11 months

It's true!  Nolan is 11 months old now.  He's doing all sort of fun new things.  He's signing quite a bit.  His recent favorite signs are "lights" and "fan".  Whenever we walk into a store he looks up to see if there is a fan to tell us about!  All together, he is signing:  "more, dog, fan, light, ball, please" today he imitated "all done" and I think "mama".  It's super fun to connect with him this way and know what's on his little mind!  He is imitating sounds more often too and when you ask him what a cow says, he will tell you (in his way) "moo"!  Pretty darn cute.  He loves peek-a-boo and has started pulling blankets up over his own head when you ask "Where's Nolan?"  He's waving "hi" and "bye".  He's also getting closer to walking, pushing his little walking toy around the house.  But I still think it will be awhile before he walks on his own.  Thank goodness!  I can hardly keep up with him as is!  Here is his 11 months old picture.

Schabow's visit the Pumpkin Patch!

We took Nolan for his first visit to a Pumpkin Patch and had a great time!  He was a little tentative in the new environment, Mr. Serious face, but I think he enjoyed it.  He got to play in the pumpkins, see horses, bunnies, goats and baby cows and he got to "pet" a baby chick.  It was a really neat place, complete with hay rides, pony rides, and train rides for the littles and they had cider, roasted corn, homemade pumpkin spice doughnuts and more!   We had a really great, memorable time and of course we took TONS of pictures.  Here are a few for your viewing pleasure  ;)

ooh!  a little pumpkin just my size!!

 hmm, let me touch it... I like it!!

I think I will eat it...

I am not sure I like to eat this pumpkin.... tastes distinctly like dirt...

I will just hold it and love it instead!!

August/September

Nolan was 9 months old in August and 10 months old in the middle of September.

It's really starting to sink in that we have an almost 1 year old little boy!  He is no longer "army" crawling and is crawling around like a big boy. He is pulling up on everything and cruising around furniture like a champ.  He loves for mommy and daddy to hold his hands to help him walk around.  He just started signing MORE and DOG consistently.  He is doing all sorts of baby talk - babbling to himself in his own language.  He loves to test out his vocal cords with shrieks and snorts - usually when we are in a restaurant or someplace where he should be quiet.  He is just so funny!  But he's a really cautious and serious little guy too.  Whenever we go out strangers are always coming up to us and making sweet faces asking him "can you give me a smile?" and what not, but he just looks at them with the most serious look because he doesn't know them!  What a goof.  He is STILL a really big boy for his age and strangers are always bringing this to my attention as well  ;)  At 9 months the Dr. said he was the size of an 1.5 yr old - oy.  Waiters are always trying to give him crayons.  Ha ha! 

We have had such a wonderful, quick summer!  In my last post I wrote about our awesome trip to Wisconsin in July.  In August, my mom and dad came for a visit and in September Aunt Ashley came for a visit.  We've been so lucky to spend so much time with family this summer!  Here are some photo highlights from our August and September.

hiking backpack - not just for hiking!  great for washing dishes, vacuuming and more!  ;)

checking out the flowers with grandma

 Nolan loves to go to the park now

look at that hair, ha ha!

with auntie Ashley

snuggles with mama

checking out the fish at the zoo with auntie

When Ash was in town we went for an awesome hike in the gorge.  It took us about 3 hours and we saw three sets of stunning waterfalls.  I don't know how Steve managed to carry Nolan on his back that whole time, but he did!  It was great!!

 

Nolan also had several opportunities to splash in the water this summer! He loves splashing and walking through the water with daddy!

July

We had a fabulous July!!  July started with a visit from Andrea, John and Charlie.  They came and stayed with us for the 4th of July.  We took the boys for a walk down on the water front on a gorgeous day and let the boys splash around in the pool.  Such fun!  We are sad they are moving back to the midwest.  We will miss them and getting the boys together.  Here are some photos from our weekend together.

Then in mid-July we took a trip back to Appleton to see family, baptize Nolan and introduce him all around!  What a special trip!!  So many great memories.  We had such fun with grandma and grandpa.  and Nolan got to meet his great grandma, cousins and many great aunts & uncles too.  There sure are a lot of people who love our little man (can you blame them?!)  Here are some highlights from our trip.

Let's start with the flight.  We were worried that Nolan would be a handful (he was over 20lbs already for Pete's sake!) but the flight went very, very well.  He slept some, snacked some, but was mostly enthralled by the TV in the back of the seat  ;)

grandma and grandpa greeted us at the airport

 

when we got back to the house, Kev, Logan and Autumn were waiting!  Hooray it was so fun to see them.  Autum has grown a ton and Logan is just the sweetest with both babies.  He and Nolan really had a connection  =)

While we were in town, we had Nolan baptized.  What a special day.  Nolan's godparents are Steve's uncle Andy and my sister Ashley.  Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Kev, Andy, Shelley & Jeremy all came to show their love! Here are some photos from the baptism. 

We also had a fish fry at great grandma's house while we were in town.  And we also got to go to grandpa's car show!!  Here are a few more pictures from our trip.