Homework for daycare

I had to write a paragraph about myself as a homework assignment for daycare this week. In case you're interested, here it is!

Oh, and if you're wondering, we are working on uploading a bunch of recent pictures. We'll post them as soon as they are online.

My name is Nolan Matthew Valliere. I live in West Springfield, Virginia. I really enjoy playing outside, going to the playground, hanging out with my cats Truman and Max, and seeing my friends and teachers at Tiny Findings. My favorite thing to do right now is sit on someone’s lap and have them read to me. I love “Ducks in Muck,” “Pat the Bunny,” “Bear Snores On,” “Goodnight Moon,” and many others. I also love to dance and do the hand motions to “Itsy Bitsy Spider.” My favorite foods are avocado, macaroni and cheese, spaghetti, and spinach pancakes.

Announcing ...

my Halloween costume! Click here to see.

Guest Blogger: Our Little Reader

Nolan was kind enough to let me (mom) write one more blog entry tonight.

Nolan has become quite the bookworm recently. He spent almost the entire last weekend bringing Jeff and me books to read to him. He cannot get enough. It is too cute, he brings over a book, puts it in my hand and then turns around and sits down on my lap to read. His favorites these days: Seek and Slide in the Jungle, Goodnight Moon, Ducks in Muck, Pat the Bunny, and a couple of his touch and feel books.

When I picked him up at daycare, he was sitting on one of the teacher's laps reading a book. They told me he's been taking books to them all day long.

Guest Blogger: Nolan vs. the Balloon

We went to Trader Joe's yesterday to pick up Nolan's favorite cereal and the nice cashier gave him a green balloon. He loved it in the store, in the car, and for the first five minutes at home. He held on tight to the string and ran around the house with a big smile. Then he let go of the string and, instead of falling to the ground like most things Nolan lets go of, the balloon floated up toward the ceiling and stayed there. Nolan followed that up with a typical "uh oh" but then all of a sudden his face crumbled and he started bawling. Something about that balloon freaked him out! Jeff took the balloon out of the room for awhile and then we tried again. Nolan took one look at it and freaked out again. Poor little guy! I thought all kids loved balloons!

Playing tourist

On Labor Day we decided to play tourist in our own town and went to the National Mall and the Natural History museum. We also took a long stroller walk around the Tidal Basin. Here is a picture of Dad and me and a cool shot that we took on our way out with the sun behind the Washington Monument.

Trip to the indoor play room!

Over Labor Day weekend I got to spend some time at Monkey Business, this cool indoor play area. We got there right when it opened so I had the run of the place for the first 15 minutes or so. It was fun - check out the pictures!

Nolan's words

I'm not much of a talker yet, but at almost 15 months I thought this might be a nice time to take stock of my growing vocabulary.

Uh oh - This is my current favorite word. I like saying it before or after anytime I throw--er, drop--something.

Woof woof - I don't say dog but will bark when someone asks me what doggies say or if I see one.

Mum mum - It's the name of a particular rice rusk snack Mom gets me at Whole Foods, but I use this as a term for any snack these days. Mom has plied me with snacks to keep me happy in the car during our daily commute so often now that I expect a snack nearly every time I'm in the car. I'm still rear-facing in the car seat, so whenever I want a snack all I have to do is say "mum mum" and hold my hand up. Within seconds, Mom puts a tasty treat in my hand. What a deal!

Mama, Dada - I don't use these often, but they're in my repertoire.

Up - I've learned this helpful word recently. It gets me picked up, or escorted up the stairs all the time!

And here are some words that Mom, Dad, and others think they have heard me say but aren't sure.

Thank you
Max (for our cat)
Meow
Truck