Nolan: 21 months

Nolan at 21 months is letting even more of his personality show and as we get to see what he's like he is both more interesting and harder to understand! He is his own little person that's for sure. He is very sweet and wants to be good but he also wants to do his own thing, and if those two don't match up... he will still do his own thing. He is very stubborn and very determined (I guess since both of his parents have these traits he got a double dose). He has a good heart but not the same desire to please as his sister. If you tell him to do something he will rarely sometimes do it. (Including: Nolan stop. Nolan don't go in the street. Nolan come back. Nolan if you want to get down and walk you have to stay by me. Nolan don't push.) He has put us in some interesting parenting positions and we are still trying to figure out the best approach to disciplining him! I do love though how my kids have a mind of their own. He is still my little boyfriend and my number one go-to for tickle fights, playing cars or horsies. He is fun and happy the majority of the time. I will take as many sloppy kisses and 10 second snuggles as I can get.    

It's crazy to be to think that this was the age Caitlin was when Nolan was born. They are so different from each other. I have no doubt Nolan is going to be a  EXCELLENT big brother but I am grateful for the extra time I have with him. He has progressed a lot just over the past month as far as communication and interaction goes. He is trying out lots of new words and will repeat anything we say. Sometimes a lot of his words sound the same but he has a pretty big vocabulary. He still doesn't combine words very often, just one at a time but he likes to make his wants known and speak for himself.

-He is very friendly and will talk to anyone. He will just go up and say hi. Especially if you have a dog with you... then you are his #1 person he is wanting to talk to.
-He is all boy but not afraid to try on his sister's high heels if playing dress-up is the only option at the time. He also loves playing baby dolls, he loves babies.
-He can identify tons of animals and make their noises. His favorite animal is definitely "hoysies" followed by either dogs or cats depending on the day.
-He is learning some colors but thanks to his sister his go to answer is "pink!"
-He knows most of our extended family members by name.
-He knows most of his body parts.
-He loves play-doh, cars, his miniature horsies, balls, playing hide and go seek and playing outside.
-He still naps every day, for about 2.5-3 hours and sleeps about 12 hours at night (8-8) Every time he goes to sleep he has to have his blanky, his big Mickey, his little Mickey and his Pooh bear. And his baba.
-He LOVES his blanky. He calls it his "dinkdink" and he usually likes to have it around with him for awhile after he wakes up. And sometimes just when he feels like it. He also LOVES Mickey and Pooh, a lot.
-He is done with bottles and drinks sippy cups of (still warmed up) milk for his nap and night time.
-He is generally a great eater.
-Church is impossible for the first hour then he goes to nursery and he loves it and they say he does great!
-His hair will not keep any sort of style for longer than 2 minutes. I'm still trying different products but so far nothing has worked and as soon as I put it in he wants to feel it with his hands and messes it up. So usually we just go au natural.
-He loves playing with other kids.
-He is so strong. He can push open doors or knock things over that I would never see coming. He sometimes doesn't know his own strength, and sometimes playing with kids he can push them or something but he doesn't do it to be mean.
-He is very agile. He's great at climbing and running fast and moving around. His coordination could improve but he likes to be active and can pretty much handle any playground on his own.
-He has a really prancey run, he lifts his knees high and he is usually always running (or prancing i guess) opposed to walking. When he gets excited he stomps his feet really fast.
-With his blue eyes, big cheeks and easy smile he is just as cute as can be, but pretty much impossible to take a posed picture of.