Trip to San Diaahhhhhhhgo

Last month we took our first family summer trip and spent a week at Coronado Island! It was both sets of Boncels (other set is Dan's parents) and the Herrons (Dan's sister and family).  We were worried with the "June gloom" that it would be cloudy and chilly but the weather was PERFECT every day!  Even though we had a 2 hour detour/stop in Yuma (Herrons blew a fuse - the car did, not them :)), we made it to San Diego in one piece.  During those 7 days we went to Sea World, the San Diego Zoo, the beach, and took in the sights!

Our first day there Dan and Poppa (Dan's dad) took Nicky to a Padres game and in order to get there, they took a water taxi from Coronado Island to the game, Nicky's first boat ride! 

Dan, Nicky and Friar

 While the guys enjoyed the game, Nicky enjoyed the kids sand area, also referred to as "the Beach", hope he doesn't expect a sandbox at every baseball game he attends!

Nicky did great during the game, got through 5 innings without his afternoon nap!  It was 75 degrees during the game, then got to the mid-50s when they left - luckily Nicky was prepared when they were waiting for the ferry.  It's all about layering in California!

Nicky and Poppa

We had such a great time at Sea World!  We saw Shamu, people swimming with the dolphins, and watched the pet show!  We were there practically the entire day and only got to see 1/3 of the park - next time we'll make sure to plan more than one day at Sea World!

Nicky with his cousins Maya, Sarah, and Tess

They're swimming with dolphins!

Nicky and Uncle Steve watching the Shamu show

Maya loves cuddling her cousin!

 Nicky enjoying the big musical instruments!

We also went to the San Diego zoo, and Nicky had the best time - so much so he refused to take his nap in the stroller (which I knew would happen since we tried out a new stroller during the trip), and there were just so many things to see! 

Ooh what is that!

 One of Nicky's favorite parts of the zoo was the petting zoo - he thinks there were Bentleys everywhere, and he tried sitting on one of the goats as if it were a log, and one of them ended up getting up from their comfy position to find another spot to sit!

Petting Zoo

 As we left the zoo, Nicky finally gave in:

We visited Seaport Village and Nicky took his first ride on a carousel...I have never seen him get so excited...he actually smiled for the camera! 

Every evening after the kids went to bed, it was game night for the Boncels and Herrons - we played Uno every night and accumulated the score until our last night, and Uncle Steve won, he was very proud! 

And any down time was spent on a puzzle that Sandy brought for us...it was funny to see Grandma "supervise" the group, almost like we were working in shifts and she would give us a section to work on!  With two nights left on the trip, we successfully completed the puzzle (yes, simple minds, simple pleasures!)

The finished product

Nicky also spent time at the beach - although the water was very cold, he enjoyed playing in the sand!

One of the major events during our trip was that there was a 24 hour bug being passed around the house...of 10 people, 7 of us were affected by it!   It became a game of Survivor - the three who didn't catch it were Grandma, and Steve and Sandy (both doctors, go figure).  Sandy has aptly named our trip Cholera 2011.  It definitely made it memorable! 

Here are more family pics (thanks for taking great pictures Sandy!):

Summer's here!

I apologize to everyone for the long overdue post - given that Nicky is 15 months now, I knew I wouldn't be posting every month, but I promise to aim for at least every quarter! :)

We took advantage of the beautiful weather this spring (and our membership!) to the Phoenix zoo - Nicky has been practicing all of the animal sounds (elephant, lion, monkey), that it was finally time for him to see them in person!  The hardest part of the visit was having him get back in the stroller after he saw an animal, only because he wanted to keep walking!

Nicky has had a very busy two months - first, after his Auntie Mattie went on maternity leave, I dreaded the day would finally come...Nicky would have to go to daycare.  Every day when we would pick him up, he was sitting in the corner, holding his lovey, and sucking his thumb.   His teacher told us that in the afternoons, he would cry because all the other kids were being picked up by his parents and he wouldn't see us come through the door (mind you, Dan and I would show up before 530!!).  And of course, 3rd day at daycare, I get the call "Nicky has a temperature" so him getting sick from daycare didn't take long at all!

Second, he took three weeks off from daycare to spend two of them with his Lola who came here to visit from Austin.  They had a lot of fun together, even when Nicky was getting over an ear infection!  Lola probably took over 100 pictures of Nicky while she was here, and I would say there were multiple sets of photos where I don't think he moved once!  The two weeks went by WAYYYY too fast.  It reminded me of when she came to visit for almost a month when Nicky was first born, she spent a lot of time with him and practically cooked every night!  It was nice to spend Mother's day with her too...especially when Nicky was getting fussy in his high chair and I wanted to continue eating..ha!  By the time Lola left, Nicky learned 4 more body parts, and walked into his room when asked if he needed a diaper change!  I remember how it took Nicky 3 days for him to warm up to Lola when he turned 1 in March, and then when Lola came back 2 months later, it only took an hour!

Mother's Day 2011

Taken by Lola - one of my favorite pictures!

After Lola left, Grandma and Poppa came up for a week to visit and take care of Nicky.  They took Nicky to music class, the library, and to the park!  It's so nice to see Nicky immediately connect with all of his grandparents!


Nicky then went back to daycare this week and although the first couple of days were rough (back to his 1 hour daily naps - he still needs and wants 2 naps a day!), by the end of the week his teachers told us he has become more talkative, and loves to show off his dance moves! 

Today we went to the Children's museum, and Nicky had a blast!  I was worried that he would get fussy since he only took a catnap on the way there, but he was way too excited once we arrived. 

Kinda funny that the outlets at the children's museum don't have outlet protectors!

What's going on over here?

And some big news on the family front...WE'RE PREGNANT!!  We found out the day after Nicky's birthday party (I thought I was just tired from having family and friends over to celebrate with Nicky), but sure enough, we will have a 2nd addition to the family soon!  I am currently 15 weeks along, and Baby #2 is due on November 29, 2011.  We've decided to wait until delivery to find out whether we are having a boy or a girl!  Either way, Nicky is going to make a great big brother!!  We are so excited!!

Nicky turns ONE!!!

Never thought Nicky's first birthday would happen so quickly, but it did!  I took Nicky's birthday off from work, which I think I will do every year until he is in school. We celebrated with breakfast at the Breakfast Joynt, just Mommy and Nicky.  Then we met up with playgroup and went to the splash pad!  Nicky LOVED it!  Leaving the splash pad was tough.  Then his friends gave him books and sang happy birthday to him, and he gobbled up his birthday cookie!

The birthday week started with his Lolo and Lola flying in from Austin to spend the next 5 days with him - they had not seen him since November.  Nicky slowly warmed up to them - at this stage he freaks out if either Dan or I leave the room... but by the their last day in Phoenix came around, Nicky loved being spoiled by his grandparents!  His CAZ (crazy Auntie Zel) flew in from Seattle on Friday and every time Liezl went in for a hug or a kiss, Nicky gave her the stiff arm - it was funny!  Nicky eventually warmed up to CAZ

At this age, all Nicky wants to do is run around and not be held by anyone!  One thing we decided to do was take away Nicky's bottle, cold turkey.  I had been anxious about it for a while now, since it soothes him early in the morning and allows me to put him back to bed for another hour or two.  And on weekends, it helped me because we would both sleep in since he had a full belly of milk.  Then when I asked my sister-in-law what am I gonna do when I take away the early morning feedings, she said "that means your day starts when he wakes up."  Boo!!  But surprisingly he did very well - he has moved on to his cup and drinks 100% milk - it was SOOO NICE to finally put away the bottles, nipples, and the formula!  And, he is able to sleep from 7pm to 630am!  Getting up at 630am versus 5am makes a HUGE difference!

Having a moment with Cousin Maya

My little man.

Waiting for my guests to arrive!

Grandma and Poppa, Nicky's cousins, and Uncle Steve and Auntie Sandy came up on Saturday afternoon for the big part-tay.  Nicky had a jungle themed party (we are practicing animal sounds, and right now his favorite is the lion... rooooarrr!).  Nicky invited his closest friends and everyone had a great time! Even Auntie Marie and Uncle Derek traveled all the way from Vegas to celebrate it with him - I hope they make it a tradition..hint hint :)

The weather was perfect - overcast skies with a bounce house set up, and a sand and water station for the toddlers, and all kinds of toys inside the house if the kiddies needed a change of scenery - there was fun for everyone!  Then we also had a pinata for the kids, with all kinds of goodies inside - I got "thanks a lot" looks from the parents knowing their kids were about to eat lots and lots of sugar, ha!

I also got the same look when I handed out favors to all the kiddies, which included an annoying whistle.  As CAZ would tell me, karma is a bitch! 

My new dog cousin - Ivy Michelle

Proud parents!

Nicky LOVED his birthday cake! He couldn't get enough - eating it by the handful!  I did notice later that day he was on a sugar high... this will only be allowed on special occasions!

They couldn't do a jungle theme, so we went for a prehistoric jungle themed cake...

Nicky with Lolo and Lola

First birthday in the books!!

Overdue Nicky post!

The past couple of months have been so crazy that with the house nice and quiet, I thought I'd finally put up a Nicky update.  Around his 11 month birthday, Nicky came down with a case of strep throat :(  The only reason we knew something was up was because Nicky wanted to cuddle with us!  For those who know Nicky, he is not a cuddler.  But when it happend two days in a row, and not anywhere near bedtime, we knew something was up.  Once he started antibiotics he was feeling better, and then he came down with a case of scarlett fever (a rash all over his body).  There wasn't much we could do about the rash, but that went away in a couple of days.  So, with him recovering from strep and with us both busy with work, I never got around to taking his 11 month picture!!  So here is his 11 month-ish picture:

Other than that, Nicky is doing great! He really enjoys his music class, which we attend every Saturday.  He is much more interested in dancing in class than he is in playing the instruments! The past couple of weeks the babies have been playing the drums, and Nicky will either stand up and dance for everyone, or sit in my lap, kick back, and rest his foot on the drum.   He is such a ham! 

Dan loves to throw Nicky up in the air, and it wasn't after I took these pictures of them that I noticed Nicky was looking at the camera the entire time!

Now that Nicky is walking everywhere and the weather is beautiful, we've been spending a lot of time outside ...and getting Nicky used to his golf club set from Poppa, not sure who will get more use out of that putting green, Nicky or Dan!

Nicky and Daddy checking out the green

Sandbox/sandtrap for Nicky in the background

Big brown eyes

Nicky's favorite person these days is Dan - he is constantly saying dada, even if Dan isn't around..on our drives to Auntie Mattie's house, we talk about what he's going to do today, and I even ask him things like "How big is Nicky?" and in response he will sometimes (not always) throw both hands up and I say "so big!", and if I ask him "What does a lion say?" he sometimes (not always) responds with "rooooarrr!".  Then I just start saying "mama" and he responds with "dada" (always!).  I'll keep trying!

One of Dan's favorite gifts Nicky got from my baby shower was this terrycloth robe...at 2 months old, we knew it was still too big for him to wear, and then now at 11 months, we thought to ourselves maybe he can wear it now - boy were we wrong!  We couldn't even close the robe!  The first year has flown by!

Yep.  A little small. 



 He loves bathtime and now when we get the bath ready, he loves to run around nudie!

Catch me if you can!

Before bedtime we read a book, and lately we've been reading "Does a Kangaroo have a mother?" (Thank you Auntie Deepa!)  We have a basket of books next to the recliner in his room, and he has been pulling this particular book out of the basket, even when it's in the middle of the pile!  And I know he's really listening because when I ask a question like "Does a lion have a mother?" he starts to nod his head, then I turn the page and say "yes! a lion does have a mother!"  It's the cutest thing!

No real story for this picture, I just think he is so so cute in this one:

Nicky turns ONE on Wednesday!! I can't believe it - his music class sang happy birthday to him today and I teared up.  Lolo and Lola, and Auntie Zel are flying in this weekend, Grandma and Poppa, Auntie Sandy and Uncle Steve, and cousins Maya, Sarah and Tess are driving up from Tucson...then Nicky's friends are also attending his party - we are expecting a good size group, it will be a fabulous weekend!  I promise to be good about posting pictures from his birthday party!