Big Boy

Our little baby is not so much a baby anymore after today we have decided. Today Nicholas made the trip to Palestine without Mommy & Daddy. John and I work this weekend so MiMi & PaPa are babysitting. Our friends, Monica & Roger were making a trip with their baby, Jacob, to Palestine. So, John took Nicholas over to their house this afternoon and got him all set to go. From what I hear, Nicholas did very well. He was excited as he always is to get in the car. He loves to go go go!! John said it felt like he was sending his little boy off to summer camp, even though he's coming back early Sunday afternoon.
After they got to MiMi & PaPa's I hear that he was even sad and almost started to cry when Monica left, but instead, he just waved and said bye bye! He ate like a horse for dinner!! He ate roasted chicken, meatloaf, mashed potatoes, carrots, corn and a roll, of course! He fell asleep easily after MiMi read him a story, but it was quite late 9:30pm!!
I'm sure tomorrow will be a fun and exciting day for everyone there. Not so much for John and I, we have to work!

Fun Day Off

Nicholas was grabbing everyhing on the racks at Academy so I thought this hat would fit him pefectly today!


This is from the past weekend at MiMi and Papa's. PaPa was taking Nicholas on his first tractor ride! He looks very serious but he had a great time. Nicholas always looks very seious when he is concentrating.

John and I were both off today so Nicholas had his 18 month appointment today. Poor baby had 2 shots. But, the dr. said he is developing perfectly so far. For all of you that are thinking that he is a big boy for his age, not really. He was 26.4lbs that's the 55th percentile for his age. What did surprise me was that he was in the 70th percentile for length though. He doesn't seem like he is any taller than the other boys in his class. He did great though, even gave Dr. Saenz a high five!







We came home and ate sandwiches for lunch and then headed out to run some errands. We went to WalMart and bought a booster seat so now he doesn't have to sit on a big book and towel at the table, even better he can't wiggle out of it as easily! Then off to the mall for some new shorts for John. Nicholas walked at least half of the mall!! And, at last, we went to Academy. I found a couple of shirts on clearance for only $4.88 for myself to take to Disneyworld! I was super excited. Nicholas had fun while we were there but by the time we got home he had to take another short nap while I got dinner ready!







After dinner, we took a wagon ride to the park and had the playground all to ourselves. He just absolutely loves climbing up the rock wall and the sliding down the slide. John has been taking him the last few times to play and he surprised me by going down the BIG twisty slide all by himself laughing the whole way down! Even though he was done with the playground he was still not happy when I put him back into the wagon to make our way back home!







Nicholas' favorite cute thing today: laying on his back in his crib with feet high in the air while Mommy blows air on his toes. He just laughs so much he wears himself out!

New Things Everyday

So I did my daily race today to pick up Nicholas from school. Actually it was not my normal race since I was racing to beat the rain. I certainly do not want to have to run in the rain carrying Nicholas to the car. We made it home and it was only sprinkling. We got in the house and the rain started pouring. It's the first time that it has downpoured when Nicholas was old enough to really understand what's going on. The whole time we were eating our quesadillas tonight, he watched in rain. I would tell him BaBoom when it thundered and then he would come back and say BaBooo.

Nicholas did the absolute cutest thing tonight though. I was watching Dancing with the Stars from a couple of nights ago, and if I haven't mentioned it before, he loves to dance by himself or with me. One of the songs that they danced to was more like a waltz, slow but with a really good beat. Nicholas had been playing on the floor and dancing sporadically while I was watching the show. Then when the slow song came on, he danced his little heart out putting his arms out in the air like an airplane and then turning in circles. He used the entire living room floor to dance to the entire song. Although, there were a few times that he did so many circles he made himself dizzy and fell over. Then, it was so funny when he tried to pick himself back up and continue doing circles but he was still dizzy so he would fall back down.

A big thank you, by the way, to Aunt Sherrie for the Easter card to Nicholas. He loves the card!! He keeps opening and closing the card. Everytime he hears it he smiles and then giggles!

Friends

Nicholas had a wonerful day at school today! It's a good thing I bought one of those 5 packs of Hanes white undershirts for him. I have learned that he gets so dirty while playing on the playgroun that his white shirts come home brown. Therefore, no need for any cute or nice clothes for school unless it's picture day.

His teacher has been working on teaching the kids the sign for "friend" and I think he's finally got it! To sign friend you take each index finger and cradle one inside the other switching back and forth. He doesn't exactly do it but he moves his index fingers around each other and always smiles when he makes the sign.

He is also understanding more and more of what I am saying each day. He may not be able to repeat it but he definitely knows what I am saying. This morning as I was putting him in his carseat, I told him to take the paci out of his mouth. And he did it! Then I told him to give me a kiss. Then he puckered his lips and gave me a kiss. It's a huge improvement over the really cute but yucky great big open mouth kiss he has been laying on me.

Fun Weekend at MiMi and PaPa's

Nicholas and I had a fun weekend at MiMi and PaPa's. Saturday, Nicholas and I spent some time at the car show in Palestine after Nicholas woke up from his extra long 3 hour nap. Of course, Saturday wasn't helped by him being up Friday night until after 10pm. He was just having so much fun that sleeping was not an option to him. It was so cute at the car show! As all of the cars were leaving in the parade, he put his right arm up to say Bye Bye. He did get to sleep Saturday night around 10pm and woke up Sunday morning at 7am. So, today has been much more on schedule. Except for MiMi and PaPa keeping him up to play so he didn't get his nap until around 1:30 today.

But, in that time he had sooo much fun! He got to go for numerous 4wheeler rides with Mommy and PaPa. Then he got a tractor ride! Boy, did he like that! PaPa took him around the pine tree farm. Nicholas had a very serious look the whole time, but he was just trying to take everything in. You know he's loving it if he's sitting still or when you try to get him down he starts climbing back up. After lunch, Nicholas got to swing in the backyard with MiMi and PaPa where he almost fell asleep. But, he did actually fall asleep on his final 4wheeler ride with PaPa. Since Nicholas was ready to sleep it was in the car and headed back to College Station.

When we got home, we went by the fire station to see Daddy. He loved playing in the sandbox where they have the horseshoes. The most funny thing from today: Nicholas has been making the funniest faces. He makes his mouth into a big "O" and then it makes his face really long and he knows that it is cute so he makes the face then he laughs!

Nicholas and Great Grandma

While John and I were at work all day today, John's Grandma stayed home with Nicholas since school is out for spring break. It sounds like they had a grand old time!

When I got home today, I heard that he was on his third change of clothes because he had a big time in Lady's water bucket outside. So, he had to have a change of clothes. Then, he found the wheel barrow outside with water in it and decided to play in that. Hence, another change of clothes.

We ate dinner at one of our favortie places, Fritella's. Nicholas had a big time eating part of Grandma's eggplant parmesan and my baked ziti. Tomorrow I work a half day and then Nicholas and I are headed to Palestine to see MiMi and PaPa for the weekend.

Busy Busy Busy

Daddy pulling Nicholas. Nicholas pulling the wagon (uphill) Note the ladies in the background laughing that he is so strong pulling the wagon uphill!


Nicholas thought bluebonnets were fun!


Oooo Daddy!!

The Three of us in the bluebonnets

We have been so busy recently with work and then coming home to play with Nicholas that the computer has just not been used, so I have a couple of minutes to share some pictures from the last couple of days. Today, John, his Grandma, Nicholas and I went to the Antique Rose Emporium in Independence to let Nicholas play and have fun with some different scenery. Then, we were off to find a field of bluebonnets and after taking some back roads in the country we found the perfect spot on accident behind an old church.

It was a beautifu patch of bluebonnets in the middle of nowhere that had a sweet smell. I just wanted to take as many deep breaths as I could to remember the smell that was so pretty.

Nicholas having fun with Daddy last weekend in the backyard

Rainy and Cold

Nicholas dancing to the music

I began the morning planning to make a short grocery shopping trip to HEB. Nicholas and I were dressed with shoes on walking out to the car and then realized that it was sprinkling. At that point, I picked Nicholas up as he was halfway to the car and ran back in the house for the rest of the day. As soon as I looked outside and thought that the rain had stopped it would start back again. Plus, it was only about 40degrees outside, so we made it a warm and cozy inside Mommy & Nicholas day.

I realized today that Nicholas is much smarter and understands much more than I have thought. For example, today I vaccuumed, but I had to carry Nicholas because he is afraid of the vaccuum. So, while I was vaccuuming I tried to talk to him so he would be more comfortable as he had a death grip on my hips with his legs. I asked him "Do you want me to let you down?" And, he shook his head "NO" At dinner tonight as he was starting to finish up he would turn to the side of his chair. I turned my finger and told him to turn around and as he looked at me and turned his finger with a great big smile, he then turned back to sit like a big boy in his chair.

Houston Rodeo

Nicholas playing in the petting zoo!




Nicholas watching the chickens




John and Nicholas watching the fish at Bass Pro

What an adventurous and busy day! We got up early today and had biscuits and eggs for breakfast, Nicholas had a bacon, egg, and cheese biscuit and banana. We got to Reliant Center around 11am and went through all of the booths. We got to see chicks cracking out of their egg! And, Nicholas had a great time driving a great big tractor. Overall, we didn't get to do much of the kid stuff because it was about 45 degrees wind 15mph and rain. We did get to go by the petting zoo where Nicholas had a great time playing tag your it with all of the animals. It was so cute he would go from one animal to the other and pat them and run away!

We then took a little drive over to Katy and did some shopping at Katy Mills Mall or mostly at Bass Pro Shop. He got to walk around a little bit with his halter and puppy on his back. It helps me keep him from running off in big public places and it also keeps the atmosphere more positive. (Not so much screaming and temper tantrums) He was so excited to see all of the fish in the aqaurium. Here are a couple of pictures!

Eating Out at FishDaddy's

We haven't been out to eat dinner in almost 2 weeks. So, tonight when Nicholas and I got home we grabbed John and we all went out to eat at FishDaddy's. It's the best choice we have here right now in College Station for seafood. For a Wednesday night we had a long wait of almost 30 minutes. Nicholas was so good while we waited. He wanted John to hold him for the majority of the time and he was so busy just watching everything and everyone in the place! He had his first taste of Hot Crab Dip and he LOVED it. He just kept saying "MO MO MO"

I'm so excited that tomorrow we are finally doing something out of the ordinary! We are going to spend the day at the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo. Although, I don't think we are going to be able to stay late enough for the Rodeo. We are going to have lots of fun and take lots of pictures for you!

Back to school we go

Nicholas went back to school today to have a ton of fun with his friends. He went to school in a white shirt but came home in a shirt that was brown with dirt in his ears and hair! I made baked potatoes for dinner but Nicholas didn't eat much of anything since he was too busy throwing it across the table or on the floor. I had to give him 2 breathing treatments tonight after we got home so hopefully he will make it through the night without anymore. He did have a slight fever just over 99 tonight so he also had some tylenol. Roger says to give the zithromax one more day to work and then we should call the dr. for other options if there is no progress.

Stay at home day

Yes, Nicholas does have pink eye but it is related to this respiratory infection thing that he has. So, he's on eye drops, has to do an albuterol breathing treatment about 1-2 times a day, and zithromax to make the infection go away. Nicholas stayed home from school yesterday with John while I went to work. John's comments were, "He sure does play hard for someone that is supposed to be sick!"

They played in the backyard for a while and then they went down to the park in our neighborhood. He played so hard that the moms there with kids about Nicholas' age were amazed at how agile he was climbing up the kid sized rock wall to slide down the big boy slide. He doesn't want to have anything to do with the small slide on the playground, we've evidently moved on to bigger and better slides!! And I think we've determined that the swing at the playground is just not fun for more than about 2 minutes. The swing at MiMi and PaPa's though, that's fun all day!

I will post pictures as soon as I figure out how to get them off of my phone and onto the blog!

Nicholas and Daddy day

So, today I went off to work and let the two boys have fun. I came home tonight with dinner in hand to find out that it was stay in our pajamas day!! Nicholas had a good day with Daddy, although he had a temper at least once and gave himself carpet burn from the tip of his nose all the way up to his forehead! It looks just like a sunburn so it must be painful.

Nicholas and I are probably going to be making a trip to see Dr. Saenz tomorrow. He had a fever hovering around 100 tonight and sounds congested with a runny nose. His eye is looking a little red also. We will find out tomorrow!!

Day One Sort of

This is day one of our blog!!! I have just realized how much our little Nicholas is growing up. And thinking back to his early days of life, that I can just barely remember only a short 17 months ago, he has become a little boy so fast and doing new things everyday that I want to remember.

So, let's recap a little bit of history to get us up to date! John is a firefighter at Station 2 C shift at College Station Fire Dept. He also teaches rope rescue classes at the Texas A&M Fire Training School and occasionally works at the Texas World Speedway as a part of their rescue team. I am the Store Manager at Bath & Body Works in the mall.

Nicholas is 17 months 1 week and 3 days old. He just started in his 3rd classroom at St. Joseph's Eagle's Nest. By the calendar, he is the youngest toddler in the room, but he has 2 other good buddies in his class, Radley and Jake. His new teacher's name is Mrs. Belinda, she is very sweet and just loves to have fun with the kids. He has had a lot of firsts this week in his new class, it's the first time to sit in a chair (without restraints) at the table to eat (no more highchairs) the first time to sleep on a mat at school (no more sleeping in a crib at school) and no more wagon rides to go outside to play (we all put our hands through loops in a rope and shuffle our feet outside so that no one falls down and gets left behind).

Today was Mommy and Nicholas day while Daddy was at work at the fire station. There wasn't much excitement except Nicholas showed me some new tricks he's learned. First surprise of the day, I was cutting up Nicholas' breakfast on the highchair tray and he climbed up into the dining room chair and sat patiently to eat. So, I quickly transferred his food to a paper plate and he ate breakfast like a big boy sitting in Daddy's chair. So, we ate our croissant sandwiches for lunch in Daddy's chair as well. But, I was not feeling so brave about dinner in the dining chair since we were having homemade bacon, egg, and cheese biscuits. And, it's a good thing I went with the highchair for dinner, there was egg and cheese everywhere. Second surprise, after we ate breakfast he got down and picked up a book off of the floor and brought it to me and said "book" with a heavy pronunciation of the "k" on the end as to make sure he said the word correctly. And, throughout the day he continued to bring me a book to read and said "book" every time! I was so proud!! Third surprise, Nicholas climbed the playground rock wall all by himself!! Monica and I took the kids to the park this afternoon and Nicholas went straight to the rock wall and climbed right on up to go slide down the slide! I had no idea he was that good at climbing, guess I've got a lot to look forward to there!

It's just so amazing to know that he has learned so much about manners, etiquette, words, and everything else in just one week!! I can't wait to find out what he learns next week!