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.