A New Use for Knitting Needles

Mommy is excited to finally start knitting a baby blanket for Baby B. She sent her boys on a mission to AC Moore for the needles, but before, she had to give them a lesson in needle size. Nicholas thought they were perfect for playing the telephone game...

"hello!"

"that's funny!"

"hey, my phone!"

"I'm hiding my phones! No more talking!"

Where Does He Get It?

After a challenging day at home, we hit Great Northern Mall for a walk and dinner. We sent Daddy a picture and Nicholas had to check to ensure it went out properly...

With the Big Boy Room Comes BIG Attitude!

My little man had such fun this morning playing in the laundry basket - it reminded me of his cute little antics of babyhood. As expected with him, he noticed the broken handled and needed to fix it with his tools!

That was basically the last of the cuteness from him today. He was just full of big boy attitude, including demanding tractor snacks with "open that pantry door now! I need tractor snacks!" (yes, we have a childproof knob protector on the door). Soon after, he repeatedly closed me out of his bedroom by slamming the door in my face. I heard "just leave me alone" and "wait a minute" way too many times, in between his feisty battles with Zoey throughout the day.

Yeah, I'm not ready for this growing up phase!

Big Boy Bed Successes!

Well, the first night in the big boy bed went better than ever expected! I went in once about 10 minutes after initially leaving because Nicholas was crying he dropped Puppy. When I got up there, he basically wanted to talk my ear off with the fact that he "put the screws in his big boy bed for Daddy...". Soon after, by 8:15, he was out cold! At 7am, the inner-most mother in me heard his first stirs of the morning and I was in his room within seconds. He was waiting in his bed and seemed super proud of himself, as I was of him.

We even had success with our first naptime - only 3 trips in the room and 2 escapes from the bed...but I was still impressed, given the fact he his black-out shade was still not up (but don't worry, Daddy's not getting out of the house for work tomorrow without it hung).

Tonight, Nicholas was pumped to go to bed! One quick trip in, at his request....and we had a sleeping babe by 8:00. Hooray!

Tech Geek

Nicholas brought over a Home Theater mag to look at with Daddy. He'll sit there forever answering "where's the......speaker, remote, amplifier, stereo...." and impressively labels all sort of things.

As you can imagine, Daddy is in his glory to have a son who shares his passion.

Big Steps in the Big Boy Room!

It seems like forever since we we started Nicholas' big boy room. He's so interested in "helping" all the time, we can honestly say this home improvement project has been like no other we tackled. This morning, Nicholas was sure to bring up his toolbox for the big events of the day.

While Daddy installed the mirror on his dresser, Nicholas worked on the doorknob. He's impressively accurate for knowing the right tools for each job.

Finally: time to set up the big boy bed! Nicholas got right to work putting every screw he could find in the holes.

very industrious...

Daddy's little assistant!

Soon after this picture, Daddy needed my help to stabilize the other end of the bed. Naturally, Nicholas wanted to get in on the action and stepped between the bottom rails and got stuck there. Daddy told him to move away and Nicholas immediately lost it and cried with crossed arms, "I can't even touch it and ran downstairs!" It was just like something out of the mouth of a teenager!

Once the mattress was in, he was sure to grab Puppy and his yellow pillow from the crib.

The boys had plenty of time to horse around...

Be careful of the tools all over!

(Nicholas always approaches a fix-it project by dumping this entire toolbox!)

Mommy got a few more things settled in the room while Nicholas reluctantly napped in his crib (yes, there was a huge stand-off to get him out of his big boy room!). He was most excited to plug-in his new night light and check out some of the airplane decorations....

...and his new basket of books.

"Gammy bought me George on the Train book!"

Needless to say, our talking-up his big boy room really seemed to pay-off faster than we ever expected. Nicholas absolutely insisted on sleeping in there tonight - he even refused taking a bath because he was "too tired and needed to get to bed." Daddy responded to Mommy's urgent call to bring in the monitor, CD player and humidifier...and make a few childproofing attempts. Nicholas was all over his bed while we tried to read books but did surprising well with me leaving. About 10 minutes later, he was calling for me - I was pleased to find him still in the bed (but Puppy had fallen out). The threat of going back to his crib seems to be motivating...however given the fact that the black-out shade is still not installed, I have a feeling we will all be up at the crack of dawn!

Goodbye, Grandmother

This weekend, we said goodbye to Grandmother Doubles. She was a woman full of vivacity and so many life stories to share with everyone (often leaving her listeners in tears of laughter). Grandmother was a creative recycler even before it became popular. This favorite photo of her is an example of such. She was so upset we had sent her a Christmas card and she did not have one to give us, so she found this picture of herself and wrote a note on it for us.

Grandmother was very excited in 2003 when Fred and I got engaged. She met my Grandfather for the first time at our party and never stopped talking about the peck on the cheek he gave her that night.

We will always remember Grandmother and are so blessed she was able to meet Nicholas.

The Sympathy Bump

Mommy knows her due date....but when is Daddy's?

(ummm, and yeah Daddy...you shouldn't be drinking when pregnant, even if it is just in sympathy!)

Here's a benefit of being this far along - my hands don't get cold from holding the pint of ice cream during those late night cravings!

Baby B is One BIG Boy!

Today we got a peek at Baby B's never-ending activity....and Mommy nearly croaked when she found out just how big of a boy he is! Weighing in at 4 pounds 11 ounces - he's close or above the 90th percentile with all measurements (yikes!).

The sono tech and Dr. Bartol commented on what a busy boy he is. He's nice and comfy in a head-down position with his feet cramped under Mommy's left rib. Daddy thinks he's going to look like Mommy from the glimpses of his eyes and their shape. Mommy is still in shock over the minor size concern, since he's expected to gain 1/2+ pounds a week from here on out. Yeah, 8 more weeks to go and already close to 5 pounds - maybe we'll need to have a newborn "bringing baby home" outfit and an option in a 3-month size!

Ouch!

Nicholas took quite the trip this morning and ended up with a bleeding fat lip.

It didn't stop him from "cheesing" - but we're afraid he may have chipped his front tooth.

"I want to see my picture in the camera!"

Home Improvements by a 2 Year Old

This morning when I was in the shower, I was greeted by Nicholas telling me he "got blue tape to paint the walls for Zoey's room." I came out to find one proud boy...

who had taped the wall in our bedroom over Zoey's bed.

I don't know what to be more impressed with - the creativity of this move or the fact he was able to get the tape out of his new room, start the roll and tear off pieces all during my 10-minute shower!

Home Depot!

Nicholas just loves going to the Home Depot. He spots the big orange signs whenever we drive near a store and carries his toolbox around the house asking about going to the Home Depot. With all our household projects of the past few weeks, Nicholas has gotten in 2-3 trips per weekend - and he's in his glory!

He walks the aisles with Daddy just taking in everything.

Forget smiling for a picture - this boy can't take his eyes away from all the tools and gadgets (holding his liquid nails!).

Daddy always comes home to tell me how well Nicholas scans items at the self-checkout. Needless to say, I was quite impressed!

Who wouldn't want to be served by this cute cashier!

A Much Needed Haircut

Although I just love Nicholas' curls, he's been having waaaay too many bad hair days lately...and so it was time for a spruce up! Since Nicholas is so content in the chair (as long as he has a supply of treats in hand), we tried bringing him to a salon. As expected, he refused the cape, but otherwise did great!

I think this was by far the most hair cut off him to date. Look at the pile on his back!

Oh, so much better!

Giddy Up!

After an exhausting week, we all agreed we needed a night without dishes. We hit Wacky Wyatt's for some TexMex. Nicholas rode the horse, but claimed "its too loud - it must be turned down."

First Ale

After a non-compliant St. Patty's Day dinner, we attempted the enticement of the leprechaun cookie for round 2. Little did I know, Nicholas was going to fall in love with his miniature green mug of ginger ale. At first sip, he made an uncomfortable face, didn't seem too sure and actually said, "ohh, its hot" (my guess is his response to the carbonation). He then said, "Mommy's drink at Sue's house" - since he always sees Mommy and Sue guzzle down a ginger ale with lunch (wishing it was a real ale)!

"Cheers Daddy!"

"AAhhhh, this is good!"

Cookie time!

(finally - Mommy's been waiting to cut into this one!)

Our Picky Eater

As I'm sure is typical of most 2-year-olds, Nicholas now carries out entire meal boycotts. Tonight we had a special leprechaun frosted cookie enticing him in the center of the table, but it did not work. After asking him to eat just a cheese stick and 3 raspberries, Nicholas showed us how he puts food in his belly...

"cheese is in my belly!"

Bouncing Like a Leprechaun!

This afternoon, we met our Mom's Group friends at the bounce house. Nicholas has been randomly asking to go, so this really made his day!

Amazingly, after one picture, he asked for his picture taken with Mommy (perhaps to ensure he's still #1 in my eyes, after our attention-seeking morning).

Such a big boy going down the slide on his own!

Daddy met us there after work (thankfully). As you can imagine, its quite the workout chasing little ones through these huge inflatables! It was perfect, since Mommy is no longer able to hike junior up the dinosaur cave.

Nicholas shows Daddy how its done...

"Silly Daddy!"

We had one sad (and overly dramatic) Nicholas when the fans were turned off and the place deflated. As you can imagine, that was the entire conversation...all the way home!