Backyard Fall Photos...

For weeks, I've been wanting to get some good fall photos of Leland, but I've been so busy that I haven't had a chance. And then when we do have time, it's either freezing cold or raining.

When Leland and I got home last Friday, the sun was shining and the air was cool, but not freezing. I decided to try to sneak in some pictures before dinner.

They didn't turn out as well as I would have liked, but Leland would not look in my general direction for most of the time we were outside. Plus, I have to remember that I am no professional photographer. Maybe I should take a class or two and I would be happier with my photos.

Anyway, here are a few that I thought turned out okay...

In case you're wondering...yes, he did try to eat leaves and sticks.

He kept following me wherever I went so he could climb on my legs. 

Still refusing to look my way...sigh.

First Weekend Away...

This weekend, the whole Nowak crew made the three hour drive to Lansing for our niece Kennedi's first birthday party. Dave's parents paid for all of us kids to stay in a hotel overnight as an early Christmas gift.

I was a little nervous about the car ride, because Leland has never been in a car that long. And now that his daycare is just a few doors down, he really doesn't ride in a car very much. But, I have to say, Little Man did pretty awesome in the car on the way there and back. He napped for a bit and played with his toys the rest of the time. Both times, I moved to the back for the last half hour of the trip to entertain and dispense Cheerios.

The party was fun. Danielle did a great job decorating in pink and zebra stripes, and had cute cupcakes and yummy food. I wanted to get pictures, but was a little busy with the babe, and then I had to take him out to the truck to nurse and take a short nap in the middle of the party.

It was fun to see him interact with his cousins. Luke kept trying to give him kisses. Jakob made faces at him. Kennedi just stared at him and then they would giggle at each other. It was a good time.

Grandma Patti with her two youngest grandbabes.

Cousin Lukas giving the birthday girl a kiss.

Cousin Jake providing some comedy.

Handsome Luke

Birthday girl, Kennedi!

Jake and Leland playing under the table.

Lots of giggles from these two!

He loved crawling around at the party. Such fun exploring new places!

We went out to dinner with the Nowak crew, and Leland and Kennedi got to sit next to each other. They entertained each other and everyone else with their giggles and shrieks of glee. Oh, and Leland and Kennedi were mistaken for twins. Close enough - they're only two months apart and they do have some similar features.

Phone picture from Danielle. Lukas photo bombing in the background. :)

Leland didn't sleep well in his pack and play in the hotel room, but when I brought him to bed with us, he slept fine. Probably a combination of a new place, overstimulation, and the pack and play not being quite as comfy as his own crib. Thank goodness for a king size bed - I don't think the three of us could share a queen these days.Once we got home on Sunday, I could tell Leland missed his own bed; he spent much of the afternoon in it snoozin' away.

Overall, it was a great little trip. It was fun to hang out with the whole family in a different place and to see the place Jon and Danielle call home - though we didn't actually see their apartment. Ha. I also have a new appreciation Jon and Danielle, as they visit Traverse City much more often than any of us visit Lansing. It's not always easy with a baby.

Ten Months...

{Just so you all know, I am aware that I went overboard with pictures this month. I actually had WAY more than I posted here. It's easy to take so many when you have such a beautiful subject.}

Dear Leland,

Today, you are ten months old. That seems so old to me. I still think you of as a brand new baby, but you’re far from it! I cannot believe that you will be a year old in just two short months.

You started crawling {like, really crawling} shortly after you turned nine months. One night you inched your way across your bedroom twice {because you wanted to play with a new package of diapers}, and each day you crawled more and more. And now you’re a mover and you crawl all over the place. Now that you’re a crawler, that’s all you want to do. I can’t keep you still for a second. You try to crawl in the bath tub, which usually leads to bumping your head. You try to crawl away when I change your diaper. And putting pajamas on you is nearly impossible these days! It’s okay though; I am loving watching you go everywhere and discover everything.

You have been pulling yourself up onto your knees for a little while and this weekend, you pulled yourself all the way up to your feet for the first time. It’s only a matter of time before you’re walking, but I’m in no hurry for that. I love to watch you crawl and am NOT ready for walking yet.

At your nine month appointment, your pediatrician said we didn’t have to restrict your foods and that we could start feeding you anything we were eating, with the exception of honey. Since then you’ve tried lots of new foods, such as spaghetti, mac and cheese, pizza, broccoli cheddar soup, quesadillas, a few meats like chicken and pork, and so many other things. You love them all! You still eat pureed foods for breakfast and lunch, but you eat more solid foods for snacks and dinner. It’s fun to see you try new things, especially because you love everything so much. You’re a great little eater!

You still love to nurse. For a couple days while you were teething this month, you didn’t want to nurse as much and I was worried you were weaning yourself {though you didn’t want bottles then either}. But it only lasted a day or two and you went back to nursing like a champ. I am so thankful, because I love nursing you and am not ready to give it up yet. I will be so sad when you are done.

Like I said, you were teething this month. You cut one tooth – a lateral incisor {fang} and your other “fang” is just days away, which is hilarious because you don’t have your top front teeth yet. So you look like a little vampire. When this other "fang" pops through, you will have four teeth.

You are wearing some 12 month clothes and some 12-18 month stuff. You’re still in size 4 diapers. I have to say I’m enjoying picking out handsome fall outfits for you. You are adorable in everything you wear.

You had your first overnight trip this month. We went down to Lansing for your cousin Kennedi’s first birthday and spent the night. You did great on the three hour drive there and back and were in a wonderful mood most of the time. You had a hard time sleeping in the hotel room, but we made it just fine. It was really fun to see you and Kennedi interacting.

We also attended the Munson Medical Center NICU reunion this month. We got to reunite with some of your NICU nurses and show them how well you’re growing.

You love Mindy and your friends at daycare. In the morning, when I drop you off, you happily reach your arms for Mindy and smile. I love that you love it there, but it does make me a little sad that you’re so happy for me to leave. Sometimes, though, you go back and forth between us a couple of times.

  

My precious boy, you are the most amazing gift we could ever ask for. I often joke that I am addicted to you and that perhaps I need a twelve-step program. But I can’t help it. You are on my mind all day, every day. I rush to get home to you every day, and I don’t want to miss a single second with you. You are my dream come true. 

Love, Mom

The only picture I could get of him laying down this month.

New favorite thing...playing his piano.

Peas Can Be Funny. No, Really...

Thursday night, I had parent-teacher conferences until 8:00, which meant that Dave was a single parent that night, and by the time I arrived home at 8:30, Leland was already snug in bed.

This conversation followed:

Me: So how did it go tonight?

Dave: Good. He didn't like his peas at all though.

Me: Really? That's weird. He usually loves them. {Looking at Leland's daily sheet from daycare...} He even had peas today at Mindy's.

Dave: Well, maybe that's why he didn't like them. Maybe he was tired of them. Why would you give him peas for lunch and dinner?

Me: I didn't. I packed him carrots for lunch.

Dave: Well, how did he have peas at lunch then?

Me: I guess Mindy gave him some. I told her she can give him pretty much anything she thinks he'll eat.

Dave: Oh, so she gave him her peas?

This is where I burst out laughing for a good 20 minutes. Not sure why? Read Dave's last comment out loud.

{In case you still don't get it, let me spell it out: her peas...her-peas...herpes.}

Soon, he was laughing too. Perhaps it was my complete exhaustion from the week I had, but I could not stop laughing. I'm actually still laughing about it.

Pumpkin Patch of Character...

One of the things I love about my school is that Character Education is part of our curriculum. Students are actually graded four times a year on six character traits: respect, responsibility, kindness, getting along, work ethic, and optimism. While this makes for more work for the teachers {report cards are a lot of work}, it's really cool that students learn early what it means to demonstrate good character.

Another thing I love about my school is that students receive positive contacts from their teacher at least once a month. These positive contacts can be phone calls, e-mails, notes, post cards, or even "in-person" contacts. Again, this makes more work for teachers, but students and parents love receiving these positive comments from teachers. Whenever I have a brand new student, I always call their parents after the first week to let them know how it went. You wouldn't believe how many parents are nervous about getting a phone call from their child's teacher. I love when they are pleasantly surprised about receiving a POSITIVE phone call. I call at other times of the year as well, and I think parents appreciate it.

Well, this month, all of the teachers at school are doing a hallway display for our positive contacts. They can do anything they want to present them. I decided to write my comments about how students show a specific character trait {Example: Johnny was a great example of kindness when he held the door for another teacher last week.}. I put the comments on little construction paper pumpkins and titled my display "Mrs. Nowak's Pumpkin Patch of Character."

I'm no artist, but I'm pleased with how they turned out.

NICU Reunion...

This past weekend, Munson {the hospital where Leland was born} held a NICU reunion. There was a photo slideshow of many babies {if their parents e-mailed pictures}, food, ice cream, cake, and lots of fun activities for kids of all ages.

Dave was off target shooting with his friend, James, so it was just Leland and I. This made it hard to get any pictures, but let me assure you, we had fun. We saw one of my classroom parents who works for Early On, then we snacked on some fruit, goldfish crackers, and Mommy had some Moomers ice cream.

Then we went to look at the slideshow. It was amazing to see some of the babies' pictures and read their stories. Leland was pretty much the biggest NICU baby on the slideshow {at 5 lbs. 7 oz., he was barely preemie-sized}. One story keeps popping into my head of a little girl who wasn't breathing. They called Time of Death, and just moments later, she started screaming. How scary for her parents! There were other babies on the slideshow who, like Leland, were born 6 weeks premature, but they were so much smaller - only 3.5 lbs! I thought he was tiny, I couldn't imagine a three-pounder!

There was a free photo booth, which, of course, Leland and I did. It took four pictures and printed out the strip. Here is what ours looked like - sorry for the "picture of a picture"...they never turn out very good.

Leland also got a free t-shirt. I requested 12 month size, but I probably should have gone for 18 month, since his is a little snug already. Yeah, my preemie baby is wearing 12-18 month clothes at 10 months old. Nothing preemie about him these days!

HELP!

Help friends! I've run out of space in Picasa Web Albums, and I don't know what to do! I don't have enough space to post photos on my blog. I am totally, absolutely, dead set against paying for more storage. Especially since it's monthly. If it were a yearly thing, I'd probably feel better about it.

Any suggestions, friends?

The Year of Babies...

It seems that 2012 has been the year of babies. Leland was due in 2012, but happened to make his arrival a little early and was born in 2011 instead. But even besides him, it seems that everyone I know has had babies this year.

Three of my siblings had babies. A few co-workers. Several close friends. And recently, I learned that a few of my friends who have been patiently waiting for their turn are now pregnant. It's baby fever!

Most recently, my two friends, Corrin and Rebecca, had their third babies, and I have been lucky enough to go visit.

Corinn's precious Elliott, younger brother to Porter and Weston, was born September 17. With Leland having a bit of a cold, I wanted wait a few weeks to visit, but I was finally able to last weekend. He is adorable and such a snuggle bug.

Then our good friends, Rebecca and Steve, welcomed sweet Nora, younger sister to Aubrey and Sophia, on October 10. We visited today and I got to snuggle her up for quite a while. I had high hopes that Leland would be excited to meet her, but he didn't really pay any attention. Ha ha. Oh well, he'll find an interest in his girlfriend someday; she's too gorgeous for him to ignore for too long.

It is most definitely the year of babies. Though it seems that next year may be just as full of them, too. :)

Above and Beyond...

Today, I was helping a third grade student go over his math assignment to check for mistakes. One of the questions had a few numbers listed - I think counting by sevens - and asked to write the next four numbers in a sequence.

The student did the next five {not four} numbers in the sequence, but the last one was wrong. I told him it was incorrect, but that he could just erase it, since he only needed to do four numbers.

He looked at me and in all sincerity said, "But I want to go above and beyond!"

Oh my. Melt my heart.

I love my job.

All Quiet on the Blog Front...

Just dropping by to say I'm sorry that things are so quiet around here lately. There are two main reasons for this.

1. It's parent-teacher conference season {as well as Character Education report card season}, so I am busy with school work. Busy, busy, busy.

2. I don't really have much to say.

I promise I'll post soon {like, a real post...not this kind of thing}.

Until then, enjoy some pics of the cutest little boy celebrating Fire Prevention Week.