11 MONTHS

.Feisty and mischievous.

.Curious as can be.

.Expressive.

.Loves to swing (higher than you would expect for an 11 month old!).

.Melts my heart every day.

.We love him so... every last crazy little hair on his perfect head!.

Can't believe you're almost one whole year, Noli-bean!

Time does fly when you're having fun.

JUST LIKE THAT

{Jack on the swing set at "our park"}

The Levi's, the crocs, his little arms wrapped around the chains, pleading for me to push him higher... I am in LOVE with this picture.

On a typical Summer day, my biggest boy breezes through a childhood rite of passage.

We had been discussing for days, when would be the best time to take the training wheels off, who would go get the knee pads, talking to Warren about being patient since it would take a few days to get the hang of it...

...and apparently he got sick of all the hubbub and just went out and

taught himself to ride a two wheel bike.

You would think he's been doing this for years!

All the while, Jack has taken over the bike with training wheels...

...AND...

...Nolan's creeping up on the tricycle!

Nothing like a little game of musical bikes.

Just like that, they've all traded up and aren't looking back!

REALITY

I know I said I would try to keep up more here this Summer, but this little thing called reality keeps sneaking up on me and I find myself:

...sitting on the kitchen floor for 20 minutes watching Nolan play with an orange...


...or standing by the kitchen table watching the big boys do their daily workbook sheets and art projects...



...or looking on as these two become fast friends.


And then another day has gone.

That's just reality.

It has a way of winning out, that reality.

Much like the inevitable fact that this little man is channeling a toddler more and more each day, leaving the infant I have coddled for the past 10 months in the dust.


So, it seems I'll have to accept reality and intentionally carve out time, like tonight. After I've gone in to kiss sweet sweaty little dreaming heads and replace drooping limbs back onto their beds, I can sneak to the comfortable glow of the monitor and share a few gems of my reality.

Goodnight.

JUST ME TALKING

Nolan does not like his crib.

{That's putting it mildly...}

So much so that this is his reaction when I simply say "want out?"

So, I remain for now a cosleeping hippie... who is somehow okay with an open mouthful of little teeth heading straight for my breasts numerous times per day. And since I am hopeful for another baby, I actually googled "tandem nursing" the other day. Special.

Onto other topics!

The big boys LOVE their rec center activities. Warren had his first golf lesson so I got to hear all about the rules of the game. Things like "hole in one, eagle, birdie, Bogey, double Bogey". Jack is the only boy in his hip hop dance class -- not sure if I am even articulate enough to put into words how cute that was. They do a little performance at the end of each class. Picture Jack, flanked by 5 little girls on each side, grinning ear to ear while barely participating in the dance... up until the very end where here does this whole attitude move and points out to the audience of parents. Oh. My. Word. Warren and I could not keep from laughing and he ate it up!

We are in full swing with Summer! Keeping busy with lots of activities, games, play dates with classmates, and plans for lots to come.

Warren had his birthday party last Saturday and I am still wading through all the pictures, hopeful to get some up later this week.

I ordered a super cute bathing suit for this Summer and plan to take the boys swimming once a week once it arrives. Finally decided to get a practical one piece and am so excited to be donning this little number soon:


Gonna try to do some portraits of all three boys together tomorrow evening. Wish me luck! I have yet to get anything good of all three at the same time. But I have some tricks up my sleeve I am gonna try. We'll see...

Hopefully, I'll be able to keep up on this blog/journal/scrapbook of mine a little more now that I am a bit more acclimated to our Summer routine and pace. It did kinda take the wind out of me for a few days, but I'm back! :)