Splash Day at School

Today was the final, but Nico's first splash day for the summer at school. He went to school all decked out in his swim wear ready to have some fun in the sun. Since the little man is still apprehensive about his Mommy leaving him, I stuck around for a bit in order to make sure Nico actually had fun during the activities. Little did I know that Splash Day was not going to start until well after snack time! Lucky Nico had his Mommy with him at school for over two hours! I had some fun reading and playing with Nico and his new friends, and I am hoping that Nico seeing his Mommy in his new school environment for such a long period of time will help his transition even more.

Here are a few pictures from Splash Day.

School Days

Summer has come to end. At least it has for those of us who work in the glorious field of education. With the start of the new school year, it is the start of me going back to work full time. I have mixed feelings about this, but I have to do what is best for my family. In the long run, this is going to be so incredibly great for us financially, but it is just going to take some adjusting.

Plan A was that Nico was going to stay home with a live-in nanny while I went to work; however, that plan did not go quite as well as I wanted it to go. The nanny is gone, and for the first time EVER it is just MY family in MY house. It does feel very nice.

Plan B is now in effect. Nico started last Thursday back at the "school" where he attended when he was an infant for about 4 months. Nico is in the older toddler room now and starting in just a few weeks it will be just him and 7 other children. I really like his teacher, and I love that I can choose to watch my little man all day long if I like on the Kiddie Cam.

Nico is not too sure about this new arrangement yet, but the more I watch him in the classroom environment, the happier I am about making the change from Plan A to Plan B. Although there are quite a few kids in the room, Nico tends to gravitate towards the teacher. Instead of playing with the kids, he wants to be with the adult in the room. In addition, our precious son is not a champ at sharing toys. I can't imagine waiting to put Nico in a school environment until PK or even K! Nico needs to learn make friends and socially interact appropriately with other kids his age, and he is not going to pick that up by being at home with me. I think this is going to be good for him...and hopefully for me too.

I wish I had some photos to post of Nico at school, but I don't think it would be very appropriate of me to take pictures since other people's children would be in them as well. So, here is a couple of picture of Nico in the car right before we went in on his first day.

Ride'em Cowboy

Nico is a true Texan! Mommy is so proud. Watch this video of my little Nico riding his new pony that Gigi got him.

A voice like an angel

A little lack of language sure isn't going to stop this kiddo from singing! Nico has a newfound joy when riding along in the car: singing to music playing on the radio! It is the most precious thing to hear, and is just music to my ears, but heaven forbid you turn around to watch Nico sing. Oh no, he will get upset and stop immediately, so Gigi and I snuck this video in when Nico wasn't looking.

Really growing up

I have these moments, a;most daily now, where I find myself in awe of how incredible Nico is and how fast he is growing up. It seems like everyday Nico is imitating another behavior he has seen Mommy, Daddy or even Gigi do.

For instance, everyone who knows me, knows I LOVE Mexican food, especially fresh guacamole. So what happened when Gigi and I took our Nico-man to the Fort Worth favorite, Mi Cocina?

Dip the chip in the guac!

Yum, yum, yum

Another instance? Very seldom will you see me in the kitchen baking; however I had an urge and decided it was cake making time! Nico wanted to be right there helping his Mommy.

Movie Time

Another first for Nico! Mommy, Daddy and Gigi took Nico to his first movie this past Sunday. Toy Story 3 was the perfect choice for us. Nico already has Toy Story 1 and 2, so he was already a BIG fan! With his very own Woody and Buzz in hand we ventured out to give the movie theater a try.




Nico did wonderful; better than expected! Thankfully, the theater had booster seats for little kiddos, so Nico was sitting up high enough to see the whole screen. Nico sat like such a big boy in his seat munching on his own little bowl of popcorn. After a ridiculous amount of previews, Nico was in awe, watching some of his favorite characters up on the big screen. Believe it or not, Nico sat through the whole movie! He really seemed to enjoy watching everything that was happening and would exclaim something every now and then with excitement! He had a great time, and believe it or not so did the rest of us!

Nico and Daddy buying tickets.

After the movie, we celebrated Nico's awesome behavior during the movie and tried to work up an appetite at the same time by letting him run around the mall (with the rest of us running right behind him).


To top the day off, Nico had one of his favorite meals: a spaghetti dinner! Look at the messy boy! What a great and memorable day our little man and his Mommy, Daddy and Gigi had!

Catching Up

It's been a while since I have blogged. Life has been keeping us busy and on our toes. I have always liked the saying, "God laughs when we make plans." You just never know what is waiting for you right around the corner. That seems to be the theme for our life. I am learning that it all comes down to faith, and that we are not nearly in control as much as we think or would like to be.

Let's see...what's been happening in our household. Well, Nico's older half-sister, Amber, moved out three weeks ago, which has been a good for her and a very nice relief of drama, and stress for us. Immediately, the next day, as I blogged about before, Ed left to be on the road for 2 weeks. That was tough on all of us, but we got through it with the help of Skype.

The same day Ed left on his excursions, Amber, (not Nico's half-sister, but they have the same name) moved in. Amber is going to be Nico's nanny and teacher when I go back to work in August full time. She is blessing and an answer to a prayer. God is good and when we were questioning what to do next year with Nico when I am working full time again, Amber entered into our lives. She needed to move in a little early and it worked out well because she was able to watch Nico 8/10 days for me while I worked into my summer vaca trying to earn some extra money.

The day Ed came back into town, I worked my last day for the next 6 weeks! I am very excited to be at home with my little man over the summer. Just three short days later, EJ, Nico's half-brother moved out, leaving us to rearrange furniture, do some major cleaning and enjoy our new "normal."

I know, you probably want to know what exactly Nico has been up to these last few weeks with everything else going on. Nico is growing up quick. He has learned to identify so many animals and can even do some of the sounds, like for duck and elephant! Mr. Mann is also the king of imitating! He enjoys putting either mine or Ed's shoes on and walking around. When I am cleaning, Nico is right there next to me "helping" with either the broom, the swifter or even the vacuum. Additionally, this kiddo has grown an attachment to his tools, particularly his screwdriver. Nico walks around the house, screwdriver in hand ready to fix whatever needs to be fixed! And when Daddy is putting something together, and there has been a lot of that lately, then Nico is right there next to him wanting to help. It is pretty funny.

Nico has also picked up quite a few more signs, such as "please," "thank you," and "milk." The words are also slowing coming forth. It seems like the little guy favors "b" words, like "Buzz" (yes, as in Buzz Light Year), "ba" (as in ball), and "bot" (as in robot). He does have an speech and language evaluation scheduled for in a couple of weeks, so I am sure for the sake of irony, he will be speaking fully by then!

Here are just a few cute picture taken over the last few weeks.

Nico pretending to be Mommy!

Nico and big brother EJ. Nico was able to see an "airplane" up close and personal one morning before church!

This kid likes fruit!

Learning to jump on the trampoline.

Mommy and Nico at Family Day

Auntie Lisa and Nico at Family Day

Daddy and Nico in the petting zoo at Family Day! What a great way to reinforce all the animals he has learned.

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!