First Steps

Nicholas took his first steps on Thanksgiving Day; it was his birthday present to Auntie Kristina. We were messing around with the camera at the same time, and we actually got it on video. I can't believe he waited until he had such a big audience--oh wait, yes, I can; he's such a ham.

Eleven Months--Really?

Where has the time gone? We're already planning a birthday party for our little baby. How can it be?

Events: Nicholas' first Halloween was something we had been dreaming about since we first found out we were expecting (if you've seen our yard in October, you know why). It was so much fun to dress him up and take pictures of him crawling all over the house in his dragon outfit, and the night of Halloween he got to see all of the trick-or-treaters in the neighborhood. Scott, especially, is looking forward to next year. Because of the nice weather, we were able to get in a few fun fall days together this month. Swimming lessons have concluded for now, but we'll start them up again next summer.

Milestones: Nicholas seemed to get his first four teeth all at once, and since then we've been waiting (for what seems like ages) for more to make their way through; when he turned 11-months-old, suddenly 2 more top teeth were popping. He's cruising all over the house, and he just figured out how--again, when he turned 11-months-old to the day--to climb the stairs. Now he's busy trying to apply that climbing knowledge to anything and everything. He tried to scale my leg today when I was loading the dishwasher. Another exciting milestone is clapping. He really likes it when he claps, you clap, you copy him clapping, or he puts his hands on yours while you clap--clapping is where it's at these days.

Surprises: He has learned his first official sign-language word: "More!" and yes, there is an exclamation point at the end of it. He knows it gets him more food, and I'm excited to see if he uses it to ask for more hugs, more tickles, or more of anything else! He's been saying "ma mama mamamama" a lot, so I hope by that he means me. I have a feeling, though, that "da da" will be the first official word--he's going through a phase where he absolutely loves his Daddy, and I'm trying not to be too jealous. We're both having so much fun playing with him--he's so happy all the time.

Happy Halloween

Nicholas' first Halloween was pretty fun--our costume theme this year revolved around his: Since he was a little dragon, mom was a princess and dad was a knight. He tolerated the costume pretty well, but I'm sure it was pretty warm when he was wearing the whole ensemble. He did pretty great for the party--he slept through the whole thing.

Trick-or-treating was also fun, we've been slowly adjusting his bedtime later to allow for daylight savings time, so he got to see a lot of the kids and the costumes, and he seemed to like to tell them Happy Halloween, or at least I think that's what "bababababa" meant.

On an unrelated note, he's very close to walking (he likes to cruise around with a walker we're borrowing from Aunt Katie). He just started doing this about 2 weeks ago, and I didn't know if I should get the camera, or keep him from falling.

10 Months of Fun

Events: This month has been pretty "normal" for us. We continued the "mommy & me" swim classes, and some of those turned into "family swim night," thanks to a few nights Scott was done with work early. Nicholas has gotten to see his Heinert grandparents more often now that they are both retired. We haven't taken any trips for a while, and it's been nice to relax at home for a while.


Milestones: Well, Nick is crawling, pulling himself up, trying to walk, teething, and very interested in whatever you are doing. All of this seemed to happen overnight and all at once! He's starting to learn how to drink out of a sippy cup, but mostly he just likes to chew on it.


Surprises: The flyswatter wasn't a fluke--it still makes him laugh like crazy. Though he loves to copy whatever you're doing, the most surprising things to me are things that he learns to do all on his own. The other day he realized that the yellow shapes are on the inside of the red and blue Tupperware toy, and he started looking inside it and trying to get them out. He also realized that the star stackers he's been playing with for seven months have holes in them that he can look through--it probably sounds minor, but when he figured that out I was so proud of the little guy! He loves buckles--when you try to take him out of the highchair, he has to play with the buckles forever.

9-Month Stats

Well, Nicholas met his new Dr. last Friday and he took some measurements of him. He's pretty much on the same track for height and weight as he has been of late: 30" tall (99th+ percentile for height); 19 pounds even (20th percentile for weight); 60th percentile for head circumference.


We're just so blessed to have a healthy & happy little Heinert.


These videos are too funny: you can tell how mom ranks in the grand scheme of things. He's doing a scooting version of crawling--another week & he'll be all over the house!

Do you want to come to mom? No, thanks. Oh wait, there's a phone over there? Awesome!

9 Months Old is the Best Age Yet...

It's probably not surprising that every age Nicholas has been was my favorite. He was so cute and sweet and angelic before, but now his personality is developing and it's so much more fun to play with him. Yeah, I miss my little guy, but my big guy is so much fun.

Events: This month was filled with many trips. I started teaching again, so now we (especially me) are working on adjusting to a new schedule. We started "mommy & me" swim class; so far he really likes it. We also had a few playdates with the Brylow boys, and, while it took him a little while to warm up to the idea of hanging out with other babies, he really seemed to like their toys!

Milestones: He found his tongue and likes to babble; Nicholas has started waving "hello," which is great because now I feel like I'm not doing sign language for no reason. He met his first cousin the other day (he pet her a little bit--it was cute--see the link to her blog on the left); another one will be here in 10 weeks or so!

Surprises: Nicholas thinks the flyswatter is hilarious (see video). We can't seem to find a food he doesn't like yet. He's teething all the time, but he still only has 4 teeth.

Nautical Nicholas

One of Nick's favorite pasttimes this summer has been boating, so I thought I'd share a few pictures of his adventures and a movie of all he learned.