Nicholas' New Cousin

Okay, so I know that this is Nick's blog, but here's a picture of his first cousin; I can't resist--she's too cute.

Here's Mikayla (and I'm not posting more specifics on the internet to protect her privacy)--only about 4 hours old in this picture. I think she looks just like her daddy.

Welcome to the world, Mikayla! We love you!

Well over 8 months old...

Nick turned 8 months old while we were on our vacation, hence the delay in updates. I decided to include this video of waking him up because it's my favorite time of the day. I hear him talking to his Snoopy pals and then I go in and get my buddy.

Events: This month was exciting--lots of parties and vacations, and lots of smiling for the camera. It's funny--he's knows to smile at the camera and squint at the flash (see below).

Milestones: He mastered the art of rolling, which has prevented him from learning how to crawl so far (he won't stay on his stomach). He'd rather grab your thumbs and walk around, so we're starting to think he's going to skip crawling and go straight to walking just like his Daddy did. His two top teeth are in and he's working on some more. He also loves sticking his tongue out at you, provided that you return the gesture.



Surprises: He never sits still--even when he's drinking a bottle he has to be tapping his foot or doing something with his hand--go, go, go! Nicholas also hates to be fed anything. He only likes to feed himself. If you offer him a bite of food on a baby spoon, he acts like you're pointing a weapon at him. If you put the food on his high chair in front of him, he'll pick it up and eat it. I was convinced, for a little while, that he just hated all the baby food, but if I give him pieces of the same food, he'll eat it himself. I guess he's a strong-willed little guy. Also, he's a redhead right now! Apparently Scott had red hair as a baby, so we don't think Nicholas' will stay that way.

Giddy-up!

Here's a picture of Nicholas riding the rocking-horsey his Great-Grandpa made him. I think he's going to really love it when his feet are long enough to touch the ground!

Can you spot me in the picture? I'm like where's Waldo in this one.

Blessed Boy

Nicholas was baptized today. His family came from miles around to celebrate the occasion. He did very well through the whole ceremony, though my heart leapt when he started reaching for the baptismal font (visions of the way he splashes at bathtime came to mind).

His Uncle Mark and Aunt Kristina will be excellent Godparents--see how happy he is the the picture with them?

What a blessing he is to us.

Top Tooth!

Well, I heard what sounded like grinding noises coming from Nicholas' mouth after a nap, and it turns out one of the top ones is poking through. He'll be eating steak (or polar bear) before long at this pace.

7 months old...

I can't believe that he's 7 months old already! I'm going to have to start planning his birthday party soon.

Events: This month, Nicholas got his dad some presents for his first Father's Day. He also got to meet more Great Aunts & Uncles and Second Cousins.

Milestones: He eats all his meals from a bottle now, and he started trying vegetables. He seems to love carrots and hate peas (ha, just like mom). He can sit up on his own, which is nice because he can sit and play by himself for a little while.

Surprises: He's so tall that he's on the highest setting for his jumperoo (sniff, sniff). He's starting to use primitive forms of "language"--he reaches for people whom he wants to have hold him and he uses different noises for different things (motorboat sounds means he's complaining about something; grunting and pointing means he wants you to hand him something). He also knows how to give eskimo kisses (thanks to Granddad, who taught him). As soon as he can wave, I want to try my hand at teaching him a few basic sign language words.

It's a girl! Well... two girls!

I just found out my sister is going to have a daughter--she and Nicholas are going to have so much fun!

So, Nicholas will have two girl cousins that are less than a year younger than he. I love that our siblings' children will be so close in age--we're going to have so much fun with them, and it will be nice for Nicholas not to have to sit at the kids' table at holidays alone! Hee hee!