Nick's First Christmas

It's been an amazing year so far and we have finally made it to Christmas. After a little delay in getting decorated due to the water leak we were able to get our tree up and decorated earlier this week. After getting up this morning (Nick was SO excited about Santa's visit that he woke us up at 6am) and opening gifts we had a little breakfast and then it was off to Matt and Alicia's for an early dinner. It was delicious. Thanks to them for inviting us over and letting us be part of their family on Christmas.

Below are a few pictures from the Holidays so far. Merry Christmas everyone!

It was quite the drama to finally get the tree up and decorated, but once we did we were very happy with it.

...and the stockings were hung by the chimney with care...even one for Charlie.

I loosely wrapped a box for Nick to open...


With a little help he finally got into it...


...wait for it...

Tissue Paper! My Favorite!

Look at the pretty bow.

What to open next...

I wonder if I can put this in my mouth?

This was the outfit we picked out to get his picture taken with Santa...

Unfortunately the line to see Santa was well past the time Nick had available before the inevitable would happen. But he still looked darned cute.

Alia's Birthday

We went over to Jason, Kim and Alia's on Sunday to celebrate Alia's 1st Birthday. Last year at this time the snow was just starting to pile up to the point that the city shut down for a week. This year it is cool, but is supposed to be dry for the next several days. Nick had a great time playing with the kids and even tried his first bite of birthday cake.

Here is the birthday girl.

Nick making new friends.

Alia and her mom, Kim.

Nick found something that made noise. What fun. There is a short video at the bottom of him playing with it.

Nick learning how to shop.

He wasn't doing a very good job so Alia came over to help him out.

Alia enjoying her birthday cake.

This is nick enjoying the rattling box.

Alia enjoying her birthday cake.

Miscellaneous Update

As some of you are aware we returned from Thanksgiving in Ohio to discover a leak in our hot water line in our crawl space to the kitchen (this was a Saturday morning). More surprising was from the time I first called a plumber around 9am to 3pm we had a plumber and a water damage company in and out. The leak apparently was caught early and the damage was minor. But we did end up with a lot of loud equipment in our kitchen and crawl space to dry out the moisture.


In addition to the water damage we also just spent the last week in a Pacific Northwest deep freeze. Below is a picture of what Nick wore to day care during that week. It was probably a little overkill, but it was cute.

Nine (and a half) Month Pictures

Sorry for the delay in getting formal nine month shots up, but we finally have gotten around to it. Nick had his nine month check-up yesterday and as expected he is a happy, healthy baby. Eighteen pounds, seven ounces and 28 inches. He eats pretty much whatever we feed him and he loves to feed himself. He is crawling, pulling up and starting to cruise around the furniture a bit. Teeth five and six also have made their appearance. All in all it has been quite a month of development. Enjoy the pictures and a video.

Nick Pulling Himself Up

Nick is becoming more and more mobile. Here are a couple of videos of him playing, crawling, pulling up and falling down. Enjoy.

Standing and Playing

In the last week Nicholas has definately taken to pulling himself up and standing. Here he is playing at his activity table. He is very proud of himself.

Learning to Clap

Nick got to spend some time with his great-grandmothers this week. In the video Simone and Great-Grandma Jackie taught Nick to clap. Now he is excited by the fact that he can make noise at will.

Thanksgiving '09

It has been another successful Thanksgiving in Ohio. A full house from Portland to Knoxville was in attendance. Simone, Nick and I would like to wish everyone a very happy Thanksgiving wherever you may be (Carmel, Phoenix, Frankfurt).

Nick testing out his new wheels.

Nick's new favorite toy - the box the wine was shipped in.

Great-Grandmother Jackie, Cousin Samantha, and her beau, Grant.

Nick enjoyed his first Thanksgiving Day foods: turkey, mashed potatoes, green beens, roles, and pumpkin pie.

The whole gang in Dresden, Ohio.

Getting reading to for dinner. Mom runs a tight ship.

On our way!

While Ohio State was finishing up their regular season with another win over that team from up north we were on our way to Ohio for Thanksgiving. After seeing that I had some upgrades that were going to expire I did the unthinkable and upgraded us to first class... with an eight month old. I was fearful that everyone would hate us but other than being a little fidgety he did great.

Currently in Chicago. Next stop... Columbus.

Nick Enjoying His Jumperoo

8 Months (and 1 Week)

So we were a little late with the formal 8 Month Pictures, but without further ado...

First Haircut

Yes, we know. We haven't posted our official 8 months pictures. They will just have to be 8 months 1 week pictures. But, in the meantime, we have a few shots of Nick's first haircut. Enjoy.

Before...

After.

Halloween

While Nick is not quite old enough to head out trick-or-treating he did get dressed up to head over for an event at day care. He will also sport the outfit tomorrow when we give out candy the neighborhood kids.