New Game

Joe did make it out again today without too much trouble and so Nicholas and I spent another day just hanging out together. By mid-afternoon we were going a little stir-crazy so I speed-shovelled to unbury the car while Nicholas sat in his carseat bundled within an inch of his life. He was not happy, but I think because he was overheated and couldn't move. But we then had a grand time buying Joe's birthday present. Okay, so the store was insane, but I'm very excited about what we got him. :)

Then after we got home Nicholas created a new game, and so we spent a lot of the afternoon giggling, which really is the best medicine for . . . well, for really just about anything. I don't think I can do the game justice with words, but basically it involves lifting drawer handles up and down and giggling a lot. Trust me, once you see the video you will laugh too. But I can't upload anything without Joe's computer, so you must wait until Tuesday night or Wednesday. And so, really, this post is just a taunt. Sorry.

Another snowy day

From 2010 January

Joe did manage to make it home today, despite the snow. Yay!!! Now we're just hoping we can get the car dug back out in the morning and he can make it back to the airport by 9am.

But we had him at home for the evening and he and Nicholas had some good playtime. And then while he did some prep work for Monday's interview I stole his computer to upload pictures from the past few days. There aren't many, but there are a couple new videos, if you want to check out the gallery. Nicholas isn't doing anything particularly exciting or unusual in them, but they are a pretty accurate glimpse of what he's like these days.

Anyway, Nicholas and I didn't leave the house today. But since we've spent most of his awake time the last week or so running errands, he didn't seem to mind playing here. In fact, he seemed positively delighted to spend some time jumping.

From 2010 January

And, of course, we spent some time looking at the snow falling. I think he stood on top of the futon staring out the window for over half an hour at one point.

First Day of Daycare

Borders is too loud for me to focus on work, so I figured blogging was a good second choice. And I'm sure you are all waiting anxiously to see how Nicholas' first day went. Except for an unwillingness to nap in the crib there, it seems to have gone quite well.

He loves all the new toys! The little boy just wants to play. He got really incredibly mad at me when I didn't let him go to the toys immediately. And he was so intent on playing that he didn't even notice when I left. Wow!

He also seems quite taken with the head teacher in his room. I agree--she is pretty awesome.

The other kids he seems to be willing to take or leave. I'm surprised, but we'll see if that changes.

The peer pressure seems to be kicking in already--he apparently wanted a bottle when all the other kids had them. I hadn't bothered to bring one for him because he has no interest in them at home, but I'll take one on Tuesday and see if he'll eat it there. I also left one with Laura (who is currently babysitting) to try this afternoon. We'll see. Given that the other kids there who are around his age seem to go through 2 or 3 bottles while there in addition to some solid food, he should probably eat at least the one. Maybe this is why he has gained like 2 pounds in the past 3 or 4 months. I'm not trying to starve the boy--he just has shown no interest. So we'll see.

Naps will probably take a couple weeks to get down, but that isn't surprising. He refused to even consider sleeping in the crib, so they took him out and rocked him in the swing. He eventually fell asleep, but woke back up as soon as they stopped swinging him. So they tried again. And of course he finally drifted off about 2 minutes before I walked in the door. So I hung out and talked with the teachers and played with the other kids for about 20 minutes before waking him up to take him home. I am glad I took Copperfield (his blue lion), though. He doesn't need any special thing to sleep at home, but we have taken Copperfield on our trips for him. The teacher said that as soon as she brought the lion over to Nicholas, he put his thumb in his mouth. Copperfield=time to put myself to sleep. Good boy.

And me? What did I do while he spent 3 hours at daycare? I cleaned. I know, I know, the whole point of daycare is for me to get some work done. But the apartment had gotten completely out of control and it is impossible to clean while he is there. (If he is awake, he gets freaked out by the vacuum and wants to get in the tub when he hears the water running to clean it. If he is asleep, these things wake him up.) I justified it to myself on the grounds that today was a free get acclimated halfday and so since we weren't paying for it and it was a bonus, I could use it for some bonus activity. And so the house is now cleaner than it has been in months. Honestly, probably since he was born. That is just downright pathetic.

But now? This time I am paying for. And so I suppose I should try to find some way to block out the noise and work. I may have to leave the cafe and find a quiet corner where I can sit on the floor. Yeah, I know, I really am pathetic.

Daycare

Nicholas starts daycare in the morning and I am much readier than I expected to be. Even though I really like the place and the people and rationally know it is absolutely necessary for us and will likely have benefits for him, I have been wracked with doubts and guilt.

There is no doubt that he will have trouble with the transition. Is it good for him to learn to be away from mommy and daddy, to have to accept not getting what he wants always and immediately, and to learn to sleep through noise? Of course. Will he enjoy it? Not at all. This stubborn, strong-willed, and admittedly somewhat spoiled little boy is going to have a rough time.

But tonight as I put his name on the absurd number of supplies we need to send with him, I found myself actually excited to take him in tomorrow. Now maybe it is just because we have finally hit the point where this is a complete necessity. (Joe has been absolutely swamped with work and will be out of town for the better part of the next 3 weeks, which means I have Nicholas basically full time in addition to teaching this semester, on top of all my normal stuff. Which translates to being too exhausted to even work effectively while Nicholas sleeps.)

But whether it is that I've passed my tipping point or whether our unplanned half hour in the room at the day care earlier this week worked magic on my mommy guilt, I think I'm ready for this. Poor Nicholas, on the other hand, has no idea what is about to happen.

Wordless Wednesday: Big Boy Food

From 2010 January

8 month update

I'm pretty tired so this may be the most randomly compiled monthly update post ever, but it has to be better than his 7-month update. Can't remember that one? That's because that milestone was the day after Christmas and so didn't get a post.

Anyway, where is Nicholas at 8 months? In no particular order, here are some random snapshots of where the little guy is these days:

• Walking is his absolute favorite thing to do. No, he doesn't walk on his own (although he has gotten brave enough to hold just one adult hand while he reaches out for something he wants), but all he ever wants to do is find a way to grab your fingers. At that point he pulls himself to standing and takes off. And good luck to the person who tries to tell him they don't want to follow him around the apartment hunched over or on their knees. His favorite destination? The bathroom. He goes over to the tub to try to convince you to let him take a bath. Failing that, trips into our bedroom to see if the desktop has the screensaver of pictures going is a good second choice. And if neither of those options works out for him, he'll just take you in laps . . . all day.
• He has six teeth and a very silly looking grin. He has started to figure out chewing. So far we only have him eating puffs (sort of like cheerios, but they dissolve to prevent choking) and pieces of banana, but he has gotten so good at chewing those in the past couple days that I think it is safe to try him on some more of the softer table foods. Unfortunately he hasn't yet figured out the difference between food and his teeth and sometimes grinds his teeth against each other. Just the sound hurts.
• He finally can be trusted to sit on his own. He was a pretty good sitter months ago, but then plateaued at the point where he could sit on his own but would throw himself backwards often enough that you couldn't leave him alone without a pillow behind him. It took him something like 3 months to get over that last tiny step.
• He loves looking at pictures. They can be printed photographs or digital images on the computer. They can be of really anyone, although his favorites are ones of me, Joe, and himself. He smiles and laughs like he is seeing old friends. Adorable.
• Peek-a-boo and reading (okay, turning pages in books) are his other two favorite activities right now. I think in part because both are interactive--he gets to reach out and move something and change what he sees. Ah, the power.
• Still no sign of crawling. Although he can now get to an object that is 5 or 6 inches out of reach through some whole body wriggling maneuvers that surpass explanation. (Joe referred to it today as swimming across the floor.) But if something he wants is further away than that, he writes it off and moves on to something else. Or pivots himself and rolls to cover the distance.
• Nicholas has been stubborn and strong-willed basically since birth, but it comes through even more clearly now that he has more control over his body. He wriggles down when he doesn't want to be held or be in your lap. He pulls your hands off of him so that he can hold your fingers to walk. He absolutely refuses to bend when he doesn't want to sit. He very clearly dictates where he wants to walk and gets angry when you try to direct his path.
• Pulling games and DVDs off the bookcases is great fun. We try not to let him, but what can I say--sometimes it is worth the mess to have a half hour of content play. I know--bad Mommy.
• He doesn't do many of the parlor tricks lots of babies around his age do. My random theory of the day is that this is because he refuses to have interactive play time with us. If we try to interact with him during playtime he decides that means he needs to take our hands and walk. For the most part we have to ignore him for him to be willing to sit and play. Unless Joe is playing peek-a-boo, which Nicholas considers an acceptable alternative to walking. That is probably one of the random theories our pediatrician would laugh at, but I like it much better than one that assumes he isn't as smart.

And this actual (okay, digital) snapshot pretty well captures him right now:

From 2010 January

How was that for off the top of my head? Random and rambling enough for you?

Title Tuesday: Jan 26

Let's give this one more try. Titles anyone?

From 2010 January

Hanging Out With Aunt Stacy

Lest you think he didn't have any fun this past weekend with Aunt Stacy:

From 2010 January

Another Growth Spurt . . . I Hope

Stacy has been visiting this weekend, but unfortunately Nicholas' foul mood I mentioned on Friday night has continued. By this afternoon I was convinced he must being going through another growth spurt because that is the only time this "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" thing lasts this long.

This evening, right on schedule, about 2 days after he started to be a horrible pain in the butt, he started to improve. Not delightful, but soooo much better. So hopefully this week he'll be better. I just wish he could have had more fun while Stacy was here.

Although he definitely has decided he likes having her here. When we're walking, about every two steps he turns around to check to make sure she is watching. It's pretty adorable.

Outsourcing

From 2010 January

Katie and Alice came over for dinner tonight and it was great to see them. Nicholas was in some sort of really awful mood, but Joe and I enjoyed having the chance to talk with Katie and it was amazing to see all the things Alice can do now. It is hard to believe she is only two weeks older than Nicholas. I am beginning to think that it was bad for him to have figured out the walking with support thing so early because he has no motivation to learn how to move on his own.

Anyway, Katie mentioned that she hasn't updated Alice's blog in forever and joked that she should outsource it to us since we have so much blogging energy. Well, since Alice was being a much better subject for photographs tonight than Nicholas anyway, I figured I'd post some Alice pictures here. One set of her grandparents read this blog anyway.

Alice was all smiles as she crawled around

From 2010 January

but it was hard to get a good picture because that girl moves fast. I couldn't zoom out quickly enough as she crawled towards me.

From 2010 January

Seriously, how adorable is she?

From the "Not How I Remember It" Department

Sometimes when you have a blog you share too much information, or think out loud before you've actually processed what you want to say.

Other times we figure that if we have something stuck in our heads, there's no reason our friends and family shouldn't have it stuck in their heads too.

So: this morning I put Nicholas on our bed to play for a minute so I could get dressed and keep an eye on him before we made a grocery run, and I went ahead and put PBS on for a few minutes just to keep him from deciding to see how fast he could roll off the bed.  It was airing some show about cartoon dinosaurs, the name of which I didn't catch.

And what, you may ask, was the educational theme of the day?  "Every dinosaur poops!"  Over and over they discuss it.  Also beetles—they were insistent that beetles poop, too.  (In case you didn't know.)

Then they sang a song called "Every Dinosaur Poops!"

What happened to those Mr. Rogers segments where they would show how like crayons get made?  Anybody?

The Lindbergh/Baby Conundrum

In May 1927, Charles Lindbergh became the first person to fly the Atlantic solo, taking 33½ hours to fly from Roosevelt Field outside New York City to Le Bourget in Paris.  He had with him on his trip sandwiches, water, a compass, and an awful lot of gasoline.  He had to fly through sleet, ice, and fog, and saw the sun set twice on his trip, awake the entire time.  He had no idea if or when he would see land again after he left Newfoundland behind.

I thought of Lindbergh this evening because, frankly, my situation isn't nearly so bad.  Sarah left for Philadelphia this morning to present a paper at a conference and will return tomorrow evening, so I'm in charge of Nicholas the whole time (about 36 hours).  We already had a babysitter for the afternoon so I could get some work done, and Grandma Kathleen is coming up tomorrow afternoon to help out with things.  We have a pretty good stock of food, and Target and the grocery store are only ten minutes away.

The reason why the comparison is one I find useful is because for some reason I still get a little anxious about having complete charge of Nicholas for multiple days.  Now, I'm with him for long stretches all the time—several days a week, as a matter of fact.  But I still find certain things mysterious (perhaps because I'm a dad, who knows?).  There are things that make sense for me not to know, like how Sarah operates the middle-of-the-night feedings.  And each time Sarah has gone away, and the one time I took Nicholas on a trip by myself, I've fretted about the overnight period.  Will I hear him wake up?  Will I be able to put together a bottle fast enough that he goes right back to sleep?  And the ever-terrifying: what do I do if ... I don't know what to do?!?!

And so it's helpful to me to have a reminder that I know what I'm doing (though ask me tomorrow how the 3am feeding went), and that Nicholas trusts me, which is perhaps the most important thing, and that he's not so mommy-centered that he can't make it two days without her (sorry, dear, but it's true).  Plus, unlike Lindbergh, I have help, ample food (cookies!), and am charting familiar territory, both metaphorically and geographically.  So having a compass might not even help that much.  Unless it was a metaphorical one that sensed when Nicholas was about to wake up in the middle of the night and would automatically feed him.  Now that would be a compass I could use (not to mention Sarah).

Wordless Wednesday: No More Vampire

From 2010 January

Title Tuesday: Jan 19

For those of you not familiar with Wordless Wednesday, it is a blog thing where you post just a picture, with no words. You may see it added to this particular blog soon, basically because it gives me an excuse to post more pictures.

And as a twist I am starting my own variation, which I am calling "Title Tuesday." My plan is to post pictures that are funny, odd, or otherwise seem to be calling for a title. This will only be fun, however, if you play along, so leave your title suggestion in the comments. Of course, no promises that we will update either of these series every week, but they involve photos so chances are good. :)

And, so, here is the photo for the first installment of Title Tuesday:

From 2010 January

Leave your suggestions for titles in the comments. Give me a reason to smile today. :)

Alea iacta est

Nicholas is now enrolled for day care, beginning on February 2, two days a week.  Please provide moral support and encouragement in the comments for a very shaky and nervous mommy who's having a little withdrawal crisis.

[Ed.: Title translation: "The die is cast," reportedly attributed to Caesar as he crossed the Rubicon, bringing his army into the territory of Italy (a major no-no in Roman tradition) to overthrow the consulate.  In other words, there's no going back now.]

Madison or Mindwell?

Yes, history is invading the sanctum sanctorum of baby-blog land for the second time in two days, but this one is very related, because I want to talk about baby names.  Well, not that much, though we did some blogging on how Peanut became Nicholas last spring and summer.  But yesterday I saw a link to two posts that discussed popular baby names—in Boston in 1710.  The first post was just a list of the names for 1710, and if you look at the list, you'll see that lots of those celebrating their tricentennial this year would fit right in with the newborns now: Mary, Sarah, John, Abigail, William, Thomas.  The blogger included for comparison a list from seventeenth-century Windsor, Connecticut that was a bit more Puritan: no Mindwells nowadays.

Then the blogger put up a more comprehensive list two days later that analyzed over 1,600 children born in Boston from 1710-1715.  Similar results obviously, but I found the whole thing kind of interesting, especially given the high rate of similarities.

No word yet from Social Security on where "Nicholas" ranked for 2009, but we'll let you know!

BF 304

I couldn't resist.  Last year, while on fellowship, I got a free t-shirt from the library that Benjamin Franklin founded in Philadelphia, and because I already had one for myself, I took it in the smallest size they had (I think it's a child 6-8).  And then I dreamed of little Peanut running around his school getting beat up for wearing a t-shirt with a 250+ year old woodcut (designed by Franklin as well) as its main graphic.

Please don't call Child Protective Services on me.

I also dreamed of putting little Peanut in the t-shirt while it was still too big in order to take photos.

The anniversary of Benjamin Franklin's birth in 1706 seemed like the perfect opportunity.

From 2010 January

Oh, by the way, this is the perfect angle to see Nicholas's brand new two top middle teeth! No more vampire! (Sarah is a little upset about that, she'd grown to love the look.)

Daycare Roller Coaster

Today has been quite the roller coaster in terms of my feelings about daycare.

Before this morning I had mostly been looking at daycare as a necessary evil--the only feasible way for Joe and I to get all of our work done this semester. And there was the little voice in my head that kept saying it would be good for Nicholas to be around other kids and to learn that the world doesn't revolve around him (goodness knows we're not able to teach him that--I'm too weak). But I wasn't relishing the idea.

But this morning we took a tour of a daycare center a mile from our apartment and I really liked it. Like really liked it. Granted I was more excited about the 12-18 mth room, but the 7-12 mth room was good too and I really liked the head teacher in that room. And Nicholas was very interested in both the other kids and the toys in his room. He tried to go play right away. I liked it so much that this afternoon I was figuring we'd do 3 days a week in February and full-time in March and April.

But then this evening I began remembering the realities of the job market and wondering if my time is better spent with lots of Nicholas-Mommy snuggle time instead of sacrificing every minute to perfect my dissertation. Not to mention that with the uncertainty of next year's paychecks we really can't afford to spend any more money than necessary on daycare this spring. And so I'm back to thinking 2 days a week of daycare just so I can teach my class. My guess is that what we'll end up deciding when we have to make a decision on Tuesday will be based on what we learn about jobs between now and then. . . . That, and my mood.

Daycare Dilemma and other Musings

I have so many things I want to write about in great detail, but luckily for you it is late and I'm short on time this week (okay, and for the next four months), so you get the condensed version.

• Daycare Dilemma: We have decided to put Nicholas in daycare 2 or 3 days a week. I'm not sure if it is harder to find someplace that will do part-time, to stomach the amount of money it costs (literally my entire salary for the semester to do 3 days a week!), or to deal with my internal gymnastics over the issue. Maybe if I can't sleep this will get a whole post to itself.
• On a not unrelated note, we've decided to wean Nicholas off of his mid-day nursing. Basically there is simply no way I can finish my dissertation and teach a class this semester when I can't be away from him for more than 4 hours at a time. We're on day 3 and while he seems fine with it during the day, he has been waking up hungry not long after going to bed. So the question now is whether to give him a bottle of formula mid-day or reinstate nursing before bed. The latter seems a dangerous habit to bring back. But the former seems an odd habit to start at 7 months when he is otherwise fine eating solid foods as lunch. Maybe formula in a sippy cup instead of a bottle, like a cup of milk??? Then in 4 months when he is allowed milk we could just switch it out?
• We had an awesome babysitter today! I'm contemplating trying to convince her not to go back to college next week. No, not really, but she really was amazing. And I got 6 1/2 straight hours of worktime away from the house. That hasn't happened since before Nicholas was born. It felt like an eternity . . . but in the good way.
• Nicholas' second front middle tooth cut through the gum today. The one that cut through while we were in San Diego is now far enough out you can see it when he laughs. I never would have guessed that I'd be nostalgic to see his vampire smile go. Everything is just going so quickly!
• One of these days I'm going to stop being surprised by how much this kid picks up. But for now, he stunned me once again. He gets baths every 2 or 3 days after dinner before bed. Last night was not a bath night, but apparently he wanted it to be. After I took him out of his high chair after dinner, he kept leaning around me and trying to get out of my arms. So I put him down and he walked me right over to the bathroom, in the door, and over to the tub. If it hadn't been so late already I would have given him a bath just as a reward for putting the pieces together so well.
• Tonight Nicholas figured out how to lift the flaps on books. The past couple times we've had flap books out of the library he has watched me lift a flap a few times and then grabbed at it, but without much luck or skill. But tonight as I was reading a story from the Bible my brother and his girlfriend got Nicholas for his baptism, he watched me lift a flap once and reached right over and lifted it. Then I lifted another one that moved in a different direction and he immediately did that one as well. It seems to often be that way with these baby skills--one day they seem years away from figuring it out and the next it is as though they've been doing it their whole lives.
• The kid is eating us out of house and home with these pre-packaged pureed foods. He'll eat 2 packages at a meal and sometimes still be hungry! He is old enough to start on home-mushed foods, but despite his early teething he doesn't understand the concept of gumming food. If you put something in his mouth that isn't completely pureed, he makes faces, gags, and/or spits it out. Seriously, kid, you chew on toys constantly--why not food?

Life is getting stressful and hectic, but as insane as the next 4 months are looking, I'm scared to wish them away. Because by the time the work haze clears it will be Nicholas' birthday and these moments are too precious not to cherish. I really think we are in a golden stage of his life and I want to enjoy every minute. Maybe if I just stop sleeping and eating I can do it all. . . . Or maybe not.

San Diego Part 2

The trip to San Diego was remarkably fun and smooth. It was definitely stressful to travel with Nicholas and deal with all the logistics of meals out, naptimes, his gear, and just in general being out of his routine and around lots of people. But he did really well overall. Especially given the fact that in addition to all we were asking of him, his front two teeth have been breaking through the gums the past couple days.

There were lots of pictures I didn't take (such as Nicholas staring intently out the airplane window or trying to grab shadows on the window shade), but the ones we did take are here.

San Diego Part 1

A post I wrote on Saturday morning, while we were in San Diego without internet:

Nicholas and I have been having a great time touring San Diego while Joe has been pretty busy with the conference. On Thursday afternoon we went for a long walk in search of lunch and stumbled upon a local place where I was able to get real carne asada, just like I remembered. Yum!

Then we went on a tour of the USS Midway, which is a huge aircraft carrier that is now a museum. The audio tours sometimes annoy me, but it was great with Nicholas because it meant I could keep moving while listening rather than needing to stand still and read signs. It was a great museum, with lots of sections set up as though people were there, which seemed to keep Nicholas’ attention. I couldn’t see his expression because he was in the Baby Bjorn, but since we were there for close to 2 hours and he didn’t fuss at all, I’m assuming he was enjoying it.

Then yesterday we spent the afternoon at Balboa Park. Nicholas wasn’t very interested in the gardens, but he was entranced by the various fountains and couldn’t get enough of playing with the grass. Luckily this grass was a kind that somehow he wasn’t able to pull out, so it was safe to just let him sit and play with it. It must have left some sort of residue on his fingers, though, because he then spent a good 3 minutes staring intently at his fingers, putting them up to his mouth, staring at them again, etc.

From 2010 January

There are a bunch of museums within the park, but the only one we made it to was the Model Train Museum. And it was a hit! You can tell when Nicholas is really interested in something because he gets incredibly serious and focused. And man did he stare intently at those trains for a long time. I think he actually liked these trains much more than the full-sized ones at the B&O Museum because these small ones moved and he could watch them move. He is too young to understand yet how cool big trains are, but he thinks things that move and make noise are inherently interesting. By far his favorite part of the museum, though, was the small playroom where they had some toy trains and tracks set up for kids to play with.

From 2010 January

The tables were just the right height for Nicholas to stand at and play and he had a great time. He didn’t understand moving the trains (although he enjoyed it when I pushed trains down the hills), but he though the trains were cool to pick up and play with the wheels and, of course, try to shove in his mouth.

Also on this trip we have been reminded how much Nicholas loves people. Our hotel has this cool glass elevator that faces out into the atrium, so you can watch what is going on. But if there are other people in the elevator, he just wants to smile at them. He seems to make it a personal mission to try to get each person he sees to smile at him. Go for it, little boy.

We also introduced Nicholas to the swimming pool on this trip.

From 2010 January

He smiled and laughed when Daddy threw him in the air or jumped with him, but most of the time he was pretty non-expressive. I was hoping he would have fun, but I think it will take another couple times to get there. First he has to get through his stages of figuring out the new environment. While the serious face isn’t as rewarding to watch as the smiles, it is when he is learning a lot, I think.

Overall we have had a very good trip so far. He did much better on the flight out than we had feared and we have spent the past few days in glorious 70 degree weather. Today Nicholas and I are spending the afternoon with one of my high school friends and his wife while Joe has work commitments and then tomorrow we head home. I don’t want to leave—and not only because I’m dreading the flight back with a little boy who has had a lot asked of him in the last few weeks.

Disjuncture

It has been below freezing for days with windchills in the single digits so why oh why are the stores stocking racks of swimsuits?! So we can take Nicholas swimming in the hotel pool in San Diego, of course.

Yes, I bought one of those swimsuits today, even while I was shaking my head. And then tonight I bought the warmest winter coat of my life.

Having Fun and Looking Cute

I played paparazzi during a long fun play session Joe and Nicholas had the other day. Here are some of my favorite shots:

Playing with Daddy is fun!

From 2010 January

Taking a quick break to check the score of the football game:

From 2010 January

Helping sort laundry:

From 2010 January

Shaggy Baby

From 2010 January

Nicholas' hair has gotten so long that it often falls in front of his ears, making for a very shaggy looking baby. But do we dare try to trim it?

Friend in the Mirror

Nicholas has long enjoyed looking at the pictures of me and Joe on the wall, but he has only in the past week taken an interest in looking at pictures of himself as well. He also suddenly is fascinated by his own reflection in the mirrors on a couple of his toys. I doubt he understands that he is looking at himself. My guess is that after looking in mirrors so often, he recognizes himself as his friend in the mirror.

Whatever the train of thought is, he just loves looking at all the family pictures on the wall right now. Joe had him over looking at them and he kept asking to go to the next one (i.e. straining to see the next one) and smiling and laughing. A child after my own heart.

So many playmates!

Nicholas had a blast on our vacation! And did remarkably well, making it possible for the rest of us to have a good time as well. He saw tons of relatives (since between Christmas and anniversary parties for both of my sets of grandparents there were quite a few family gatherings, totalling over 100 different people) and spent lots of time playing and exploring.

Given how much of a momma's boy he has been the past couple months I was worried about how he would react to all the new people, but he let a bunch of different people hold him and play with him. When he decided he was done he would then take their hands and start walking, forcing them to take him to me. But he often played for long periods (sometimes close to an hour!) with me walking in and out of the room before he decided he wanted me. That tells you how much fun he was having! I'm hoping this has cured him of his belief that he needs to be with me at all times.

After a week and a half of constantly having my parents and at least one set of my grandparents around and often some of my aunts and uncles and/or cousins as well, I think he is going to be bored at home. Just Mommy and Daddy? What fun is that?

Here he is being handed off between 2 of my cousins at my grandparents' anniversary party. And not minding a bit:

From Louisville Dec 09

And he really didn't mind when cousins (okay, first cousins once removed, or something like that) sat and played with him:

From Louisville Dec 09

And when one of my cousins let him play with her camera, he was in seventh heaven:

From Louisville Dec 09

There are a bunch more pictures in the Gallery, but needless to say, he had a very busy and fun-filled trip. We can only hope that the trip to San Diego goes as well.

Home

We have arrived home from Louisville after a 13-hour car ride through a surprisingly snowy West Virginia.  We will post more details about the end of our trip later.  For now, though, Happy New Year everyone!