Happy 2nd Birthday, Nico!

Photos by Blue Lily Photography. Thank you, Wendy!

Dear Nico,

Happy Birthday to you!

You are such a joy.

We love you so much!

xo

Nico: 17 months

Dear Nico,

You have reached the ripe, old age of 17 months! Congratulations!  You seem oh-so-big sometimes, and other times, you are still my little baby.   You love walking and exploring things, climbing stairs, feeding yourself, and "reading" (turning the pages of) books all by yourself.  You also love running into my and "Dada's" arms, being held, and kissed dramatically by me. 

The past two weeks have been so rough for you, me, and "Dada" because you are teething.  You currently have 4 teeth on top, and two on bottom. I can't tell what teeth are coming in right now, but boy, they are giving you trouble. You are up late in the night with me.  Sometimes you cry so loud that Daddy wakes up and joins us.  We have had many late nights, and it is really starting to affect my well-being.  Yes, Nico, MY well-being!  You get to nap all morning and in the afternoon. But I'm up and on duty for three other people/dog in this household from 6:30 AM onward, no matter what time I get to sleep or how much sleep I get. Mommy and Daddy will be so relieved when this teething spell is over (and so will you, I'm sure!).

When we are up late at night together, you are always happy though.  You just seem to be so relieved that you are in good company, in a well-lit room, instead of in your crib, alone, in the dark.  This is why, when Daddy argues that you need to just "cry it out," I say, "NO!"  I will not leave you, Nico.  I can't do it.  It breaks my heart to hear you cry and I never want you to be sad if I can help it.   I am so worried about your well-being,  and I'm so over-tired (this post really is about you, Nico, even though I seem to be writing a lot about myself) that even when I sleep, I have nightmares about you.  I had one nightmare the other night that has led me to inquire about swim lessons.  So coming up soon, you'll be in the pool, just like your brother and sister! Won't that be fun?  We will be in the pool together. Yes, I love you so much that I am willing to put on a swimsuit (argh) and expose my post-partum body and white legs to all the world. 

You have regular words these days, saying "Mama" (my favorite word), "Dada" (Dada's favorite word), "qwackah" (cracker), "dank do" (thank you), "baaf" (bath), "baba" (for milk), "roar" (for Nico monster), "hi," "bye," and "No," (probably your favorite word, if not, probably your favorite word when you turn 2).

Your brother and sister still love playing "the Nico monster" game around you and you love to be a part of it, running around behind them as they shriek in mock terror.  At night, you join in the book reading session by settling down on the floor with us, and turning the pages of a board book, "reading" to yourself while Mommy reads a book to Bode and Gianna. Sometimes while I'm reading, you'll decide that you'd rather have the book that I am reading, and our book reading session will be put on hold while we sort out who is reading what.  Gianna has become great at giving you substitutes for things that she wants (a trick that Bode learned quickly when she was a baby, too!). 

Eating is a good experience but still tricky.   You drink Lactaid and water.  You can't eat things that contain a lot of eggs and milk (? or maybe wheat?), or you become so splotchy and itchy (again, breaking my  heart when I inadvertently give you something not good for you).  I can't decide if we need to get allergy testing done or if we should wait it out and see if you grow out of it.  You like eating peas, waffles (gluten-free), crackers (plain Goldfish), sweet potato, rice, broccoli, avocado, mango, blueberries, oatmeal and pasta.  You are not big on meat at this time. I have tried all different kinds of meat, cooked all different ways, and no matter what I try to give you, you leave it. 

You are so physical.  You love hugs and kisses and long tickle sessions, as well as the "Grand Ol' Duke of York" (you stand before me with a quizzical look and ask, "dude dor??" and I know that it is time for you to ride on my knees). You enjoy kicking the soccer ball around the yard. You love going on walks with your family, and surprise us by walking so far. You love being outside and of course, don't mind the rain or wind or whatever element. You're just happy to be out and about. You love going "bye-bye" and will bring me  your shoes and jacket, as if to seize the opportunity before I forget or leave you (never!). 

Just for grins, here is what your big sister was like at 17 months.  I see some similarities!
Now, let's put those toofys to bed and get some sleep!

Love,

Mommy

xo

First and last

Goodbye, Exersaucer. You've been good to us!

I'm purging and saying goodbye to a lot of baby stuff.  Every time Nico reaches a milestone, and every time he moves on from a toy or baby gear, I have to say goodbye to this time in our life. It is  his first milestone, it is my last.

Goodbye, baby swing. Thanks for all the sleep!

It makes me sad, knowing that we will never need the Tiny Gym, the swing, or this table:

All of our babies used this table to learn to stand (and play).  I can sing along to every song that plays from this table. It brings back memories of when Bode was a baby and it even brings back feelings I had when Bode was a baby.

Goodbye, baby bath. It's been fun.

I started crying and gnashing my teeth over letting go of this silly table.

RWF was the one that suggested that I document this table with all of our babies around it. Of course, none of the babies cooperated (except for Nico, my smiley guy).  "Oh here goes Mommy, crying again. Let's ignore her. Again."

Goodbye, table. We love you!

You can't even tell from this photo how Bode and Gianna tower over it, but tower they do.  I know it's time to say goodbye to the table. I know another baby will benefit greatly from it.

It's time to let go and move on.  No looking back.

Well, except for pictures like these.
xo

Labor Day weekend

This end-of-summer weekend has been anti-climatic.  It has been a slow, lazy, grey weekend, punctuated by thunderstorms. We have stayed in, ate in, and been generally lazy.

Now that I've painted such a dull picture, I have to back up and confess that we did have some sun on Friday.  We went to the park.  Once again, Bode was terrorized by another little boy. What gives?!! I am so angry at these little boys who think that they can just hit my son.  This time, Bode was following a little boy up a slide (that is covered, like a tunnel). Before they even went into the tunnel, this kid turned around and started hitting Bode repeatedly.  Bode looked over at me and wailed.  He then got hit again and I yelled, "Come here!" because I was afraid that Bode was just going to stand there and be pummeled repeatedly.  Bode ran over to me and I soothed him.  His face and neck were all red from where the little boy struck him.  The kid had already ran off to another play structure while I was trying to calm Bode. The mom didn't do anything. She was busy talking to somebody. I was so angry that I took everybody home. It was such a downer.  Later, when I explained the situation to RWF, he thought that maybe the boy was scared by Bode.  Doubtful.

GET OFF THE COUCH, P!

On Saturday, I took the two older monkeys to the Farmer's Market and to the carousel for one last hurrah.  

On Sunday, we.... I am drawing a blank. That's how exciting it's been around here!  Oh. We stayed home. I ran a long run, and was simply exhausted afterwards. Plus, the crummy weather kept us inside. 

Today, we met some friends for a play date. We were supposed to go to the park, but thunderstorms prevented that. We met at our local bookstore instead.  That lasted about 15 minutes before two of the children were running around and chasing each other (note: their initials were not BWF or MGF. I'm just sayin') (Dear Karma, I can write that because you and I both know that it has been BWF and MGF in the past. For once, I could stand back because finally, it was not my children causing the ruckus. Love, HAS).  So our playdate ended quickly, with promises to meet up once everyone is acclimated to the new school routine and our weather (hopefully) improves.

School!  Bode starts this Thursday and I am in denial. Denial! I can not believe it. I'm really not thinking about it. I'm just going to let it happen.  Then, next Monday, Gianna starts preschool. My baby girl is going to skip, no, RUN into school and not look back.  I just know it. And that is going to leave me and Nico alone, together.

It is crazy to think that this time last year, I was preparing for a baby!  I was so close to meeting my preshus! My Nico!  And to think, his 1st birthday is right around the corner!  I can't think about it too much, because I'll get sad.  It was a crazy year for me, and I had a lot of emotional struggles.  He has been such a blessing to me.  He has kept me sane and happy. There is nothing better for your well-being than holding a baby.  And a smiley, chunky baby is even better.  I adore this boy so much. 

And that is all the news that is fit to print (for us).

Happy Labor Day weekend, end-of-summer to you.

xo

Nico: 11 months

Dear Nico,
Wow, this past month you've changed a lot.  Luckily, I captured most of it in pictures (thanks to the iPhone).

You currently have 2 teeth.  You drool all the time now.  Last night, you were crawling around, with a steady stream of drool escaping your mouth.  I thought, "Man, he's drooling a ton," and then I thought, "Hmm.  This seems to be a different kind of drool."  I pried your mouth open and sure enough, found a broken yellow crayon.  Change #1 is that you are putting everything in your mouth these days.  We have to watch you like a hawk. I've lectured both Bode and Gianna to make sure that the floor is clear of any small objects. They understand this, but they are babies, too, so can't be expected to remember to pick up stray crayons and Legos. But they do know to tell me if they see you put something in your mouth.  They are always quick to yell, "Nico put something in his mouth! Nico put something in his mouth!" so that I can quickly fish your mouth for the object. 

Change #2: You are starting to pull up on things.  The very first time I spied you doing this was in the garage.  Whenever we go outside, we all stop at the shoe basket and put on our shoes.  And you've learned this routine, too.  Once that garage door is opened in the kitchen, you make a beeline for the garage.  (Yet another area that I have to be careful about because I don't need you attempting to crawl down stairs!) The first time I saw you pull up was on a low basket in the garage.  And now, you are pulling up on other objects, too. You are ready to stand, moving your legs out straight, so that you are doing an inverted V on the floor.

The biggest surprise was last week, when everybody was in the playroom.  You decided to crawl up on the trampoline!  That was a pretty amazing feat, and I just sat there and stared, snapping pictures while you climbed up.  When you got up there, you sat and bounced, like you knew what to do.  While you bounced, you had this big smile on your face. You were so happy.  I clapped and cheered for you.  Then I called Daddy and told him that he needed to put the trampoline in the basement ASAP.  And so it is, but you're still looking for things to climb on. 

Speaking of play, you love playing ball. You are so good at rolling it to another person, catching it, and throwing it out again.  We usually do this in the morning before your sibs wake up. It is our little morning routine, and we both enjoy it. If I need a minute to do something, I can just roll a ball to you and you will play  with it for awhile. You love chasing after the ball, rolling it away, chasing after it again. 

Change #4 would be to food.  No more baby purees for you.  You won't even let me near you with a spoon.  If I approach you with a spoon in my hand, you push your arms out as if to ward off something bad, and turn your face away.  Today, you'll only eat finger foods: shredded chicken, peas, banana,  strawberries, watermelon, pasta, and pancakes.  It stresses me out, because I worry that you're not getting enough to eat.  I just have to trust that you're going to fill yourself up. At dinner time, you're more vocal and will 'demand' food while we're eating. Sometimes I don't give you what you want and you'll grimace and demand again.  It's kind of fun, to see what you'll eat. But it's also nerve-wracking, like, "Is he going to choke on this?"  

Change #5 is to sleep. But isn't sleep always changing with a baby? And it is a Rule that if you talk about sleep and a baby, the Universe and Baby will decide to change things up on you real fast. So let me just say that I've had a good sleep this week, and leave it at that. 

Thanks for being so wonderful.

Love,

Mommy

xo

Nico: 8 months

Dear Nico,

Happy 8 months! 

You are such a happy little guy.  Your smile is frequent, and infectious. You make everyone happy with that beam!  You are discovering new things every day. It is so fun to watch you. You, in turn, love watching us. You learn so much from your sister and brother.  You are by far the most active baby we've had.  It is most likely due to the fact that you  have older siblings that take what they want and ignore you, and the fact that your parents are often too busy to respond quickly to your needs. In other words, you're on your own. (not really!)

You are thisclose to crawling. This evening, I set you down in the kitchen while I fixed some bottles.  I saw you move from a sitting position to all fours, and then saw you make two distinct forward movements (and I panicked, and thought, "I didn't see that."). Suddenly, I felt a tug on my pajama pants, and I looked down to see you smiling up at me. (I won't call it....yet. I don't want to call it....yet....not until you are very mobile.)  

Lately, you have been consistently napping once a day. This is because I've been diligent about being home by 10 AM in order to get you down for a nap.  You will sleep for about 2 hours, and then you are up for the rest of the day.  (Now that I've documented this nap, it will no longer happen.)

The other night, I put you in the bath (sink) and you were fascinated with the flow of water. You kept trying to grab it. When it rushed through your one hand, you would switch hands. And then you just stared, transfixed.  I loved watching this discovery. 

Your father went to Germany last week. When he returned and kissed you hello, you gave him the biggest smile. He said, "Hello, my little Gummi Bear!"  And I thought, "What a great name," because you have such a lovely, gummy grin (and because Gummi Bears are my fav!).

Happy 8 months, "Gummi Bear."

Love,

Mommy

xo