The Baptism of Nicholas

Today we celebrated the Baptism of Nicholas at the Transfiguration Greek Orthodox Church (it is the same church where Nick and I got married in 2008) It was a perfect day, he handled the ceremony pretty well (not too much screaming) and it was great to be with family and friends. We had Mama's in Dracut cater the food after and it was delicious (and I only went over my Weight Watchers Points by about 1000... :) My Mom and Dad are visiting for the next few days and Erik and Joe were here but left early because of the impending storm. I think we here in MA are going to be ok but NY is supposed to get hit very hard.

The Baptismal Outfit

Rich, Alexis, and Nicholas

Erik, Alexis, Nicholas

Preparing to be dipped!

Dipping away!

Clearly not a fan of the dipping

Crying at the candles

Nicholas and his Godmother, Alexis

Nicholas and his Godfather, Erik

Me, the newly baptized boy, and the Godparents

Handsome Boy

With Auntie Brooke

Playing with Cousins

Pooped!

Nicholas is 7 Months Old!

Hey, just hanging out being awesome...and also learning that I don't have to sit still and just smile...

No stats this month, he does have a second flu shot appointment on Tuesday so if they weigh him I'll let you know where he is. He actually doesn't have a real "visit" until December (9 months), so after Tuesday he'll get a nice little break from shots for awhile.

Likes: He's pretty much game for anything. Likes sitting and playing with toys, his exersaucer, a new one is he likes being turned upside down. Nick does it a lot, but I'll "swoop" down with him and he giggles like crazy. He likes tummy time, rolling around (although he doesn't do it that much) and he's been scooting backwards and sideways a bit, but not quite forward yet. I can see him thinking hard about it though :)He also loves going to the store and sitting in the carriage - he will stare anyone down until they acknowledge him and then he'll giggle like crazy.

Dislikes: Being taken out of the bathtub, same as last month, and I don't see this going away any time soon. We've been using the projector setting on the white noise machine and it puts a starry/ colorful image on the wall which distracts him a bit.

When his bottle is done he'll scream bloody murder for a few seconds and then realize "oh wait, I'm full" and stop.

Sleep: Nicholas got sick from a friend's daughter a few weeks back and he started waking himself up in the middle of the night coughing. It's been pretty rough the last couple of weeks but the last two nights were good (hey, I'll take what I can get!). He'll go down by 7 and sleep until about 4:30-5. We also think he might be teething again (lots of drool on his sleep sack and a bit more irritated than normal) and adding new fruits and veggies every few days so he'll take some time to adjust to the new "things".

Noteable:

I mentioned it in an earlier post, but he screamed "daaadaaaa" several times, it's the one syllable he's learned so far...so now I just sit with him and say "mamamamamamamaamamamam" hoping that will come out next ;)


Overall, we are blessed with a very happy, smiley, giggly, cuddly baby and I can't get enough of him. The other day he was cuddled on my hip "watching" tv and I told Nick was never again going to work, I was just going to stay there forever. Ahh..if only.

Someone Loves Carrots

Well, I love them too, but Nicholas lost his mind for them! I made them (steamed, added water and a pinch of nutmeg) and he gobbled them up super fast.

Now, I promise I wasn't drinking while feeding him but it certainly looks like I was...I found some orange up his nose later in the day!

This past weekend was a good one and I was lucky enough to have off today, for Columbus Day. My mom is visiting and her birthday is tomorrow - I told her you're welcome for your grandson, that's your gift, heehee.

Nick and his friends rotate houses for each Patriots game and this Sunday Nick was hosting. My friend Jessie also came up from CT and it was so great to see her, and she got to meet Nicholas which was just awesome. We shopped a bit and then went to lunch and Nicholas was so well behaved! But, he didn't get an afternoon nap because of all the excitement, so he was up and down most of the night. Here are some pics from yesterday:

Jessie and I - Nick is distracting the babe.

Caroline and Danielle and I - we took about 15 pictures and hated all of them, heehee...so I just picked one at random!

The fedora kills me, and Nick's friends Josh & Andrew bought him the awesome jersey. It's a 2T so hopefully he can wear it for a few seasons.

I'm getting my mop of hair chopped very soon! But I do have to say I like the color, I've embraced my natural/darker hair!

Jon, Caroline, and the babe

Dexter taking a break from all the excitement

Doggie cupcake from Jessie's dog Annabelle to Dexter!

Seriously, he's going to take off at any moment!

Nicholas is definitely the only sober one in the picture...

Thanks Ladies!

Becoming a mother has been wonderful, frustrating, awesome, scary, tiring, and many other things. I am lucky enough to have many mom friends to help me along the way. Here are just a few of the many I'd like to thank:

Becky B.: Becky is married to my friend Sean, whom I've known since elementary school and we've been friends for years. If it wasn't for Becky, I never would have started a blog. I loved reading her blog when she was pregnant with her first son, Colin. I really appreciated how honest she was during her pregnancy, delivery, and with life as a mother. I look forward to reading every single one of her posts and love reading things from her point of view, because we share a lot of the same thoughts and opinions.

Katy H.: Katy is married to Nick's friend Dan. She had Declan last October (can't believe he'll be 1 soon!!) and she has been so helpful when I ask her one question after another. From breast feeding, to solids, to nap schedules, to what kind of shoes did you get Declan? to "I need a drink!" nights, Katy is a wonderful mother and friend and I'm so glad to have her in my life. We try to get together with the kiddos and husbands once a month and it's just a fun, quick dinner where we gab about life and babies and everything in between.

Maggie C.: Maggie and I work for the same company and became friends when she started about 5 years ago. Her and Adam had their reception at the Andover Country Club, where Nick and I ended up having ours, and we've been friends since I was planning our wedding back in 2007. Maggie has Lila who turned a year old in May and my friendship with her is similar to Katy's. I ask Maggie question upon question and she takes the time to explain what she did/does with Lila and helps me talk through what might be the best thing for Nicholas. She also helped me find our day care, as one of her friends brings her daughter there, so I am so very thankful for that. Maggie and I used to go to the gym together a long time back. I don't get to see her too often because we're so busy with the babes, but I know I can count on her if I need help!

Lauren K: Lauren and I have technically known each other for years. Her sister and I were in the same grade in school and Lauren is a year younger then Annie and I. Lauren and I weren't friends in school, but we knew "of" each other and I owe Lauren thanks for a lot of different things. For one, I talked to her about Boston Terriers before I got Dexter, as she has one named Jackson. Thank goodness she had positive things to say because now I couldn't imagine life without our BT pup! Lauren has Gwen who will be 2 this January and she is a stay at home Mom (so jealous! and I've said it before but I think it is the hardest job there is!) Although Lauren and I only know each other a bit, she was so encouraging throughout my pregnancy and afterwards, and it made me feel so good to have her support. She went out of her way to tell me I was doing awesome, or offering me help when I asked questions. I also got a lot of help from her with baby food making and I'm so glad it's going so well.

Sometimes being a Mom can seem like a thankless job - I want all of you ladies to know how wonderful you are and how lucky your babes are to have you. You are amazing, beautiful, fantastic women and my life wouldn't be the same without you.

xoxo

Quick Update and Random Things

Since I've gotten some peer pressure to update the blog (you're welcome Alexis:) here's what's been going on lately:

Nicholas is doing well with trying new foods, he's happy but not overly interested in anything. I'm slowly trying to get him to eat more, sometimes trying to trick him by making him laugh then "swooping" it into his mouth. Here's what else we've tried so far:

Sweet Potato - I made these and he liked them, no surprise since I really don't know anyone that doesn't.

Peas - He actually didn't do to bad with these and I was surprised. They smelled TERRIBLE but he ate a decent amount. Coming out though...not pretty :) I bought Earth's Best Organic Peas because I couldn't find them frozen without salt.

Apples -He liked these a lot, I made them on the stove with a pinch of nutmeg and cinnamon and the house smelled delicious! I also tasted them and they were like no sugar applesauce. My dad had left me some McIntosh apples so I used those.

Pears - He also liked these a lot, and I made them as well. Pears are a high pesticide food so I was glad to be able to find them organic, and I ripened them up in a brown paper bag for a few days before cooking them.

Up next are carrots and butternut squash, which I made earlier this week. After that I plan on trying fresh banana and I'm pretty sure he'll like that (based on what people have told me:)

We can tell that he is ready to crawl any day now. He gets up on all fours and actually "slinks" backwards. He gets his butt up and knees up, but just can't figure out what to do after that. I can tell he's "thinking" hard and I'm sure we'll be chasing him around before we know it.

Today after work Nick was playing with him and "tickling" him a lot and he started screaming, what we are considering, his first "words" which was "dada". It could just be gibberish of course, but it was the sweetest thing and I got teary. I can't figure out how to save a video to my computer, otherwise I'd post the video here. If you have Facebook and are friends with Nick, he intends to post it on his page. I got rid of my Facebook page today so all updates about the babe can be found here from now on.

The weather has gotten cooler and the fall is definitely here. I've lit some pumpkin scented candles in the house and I'm really enjoying the change in the season. My mom will be coming up for a few days on Sunday (her birthday is October 9th) and my friend Jessie is coming Saturday which I'm so very excited for.

Nick and I celebrated our 4 year wedding anniversary yesterday. He picked up the baby early and we headed to The Cheesecake Factory for a quick bite to eat. Nothing special, just low key and relaxing. It was the perfect anniversary :) We decided next year we'll do something special since it'll be 5 years.

Here are some recent pics of the babe: