Day-to-day

Nothing really exciting has happened lately... it's just been a typical week. Last Saturday, I scrambled to find a picture of Meg Ryan with cute hair so that I could show it to my hair stylist. I'm so pleased with the way the cut turned out. My hair was getting past my shoulders and it was just icky. I've also been enjoying the video editing software on our new computer. I'm finally making proper movies out of the footage of Nolan when he was a newborn. It's pretty fun. This morning I taught yoga for our enrichment exercise group. I do it every other Friday and it seems to be going all right. We do weights and step aerobics the rest of the time. I love getting together with the other moms!

The highlight of Justin's week was getting his big "lunch 'n learn" over with at work. He did a big presentation in front of lots of smarties (and his bosses) at work. He was presenting a new tool to promote collaboration. It's kind of like wikipedia but for all the engineers that he works with. Don't ask me any more questions about it... it's top secret (kidding; I just don't understand anything past that). Justin has also been busy in the yard. We're nearly ready for the finishing touches! I go out to help quite a bit, too, but once Nolan eats a certain amount of dirt I feel that it's necessary to bring him in.

Nolan has been as busy as ever this week. My cousin, Marci, just found out she's having twins. If Nolan were a twin, I'd have dropped dead of exhaustion by now. But I'm sure she can handle it! I've taken pictures of what Nolan has been doing lately. He was intrigued with me as I blew bubbles (bubble gum) the other day. I kept trying to stop so I could spit out the flavorless wad, but he would do his "more" baby sign language over and over again. Anything to keep the peace. I also tried getting Nolan to color using some nifty toddler markers. They're for kids 18 months and up. Well, you can tell from the pictures that he's obviously not quite ready. He just wanted to eat it, of course. After 3 or 4 minutes, I decided to hide them away for another few months. Nolan also has new sunglasses! Isn't he cool? Too bad he pulls them off after a short time. He is starting to be even more vocal. He says "tickle tickle." It is pretty funny. He doesn't really know what it means but he does a great job of imitating us. Daddy took Nolan on a walk all the way to the mailbox! Nolan was walking himself... otherwise that wouldn't be a long stroller ride at all. So that's our week here. Tonight Nolan will be hanging out with his friend Jaxon while his parents go out on a date. They're darling friends. We hope you all have a happy weekend! And in case some of you didn't know, just click on the grid of pictures above and they should come up bigger if you'd like to take a closer look.

One more thing... here's a cute picture of Nolan and Dad on the way to the mailbox.

Protein snack (almost)

Nolan and I were outside in the front yard a few days ago. I had pulled out his car seat, put it on the grass, and was trying to adjust it so that he can sit forward facing (yahoo!). By the way, I HATE dealing with car seats and I never did figure it out... thanks for fixing it, Justin! Anyway, Nolan always crawls to the same area of our yard to sample rocks and dirt. I keep thinking that he'll get it in his head that dirt is gross, but he keeps going back for more! I made him spit some out, and carried him back onto the grass. When I looked up a minute later, he was back to his same place and I could tell he was holding something, poised for his mouth. I walked over, and reached for his hand only to find a HUGE stinkbug in his grasp!!! I came apart. I started flinging his arm so that he'd let go of it, he started crying hysterically (I'm not sure, but I might have hurt him), and he only held on tighter! I picked him up, shook it some more (I hope he doesn't have shaken -baby syndrome), and finally had to wipe his hand on the grass to make him release his prisoner. Oh boy, was he sad to lose his little friend! I'm pretty sure that I saved that stinkbug's life... a second later and it would have been a protein snack for Nolan! Yummy!!! Here's a little pictures of Nolan's buddy:

Tantrums

Yes, Nolan has officially started throwing tantrums on a regular basis. I can feel when it is coming. I feel it deep within. I'll set him down (usually after he's climbed onto the dining table), take a deep breath, and then he'll scream. Oh yeah, really scream. Not cute. He did it at church today too. We had to leave a few minutes before the closing prayer and I was already in the foyer for half the meeting anyway! I'm starting to understand why parents count down to nursery age. Although, that won't help with sacrament meeting. Sunday afternoon was filled with many of these outbursts and I was at my wits end... just ask Justin. I'm hoping he's cutting a tooth (Nolan that is... Justin has all his teeth). His one-year molar popped through but it's not in all the way.

On a happier note, we had some good times this week. I took Nolan swimming at the indoor pool with some other moms in the neighborhood. They have a lazy river, a kiddie pool, and lots of things that squirt and splash water. He did it all, including the water slide with me. He liked it the first time, but we got going a little fast the second time. We flew into the water at the end, and I couldn't find my footing for a second. He gasped a little when we came up and then smiled. What a champ!

And Nolan already wants to be a grown-up. He wants to sweep the floor all the time. I just wish he'd do a better job of it! I have to sweep after every meal of his. And of course, he saw Grandpa talking on the cell phone so he needed to do it too. And lastly, we went to the park to see Ryan's (his cousin) first soccer game. He enjoyed swinging on the swings.

It has finally warmed up and Justin and I were out working in the yard again. We got some weed block fabric put down and it felt good to plant some flowers. I just hope the warm weather lasts!

He walks!!!

Nolan started walking on April 1 (and it's not an April Fool's joke). He had been taking 3 or 4 steps here and there for the past week, but I thought he wasn't capable of controlling his steps yet. But that afternoon, he decided to take it slow, and he walked to his Dad in about 10 steps! He's had the hang of it ever since. Here is a short video of his third day of walking. Congratulations, little man!

Christmas and Easter (in one month!)

I'm trying to catch up on posts because we've recently replaced our computer. Justin ordered all the parts and was so excited for Santa (the UPS man) to bring them. He watched the tracking numbers and took part of the day off work because he knew the parts would arrive. It was Christmas all over again for Justin! To make a long story short, he put it together, ran into a couple problems, and now it's working well! I'm excited because I'll be able to do better photo editing and movie making!
Here are some fun pictures of Nolan in the tub last week. He usually takes showers with Dad, so taking a tub is a real treat. He even taught himself how to blow bubbles!

And I realized that I never shared any Easter pics. We spent the weekend in Logan. Justin's Mom recently had a rod and pins put in her arm after a snowboarding accident and she was finally able to hold Nolan. A Grandma holding Nolan is a happy Grandma! We took Nolan to a couple little egg hunts (one was more like trick-or-treating) and surprisingly, he knew right away to put everything in his basket. We also took him to a pet shop to see the animals. We spent time with both sets of Justin's grandparents. It was a great weekend!

Senior Engineer

Yesterday, Justin received the great news that he's been promoted to senior engineer! He called me up and said not to cook dinner, "We're going out!" Naturally, I was thrilled! I'm so proud of Justin and all that he does for our little family, especially for being a wonderful husband and father! He's good at his job, too, and luckily he also enjoys it! This picture is obviously an old one but it's relevant. It's pretty typical of what goes on at the Petersen household (what with a computer always nearby). And by the way, the homemade TiVo is nearly finished. Congrats on everything, honey!

Trouble

At Nolan's last doctor's appointment, the doctor said he's only in the 3rd percentile for weight. His height is the 65th percentile and we're quite proud of that, although it doesn't seem like it could last with his very average parents. But back to the weight issue. It doesn't seem fair that he was weighed after being sick for 9 days. Normally he eats like a horse! But the doctor advised us to put butter on everything and give him PediaSure (I buy the store brand, of course). He loves it but manages to dribble it all down the front of him. I gave him his sippy cup and went in the other room and that's what I found. I'm unsure how he got it in his eye but he seems pretty happy about it. I guess drinking PediaSure will require a little help from Mom for a while.
Nolan also got into some trouble in the bathroom last night. I was helping Justin with some wiring (yes, more wiring...ug) while Nolan was turning on the bath water and feeling it as it trickles out. This activity is tolerable as long as he doesn't turn the water on too high. Well, I heard the water come gushing out at full power, I said, "Nolan, no no," and then I heard a series of thuds. I thought Justin had fallen off the ladder in the basement but then Nolan started fussing. This is what I found in the tub:
And once again, he's pretty happy about it. He's my little wet puppy! After getting over the fall into the tub (I wish I could have seen it, but maybe it's better I didn't) he didn't want to get out. I guess playing in the water is no longer a tolerable activity.

Birthday at the Cabin!!!

It's official: Nolan is 1! We drove down to the cabin (in Alton) for a long weekend with all the family. On the way down we stopped to see "The Wizard of Oz" in Parowan. We were so proud of all of Justin's family that were involved. It was awesome! We could only stay for half of the show because it turned out that Nolan wasn't completely over his stomach bug from the previous week. I'll spare you the details. We thought he was better! There was lots of snow at the cabin and Nolan even went sledding down the hill a few times.


Nolan enjoyed his birthday cake. He just sucked on it until it was gone... it never left his lips! He wasn't sure how to open his presents but his cousins were willing to help! We had a fun time having singing competitions (with Sing Star 80's version on the Playstation) and playing Spoons. Unfortunately, Nolan's germs spread to nearly everyone in the family and the last day wasn't too fun for those who caught the bug. We felt really bad about that. Otherwise it was a fun trip! We still can't believe our baby is a year old.