Happy Fourth of July!

Nolan had a great first Fourth of July! We started our day at the Oak Lawn Parade which was lots of fun. Nolan loves flags, so the parade was perfect for him with so many flags to see. He liked holding his own flag, too!

Nolan and Mommy at the parade
Nolan and Daddy Nolan and Daddy with the man on stilts Nolan and Daddy with the hula dancers
Uncle Mike, Aunt Eileen, Pops and MoMo rode their bikes to the parade and ran into us on a corner...Nolan loved that fun surprise!
Nolan played on his swing set for a little bit before going to our first BBQ.
He loved his windmill that he received at the parade...it is so fun!

What a happy American baby who loves the USA!
We went to Aunt Sarah, Uncle Xavier, Liam and Henry's house for a BBQ in the afternoon. Nolan and Henry played on a blanket in the grass and didn't really seem to know that the other person was there. They were definitely demonstrating parallel play!
Nolan and Henry shared some puffs...yummy!
Nolan and Noni
After our first BBQ, we went to the O'Shea family party. Nolan played with his cousins and took a fun picture with them (Nolan, Alexis, Johnny and Kylie)!

Our family friend, Eileen Gallagher, held Nolan during the fireworks. He liked looking up at the sky at the beautiful colors. The noise did not bother Nolan one bit!
Nolan fell asleep in Aunt Clare's arms amidst lots of talking, fireworks, music and other loud noises. He is amazing!
Nolan was out cold in the middle of the party!
We decided to take him home to put him in his bed since he was so tired and was such a trooper. We visited with some neighbors on our walk home, and then Nolan went right to bed for the night and slept in on Saturday. He is such a good baby!
We hope everyone had a great Fourth of July! We had a great day!

Shadows and More

Nolan loves to see shadows! He likes his shadow, someone else's shadow, the shadow of an object, etc. He plays a game and lifts and/or moves a body part to see its shadow and then moves on to a new body part. It is pretty funny to watch!

Here, Nolan is looking at the shadow of his arm. He held his arm out to see the shadow and then moved it back to its place and did it over and over again.

Sorry for these pictures being sideways...sometimes that just happens even though they are correct prior to downloading. Anyway, Nolan plays another game by picking up an object, looking at it, dropping it purposely and then finding it again. He does this over and over, too. He is playing with his toothbrush and spoon in these photos! He has a pretty good reaching ability while retrieving his objects.


Nolan looked like this when Mommy peeked in on him during his nap on Thursday. Nolan sleeps on his tummy most of the time. It must be comfy for him to hang both legs out of the crib...he sleeps so well, so we are not going to question it!

Eight Months Old

Nolan turned eight months old on July 2nd! The time is really flying by, and we can't even believe it! He is a great baby and amazes us with new things everyday! Nolan is a fish in the water, loves to play with everything and everyone, is a great eater, snuggles when he is being held, is very social, has a great temperament and brings us so much joy! He is getting a bit attached to Mommy and likes to have her in his sight. He typically lets other people hold him, but he likes to see a familiar face. We LOVE Nolan and are having so much fun with him this summer! He is 24.2 pounds and 27 inches long!

Taste of Chicago

Nolan went to his first Taste of Chicago on July 1st! He had a blast! Two of MoMo's brothers and their families are in town, so a big group of us went downtown for the day.

Uncle Pat gave Nolan a ride on his shoulders while we walked to the train station.

Mike, Uncle Pat, Nolan, Sean and MoMo were talking at the train station.
Nolan and Pops were chilling while waiting for the train to arrive.
We arrived at the Taste, and Nolan tasted some raspberry gelato. Timmy liked feeding Nolan!
Nolan enjoyed a few tastes of gelato...and loved each bite!
He also tasted a Bud Select...just kidding! He just tasted the cup!
Jack, Mommy, Nolan and Timmy hung out in the shade while other people were waiting for some more tastes.
Pops, Nolan and Sean watched a magic show.
Timmy, Jack and Mike watched the show, too.
MoMo, Pops and Nolan had so much fun!
Aunt Maura played games with Nolan while we were waiting.
Nolan enjoyed some tastes of Gerber!
Aunt Clare, Aunt Maura, Pops, Nolan and MoMo were hanging out while some of the cousins went on the ferris wheel.
Nolan and Pops loved the water at Buckingham Fountain!

Here is our whole group...minus Aunt Maura who was at the jewelry boutique. Pictured are Uncle Pat, Uncle Mike, Timmy, Jack, Aunt Clare, Mike, Pops, Nolan, MoMo, Mommy and Sean. We had such a fun day!
After the Taste, we walked over to Lake Michigan and then back to the train station. Aunt Maura and Nolan enjoyed their beverages of choice!
Nolan sat with Uncle Mike...
and tried on his hat...looks pretty good!
We had a great day downtown. The weather was beautiful!

Nolan's New Swing set

Nolan has a new swing set! Uncle Mike, Aunt Eileen, Maggie, Mike and Tim offered us their swing set since their kids are so big. They thought Nolan would enjoy it! We were so excited! Uncle Mike, Mike and Timmy drove the wood and slide from their house in Wisconsin to our house last Sunday, and it was up on Monday. Nolan LOVES it!

Here is the wood when it was dropped off...

The slide...
Nolan thoroughly enjoyed his lunch outside with his relatives!
His cold water tasted so good on the hot day!
Life is good!
Timmy, Nolan and Mike enjoyed hanging out together.
Uncle Mike, Timmy, Uncle Pat (from Florida) and Mike were busy working on the swing set.

MoMo pushed Nolan in his swing.
Sean (from Florida) helped the with the swing set, too.
Nolan enjoyed standing in the grass.
It is so much fun!
Sitting in the grass is fun, too! It really tickles!

Timmy, Nolan and Mike were swinging together...the cousins were showing Nolan some of their tricks!
Nolan liked having friends to swing with!
Pops gave Nolan some great pushes!
Here is the construction crew with Nolan...Uncle Mike, Timmy, Uncle Pat and Mike. Sean left before the picture. They did such a great job!

Nolan tried out the trapeze bar...one-handed!

He can even swing on it!
This is great!
Nolan also climbed up the ladder...what a big boy!
He likes the slide, too!
Thanks so much to Uncle Mike and his family for giving us this great swing set! We know you had many, many years of great memories, and Nolan will have lots of great memories, too! Nolan is so lucky and has already been swinging every morning!

Thanks to the construction crew for your expert installation, too!