Monday, October 27, 2014

19 Months Old (and then some)

Sometime toward the end of last week, as I was playing with Nicholas in his room before bedtime watching him "read" books, I was making mental note of what I'd blog at his next growth update.  Then I realized, I'd missed it, by several days already.  So.. now he's about 19 and 1/2 months old, here's what Nicholas is doing.

Food:  As long as he feels well, he will try just about any thing you put in front of him.  There are picky days, and given his sister's history, they make me cringe, but overall he eats well.  He loves black beans, green beans, and fruit.  He'll eat cheese and yogurt, bread and chicken.  He's tried a few other things here and there, but those listed are his favorites.

Sleep:  He still goes back and forth between 1 nap and 2.  As long as he gets at least 1.5 hrs in nap, he's usually okay.  He goes down between 7:30 and 8 and is usually up at 6:30.  I want to make that wake up time about 30 minutes later so that I have time to do quiet time before the house wakes up in the morning, but so far, Nick won't hear of it.

Language:  He has lots of words, in English and Spanish.  Many of his English words (and sometimes Spanish) are accompanied by signs.  There are a few words that are his word for something, though it's not exactly the right now.  For example - he's associated the sounds to train (choo-choo) and car (vroom) so that's what he calls those items: choo-choo and vroom instead of train and car.   All dogs are called "Cocoa".  This week he's become quite adept to "no" when answering questions.  He babbles a lot and gives many sentences; we just aren't sure what they are yet.

English: Mom, Dad, Ela, Cocoa, vroom, choo-choo, nana (banana), shoes, hat, go, up, ball

Spanish: pan, baba (aqua), and I'm sure others I don't know

Sign: dog, car, train, banana, more, please, down, where, color, water, milk, ball

Activities;

  • being outside
  • playing with cars and balls
  • feeding Cocoa
  • running
  • climbing
  • talking
  • coloring
  • dumping things out of buckets
  • moving furniture









Wednesday, October 15, 2014

The Great State Fair of Texas

Having grown up in Dallas, going to the State Fair has always been a highlight of fall.  We didn't go every year, but many years we did.  Fair Day was always a great day for our family.  Mike and I have been a couple of times since we married, (prior to kids) and then decided to take the kids last year.  Nicholas was only 6 months old.  We went on the weekend due to work schedules and just decided it was worth taking a day to avoid some of the larger crowds.  So this year, we decided to take a day off work and go during the week.  It just so happened, my parents were going the same day so we all rode down together.




Our first stop was Jump! the Dog Show to watch dancing, racing, and diving dogs.  The kids enjoyed it except for the noise level.







After Jump! we headed to the Little Hands Farm were the kids got to experience the work and effort it takes to be a farmer.  This was Mikaela's favorite thing.






















Farming worked up our appetites so we decided to grab a bite to eat.  I got Chicken Fried Meatloaf, Dad got a corny dog, Mom got a funnel cake, and Mike got a spicy corny dog.  The kids drank milk and ate snacks I brought from home.

After lunch we took a walk to the kids boardwalk for face painting, Bufford Buzzard's show, and a trip to the Cantastic exhibit.








This one was from HKS, a firm where my dear friend, Kylar works (and her name was listed!).




Then it was back to the Pan Am Arena for some pig races.  Nicholas took a nap on Mike's shoulder at some point in the walk.



After the Pig Races, we had to take a look at some cars so Mike could get some info about a Jeep he wants to buy once my Saturn finally gets retired.

We had a wonderful time and made some lasting memories.  If only it hadn't been so hot.  Apparently, Tuesday, October 7, 2014 had record breaking high temperatures.  Only in Texas....