Second year with Nolan

 I actually wanted to write the post also when Nolan was 1,5 years old, but somehow time flied and it did not make sense anymore! 😀 So I will try to sum up Nolan´s 2nd year of achievements in one post. There have been less changes in the second year than it the first year. Nolan do looks now more like human by moving in 2 legs and eating same food, but at the same time he has also become more like his own person and desires. Sometimes he behaves nicely, especially if parents are not around 😀, but sometimes it feels like a demon has gone into him.

Photoshoot by Familiis in Tartu Botanical Garden

Family picture

MOTORIC SKILLS

Let´s start with the area where Nolan is the best. And that is of course climbing, running and jumping! It is interesting to see how shaky walker is now the "fare of the playgrounds".😀 In the summer time we spent really a lot of time on the playgrounds. And I am like a bodyguard following him in every step in order to make sure that he would not endanger him or others. He has not been a big fan of sandbox, he would rather slide down or climb wherever he can.

Classic Nolan in a playground

 In the summer time we also went to swim. It took a bit of a time for him to understand how to play in the water. My mom had to show him how to put water in the pail and throw around. I have not been taking him that much to the indoor swimming pools since I am afraid that he would get sick.  

Summer pool in our rooftop

More sun classes pictures

EATING

At the first half of the second year we still tried to get him eat the formula by using it making the porridge. The formula was needed since that was the source of calcium. He still has sever milk protein and egg allergy so I call him "meagan" - vegan who can eat meat! 😀 In one point we then switched the porridge with plant based yoghurt. All these meals we spoon fed him and sometimes it was super difficult. The only thing that worked sometimes was when advertisements where on TV, then he opened his mouth. 

With Kai in Tivoli in June

We put a bit more effort to feeding him since he has not been the fattest baby, but then after the summer we decided, fuckit, let him eat what and when he wants. Less stressful for him and for us. So now he eats all kinds of fruits and vegetables, bread, meat. His favorites are French fries and popcorn. He actually has even learnt the word "popcorn" before "dad". 😅 I ofc we got him vegan popcorn advent calendar. It was actually quite expensive, with transport 50 eur, but otherwise there was no other vegan options available. I also started looking them last days of November. 

Yes, popcorn is his favourite! 😅

HEALTH

Overall he has been quite healthy, no big sicknesses besides his allergy so far. I guess it is a positive side effect.  He though supposedly had chicken boxes now in autumn but it was very light version so I let´s see if he will get them again. I think that the less sickness is also related to the fact that there are only 8-9 children in the daycare, so he does not get exposed to many small children like in the bigger institutions. 

Estonian Independence day outfit in February

On a side note we actually finally got the spot on the daycare near us in December. We had been in a queue about 1,5 years. They go to daycare until age of 3 and then they start kindergarten. So we decided to keep him the private one mainly due to his allergies. And I also thought that due to smaller group there is less exposure to corona. We do pay about 100 euro more for private institution and it is slightly annoying for me since it takes about 30 extra minutes for me to drop him off in the morning that it would by having the institution close by. 

In the zoo with uncle and Rasmus in September

Due to his severe allergy we have been in hospital 2 times in past year. Once he vomited at night and we actually were not sure what caused it and second time he got half of cheese stick at daycare by taking for other toddler. 

Trying to fit everywhere

Another picture by Familiis

Usually they are very good at managing Nolan´s diet at daycare, but yeah, that one time. Then the symptoms game 30 minutes after when Kevin had picked him up and he had already breathing difficulties. Luckily I was also working from home then. So he called the ambulance and gave adrenaline pen. It is actually quite funny to see how calm we were but I guess it game since we had experienced it before. I was packing the hospital bag while Nolan talked with ambulance since I know that after giving him the adrenaline pen, he needs to stay in the hospital 24 hours. A positive thing that game out of it was that the ambulance guys in Denmark are super hot, they look like vikings, nice worked out tall relatively young men. So if they would come to me I would think that I am in heaven 😅.

Estonian Xmas part 2021

SLEEPING

Sleeping actually went quite good in one point. On most of the nights he even did not wake up. He usually goes to sleep with Kevin around 21:30 and then I wake him up 7:40 in the morning to go to the daycare. He does not want to fall a sleep himself so we usually sit or lay down with him until he falls a sleep. I usually read a book from my Ipad or listen to some podcast, so quality time in that way. 😀 I guess we could so call train him to fall a sleep himself but I am quite sensitive about letting him cry to sleep. I think in one point we tried to do it but gave up. I guess he will fall a sleep himself when he is developed enough. 

Fastelavn´s party outfit in March

At home he sleeps in a matrass in his room. We should get him a real bed one day. 😀 He has never liked the crib. However at daycare he sleeps in a crib and goes there voluntarily and falls a sleep without help. I guess this is called the peer pressure since other kiddos go, I need to go too. Haven't never seen it at home but parents always get the worst behavior. 😅

When he started climbing everywhere

Lunch naps are still a thing. We used to go walk for the lunch nap but recently we have put him sleep indoors since the weather is just bad outside and we have also noticed that sometimes he gets do stimulated outside so we walk like an hour and he is still not sleeping. 

He loved his red rainboots

FRIENDS

He mainly gets his playtime from the daycare. Sometimes I do meet up with my mother´s group who have a boy around the same age. However it is not that often since everybody are now busy with their work. Corona is still in the air so I have not really proactively scheduled any playdates. He seems fine too to spend the weekend with parents or hanging in the playground.

Visiting Helen and Karl in May

For the 2nd B-day we invited some Kevin´s friends with their kids over. I did not plan any big party due to corona and also these small kids can get sick very unpredictably. 

At the beech with Herman in end of August

Overall it is always nice to visit other children and Nolan is then super occupied with the new toys so it is also much more relaxing for me.😋

With Oz in February 2021

TRAVELLING

In a past year we have been in Estonia 3 times, once in May, then 3 weeks in the summer and now 1 week in autumn. The weather in spring and summer was actually very nice and Nolan got to spend quite a bit of time in the beech. Also meeting his Estonian friends and spend time with the grandparents. Not to forget the nephew Rasmus who is around the same age. 

Nephews in May

I have actually been travelling with him alone 2 times to Estonia. At the beginning I let him walk in the airplane during the flight but then I learnt that better is to make him sit still since he started grabbing other passengers things. The flight is about 1,5 hour and usually the best is if he falls a sleep. 

Enjoying summer in Estonia

The first trip outside of Estonia and Denmark also took place in the autumn when we travelled to Porto, Portugal. I made a separated post about that. 

In a playground with Oz

Summer hike in Estonia

SPEAKING

He is actually understanding a lot and both Estonian and Danish. One of his first words were "aitäh" (thank you in Estonian) and mere (more in Danish). The second word is actually his favorite. He do says mom in Danish now too. A word that is being used in both Estonian and Danish is "car" (auto in Estonian, bil in Danish). So he do says few more words but not really making the sentences yet. The main thing is that he understands us (if he wants to 😀) and makes him understandable. Quite often he takes my finger if he wants sth.

In Estonia during summer

Nolan likes cars (by Familiis)

TOYS

He likes cars a lot and his walking bike. We have also many of those bikes in the playground so he is usually just riding around. We also got him Lego. At the beginning he did not manage to link Lego together and then he got super frustrated. We have also got him many books with sound and he likes to look them together. On some books we have already changed the batteries. When he was one and half then I showed him puzzles, he is not yet so good, but improving! And since he liked climbing we got him climbing tower with a slide. This he uses sometimes but not so much as I expected. I have not done so much handcraft activities with him at home, but hey, sth needs to be special about daycare too where they do that kind of activities much more often! 😀

He has a fetish of putting his toys in a line😅

Little B-day party

This is the official B-day with vegan waffles

PARENTING

Parenting I must say is such a rollercoaster currently since these little humans can be super stubborn. Nolan has not yet learned how to manage his emotions, so if he does not like something then he wines, cries, screams. And sometimes it can happen multiple times of a day so it is pretty difficult to stay sane until the evening! 😀 At the same time it is quite interesting to see how he discovers the world and is excited about things you would not see yourself. And it is pretty cute to see so I cannot stay mad for long! 😊

New Years when 2020 turned to 2021, with Hannibal

Now going through the pictures I really see that he has actually changed quite a bit in the past year. When he was 1 he still looked quite a baby but now he is more like a small child. And you can also see how his hair has changed from brown to dark blond. I guess the summer played an important role there. I do not dear to cut these blond hair since he looks quite unique with that and you would not see his Asian origins unless look closely. 😀

This is how Kevin is transporting Nolan 😀

Valentines Day 2021