End of the summer updates

The summer is drawing to an end as Labor Day rolls around again. Hopefully, some cool air will blow through and allow Nico the opportunity to play outside more. This little guy absolutely loves being outside even if it is to do nothing but sit in the front yard and wait for Daddy to drive up from work (which is something we now do everyday). Nico occupies himself searching for airplanes, scouting out birds, collecting rocks and flowers, creating beautiful art work with sidewalk chalk or chasing down bubbles.

In other news...Nico seems to have adjusted well this past week to his new school. I am not going to lie, the first week was tough. Partially because Nico does not want to separate from me and partially because he did happen to get sick. Perfect timing as usual. After getting attacked by ants in Houston and just days after starting at school, Nico came down with a fever, an eye infection and a bit of a runny nose. Thankfully, I already had him on antibiotics due to the ant bites. Thus, this past week Nico was feeling great and his teachers said he did very well each day! On the other hand, it is possible that whatever infection or cold Nico had, he passed it on down to his dear old Mommy. I have been miserable, barely making it to work and back, but am very happy that my little man is adjusting. What can I say? My world is not my world anymore; it is Nico's world and if Nico is happy, then I am happy.

Finally, some updates on the speech therapy. Nico has had 5 sessions of therapy and it is going very well. Our big obstacle was determining if it was most productive for me to come in with Nico or leave him alone with the therapist. After he started school, I decided I thought it would best to go in with him. There was already too much separation anxiety going around; why create more? Nico has made lots of progress. He is not about to recite the Emancipation Proclamation, but he is now imitating words or at least approximating them when asked and he has started to say more functional words!

Here are some cute recent photos. Enjoy!

Nico and Daddy, both wearing their Chicago 1/2 Marathon shirts.

First lolipop! Not sure about this.

Just goofing around and being super-cute and awesome...as usual.

Such a happy boy! Life can't get much better than this.

Sitting on an AIRPLANE! Someone was in awe!

Even the small things

Lately, even the smallest things about Nico make me smile. The tiny "o" his mouth makes when singing along with any song, every time he laughs out loud at the same part in Toy Story, the way he hugs his Woddy doll to him with affection, when he says "uh-oh" at the most appropriate times, and the spontaneous hugs and kisses both Mommy and Daddy get from this precious boy. It seems like Nico does something new, something even cuter, and something even more brillant every day.

It amazes me to watch Nico try to help Daddy fix things around the house. His own screwdriver in hand, he is always right there next to his Daddy attempting to be handy. Nico always wants to have the same two books read to him every night before bed, I love how he takes my hand now and leads me to where he wants to go and how he frequently wants to hold hands when walking. It's the small things. I love this little guy right down to his first freckle!

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!