"Sharing Chicken Nuggets with Zoey..."

Nicholas has been on another eating frenzy and has been requesting "chicken nuggets" morning, noon and night.
The other night, I heard him squealing away in laughter -

and this is what I found...

He was saying, "Zoey, eats chicken nuggets too... eat Zoey... yummy!"

OMG - You have a baby in a bar!

Mommy was craving a good sandwich from The Blue Tusk, and Daddy was happy to please this request, since really, the place is a bar. We weren't sure if there's even an age requirement for kids in bars, but we figured it was okay to go on a Monday night, right? Thankfully, there was another family with a preschooler there hanging in the back with us.

Just in case anyone was going to question Nicholas on his age, he went incognito.

This huge Petrus hanging was near us. Nicholas kept saying, "Yummy, hot cocoa and orange juice!"

This little one is always up for a game of hide and seek with Daddy!

Happy Birthday Miss Olivia!

On Sunday we celebrated Olivia's 2nd birthday with her family! She had an adorable ladybug theme - but the best part was definitely the huge bounce house set up in their garage! After needing to inspect the air pump and all the heaters, Nicholas had fun bouncing with the other kiddos.

Look at the birthday girl here - to funny!

When it was time to open presets, Livi had plenty of helpers to do her dirty work...

...because all she wanted to do was read books with her Mimi.

Nicholas quickly zoomed-in on her new cool pink bike.

I think he's wondering, "How could I get this out of here without anyone noticing."

What a cute cake!

Olivia enjoyed all the attention of her special moment.

Happy Birthday, our girlie! We've had so much fun over the past year - and look forward to many more good times!

PROJECT: Santore Surprise!

With Dillon and his family out of power since Thursday evening, Gammy and Poppy went to deliver them a generator on Saturday. We knew we'd have to help them get a Christmas tree, so we headed out to the tree farm.

Nicholas just loved being in the snow. He went back and forth between riding in his sled and pulling it around himself.

We were on a mission to get the perfect tree for Poppy & Gammy, but they were all covered in snow. I showed Nicholas how to brush them off....and he was pumped to take on the duty!

How cute is he!

After many considerations, we found the perfect tree

(see Gammy & Poppy, this is what it looks like without the wrapping)

Daddy got busy cutting...

...while Nicholas continued to brush off more trees for everyone else in the field.

Daddy shared the success of getting the tree down with his little man.

Nicholas had so much fun at the tree farm! You'd never believe it was 20 degrees!

Nicholas found it a little strange that Daddy was pulling a tree...

~ leading the way ~

On the way home (and yes, stuck in mall traffic), Nicholas thought it was hysterical that Zoey had a seat belt on too. He was so happy to be reunited with her.

So This Is What It Takes...

Nicholas' Sleep Counter:

Thursday night: 1:30am to 8:00am (including the disruption of falling off the bed in the hotel)

Friday - no nap

Finally, he conked out around 6pm..but only for a half hour!

Total time in the truck: 17+ hours

Total time spent sleeping: 1 hour 15 minutes

What NOT To Do With a 25-Month Old...

Thursday we got the grand idea to get a jump start on our weekend trip to New England to visit Aunt Angela, Uncle Jim and Dillon. We hit the road by 5pm and quickly realized the importance of checking the weather forecast before embarking on a road trip. We ran into snow by Oneida, which only got worse. Needless to say, around Lee, MA a tractor trailer jack-knifed a few cars in front of us....that was around 9:30. While idle for over an hour and a half, Nicholas got to "drive Poppy's truck."

Purely coincidentally, Nicholas had worn this shirt. Let's just say he won't wear that one again - oh, the memories!
Around 12:45am and finding out Aunt Angela was without power, we checked into a hotel in Worcester, MA. By that point, Nicholas had slept a whopping 45 minutes - but thankfully, we had some peace with 2 runnings of Curious George, The Movie.

Nicholas had to fully explore the hotel room before attempting to settle down for some sleep. In the morning, he was quick to continue his discoveries. I'm glad he saved his curiosity for toilet paper unraveling for the hotel.

Daddy and Nicholas made their best efforts to enjoy our "vacation."

In the morning, we got to assess the damage. Unfortunately, the storm had hit Aunt Angela's house much worse, so we didn't venture further north.

While being so close to Boston, we hit some of our favorite stores. If Nicholas had it his way, this chair would be on his Christmas list.

We also met-up with Daddy's best man, Matty B for dinner at Kelly's Roast Beef.

We're really bummed we weren't able to see Dillon this weekend. Nicholas talked about him the entire 17+ hours we shared in Poppy's truck. Fortunately, the novelty of Poppy's truck and the new DVD player helped us through it all....not to mention the box of tractor snacks and peanuts.

Monsters

Nicholas' imagination seems to be getting the best of him. He's getting more and more fearful of the dark and even says, "too dark, oh the monsters!" Let's just say we've had to put away his favorite book since he was 6 months old, "I Love You Stinky Face."

"I See A..."

We made up a new favorite game - playing "I see a..." at the Christmas tree.

"Play Hide and Seek, Zoey!"

Nicholas is so attached to Zoey lately. He chases her around the house demanding, "Zoey, play hide and seek." Usually he tells her where to hide, like under the table, in the kitchen or my favorite, "Zoey, turn around." Tonight he actually found a good spot to hide.

Surprisingly, Zoey found him, mainly due to the fact he kept calling her name and screeching.