Toddler Talk

Over the past month, Nicholas' vocabulary has exploded.  He now says (or attempts to say) anything we say.  For example, Gabe answered his phone today and said Hey Dude, which Nicholas immediately repeated in his cute toddler voice "Hey Dude".  With all the birthdays recently (shout out to Lilly, Pop and Abby) we've tried to get him to say Happy Birthday, but it comes out "Happy To" - close and cute enough to work.  He's able to count to 2.  And as Mimi said the other day, if I had a nickle for every time he says "pease" (AKA please) we would all be very rich people.  Granted it's great that he is polite, but I think we may have emphasized that one a bit too much. 

Vocabulary that he pronounces correctly:

Mickey, Minnie, Donald - he wakes up and asks for Mickey (Mickey Mouse Clubhouse), which I am happy to put on for him while I fix his breakfast
Duckie - his favorite bath time toys right now
Alrighty, Hold On - He hears that second one quite a bit  as everything is so urgent for him and now he is good at repeating it
Can I?
I did it!
Juice, Water, Milk
TV - ah how they learn early
Toast, Chicken
Cracker - We have about every flavor of Goldfish in our house and I have to say that I still like the original the best
Shoes/Sock
Hand, Head, Eyes, Ears, Toes - Nicholas can tell you where all of these are
Clock - It's so interesting to see him make connections - Nicholas pointed to my watch the other day and said "Clock?"
Catch!  - his throwing skills aren't all that great (many of the throwing items end up behind him), but I'm sure over time Daddy will work with him on that

Some words that need a bit of translation:

Cudur = Color - Although he is rather rough on his crayons, he loves coloring (a Mickey Mouse coloring book of course).  I'm thinking a good toy for his birthday will be one of those "colors" that only works on special paper and therefore won't result in blue and green marks on our coffee table. 
Saby = Daisy -  Minnie is one of his favorites, but he does like Daisy as well (with Mickey of course being his all time favorite)
Set = Yes - Nicholas seems to be able to say Yea, but doesn't really try to say Yes too much.
Bankie = His o-so-special blankie that he can't live without
Nana = Banana - A good morning snack for him right now
Gape = Grape  Luckily this has been a recent snack of choice for him (along with crackuhs of course)
Side = Outside
Pay = Play - Nicholas has been a big fan of playing outside since the weather has been decent recently.  Swinging in his swing, watching the bubbles come out of his bubble machine and picking berries off the bushes and throwing them. 
Ticker = Sticker - he loves playing with these.  They have a tendency to end up all over the house (I found one in the dryer vent), on his nose, but he loves putting them on his hand. 
Buboos = Bubbles

It is rather hard to get Nicholas to stay still long enough for a picture (as Beth can vouch for at Abby's birthday party this weekend).  Here is one of him trying to put all the berries from the bushes in our back yard into a plastic pipe.  Nicholas loves putting toys or whatever he finds into boxes, bags or any object where he thinks the object belongs (and I have to say that he is very meticulous about this - so funny to watch!). 

Bugs and Rodents Stink

So this past Friday, Gabe and I were supposed to go to the Darius Rucker/Brad Paisley concert at the BJCC.  However, Friday morning I woke up with a horrible stomach bug, which caused me to stay in the bathroom most of the day (thankfully and literally after I threw Nicholas in his crib for a nap).  Also, luckily Gigi and Pawpaw arrived (originally so they could watch the little guy while we had a night out) before Nicholas woke up from said nap and was able to care for him/keep him occupied, while I was curled up and in pain on the couch.  Stomach bugs are the worst!  I was barely able to eat anything (which is great if you are trying to lose weight!) and had horrible headaches/stomachaches for almost two days.  Today, fortunately, I can say that I feel like a brand new person.  Amazing how that bug just works it's way out of your system.

I also can unfortunately vouch to the stink-i-ness of rodents as we obviously have a dead one underneath our house.  A week or so ago, Gabe heard the little scratching under the house (no doubt a rat), proceeded to put poison in the crawl space under the house and now there is a distinct smell that is just nasty in the house.  Granted I'm thrilled that the poison killed whatever it was, but I wish the smell would die as well. 

It seems that we are all finally getting over our sinus issues (Gabe, Nicholas and myself), so hopefully we can stay away from any more sickness - that is until the spring church consignment sales that always seem to get me sick (but are SO worth it because of the deals I'm able to find!). 

On a lighter note, Nicholas is funnier and crazier than ever.  His vocabulary multiplies each day, although he seems to think that "please" will get him absolutely anything and is his number one word right now.  He won't actually tell you what he wants, he will just say please.  He is saying "Hey Daddy", "Hey Mommy", "Can I?" and will pretty much try to say anything we say.  Nicholas lately has made the bedtime routine rather difficult.  He won't exactly lie still when I'm trying to put a diaper and PJs on him and then he also seems too impatient for a bedtime story anymore.  Even without the routine, Nicholas still goes down really well at night and seems to enjoy his sleep.

Even though his appetite comes in waves (and he is seemingly on a dip right now), he gets bigger and bigger by the day.  Nicholas is definitely a climber, but I would also label him a cautious climber.  Any time he hits his head (usually just a little bit) he says "Bonk!"  The other day, he was falling out of his Mickey chair in reverse and as he was cautiously lowering himself (head first to the floor), he said "bonk!"  So I have to say my climber is really aware of his surroundings.  Finally, Nicholas is completely obsessed with Mickey Mouse!  He loves Mickey and all his gang including "Minnie", "Puto", "Foofy" and "Duck".  I doubt it will be hard to decide what his birthday theme will be this year.  I just love my little guy!! 

Cruising in my fire truck that Uncle Mumbles gave me :-)

Since I don't have a ton of new pics of Nicholas I thought I would throw in some extras of the Thompson clan that I stole from Gigi's camera.  I still can't believe how big the girls are getting!!  Please continue to keep Makenzie in your prayers as this sweet baby girl has many more doctors' visits and inspections to pass! 

          
Hope everyone has a Happy Valentine's Day and stays away from all this sickness going around!