New pictures...Finally!

Since I've found out I'm pregnant I have felt pretty lousy so I haven't been spending much time online. Little time online=no blog updates. Sooooo, I thought it was time to share a few new pictures of the Nico-man. These were taken while we were decorating the house for Christmas. Nico was getting into everything, of course.












And now I'm realizing that we didn't actually get any pictures of Nico WITH any of the Christmas decorations. Guess that's my next challenge.

And here he is with Santa! He would sit on his lap, so this is the best we could do.

BIg boy eating at the big table

Nico has decided he's too big for his high chair. He much prefers to sit at the big table. When I ask him if he's ready to eat, he signs eat and climbs up on the stool at our kitchen table. So, now he has his own Batman place mat and eats at the big table, too. When did my baby grow up?

Pumpkin Patch

We took Nico to the pumpkin patch last weekend since we're going out of town soon. I'm really glad we went as early as we did because it wasn't near as crowded as it was last year. Nico had so much fun. When we first got there, John wanted a bite to eat. There were wood shavings all over the ground in that area and Nico had a blast playing in those.




And here he finally slowed down long enough to get a bite.


After that, we went to look at the animals. Nico actually petted the goats voluntarily. He wasn't quite as excited about feeding them. He let one take some food from his hand and then he was done.








They had a big slide there and of course, he loved that. The man taking the tickets was nice and only took two tickets at a time since Nico was riding on someone's lap so he got to go twice.


And then there was the tractor that took us out to the pumpkin patch. He had so much fun on the ride over.
Here he's intently watching the driver.


When we got off to look for pumpkins, he was so upset that the tractor was leaving him. Here he is chasing after it.


So we had to find pumpkins really quickly so that we'd be ready to get on the next tractor. I don't think he would have let another one leave without him.


Here he found his.


And our little family of pumpkins.


Now that Nico's actually old enough to understand a little bit about holidays, it's so much fun to do things like this. I'm sure next year will be even better!

Cookie day!

I let the kids decorate Halloween cookies today. I must be crazy. They were a mess! But I think they had a good time. Neither of them really ate much of their cookies, just licked the icing off. Charlotte wasn't too messy. Just a little icing on the hands and face. Nico on the other hand, was covered in the stuff. He hit the tub as soon as he was done. Yay for Halloween!

Pumpkins!

Today I decided to do a little craft with Nico and Charlotte. I really didn't want it to be anything too messy (because I'm planning to let them decorate cookies tomorrow! Yikes!), so I just cut pumpkins out of contact paper, taped them to the table sticky side up, attached some green for the stems and jack-o-lantern faces, and then let them have at it. I had some different orange items (feathers, paper, felt, fabric, etc.) for them to use to decorate their pumpkins. Nico did a pretty good job of sticking things to his pumpkin.


The feathers were his favorite!


Charlotte on the other hand, liked to take the stuff off the pumpkin. Holly arrived before she was able to finish hers, so I sent it home with her with some extra orange stuff. She was not ready to go.




Here's a picture of Nico's final product in it's place of honor on the inside of the front door.

Fair Days

A couple weekends ago, we took Nico to the Puyallup Fair. He had a blast! He got to see some animals up close and personal. I think the goats were his favorite. He was even brave enough to pet some of them.




He even got to milk a pretend cow!



He got to play a fishing game where he won a stuffed tiger. Perhaps his favorite part of the day was when he got to play the drums. There was an exhibit set up that tried to show the daily life struggles of children in Africa. At the end, there was a place where the kids could play some African drums and other instruments. Nico loved it and was not ready to leave when it was time.




He also got to ride the big slide with John. John said he just giggled and squealed with delight the whole way down. He had a huge smile on his face when they reached the bottom.




I'm already looking forward to the fair next year!

Little Drummer Boy

Nico was running around the house with his drum on his head today. Sometimes we think he's gifted. Then days like today, we're not so sure.