Why should I be ashamed?

Guys, 2 months from now I'm going to be 27. Holy cow. I feel like that officially puts me in the "late twenties" category. My 10 year high school reunion is next year. 10 years!! While I feel like my late twenties snuck up on me I also don't feel old.

I recently saw a post about an eleven year old girl who was buying wrinkle cream so that she could start preventing wrinkles on her face. Eleven. 

When I was eleven I was just worried about playing outside with my friends, the thought of wrinkles never even crossed my mind.

Do I have wrinkles now? Sure. But why do I have to be ashamed of them or try to get rid of them? I also have plenty of other things "wrong" with my body but I embrace them all.

• I have some crows feet. That just means I've smiled a lot. I've enjoyed my life and laughed. Why am I supposed to hide the fact that I've smiled and laughed a lot?

• I have dark circles and bags under my eyes. That just means I've had friends who've kept me up late having fun, jobs that wake me up early, or right now, a toddler who gets me up :). Why am I supposed to hide the fact that I like spending time with people I love or, the fact that I've been blessed with jobs, or that my baby needed me in the middle of the night for sustenance and comfort?

• Another thing I hear a lot about is gray hair. While I don't experience this yet, I full plan on embracing every single one that shows up. Why am I supposed to cover up that I'm aging and my hair is changing with that?

• I have stretch marks. I was pregnant and got some stretch marks. Guys, I stinking grew a human being inside of me, the most incredible thing I could ever do and I'm supposed to be ashamed of the stretch marks that came with it? I created life and the thing I'm supposed to take from that is he ruined my body with stretch marks. This does not even make sense to me.

I see aging and getting older as a gift. I embrace my birthday and new age every year. God's given me the gift of another year of life, why do I feel like I'm supposed to complain about that? I've survived this life for almost 27 years now. That's a great accomplishment. I'm looking forward the next 27 years and more!

Nolan- 12 months!

Weight: 25 pounds
Length: 30 inches


Likes:

• Animals. Loves our dogs and any other animal he comes in contact with. 
• Eating, little boy will eat all the time if you give him food!
• Running around. That's right, this little boy is officially a walker and runner!
• Being outside, he loves being out in the yard and exploring everything.
• Swimming! The water in our pool has finally warmed up enough and he loves splashing in the water!

Dislikes:

• He's in this phase where he hates having his diaper changed, it takes forever to get through it now.
• Being put down for a nap. He's tired but let's me know he's not happy about being in his crib. He's usually asleep within a few minutes though.
• Green beans. He used to gobble them up but now has decided not like them anymore.

Well that's it! My baby is no longer a baby anymore! It's been fun to watch this last year and how much he's changed and grown. I can't wait to see how different he is next year!

Nolan- 11 Months

Weight: 25 pounds
Length: ?


Likes:

• Bananas. They're still his favorite food in the world and he would eat them all the time. I have to be careful at the grocery store otherwise he'll grab them and try to eat them right then.
• Playing outside. He's starting to gain confidence and has started crawling around the yard instead of just staying on the blanket we sit on.
• Being tossed around. He's obviously going to be an adrenaline junkie and love roller coasters.
• Getting into everything! No drawer or cupboard is safe!
• Making animal noises. He can do lion, monkey, owl, and Daddy (makes farting noises for Daddy).

Dislikes:

• When I don't let him play with electrical outlets.
• When I don't let him play in the dishwasher.
• Basically, when I don't let him do what he wants to do (usually cause it's not safe).

Nolan: 10 Months

Weight: 24 pounds
Length: ?


Likes:

• Food! Especially bananas. He's liked every fruit and vegetable we've given to him. He's unsure about some meats but will eat almost anything.
• Walking with his sit-to-stand walker. He goes all over the place!
• Anything soft- teddy bears, blankets, pillows, he loves them all!
• Shrieking at the top of his lungs. When he's really excited he shrieks. Kid has some lungs on him.
• Drinking from a straw cup. He doesn't want regular sippy cups anymore, they have to have a straw.

Dislikes:

• Getting his diaper changed. He flips over, stiffens his legs, cries, anything he can do to try and get away.
• Wearing shoes.

Nolan- 9 Months

Weight: 23 pounds 9 ounces (95%)
Length: 29.25 inches (83%)

Milestones: Pulling himself up on things.
                   "Real" crawling on hands and knees. He gets up on his knees but he still drags them.


Likes:

• Eating. He's becoming a little more adventurous in what he will try and is starting to eat bites of "real" food, not just baby food anymore. He still loves bananas.
• Books with flaps that he can open and close. He will get upset if I try to put them away after reading them 20 times.
• An empty diaper box that he can climb on and pull himself into a standing position with.
• Turing off light switches.
• Crawling EVERYWHERE! And he's quick, too.
• Blankets, he loves all blankets.

Dislikes:

• Snow. I'm hoping this will change as he gets older but, he could have cared less about the snow we got recently.
• When I won't let him play with things he shouldn't such as, the carbon monoxide detector, the dog toys, the fireplace, etc….
• Growing teeth. He has 3 top teeth coming in right now and they hurt him and disrupt his sleeping through the night (Ok, maybe Mommy dislikes his growing teeth, too).

Nolan- 8 Months

Weight: 23.2 pounds (not entirely sure how accurate that is. He's too wiggly for me to hold and try to get a weight on our scale and I'm not sure if it's accurate with him sitting on the scale by himself)
Length: ?

Milestones:

• Crawling! Well, it's more of an army crawl/ belly drag but he's definitely moving!
• Sitting himself up. He can crawl around and then sit himself up on his own if he wants to sit up!

Likes:

• Crawling. He's a quick little bugger and will get into everything.
• Trying to eat Mommy's dirty shoes.
• Puffs- they're his favorite thing to eat.
• Being thrown in the air.
• His big stuffed bear.

Dislikes:

• Having to be still for anything.
• When Mommy moves him away from dirty stuff he shouldn't play with.
• Being held for long periods of time, he'd rather be playing with his toys or crawling around.
• Prunes. It's the only thing I've found so far that he won't eat.
• Being laughed at. Apparently he's very sensitive and will get the biggest poochie lip if he knows you're laughing at him.

Nolan: 7 Months

Weight: 22.2 pounds
Length: ?


Likes:

• Bananas. He would eat them all the time if I would let him
• The Price is Right. We watch it every day together :)
• Tearing apart him foam playmats and trying to eat them. He's very destructive and strange.
• The book "Moo Baa Lalala" He would be happy if I read it to him all day
• Rolling. He rolls all over the place and will often get himself squished into corners
• Spitting. He's the champion of blowing raspberries and spitting all over your face.

Dislikes:

• Having to be still for diaper changes. 
• Teething. It makes him a grump!
• Not being able to crawl. He wants to get toys out of his reach and gets mad he can't move.

That's about it! He's a pretty happy baby and we are very blessed :)