Our first baby turned 3 today! This past year has been rather exceptional for Nicholas, since he went from being the center of our world to his new role as big brother to William. This involved a number of changes to his routine and daily life around here. Typically, Nicholas tends to have some difficulty accepting changes in his routine but after a few weeks of some attention-seeking behavior, he has really risen to his new role in the family well. Nicholas is very loving to William, is always concerned when William is upset and goes out of his way to try to make William laugh or smile. Nicholas just lights up as he says, "Hi bru'der (brother) William," as does William to his brother. You can already see the deep admiration between the two of them.
Nicholas is a very fun-loving little guy. He has a rather serious side but an equally strong sensitive side. He's the kids who has to figure out how everything works, from how a toy moves or makes noise to how the dish washer sprays out water. He loves books and just gets mesmerized into stories, even ones he's heard time and time again. Nicholas is still a huge Curious George fan and asks to watch it every morning with his cup of milk. He has nearly every Curious George book and knows where in the house each one is at all times (seriously, some times its scary, since they are constantly moved around the house). Some nights he'll ask for a specific one and then say, "oh, but that one is in the family room..."
More recently, Nicholas is showing an interest in sports (despite being the product of two non-sports fans). We've gotten many chuckles from him labeling a ball or sport the wrong name and then trying to argue with us that he's right. We could see him trying out soccer or possibly gymnastics to fulfill his need for tumbling, jumping and crashing.
Nicholas keeps himself plenty busy with his toys. He loves fixing things with his tool sets, building with blocks, puzzles, playing pretend cooking and "making a band" with instruments. This little guy begs to do "artes and crafts" (his nursery school teacher reports he asks her with clenched hands, "pleeease is it artes and crafts time now?"). Nicholas is a good helper around the house and gets into sorting the silverware from the dishwasher, to vacuuming, doing laundry and helping in the kitchen. He is infatuated with the space shuttle, astronauts and the moon, which he looks for every night.
Don't try to get Nicholas to sing along to songs or break-out in a spontaneous dance. He's one strong-willed guy who knows his interests and his personal comfort boundaries. He can be incredibly stubborn and is definitely internally motivated, which has proven its strength in complicating our potty-training efforts of the past 3 months. Nicholas is still our picky eater. He eats rather healthy, but again, knows what he likes and doesn't like....which doesn't seem to be changing anytime soon.
It sure has been another fun year, filled with lots of exciting times and plenty of those "terrible 2's" moments. All in all, I couldn't be prouder of the little man Nicholas is growing into. He makes us smile everyday and is truly a delight to love!
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