Happy Easter

We had a very relaxing Easter - we actually don't really celebrate "regular" Easter but plan on celebrating Greek Easter which is on May 5th this year. We didn't do much except finally went to a local park in Dracut so Nicholas could check it out. The park is very nice and I'm looking forward to bringing Nicholas there in the summer. Here are some pics of the day:

























Also, we got Nicholas his first "real" shoes from Stride Rite yesterday - a sweet pair of Saucony's and some "dressier" brown shoes. :)

xoxo

Quinton's 2nd Birthday

Happy Birthday Quinton!

A Sponge Bob Birthday :)




With Kingsley's Mom


Auntie Alexis


Such a big boy!


Eating Pizza crust first because we all know that's the best part


Kingsley's Dad with Teddy




Cake Time


A little shy


Yay for cake!








Dad & Auntie


So civilized with a spoon, heehee :)




Looking for more Annie's crackers...


Sponge Bob pinata - so the new thing is no bat, just strings that you pull and one of them will release the candy. Interesting ;) Quin loved it and that's what matters most!






Told you he loved it!

1 Year Appointment

Height: 30 ½ inches (70th %)
Weight: 25lbs 10 oz (95th %)
Head Circumference: 49.1 (99th %)
BMI: 96%

I made a joke about being thankful I didn’t have to push him out as his head was always large and the doc said it was probably a good thing I didn’t have to try since I might not have been able to (and I’m ok with that!)
His 1 year appointment went well, I wasn’t a huge fan of the doctor that I saw (I think the fact that she is/appears younger than me bothers me more than it should).

A couple of things that surprised me:
It was recommended that I get Nicholas off the bottle within the next few weeks. I know that he should be weaned after a year, but my goodness, he just turned 1 last week! At any rate, he had his last bottle yesterday morning before his appointment and since then he has been given only sippy cups and he has not complained one bit. Obviously, the kid loves to eat (see size above!) and he has figured out the sippy cup and it is not a problem. He was switched to whole milk and no more formula this past Sunday with no issues.

Another thing that’s a little difficult is he was getting about 30 oz of formula a day. With whole milk, he should get a maximum of 2 ½ cups a day. The main reason is that if he is getting too much milk, he may become too full from it and not get the nutrients that he needs from other foods. Fortunately, this also doesn’t seem to be a problem. I offered him a sippy cup with about 4 oz of milk before bed last night and he didn’t even finish it. Honestly, this kid is a piece of cake (as of this very moment ;)

Nicholas isn’t saying much in the way of words. He also doesn’t really point much which he should be doing. He basically says daaaaaaaaadaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa all day and all night, and not much else. He does point at the dog and “question him” so we tell him “that’s Dexter” or “that’s the dog.” I talk to him as much as possible and I know he will eventually catch on, I just got a little nervous in talking to her about this that maybe he isn’t as vocal as he should be. He does babble a lot and knows his name…he also can “answer the phone” (puts his hand up to his ear), give kisses (open mouth and slobbery and awesome), waves hello and bye bye when he wants to, and if you
yell “touchdown” he throws his hands up in the air.

The appointment went well, two shots, he cried a bit but it was over quick and he was fine. Thankfully he has had no reaction to any shots so far and I hope that continues.

A few random tidbits from late:
This guy is really growing fast. The other day I put the rest of his bibs away (they’re pointless as he just pulls them off) and he is also getting better at getting food into his mouth. Also as he is strictly on table food it’s much less of a mess. Yesterday he ate gnocchi, sauce, and chicken with us but I gave him very little sauce and it was way less mess than I expected. I moved the bibs to storage and put our hand towels that used to be in that spot back there – got a little sentimental, not gonna lie… silly I know.

I have a very strong personality and I know that at times I can be difficult to take (as I’ve been told, haha). Well, I think Nicholas is definitely starting to catch on to my personality:

Each night we have a routine of bath (bath is actually every other night), bottle (now sippy cup), brush teeth, read a book, and go to bed. Well, lately he has not been a fan of reading and wants to either just look at the book or throw it. I let him hold it, look at the pages, play with it, etc., for a little while before turning off the lights. After I turn off the lights, I rock him a bit, hold him, tell him I love him, and put him down. Lately, he has wanted none of this – he basically pushes away from me to be put down, curls up, and goes to bed. Clearly he is letting me know what he wants and I make sure to listen to him (and I hope I always will). I’m not necessarily “hurt” by this, but it does make me a little sad. I know he will grow up no matter what, so I’m trying to take it all in stride – but I was just surprised how quickly it changed from one day to next. I also know that even when he’s 30, he’ll still (and always will be) my little boy.

xoxo

Nicholas NY 1st Birthday Party - Round 2

Round 2 Done, officially exhausted. We took a very short trip to New York to celebrate Nicholas' first birthday with my family. We left Friday Night at 7:30 and left Saturday night at about 7:00 pm.

We had a low key gathering at my Mom's house - just my parents, siblings and significant others, my nephew Riley, and my favorite Aunt & Uncle (my mom's sister) and my Grandmother. I got to re use a lot of the decorations from the MA party so that was a plus. :)

Here are some pics of the visit:


My mom picked this up for him as he's a major Sponge Bob fan


Godfather Erik & the nugget


Cupcakes done by Mom


My Uncle Tommy and Nicholas with a (gasp!) Giants hat on his head.


Dad showing off his shirt with a pretty cute baby on it






I left him in his onesie for a little while so people could check out his lil' ham hocks.











He seemed to like this cupcake a little better but still wasn't a huge fan (which is fine by me ;)

Nicholas and his cousins

Alexis sent me this a few days ago and I just love it. It's amazing how different the boys look from one another, but it's so cool to see them side by side:



Also, took this picture at Owen & Ollie's today when we went to lunch for the babe's birthday, and I just had to share: