11 months old!-WALKING!

 

Nolan is nearly a year old! Where has he time gone. Nolan continues to be very active! He is a super fast crawler, he crawls on his hands and feet. He must think it is faster than his knees. He took his first steps (that I witnessed) on July 18th!

Nolan has many “words” now he says mama and finally decided to say dada after holding out for many months. I think that really felt good for Aaron to finally hear Nolan say dada. He also says baba and ooooooo.

When we went in for his 9 month appointment (which didn’t happen until he was 10.5 months old). He weighted about 19 pounds and was 29 inches tall. Although he is only wearing 9 month clothes the doctor says that she doesn’t see any reason for concern as he is obviously a very happy and BUSY baby.

Nolan has two teeth on the bottom, which you can see in some of his pictures. In the last month he also got two teeth on the top. I think he may have a third breaking through on the top, right side. He has been a little fussy lately and I think it has to do with breaking all those teeth through.

Nolan’s favorite game is peek-a-boo he loves playing with anyone who will join in. He also enjoys giving hugs and snuggling when he is sleepy. He even snuggles his stuffed animals.

Nolan started daycare at the beginning of July. It has been a smooth transition. He enjoys the other kids and loves all of the toys. He has only cried one day when I was dropping him off. The ladies all seem to enjoy him as well. He gets to see cousin Kylee everyday now too as she attends the same center. Last week he had an incident involving another child…Nolan got bit on the forehead by another little boy in the class. Thank goodness he was okay.

I just completed my first semester of graduate school at Wichita State University. Only 16 more months until graduation! Once I finish I will have a Master’s of Arts in Teaching-Early Childhood Unified which will qualify me to teach birth-3rd grade. I will be starting up classes again on August 20th.

It has been a difficult summer for the Traffas family. In June we lost Brian, Aaron’s dad. He was only 59 and passed much too soon. I never imagine that Nolan’s first harvest would be Brian’s last. I continue to pray for strength for his children and for Marilyn to make it through this difficult time. Aaron will be taking over the farming operations. So Nolan and I have not seen much of Aaron in the last couple of months. As Aaron plants the fields we are living in Wichita and trying to go about our business as usual and seeing him whenever possible. Aaron is happy to get the opportunity to farm his father’s and grandfather’s land, he has always said it is his dream job, of course he never thought this is how it would happen. I know Aaron was really looking forward to moving home and farming with his dad.  I think it is bittersweet for Aaron.

On July 8th Nolan was baptized in Sharon at St. Boniface church. It was so nice to be surrounded by family as Nolan joined the catholic church. We got some very cute pictures of Nolan and Kylee in their black and white outfits.

We finally got moved into our new place in Wichita. We could not have done it without lots of help from our families. Thank you so much. This place is so much better than our duplex was. There is plenty of space for Nolan to roam and I don’t feel so cramped.

In the coming months we are going to be a busy bunch. Part of the requirements of the Master’s program is that I have at least 20 hours per week in a classroom setting. So I am leaving the job I have had for the last 3 years in hopes that I get a job in the next couple of weeks at a school. If I don’t get a job I will be volunteering in a classroom.  The classroom hours are of course in addition to WSU course work. Aaron will continue to spend most of his time in Sharon planting the wheat. And Nolan well he will be walking and playing and learning all day. We are planning his 1st birthday party for the end of August in Wichita. This year has absolutely flown by. Aaron and I are so lucky to have not only each other, but our wonderful, happy, healthy  little boy.