Christmas with Mema's family

Tonight we celebrated Christmas with Mema, Grandpa Tim, Melissa, Uncle Stephen, Aunt Michele and Chelsea. I woke from my slumber just in time for dinner!

Then I gave Mema a tour of the house.
I showed her all my favorite spots - like Zoey's crate...
...my secret hiding spot for my slinky from Santa...
...then it was finally time for presents!
After seeing how much I loved the shopping cart at the PLAY Museum, Mema gave me this really cool cart of my own. I made sure Daddy was assembling it properly.
Then noticed the swinging side....just perfect for me to crawl through!

Isn't there a game show for speedy shoppers - sign me up!
My gift was pretty great, but I have to say I would have been just as happy with the box from the cart and the coffee Mema gave Daddy. Do you see my latest fascination - crawling through very small spaces! (Don't expect Mommy to be able to get a cute picture of me doing this - I'm way too fast for her trigger finger!)
Aunt Michele, Uncle Stephen and Chelsea gave me this adorable Curious George who rides a tricycle and sings. Daddy was a huge "Torge" fan when he was a little boy - I'm starting to see what's so exciting about him!

Mema and Grandpa Tim gave Mommy this beautiful blanket for us to cuddle up with - but for now, it's the perfect spot for me to let George ride around on.

Thanks for coming everyone and for a wonderful afternoon!

Change of Scenery

With Daddy out of town and Mommy and I going stir crazy being in the house so much lately, we hit the mall for some people watching.

A Sign of Perking Up

In a last ditch effort to get Nicholas to eat, I pulled out the Oreo cookies Aunt Angela brought him for his birthday. Now, I know its not on the BRAT diet ordered by the doctor, but at least he ate about half a cookie!

The chocolate & sugar in that cookie perked up Nicholas for his evening with Grandma, Grandpa and Great Aunt Anne when Mommy and Daddy went to make some returns and have dinner. Here, Nicholas is standing on one of his unopened presents to reach a strategically placed glass ball (that was the story according to the babysitters/photographer).
While doing that balancing feat, Nicholas broke through the wrapping paper and got to open a present!

Thanks babysitters!

Santa was here!

This morning, Grandma, Grandpa and Great Aunt Anne came over to watch Nicholas open his presents. Nicholas was surely not himself with being so sick, but he did check out his sink set from Mommy and Daddy as soon as he eyed it.

Mommy gave her 2 handsome boys coordinating sweaters.
Grandpa and Grandma loved their book all about Nicholas' first year.
Someone special got to eat a late lunch in the family room. (We even bribed him to eat with his old time favorite pears and apricots babyfood).
Nicholas loved the glittery racer ornament from Grandma.

But the highlight of the night was definitely the gift from Aunt Elaine and Uncle John - a giant snowman! Nicholas let Snowman sit in his rocking chair...
and then tackled him with kisses,
bear hugs

and gave Snowman a ride all around the room.
Merry Christmas everyone! We will have lots more gift opening footage to come, since we've only made a small dent in the pile.

Merry Croup-mas

It seems like we're starting a rather unfortunate Christmas tradition. Just like last year, we were at the doctor's office the Saturday before Christmas. This time, with an ear infection that just won't go away and a case of croup (that I swear the croup came on between the time I called for the appointment at 8am and the appointment time of 11:30).

Needless to say, we have a wheezy, barking seal - I mean Nicholas. (I'd rather be dealing with the case of jaundice like last year at this time!)

This afternoon, Nicholas perked up a bit and enjoyed his bottle while looking out at the snow.

Grandma and Grandpa were hosting the big family get-together tonight, but we didn't want to expose the other babes to Nicholas' illness. We went over the for a bit before the family came. Nicholas went straight for Grandma's washing machine - he loves the door and shinny chrome.

Then Grandpa had the impossible feat of trying to get Nicholas to eat. He was successful for about 2 scoops of yogurt and a Teddy Graham. Thanks Grandma for the Santa bib!

Lots of "ups," followed by a big "down!"

Nicholas' talking is caught on video (listen carefully)! He's using his new word "up" and "upee" when playing with Mommy's vintage 1983 nutcracker ornament. And, just prepare yourself for a dramatic change in action at the end...this is an unedited video clip, since I don't have time to go through the whole editing process. Enjoy!

Little Drummer Boy

Nicholas will go to any heights to get to the drummer music box - including balancing on the arm of the couch.

"I've got to figure out how he works!"
After nearly 3 weeks of not eating well, Grandma brought over a special treat of her homemade banana bread.

"Yum yum Grandma - this is GOOD and just what I needed in my belly!"

Out In the Snow

"Mommy, how dare you stop pulling me to take a picture!"

(seriously, that is exactly what happened on my first picture attempt!)

So once again, this one had to be taken while pulling him in the snow up to my knees. (Is this where I mention that my legs still hurt as much as they would after doing a "Legs of Steel" video.)
We also found out that his playset can be loads of fun in the winter too!

Did I Mention I'm Walking!

We're calling it official, since Mommy was able to run, find the camera (after looking in 3 places), get back and snap some pictures of me walking across the room.

Of course, its still really fun to find things to push around the house - like the winterware tote that I found in the closet.

action shot

Snowday (again!)

Nicholas was very upset on Monday when there was another snowday on a day Mommy doesn't work(or wait, maybe Mommy was the one who was most upset)...but what is for sure is that Nicholas LOVES to watch Daddy snowblow! He practically scales the window, bangs on the glass and yells for Daddy...

...until he's distracted by the little tree in the bay window on his way to look through yet another window.

"Hmmmm, so many choices...what should I grab today?"

Meeting the Big Man In Red!

We went to meet Santa at the zoo!

"Umm, excuse me, I'm Nicholas Relyea and I have a lunch date with Santa and Mrs. Claus."

While we were eating, Santa made his grand entrance - Nicholas spotted him right away.
The big man in red came over to greet our little man. Nicholas was quite impressed!
Wile waiting in line, Nicholas tried to get Santa's attention by waving to him (unfortunately, it didn't make the line move any faster, but was adorable to us!).Finally, our turn - the big man up close!
"Hi Santa! I like your fluffy beard and fancy hat with bells!"

"Yup, I'm the Big 1 - and I really want a cool car for Christmas. Are you going to work your magic for me? I've been a good boy!"
"Mommy, Mommy, he said yes!"
In all, Nicholas really enjoyed his lunch date. We also had his face painted as a reindeer, but didn't get any good shots of it. I can only imagine his excitement at this time next year!!!