Nick's Thirteenth Month

(Finally got the pictures posted to this entry!) Yes, that's a picture of Nick wandering around the garage checking the car tires. If the door to the garage is left open, he bolts out the door to play with the cars and power tools.

He's doing all the little things that let you know his year-old cranium is absorbing new ideas at a blistering pace. He now points at things with intention - just a week ago he looked up the wall rug in his room, to which we say 'good night' to the animals each night by name, and pointed to them, knowing it was bedtime. He knows how to toss blocks into their box from about 2-3 feet, like a baskbetball hoop. Whenever he finds a ball, he carries it to a hard floor surface to try and bounce it. And yesterday he took one of his shoes, carried it over to one of mine in another room, held them up, and studied them - he knew they were both shoes but they were different.

And then there's the head-shakers, like lifting the lid to the throne and splashing around in the water, or his obsession with being in the refrigerator constantly. Our house is quite baby proof, and he's allowed to roam rather freely most of the time. You can tell which room he's in by the noises. Hear the piano? He's in the living room. Hear his tin pot? In the dining room. Hear bottles rattling? He's in the laudry room preparing to scatter recycleable containers throughout the house.

Nick is really starting to appreciate the little things in life. He loves to snuggle in the quilt from the bed when it hits the floor. He stole a pillow off of the couch and sleeps with it now - under his stomach, so he sleeps in the shape of an upside-down 'U'. Other than the crusty old pillow, he hasn't bonded to any stuffed creatures yet. (That's like Teddy Bears, not Taxidermy, for the hunting folks in the family. Although he was very interested in his GrandBa's stuffed armadillo.)

share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0AZtWLNk2YtWLCbA

We're now watching alot of 'Moose A. Moose and Zee' on television, and he's getting more into Blue's Clues. I came across a familiar beat on the radio this week and found myself singing, "Moo, Ba, La La La" to the tune. The video that teaches sign language to kids is very cool - I'm even learning a little. I'm impressed with the educational shows available to kids - we're looking forward to the SuperBowl.

- Jason

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