For the Birds...

Nicholas bee-lined directly to the birdseed pine cone craft at playgroup yesterday. Once again, I have no idea how he knew it was going to be for birds to eat (meanwhile as the other kids there were eating the Crisco and birdseed themselves). As we were leaving, he was sure to take his project and insisted on carrying it himself. He walked soooooo carefully and diligently, like such a big boy!

I was so proud of my little man...that is until the huge tantrum of not wanting to hang it out for the birds once we got home. He kept saying, "Nicholas feed the birds..." and then wanted to walk around the neighborhood looking for birds. I had to carry him inside kicking and screaming - to await the next tantrum of not taking it to naptime!

One Good Heart

Today we went to the Pediatric Cardiology Group to ensure Baby B's heart is developing good. Dr. Atallah gave us a clean bill of health - and for that, we are most thankful!

~

It was fun to get to see the little guy squirming around. He seems to like being culled up and constantly has his hands up near his face. At one point, he was kicking his legs repetitively, like he was going for a run. Daddy thought it was hysterical, meanwhile, Mommy was cranking her neck once again to see the monitor the entire time! Although the sono tech was very professional, it seems as though he once again kept a position not so cooperative for the sonogram purposes. Today they had to look through his spine to see the heart, but at least they liked what they saw!

"Drink Zoey!"

Nicholas is now independent with getting his own water from the fridge dispenser (we know how much this boy loves to drink). This morning, I found him chasing Zoey yelling, "...water cup for Zoey. Drink Zoey!"

He was so adamant on wanting to share with her - and tried his best to get her to drink.

So thoughtful!

Sharing with Emilie

Sunday morning, Emilie came over to play and show-off her new Suri Cruise bob. These two play so wonderfully together and I just love how Emilie gets into all his boy toys just as he loves her girlie stuff when at her house.

They took turns nicely with operating the drill and holding the screws and plane for each other.

Could they be any cuter together!

Tantrums

Yes, even my little cherub has them...

He was so upset after Gammy left the other night - would you agree?

The Naked Repairman

Nicholas is obsessed with his "Daddy's toolbox," even though I wrote Nicholas' Toolbox on it. He's also insistent on taking an item upstairs with his when its time for bed - so look what we get!

He knows the name of every tool in his box. Its so funny to hear him say "pliers, screwdriver, plunger" in his little man voice.

"Nicholas go fix the faucet now!"

Bouncin' Good Time!

Last week we went to the Bounce House for a workout for both of us! We don't make it there often, so its always exciting to see the new things Nicholas can do with each visit.

He went up the big slide all on his own...

and showed some interest in basketball (which he doesn't get from either parent). He'd put forth so much effort to climb to the hoop with a ball. Thankfully, someone was willing to help him.

I'd say his favorite part was definitely sliding down!

Kalie and Sue were there too, as were Olivia and Brandi!

Let's just say we both slept well that night!

Day with Daddy

Nicholas spent the entire day with Daddy on Saturday when Mommy took a road trip with the girls to see Jon and Kate Plus 8 in Utica (actually, they were minus the 8 and Jon - bummer). Needless to say, Nicholas has learned a few new choice words that he shared today. He saw a beer bottle and pipped in, "Daddy's beer cup." At dinner, he pulled a mixed drink book off the shelf and identified a margarita, calling it a "green magagetta" (which I totally blame our neighbor friends for). It was most adorable when he was holding the drink book and looking through the spiral binding calling it a "periscope." Yup, him and Daddy sure bonded this weekend!

It's A...

BOY!

He's measuring right on target for 20 weeks and loves to have his fisted hands up near his face. Baby "B" (which I guess stands for 'boy' now) already seems rather strong-willed. He was most uncooperative for the technicians and was not at all interested in having his picture taken (hmmmm, remind you of anyone?)

We got to see a lot of kicking, waving of his hands, turning his head away from us, gulping and opening and closing of his hands. Daddy thinks he saw a yawn, but Mommy was just completely disorientated for most of the experience.

We just love this picture of his little hand.

Welcome little Baby Boy Relyea!
We have so much love for you already - and are counting the days until we meet you!

Our Top 10 Reasons We're Excited for Another BOY!

10. We are already well-trained in circumcision care.

9. Reaching dating age won't be as traumatic for Mommy and Daddy.

8. Twice as many laborers means all the less household responsibilities for Mom and Dad in the future. (Let's face it, when one shoveler is under-the-weather, we have backup!)

7. We'll save loads on future wedding costs (although we will pay through the nose on auto insurance).

6. Daddy has plenty of BIG BOY toys to share with 2 sons.

5. No knots to comb out, no need to learn to French braid or stress over finding matching accessories for every outfit.

4. Mommy will have 2 Mama's Boys.

3. We have tractor loads of boy toys.

2. Nicholas will have the ultimate playmate.

1. We will irresistibly treasure and love our much-awaited addition, Baby Boy.

Practicing Being A Big Brother...

As sad as it was, we were back to work and to the sitter today. Miss Judy started watching a newborn this week, so Nicholas got to meet the little baby girl. Judy reported he was very intrigued with her all day. When I was there, I got to wittiness his "soothing technique" when the baby was fussing a bit in her bouncy seat. Nicholas promptly ran over, stuck his open hand in front of her face and said, "sshhh, baby, no crying! sssshhhhhh!" and turned the music on for her. Surely, this will be good big brother training for him!

Nicholas tells us more and more about what happens at the sitter's. He told me everyone's vehicle in the driveway (Judy's blue van, Chris' white car, Mike's brown truck)...its just too bad he wasn't more on top of things when Miss Judy applied his sunblock to his diaper-rashed bottom!

Big Boy!

Nicholas' antics have been cracking us up lately. He's in a phase (hopefully its just that) of being obsessed with watching tv. We limit his time but this strong-willed little one will take whatever he can get. Tonight we wanted to catch-up on the world news - he proclaimed, "Nicholas watching the newsie!" He even insists he likes the newsie.

He's having a blast with so many of his new Christmas gifts. The train table is still home in the middle of our family room and gets lots of action, as is his new musical instruments (the triangle being his fav), his new library of Curious George books and the singing Charlie Brown from Gammy. I'm still worried he'll be devastated when we take down Christmas - so I'm in no hurry!

A Happy Boy and His Peanuts!

Visit with Rosanne

This afternoon, Godmother Rosanne came over and brought Nicholas a Christmas gift. She had warned Mommy and was even worried Nicholas would had difficulty operating...

...his new chain saw

(thankfully it came with a safety hard hat!)

No worries for this boy. He can operate the "safety" and all - and went straight for our artificial Christmas tree to cut it down. Look how serious he took the task.

Now seriously, how did he know to go to the tree with it!

(Daddy had used the old fashion hand saw when we cut a tree)

Happy Birthday Lane!

We celebrated Lane's 2nd birthday at KidzClub. She was an adorable princess in her special fluffy chair.

Nicholas loves these rocking toys - and insisted Daddy join him for the fun.

Daniel joined Nicholas for a whirl together.

Nicholas' highlight of KidzClub was definitely the stage and bubble machine. He played there nearly all evening. He loved it when he had friends to be silly with. Katie got in on the fun.

Peek-a-boo!

Happy Birthday Laney!

The Boy's Fort

Nicholas has always been a lover of the great outdoors - and all our bitterly cold days and snow are not dampening his requests to "go outside!" Daddy and Nicholas had made a fort with our last snowstorm, but it melted away. This time, they tried a different approach.

Look who needed rescuing after loosing his boot in the high snow

(en route to the backyard as Daddy was slaving in the fort).
Fort - round 2

(I love the mower in there)

First Night Away

With Mommy's inevitable vacation at the hospital soon approaching, Grammy and Poppie have wanted to try an overnight with Nicholas. Even after repeated "no no no's" back and forth (and Nicholas arguing that Dillon sleeps at Grammy's house and Nicholas sleeps at Mommy's house), we finally spent a night apart.

The Grammy Report

He went down easy for bedtime, woke at his usual time of 7am asking "Mommy, where are you?," he ate well and played hard. He tried to turn on every light, fan switch and radio he could possibly reach!

The Nicholas Report

"Nick sleeps in Dillon's bed with Puppy...went on Poppie's tractor!...Nicholas' green tractor in ....garage, Poppie's tractor in barn....Poppie opened barn doors... pushed snow... ate mac and cheese, ate strawberries and ice cream!..."

Despite the 3 meltdowns within 5 minutes of getting home, we'd all say the experience was a success! Thanks Gammy and Poppie!!!

Painting in PJ's

"...painting Rudolph for Poppie!"

Zoey checks in on the progress of the artist.

"all done!"

Happy New Year!

We kicked in the new year with loads of playing around the house. Later, we went to Gammy and Poppie's for dinner. Can you believe we still had Christmas gifts to exchange! As always, Nicholas was most concerned with our lighting needs for the event. He just loves this lamp with the chain pulls.
The tree we chose looks beautiful all decorated!

Every gift Nicholas opened, he said, "oooo, Curious George book" before it was out of the paper. (can you tell many family members found those and knew they'd be the perfect gift for him)

Nicholas likes the challenge of his magnetic ball maze.

And Grammy got him a copy of Starry Safari autographed by the illustrator. Way cool!

A Quiet New Year's Eve

The 3 of us had a quiet new years eve, with lots of fun wit playdough, glowsticks and just plain being silly. Daddy made Mommy's favorite bruschetta appetizers and an amazing meal.

Zoey was in on the fun too!

Even though a family goal of 2009 is to down-size life, we found that saving all sorts of random odds-and-ends can provide a lot of fun. Nicholas flipped for the Peanuts cookie cutters Mommy found from her childhood.

What would you say, vintage 1980'ish

Look at the cuties we made!

And yes, Nicholas can name all of them, even Linus. He gets super excited for Lucy and scrunches his shoulder up to his ear when he says her name - so precious.

Our little boy celebrates with glow-bracelets.

Cheers!

(notice how Nicholas stole Mommy's tall glass of water in exchange for his empty smoothie cup)

Partying at 7:00!

just plain silly