Nico: 13 months

Dear Nico,

Two nights ago, while I was getting your brother and sister ready for bed, you stood up and walked 5 steps.  Nobody was paying attention, but I just happen to look over at you when I saw you rise up on your feet. I was standing in the doorway and I watched you take these first 5 steps. And then you plopped down on your bottom. You looked over and we smiled at each other. I walked over to you and gave you a big hug and asked you to do it again.  I stood you up about an arm's length away. And you walked toward me, smiling the whole time.  You fell into my arms and I squeezed you so hard. I was so happy for you. The way you let me squeeze you told me that you were pretty proud of yourself, too. 

Yesterday, I was in the office paying a bill when I heard a slap-slap-slap.  You yelled, "AAANNH!" Slap-slap-slap.   I walked out to investigate. You were on top of the stairs, slapping the floor and yelling "AAANNH!" You looked at me and slapped the floor. You wanted to know how to get down.  I ran (soooo fast) up the stairs and told you that you would not be learning to climb down the stairs any time soon.  And I told myself that I would not be leaving you alone anymore, either. 

You are drinking almond milk from a bottle, and water from a sippy cup.  This has not been an easy transition. Someone suggested that I skip the bottle completely and go straight to the sippy cup. But after thinking about it, and consulting some of our family "experts," we stuck with a bottle. It seems to be working out. Hopefully this dairy allergy will go away, because I miss cheese!!!  And I'd hate for you to miss out on eating cheese one day, too. Already your diet is pretty basic and bland.Without the "dairy" group, I'm kind of at a loss as to what to feed you most days.

You are sounding out "words," in Nico-speak.  You seem to know "bye bye," "bath," "Gianna," and "out" or at least I seem to know what you mean when you are babbling.

You love hanging outside with your brother and sister.  You are by far the fastest in the developmental milestones. And we know this is because of Bode and Gianna. You can't wait to be a part of their play.

Sleep has been difficult this past month. You're getting your top two teeth in at the same time.  You've also been sick with a snotty nose-cough-cold. No fun for a little baby like you!  I try to enjoy the quiet hours with you in the middle of the night. But I would love to see you sleeping through the night, too.

You are now 13 months.  And you are every bit a good baby as you were on the day you were born.  Thank you for the love and smiles, Nico. You are such a joy.

Love,

Mommy

xo

The weekend in pictures*

As usual (lately), I started grumbling about making dinner around 4:30 on Friday.  Bode graciously opened up his kitchen and prepared dinner for us.  Pizza and pasta were on the menu.  And, it should be noted that he is probably the only chef that cooks wearing sunglasses (upside down  pink sunglasses, no less).

Saturday afternoon, Bob and Gianna had a tickle fest while Bode napped.  Bob also read one story to Gianna. This is notable only because she is not "into" reading books like her big brother, and won't sit still for them.

Blurry but too cute not to publish.

Sunday afternoon, we went to the Los Altos Hills Hoedown.  It is an annual event at our local barn.  The local riding club puts on a show.  They also open the barn up and the children (and adults) have fun viewing the horses up close. I didn't take any photos of the show or the barn because I didn't want to startle any horses.  Last year, a horse whinnied at Bode and it really scared him! So I was trying to keep things calm.



Gianna wore a strawberry outfit. Thanks, Nana!



One highlight for Bode was the fire truck on display!

Bob and Bode enjoying the horse show.

Walking down (independent!) to see the miniature ponies.

On the other side of the barn is crafts, kids activities, and food.  Bob and I never carry cash.  Bode spotted a popcorn machine (luckily he didn't see the caramel apples!).  Of course he asked for popcorn.  We found out that the popcorn was $1. Bob turned to me and said, "I don't have any cash. Do you?"  I frowned, like, "What do you think?!" But  I dug out my wallet.  I had  exactly one (1) dollar bill in my change purse!  So glad that I didn't have to disappoint my son! (actually, I would have done anything - begged a passerby, ridden a pony bareback, whatever it took! - to get Bode popcorn)



Bode anticipating the popcorn.



He ate the whole bag!

As we were walking back to our car, Bode walked very slowly because he was eating his popcorn. A mother behind us was (loudly) lecturing to her kids, "No, you can't have popcorn right now. It's dinner time.  Popcorn is a snack.  Popcorn is not dinner. We will have popcorn as a snack tomorrow." Yadda yadda yadda. It was prettty funny.  Of course, Bode ate the whole bag of popcorn and, as you can guess, didn't eat any dinner.  But you know what?  I don't care. He enjoyed himself (and the popcorn).
Bode and Gianna were completely zonked after the festivities. We got home and it was Mission: Bed.  I stripped them of their clothes but didn't bother with a bath. While I went downstairs to grab pjs, they got in one last tickle fest before bed.

Blurry, but look at how HUGE Bode looks!

Priscilla is probably smelling the popcorn on Bode!

Happy Wednesday-almost-Thursday!

xo

*I am sorry that I haven't been posting much this week. I am busy, busy, busy!  There is so much to write about and I will, in time.

Carousel

I have been trying to keep the babies (and myself) entertained and busy this week.  Today I thought about going to the zoo. But I decided that wouldn't be a good idea with Bob being away.  So my next idea was to take the babies to Happy Hollow Park and Zoo in San Jose. 

We rode the carousel over and over.  Why?  Because that is what Bode wanted to do!  I thought, "Why not?"

I finally persuaded him to go see some animals.  First stop was the goats.  Bode didn't like them.   Inside, I was very, very happy. I didn't want him petting the goats or any other animal.  In fact, he was pretty much off visiting any animals after the goats. So we washed our hands and then went to lunch. 

In keeping with this week's  healthy eating campaign (see yesterday's post), Gianna and Bode both ate cheeseburgers and French fries for lunch.  I also gave Bode an "alligator drink" (Gatorade) because it was hot out.

After lunch, we went to a small park where Bode rode the see-saw and swing.  Then we went back to -- can you guess?  -- the carousel.  Why not?

Happy Friday! 
xo

I scream, you scream

We went for ice cream today.  It was one of those spur-of-the-moment, "We're really doing this," spontaneous, outrageous (read: desperate) things you do when you're a parent.  Okay, maybe not "outrageous" to most parents. I admit that Bob and I are a little conservative on the sweets.

Bode and Gianna have never had ice cream.  I thought it was time!!! 

Oh, who am I kidding? I wanted ice cream. 

Actually, I feel the tiniest bit bad that Bob wasn't there with us.  But then, I wouldn't be doing this if Bob were here.

Bode was first. I picked him up and let him study the ice cream case. We talked about the flavors and the colors.  He picked "blue"  which was cotton-candy flavored.  I put him down and asked for a sugar cone with one small scoop.   Then I presented the ice cream cone to Bode with a flourish.  He turned away.  He had no interest.  I talked about how ice cream is yummy, how it is made with milk, etc.  But he didn't even want to try it.  "Fine," I said and went to ask for a cup to hold his unwanted cone.

Then I ordered a vanilla cone for Gianna.  She grabbed that cone and knew exactly what to do with it.  She took a bite. And then another. And then another.  And then another. And on and on. 

She practically GROWLED at me when I tried to take the ice cream cone away from her.

And then she washed it all down with a bottle of milk.  Bode eventually tried his ice cream.  I  think watching Gianna chow down on her cone got him a little bit curious.  But he wasn't an instant fan.  This is probably the one and only time that I will have to 'force' ice cream on Bode.

Hope your Thursday is sweet!

xo

Bedhead

Check out the new girly Fall pjs!  Yum!

Her hair is getting longer and more curly!

Gianna sez, "Enough of the camera already. Where's my milk?"

There is one thing that Gianna got from her mother:  bedhead.  My crazy hair, the frazzle-curl that follows after a night's sleep, the bedhead that Bob (politely) ignores, and has grown used to seeing, in the mornings. 

But this morning, Bob noticed that Gianna has it, and he had to comment that Gianna has my hair!  We both laughed over her morning hair.  Then I set her in the glider and immediately snapped photos.  She looks glum in the above photos because she is wondering why her mother did not give her a bottle of milk immediately!

It has been hot here this week.  Bah! It makes me crazy.  We have to go to Gymboree for some air-conditioned fun.  I don't want Bode and Gianna outside in this heat. The sun exposure is too intense, and I don't like to think of their precious baby skin being fried (even with sunscreen on). They still have fun inside, and I think it wears them out, too.

Baby legs...nom, nom.

Bode had me push/roll him in this tube all around the room! Work out!

Bode sez,"Why isn't she rolling me around?"

She is so tired that she had to lay down. She let me rub her back and didn't move until I picked her up.

Have a happy Wednesday, stay cool, and get some rest!
xo

Start your engines

This morning, Bob went out on a long bike ride. It is the one and only thing that he does for himself on the weekends. While Gianna napped, Bode rode his bike up and down the driveway.  Then he and I branched out, rolling down our neighborhood street. When he is on his bike, his whole being just exudes happiness and confidence. 

Then Bob rode up. Bode absolutely loved that he and Bob met up on their bikes in the street.  They bumped front tires in greeting, talked about their helmets, and then "raced" home together.

Later, Bode and I drove downtown for a Starbucks run.  As we pulled into our square, I noticed that the main street was blocked off to traffic.  I parked, and we went to investigate why the street was cordoned off.  To Bode's good fortune, it was a car show!  And not just any car show, but a Corvette car show.  We delayed our Starbucks order. We walked up and down the street, admiring the cars and listening to a live band sing about a brown eyed girl.

Three long blocks, lined up and down with Corvettes!

Dancing to the "mooosic"



Mommy's fav in "jewel blue"



My favorite car in the show was an old convertible Corvette. I think it was a 1961 model.  It had original paint, which was called, "jewel  blue."  Isn't that a great name?  Did I mention it is for sale?  My birthday is near.

In the afternoon,  I decided that we would go to our little ice cream shop for a treat.  We drove downtown, and  we arrived to find that the car show was still going on.  So we trekked up and down three blocks again, looking at the Corvettes on display. We decided that it was too close to dinnertime for ice cream. We opted to go to the park instead.

My iPhone is super slow.  Bob told me that I need to dump all 1,874 photos stored on my iPhone in order to free up some memory.  The idea of deleting the photos off my iPhone makes me sad.  It is a source of comfort to me. I usually look through my photos several times a day, and always once before I go to sleep. It tells me a happy story of my little family, starting with Bode around 18 months, Gianna's birth, and the present day. It is the perfect fairy tale to put me to sleep.

xo