personality update + forgotten Halloween photo

This Halloween picture was from the local park's festivities, including the lighting of 1000 pumpkins carved by locals.

Nolan is really showing his true self now, or it's just the toddler in him. Whenever he sees a character in a book crying, he won't hardly let me turn the page. He keeps saying in sad sympathetic tones, "baby cry" and is usually relieved and finally lets the story go on after a decent explanation as to why the baby (or whatever anthropomorphized animal usually) is crying. This goes for real life, too. If there's a baby somewhere in the restaurant crying, he's concerned.

He's also getting manipulative... and he smiles when he knows he's caught. He'll make a sour face and cry, but there won't be any tears. I'll just grin at him and he will sometimes know the game is up, but other times he goes for persistence. Especially when it comes to chocolate! He will ask for chocolate chips sometimes before I even pick him up out of his crib! I'll explain over and over why he can't have them for breakfast, but I've learned that I should just move on.

He is not a performer. Or maybe it's that he's a perfectionist... he used to sing the ABCs with me all the time, but more often now he will just stare at me, as if he's memorizing it. This morning as we were staying in bed as long as we could until Nolan woke up (at his usual 8:30), we caught Nolan singing his ABCs, and quite well really! I feel like he knows more than he will let on, and the same goes for counting. I have heard him count to 10 perfectly, once. Most of the time, he sticks to 1-2-3-6-9-10 oddly enough... habit I guess.

The best part about his personality is how cuddly he is and how much he loves to be held, squeezed and tickled. He'll even say "tickle me" to my surprise and point to where he wants to be tickled (usually his chin). I'm afraid he's trying to manipulate his way into our bed after so long being perfectly content in his crib. He's been the easiest child to put to bed but now he stalls and asks for me to go to bed, too. Tonight my explanation that I needed to go downstairs and wash the plates and clothes actually may have helped for a cry-free night again, the first in a couple weeks. We'll see if when he gets a big boy bed if he'll stay in it... it'll be hard not to let him snuggle with us in this cold though!