Happy Father's Day

Happy Dad's Day! The past week the dude and I got to spend some quality time with my dad. Although it wasn't actually on father's day, it was close enough. We went down to Kansas for the wedding of one of my youngest cousins and had a fantastic time. The plaza in Kansas City is always fun and the Kansas/Missouri crowd really seemed excited to finally meet the dude.



For father's day the dude and I got to spend some time at the local city pool and catch some rays. Don't worry grandma, we both had on 50 SPF!

Weekend at the Cabin

The dude is learning that summer weekends at the cabin are awesome. Not only did mommy and daddy get to go on long bike rides and runs with a plethora of fun babysitters available, but there were also enough people for kayak escorts while we went swimming.

Grandpa even let him drive the boat.

Our city had it's annual "big truck" show recently. They put all of the city trucks on display for kids and parents to see. The dude always runs to the windows to see the school buses and garbage trucks when they pass our house, so we thought he would enjoy this event. The kids were allowed to climb all over the huge equipment, even after passing out free ice cream and popcorn. The dude had a fantastic time, but less than fun each time mom and dad had to pull him off the trucks to give other kids a turn. He doesn't quite understand the concept of turn-taking yet!

Lets hope this is the last time the dude sees the back seat of a police car.

Playing at the park

Nolan's favorite pastime is climbing playground equipment that is way too big for him. He also still loves eating rocks. Can you believe we haven't found one in his diaper yet?!

How to play the game

The dude is getting older, so we thought it would be a good idea to start in on involving him in sports. Thanks to a recent outfit given to him, he really looked the part when kicking around the old soccer ball.


Since we were all at the dude's cousin's birthday party, he also got to participate in his very first game of "pin the tail on the donkey", although it did start out as "pin the tail on daddy's camera".

And here is just a taste of the dude's obsession of sticking random crap into his mouth. At least it's too big to be a choking hazard. At least it's not crap.

Hide and Seek

The dude loves to play hide and seek. He's a little better at hiding when the closet actually has a door to conceal his body.


Also, here is the typical reaction to the dude getting cheese with his dinner. Everybody loves cheese!

Dirt Angel

The dude is certainly growing up. At a play group earlier this week, he was climbing up a big-kid sized rock climbing wall attached to a swing set, and today he took it upon himself to do a little gardening with his mom and dad. He still doesn't have any hair though.

Spring in the Midwest

We're very happy to announce spring has arrived in Minnesota. The weather the last couple weeks has been fabulous. (In Minnesotan terms, this means we’re finally in the 60s) The Dude is having a great time exploring the world outdoors. His conquest has begun with sampling nature's exotic tastes, including a wide variety of rocks, dirt, an old cigarette butt and a piece of goose poop. Fortunately, we haven’t seen him put much more in his mouth after experiencing the taste of poop.

Here are a couple pics of him enjoying spring and singing in the rain…

Happy Easter!

Easter was a nice break for the dude. He was getting a little tired of his wild adventures. After fridge climbing, he moved to steeling eggs from some large creatures. Look at the size of the eggs! That monster must be enormous.

He eventually found the creature living inside of his own home. It was decided, he should proceed to tame the indigenous wildlife if he was ever going to rest again.

Just Hanging Out

The dude really has upped his game. He seeks new challenges every day. Nothing can stop him.

Now The Dude Is Sad

Not that the jayhawks lost, but that he has as much hair at 2 months as he does at 1 year and 2 months. Woe is him.

Let's Go Hawks!

Game Day T-Shirts
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Fun In The Sun

The fam went to visit both sets of grandparents in Sunny Scottsdale Arizona. What a great respite from the frozen tundra up north. We actually had to wear sunscreen! We spent the days running, hiking, urban exploring, and walking through mansions in the hills still under construction (too bad we forgot our camera on that adventure).

Oh yea, and swimming too. I think the dude liked all of the adventures that didn't involve his feet coming in contact with grass.

One Small Step

Now we are really going to have to keep an eye on him.
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Can't Take Your Eye Off Of Him For A Second

Let mom explain...We don't just leave ladders laying around for The Dude to climb on. We're more responsible parents then that. I was packing up some of the big boy's clothes that don't fit him anymore. I had gotten out the footstool to assist me in reaching the top shelf in the closet. I needed to step out of the room for no more than 30 seconds and came back find the baby boy, who can't take more than three step unassisted, standing at the TOP of the ladder laughing!!! Nobody warned me about the terrible ones.

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Oh, by the way, we got a couple inches of snow this week...

But we're still having fun inside climbing on ladders...

NEWS FLASH - Dude Took His First Steps

That's right, the dude took his first steps. The big question is, did he take these monumental first steps towards his mommy or daddy? Well, the answer is neither, he took them towards his doctor. I was trying to show the doc how he could clap when we clap at him, which he apparently was too scared to do in front of her. I had to show her something, so I showed her how he could stand on his own. Just as she said "Yeah", he reached out and took 2-3 good stride length steps towards her. Made me feel bad, until I got him home, and he did it again for me. He's only taken one step for mommy, and 7 for me. But who's counting?

I haven't been quick enough to capture it on film or video, so in the meantime, here are some videos of the dude almost walking. Enjoy.

Dude Walking
Standing and Clapping
Walking Soon
ABCs

So you think it's cold where you are?

I know there are those of you out there that think it's cold where you are, but I don't want to hear it. Here is a pic of an exterior door to our house, where the cold has seeped it's way in via this door hinge. Yes, this pic was taken from INSIDE the house.

House Arrest

What a difference a week makes. Last weekend, it was 40 deg. We had the dude outside playing in the snow and sledding down hills. It was wonderful. This weekend, with wind chill, it will be -35. Yes, thats a 75 degree difference in one week. What do you think the weather is like in San Diego this weekend? What ever happened to global warming?

Happy Birthday to the Dude!

So the dude turns one. The week leading up to his birthday was a busy one. Grandpa was going to be out of town on the dude's birthday so we had a party for him a week ago at a restaurant, where he stuffed his face with chocolate cake.



We celebrated his birthday last Saturday to fit everyone's schedule, where he got some cool presents and stuffed his face with more cake. Yesterday, the dude's little friend from his "Mommy and me" class had her 1yr birthday party, and wouldn't you know it, they had cake there too.





We did, however, teach the dude that it is ok to eat that much cake in a week as long as we go swim a few laps over the weekend. So, we enrolled the dude in his very first official swimming lesson. He might have been the youngest kid in the tots class, but he seemed to enjoy it more than every other kid there.