2 Year Old Stats for Nicholas

He is... 36" tall (a yardstick!), and 26 pounds, 12 oz. Still a tall and skinny dude.

He is still having trouble with ear infections and fluid behind the ears, so we will be checking on that and possibly persuing surgery for ear tubes.

Nicholas is Two Years Old!

We are so excited that our little boy is two years old already. It is hard to believe he isn't a baby anymore, and that we have another baby already!

Nicholas' family gathered to celebrate his entrance into the terrible two's. So far, they're not too terrible.

His birthday marks his new-found love of "Trains!" though he hasn't left his love of trucks behind. It was so much fun to watch him blow out his candles. (Yes, that is a fire truck birthday cake crafted by yours truly. I would describe it as a Monet: it looks great from afar, even recognizable, but a mess close up. I have to work on my decorating skills if I don't want my cakes to end up on the cakewrecks blog.) At one point he tried to combine playing with his trains in his new wagon in the tunnel, but it had mixed results. We continue to enjoy each and every day with our wonderful son. He is such a joy.

Heidi is 2 months old

Today, I spotted a dimple on her right cheek. It was a nice little gift to me.

Heidi is 8 Weeks Old..

... and thriving! She is was 9 pounds, 13 ounces (33rd percentile for weight) and 23" long (83rd percentile for height) at her second visit with the pediatrician.

The biggest change is that she is is smiling and interacting now that she has gotten a little older. She seems to love sharing her smiles with everyone. I'm looking forward to hearing her laugh out loud.

She's now such a big girl that she goes to daycare, even though she is the tiniest one there.

23 Months & Almost a 2-Year-Old

I think this month is all about talking, talking, talking for Nicholas. He's combining words and making sentences: "Mama, sit down, please!" It's wonderful to see him express himself and watch how happy and proud he is when he realizes that we understand him. At the same time, it also involves explaining that just because he can ask for something doesn't mean that he is going to get what he wants!

As an homage to his blue blankie, Nicholas was Linus this year for Halloween. In fact, he inspired the costumes of the entire family: Scott was Charlie Brown, I was Sally Brown, and Heidi was Lucy Van Pelt.

22 Months Old...

Nicholas is 22 months old; just 2 months away from being 2!

So far he is shining in his new role as a big brother, though he really doesn't seem to understand why the baby is always sleeping or eating and not interested in playing with him.

He continues to be dad's little mini-me, and he loves to copy whatever Scott is doing. The other morning he "helped" dad scrub the bathtub--no lie--and the other day I captured him sitting with Dad on the love seat "working" at his laptop, too.

Heidi is 2 weeks old

How time flies when you are having fun!

Heidi had her 2-week check-up today and the numbers are in: She's 79% percentile for height at 21" and 29% for weight at 7 lbs. 10 oz. So in other words, she seems to take after her big brother.

Heidi Autumn Joins Our Family

Our daughter arrived on Tuesday, September 22nd at 10:35 am. She was 7 pounds, 5.5 oz., and 20 inches long. Her birth had been scheduled to be a c-section, which was a good thing because she suprised everyone, including the Drs., by being breech at the last minute.

We were a little worried how Nicholas would take to being a big brother, but it seems as though we had nothing to worry about. So far he adores her, and loves trying to get her to say "hi" to him and giving her a toy to play with. We are settling into a new routine as a family of four and are looking forward to many more fun times together.

21 Months Old & Almost a Big Brother...

Nicholas turned 21 months old on Labor Day. In less than two weeks he will officially be a big brother. We've tried to put out some baby toys and accessories, so we hope he is as ready for the change as we can help him be. In the following video, which we took right before bedtime, you can tell he might be starting to get the idea.

Our summer is officially over for 2009; Nicholas is back to daycare and I'm back to teaching.

Nicholas' First Camping Trip

In July we took our first camping trip. We like to camp old-school style in a tent, so we had to pick up a new one now that we have a child. We found a nice 2-room tent for all of us, and here are some pictures from our maiden voyage.

We've grown accustomed to Nick going straight to bed and sleeping for 12 hours or more for over a year now, so we were a little nervous about how he would adapt to the new sleeping arrangements. Though he cried for about 3 minutes after we put him to bed (it's really rare), he slept just fine all weekend, despite being at an RV park that had gas go-carts motoring a few inches from our tent all night.

We ended the trip with Nicholas' first ice cream cone (or a few bites of Dad's). We're looking forward to lots more camping trips with Nicholas and his sister.

20 months of Learning and Growing

Nicholas will soon be a big brother, and we have had to admit that is no longer a baby, even though he'll always be mine.

Words: He seems to learn a few each day, and there are more all the time that we don't even know he knows until he busts them out on us. This morning he said "key" and the other day he saw an "airplane." His favorite thing right now, though, is trucks, which is good because there have been quite a few in our driveway during our basement remodeling project.

Mobility: He's everywhere all the time now, and while it is good for him, it can be dangerous, too, because he's still testing his limits. He got his first boo-boos last weekend (I think I cried more than he did). The other day, I walked from one room to another and discovered that somehow he had climbed on top of the kitchen table in a few seconds!

We are trying to enjoy the rest of the summer as a family of three; Nicholas has no idea how his world will change in a few short weeks when his sister arrives. I know it will be a big adjustment for all of us, but at the same time, I know he will love the baby and will take delight out of helping and being the big boy, since he already does. He will be welcoming another cousin in March, and we can't wait to meet him or her so Nicholas and his sister will have more playmates.

Because we just love this picture...

Father's Day 2009

I was up at the crack of dawn to help Nicholas give Scott a good Father's Day, starting with belgium waffles with fruit, sausage, and even Dad's favorite coffee. We began the day of Scott with a run and bike ride to Nick's favorite park, and then had a fun day splashing in the pool with Nicholas and some of the neighbors; after nap time, we rounded out the day with Dad's first trip to the zoo this year (our fourth, I think) and some grilled steaks with steamed asparagus and brown rice. Dad had wine using his new wine opener, and Mom and Nick had grape juice.

18 Months Old

Nick has reached another milestone: 1 & 1/2 years of age!


His checkup at the Dr. was no big surprise: 99th percentile for height (at 34") and 25th for weight (at just under 25 pounds). We were wondering why it was taking so long for him to need another haircut and found out that his head grew several centimeters in circumference. It's great that he is growing and developing well.


The biggest relief is that after many "back and forth" discussions about ear tube surgery, Nick's ears are healthy, and we avoided having to put him through surgery for now. We hope he will make it through the next few months without an ear infection!


Also correlating with the lack of ear infections is lots of words! It is so fun to hear him talk, and it's funny which words he decides to pick up on. He's probably up to about 20 words or so... the most recent ones being "bubbles" and "buckle." Without a doubt, he loves "b" words--bird, ball, bye-bye, blue... He also seems to understand so many words he cannot say, so it is nice that there is more communication taking place. And he has found that he can tell us things, too. He will bring us his shoes when he wants to go outside; he will ask for naps and tell us when he has made a "pee eww"; and he likes to bring over the remote when he wants to watch his "Wheels on the Bus" Baby Einstein video.


Really, we just continue to cherish our time with him.

Memorial Day Weekend 2009

Despite being what seemed like the earliest Memorial Day ever, we had four days of perfect weather up north at the cottage. Nicholas had way too much fun being spoiled by Grandma Gail, Granddad, and his Great-Grandparents, Rosie and Earl.

He played in the sand, went for boatrides, and generally had a blast. By far his favorite thing was chasing Molly around and giving her treats. She still wouldn't let him get away with snuggling her (for long), but he kept trying.

A Sister for Nicholas

On May 12th, we discovered that we are having a daughter in September. I had an inkling she was a girl because my pregnancy has been very different than the previous one. However, I never really believed that we'd have a daughter for some reason, so it was still a total shock. We feel very excited that we have been blessed with the opportunity to raise a girl, too.

Mother's Day 2009

Mother's Day was a fun family day. After church and a visit to the Memorial Park to visit and remember Isla, the weather cleared up and we had some nice outdoor fun.

I think I need to start getting out from behind the camera. No pictures of Nick's mom on Mother's Day! Ha ha!

President in Training

Over Easter we got to spend time with the Jordan family in LaCrosse, which included a trip to Granddad's office. Nicholas enjoyed sitting in on a conference call, sending a few emails, flirting with administrative assistants, and generally being the center of attention at Reinhart for an hour.

Almost 17 Months Old...

Nicholas has been growing and developing by leaps and bounds. Every day it seems like he does something new. I'm looking forward to the end of the semester and lots of free time to spend with my bud over the summer, especially since his little brother or sister will be here in the fall.

Even more than playing, I'd venture that his favorite thing is "figuring stuff out." He loves to copy whatever you are doing... and he thinks he is a much bigger boy than he really is. Whether it is loading the dishwasher (he puts his breakfast dishes in for me), watering the flowers (or his feet), or folding the laundry (or unfolding), he just loves to copy whatever Scott and I do.

I think what I love the most about him is how sweet and happy he is all the time--he always has a smile or hug for you, and he loves to play one on one. He's just such a joy. His newest heart-melting talent is blowing kisses.

The pictures from Easter have been delayed for quite a while... but I finally got them!

Spring Break, Spring Cleaning, and 15-month-old Stats

Nicholas had his 15-month check up and he's currently weighing in at 23 pounds (25th percentile) and measuring 33 inches in height (90th percentile). So, he's still a tall little guy, which is probably why he is now in 24-month size clothes.

He was a big help during the spring cleaning I tackled over break--he likes to copy whatever Mommy does.







But, cleaning is hard work, so sometimes we need to take a snuggle break.







We have been enjoying the warm-ish weather by taking walks to the park and playing on the swings and slides, and by running around the yard with the neighborhood kids. He even figured out out to blow bubbles.

We just feel so lucky to have a happy and healthy son. He's added so much joy to our lives.

Language Time!

Nicholas is starting to use more words... In addition to "Mama," "Dada," and "more," which he has been saying for quite some time, he now says "bye," "hello," "up," "down," "stay," and "puppy." And, whenever he is in the mood, he will copy a word that you are using--yesterday he said "socks" and "yuck." Though "Mama" warms the cockles of my heart, I love when he says "up" because he is so deliberate about the pronunciation: "uhh-pah!"

He has also been enjoying the warmer weather (we all have), and he has been surprising me with how much he loves playing in the yard, trying to blow bubbles, and throwing and kicking the ball. He seems like such a big guy for a 15-month-old.

Cheesy Smiler

I've been trying to get some good pictures of Nick, but he now goes over-the-top with his smile and squinting to avoid the flash, so I have to catch him off guard. In the following movie, he sees the camera and thinks it's time for a cheesy smile. It cracks me up.


Grandma got some good pictures of him when she was here last week, so maybe she'll share...

Halloween Already?

Nick gave me quite a scare last weekend when he woke up with the most disgusting looking eye. It was gone in 36 hours, but man... it looked very nasty. He's going to hate me for posting this some day. At least I didn't post pictures of him playing with the box of feminine products he dug out of the bathroom cabinet.