How He's Measuring Up

Since I forgot to do it on Saturday for his 14th month day, I did a little weigh in and height check in today. The little goober is measuring a healthy 32 inches and a whopping 24.5 pounds. Apparently, he's between the 75th and 90th percentile for length and the 50th to 75th for weight....which if you were a reader of our family blog last year has you shouting a big woo hoo since he was in the 10th for weight. This boy can eat. That's all I'll say.

As luck would have it, I believe he's hungry now so I have to run, but yea for results, eh?

Fourteen Months....

And never slowing down. What a blessing it has been having this little guy to amuse me. He's such a doll.

He's been working on his walking/running again lately. We're still doing about 8 steps and then a boom on his bum, but they seem to be a little more sure. He's also just a little chatter bug. I wish I could understand all of what he's saying because I just know it must be amusing as all get out. I don't want him to grow up too fast, but I know I'm going to love it when he can speak a little more clearly. :)

We took a few pictures this morning of him in his surf shorts and aloha shirt (which will no doubt be posted to his site in say six months - LOL!) and I got a couple of super cute ones of him giving me a kiss. He now gives kisses on cue...it is THE BEST EVER! Even more so given the recent kiss drought I was subjected to. I love being able to say "Nicholas, can Mommy have a good morning kiss?" and then having him plant one on me! :)

So this evening we're going to take more pictures. The photographer that took pictures of him the day before his first birthday is going to give us another session since he was hoping (as were we) for a few more great shots than we ended up with. We're going to go to the Broadmoor and do some indoor and outdoor shots. It should be fun...especially since this time around, I know exactly what I'm going to dress the little tyke in! :)

Big Boy Bathtime!

Nicholas took his first bath in the big boy tub without me this evening. Ever since he moved from his small tub to the big tub, I have jumped in and enjoyed in his water play antics. Tonight, though, I thought we'd try things without me in the tub and it didn't seem to even phase him so we may just keep on this path.

It's yet another sign that my little guy is growing up. It really does happen too fast! Now if he'd only sleep all the way through the night...

Kisses!!!

Nicholas is back to being my loveable (well, he's always been loveable!) kissy boy. I was beginning to suffer from withdrawal symptoms as he'd gone through a kiss strike or something. But last night it came to a close at dinner time when he decided that it would be a great time (when he had food all over his face, of course) to give Mommy a ton of kisses. It was too cute and I didn't even mind the mess. ;)

This morning he treated me to another kiss fest. I can't think of a better way to spend my time than being kissed by a super cute and loveable baby!

Other than that, got a little bad news today since one of ladies who was supposed to do a party for me had to cancel. She's maybe still going to do a catalog party which would be just fine.

We also tried some stuff last night (Calm's Forte for kids by Hyland's) to see if it would help Nicholas sleep better. We'll give it another night to make sure, but it seems to have (of course, it might be also that his teeth have calmed down some) since he slept until 2 a.m. instead of the usual midnight. Keep your fingers crossed...this kid needs to sleep through the night again!

Teeth, Teeth and More Teeth!

My son is an impatient boy. He seems to be like his father and rush into things head first...and he's suffering because of it. You all know he's teething...no surprise there since I've mentioned it countless times. But imagine my surprise when I discovered on Monday evening, when cleaning his teeth, that there was a lower canine tooth that had pushed through right next to his first molar!

Ay Carumba! No wonder the poor little guy has screaming fests at night...I'd be screaming, too. I think he has a right to scream. Ususally a bottle and a couple of teething tablets do the trick, but we did try last night (without success since we'd already pulled out the sippy cup) to give him a teething biscuit. Those little buggers seem like they would be quite effective if not terribly tasty, but they don't smell too bad either (we got the Heathy Times wheat free ones). I guess we'll wait and see just how fast all those chompers are going to come in!

And now we're going to discuss another of Nicholas' quirks...pre-waking. Man, this kid is a *thrasher*! In the half hour before he wakes up he just moves about - kicking, tossing, turning...he does it all. When I am very tired, it is WAY annoying... It's times like these that I think "What have we done" with respect to letting him sleep with us at night.

I never imagined I'd be a "kid in our bed" kind of girl...I like my space (which we solved to some extent by upgrading to a king size bed). But, when you have a kid that really won't sleep for more than 1/2 to 2 hours at a time in his own bed, you finally give in. And so we did...and most of the time it's lovely.

Nicholas is a warm cuddly little snuggle buddy and especially in winter time it is nice to have that little warm body snuggled up to you. In the summer it's a little less so, but primarily it is lovely...except in those waking hours when I'm being beaten to a pulp by the cutie. So, as soon as he's able to be conversed with that little guy is going to his own room....or at least on a pallet on the floor in ours like I did when I had nightmares as a kid.

Last update is on the whole walking thing. He's getting it. If I could only say that I had beena ble to get it on the video camera. Sooner or later I'll catch him in the act, but it seems to be later...

The Life of the Party

Nicholas is a little socialite...and he might garner the name LL Cool Nick if he doesn't watch out. Ladies Love Cool Nick. It's very true.

Tonight we went to check out a young adults group starting at our church...not sure if it is our "scene," but it was nice to chat with a few people we've seen there our age and get to know them a bit better. There was a little BBQ at one of the couples' houses and we, of course, brought Nicholas along. He proceded to woo each and every girl at the party, but he had a couple of favorites...my son is a blonde lover. It is already apparent. I guess if I ever decide to bleach my hair, he'll approve. :)

He's still working on the walking thing. In some respects he has decided it is for the birds...crawling is still more efficient. But he still tries his feet out every so often.

My little grand opening in my home town was fun. I did make around $300 in sales which is enough to cover the cost of the room I rented and the stamps I used to send out all those postcards to tell people about it. I'd say they were actually successful, too...I had four people come because of the post cards. Not too shabby.

That's it for now...more tomorrow with any luck!

Who Knew...

Diapering and dressing a baby could be so much fun? I'm guessing other mommies and that is about it!

I chuckle as I write this because my little brother Doug and his girlie Lea came and watched Nicholas during my grand opening last weekend (Daddy had another class to attend). I only got to see them for a couple of seconds as I was rushing out the door, but my brother made sure to show me the "implements" he'd brought to ensure diapering would be tolerable....rubber gloves. If I had given him any advice, I would have suggested that hands are washable...noses are not. Bring the gas mask...leave the gloves, but I digress.

At any rate, despite the sometimes most awful smells that accompany the process, I actually enjoy changing Nicholas' diaper. And I like dressing him, too...and not just because I get to put him in cute outfits. ;) Now I can't say that I have any desire to change any other child on the planet. I'd rather not...at all. However, I am now a believer that you are desensitized to just how icky the process is when he/she is yours...the big man upstairs doesn't miss a beat!

The reason I love changing Nicholas is simple...he loves being naked. At his age, this isn't a problem. It was when he was younger and didn't have much control over his bodily functions. It may be when he gets older if we don't do a proper job of instilling morals in him (yes, I'm already thinking of strategies to ensure I'm not a grandma before my time), but right now, it's awesome.

Whatever the reason, he loves it and there's no mistaking that fact. You take off his diaper and he squeals and giggles. It's pretty cute. He has actually started throwing fits lately when I try to put his clothes back on. This kid definitely knows what he wants...and he wants to be naked. He also likes just being in his diaper which makes dressing a fun time. He loves tummy raspberries, tickles and such.

I am also reminded, though it isn't quite on topic, of something someone told me the other day. I think it may be true...and I'm sure it will be for Nicholas. She said "there are two kinds of people in this world - red heads, and the people who wait on them." I like that...especially since I have a decent amount of red hair myself. I'm actually contemplating dying my whole hair a nice reddish shade. We'll see if I ever go through with it. ;)

No More Panera...

Every Wednesday for some months, Nicholas and I have jumped out of bed (more like crawled unhappily) to take Mark to Panera Bread for his weekly BNI meeting. After this morning's meeting, we discovered our trips to Panera on Wednesdays have come to an end. Praise the Lord!

One of the members of Mark's group has graciously offered to pick Mark up in the morning and take him to the meeting then drop him off at the office. In some respects I'm a little saddened by this as I have met a few people there that I see fairly regularly, but I think I should be able to get over it pretty easily! :)

Apparently, this angel determined after watching me chase Nicholas, try to corral him and get him to avoid banging on the meeting room door, pester other patrons, escape to the great outdoors and scream when he doesn't get his way (i.e., Mom reroutes him), that Nicholas shouldn't be subjected to such torture any longer. Yea!

In other news, Nicholas tried out his chompers today....on my shoulder! The little bugger bit into it really hard. I was completely shocked and gave him a good reactive swat. He knew he was in trouble, I think. He just sort of looked at me like "oops." I was really quite surprised that he hadn't broken through the skin with the force of that bite...

Well, that is it for the moment in the happy fountain of my life. We (Nickels and I) are now going to trek over to the farmers' market for our weekly share of raw milk and vegetables. This is a rather difficult time to go since I have to drag Nichiolas with me, but waiting until later in the day has proven quite ugly on several occasions so I guess we'll just bit the bullet and give it a try! Oh goodness, I also have to go to the bank to get their candle orders. I better get jumping!

And So It Goes...

Yep. We're in trouble. The sprout has become a creeping weed. He is enjoying this new trick that makes Mommy squeal with delight (despite her knowledge that she soon will have even more of a handful on her hands)...walking. We've had several instances of him giving it a shot now. I would love to get it on video, but I have this funny feeling that the moment the camera is on he'll abstain. Maybe I'll try it anyhow...I suppose I have a better shot at getting video with the camera than without it.

In other news, I had another tack onto my grand opening orders today and I believe I am now (yea!) past my introductory commission threshhold. That means I'll be getting another 5% for my commission checks, but the next one will be a bit smaller. I guess I sort of got an advance on this first one (as I suspected) since they sent me a letter today saying the amount was in error. At least I don't have to go crazy wondering how on earth I made more than double of what I was expecting!

Back to Nicholas, we had a fun bath this evening. The new game is "you hand me the toys, Mom, and I'll toss them out while you try to make sure the water stays in the tub." Doesn't that sound fun? I'm getting better at it. The first time we played the rug in the bathroom had a few very wet spots. Tonight I think I managed to keep the water poured out with cups and such to less than 1/4 cup.

Well, I suppose that is all for now! Hope everyone is doing well...

Literal Baby Steps

Nicholas took 3 steps yesterday. They were tentative and tiny, but I saw them...my life is very close to changing and it frightens me a bit! It doesn't help that our dear Daddy is suggesting to the little guy that he should start running...forget walking. Ugh. No running, please...how shall I keep up?

I just remembered a funny little discovery I made when I arrived home from my grand opening Saturdsay. Nicholas has discovered the joy of...toilet paper. Egads. There was toilet paper everywhere. Everywhere. I think I just today finally swept up the last few traces...but I may find more.

This is, I believe, forshadowing of what's to come. My husband can't see his son doing onery things...as long as he's quiet he can get away with anything. Tell me you actually believe he won't exploit this when he's older. Egads. I'm in trouble. Has anyone found a way to clone humans yet? I think I need ten more of me.

I've had a couple of great emails today from "pass along" customers for my business. They didn't get the note about the grand opening until today and they want to get a catalog or go online so they can order. Coolie. And I should have some orders from the bank by Wednesday. Maybe things will pick up after all!

Giggle Fest & Pteradactyls

Nicholas had great fun in church today during the announcements. I'm not sure if the priest said something fun, if I made a funny face or if an angel whispered a funny joke in his ear, but he started giggling like crazy! I failed miserably at trying to keep a straight face...and I wasn't alone. There were people all around us who were trying not to giggle along with my jovial boy. What a silly goose!

As if that weren't enough entertainment for one service, Nicholas later decided to express his displeasure with being made to sit still while the sacrament was blessed. We have, at times, dubbed Nicholas the pteradactyl baby...and he was in full dinosaur mode today. We even had someone else come and make a comment about how he sounded just like a dinosaur. Never a dull moment with Nicholas around!

We had our date last night and it nice...just dinner, a stroll and some ice cream/slushie thing after, but it was nice to get to converse and just be.

Today I received a surprise in the mail which was, of course, from yesterday...my first commission check! It was actually a bigger surprise than I expected...about double what I calculate I should have received. I'm perplexed by it, but not complaining. And yet, the accountant in me must know what the discrepancy is for...but the family bill payer in me doesn't want to ask because we need the money and I'd hate to find out it was a mistake! I imagine the CPA will win out...

I also received some prints of pictures from when Nicholas was a wee little newborn. Man was he cute...he still is, but he was SO tiny! It's hard to imagine that now when he's taller than some 3 year olds! It reminds me that soon I'll have to get some more pictures of him up on his website, but first I have 50 prints I need to have made before my credit expires!

Six More...

This is the number of pounds I have left before I am my pre-pregnancy weight. Not too shabby. I am noticing I'm looking much better in a lot of my clothes again.

I definitely do miss having Nicholas "on the inside" sometimes. I barely remember all of the bad stuff about being pregnant (I'm not going to rush and read any of my posts from those days when I was having a tough time of it either!), but I remember some of the nice things. I loved those little flutter kicks and even the big ones toward the end there. They were fun. I liked seeing my belly grow and blossom into a first rate "baby hotel."

As many of my friends are blessed with babies on the way, I am reminded of these things. I am thankful I was able to experience the joys and pains of pregnancy first-hand. I am blessed to have such a darling little boy as a result of the process.

A part of me longs to start the process again, but things in our lives just aren't where they should be right now. We need to get a few things in order and then we can contemplate whether growing our family is the right thing to do. Even if we decide against it, I have Nicholas and he has me. I am one lucky mommy.

Bath Time...

I have not yet mentioned here just how much my son loves a bath. It is quite amusing. Turn on the water and he immediately crawls to the bathroom and starts saying "eh, eh, eh..." It's utterly adorable. Of course, if the bath isn't for him, the resulting tantrum is not very adorable at all.

I tried once to take Nicholas into the shower with me when he was having a tantrum. Someone had told me it would cure him of his strong desire for baths. They were wrong. He loved it. The only thing it did was made him cold because he wasn't sitting in a nice pool of warm water.

Recently, Nicholas has started to get tired of the bath a little sooner. I think he is bored with his bath toys...given that he throws them out of the tub regularly, I may be on to something here. He now stands up and starts whining for dad to come and take him out (Nicholas and I still bath together...he likes it and I feel it's safer).

I am thankful he does like his baths and hope the trend will continue though I fear it will not. Perhaps he'll trade his love for baths for a love for having his teeth brushed...I don't think I'll hold my breath. Of course once the molars are in we'll have a better shot, I'm sure.

Well, tomorrow is my big day so I guess I better get off to bed. I hope everyone is well. We made a lot of calls today and so I believe that my turnout tomorrow will be quite healthy. We can hope!

To The Chase!

Aside from watching him sleep, watching him eat (especially bananas...it's so darn cute I tried to get video this morning, but the little goober got full around the time I thought to grab the camera!), and pretty much just watching Nicholas do anything, there is something I love to do with him. We enjoy a good chase. For now this is an easy task on me (unless he heads to the tile kitchen floor...his knees have much more padding than mine). I am a little afraid of what it will be like when he's walking and then running, though...and we're getting close. I've seen (as have others) a few tentative steps lately.

At any rate, our chase routine usually involves me telling him "I'm gonna get you" to which he responds with a big grin and then proceeds to crawl as fast as he can on his hands and knees toward his bedroom (or the living room if the chase starts in the bedroom). I follow going either fast or slow depending on my mood (this morning was slow with some piggie grunts for effect) and when I catch up to him, I either kiss him, tickle him or nibble him (usually while making piggie noises on this last one).

The super cute part of this game is it is quite obvious that Nicholas wishes to be caught. If I don't catch up soon enough, he actually stops, turns around and waits for me to catch up and then giggles incessantly while I tickle, nibble and kiss him. It's so nice to be loved.

Yesterday I hung out with my brother and Nicholas. We had fun...and for dinner Doug's girlie Lea and Mark joined us. Lea is helping as Mark's assistant at the office. It was nice to visit with them.

I guess Mark and I are going to have some couple time on Saturday evening. Not sure what we are doing but a friend of mine who dubs herself Nicholas' rent-a-grandma is going to come watch him. I'm sure we'll make good use of our time.

And, tomorrow is my second Grand Opening Celebration for my Scentsy business. I am hopeful that Mark and I will be able to make some phone calls so that I have a few more attendees than the first one. I guess Doug and Lea are going to come watch little Nicholas since Mark also has a class he needs to attend. It promises to be a busy day, I'm sure.

Finally, I discovered I can do fundraising type stuff with my business so if anyone is interested in something of that sort, please let me know. I'd be thrilled to help with that.

Nickels at Night...

I'm going to run out of catchy titles sooner or later, but we'll enjoy them while they come to mind.

We ended the day as we started it, with me rocking Nicholas to sleep. How precious. No real fights tonight which is a blessing. Usually it is a bit of a battle. I was a "bad mommy" and didn't brush his teeth this evening, though. And, much to his chagrin, I'm sure, there was no bath...it was a bit too late to squeeze one in. I let him finish his milk and then drift off while smiling up at me. I just hate torturing him with all those molars threatening his happiness. We've been brushing about every other night...

Tonight was perfect, though. We had all the lights off except for my little Scentsy warmer...the cherry blossom one that I "won" from my sponsor. It is the perfect night light...scented or not. It cast a warm glow above the baby grand in our living room (have I ever mentioned anywhere this wonderfully expensive and heavenly impulse buy that we shouldn't have splurged on?). Very soothing. Very soothing indeed.

It looks like business-wise I'm going to be going back to a familiar venue - bridal shows. I figure it is a great place to connect with many many people. I found a producer that has four shows total in Colorado Springs and South Denver with no consultants yet registered (they only take one per event). I think I'll probably do all four...if it doesn't work out then I'll not do them again. Nevertheless maybe this will be yet another great venue to help my business boom even if it won't help me hit that goal I was hoping to hit by August 19...

Let Sleeping Babies Lie

Few things are as relaxing to me as rocking with Nicholas. This morning I enjoyed a little piece of heaven by getting out of bed with my sleeping baby and going to the front room to rock so that he could enjoy a few more moments of restful sleep. The little guy is having a tough time with the whole sleep thing thanks to the teething issues. I feel for him.

He and Mark and I enjoyed a visit with my dad last night. We went to Jack Quinn's, an Irish pub here in town, for dinner. Nicholas enjoyed a hearty meal of part of both Grandad and Daddy's shepherd's pie. I enjoyed some fish and chips for the first time in many years.

Nicholas needs to see his grandparents more often, I think. He only would "hang out" with Grandad because mom was sitting right there with him. But maybe it is separation anxiety rearing its head. He does not like at all when I go out of his sight lately...and Daddy isn't much better. At times it can be quite frustrating, but I love that he loves me so much.

Perhaps we'll get two posts in today since I've started early. I'm really liking this new direction I'm taking...maybe it was just time to make a new place for myself.

Okay...Let's Try This Then....

A very wise mommy suggested I get back into the blogging habit by blogging about little things that make me happy. So I set this up to try to do just that. I'm not sure I'll post pictures here, but I will try to at least give you one moment in my day with my dear son that has made me feel joyful. I'm sure it will be good for my soul...hopefully it will be good for yours as well.

Today's moment just happened shortly before I decided to set up this new blog. I was enjoying a bit of a ticklefest with my little guy. I love tickle fests with him. He giggles and smiles and just is so dang cute. If I could tickle him all day, I think I might be able to forget everything else in life.

The little one is currently suffering through molar motion (i.e., they're coming in). We have one down and not without a lot of discomfort and a couple of sleepless nights. At least I found the teething tablet thingies...they help a lot, but he hates them. So, I do what any good mommy would do, I sneak them into him via a banana. :)

Thus endeth my first post about my cute little Nickles...