Father's Day Weekend, Early but Late: Part 2

Although the heat index was indescribable, we were crazy enough to return to the Stockyards on Saturday. This time we actually had a plan in mind, which was to try our hand at riding the Vintage Grapevine Railroad. Ed and I had talked about doing this in the past but never had the opportunity. We pictured a cool and scenic train ride cruising around the Trinity River. Instead we got a very hot and humid ride due to the train did not traveling very fast; and while we did get a glimpse or of the Trinity River, we certainly did not ride around it. While this did not turn out to be an ideal situation, we still had a nice time being together.






To end the weekend I made two trips to two different airports and said good bye to two of my favorite men. Both Ed and my dad flew out on Sunday leaving Nico here in what seems like the hottest place on Earth. After we dropped Ed off at the airport, we had some time to kill before heading to the next airport, so we headed into Dallas, had lunch and walked around the West End. Of course, you can't walk around down there, in the heat again might I add, without stopping in at the 6th Floor Museum and strolling along the grassy knoll; at least you can't when with my dad. Overall, we had a nice time visiting with Pops last weekend. Right now Nico and I are anxiously waiting for the end of this week to arrive because with it comes Daddy!

Father's Day Weekend, Early but Late: Part 1

Father's Day 2010 was celebrated early for us, but I am blogging about it a little late. Ed found out he was going to be gone on a business trip over the actual Father's Day and then my own father called to say he would be in town the week prior as well.

Nico and I had a great visit with Pops. Him and I had a little father-daughter time and went to the Rangers vs Mariners baseball game and had a great time watching the Rangers get one hit after another.

And then there was the old lady with the drum at the game! I have to blog about this lady because she was great. A few weeks prior, Ed and I had gone to a Cubs and Rangers game. We had great seats, near home plate and there was a woman probably close to or already in her eighties, who would frequently stand up and bang on a drum. Well, she must have season tickets, because she there again, banging away on her drum. This lady sure had team spirit!


The next day Pops and I took Nico down to the Historic Stockyards, primairly because we couldn't think of anything else to do. We were trying to avoid being outside due to the extreme heat, but ended up outside anyway. I never really think about going down to the Stockyards since it is so close to the house, but it turned out to be a great idea. We had perfect timing in when we arrived, because just as we walked up to main tourist area, we heard a cattle call. Twice a day there is a cattle run, in which the longhorns are taken from one stall to another, and by doing so come down the street in order to amuse the tourists.

Nico had the opportunity to see real horses and "cows," as opposed to ones he usually sees in his books. So this was a really great learning experience for him. Nico got very excited and just kept pointing to the cattle as them came down the street during the cattle run. I just love watching him light up when realizes or learns something new.

While Nico enjoyed seeing the animals, he wanted nothing to do with them up close. Even when I showed him how we could pet the horse, Nico clung to me with a death grip. He was, however, much more tolerable being close to the horses over the "cow," and especially got mad at me when I put him on the "cow."



Here are a few other pictures from around the Stockyards as we walked around letting Nico take in all the sights.

Really? 18 Months?

Yep, Nico is 18 months old today. I really do not feel like my baby should be this old yet, but he is and he continues to try to more independent every day. I have to say, that Nico is a pretty amazing kid. He has learned so much in the last few months and continues to be a human sponge, soaking everything in that he can. Nico is able to point to over 10 body parts, along with various animals, make some of their sounds and point to other random objects within books. He also participates in so much pretend play now, especially involving cars or trains. Nico loves to drive his cars around the house, imitating motor sounds, and now enjoys completing puzzles and playing with shape sorters.

Lately, our little man has become a monkey and is climbing all over the furniture, inparticular the kitchen table. We have to be on guard because we never know what Nico's plan is once he reaches the top. Sometimes, if Nico climbs up on the couch or on a chair, he will just sit, looking like a small adult, but then there are times when he decides he wants to jump off of whatever he is on and you better be ready to catch him!

As our angel gets older and his personality continues to develop, so does his opinions, likes and dislikes. If a show is on that is not one of Nico's preferences, he will look at us and shake his head 'no'. If we ignore this nonverbal then he will bring either one of us the remote and in his "Nico language" will ask for the channel to be changed. Nico can usually get across to Mommy and Daddy what he wants, whether it be a snack, more of something-anything, to play outside, or needing a drink.

Nico tries hard to communicate his needs and wants with us, but it can often be frustrating for him when are unable to understand what he is trying to tell us. This frustration often leads to Nico falling onto the floor crying. Our poor little man knows he should be able to talk to us to some extent. He has fantastic receptive skills, good inflection when babbling and does so as if having conversations with us; however, at this point there is definitely a lack of meaningful words.

Nico had his 18 month check up pediatrician appointment today and our growing boy is meeting all of his milestones and then some, with the exception of his expressive language. So we are going to try our hand at some speech therapy for a little while to see is where it takes us. I am at least lucky to have many connections in this area of expertise. A dear friend of mine who actually watches Nico for me during the week, is a speech therapist, and then with being in the business of educational diagnostics, I know more speech paths than I can shake a stick at.

Here is to my big baby boy who is now 18 months old. I love you Nico-man, you mean more than the world to me and I am so proud of you!

Water: I love you...I love you not

Nico has had a love hate relationship with all things involving water since I can remember. There was a short time period when he loathed taking a bath and would scream and cry when put into the tub; however, recently there have been times when I have found Nico trying to climb into the tub because he wants to take a bath! Then there was the dreaded swim lessons last summer. Those did not go well. Nico was the only baby there who was stubborn enough to cry the WHOLE way through the lesson, which was a joy for everyone involved; however, he did thoroughly enjoy being in his baby float and lazily drift around in the neighborhood pool. This summer I decided to bypass the swim lessons and purchased Nico his own baby wading pool. I thought this would be a great way get him accustomed to being in the water, outside bath time, again. The first time we put him in it, he cried and screamed, but with some role modeling, thanks to cousin Mason, Nico decided the pool was a great idea after all.

To continue the water story saga, today we decided to take Nico to Nrh2o water park. This is a fantastic water park geared towards families and they have lots of areas for little ones.

Unfortunately, a few weeks ago while Nico was playing outside, Daddy and big brother EJ were fixing the sprinkler system when Nico got a nice good spray right in the face. I say this, because it apparently made an impact on him, and Nico wanted nothing to do with anything at the water park, especially the areas which contained any kind of sprinkling or spraying of water. Thus, the first hour of being in the hot sun was chalked up to trying to console a crying and scared little boy.

What stopped the crying you ask? This key did. This is the key to the locker we rented, but as soon as Nico got a hold of it, the world was right again. All the crying stopped and Nico suddenly had some courage to try some new, fun and wet things.


Nico was finally able to enjoy the lazy river both sitting on Mommy and Daddy's lap in their tubes, and being in his own baby tube. He also surprisingly had a blast in the big wave pool, even with the waves splishing and splashing. We will definitely be going back soon so that Nico doesn't forget how much fun it was to play around in all the water.










And we left with a very tired and happy little boy; I mean just look at that smile! Today turned out to be a great day!

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

The last month or so Nico has become a real fan of all modes of transportation: cars, and trains, but mostly airplanes. We spend a lot of time outside since it is Nico's favorite place to be, and being that we live near a small municipal airport and near a military airfield, he has lots of opportunities to see airplanes flying high in the sky. When Nico sees an airplane flying he becomes so excited, pointing, yelling and jumping around. Take a look at this video (Please excuse trhe big trash pile! We cleaned out the garage recently.)

Mother's Day Weekend Part 2

We really packed in the fun last weekend, so I had to break this blog up into chunks. Mother's day morning we all woke up semi-early (I mean how do you not get up early when you have a 17 month old?) and went to Cafe Express for breakfast! I had no idea they even served breakfast, but it was so yummy and a great way to start our day. After filling our tummys full of good food, we walked across the Town Square to let Nico run around, chase birds and climb up and down stairs in the plaza.







Later that day we ventrued back into the city and took Nico to the Children's Museum of Houston. I had not been there since I was a kid, and boy did Nico have fun. A 3 story building filled with activities which make kids think, think, think and of course play, play, play. There are separate playing and exploring areas for those 35 months and younger, the "TotSpot" and those who are a bit more stable on their feet and cognitively developed. "Floworks," which is the water play area was a great spot to watch the kids splash around and get drenched by the constantly moving sprinklers. Nico loved playing in the simulated town the museum had, which is called "Kidtropolis, USA." This section had a grocery store, a veterinary clinic, a cafe the kids could pretend to cook in, a car and an ambulance to play around in, a bank and many other spots. I think my favorite was the art studio, where Nico was able to try his hand at painting for the first time. Next time you are in Houston and you have kids, the Children's Museum of Houston should definitely be place to stop in at.











After a long day of running around the museum, playing, crawling and making lots of discoveries, Nico was very tuckered out. A great ending to a great weekend was Ed making his famous Italian Macaroni and Cheese for us! I want to send out a HUGE thanks and an I love you to both my mom, otherwise known as Gigi, and of course my wonderful husband. You both made my Mother's Day weekend awesome and helped me keep my mind off of "things," and on Nico.