Nick's First Year

For those of you waiting for the 'Cliff's Notes' from the past year, here they are - wrapped up in one neat video (about 7 minutes, but you can cut it short. This is more for his mother to watch over and over.) Hard to believe it's been a year. (Only 17 years left to save for college.)

Nick's First Birthday included a cake made by his mama, and a neat air-pressure machine that throws plastic balls all over the room from his Aunt Megan. I'm getting my exercise with this contraption. But for all the toys he received, his favorite things at the moment are playing under Brandi's new dining room table (like a jungle gym) and playing with the steering wheel and dash in the Chrysler. Whenever we open the door to the garage, he comes running to see the car, and completely wigs out when we close the door without letting him out to play in the car. Of course, my boy.

He's jumped right into the "twos" with his new aggression and curiosity. He's into everything already, running not walking. We have to keep pulling the tea bags away from him when he digs in the cupboards - loves pulling them apart and chewing on them. Perhaps there's a connection between caffiene and the aggression, or maybe at least with the 4:30 am wake-up call every morning.

Having a kid with sensitive skin, there's a lot of trial and error with shampoos, soaps and lotions. We've had good luck with the organic stuff at www.healthytimes.com. But when Nick's skin doesn't respond well to something, it's passed over to Da-da to to use it. I've got 3 bottles of baby lotion to finish. So if you're near me and think, "Man, Jason smells really good," that's not Halston, it's 'Grins & Giggles'.

If you like the video music, I don't mind giving a plug to the artist: www.ericguitar.com. Hey, maybe you're a jazz fan and you just don't know it.

Thanks to everyone for all the support during the first year, and all the Christmas and Birthday gifts to the little man. Anyone interested in babysitting? :)

- Jason

Nick Opening a Christmas Gift

For a change, here's a video of Nick right in the blog! This one is of him opening his first gift, Christmas 2007. (I'm taking the 'embed video' feature for a test run! Click on the play button, maybe twice.) The rest of Christmas is in the other entry.

Nick's First Christmas

It was a Christmas in Georgia for 2007 (and yet still only mid-40s and a cold rain. We brought 5+ inches of rain to the dry southeast so far this week.) Plenty of pictures. He's had a lot of fun playing with his cousin Seth and exploring new territory. Seth has been very patient with Nick as he follows him around, wants to play with the same toys, and and tackles Seth trying to get his attention. This has been good practice for Seth as he prepares for 'big-brotherhood' with Thatcher in a few months.

Memories we will take away from Christmas 2007: the Kroger Store Pre-Cooked Turkey (which was better than the Kroger boxed trimmings), poo adventures (three kids under 3 1/2 all at once will keep the house hopping), and the inflatable playground.

Pics here

Nick got some fun gifts, including a talking Spiderman, a 'Disney Cars' Helicopter, and a talking car dashboard that speaks the alphabet and numbers. Although he's had a ton of fun sitting behind the wheel of the real car climbing all over the place (when it's not moving, of course.) An awesome gift this year - Nick's Great Grandma Little hand copied an entire recipe book of her favorites, from which Nick and I will both benefit for years to come. Nick got his first sneakers this week, too! New videos posted.

- Jason

Nick's Twelfth Month

Even though he was born last January, Mama says his 'first snow' was this week. We bundled him up in his snowsuit and dumped him in the white stuff. He made a snow angel (with a little coercion) and took a few steps. The bulky snowsuit is just still too restricting.

Best video of the month: Blowing bubbles in a glass with a straw. Brandi has him drinking from a glass both with and without a straw, but last week he accidently hiccuped into his glass and blew bubbles in the water. That trick is now a favorite - the video is a must-see.
Nick is in the 'confidence outpacing coordination' phase as he bounces off of tables, appliances and even the fireplace where he split his lip open and bled like crazy. In 12 days, he went from his first steps (more than 2 1/2, which is officially "walking" in the NBA) to running the length of the house with his arms in the air. He still wobbles like a drunken sailor, but
he's not slowing down.

Another fun activity is shredding things. We let him freely pull things from the cupboards and cabinets in the name of exploration, and the other night he sat and shredded and entire package of napkins by hand. Yeah, I'm so cheap I shop for the $1.29 pack because I won't pay $2.00 for 180 napkins. But he obliterated an entire package, and it was worth the price (an hour of entertainment for all of us, and cheaper than a movie.) Also in his routine as he cases the house, he likes to spin the toilet tissue off the rolls like a cat. I'm getting to used to using the tissue from a pile on the floor. Getting it fresh from the roll has become a luxury.

Brandi and I got the majority of our Christmas shopping done. Spent a ton at the toy store - and then realized we hadn't picked out anything for our son, yet - just stuff for other people's kids. How could we forget? All educational toys for the world's smartest baby - letters and numbers... and the periodic table of elements and state capitals. Hey, gotta get him a head start now so he can fly through school. Based on the cost of tuition, I figure he'll need to get through primary school in 5 years, and have a scholarship to high school and college.

Oh, and four total teeth now!

- Jason

Nick's Eleventh Month

Kids don't necessarily grow at a consistent rate. Nick has the head and feet of a two-year old, the legs of a six-to-nine-month old, and the torso of a twleve-month old. I've concluded somewhere in his lineage is Mr. PotatoHead.

The new game this month he plays with his mom is pinching each other's noses and yelling, "Beep!" He's got it down - he grabs my nose first thing whenever I pick him up. He also laughs out loud when we play "Head-Shoulder-Knees-and-Toes". I just can't seem to get the tune right, though. I think the mixture of all these Baby Einstein videos is starting to scramble in my head. The good news is we're stepping up to shows that Brandi and I can watch, too, like Fraggle Rock and the Muppets. He's also getting good at rolling the ball back and forth on the floor with someone else.

He's right on the verge of walking. He's taking a step or two unknowingly, and is surprised when he realizes no one is holding him up. Crawling is so 'yesterday's mode of transportation' as he motors freely throughout the house being an 'explore-a-saur'. He's also able to rough-house now, which gets me in trouble when his mother reaches for him and he tries to use a wresltemania move on her.

He's finally eating some serious food. He's loved peaches, beans, and a little adult food once in awhile, but it didn't agree with him. Another new trick this month is drinking from a straw. Nick seems to like apple juice; his mama bought some in little juice boxes for all the kids on a 'mommy lunch day.'

There's a new favorite toy in the house. It's a toy car (to go with his keys) that looks like the hood of a VW Beetle, but he can walk behind it by holding onto the top of the windshield. It makes all kinds of annoying noises. And along with toy noises, Brandi has taught him to cry like an Indian. And he can vibrate his tongue and lips (to sound like a motor boat.) You know, it's hard explaining all these goofy noises in writing. So no matter how many noise toys I try to control entering the house, you can't stop those from the kid's lips.

- Jason