Happy Halloween

Nicholas may not be able to eat candy yet, but that's no reason not to get dressed up and go out. And, even better, to get dressed up in two different costumes and go down to see Grandma and Grandpa and visit friends and neighbors. But I know what you're really waiting for, so

here is Nicholas the horsey:

From Nicholas--Month 6

and Nicholas the baseball player:

From Nicholas--Month 6

We had all the elements for the baseball outfit around the house as everyday items. Shocking, I know.

Harpers Ferry

From Nicholas--Month 6

This afternoon we took an outing to Harpers Ferry, WV (best known as the site of John Brown's raid in 1859). It was great to get out and actually go somewhere all together. And the sun even came out for a couple of hours, making for beautiful scenery.

Nicholas spent the first half hour or so most interested in chewing on the Baby Bjorn.

From Nicholas--Month 6

But after a little bit something clicked in and he was much more energized. We made the steep trek up to Jefferson's Rock, which is where Jefferson supposedly sat and wrote about the gorgeous view in 1787. This was Nicholas' first Thomas Jefferson landmark, so of course we took a picture with him and Daddy there:

From Nicholas--Month 6

I honestly think his favorite part was watching a group of motorcycles drive away, but I didn't take any pictures of that. So here are some of the pictures I did take.

From Nicholas--Month 6

From Nicholas--Month 6

From Nicholas--Month 6

Cutting Through

Yep, that definitely is a tooth. It has spent the past few days cutting through the gum and the top is now fully through. And man is it sharp! Hopefully that means the most painful part is over. He actually hasn't seemed too bothered by it, which we are thankful for.

No pictures yet because it currently is just a thin white line that you can only see by looking into his mouth when it is wide open to cry. But it is the standard first tooth--one of the bottom middle ones, whatever the technical name for those are.

Next up, perfecting the walk-and-talk

I haven't written many entries this month because my brain has been stuck in the eighteenth century, and I wanted to spend my time not in the eighteenth century actually with Nicholas and Sarah rather than writing about them (okay, I watched some baseball too), but now I'm catching up on my child care duties while Sarah attends to her professional ones.  And so here's another way to know that Nicholas is 100% my child.

While feeding him the last few days, I've taken to watching West Wing episodes--they make me feel better about the world, and if you haven't noticed, daytime TV stinks.  Anyway, he's now twice during his feeding stopped to look at the TV when the theme song came on.  Yes, my son pauses to acknowledge the theme song to West Wing.

And I couldn't be prouder.

Autumn Leaves

From Nicholas--Month 6

Nicholas got his first real taste of fall today, getting a chance to see autumn leaves. It finally stopped raining, so we decided to get outside. He and I went for a hike at Oregon Ridge this afternoon and based on the confused looks he was giving the trees, I think he might have actually noticed that the leaves were a different color than before.

Then, I decided to let him play in the leaves in front of the apartment when we got home. They were interesting enough to look at and crinkle that he even mostly kept them out of his mouth.

From Nicholas--Month 6

5 month update

From Nicholas - Month 5

No official stats this month, but our guess is that he has gained less than a pound but a lot of length. I'm ballparking 18 1/2 pounds and 27 inches.

Nicholas' big accomplishment this month was learning how to roll onto his tummy. The amount of time he now spends on his tummy has at least quadrupled, so he may actually crawl eventually.

From Nicholas - Month 5

This new skill has further increased his tendency to move all around his crib. Mostly it just amuses us to see how he has managed to re-orient himself, but sometimes he gets himself in trouble. We switched to a mesh bumper after I found him with his face up against the one we had and since he can now roll over but isn't good about remembering he can roll back. However, the mesh bumper is so thin that he often now gets his arms stuck between it and the mattress. And earlier this week he discovered that when up on his arms the crib railing was at mouth height, chomped down, but then his hands slipped down the side of the mattress and he couldn't get his mouth back off the railing. Luckily he doesn't have teeth yet. And, yes, the drop side is now up.

Nicholas also got much better at sitting up this month. He is strong enough to do it, but doesn't seem to understand the concept and so often throws himself backwards. Hence, you can't just leave him sitting up and walk away. But if there is a toy in front of him that he wants to play with and you bend him a little forward towards it, he can sit and play with it on his own for long periods.

We've decided that this ability makes him meet the criteria of "can sit independently" that is required for using the jumping contraption (I'm too lazy to get up to look at the name). He hasn't figured out that he can jump in it yet, but loves the new toys that are attached to it. Once he figures out he can jump, I think it will be his favorite place.

From Nicholas - Month 5

The other thing he has learned to do is reach for things that are just out of reach and find the edges to grab them. In fact, anything that is just a couple inches out of reach is instantly more exciting. He loves pulling things off the table, pulling games off the shelf, etc. Since he isn't yet mobile and so we can control what he has access to, we don't mind too much, but I have visions of the destruction he will be able to cause in a few months.

It is impossible to quantify, but he has also gotten noticeably stronger this month. When he swats at hanging toys, he does so with such force that they fly and bang into each other. And sometimes I swear he is just hitting at them to see how much he can make them hit each other.

Somehow he has become even more of a momma's boy this month. It is hard to believe this is the same child who would only smile for Joe at first. He screams when he realizes I'm leaving and if he can see me he only wants me. It seems that he is fine without me if he doesn't know I'm around, but seeing me or hearing my voice sets him off. I'm glad he loves me, but this is getting a bit absurd.

In the past couple weeks we have started enforcing naptime in his crib more consistently. And for the most part he is doing okay. He often wakes up before he is really rested, but the pathetic "I'm so tired. Why am I awake?" cries are a good sign to us to leave him there. About 2/3 of the time he falls back asleep. The other times, however, make for awful afternoons because he is too tired to function well but won't sleep.

Nicholas desperately wants to be able to eat real food. Yes, he puts everything in his mouth, but he seems to know the difference between food and other things. He just chomps on toys, but if he gets within reach of my food, he licks at it, trying to eat it. Since he eats like it is baby food (licking, mostly) rather than adult food, I sometimes let him taste, figuring he won't actually get enough to swallow or have it be dangerous. Just one more month, buddy. Then you can eat real-ish food.

We have had a very full month of outings, and Nicholas loves them. He gets so excited when we walk out of the apartment and into the stairwell, seemingly knowing we're going out. In many senses it doesn't even matter where we go, as long as there is new stuff to see. And if he can be carried or in the Baby Bjorn instead of the stroller, even better. And if there is music as well, he is in seventh heaven.

This is during music at the aquarium this past week:

From Nicholas - Month 5

Music has become like magic with this child. It didn't seem to calm him when he was a little baby and so we had written it off, but we have to remember to try things again every couple months because he changes so much. Recently I can keep him calm long enough to make my lunch or change clothes by setting him where he can see me and singing to him. We need to learn some more kids' songs, though, because I am really getting bored of the ABCs.

There are a bunch more pictures in the Peanut Gallery, but here is one more of our sweet 5-month old who desperately wishes he was 5 years old instead:

From Nicholas - Month 5

We love you so much, buddy. You'll be playing with the big kids all too soon.

Worn Out

I would have written this post yesterday, but I was too tired. In fact, we were all tired. Nicholas and I were worn out from our week of outings and Joe was worn out from working on his chapter.

We had big plans for our day off of all the fun outings we would take, but it was raining so we just went to the mall (but the big outlet mall with fun decor rather than one of our normal malls) and then over to my parents' house for a bit. And Nicholas was craaaaanky. But even though he was obviously tired, he took a very short afternoon nap and so most of our afternoon and evening was spent trying to get the tired cranky boy to fall asleep. No luck.

But he slept in this morning until 8:45, which means we slept in until almost 8. And so we are now three much happier campers. In fact, he is "helping" me write this post. Oh, he wants so desperately to get to the keyboard.

Anyway, we had a really fun (if exhausting week). Wednesday we went back to the aquarium for music. Once the music time is over after this coming week, we may have to space out our visits more because he seems to be starting to get a little less interested in watching the fish. Understandable. Thursday was pretty mellow, but Friday we went to the mall for music. Unfortunately it was stories and music and he isn't a big fan of the stories. And they were having trouble with their sound system, so there were long pauses in between songs. Nicholas was fine whenever there was singing, but when there were breaks, he would get really antsy and fussy.

Okay, he has now moved everything on my desk that was within his reach to the floor, so I should end this. (This is one of his new things--grabbing everything in sight and dropping it on the floor. Enchanting.) Most of today will be taken up by going to church in shifts, but we're hoping to squeeze in a walk around the neighborhood later since it has finally stopped raining.

Nostalgia . . . Sort of

It has been a long time since I've done a reflective, sentimental post, but I'm sufficiently tired and loopy, so here it goes:

I may be the only person I know who gets nostalgic in the future. That phrase is so absurd I think I need to explain. As a teenager I would sometimes picture myself grown up with kids and reflecting back on my childhood. So, for example, driving around the area of my parents' house I would get flashes to bringing the kids to visit my parents and explaining to them the significance of different personal landmarks. And sometimes I'd wonder if physical things would still be around in that picture.

One of those things was the blue chairs my parents had. I don't know when exactly they bought them, but they were around for most of my childhood. And sometimes I would wonder as I rocked in them whether they'd still be around for me to rock my kids to sleep in.

It has been awhile since I've really had time to be so introspective as to think about things like this, but it struck me the other day that some of these things were happening. For example, Nicholas can't really be rocked to sleep anywhere, but we read his bedtime stories in one of the blue chairs each night and the picture in the sidebar shows him sitting in one.

But, as is likely in real life, the connections to my childhood aren't the ones I imagined. The 12-year-old me didn't have an inkling when she saved up to buy a keyboard that 15 years later it would provide her 4-month-old with endless amusement. But as he was playing the other day I put on the demo and had flashbacks to a preschooler Andrew "playing" that demo song. It's an odd thing to be sentimental about, but I think that is why it struck me so much.

The weird thing is that I feel much more like I'm still the teenager than the adult I envisioned.

B&O and other fun

From Nicholas - Month 5

Nicholas and I went to the B&O Museum today because it was free again, he doesn't care if he goes to the same place two weeks in a row, and I hadn't been yet. It was actually a really good museum for Nicholas because it was only a little museum and mostly just lots of old trains to look at and walk through. And I think he was the quietest kid there. Perfect.

I enjoyed looking at the trains, but I think Nicholas' favorite part was the one engine where you were allowed to play with the controls. As soon as I set him down on the seat to take off the Baby Bjorn, his eyes locked on the red knobs above him.

From Nicholas - Month 5

But, strain as he might, he couldn't reach them without help, so I picked him up and let him play.

From Nicholas - Month 5

He reached straight for the knobs, and actually managed to turn them some.

In other news, look who has finally decided that being on his tummy might not be the worst thing in the world (at least in small doses):

From Nicholas - Month 5

And, just because it is adorable:

From Nicholas - Month 5

Got Your Nose

I wish I was better at telling stories, but this one ends with my face covered in slobber, so hopefully I can't ruin it too badly.

Nicholas figured out this week that it is much easier to grab things if you go for the edges. He can now maneuver our fingers into his mouth, pull board games off the shelf, etc. Well, tonight he decided that my nose, with all its edges, would be the best target on my face. He went for it with his hands, but my face was too heavy to pull to him, so he plowed in with his mouth, faceplanting open mouth on my nose.

It brings whole new meaning to "Got Your Nose."

Play Hard, Sleep Hard

The "work hard, play hard" line doesn't really work with babies because playing is work for them, but I think "play hard, sleep hard" is a pretty accurate modification.

I just went to check on him and he is sound asleep ON HIS TUMMY. I guess he finally figured out how to suck his thumb while on his tummy. Either that or he was just so worn out from the day that he didn't care.

And no, I don't normally check on him while he naps. But when I peeked in through the door opening half an hour ago because he was talking a lot and I was curious what he was up to, I could no longer see him in his crib. I was afraid to open the door any wider because it is loud and he knows that sound means he is getting picked up. (We learned that one the hard way.)

We had fun at the library baby story time. It is listed as birth-23 months, but he was the youngest by far. There was only one other non-walker, who was 10 months old, and most of the others were probably 1 year-18 months. That makes sense, given the activity, but Nicholas enjoyed it, even if he didn't get as much out of it as they did. No, strike that, even if he got different things out of it than they did. The music is by far his favorite part, especially when it involves hand motions or even just clapping along. I already signed us up for next week. Have I mentioned that I love public libraries?

His nap on the way home was apparently not long enough, though, given how exhausting dancing, playing with blocks, and watching one-year-olds was, so he was sort of cranky with Steph while I went out to lunch with Uncle Andrew. But this was his first time with a babysitter other than my mom, so I consider somewhat cranky actually a success. And given how tired he was, I actually take it as a really good sign that he was willing to play and smile for some of the time I was gone. We should try again soon, when he is rested. And I should go out to lunch with my brother more often--I adore Nicholas but it is really hard to have an actual conversation when he is around. AND Peter called Andrew while we were at lunch, so I got to talk to both of my brothers. Good day all around.

Shrieking

Lest you think Nicholas is always as wonderful as the recent posts would suggest, here is a post on one of the ways he drives me absolutely bonkers.

He has started adding a shriek into his repertoire of cries. It is mostly when he is really tired, so there isn't much I can do for him to stop it, which is all the more frustrating. He just shrieks and shrieks. And there is something about the pitch that just gets inside me and completely unwinds me. Really all it takes is a couple minutes of shrieking and I have entirely lost my patience.

Ahhhhhh!

On another annoying note, although not nearly as much so, he has continued flipping himself onto his tummy at night and yet has not gotten any happier about it. Goofball--just roll back over!

But tomorrow we go to the first of three music mornings this week. I'm excited because he has recently decided that he loves music. Last night when he was screaming on the car ride home because we had kept him out past his bedtime, the only thing that calmed him down was us singing to him. The really interesting thing is that he had definite favorites. "If You're Happy and You Know It," "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star," and the ABCs worked, but each time we tried anything else or stopped singing for a second to think of another song, he would start screaming again. I can't figure out what those songs have in common.

Melt my Heart

I dare you to watch this video and not smile. Just click on the image below:

From Nicholas - Month 5

It's all there: the excitement at figuring out something new, getting distracted by the camera, and the drool that signals he is thinking hard.

Gold Stars

Nicholas earned gold stars today for excellent behavior. We went to the mall this morning for toddler singing time and then walked around for a bit so he'd fall asleep. On our way out I noticed a sign for eye exams and since I've been using the same (last) pair of contacts for months because I haven't had a chance to get a new prescription, I figured I'd squeeze it in while he slept. Well, of course he woke up when I stopped moving the stroller, but he then sat on my lap angelically while I had my eye exam and tried a new kind of contacts. It was amazing.

I figured that he had used up his good behavior for the day, but the streak continued. He didn't go to sleep for about half an hour after I put him down for a nap, but spent that entire time talking happily to himself. Then he and I went to Panera for dinner because Joe is in Philly and Nicholas happily looked around and entertained himself while I ate. And then just talked to himself until he fell asleep when I put him down for the night. Angelic, I tell you.

I wanted to get him a treat for being so good, but since he can't eat treats, I have a fun-filled week planned for him instead. Okay, I was going to do all of this anyway because Joe is working all week to finish a chapter and I figured Nicholas and I needed to keep ourselves busy. But still. There is so much stuff going on that I have a list on the fridge so I don't forget all the times. We have something each morning, then afternoons are naps, so I figure we're covered.

Nicholas' Busy Week:

Saturday: grocery shopping (but not just any grocery shopping--Wegmans in the Baby Bjorn so he can "help") and then hopefully working on birthday presents for his grandmothers

Sunday: church

Monday: baby story/music at the library, then playing with Steph while I have lunch with Uncle Andrew

Tuesday: B&O Museum

Wednesday: Aquarium (with music again)

Thursday: Playing with Ellen

Friday: probably music at the mall, unless the weather improves and we can go outside

Saturday: Some all-day outing, with Daddy because his chapter will be done.

I'm excited!

Newsies

If all else fails, Nicholas always has a career as a turn-of-the-century paper boy to turn back to:

From Nicholas - Month 5

Eat your heart out, Christian Bale.

Singing and Dolphin Show

It has gotten cold here recently, so Nicholas and I went to the aquarium as an indoor activity. And I am so glad we got the membership. Otherwise I would feel guilty that we hardly looked at the exhibits at all today.

Apparently Wednesday mornings in October are "Tots and Tales," which is a short story and then kids' music and dancing. It is aimed at toddlers, but Nicholas had a blast. He couldn't sing along or do the movements, but I sang and moved his arms and legs in approximations of the instructions. He loved the songs and thought the toddlers dancing around were great fun. And he totally recognizes "If you're happy and you know it," which is his favorite song we do with him. As soon as the musician started it, Nicholas started grinning. I wish I could share pictures or a movie to show you how excited he was, but I couldn't hold him and help him dance and take pictures. This is the problem with outings with just one of us.

Then we went to the dolphin show. I wouldn't have bought tickets because I didn't think he would last for an hour in the aquarium and still have the patience to sit still for a show. But they give them out free to members if they have more left than they think they'll sell. So I took the ticket when it was offered as we entered, and figured that if we didn't go or had to leave a couple minutes into the show, we hadn't wasted any money. And my best-case scenario was that he would be patient enough to let me watch the show. But he loved it!

I underestimated him. I did not expect him to be so well behaved, let alone to get so much out of it. I guess I don't know what he took from it, but I do know that he followed the dolphins around the tank with his eyes, that his eyes practically bugged out of his head when the dolphins jumped, and that during the "finale" when the dolphins were jumping and the audience was clapping to the music, he was laughing and grinning and babbling. The sheer wonderment in his eyes as he watched melted my heart. I didn't expect wonderment because I wouldn't think he could know that watching dolphins is unusual and special. But he showed me.

I did manage to snap a couple pictures while we were sitting at the show, although at awkward angles.

Here he is before the show started, waiting patiently:

From Nicholas - Month 5

And here he is watching the dolphins in rapt attention:

From Nicholas - Month 5

Can you guess who is going back next Wednesday morning?

TRAINS!

As you know, Nicholas the Rambunctious needs outings like whales need minnows.  And today was a free day at the B&O Railroad Museum, so it was the perfect opportunity to make the trip.  Plus, Grandpa Dan was in the mood to play hooky from work, so he joined us for a little guys' trip to the train museum.

It's a small museum, with only a few small exhibits, but it has a large number of old train locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, railway post office cars, basically anything associated with railroading in the first 150 years of train travel in the U.S.  In that respect, it will probably be more thrilling for Nicholas in a year or so.  Right now, he doesn't find the motionless hulks very interesting in the way that he does the moving fish in tanks at the aquarium (to take one example).  But we had a good time, and it definitely merits another trip, especially since he got cranky before we could look at everything.  Plus, they sometimes offer train rides!  And, next spring, there's a Thomas the Tank Engine Day, which should come right on [railroad standard] time for Nicholas to be thrilled by such things.

Finally, as a rule I am required to take photos whenever Nicholas and I go somewhere without Sarah, so I present one from today, with others available to the right in the Peanut Gallery.

From Nicholas - Month 5

Roll Over, Roll Over

Nicholas rolled over from his back to his tummy twice last night. This is a milestone, but not an uncomplicated one. The problem is that he hates being on his tummy, but instead of rolling back over, he just screamed bloody murder.

I've noticed recently that he has ended up sleeping on his side a lot, and chalked it up to turning to get to his thumb. But last night he was on his tummy (well up on his hands, but front down instead of on his back) twice when I went to get him. And he was not happy about it!

What to do with a boy who gets himself in a position he doesn't like and then forgets that he knows how to get out of it? I wish I knew how intentional this rolling over was. I need him to do it while awake so I can see.

On a completely unrelated note, Nicholas went to campus today and spent some time with two of our advisers. And what did he do? He spit up on one and grabbed the other's finger, pulled it into his mouth, and proceeded to suck vigorously on it. It is a good thing he is completely adorable.

Revisiting the Classics

Fatherhood—well, parenthood, because it's happened to both of us at various times—has brought its share of unanticipated revelations.  For me, one of them has been to revisit children's literature, including many classics and many books I read when young.  (Yes, I read books other than Johnny Tremain, and no, I still haven't read Jane Eyre.)  We've already introduced Nicholas to some of these books, very short ones or picture books.  I don't recall ever reading Goodnight Moon, but we have it, and read it to him, and I'm glad that we have the Little Bear series.

Then there are those that he'll get to when he's a little older.  One of those is My Side of the Mountain, the tale of a 13-year-old who runs away from home and spends a year living off the land in the Catskill Mountains of central New York.  It was brought back to my attention this weekend by a profile piece in the Washington Post Sunday magazine.  The author of the article had read the book when young (many times, apparently), and found it moving enough to try his own hand at camping in the Catskills ... though with the advantages that come with being upper middle class (he bought his food at REI rather than training a falcon to hunt, for example).  In addition to the author's camping adventure, it discusses the origins of the novel in the author's youth (that is, Jean Craighead George, still alive at 90 and living just twenty minutes from my parents' house), some obstacles to publication (you try being a children's book publisher in 1959 and see whether you publish a novel that seems to endorse running away from home).

One thing that struck me in reading the article is that I remember enjoying the book and identifying with the main character (Sam), but for the life of me I can't remember why.  I don't enjoy the outdoors at all, so even if I harbored delusions of running away, it wouldn't have been in so idealistic a manner as to live off the land on my grandfather's farm.  I'm not nearly crafty enough to have figured out how to carve a fishing hook, let alone know how to fish.  On the other hand, I've always admired self-reliance from afar (though ironically I've also read very little Emerson and Thoreau).  And, as silly as this seems, I think I was attracted to the idea that the book was set in New York State.  I know, I'm a geographical snob, but I seem to recall that I found it cool that the story took place nearby, in a place that I was vaguely aware of rather than someplace I would have considered exotic, like California, or China, or the South.

And yes, I'm counting the days until Nicholas is ready for Johnny Tremain.  And April Morning.  And My Brother Sam is Dead.  And the book I read about Paul Revere's horse.  That was a classic, whatever it was called.

UPDATE (10:00 a.m.): Leave it to one of our intrepid readers, herself an elementary school teacher, to bail me out on the title of the book about Paul Revere's horse.  It is Mr. Revere and I, written by Robert Lawson.  And I'd forgotten another of his books (helpfully pointed out to me): Ben and Me, about Benjamin Franklin's friendship with a mouse named Amos.  No word on whether it was the true inspiration behind the Jackson Five song.

First Tooth???

Nicholas may have gotten one thing from me after all--early teething. I'm not positive because it isn't even the tooth that is supposed to be first, but he either has a tooth breaking through the gum on the bottom one to the left of the middle or there is something wrong with his gum. As much as I don't want his teeth to be coming in yet, that seems to be the better of these two options. Updates to follow.

Washington D.C.

As you know, Nicholas and I are always looking for new outings. I'd been pondering recently venturing down to D.C. with him. I figured it's far away, but everything is free and he sleeps in the car so the distance isn't a problem. So our friend Katie and I took the kids (her daughter, Alice, is the same age as Nicholas) in today and had a lot of fun! It was a long drive (made longer by the road closures for the Baltimore marathon) and we had a lot of trouble finding parking, but I'm still glad we didn't try to navigate Metro with two babies and two strollers.

First we walked around the WWII Memorial and the Washington Monument. It was a drizzly and gray morning, but not too cold or rainy.

From Nicholas - Month 5

Then we went into the Museum of American History and the Natural History Museum. I'm not quite sure what Nicholas thought of them because I can't see his face when he's in the Baby Bjorn, but he wasn't fussing, so I assume he was interested.

Here we are in the Museum of Natural History in front of a bison (I think) being attacked. Fun, family friendly activities always.

From Nicholas - Month 5

I don't know how people manage twins. On the drive down and the stroller ride back to the car at the end of the trip both babies slept beautifully. But on the drive home they took turns screaming and waking the other one up. It was actually comical, if a little frustrating.

We may need to go back to try to get some better pictures with the monuments on a prettier day, but I'm really glad we went. It was good to do something different and really wonderful to spend the time with Katie and Alice.

For more pictures, go here, or check out Katie/Alice's blog in Peanut's friends on the sidebar.

Date Night

Thanks to the generosity of our parents, Joe and I went out for an honest to goodness date last night to celebrate our anniversary. The dancing part of "dinner and dancing" was thwarted by a hidden American Legion hall, but it was fun to dress up and go out to a nice restaurant. In fact, it was so rejuvenating to get out and spend some time together that we've decided we need to do it more than once a year. And maybe next time we'll find the dance hall.

Worn Out

I feel like I should write a post in honor of our anniversary reflecting on how our marriage has changed since Nicholas, how much I love Joe, and all that jazz, but I'm too worn out to reflect. So suffice it to say, both of those things are true. And now I'll move on to another boring narrative post because really that is all I currently have the mental capacity to compose.

I woke up this morning intending to take Nicholas to the aquarium as our morning outing, but the rain they were predicting had already passed and it was a gorgeous fall day out, so we changed our plans. I decided to try out a playground, so we went to the one up at Oregon Ridge because it is large and cool looking. However, I'm obviously new to the playground scene because I didn't think about the fact that the overnight rain would mean everything would be wet. So after we walked around for about 5 minutes and I determined there was nothing we could do, we went to the other section of the park to go for a hike.

From Nicholas - Month 5

About 5 minutes into that, however, I changed my mind again. Thanks to the wind there were nuts, fruit, and branches falling all around us and that just didn't seem safe. So instead we spent quite awhile looking at the turkeys outside and the turtles in the nature center. Nicholas seems intrigued by animals as long as they keep moving. If they stop moving it is like he can't even see them anymore. He really liked when one of the turkeys came up to us and started poking his head through the fence. I, however, took a large step backwards.

After some errands, lunch, and some playtime at home, I was beat. But Nicholas was still too energized to fall asleep, so back out we went. This time we just went to the playground up the road. Everything was dry, so we played for awhile. I went down the slides with him, went on the swings with him, and even had him do one slide by himself with me holding him (as opposed to on my lap). I was bummed that he seemed completely nonplussed by the whole thing. He wasn't upset by them, but he also didn't seem particularly excited or interested.

From Nicholas - Month 5

Honestly, he seemed most interested in looking at the trees moving in the wind and watching cars drive past. So we did that for awhile. Sometimes I forget that he really is still just 4 months old and so his interests are pretty simple. But I have to admit that just sitting outside on a beautiful day looking at the trees with him was sort of nice. There is something to be said for quiet, simple, and calm.

Apple Picking

From Nicholas - Month 5

We went apple picking this morning with my mom and had a lot of fun. It was the perfect day for it--sunny and warm, but not too hot. It only took us about half an hour to pick all the apples we can use, but it was good to be outside. And, as I was telling Nicholas, I remember going apple picking with my grandparents. And on Monday he and I will go down and help my mom make applesauce, something I think I will forever associate with Grandma O.

Nicholas obviously couldn't pick any apples, but he was intrigued by them (as you can see in the picture at the top). And he enjoyed looking around at all the trees and plants and just being outside and hanging out with my mom. He got pretty worn out and went into thumb-sucking mode, but after a 2-minute power nap he was recharged enough to be good all through lunch. He is now beat, however, and is sound asleep after only half waking up to eat his own lunch. I consider him being this exhausted a sign of a good morning because it means he was working hard and playing hard.

The other nice thing about apple picking is that it was outside and so I got to take pictures in natural light. The first few had too much light, but here are a couple that I like a lot:

From Nicholas - Month 5

From Nicholas - Month 5

Out and About

Nicholas has had an eventful couple days, full of fun outings. And since he is in bed and I am not looking forward to finishing the book I need to integrate into a chapter, I'll tell you about them.

I had him all day yesterday and he was already sick of his toys by 8:30am, so we ran every errand I could think of. We were gone for 3 whole hours! I got a lot done and he took a series of catnaps, intermixed with looking around at the variety of stores we were in. He would look around for a bit, get cranky, find his thumb, fall asleep, and sleep until I had the audacity to stop moving to look at something or check out. I know, mean mommy. Then his eyes would pop open and we'd repeat the cycle. There isn't much else to note about our errands except I was convinced yet again that whoever runs babyGap has never actually tried to shop there (seriously, a baby store that you can't get a stroller through?! And they must be the only store left in the world that doesn't put store credit on giftcards). But the day got better because apparently the Auntie Anne's at the White Marsh mall is doing a half-price pretzel of the day! Yum!

After lunch and a shorter-than-normal nap, we still had a couple hours left to kill before Joe got home, so off on another outing we went. This time to Oregon Ridge, which is a county-run park about 5-10 minutes away. We've never actually made it to the nature center because he is usually cranky by the end of our hike, so I decided we'd start there. It isn't the biggest nature center, but it had some pretty cool turtles in tanks. And they seemed interested in us and were actually pushing at each other to get to the front of the tank. I'm not sure what Nicholas thought of this because I can't see his face when he's in the Baby Bjorn, but I was thoroughly amused. We ended up just taking a short hike because after the turtles, Nicholas wasn't up for a long adventure. He really does love trees, though. It will be interesting to see his reaction when they aren't green anymore.

This morning Joe took Nicholas back to the aquarium. I hear there were a couple minor meltdowns (large groups of middle schoolers=overwhelmed baby), but that he loved the fish wall again. The way the aquarium is designed, there are a bunch of small tanks and exhibits as you work your way upstairs (on moving escalators) and then there is a ramp going back down where all the walls are the glass sides of a huge tank full of fish. Nicholas seems to love this part. And for some reason the crowds have thinned out by that section, which doesn't hurt.

There are no pictures for this post because it is really hard to take pictures when just one of us has him on an outing. But tomorrow morning we're going apple picking with my mom, so hopefully we'll have some fun pictures to post of that. Oh, yeah, and hopefully we'll have a good time too. :)