Nolan Nolan Nolan

nolan

On June 1st I took Nolan up to Pratt to have his pictures taken by Stacie Strong. As always Stacie did a great job and was undeterred by this little guy trying to run off after each photo snap. I am amazed that they turned out as well as they did. She was quick with the shots and got some great ones of our little guy. Thank you Stacie we love them!

In these pictures Nolan is about 33 months old as his 3rd birthday will be at the end of August. Nolan is growing up quickly it seems. I am treasuring (and pulling my hair out) this summer as we get to spend so much time together. He is so smart, I know every parent says this about their children, but even so it is wonderful to listen to his questions and watch him explore and learn about he environment around him.

Some of Nolan’s favorite things are:

  • His Daddy, he already looks up to him saying “Daddy is a good worker”, “I’m going to be a good worker too”.
  • Being outside, for as long as I can remember this has been Nolan’s favorite place to be.
  • Other kids, the neighbor kids as especially interesting to him. If we hear voices while in our backyard, there is no chance Nolan is staying in our yard. He will be out the fence and the their yard before I even look up.
  • He loves Jake and the Neverland Pirates, good or bad he likes it and we put up with it.
  • Reading books, he is always interested in sitting down for a good read and refuses to go to bed if we don’t read our stories.
  • Farming, he loves riding on the tractors and combine and he is already telling Aaron about the equipment. He had his first combine ride of the season earlier this week. He loves it, asking so many questions about the wheat as well as every button and sound in the combine.
  • ICE CREAM, can you blame the kid, who doesn’t love ice cream. This does get a little tricky since he is allergic to peanuts but for the time being his favorite is vanilla which makes it easy to avoid nuts.
  • Pretend play, Nolan has always been pretty good at self entertaining as he has gotten older it is really fun to watch. He plays by himself but he carries on two sides of a conversation. He doesn’t really even need toys, sometimes his right and left hands or feet are “talking” to each other, often in a dispute. I guess he is learning conflict resolution. He also likes to tell us that he is just pretending or that it is not real.

This growing boy is amazing and wonderful and I am so very happy that he is ours. It is fun to hear people say that he is just like Aaron when he was a boy. They both make me so happy everyday, I cannot wait to add another man to my life, surely that can only mean more happy right?

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.

 

 

Stand Up, Sit Down….

Nolan turned 8 months old on April 27th;  this year is flying by! Nolan is crawling all over the house. Figuring out new ways to baby proof everything has just about become a hobby for Aaron. He and Nolan continue to spend their days at home together. Erica comes over and helps out with Nolan when she is available. Nolan is crawling and pulling up on furniture and has even started to take small steps along the furniture. It is very fun to watch him learn how to use his body. He first stood up on his own (pulling himself to his feet) against the mirror in his play area on April 27.

We have continued to (try to) feed Nolan solids. However he has decided that he is not really that interested in eating any of them. He starts out very happy and excited to eat when I put him in his chair, but then once we get down to the actual putting food in his mouth, well that is when he starts getting upset. It doesn’t seem to matter what we are eating cereal, veggies or fruits; he usually ends up trying to hold the spoon and finger paint in any of the food that drips on the tray. It is quite an ordeal, but I am trying to stick with it in hopes that he will start to like it.  Sometimes I think he knows he will get to take a bath right after dinner so he just cries and then we go take a bath. He LOVES the bathtub. He plays with his bath toys chasing them all over the tub and splashing and kicking the whole time. I am really looking forward to going to the pool this summer with him.

Nolan does not yet have any teeth. Which is fine by me as long as they decide to come in at some point. 🙂 He has been battling a cold for the last week which has made him a little fussy and I cannot tell if he is over the cold or if he is starting to teeth.  Although I have though he was teething since he was about 5 months old!

He doesn’t yet have any real words but he seems to be doing a little more experimentation with sounds than he was before. He still screams but usually only when he is really happy and excited.

There are so many people and places I want to see this summer, I hope I find the time to do so. At the beginning of July we are planning to have Nolan’s baptism ceremony in Sharon at St. Boniface, the same church Aaron and I got married in.

At the end of April I found out that I was accepted in to the Early Childhood Unified-Master of Arts in Teaching program at Wichita State University . I am very excited to get started! This program is an 18 month program that starts in June 2012. So back to school I go. I will most likely be leaving my job at TFI in the fall to start working in a school, preschool or childcare center, which is part of the requirement of the ECU-MAT program. I know it is going to be intense but I really look forward to being a teacher and working with kids. I especially like the idea of have my summers free to spend with my own little one.

This summer is going to go so quickly I just know it! The next two weekends we are celebrating the achievements of Andrew and Erica! Andrew has finished the course work at University of Missouri at St. Louis  to be a Doctor of Optometry while Erica has completed her  Bachelor of  Science in Nursing from Bethel College.  I know they have both been waiting for the completion of these degrees and we are very excited to share in their achievements!

Aaron is becoming increasingly obsessed with improving his golf game. I can’t blame him for wanting to get out and play 18 holes after spending all week with Nolan. Aaron’s most recent upgrade to his equipment included a new driver. From what I have heard he seems to be pretty happy with the results.

Harvest is coming, probably early this year. I was driving down by Winfield yesterday and some of the wheat fields were already turning gold. Aaron always looks forward to heading down to Sharon and cutting wheat. It will be fun to get Nolan out for a quick photo with the combines this year.

Aaron and I are trying to find a different place to rent. Since we are not planning on staying in Wichita too long after I graduate from WSU we don’t think it is in our best interest to buy a home. So the search is on for a rental house. We actually like the place we are in right now but the floor plan is not great. So hopefully we can find a set up that will be more conducive to “Daddy Daycare”.