Reflections: Nick is amazing us daily with new words and accomplishments. I know better than to think I'll ever keep up.

May Feats:
Nick now wears a size 9 shoe! Nick sings all of the time! He's been singing happy birthday without ceasing. Nick is all about monster trucks! Nick fell in love with Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. He can sing along with it and even interacts with the "games." Interest in the Wiggles has waned. Nick also loves Elmo's World. Nick has a new friend! Caden Patrick, 7 lbs 9 oz, 19 inches. Nick was very good about seeing me hold a baby, much better than when McKenna was born. He is starting to ask for a baby. Nick LOVES to jump on the trampoline with his friend Emma! Nick likes to ride on my shoulders. When we left daycare yesterday, Nick said "bye andrew, I love you!" and tried to kiss Andrew. Andrew was not interested. Nick was VERY offended. He finally kissed him on the cheek, and then had to kiss everyone on the cheek, as kissing on the cheek is new to him. In the car, I told him "don't worry, Nick, I think it's okay if you want to kiss boys." he started clapping. Once home, we were trying to decide what to have for dinner and we always ask each other and then Nick, but Nick never responds. Last night he announced "chickens and corn and cake!" and stuck to it! we told him we didn't have cake but he could have oranges so he said "chickens and corn and oranges" and then K said maybe he could have ice cream when we got home from Target. Nick remembers everything now. There is NO tricking him. Four hours later, home from Target, Nick reminds us about the ice cream. He also tells me the whole story of his TV show, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse-- "mickey fix beanstalk. mickey donald go up beanstalk. get boo-boo chicken. donald love boo boo chicken!" Nick has rock hard toddler thighs (as opposed to the "lambchoppy baby thighs" he used to have, sigh).

May Favourites:
Foods: Steak. Pasta. Ham. "Chickens and dip" (chicken fingers and ranch dressing). French fries. Corn. Rice. Ice cream. Mac n Cheese. BBQ chicken. Bread. Oranges.
Toys: helium balloons, Emma's trampoline, trucks
Colour: Yellow
Songs: Juicy by Better than Ezra; Ridin' (dirty); Elmo's world; Veggie Tales theme song; Hollaback Girl; Pump it

May Soundbites: Juicy and Juicier

April Feats: Nick's latest thing is to grab our hands and say "walk" and then he'll take us to wherever he wants to go. The other day, I told him I had to pee so he walked me to the potty. He can't stop counting. He counts EVERYTHING. Sometimes, he gets stuck on a couple of numbers and says them over and over again (six seven! six seven!) He sees and hears everything. EVERYTHING. He's very polite. Please and thank you all the time. He says he's sorry without prompting if someone is sad, even if he's not the cause. He's a total mimic. If K scratches his head, Nick scratches his head. He's the cat police. Those cats can't get aways with anything. He's always yelling "DOWN KITTY!" "NO KITTY!" "QUIET KITTY!" "STOP KITTY!" He notices whenever someone or something is sleeping, and sometimes he says his toys are sleeping. He's become increasingly destructive. Sometimes he breaks things just to break them.He's still a climber (and a faller, too). He's gotten more creative in making things for himself to climb upon.He always wants to be outside. He begs to go outside from morning til night, even if we've just come in because he's shaking with cold.He's not eating much, but still nursing a lot. He's sleeping longer stretches at night without wanting to nurse. The other night he went basically all night without waking me up to nurse (though he may have nursed on the sly).He still sings along with the radio, but now he's more aware of singing along, rather than just repeating. If he keeps singing a section after it stops in the music, he gets really quiet midway through the line and looks embarrassed. He's starting to care more about daddy's whereabouts. When we walk someplace away from daddy (for example, we often walk to the grocery but daddy takes the car and meets us there) he says "daddy, where are you?"He's starting to show a little hesitance around strangers. (this increased throughout the month) He still displays an amazing sense of rhythm. He's starting to like reading books more (rather than just looking at the pictures, though that's still his main thing).He continues to love the Wiggles. He's better about riding in the cart at stores. He LOVES to get piggyback rides. He adores his grampa. He actually talks on the phone to his grandparents now, rather than just listening.Sometimes he talks in his sleep-- last night he said "ball" Potty learning is going really well. He only had to be changed once yesterday. He says "my turn potty!" when he has to go and then demands mnms. he also has learned his potty books by heart and has names for them-- the frog book, oh my saurs, moo moo baa. He has started calling anything purple "Jeff" after jeff on the wiggles. He uses pronouns and is starting to understand grammar enough to confuse it (putting -ed on things that don't need -ed to be past tense, etc.). He tells me he's not a baby. He has an irritating habit of dragging his shoes when he walks, maybe because they are too small? It's getting hard to record him, because he thinks the recorder is a phone and gets mad when no one will talk to him.

April Favourites:
Foods: Not cheese! Turkey, ham. Fruit, especially grapes. Pasta. Bread.
Toys: Bat and ball, drums, his "pink flamingo duck" and all of the beanie babies. Markers.
Number: Seven
Colour: Yellow

April Soundbites: Puss! Puss! Come on, Puss! Skeeter! Kitty!

March Feats:
Nick can put on daddy's boots all by himself! Nick has figured out how to do sommersaults! Nick's bottom canine teeth are finally in! Nick drinks reliably from an open topped cup! Says "bless you" when someone sneezes. apologizes when he hurts someone. identifies his own hurts with words and signs. asks for kisses when hurt. survived trip to minneapolis without pitching fit in the car (though he slept the majority of the time). Is not sad when mom leaves for a few hours and he stays with grandma.

March Favourites
Foods: birthday cake!
Toys: Froggies, balls, his remote control dude that Andrew and Michelle got him for Christmas.

March Soundbites
Birthday Cake. I said, birthday cake!
Oh, birthday cake!
Ham and more Ham

February Feats
Calls himself by name (Nick);reliably tells us when he needs to use the potty to be "stinky" (though he often tells us he needs to even when he doesn't actually end up going);Has excellent aim when throwing; Nick now spontaneously says "thank you" (sounds like "tha-goo") when he is given something or someone does something nice.this is especially cute, to me, when he pops off from nursing to say thank you and then goes back to nursing again;Nick is really into hats. He makes everything a hat, no matter how un-hatlike the object. He just puts it on his head and insists "hat! hat!";If I lay down or lay my head down, Nick says "mama sleepy"; Nick requests to use the potty now. He also announces "stinky" before he poops and "ocky" before he pees. Nick now labels spicy foods as "hot" and tries to blow on them to cool them down.Nick has also grown really possessive of me; whenever he sees Kelly and I hugging or kissing he yells "Stop!"

February Favourites:
Foods: mango, pizza, pasta, fish, cookies, crackers, brocolli, carrots, corn, lettuce, chocolate
Toys: balls, ducks, Baby Einstein movies, Sandra Boynton books, noah's ark animals, Turtles

February Soundbites:
What does a cow say? Oh my! Oh my mama! Race car Nick eat pizza! Nick eat pizza! Stop touching my mama!

January Words:
I've given up on recording all of Nick's words. His language has developed so quickly that it would be impossible. My favourite new word from January, however, is "mee-no" which means "snow." We have no idea why.

January Feats:
Mama and daddy went out on their first "date" since Nick was born. Had faces drawn on him with markers. says "oh my" when he (or anyone else) coughs. Still has not gotten his bottom eye teeth.

January Favourites:
Foods: grapes, pizza, mac n cheese, deli turkey.
Toys: Grampy! Baby einstein movies. Wiggles guitar. frogs. balls. stacking cups.

December Words:
Milk, Ear plug, Bailey Brechlin!,Tree, Pretty, Guitar, Green car, Now, Turkey, Baby movie, Potty, Messy

December Feats:
Nick climbed our entertainment center today, if that counts. Nick can reliably catch a ball, even his basketball!

December Quirks:
Nick may have had his first nightmare this morning! He woke up confused and crying at about 4:30 AM.

December Favourites:
Food: pizza. ice cream. brocolli. pineapple. cheese. Toys: Animals. Sticks. The blue ball.

November words:
Stop; Out; No thank you!; Kelly (daddy's name); Moo!; Oh my; Elephant; Ucky!; Ice cream; Mickey; Minnie; Clock; Open; Off; I'll do it!; That's a ___"

November feats:
Nick sings along with music! The cutest inappropriate thing is when he says "stop" and 'wiggles with it' during Get Low. Nick is a technological genius. He figured out how to record a greeting on the answering machine using the phone. I still haven't figured out how to do this. Nick managed to give himself a bath in the toilet. Nick can count to four with help. He labels things that are in pairs as "two." He knows the letters ABC and P.

November Quirks:
Nick is obsessed with his linty toes! He pulls out all the fuzzies and says "ucky!" over and over again, even after his feet are clean.

November favourites:
Foods: Cheese. Hamsticks. Rice. Chicken.
Toys: Balls. Airplanes. Stuffed duck and cow. Phones; especially the real phone.

October words:
Hi!; Cheese (for the camera); Cow-cow 2 3 (for nursing); More + word; Night Night!; Dog; Peek; Boo; Airplane; Chocolate; Buddy; Beep; Oh No!; Duck; Quack Quack Quack!; All done! (words as well as sign); Thank you.

October feats:
Nick has begun using two word phrases frequently: "uh-oh ball" for dropping a ball, for example. Nick holds his finger in front of his mouth and "shushes" Nick knows to point to his teeth, ears, hair, belly Nick shakes his head for no. Identifies airplanes. Went trick or treating for the first time. Mimics the actions of the dances on The Wiggles.

October favourites:
Food: Chocolate! Cheese. Pizza. Rye Chips. Mandrain oranges. Green beans.
Toys: balls. photos. trucks.

September words:
pizza; football; ba-ball (baseball); basketball ("ball ball"); Bailey (dog's name); moose; no (*sigh*); up; applesauce; pasta; stick; cracker; stuck

September feats:
Nick can climb anything! He now climbs the cat toy to look out the window; he climbs on top of the toilet and the computer desk just to show off. Nick can walk to the car and get into his carseat all by himself! Nick got out of bed by himself this morning, instead of crying for me to come and get him. Nick's nursing sign has become really clear and he has started using it to express general thirst. Nick is starting to mimic us more when he talks. His babbling closely resembles conversation. Nick's new signs include "wiggles" and "bunnies." Nick's bottom molars are coming in! Nick's big boy bed is all set up. Even though he doesn't sleep in it at night, he does sleep there for naps. Nick's first illness as a one year old-pneumonia. ER visit and all. The albuterol makes him act like he's on speed. The antibiotic makes him throw up. We've weaned him off his Zantac because he just wouldn't/couldn't take another medicine.

September favourites:
Foods: mango, pizza, eggs, rice, pasta, plums
Toys: balls, cars, ride on toys, books

August words:
all done; Bay (dog's name); cheese; bird; bear; yeah; yay! (while clapping); bear; nana (banana)

August feats:
Nick can get out of bed all by himself! And on to the couch as well. Showers without holding on to mama. Pooped on the potty! Signs cheese and cow. Nick has started "school" (in home daycare).

August favourites:
Foods: cheddar cheese, ice cream, haddock, pizza, "dipping" food, watermelon, bunnies (rabbit shaped cheese crackers from Annie's).
Toys: his shopping cart, minature little golden books, balls, bats

July words:
stinky; baby; "here-you-go"; Andrew; Grandpa

July feats:
Nick now walks in a circle when he dances. Nick has a molar! woo-hoo, chewing surface! Make that two molars. Nick now gives us real kisses! Closed mouth, pucker-up and say "mmm" kisses. He tips his head up and requests politely, but if you aren't paying attention or are too slow, he will grab your face and kiss you without permission, too. Nick has started dancing in imitation of the Wiggles on tv. Nick can climb the ladder of his playhouse and slide down the slide all by himself.

July Favourites:
Foods: Mushrooms, cheddar cheese, pizza, ice cream
Toys: Balls. Things that can be dropped into other things. Phones.

Mama/Daddy updates:
Mama has been offered a job at Journeys, a project based charter school right here in town!

June words:
ball; uh-oh; mama; dada; kitty/cat; cup; bye-bye (later); 'aga' for dogs; nana (grandma)

June Favourites:
Foods: apples, pizza, ice cream, yogurt
Toys: Gear toy, balls

Detailed version see below (but don't hold your breath):