of birthdays and growth

So, this happened.  

My birthday was March 14,  I'm over 2 weeks late in posting this!

My husband is not so good at flowers, or gifts, or cards, but he does know how to make me surprise smile when I'm least expecting it.  And those are the best kinds of smiles.   My birthday was kind of surpassed by having a baby and a husband with a killer sinus infection, but the night was made special by friends Laura and Tim who babysat for us, and we had our first dinner out since Nolan was born.  Laura brought over decadent desserts that we had together after dinner and Nolan was great.  It was so nice to go out and come home to a sleeping baby, no tears.  It is possible!

This pic I am including because of the hilarious angle, gigantifying my baby.  He's not really that big, but does enjoy this laid back, in charge of everything, sitting position all the time. 

This also happened...

What you are looking at are snapped windshield wipers. What you don't see is the bent antenna and the sand that was flung at the side of the car.  An act of vandalism, the windows weren't smashed, the bag of coins that we left on the floor for tolls was still full.  This simply hampers our driving in the city, and potentially might can our weekend plans.  Of course, our car is 12 years old, so replacement wipers are hard to come by, had to be ordered, and in this age of online tracking of packages, we can tell that they haven't been shipped yet.   It's not something I'd normally consider a deal breaker, but when you really think about it, it's not smart to go very far without wipers when there's even a chance of rain.  We're supposed to be going to Cincinnati tomorrow, and Dubuque later this week; here's hoping that the forecast is clear, and that the parts get shipped!




What I've also missed in my haze of returning to work and attempting to keep this apartment livable is Nolan's 3 month photo!  He crossed over the 3 month mark on March 19, check out his growth here:
growth comparison.  He is changing every day.  The next few photos I took around March 19.

I'm so BIG! And I can grab toys now!

But my hands are still the best entertainment. 

And I've been working hard at growing multiple chins. 

There are several more chins hiding in there. 

I like deep thinking.  And I'm a mind reader...

Getting ready to talk! 

We also discovered by accident that our baby loves to look at the spines of books.  He is enthralled.

I am sure someone will say something about the IOWA book at the left, yes, Nolan was staring right at it, as if it was calling him home (you're welcome Nick). 

Such intense gazing.

Also this week, Daddy tried out the Moby wrap, and loved it.  Nolan's not so sure in this shot, but facing out seems to be his favorite way of dog walking and general hanging around these days.

All this catching up, and I haven't mentioned my week back at work.  In short, it went really well.  I left with tears in my eyes each morning, but once I had 27 kid looking up at me expectantly, I couldn't worry too much about my baby at home. Of course he was with 2 awesome people, so that made it SO much easier.  I am ever grateful. The pumping on the other hand is so difficult on a school teachers schedule.  Currently, I am pumping in the car (battery pack) to and from work, and during my 15 minute lunch break. It stinks.   More on that later, Nolan's awake!