A Strike of a Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day!

We celebrated with a trip to the bowling alley with Gammy and Poppie.

Nicholas looked on carefully as Poppie took the first turn...waiting so patiently.

~ sizing up the ramp with Poppie ~

His little "hut" came in handy for the ball push-off. It was so cute!

At each turn, Nicholas chose a different color ball.

He waited patiently for his ball to return.

Nicholas has a few little celebration jigs when he's excited. He shook a leg after watching Poppie bowl and swing his leg back.

Nicholas' thoughts: "lets get back to bowling - why are we stopping for a silly picture!"

Now we're rolling!

~ cuddles with Gammy ~

Nice form, little man!

Mommy and her cheeseball!

What a fun morning!

A Super Sweet Day!

In honor of Valentine's Day, Nicholas ate nothing but snacks and sweets all day long! Thankfully, this still sick Mommy had picked up some "cheater" cookie dough and frosting, which saved our day!

Nicholas was all excited for the cookies (until I had to tell him they still needed to be baked).

Finally, it was time for the masterpieces to begin!
Nicholas is the type that goes for lots of decorations! He basically added some of each type of candy to every cookie.
There was plenty of taste testing along the way...

and "s'ticky hands" as Nicholas called them.

After a clean up, I thought we were done, that is until Nicholas noticed I was holding out on some other cookies.

"Yeah for cookie day!"

A Date at the Mall

Tuesday we met Sue and Kalie at the mall for a little stroll. Nicholas and Kalie had a blast chasing each other around (don't let Kalie's sweetness fool you - that girl can run!). Nicholas chased Kalie from one end to the other shouting, "Kalie, come back!" Every now and then, they stopped at a bench and crashed...

and there was the occasional smooch!

Okay, they are really growing up all too fast for me!

Playing with Poppy

Gotta love it when the grandparents come and tire out the little ones!

Catchin' On

Tonight, Poppy surprised us with a visit to bring Mommy chicken noodle soup (thank you thoughtful Poppy!). It was perfect timing, since Nicholas was raring with energy from his nap. Nicholas showed Poppy his progressing catching skills.

Notice his arms are in position...

Gee Poppy, what a bad toss!

"HUH!!!"

(that's the latest catch-phrase around here for anything dramatic or requiring emphasis.)

Someone's getting good at this! And yes, it gives him an advantage to stand on top of the wedge (all part of 2-year-old logic).
Thanks so much Poppy for the visit and getting out all the stink from this hot pepper tonight! Nicholas kept asking for you and Gammy after you left - and I bet it will be the first thing out of his mouth tomorrow morning around 7am!

Playing with Salt

Nicholas has been fascinated with salt and pepper for the longest time, so when Mommy's guard was down with her not feeling well, he had his own agenda with the shakers (and yes, it was in the family room!).

As you can imagine, things got pretty messy in no time...

that is until we got a cookie sheet road.

Its even hard for me to believe just how long this kept him well-occupied --- like over an hour! He had so much fun pretending he was filling up the truck with gas, sprinkling the salt over the truck to make snow, driving around with "salt in the trunk" and making up a whole bunch of sound effects for all his ideas.

What an imagination!

Top Secret V-Day...

The other day we went over to Olivia's house to work on our Valentine's Day crafts projects. We kept the kiddos busy painting while we prepped.

Notice the difference on the neatness scale between my boy's work...

and a neat girl's.

2-Year Well Visit

Nicholas went for his slightly delayed two-year appointment. Dr. Rufa was impressed with his inquisitiveness about everything in the office and how well he did with his shots - this boy did not even flinch, but merely asked, "what's that?" She thought he was adorable in asking "why?" to everything and his answer to himself "kid-cause" (because).

He's topping the scale at 29 pounds 13 ounces, which is at the 61st percentile. Mommy and Daddy disagree in his height that was obtained through their highly accurate procedure of 'lay the kid on the butch-paper and mark the head and heel.' That said he's 3 feet 1/4" (73rd percentile) but we're putting him over 37." And yes, our boy has one big head - at the 78th percentile. And best part of the exam, both PE tubes are still in place!

"Shoes on!"

Nicholas had an official meltdown when Mommy went to leave the house. He ran to get his shoes and repeatedly said, "Nicholas gets his shoes on to go with Mommy...and I need my coat too." He knew everything he needed to try to sneak out with me, including his hat and Mommy's purse. Too bad I don't get this enthusiasm and eager independence every time we're leaving!

Homemade Haircut

Nicholas was already due for a trim, which Mommy could manage (somewhat). After hearing him shout "ouch!" and "oh no, my hairs on the floor!" I just had to capture how nicely he managed to sit in his highchair. I swear he hasn't sat in that chair so well since the buckle broke - surely thanks to his buddy George.

The Countdown is on...

A few weeks ago, I made our traditional Baby Countdown.

We're at 104 days today...and boy is time flying already!

Boys Cuddling

Tonight, we asked Nicholas if he wanted to read books before bed or watch Veggie Tales (can you tell which he chose).

He was especially cuddly - with both of us getting our own special cuddle time.

Play Ball!

Making dinner is always one of those challenging times of the day, since Nicholas expects to be right next to me "helping" (which either consists of him demanding every snack from the pantry or making an even huger mess than a week of dinners would require). Tonight, him and I played ball while Daddy worked on the meal prep - what a dream!

He's obsessed with this crazy ball that he's borrowing from Andrew and Matthew. They saw how much he loved it last week when they were here on our snowday they wanted to leave it for him.

action shot!

Gotta love the random scrape on the chin - my crazy boy!

An Afternoon in the Office

After a busy morning with playmates over, Nicholas was hard at work in the impromptu office he designed. I was so proud of his set-up and kept telling me he had to work on his "drawings."

He was back and forth between his two tables like a boy on a mission.

Out of the Mouth of a 2-year-old...

As embarrassing as it was, I had to bring up with Miss Judy Nicholas' potty mouth. Of course, we are more than happy to expect he's picked up his new favorite terms from her teenage boys, even though we know he likely learned "stupid" from Charlie Brown (obviously not from either parent here). I was much relieved when Miss Judy said she was shocked hear that, since he's the perfect angel at her house, just one obsessed with her lights, fans and tv.

~

On our last trip to the mall, Nicholas put together a couple new sentences, both causing further grief for Mommy. There was the episode at Borders when he screamed at the register line, "let go of me!" and the infamous, "no, NO shopping in here" as we entered any store of my request. Gotta love it!

~

The other day, the sun made a rare appearance in CNY. As we were in the car, Nicholas asked, "Mommy, please turn the sun off." After explaining I couldn't do that, he responded, "Okay, turn the sun down, please."

"I want a milkshake!"

Tonight as Nicholas and I were at Borders, Daddy called and surprised us saying his night class was dismissed super early. We hit Johnny Rocket's for Nicholas' first trip. I tell ya, nothing gets past this boy - he sat down and repeatedly insisted "I want a milkshake!" in a bratty two-year-old fashion.

This picture means a lot to Mommy, since she nicely enjoyed a meal on the other side of the table from her little man. Yes, Daddy had the honors of being Nicholas' personal human napkin and let me tell you, it sure was a nice meal for me (oh, and Daddy, you better get used to your new position, since afterall, I am talking care of Baby B).

Eating Ice Cubes!

Nicholas is always asking to put on his hat and go outside to play. This afternoon, he tried to convenience me he needed to "fix the car with Daddy's toolbox - it needs new batteries" (that has been his obsession ever since last Tuesday when we found the car battery dead on our attempt to go to playgroup).

Its a good thing this repair man is not paid by the hour, since he was quickly distracted by the snowbank.

He found a new function for his wrench - "eating ice cubes!" He'd scrap the snow with his plastic tool and eat the icy shavings. It was so funny (and oh so gross), I had to grab the camera!

This is his "yummy" face!

Popcorn Makes One Happy Boy!

After playgroup, we went to BJ's where Nicholas was sure to remind me we needed more popcorn. Upon waking from naptime, he was making his snack request even before he was out of the crib -and literally ran to the cupboard for the popcorn bowl once freed.

He tries so hard to wait patiently for the 90 seconds of popping time (can't you tell!)

Oh, the anticipation!

With a full bowl, he darted for a prime seat on the couch.

Popcorn sure makes this 2 year-old happy!

Pink Crayon at the Doctor

After Nicholas slept until 8:30 on Sunday, yet with no other symptoms, except a slight fever the evening before, we found ourselves still the worry-wart parents and brought him to the doctor on Sunday.

The doctor said he had a bright red throat, so while we waited from the rapid strep test results, Nicholas kept himself entertained by showing Daddy his finer skills for using "Mommy's pink cell phone with the pink crayon."

~

With all negative test results, life was all back to normal and Nicholas has been running around since! Oh, when will we learn!

Something Wrong?

Nicholas hasn't really been himself since last Thursday when he told me he was "too tired" to go to Moe's for dinner with Olivia. After dinner, he was sure to inform me multiple times "I'm so tired I need to rub my eyes." All of these behaviors are completely out of character for this guy, but at the same time, he had absolutely no obvious symptoms...that is until we were in the car on Saturday and saw him like this...

...and it was silent, as if you could imagine that!

That's when we knew there was trouble brewing...