Big Fish and a little Mo-Mo!!!!

Yesterday was Saturday and the start of Spring Break 2011!!! Very early in the morning, Mommy, Daddy and Nico got in the car and headed south to Sea World in San Antonio! It was SO, SO, SO much fun; especially since we got in for free and the weather ended up being perfect! Nico was very eager to see "big fish" and was completed enamoured with watching the many shows we went to.





Our timing was perfect when we walked into the park, and we went straight into our fist show, which was "Believe," the Shamu show. It was quite an experience watching Nico during the performances, especially this one. He was in complete awe with Shamu and all the killer whales; however, he was unsure of the situation and clung to Daddy during that first show. After this show Nico made sure we knew he wanted to "see more big fish," and got really excited every time he saw a picture of Shamu.








"Azul," the second show we made it to during our Sea World excursion, was a fun and beautiful combination of white sided dolphins and human water acrobatics. Nico also had the chance to see "The Cannery Row Caper" which was about a mystery crime with seal lions as the investigators and a walrus as the culprit.






I promised Pops that while we were at Sea World, I would make sure to take Nico to see the penguins, which are his favorites, and have his pictures taken with/near them. So here you go Pops, we made it to the penguin area. They certainly are cute!





Just this spring and much to my surprise, Sesame Street moved into Sea World! There is now the "Sesame Street Bay of Play" for kids to play and climb on jungle gyms, run around in the sprinklers to cool off, ride mini amusement park rides, meet and greet many of the Sesame Street gang and watch a couple shows. Unfortunately, Nico was still a little too short to ride any of the rides, but we certainly watched both shows, took a picture or two with some of Sesame Street friends and then Daddy surprised Nico with a new friend of his own to bring home...his very own Elmo or as Nico says it, "Mo-mo."






This was an awesome mini family vacation and wonderful quality time spent together. Ed and I were so happy and excited that Nico got to experience Sea World at its finest. We will definitely be going back, hopefully on a yearly basis.


Our little man had a wonderful day, although he was completely tuckered out at the end. Nico did not take advantage of the 4 plus hour trip to San Antonio to catch a quick nap, so by the time we left Sea World, he could barely stay awake! These pictures are Nico after just minutes of being in the car.



What a wonderful start to what I hope will be a great spring!

Nico and his TWO rooms

I realized the just other day that I never blogged about Nico's bedroom makeover! As you know, he did get promoted from crib to the big boy race car bed. On top of that big change, Nico got all new big boy furniture, we ripped the teddy bear wallpaper off the walls, redecorated them with a new vehicle theme and moved all of the toys out of the room.

With Nico being in a big boy bed, we thought it would be best to remove all items which would possibly cause him to stay up into the wee hours of the night playing. Where did the toys get moved to you ask? Upstairs to Nico's 2nd room! I mean seriously...what little boy doesn't need TWO rooms all to himself?

He now has a play room which is overfilled with toys and activities for the little man to occupy himself. This includes his trains, trucks and cars with the train table, his play kitchen, the Leap Frog system, his slide, the chalkboard easel, a DVD player and TV with movies galore, lots of books and puzzles, Legos, and tons of other odds and ends. The good for this Mamma is that everything is very organized and Nico does an excellent job at keeping it that way! He loves both of his rooms and feels very comfortable in them.

Here is a cute video of Nico while the furniture was arriving. This was about the time when "what's this" was the new catch all phrase for the little man.


Here are some pictures of Nico's bedroom downstairs.










And here are some pictures of Nico's upstairs fun playroom!

SO cute, SO smart

Have I mentioned how cute my kid is lately? Sorry, but I can't help it...I just can't get enough of my Nico's cuteness. I figure that being that this blog is ALL about Nico, it is the right place to continuously brag about how cute and smart the little man is. I am not really trying to toot my own horn here....ok, yeah I am, but no matter where we go, there are people stopping me to tell me how cute Nico is! I never get tired of hearing it!

I have had a few videos sitting sitting on my computer that I have yet to share.

This first video is of Nico trying to singing, "Happy Birthday" on his own. In the car he found a blue plastic piece that was the stand for the Buzz cake ornament on his birthday cake! There is nothing memorable about the plastic piece; it is just a plain and flat piece of blue plastic, but Nico knew what it was from. That is a complex memory association...He is SO SMART!


This next video is of Nico and Daddy just being silly. The sound of Nico's laughing is like music to my ears...and just look at that precious face; he is so happy...and SO CUTE!


This last video is Nico's voice over the baby monitor in the morning. He just woke up and is repeating "Hi Mommy." That tiny little voice first thing in the morning is an amazing sound...he is SO CUTE!
Please excuse the foil on the antenna...we improvised to get rid of the static rather than buying another monitor.

Big Choo-Choo

Nico has had a fascination with all kinds of vehicles, trucks, airplanes, cars, trains, helicopters, and boats for as long as I can remember, but lately trains have taken a precedence. Recently Nico and Mommy have taken rides on trains at the park, trains at the mall, and then this past weekend, we took a special train ride. The Trinity Rail Express runs between Dallas and Fort Worth and I decided to take Nico on a day trip. With Gigi in town again, the three of us caught the "big choo-choo" in downtown Fort Worth and rode the rails to the West End, had lunch, and then jumped back on the TRE to come home.

Nico was so incredibly excited when the "big choo-choo" rolled into the station! I loved watching the excitement on his face during the trip and seeing him light up when the train blew it's horn for the first time. This was such a good experience for my little man and I am pretty sure we will be heading to Dallas via the train again in the near future because when Nico is happy, his Mamma is happy!

Here are some pictures of our day journey across the DFW Metroplex.

In the life of Nico

What's been happening in the life of Nico lately?

I know I have said this recently in the past, but I have to say it again...The little man's speech is coming along amazingly! It seems like everyday he is saying something we have never heard. Daddy and I are so proud! And speaking of being proud, our little genius now consistently knows his shapes and colors!

Last weekend, Gigi came into town just as Daddy left. The occasion was to join me at Nico's school for a little Valentine's Day dance performance. So you can imagine 14 two year olds "attempting" to do the Tootie-Ta Dance. Even with all the practice the little ones had, once parents arrived for the show, there was very little dancing, and a lot more clinging. Here is a couple of videos of Nico NOT dancing, but instead, keeping close to his Gigi!



That same weekend, Gigi and I also took Nico to Chuckie Cheese for a second visit. He loved it and had a blast again playing all the games. It was especially funny when the costumed Chuckie character came over to Nico and gave him a high five. Nico was so mesmerized and just followed the big mouse around.


Instead of the planned Valentine's Day trip to Build-A-Bear, Nico got to take a fun trip to the Disney Store, which is basically his own personal haven. He picked out two new friends, who have been his bed buddies since bringing them home.



On Valentine's Day Nico took to school cards to give to all his classmates. They kids decorated bags in class and brought them home full of cute Valentines. Once given the chance to browse through the cards, Nico picked out his favorites, a Toy Story card, a Sponge Bob card, and of course a Cars card.

Let's see...this weekend we spent some quality time together as a family, being that it is the last weekend to all be at home until April. Daddy and I took Nico to see the movie, Gnomio and Juliet in 3D. He had a fabulous time, eating popcorn and Gummy Bears, and watching the big screen. In addition, this weekend Nico played at Trinity Park, chased the ducks, collected sticks and ran around with Daddy.


And that's what's been happening in the life of Nico!

Winter Storm 2011

The beginning of February was the start of four days of being snowed and/or iced in. The winter storm that hit almost the entire country also made it's mark on north Texas. A little snow turned into a thick sheet of ice, which was then covered by half foot of more snow!


Work for both Ed and I, along with Nico's school was canceled, leaving us to spend quality time together. We watched lots of movies, read a ton of books, and even attempted some art projects; but apparently doing art with Mommy is just not the same as doing it with Mrs. Couth.


For a couple of different days, we enjoyed sitting around a fire cuddling. Nico was so excited about the fire and he did such a fantastic job listening and staying back from the fire. On his own, our creative little guy dragged all the pillows and blankets out from his room into the living room to make a little bed in front of the fireplace. And of course, he wanted Mommy and Daddy to sit on the floor with him. Precious!







Nico enjoyed watching the "no" fall outside and was eager to try his hand at playing in it. However, once we were outside, he was not impressed by the coldness of the snow, especially when it hit him in the form of a snowball. Overall, the little man did have some fun outside in the snow playing chase with Daddy, catching snowflakes on his tongue and throwing snow at Mommy!