Here Comes Santa Clause

This past weekend Nico had his annual encounter with the big man in red...Santa Clause. Last year, the little guy was a little anxious about being near the man with the strange beard, but this year Nico was so enthralled with seeing Santa and telling him what he wanted for Christmas. Daddy and I both thought we knew everything Nico wanted for Christmas, but of course he surprised us and told Santa he wanted a race car. I guess Santa will have to figure that one out! Nico was a bit disappointed leaving Santa without the race car he had requested, but once the process was explained to him a little more he was content with just having seen and spoken to Santa.

It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Christmas

Thanksgiving has come and gone, which means that Christmas is now right around the corner. This has to be the most exciting time of the year in the eyes of an almost 3 year old. Last year, Nico was excited to a point, but the events of the holiday season did not make much sense to him. This year is different. Nico is giddy with excitement. He knows that Santa is coming to visit, brings toys to the good boys and girls, that Christmas means snowmen, reindeer, presents, lights, pretty and decorated trees. However, he also seems to be gaining an understanding of the true reason for the season; Jesus. We have a pop up book which tells the Christmas Story of Jesus' birth and Nico has been requesting this book every night at bedtime. It has been read to him so much, that he can now read the book to me! Seeing my almost 3 year old son kiss the baby Jesus in his book has to be the sweetest things I have ever seen. God's love shines through Nico. I have always said that because of Nico conception and his birth, Nico is here for a special purpose...loving Jesus and gaining an understanding of who He is, is just the start. I am so thankful to God for giving me this special little boy who is full of pure joy and love.

Nico does love the lights and all the decoration that does come along with this time of year. We came home from a playdate one day and Daddy had surprised Nico by decorating the entire front yard. It was a lit up wonderland. Some of the decorations play music and of course our little boy moved his happy feet when he discovered them.

Nico also was in the spirit of Christmas when it came time to decorate the Christmas tree. He was such a good helper and we ended up with a beautiful tree.

A Preemptive Birthday Celebration and a Fun Weekend with Pops

This past weekend Nico's Pops came into town for a long overdue (hint, hint Pops!) visit with us. While he was here we had some fun running around Toys R Us, going to the movies, enjoyed church together and just had a nice time visiting. The movie we went to see was Happy Feet 2, which was very cute...the best part about the movie was not on the big screen, but instead the highlight was watching Nico dance in the aisle during the majority of the movie. This adorable little boy sure loves music and dances away whenever he can. Finally, since it was just two short weeks before Nico's 3rd birthday, we had a small preemptive celebration. Nico loves cake and especially loves birthday cake, so he certainly did not mind this part of the weekend.

Here are a few pictures from the weekend.

Halloween

It seems like it has been the last month or so in which I have really been talking Halloween up to Nico, trying to get him excited about the whole ordeal. Of course it worked and he has had so much fun preparing for the event. On Halloween Nico had a costume parade and then party at this school, to which both Ed and I attended. However, being the good parents that we are, we got to the school early and hung around in his classroom for a bit before having to head to the playground to see the parade of children. Nico loves having us in his class and shows us all kind of things he is proud of doing, especially his Daddy since I am there everyday. When had headed out the door to join the other parents, Nico decided he did not care for this new turn of events. He began his long crying episode which lasted throughout the entire parade. Although, he was not the only child who was disturbed when their Mommy and Daddy left the class, Nico was the only child to remain crying throughout the entire parade. I ended up walking with him/carrying him through most of it, so he could see we were not leaving him. Thankfully the little man calmed down for us to stay for his class party.










That evening, we took Nico trick-or-treating in a unique local neighborhood. One which is historical, the streets are littered with beautiful houses and it is known for its Halloween spirit. The city actually close down one of the major streets in the neighborhood and people from all over the city bring their kids to trick-or-treat. We met up with Auntie Lisa, David and Dawson, so that they both could take part in the spooky fun together. Nico adored seeing all the people dressed up and got excited to see scary monsters along the way! Last year Nico was no where near being able to say "trick-or-treat," but this year, he walked right up to each house with confidence and stated, "trick-or-treat." It was fun and a proud moment being able to watch Nico be independent and so confident in himself. Of course the icing on the cake was the multiple times Ed and I were each told that Nico's costume was the cutest they had seen all night!