Mama!

We experienced another first this morning! Nicholas started saying Mama! It was so awesome to hear him and a bit unexpected too. It took a few times to really make sure that was what he said. This afternoon, our good friends Nini and Holly stopped by and they heard him too, so it's legit and not just parents thinking our son is the prodigal child. Granted at this point the 'mama' is not directed at me, but we'll get there. Now we have to focus on him saying 'dada'...

8 Months Old!

It's hard to believe that Nicholas is 8 months old today! So many things have changed this past month that I haven't written about, so this blog is a long one...

Nicholas is on the move as of a few weeks ago. He continues to go in reverse and can get up on his knees but can't quite go forward yet. Nicholas also started sitting on his own several weeks ago and can bear weight on his legs standing up for short periods of time. He will lift his arms in the air or reach out for others that he wants to go to.

He is definitely talking and making various noises. His main ones are "Ahh", a clocking sound he makes with his tongue and of course he loves making the razzing or motor boating noise as some call it. Our nicknames for him are Buddy and BooBoo.

At this point Nicholas still only has his two bottom teeth. He constantly chews on his fingers (the standard- pointer and middle finger shoved in his mouth upside down) and has actually started to suck his thumb a little bit as well.

We aren't certain of his weight/length but I'm assuming he is still growing at a pretty good clip considering he is just about outgrowing 9 month clothes and can easily fit into 12 mo. He continues to readily eat anything we put in his mouth and tries for things not meant for him. I am very happy to say that nursing is still going well, with a few exceptions now that Nicholas has some teeth. Mama has told him "No!" afterwards and he just grins at me (I guess we will have to work on teaching him the meaning of "No" :-). Luckily this doesn't happen often. Nicholas is wearing size 3 or 4 diapers. One thing that we have definitely noticed this past month is that he is getting more hair.

I can say that Nicholas is definitely a man's man. He loves electronics - mainly remote controls, but also cell phones and computer keyboards. He has enjoyed watching his cousins in Upward Basketball and Cheerleading on Saturdays and being passed around to everyone who can get their hands on him. He loves it and of course stares at Uncle Brad and other men as he always has. The only thing he isn't sure of is the buzzer.

Unfortunately his sleep patterns have been a bit off for most of January. He continues to take great naps during the day (around 3 hours total) but has tendencies to wake up at various hours in the night. I didn't mind recently when he woke up around midnight as I was able to watch one of the Australian Open matches live. We are hoping this change in sleep is due to teething and will return to normal soon. (Fingers crossed)

Most importantly, Nicholas always has a smile on his face. Whether it's seeing daddy walk through the front door after work, getting tickled just before bath time or if he has just finished eating, all those grins just melt my heart and make me love him that much more.

Monkey see, Monkey do!

I know I haven't posted in awhile, so I will update everything that's been going on for his 8 month birthday post on Friday. Tonight we had the coolest thing happen! Over the past few weeks Nicholas has become more "chatty" and when he starts "talking" we would take our hand and cover his mouth rapidly so he would end up making the indian sound. Well tonight we had done it again a few times and then while Nicholas was sitting in my lap, he started "talking" and brought his hand to his mouth to make the same noises we had been doing. We tried of course to get it on tape, but by the time we got the video camera he wasn't too interested in it anymore. It was just so neat to see him actually copy us and learn to do it himself.

Things are going to change so quickly over the next few months/year. I'm so excited to see what cool things Nicholas will do next!

Back that thang up

Here is Nicholas moving in reverse. Now if he can only put it into drive...

Laughter really is the best medicine

I promise if you had a bad day, this will be sure to put a smile on your face...

The tradition lives on...

The year Gabe was born, Alabama won the national championship. So, it's only fitting that the year Nicholas was born brought number 13 for the Crimson Tide. That being said, we will leave it up to the Tide to produce 14 next year because a little brother or sister for Nicholas just isn't in the plans just yet. Gabe and Pawpaw were able to experience the Rose Bowl in all it's glory and luckily came home with a "W" as well. Needless to say that experience tops Gabe's all time favorites besides the day Nicholas was born and our wedding of course... :-)

While daddy and Pawpaw were out having a blast in Vegas/Pasadena, Nicholas and I were doing our best to stay warm (AKA stay inside). All week it did not even get above freezing, which is extremely unusual for us. It actually snowed here on Thursday and even though it stayed below freezing the whole time, none of it stuck. However, we can say Nicholas experienced his first snow (by watching his cousins catch snow flakes in their mouths).

The most exciting thing that happened to us occurred just before the national championship on Thursday. Nicholas and I joined Mimi and Pop for dinner. Pop was feeding Nicholas and at the bottom of his Gerber jar he discovered a large piece of glass. It wasn't from the jar itself, but looked like it came from another jar in the factory. It was very bizarre to discover and didn't really sink in for awhile. After a few minutes, we decided to make a call to our pediatrician's office to see what they recommended. Granted Nicholas hadn't coughed or made any signs of choking/swallowing anything out of the ordinary, but we just wanted to make sure. I ended up talking to the on call nurse and she said to just observe his dirty diapers over the next day or so and call back if he gets sick in any way. Thank God nothing ever happened and he is still as happy as a little clam. Mimi did report the problem to Gerber, so hopefully they are taking all the measures necessary to make sure this doesn't happen again.

They don't make a national championship hat small enough, but plenty of other items are just his size I'm sure...


What is it with males and their remotes?



Is it game time yet?

Black Eyed Peas and Collard Greens

Happy New Year everyone! We ate the traditional black eyed peas and collard greens yesterday for good luck and money (actually I just had a few bites of each and let Gabe try to give us luck with his eating them). My New Year's resolution is to not stress over Nicholas' rate of development or focus on what is the "correct" way of parenting. Ever since Nicholas was born (and probably even while I was still pregnant) I constantly read books/blogs/internet about the best parenting techniques of newborns, etc. After 7 months I'm not even close to being an expert, but I have learned that things will happen when they happen and that all those parenting books aren't necessarily the right thing for you and your child. I feel that Nicholas is doing wonderful despite not following all the "experts" advice.

We have another first - Nicholas is crawling! (Sort of) He's actually going in reverse. He pushes off and slides back and can really go in reverse all the way across our living room. Stay tuned for a video clip. So does this count as crawling or do I wait until he goes forward to record this in his baby book?