Nolan's 4 month appointment is not until next week, but we did get him up on the scale and he is 15lbs 8oz. Such a big boy! He is in the 52% for weight He is getting a lot taller too, but no measurements on that. Though he is getting taller, he is still on the shorter side (no idea where he gets that ;)) Short and stout, that is what Nolan is all about ;)
Sleep & Bedtime Routine
Nolan has been sleeping like a champ. He will get up occasionally for a short nurse and then go back to bed. He generally sleeps from 8pm-7:30am. The cool think is no matter what time he wakes up to nurse (2am, 5am, 6:20) he is good to go until is 9am bottle. He is so much more efficient with his nursing that it doesnt take long and it isnt to hard on mommy unless it is more than twice in a night....then she is a little sleepy (but still no complaints, I know we are extremely fortunate in the sleep department).
Nolan still isnt a fan of naps. He will take a couple cat naps during the day and each person that watches him is coming up with little tricks that work to help him go down for a nap and nap longer....thought we are all still trying to figure that one out. The only reason we are working so hard at getting him down for naps is we are worried that if his little body isnt getting at least close to the recommended 15 hours then his body cant grow and cells cant regenerate as they should. That being said, if he is a happy boy we are happy parents.
Nolan decided last night that with being sick he likes to sleep in a swaddle again. Who knew?!? We only have newborn ones because once he didnt like them as a newborn I never looked at moving up in size. We tried out the newborn one and his being short helped us out. We got our (pretty much) 16lb boy into a 7-12 month sleep sack--and he slept like a champ after trying for 2 hours. Swaddle Sac it is! We are looking at borrowing the Poppe's that is larger, and if they dont have one, we are going to go purchase one. Whatever makes you happy man.
Milestones & Likes
Nolan is doing great with his milestones. He is super close to rolling. Though he isnt rolling yet, it isnt because he cant. He will do all the parts--back to side and side to stomach--but has no motivation to actually do all of them together. I have dried putting toys just out of reach; he will reach realize he cant reach it and be entertained by something else. On the plus side, he is a very happy baby! We will keep working at it, but at the same time I know he will do it when he is ready.
He is really good at reaching out and grabbing things--and bringing them directly into his mouth. Everything goes into his mouth. His hand eye coordination is very good for his age. Nolan's favorite things to grab and put in his mouth are his Sophie the Giraffe, a rattle, mom's brand new teething silicone necklaces (bought just for that), his rings, and his burp rags (or any cloth). Not sure why he loves the cloth, but Grandma always gave him one and he LOVES it! He loves to chew it, cuddle it, and play with it. Cheap, easy, can be found anywhere in a pinch, I like it.
Nolan LOVES to lay on the floor. He can be under his play gym or on a plain blanket. As long as he can lay he is singing, talking, and often yelling. We have many important conversations while he is laying on the floor.
Nolan has been what we believe is teething. He is super drooly, all the time and not only puts everything in his mouth, but gnaws on it. We have gotten him an amber bead necklace to help with that. Not sure if it will help, but we also feel what can it hurt......
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| He is getting pretty good at sitting with minimal support (though it is still necessary, there is lots of tipping). |
Working in Catholic School I have many fun opportunities to include Nolan in my work and my daily life. Besides an amazing staff that loves to have him come in and play with him, they are super supportive if he needs to come to staff meetings and such as well. Nolan got to be "Sweet Baby Jesus" (Threw a Talidega Nights reference in there for Alex) for pictures of our school program. Instead of having the little ones dress up AND try to sing, our preschool teacher that also does our program work with our 4k kids takes their pictures of them doing their parts and plays it while they are singing on Concert night. 
Nolan had his first Thanksgiving. Before the festivities, Nolan took his first Thanksgiving pictures.  |
| I also got a picture of all my boys-what I am most thankful for! |
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| We got to celebrate by going to Grandma and Grandpa Gloudemans and enjoying a wonderful lunch, and then we went to aunt Deb's for dinner. Nolan loved holding his cousin Charles' hand. Could cousins have any more different body types?!?! |
The Saturday after Thanksgiving is the annual Gloudemans Christmas party. Nolan got to meet Santa, sit on his lap, and get his first gift from Santa. With Anything Gloudemans style, it was a large event. These are all of Alex's cousin's kids (second cousins). All these kids are Nolans "generation" of Gloudemans. So many already!
The first Sunday after Thanksgiving is always when we go get our Christmas Tree. We go to Whispering Pines in Oconto and we cut down our own tree. It was very different wearing Nolan this year, but so much fun! I can't wait to keep this tradition up and let him tell all his friends about it when he is older! |
| This year, when we went to get our tree, we went with Brittany and Charles as well. Brittany and Charles rode with Alex, Nolan, and I in our Equinox. It was a tight fit, but Brittany was a trooper keeping the two occupied! |
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| After cutting down our tree, we all went to dinner together. Here is Nolan and Charles' first sleepover ;) |
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| St. Nick came and gave Nolan toys that he can grasp with his little fingers and chew on. He loves them all! |
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| We decorated the tree and we are all ready for Christmas at our house |
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We celebrated our third annual
"Friendsgiving" this year. It was held at our house. There were so
many little babies around it was adorable!
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| Found Daddy's glasses, lol |
This is right about when Nolan started to not feel well. Between the start of what we believe is teething and a cold coming on, he was kinda a grump. Many of his pictures reflect that. haha
A girl I went to highschool with is a photographer and she was doing photos with Santa by appointment (no lines!) and giving you the rights to your photos. It felt like a no brainer....Then Nolan was in a mood....This is what most of our cd consisted of.....
We were able to get a couple of good ones, but this is just funny looking through how mad he is!
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| Nolan got to sit in his Bumbo chair all strapped in and in a chair with a back, two sides, and pushed all the way into the table to join us for dinner. (Mommy is just a little precaution when it comes to Nolan sitting in his bumbo) |
Santa came to the Vanden Heuvel Christmas as well! Nolan got to sit with 
Santa (and as long as he didnt have to let go of his rings he was happy to do it). We took a family photo that he didn't cry for, and then he got a picture with all of all of Alex's cousin's kids (again). Nolan was number 16-the one to balance Grandpa Ken's number of grand kids to great grandkids number. Now we have Violet as well so there are 17 great grandkids (Nolan's Generation). The three oldest grandchildren helped out by holding the youngest three great-grandchildren.
Sickness/ Therapies
Nolan has graduated from seeing our lactation consultant, his physical therapist, AND the speech and language therapist!! We have a couple things to keep an eye out for and a couple things to keep working on on our own, but he did it! Things are really going great with nursing and Nolan's use of his tongue, cheeks. He is also looking left when he is on his back, sitting up, and on his stomach. YAY Nolan!
Unfortunately, Nolan has his second ear infection and cold. He was pretty miserable for 2 days and then when he got a low grade fever (100.4) I called the doctor. They said ride it out and keep taking his temp. If his temperature went to 101, his temperament changed or I just really wanted him looked at to call back. When he went to bed, his temp was 100.9. When he woke up he wouldn't stop crying and would occasionally kick out in pain. His temp was back at 100.4. I called the doctor at 7:59. They automated voice came on only to be kicked off by it actually ringing as the clock struck 8 at the office. We got him in for a normal appointment and sure enough it was an ear infection. Antibiotics, Vitamin E for his ears (he gets a lot of wax build up and not being able to use a Q-tip makes it hard to see in his hears so the vitamin E is supposed to help break up the wax naturally. He is on the mend.
Oh, and he has insurance for all of it. Boy oh Boy is that a story; a long story. You may want to save it for another day, but HERE it is.
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