Catching up from vacation

Here are pictures from Nicole's trips to Baltimore and the beach. Co-stars are Maggie, Madison, Lindsey, Erin, Justin and Kara. (I know my mom, Kelly and others have some more good pictures. I'll try to get them soon.)

It was quite a whirlwind tour that also included 2 weddings for mommy and daddy, and a side trip to New Hampshire. Nicole hung in B-more with Bubby and Grandpa during that part of the trip. They certainly enjoyed some extra time with her.

Nicole was great on the boardwalk, pushing a stroller, saying hi to all the babies and making friends with everyone. She was OK on the beach, was scared of the ocean and polished off a dozen steamed crabs. (Or maybe that was me.) She somehow even got her Grandpa to share his ice cream with her. Mommy and Daddy shared with her too. For someone who is under the 5th percentile in weight, she sure can eat.

These days, Nicole is missing her Mommy, who is away in Chicago. She's talking like crazy - the words she doesn't know on her own she will almost always repeat. It's amazing what having two brilliant parents will do for a child's vocabulary. She's recently learned funny, Chicago, money and she says some semblance of "watermelon."

Enjoy the pictures. Coming soon -- updates and pictures from a trip to Sedona, Nicole's first haircut, new bedroom furniture for mommy and daddy (no more mismatched dressers from college), pics from the pool (it's still blue!!!) -- and not too far off -- Ravens season. Nicole's got her Shannon Sharpe jersey ready. Gotta love hand-me-downs.

Finally some good news

Loyal readers will be happy to know that the pool and dishwasher issues from a few posts back look like they are solved. The dishwasher has a new motor as of Tuesday and hasn't failed us since. The pool is once again a lovely shade of blue, and has cleared up just enough that we can see the bottom. It should be swimmable just in time for us to leave for vacation. Hopefully it's still blue when we return.

Nicole is up to her wonderful tricks, although her friend Ava at daycare showed her up today when she said Nicole's name perfectly. Nicole pronounces Ava's name more like Wava. But Nicole has learned to say Costco and chocolate, two necessities in life.

She not only can say chocolate, but she's pretty good at eating it. Hoping to get her up to the 5th percentile in weight, we try to pile on the calories. Lately it's been chocolate pudding (Ding! as Nicole says). She also insists on doing the spoon herself. She's not bad (for her age) but the result is still worth sharing. Here are pudding pictures and more.

Is there something less than the lightweight division?

We all know that July 4th is our nation's birthday, but did you know that on July 3, Nicole turned 15 months? She celebrated the day by going to summer camp and playing with Ava & Sydney (Kevin and I get a kick out of Nicole & Ava saying "bye" to one another) then going to the pediatrician for her checkup. She stands at nearly 2 1/2 feet (30 3/4 inches - 50th percentile) and weighs in at a whopping 18 pounds 8 ounces (still not quite 5th percentile). Nicole won't be sitting forward in a car seat anytime soon.

Our pool saga continues, but our pool guy (yes, we caved and hired a professional) seems to think that we'll be swimming in it by August. This is fine with me since we (or at least I) will be traveling the majority of July. I hope our dishwasher repairs don't drag out as long as the pool repairs have.

Until next time.