playing around

Nolan has been bouncing around the house all day. He goes from the chairs to the fridge, to the steps, to the bathroom, to the screen door, and finally a check in with his buddy.

shopping

Nolan is starting to get into the holiday spirit by doing some last minute shopping with Mommy and Daddy. Look at how relaxed he is in his stroller. On Friday night, he even ate dinner in his stroller while we were on the go. This is not a recommended activity because it is even messier than usual.

our advent calendar

All this time, I thought Nolan loved the Advent Calendar because he liked to move around the magnetic pieces. But I was wrong, he likes to flavor of it!

the only quiet time...

is when Nolan is sleeping. This is also the only time that he sits still. He is always moving unless he is asleep. This was the easiest picture I have ever taken because usually my subject is a wild monkey.

cookie swap

yesterday was the cookie swap. every year, I swear I am dropping out because it is very stressful for me. This year was even harder because chasing Nolan around the house does not make baking easy. Baking is also not easy one handed.
But, all the cookies were delicious, so it was worth it. Nolan loved this Santa on Aunt Aimee's chair.

reindeer ears

These antlers belong to the Mabin family, but every cousin has worn them this year. Nolan really liked to see them on my head, and smiled from ear to ear when I wore them.

I am a scientist

Nolan loves to experiment with things around the house. Yesterday he practiced patting a ball on different surfaces including Winston. He also loves to go under the table and jump around on the chairs.
Walking is not too far away because he also stood unsupported for 5 seconds

steps

Nolan has been climbing one or two steps for a few weeks now. But now he can move up the stairs so quickly, that today he made it to the top in no time.

mmm...peace a pizza

We went to Peace a Pizza again for dinner. I wasn't kidding when I said that Matt and I love it there. And now Nolan is following in Mommy and Daddy's footsteps. He loves pizza crust. Last time we went to Peace a Pizza, Nolan ate his avocado and sweet potato so well that I told Matt we should eat there every night. Anything to get Nolan to like eating. Now that I know he likes pizza crust, we may be able to increase our number of weekly trips!

New friends

On Friday, we went to visit with Melissa, Nicole, Joanne, Will and Max. Nolan loved being with the other boys. They have met before, but were too young to enjoy each other.
Nolan and Max drooled on each other and Will gave Nolan many hugs and kisses. What sweet little boys!

teeth

Check out that huge top tooth that is coming in. It looks so big for such a little guy

one man band

Thursday December 13
Nolan loves discovering kitchen items while I am cooking. He is happy as a clam when I give him a spatula or whisk. Today we practiced banging and singing along. Nolan picked this up very quickly and had a sifter in one hand, and a spatula in the other. He banged away happily!

Playing with Michael

Wednesday December 12

Nolan is so happy when he is playing with his cousins. On Wednesday we spent the day with Michael, and they had so much fun together. They smile and laugh and talk.
Michael was very interested in the animal train today, and he had wide eyes when it was coming his way.

Look Mom, one hand

Matt and I call Nolan Evil Knieval because he is a dare devil. He is constantly trying new stunts which means he constantly has a few bruises and scratches on his face. Every day, he gets a new mark to show off.
Here he is, showing me how he can hold on with one hand, and bounce up and down. He is also playing with the popper. He loves the popper. He pushes it back and forth, and shakes it all around. Often, he hits himself with it. The popper is a close second to the security bar for our sliding glass door.

Happy 8 Month + 1 day, Happy 28 years + 365 Days

Nolan and I celebrated our 8 month and 29 year birthdays today. Here we are in front of a delicious apple pie that my mom made.

The most beautiful tree

Saturday December 8, 2007
We went to the Watson tree farm today to pick a little Christmas tree for our house. We went here last year also, and I love walking through the field to find the perfect one. The perfect tree for the Gerstberger family is not the typical perfect tree because we live in a Barbie house. We look for a small skinny tree. It is not much different from a Charlie Brown tree, but we think it is beautiful.
When I look for a Christmas tree, I always think about Dad. When we were little, Dad would take the girls out to pick a tree. We would look through endless trees to find the perfect one.
Mom also found the perfect tree. It was the first one she picked. Usually she looks at 800 trees to find the right one. We spin the trees, pound them on the ground to make the branches fall, and spin them again. But this year, we only went through this process with two!

Are there parents in that house?

Well, I am not sure myself if there are parents here. But I am going to share that both of these events took place while Matt was with Nolan.
In addition to these two little happenings, Nolan also managed to knock over a speaker, fall over a stool, and "yelled" at me when I moved the dog water out of his reach.
Aunt Carol- how do you secure a Christmas tree????

let it snow

It has been a beautiful December so far. We have been lucky to have flurries and some snow dusting. Let's keep our fingers crossed for a white Christmas.
This is the first time Nolan noticed the snow. There were great big flakes outside and he was jumping up and down and watching them. There is still hope that he will be my sledding buddy.

Santa's little helper

Here he is in the outfit Grandmom said he "had to have." As usual, she was right, he did have to have it because he looks crazy cute. In the picture, he is doing his crazy crawling face. He does this when he is very excited because he has spotted me across the room and is coming to get me. He breathes heavy and snorts and smiles. The he pulls up on my leg to tell me that he wants to be held. I am pretty sure that I can remember Katie doing the same thing. It really is adorable to watch his amazement at everything.

I am a squirrel

Yes, Nolan is a squirrel, or chipmunk, or hamster. He does not swallow his food. Instead he takes a lot in his mouth, holds onto it, and then spends time breathing heavy and laughing very hard and showing off his food.

bath time

I haven't taken Nolan's picture in the bathtub since his first bath, so here is an update on the bath scene. He loves getting a bath. He crawls all around and chews on all the toys. He seems to really love the bottle of shampoo.

dinner out

We love to have a family dinner out at Peace a Pizza. It is quick and delicious which is great when you have a baby.
Nolan also loves it (not that he eats the pizza). He looks all around and is especially fond of the light fixtures here. It was very hard to get his attention for long enough to take his picture.
He also has 3 teeth now!

Frosty

Last year for Christmas, my mom got Nolan this Frosty the snowman. At the time, I thought it was somewhat annoying, because it sings and hops around. But now, I love it, and you can see Nolan does too. I guess I am turning into a mom.

snow angels

Kristen and I put Nolan and Michael out in the snow on Wednesday. The boys were perfect angels despite the fact that neither could move. They didn't talk to us at all, but they didn't cry either. I guess they have learned at an early age that they are part of a nutty family!

decorating

We are still working on putting out all of the decorations. Nolan has a beautiful Christmas tree in his nursery from Grandmom. He loves to look at the lights, and feel all of the ornaments. He is also helping with the other decorations by tasting each one to be sure it passes inspection. His tongue seems to be permanently covered in sparkles.

It's SNOWING

well maybe it was just a dusting, but I love any kind of snow. Nolan on the other hand is not quite as enamored as I am. This could be because he can not move any part of his body when he wears his winter jacket or his snowsuit. Sadly, if he moves the wrong way, he does a face plant. But here he is looking at his first snow.

December is here

And we are ringing it in with Christmas decorations. Nolan loves to check out all of the new things in his environment. He is pulling ornaments off of our small Christmas tree, licking the snow globe, and dancing with the musical animals.
We are going to have so much fun this Christmas!