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.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
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.
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.
Friday, July 4, 2008
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.
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.
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Prodigy?
This morning at breakfast, Nicole was holding up one finger as she often does, pointing at my cereal. So I said, "One." Nicole immediately responded, "Two." Jessica and I just looked at each other dumbfounded. There was no way that had just happened. So I said one again and ...
Two!
I tried three, and she said something that sounded like four. We were never able to get that far again, but if you say one, she says two.
Maybe this is normal and those of you with kids older than Nicole are laughing at us, but we were quite impressed. Plus, considering she's in Jewish day care in Phoenix, she'll probably master 1 through 5 in English, Spanish and Hebrew before she's two.
Two!
I tried three, and she said something that sounded like four. We were never able to get that far again, but if you say one, she says two.
Maybe this is normal and those of you with kids older than Nicole are laughing at us, but we were quite impressed. Plus, considering she's in Jewish day care in Phoenix, she'll probably master 1 through 5 in English, Spanish and Hebrew before she's two.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
This has to be a record...
Two picture posts in the same month, and the month is barely half over. Considering that Nicole is currently sporting a nice shiner that I've yet to take pictures of, I know there will be another photo opportunity shortly. (Yes, my Father's Day highlight was Nicole tripping over my foot and going face-first into the coffee table. But she's OK and doesn't seem to be holding it against me.)
Jessica (and Nicole's teachers at school) are into doing cute things to her hair, so we have some pictures of that. Also, we had a brief moment where our pool was blue, clean and functional, so we took advantage of it one beautiful Sunday afternoon. Pictures of that also, and you'll love Nicole's outfit. Mine, not so much. Unfortunately a busted pipe this weekend (seems there's a lot of that going around here) has the pool out of commission again, but it's on the mend and we should be up and running again soon.
Here are the pictures.
Jessica (and Nicole's teachers at school) are into doing cute things to her hair, so we have some pictures of that. Also, we had a brief moment where our pool was blue, clean and functional, so we took advantage of it one beautiful Sunday afternoon. Pictures of that also, and you'll love Nicole's outfit. Mine, not so much. Unfortunately a busted pipe this weekend (seems there's a lot of that going around here) has the pool out of commission again, but it's on the mend and we should be up and running again soon.
Here are the pictures.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Budding foodie
Although she may not look like it, Nicole loves to eat. And from her choices of favorite foods these days, I think we have a new foodie on our hands. She enjoys kobe beef hamburgers and hamburgers we make from beef tenderloin "chain." She's not afraid of spice as evident for her love of guacamole, flautas, or fish tacos (wait, do fish tacos from Rubio's bring down her foodie quotient?). And, much to my surprise, she loves the Barefoot Contessa grilled salmon salad, complete with capers, dill and red onion.
As far as we can tell, there are only 2 problems to all this. First, Nicole decided that she detests Kraft macaroni & cheese right after we purchased the Costco family pack. Oh well, the boxes will survive until she changes her mind -- even if that's in college. Second, because she prefers mint chocolate chip ice cream to vanilla or fruit flavors, it means there is less for us.
As far as we can tell, there are only 2 problems to all this. First, Nicole decided that she detests Kraft macaroni & cheese right after we purchased the Costco family pack. Oh well, the boxes will survive until she changes her mind -- even if that's in college. Second, because she prefers mint chocolate chip ice cream to vanilla or fruit flavors, it means there is less for us.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Catching up
How long has it been since I last updated the blog or posted new pictures? Well, the big batch of pictures I'm putting up now include photos of two separate visits by my mom. So either I've been slacking, or someone's been spending a lot of her retirement in Arizona. (OK, it's both.)
One thing you might notice is different about Nicole in some of these pictures, especially the later ones, is that she's vertical. That's right, she's walking. She started at the beginning of May, so the correct answer in the poll that was once on the site was 13 months. If that was your choice, you get a special prize. She's constantly on the move now, and it's fun to watch.
She's still very talkative and displaying quite the vocabulary. Mostly, though, she likes to bark like a dog. She loves her doggie books and knows a dog says woof woof, so she says woof woof whenever she sees a dog. But not up close - she still panics when she sees one up close. Some of her favorite words are book, bubbles, shoes, socks, uh oh, bye bye, moo, baa, yellow, peekaboo, mama, dada, what's that, banana and plenty more I'm forgetting right now.
She's also doing much better at swim lessons (not indicated in the pictures in this post), enjoying the swings at the park and playing with her slide, chalk and bubbles out on the patio. She can't wait to come to Baltimore in July and see everyone.
That's about it for Nicole. Her daddy has started his new job in Internal Communications at APS (the big Phoenix electric utility) and everything's great so far. More updates to come on that in the future. And here's the obligatory promise to post more frequently ... this time I mean it. I hope.
Here are the pictures.
One thing you might notice is different about Nicole in some of these pictures, especially the later ones, is that she's vertical. That's right, she's walking. She started at the beginning of May, so the correct answer in the poll that was once on the site was 13 months. If that was your choice, you get a special prize. She's constantly on the move now, and it's fun to watch.
She's still very talkative and displaying quite the vocabulary. Mostly, though, she likes to bark like a dog. She loves her doggie books and knows a dog says woof woof, so she says woof woof whenever she sees a dog. But not up close - she still panics when she sees one up close. Some of her favorite words are book, bubbles, shoes, socks, uh oh, bye bye, moo, baa, yellow, peekaboo, mama, dada, what's that, banana and plenty more I'm forgetting right now.
She's also doing much better at swim lessons (not indicated in the pictures in this post), enjoying the swings at the park and playing with her slide, chalk and bubbles out on the patio. She can't wait to come to Baltimore in July and see everyone.
That's about it for Nicole. Her daddy has started his new job in Internal Communications at APS (the big Phoenix electric utility) and everything's great so far. More updates to come on that in the future. And here's the obligatory promise to post more frequently ... this time I mean it. I hope.
Here are the pictures.
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