The Lonely Blue Helmet

Today was the deciding appointment for Nolan. The appointment let us know whether Nolan needs to wear his helmet for a longer period of time.  Both Bill and I took off work a little early today, so we could go to St. Louis for Nolan's helmet appointment.  Nolan had two separate appointments today, one appointment with the prosthetic lab technician and the other one with the plastic surgeon.  Each appointment went great!! Both the lab technician and the plastic surgeon agreed Nolan no longer needs to wear his helmet.  He can stop cold turkey!!  Bill and I are more than pleased with the results Nolan obtained with his head shape while wearing his helmet for only 3 months.  Since Nolan is part of a study, he has to go back in 6 months to have the same measurements taken to see if his head shape has improved any on its own.

Nolan didn't know what to do without the helmet on.  He kept looking at it and trying to put it on his head.  It was too cute.  Nolan really enjoys chewing on the velcro strap too.  No more stinky, sweaty head for my little Pooter!! 

 Silly boy!!

 Nolan being silly and playing with daddy under the blanket.

Nolan is ready for Halloween!! He has on his "Mummy Loves Me" pajamas.

Nolan is 10 Months Old

Today, my little boy is 10 months old!! Bill and I measured and weighed him tonight because he doesn't have to go back to the pediatrician until he is 12 months old. Nolan measured 30 inches in length and weighed 22lbs 3oz. Once again, we don't know how accurate these measurements are, but at least we know he is continuing to grow.

Nolan recently wore his first pair of Nike shoes.  These are his first pair of big boy tennis shoes!!  He thinks they're pretty cool, but he likes the shoelaces even better.  I have to double knot his laces every time he wears them because if I don't, Nolan will untie his laces and chew on them.  One of Bill's favorite colors is orange, so he thinks Nolan's shoes are pretty "slick." 

Nolan has started to cruise furniture, which means walking from one piece of furniture to another while holding on.  He has figured out a way to get around every room without crawling too far.  Nolan will even take the kitchen chairs and push them across the kitchen like a walker!! Bill says, "Nolan is rearranging the kitchen furniture again!!"  If Nolan has to crawl he carries objects in his mouth like a dog.  Nolan has a silly habit of taking off his right sock, putting it in his mouth, and crawling around the house.

Since he has mastered his sippy cup, Nolan wants to be a big boy and drink out of daddy's cup.  Nolan will sit next to Bill and watch TV, whenever Bill takes a sip of his cup, Nolan pats Bill on the arm to let Bill know he wants a drink too.  This cycle will go on all night......

 

Eating out is one of our favorite things to do.  We recent quite a few restaurants in our area.  Here Nolan is hanging out at Peel, a delicious fire oven pizza joint.  I have yet allowed Nolan to have a taste of any restaurant food.  I'm so nervous about him choking!!  He hangs out in his high chair, while eating his Puffs or Crunchies we bring along for him to snack on. 

Happy 10 Months Pooter Boy!! I love you so much....

Bubbles.. Bubbles.. Bubbles

Time has certainly flown by since Nolan's first bath.  Gone are the days of the infant recliner, baby bath tub, and steaming the bathroom.  When Nolan was a newborn, his skin had a reaction to the Johnson & Johnson baby products.  Nolan's skin broke out in a rash, so the pediatrician recommended Cetaphil, which is a non-fragrance soap and lotion.  The Cetaphil soap and lotion did the job because Nolan's skin has been healthy since.

Our nightly routine is to feed Nolan, bathe him, and then give him a bottle right before going to bed.  Nolan no longer needs a baby bathtub, so we fill our tub up with enough water to cover his little butt cheeks.  We have a ton of Johnson & Johnson products from the baby shower, so I decided to try them out.  I chose the Night Time Lavender scent Bubble Bath.  Nolan thought the bubbles were the coolest thing EVER!! As soon as the bubbles rose to the top of the water, he started laughing and trying to grab the bubbles.

Nolan is very fascinated with the drain spout!!  I am constantly pulling him away from the drain.  Bill went and bought a spout cover tonight, so we can cover it up and Nolan won't slip and hurt himself.

 BUBBLES

 Posing for the ladies........

Nolan's First Football Game

Last Friday, October 7th, was the Edwardsville Homecoming football game vs. Belleville East.  The company Bill works for, Nevco, made the new football scoreboard for EHS and he wanted to check it out.  We have been wanting to go to a football game to support our local school for awhile and homecoming seemed like the perfect time.  On Friday, I went and bought a couple of Edwardsville Tiger sweatshirts for Bill and I to wear to the game.  Hey, we had to look the part and besides we will attain lots of use out of them cheering on our kiddos when they become old enough to play sports.  At least, this is what I told Bill when I showed him the receipt for the sweatshirts!!  Nolan already had an orange sweatshirt, thanks to grandma Donna, so he was ready to cheer EHS to their victory!
 

The game was a lot of fun to watch and it brought Bill and I back to when we were at HHS watching football games.   Bill seemed very impressed, but I don't know whether it was with the football team or the scoreboard!  I'm guessing the scoreboard because he kept trying to take pictures of it with his phone the entire night to text to the guys at work.

Nolan was great for the entire first half.  We decided to leave after the halftime performance, which was amazing as well.  It was becoming late and Nolan was starting to yawn.  Nolan fell asleep on the two minute drive home and stayed asleep all night.  We had a fun family time and it was great to feel like we were part of the community.

Nolan had his Ears Lowered

My mom is a hairdresser, so I grew up with the saying, "I'm here to have my ears lowered'" as a customer walked to the beauty shop in my parent's house.  The term never really struck home until last Thursday night.  I gave, a one of a kind, ear lowering experience to my wonderful son, Nolan!

This past Thursday, October 6th, I decided to give Nolan's hairs a little trim.  His hair had gotten so long, he was waking up with a "rat's nest" in the back of his head.  The term "rat's nest" has long been used on my side of the family.  It pretty much means, the hair is twisted, knotted, and sticking straight up in an unmanageable way.  I knew it was time to trim his hair when he woke up with a Cheerio knotted in the back of his head.  

Since I cut Bill's hair with clippers in the backyard, I figured I would do the same for Nolan.  One problem.  The guard for the clippers were a lot shorter than I anticipated and Nolan ended up with a buzz cut instead of a trim.  I almost cried when I made the first pass with the clippers, and all of his long curly locks fell to the ground!!

Here are a couple of pictures of Nolan with his beautiful long locks:

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Here is a picture of Nolan right after his haircut:

I text this picture to Nana and she about had a coronary!! To make a long story short, I'm no longer allowed to touch Nolan's hair.  I know Nolan has had numerous haircuts in the past, but never has his hair been this long nor has he ever had so much cut off at once.  I'm finally feeling better about the haircut.  Nolan's hair grows really fast and it will be back to the adorable locks soon, but not soon enough for me!!

Here are a couple of pictures of his beautiful hair in a pile:

Lesson learned.  Leave the haircuts to the professionals if you want it done right!!

Mums the Word

With Nana's beautiful mums in full bloom, I decided to grasp the opportunity and take some pictures of Nolan.  He is such a handsome little man, it's not hard to find opportunities to take pictures.  Along with the beautiful mums, Nana also had pumpkins and squash along her porch to decorate with.  Nolan kept wanting to lick the pumpkins, but I did manage to take a few pictures.

We aren't all work and no play!! After we finished with the photo shoot, we decided to take Nolan over to the trampoline for a little fun.  Nolan thought the trampoline was so cool, especially since his new habit is to bounce up and down when standing up and holding onto furniture.  He didn't know what to do when the trampoline helped him bounce!

I love my little family so much!!!

The Radio Flyer

Bill, Nolan, and I made a trip back home today for a baby shower.  It was such a beautiful fall day, we wanted Nolan to play outside as much as possible before we had to return back to the city.  We were talking about taking a stroller ride, when Nana looked at Papa T and said, "Let's give Nolan his Christmas present early!!"  Nolan is just a little bit spoiled!! ;)  Papa T and Nana were so excited to give Nolan his Christmas present they could hardly contain themselves as Papa brought it out of the trunk of the car.  It was a red Radio Flyer Wagon.  The style of the wagon has changed since I was a little girl.  The wagon is now plastic, the bottom opens up into two separate seats with back support and seat belts on each end, there are two cup holders on each side, and it has all terrain wheels. Nolan was so excited to take a ride.  Uncle Chance and Bill had to do a couple of installations, but all went well and Nolan was on the dusty wagon trail to tour the farm.

 We didn't have the wheels on the wagon yet, but Nolan was ready to go for a ride!!

 Testing the wheels for the first time

 Going apple picking in the orchard with Papa T

 Thanks Uncle Chance for helping put my wagon together

After Nolan went around visiting all of the farm animals; chickens, pigs, and quail.  Papa T wanted to show Nolan the John Deere combine, boy is it a beauty!! I think Papa T sometimes forgets how little Nolan is, but I went along with it and took a couple of pictures.  The combine was not running and it was stationary in the shed!!

Thank you Nana and Papa T for my early Christmas present.  I cannot wait to ride it down the backside of the pond damn in an attempt to fly!! I love you both very much!!

Love,
Nolan Henson