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These photos were taken on Monday afternoon, after a full day of snow. Nolan was mostly interested in watching what the dog was doing in the yard behind him. Since then the weather has warmed up a bit and most of the snow has melted away in the rain. It was still technically a white Christmas, though!

I think we’ve gotten more snowy weather in the past week than in the past 5 winters combined. We got several inches last Sunday, and flurries on and off through the rest of last week. It was finals at Willamette, so the university didn’t close, but Jeremy worked half-days from home for a good portion of the week, and got to leave early the rest of the time. The majority of the snow was gone by the end of the week, thanks to temps that finally got just above freezing, but by Saturday night we were getting freezing rain, and we woke up yesterday to half an inch of ice coating everything. Freyja was very confused by the crackly crust covering the remaining inch or two of snow in our backyard.

As the day progressed, we got more snow flurries and lost power in the house for several hours, due (I believe) to downed power lines. When we woke up this morning, at least 4 or 5 inches of snow had fallen on top of the ice, and it is still falling. It looks like a winter wonderland in Oregon, and we may even have a white Christmas, of all things. Our poor bushes, however, may not survive the experience.

Freyja is going stircrazy in the house. Needless to say, we haven’t been out for the past two days, and not just because our car is buried under a shell of ice and snow. So she hasn’t had a walk for over a week, and she’s got mad energy. She doesn’t mind the snow at all, though, so whenever we give her the chance, she runs around the backyard with her stick, stumbling through the ice crust here and there.

Nolan is 9 months old now, and he’s finally outgrowing most of his 3-6 mos clothes. He’s still a long, skinny boy, but he seems to be filling out a bit. In the past few weeks, he figured out how his sippy cups work and got to see and feel his first snowfall. He also finally adjusted his sleep schedule: he now sleeps pretty soundly from about 8:30pm to 11:30am, and takes only one half-hour nap during the day. Here are a few pics:

A few new pictures of the little guy. The last one shows a pretty common expression these days: with 6 teeth visible, Nolan is constantly feeling with his fingers, rolling his tongue around and sucking in his lips to try and figure out what the heck is going on in there.

We’ve got a weight check on Thursday. Nolan has definitely gained length and seems to be gaining weight as well, but cross your fingers.

I know I haven’t posted pictures in a while, but Nolan is 8 months old today, so I’ll try to play catch-up. He’s had several colds in the last month, and a persistent diaper rash, but he’s also finally growing. No signs of mobility yet, but his legs are stronger than ever, he has started saying da-da-da, and in the last week or so, three teeth have broken through his gums on top. Here are a few recent pics.

Almost forgot the most important thing: About two weeks ago, Nolan suddenly started sleeping through the night in his crib, like a switch was flipped. Talk about a relief!

Sorry it has been so long since my last update. Nolan is 30 weeks old now, and will be 7 months old on Wednesday. I’ve got a few pics, and will try to fill you in on what he’s been up to.

Nolan had his 6-month appointment at the end of September, and it confirmed that he is a very tiny boy. He is right on target for length and head size, but he only weighed 14 lb 6 oz, which is in something like the 5th percentile for weight. Our pediatrician wasn’t too concerned because all of Nolan’s developmental milestones are coming along fine, and he is healthy and active otherwise. We’ll see at the end of October if he has gained any more weight from the addition of solid food and some formula to his diet, but he still fits into his 3-6mo clothes right now.

Nolan had his first cold this past month, and I caught one at the same time in sympathy. We had a rough few nights while his nose was stuffed up, and his sleeping habits have taken a step backwards as a result: he only naps on our chests, and has been co-sleeping with me at night, due to congestion.

We’ve continued working on solids: Nolan has taste-tested avocado, banana, apple, pumpkin, and brown rice cereal now, and is really starting to get the hang of it.

Finally, this past month Nolan figured out how to work his jumperoo, and has been having a fantastic time bouncing around in it. I think it helped that he gained a little more length and can touch the ground more solidly. The picture above was taken that first night he got the hang of it, and was absolutely ecstatic. We took some video of him bouncing too, but I don’t know how to edit it and get it web-ready, so that will have to wait.

Nolan turned 26 weeks old yesterday, and will be 6 months by date tomorrow, so either way you cut it, he is half a year old. Not only can he sit up, he has started speaking up again, really babbling in the past few days.

He finally showed off his teeth for the camera without being forced!

This thing has been one of his favorite toys from the beginning, when all he did was look at it and smile.

He loves playing peekaboo under a washcloth, and pulls it off so fast I scarcely have time to ask, “Where’s the baby?” anymore.

Now that Nolan is 6 months old, we decided to start trying solids with him. His first meal consisted of mashed avocado, and there are a few more pictures of it on my food blog, The Persnickety Palate, if you are interested.

Sorry it has been so long since I updated… last weekend was extremely busy with a going-away party for a good friend of ours. We hosted it on Sunday afternoon, so I spent all last week cleaning and the entire weekend cooking and getting things in order. I think it was a big success, though, considering that we’ve never held a party before. This week I’ve been trying to come up with creative meal uses for all of the leftover appetizers.

Nolan has been a busy boy, as well. Besides attending his second party, he is still doing a great job sitting up unassisted. He can usually manage it for several minutes now, occupied with toys, before toppling over. He also cut his second tooth, and went on his first spin in a stroller, which seems to have the same effect as the car seat—namely, that he falls asleep soon after we start moving.

He was really interested in the shadows on the floor.

Nolan is still not a fan of tummy time, and refuses to practice his push-ups. He would rather just fling his arms out in space and fuss.

Sometimes I try propping him on his elbows to give him a little help, but he just lets go again after a few seconds. Look at that sad face.

He fell over backwards about half a second after I snapped this shot. And in the close-up of this pic, below, you can sort of see both of his teeth there on the bottom.

In case you were wondering, Nolan’s eyes are still blue. That child could win a staring contest handily.

Freyja and Nolan are still getting along like gangbusters. Good thing too, because Freyja’s kisses and Nolan’s fur-pulling could certainly be agitating if they weren’t great buddies.

And for this week’s finale, here is Nolan’s latest milestone. Last week he cut his first tooth, and yesterday:

He sat there for at least a minute playing with his plastic links before toppling over sideways, but I was lucky even to get this pic because the camera’s batteries gave out and needed to be recharged. But there should be lots more opportunities!