Nicholas Maravillas’ Blog

What a great day!  We did so many fun things with little man today and we hope he enjoyed himself.

Nicholas dined on a special breakfast- “1″ pancakes!  They weren’t perfect but certainly made with love.

Then after his nap, he awoke to find balloons tied to his toys and highchair.  He was pleasantly surprised.

We then headed to Hoppers House (indoor moon bounce place).  He wasn’t too sure about it since it was pretty loud and crowded but still seemed to have fun.  We took a TON of pictures but here are a few.

We stopped for burgers on the way home and Nicholas was smitten with our waitress.  He watched her walk away every time…

When we got home it was present time!  We got him a ball popper toy, a book and a cozy coupe.  He thought he was hot stuff riding around in that!   It was awfully gusty today so we didn’t stay out too long.  It is much cooler than walking around in his stroller.  Now he is cruisin’!

After another short nap, he drove around the house with his daddy while I made his favorite food- spaghetti!  He devoured a whole plate full as usual then it was time for his first ever cupcake.  Matthew baked some delicious cupcakes last night so his first would be homemade and extra special.   He liked the flame on the candle, but after we helped him blow it out he seemed a bit unsure.  He grabbed the frosting off and started to eat.  He ate a few handfuls then began to throw it on the floor.  He got a kick out of it though and giggled a lot.

Through all the fun today, I still caught myself thinking back to last year and feeling proud and amazed at how far we’ve all come in one short year.   As Matthew said, I hope one day Nicholas looks back at all of these posts and enjoys reading about his first years.  And I can only hope that he knows just how much he is loved and how blessed we feel to have him in our lives.

Happy 1st Birthday, Bubba!  Mommy loves you so very much!

Happy birthday, Nicholas! It’s hard to believe it’s already been a year. You’ve changed so much – smiling, crawling, laughing, walking. Your mom has done a great job tracking every milestone. We hope you’ll enjoy a look back at your first year when you’re older.

I hope you have a fun birthday, and hopefully next year is going to be as great as this one!

Love,

Dad

This year was extra special!  We even got to celebrate twice. Now that it is all said and done, we are happy, content, stuffed with cookies and our living room looks like a toy store!  We are so blessed to have such wonderful family to spend the holidays with.

His Grandma, Grandpa, Great-Oma and Aunt Jen came down the weekend before.  We had a great time!  Nicholas was surprised to see them when he woke up on Saturday and spent the day playing and showing off his mad walking skillz.  We went out to eat Saturday night and he ordered from the kids’ menu for the first time.  He dined on pasta marinara and ate half of the plate!  Then he ate most of the leftovers for lunch the next day.  Kid loves his pasta.   We opened up gifts on Sunday morning and Nicholas got a super cool sand table.  He will love playing in that when the weather warms up. For now he enjoys putting toys and in out of it in our foyer.  His Aunt Jen got him a very neat helicopter toy that he just loves.  Nicholas also got some books about the Nativity story and a really cool ‘Santa Anticipation Kit’ that included magic reindeer food and jingle bells.

Then his Nana, Papa and Uncle Matt came down on Christmas Eve for the weekend.   We enjoyed a yummy ham dinner then started our new family Christmas traditions.

Matthew and I have such wonderful memories of our families’ holiday traditions and we want to do the same for Nicholas.  So we sprinkled reindeer food in the front yard, put out cookies and carrots for Santa and the reindeer, read The Night Before Christmas and put on special Santa pajamas.  We had taken Nicholas to paint our Santa cookie plate a few weeks ago- we are pretty proud of how well it turned out!

And the intention was to read The Night Before Christmas, but Nicholas was pretty tired and cranky come bedtime so we compromised by listening to his bear that recites the story while he was getting his bath.  It is the thought that counts, right?! After Nicholas went to bed, Daddy and Papa went to work assembling new toys.  Santa was very busy that night and asked them to help him out by putting together the goodies that he had brought.  They were happy to help!

The next morning when Nicholas woke up, we went downstairs to see what Santa brought and he was so excited.  He kept saying “ooooh” with his pursed little lips as we walked into the living room.  He went straight for his new kitchen and stayed there for quite awhile.  Then he played with his new bus, rocking chair then tore into gifts.  It took him all day to get through them all because he kept getting distracted but he finished and loves all of his new toys.  We spent the day playing and eating.  It was a perfect holiday!

I took these pictures after we got home from our Santa visit.  Nicholas helps me open Christmas cards as they arrive and today was no different.  I just love that he looks like such a little man with his white button up with rolled up sleeves.

We took Nicholas to see Santa today!!! He did really well and actually smiled.  We waited for a little while but once we got there he was all smiles.  Enjoy the picture!

Nicholas saw his first parade today!  We took him to the Happy Holly Days Parade here in our town.  It was such a cute little parade, but it has really grown since last year.  We were there an hour and it was only halfway done.  Nicholas ‘ooohed’ at the fire truck and police car sirens, danced to the marching bands and thoroughly enjoyed the mini-race cars.  He does this new thing of saying ‘oooooh’ to new things, things he likes, etc.  It is really adorable!

After the parade, Matthew took Nicholas home while I went to the SPA!  I used the gift certificate that they got me for my birthday.  I got a glorious 60 minute Swedish massage then a mani/pedi.

I had never had a pedicure before today.  But can I just say that I can see how people get addicted to them!  I feel so good and it was so very nice to be pampered all afternoon!  The boys had fun hanging out here doing guy things like playing tag around the dining room table.

On the walking front, he is doing it more and more! And for longer distances.  He is walking to more than just me or Matthew but to toys or really anything now.  He is building his confidence so quickly!  The only drawback is that walking means that your head is higher from the ground… so the harder you fall!  He has a lovely scratch and egg on the side of his forehead from a tumble yesterday.  He is fine and thankfully his bangs cover it up!

Ask and ye shall receive!  Nicholas’ second top front tooth has popped through.  So now has his two bottom front teeth and 4 teeth total on the top.  Hopefully he will start sleeping again…

Nicholas is walking!!!!!! He officially took his first steps today!  And lots of them.  Luckily Matthew had the video camera out and ready to go.  And no your eyes are not deceiving you, his socks do light up.

We even took Nicholas out to dinner to celebrate.  I know, probably a bit much but we are so excited and I’ll look for any excuse not to cook dinner.    We went to a local pizza place and he enjoyed his favorite- lots of spaghetti.

I’ll admit, I am a few days late with this update.  I’ve been spending my spare time decorating for Christmas!

Nicholas is now 11 months old and in less than a month will celebrate his first birthday! I cannot believe it.  Here is a list of his latest accomplishments and pictures.

* He can stand up unassisted really well!  He stands for a longer period of time and can hold onto things, clap, etc. all while standing.  His balance has really improved.

*Rumor has it that he has taken a couple of steps!  However, Matthew nor I have seen it so to us, he hasn’t yet.   During a playgroup this week, a friend said, “oh I didn’t know Nicholas was walking!”.  I replied “um, he’s not. Why?”. She said “because he just took two steps!”.  Of course he didn’t do it again, but we hope he will soon.  Stay tuned for that video!

*He is running with his truck.  Not just strolling around the house anymore, oh no.  He flat out runs with that thing- right into the wall!  Good thing his Papa got him a hard hat.

*He is clapping for real now.  Before he would just do the motion and his hands wouldn’t really come together. But now he really does it.  His little hands even make a clapping sound! He pretty much does it on command too, all you have to say is “yay”.  It is really cute.

*He is eating more and more “real” food.  Thankfully he will let meat that isn’t pureed past his lips and has even eaten some veggies with his fingers (verses a spoon).  We have slowly been giving him tastes of cheese.  Initially the pediatrician said to wait until his 1st birthday since he had a milk protein allergy.  But since he is so close, we’ve been letting him sample it.  And let me just say that I see a lot of cheeseburgers in his future.

*He says “yay” and “oh”.  It is especially cute when he drops something and says “ooooh”.  Or when he is clapping and says “yay!”.  Matthew and I put the Christmas tree up last night and when Nicholas woke up this morning to see it, he just kept saying “ooooh” and pointing to it.  It was precious!

*He knows how to turn on all of his singing friends.  Between Nana, Aunt DeeDee and me, Nicholas has 4 singing friends.  Well, 6 but I moved two into his room.  They are all lined up on our coffee table and he plays then daily.  Usually all at once for a chorus.  He knows where to press on each one to make them go and once they start he does his happy dance and grins.

*He really responds to music now.  He has always liked music, but he really dances to it now.  He tends to sit on his knees (ouch!) and when a song with any sort of beat comes on the radio, he will start to bounce up and down.  Really cute!

*He can basically put the right shapes into his shape sorter toy.  Doesn’t hurt that when he does it, it makes a silly sound and lights up! Nothing like positive reinforcement.

*He loves to throw himself down into pillows and squeal.  Usually he’ll do it on command if you say “ahhh, boom!”.  We are planning to take him to Hopper House on his birthday.  We think he will have a grand time! This video isn’t the best but gives you an idea.

All in all, Nicholas just keeps getting cooler everyday!