, no, no!"

We're looking forward to hearing Nolan say even more new words and watching his little mind think, process and grow!

Same Place different year!  What a difference.  He sat for the first time in the bottom picture that day.  Now he runs wild at Sheep's Meadow!

Learning to eat at the table~

We love you Nolan!! Happy Year and a Half. 

Naural Disasters

NYC had a crazy end of August.  We had a small earthquake when Nolan and I were out at the U.S. Open watching the first round.  Shawn was in his office and felt a small sway of the building, but it seemed like there was little to no damage in the city.
Less then a week later Hurricane Irene came up the eastern seaboard.  Outside of heavy wind and rains, NYC fared pretty well.   I feel badly for all of the people that left the city and ended up in places with no power and couldn't get back to the city for a few days.

Priest Lake

After the O'Neill reunion, we spend two days at Priest Lake at my aunt and uncle's cabin. I have so many great memories as a kid there in the old cabin. The "new" cabin is so beautiful with huge windows that over look the amazing lake view. Nolan went on his first kayak ride with Shawn, and he even got into the water with me! He is so full of adventure. He turned 17 months on the trip. His new loves are animated movies. Despicable Me and Shrek 4 being the top two. He'll point to the TV and say, "Gru." He is also running, so I'm always on the run chasing after him. Nolan's words have really come around, and I love that the please and thank you that we taught him in sign language are now the main words in his vocab. He says yes please, thank you, excuse me: great manners for a such a boys boy!

We opened up some great wine with dinner, including a 2003 Woodward Canyon Cab from Walla Walla with my great, great, great?? uncle's picture on it. It was such a treat to drink that bottle with many members of the Yeenders, including my cousin Tiffany who made the trek from Seattle, and my cousins Ryan and Carol who came from Portland! Tee and Chuck came from Seattle and Marcy and Rocky came from Portland and Denise and Bob from Spokane. We're so lucky to have such a wonderful family!!

Sunset from the deck

Nolan and his Papa having snacks!

The water was a little cold, but my sister, dad, Ryan and I dove in head first!! Thanks for the great pic Tiff! Please note Shawn and Frank, my sister's new fiance, watching in the kayaks!