Step in Time

Since February 10th, Nicholas has taken no more than 2 steps.  Today he took 5.  Here's a video:

And another:

And some fun photos of Nicholas eating pasta the other night for dinner.  Yum!

Backyard Fun

The weather has been beautiful so we played outside on Saturday and I snapped a few pictures.

11 Months Old

It took us a few days to get this done, but Nicholas turned 11 months on Tuesday, February 18th.  Both kids were sick much of the week so things have been a little busy at our house.

At the doctor's office on Thursday he weighed 17.6 lbs.  He keeps going back and forth between 17 and 18 pounds.

Activities:  Nicholas pulls up on everything, stands independently and takes two steps at most.  His first steps were Monday, February 10.  He loves to walk with push toys.  He loves playing ball and drinking bath water.  He kisses himself in the mirror after bath.  He plays both the upright piano and Mikaela's toy one.  Anytime he hears music, he dances.  Sometimes there doesn't need to be music.  He likes to help Daddy type on the keyboard.

Eating:  He loves to eat.  Cheese seems to be the only thing he isn't interested in.  Food always looks and tastes better when it's from someone else's plate.  He still eats some baby food, but does a lot of table food too.  Yogurt Melts are a favorite snack.  Black beans and chicken seem to be favorites.  He is mostly bottle fed now but 2/3 is mommy's milk that was frozen.  Formula is used when needed.

Sleeping:  He sleeps consistently from 7ish to 4.  Then wakes to eat and goes back to sleep until 6:30.   We have had a couple of nights where he has gone until 5 or almost 6 so I was in the process of weaning that 4am (early morning) feed when a double ear infection struck this week.  He was really miserable.  I've never seen him so sick.  Poor boy.

Language:  He approximates 'mama' and 'dada' and makes attempts at other words.  When given something, he gives a two syllable utterance that we think is "thank you".  He signs 'milk' and sometimes 'more' and waves bye-bye.

Picture outtakes (The monthly picture is getting much more challenging):

Catching Up

I posted the Princess Ball photos from this year but I thought I'd take a moment to post other things we've done around here.  Not much, actually, but here are some cute pictures.

Mom playing my new-to-me upright piano that I got earlier this year.

The video is Mom playing "Maple Leaf Rag" on my new piano.

modeling a new dress

sleepy boy

kiss the baby

 A typical Friday night at our house:

Poor Cocoa Bean losing her bed

yep, it's the floor for the dog, a bed for the kids. Poor puppy

A Date with Mommy at Firehouse Subs:

The Princess Ball

Every year, our church puts on a Princess Ball for Daddys and their daughters.  Mike took Mikaela for the first time last year.  They just went to the dance.  This year, Mike took her to dinner first, before heading to the dance.  I think this will become a highlight for Mikaela every year as she grows and learns from her daddy that she should always be treated like a princess from any boy who might try to win her heart in the future.

Seeing Cinderella there was probably the highlight of her night