We sure love our Nolan Douglas! He's the oldest so I think we expect a lot from him, but he really is so much better than we give him credit for. I love that I can trust him (lately I can even trust him a bit more than in the past to play nicely with Branson). But I can trust him to follow directions, to not make a mess, to stay in one spot, to let me know if Caden needs something. He can get me things I need for Caden (sometimes he gets bugged if I ask him for favors, but usually not if it's for Caden). He loves baking with me (although he really only likes to make treats and most likely that's because he likes to eat the batter). He loves checking things off lists and when we make a daily routine he gets upset if we don't stick to it. He's still in the first few months of learning how to write and I love it. He gets excited to write anything from grocery lists to stories to notes telling me both why he loves me and why he's mad at me haha. Speaking of which, I LOVE all the notes he writes lately. I'm sure he's made so many people happy with the snail mail he sends. No tonly that, but I absolutely love our little outings to the mailbox. He talks the whole time or runs ahead and is just generally so excited. I never want to forget it. I showed him how to fold up paper to make little books so he's been writing stories and it's extra adorable. He can read incredibly well, but has trouble spelling words in order to write them. We should probably ask him to think about it a bit more because I'm sure he could figure it out if he tried, he just wants a quick answer. He doesn't like to be taught or do anything that's hard for him which can make things a bit difficult. We try really hard to work with him on having a growth mindset and being teachable. I would just hate for his incredible potential to be wasted because he won't stretch himself.
Academics have come very naturally to him. According to his preschool teacher he "acts like he's a 50 yr old dude because often when the class is doing something silly or way below his academic level he'll just stare at them with a look like, "this is the dumbest thing I've ever seen, no way I'm participating" haha. He can be silly, but only on his terms. It's really hard to get him to sing along to a silly song or dance around the room. Speaking of smarts, he uses percentages to describe how much he likes or dislikes something. Like when we made him try some mashed potatoes recently and I was asking him if he liked them he finally said, "Oh fine, 1 percent!" Or if he kind of likes something he'll say something like, "hmm, maybe...40 percent." It's pretty adorable.
He's a professional bedtime staller and comes up with lots of reasons why he's not in bed and needs something from us. He still loves Star Wars the most, but also lives for his Transformer battles game on the tablet and a nightly battle with dad he and Branson have dubbed "daddy defends himself."
He loves Caden so much and sometimes acts like he doesn't like Branson, but I know he does. Any time Branson really gets hurt Nolan gets really upset and won't calm down until he knows Branson is ok.
Academics have come very naturally to him. According to his preschool teacher he "acts like he's a 50 yr old dude because often when the class is doing something silly or way below his academic level he'll just stare at them with a look like, "this is the dumbest thing I've ever seen, no way I'm participating" haha. He can be silly, but only on his terms. It's really hard to get him to sing along to a silly song or dance around the room. Speaking of smarts, he uses percentages to describe how much he likes or dislikes something. Like when we made him try some mashed potatoes recently and I was asking him if he liked them he finally said, "Oh fine, 1 percent!" Or if he kind of likes something he'll say something like, "hmm, maybe...40 percent." It's pretty adorable.
He's a professional bedtime staller and comes up with lots of reasons why he's not in bed and needs something from us. He still loves Star Wars the most, but also lives for his Transformer battles game on the tablet and a nightly battle with dad he and Branson have dubbed "daddy defends himself."
He loves Caden so much and sometimes acts like he doesn't like Branson, but I know he does. Any time Branson really gets hurt Nolan gets really upset and won't calm down until he knows Branson is ok.
I sometimes wonder if he has any empathy at all because he will hit Branson or trip him on purpose and show no remorse. Usually he's only worried about getting in trouble. It's so frustrating, but then when I'm really upset or if Branson appears to be really hurt Nolan is the first one to give me a back rub and a hug or grab something he knows Branson loves to help him.
He is pretty sassy and sometimes leaves me not knowing how to respond to him. He's told us before through gritted teeth that "parents only boss us around and threaten" haha or he'll accuse me of not loving him because of this or that. For instance, the other day he ran over the stomp rocket with his big wheel and I got on him about how we treat our belongings. His response was, "You love this thing more than you love me." Ugh, it's hard not to let something like that get to me. Does he really mean it? Have I made him feel that way? But I really think he's just smart enough to know it gets a reaction from me and turns the attention away from what he did. Who knows though. Just gotta make sure I show him all the love, but still hold my ground when rules are broken.
He thinks deeply and often surprises me with the thoughtful questions he asks. Once we were talking about the Savior and he asked, "but how did he rise again?" and "why is it part of Heavenly Father's plan that people die?" Another time he asked, "Does Heavenly Father have a phone?...then how does he answer prayers?" I explained a few things about the different ways HF answers prayers, then he asked, "Do you believe it?" Another time I told him we need to always be looking for HF in our lives and be kind to others like Jesus would. He responded, "Ya, because if we're not looking for HF then Satan will find us." You got it bud!
I sure love my Nolan Douglas! Sometimes I worry about small things with you, but when I step back and think about it I know you'll be just fine. You are a good, sweet, responsible, fun, thoughtful, intelligent boy!
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