Easter

Jen and David invited us over for Easter dinner. Nikolas had his first egg hunt. Abby knew what she was doing and filled a whole basket, but Nikolas too managed to find a couple of eggs!

Naples

We headed down to Naples over spring break to spend a week with Grandma and Grandpa. A new place and extra attention always do wonders to his independence and learning. He particularly enjoyed playing in the kitchen, pulling all the pots and pans that he could reach out of the cabinet. The other spot that he often visited was the swinging armchair that he shared with Grandpa. He quickly learned how to move to get the chair to go back and forth! He liked the outside patio--he became a pro at crossing the door step and stepping down to the patio level from the living room. The front yard was a great place to explore plants, birds and airplanes.
He still never misses to spot a ceiling fan or a light fixture and to point at it. He clearly said 'light' as much as I've been repeating 'svjetlo' to him. He also says 'look' when he points.
Some other new words and imitations of sounds are: 'daddy' (he's been saying 'dada' until now), 'baka', 'miii' for any animal sound, 'wow' (when we say wow at a surprise), 'ah-oooh'.

We took him to the beach but the water was cold so he didn't enjoy touching it but he loved walking on the sand (and was very good at it!), collecting shells and chasing seagulls.

Nikolas eying Grandpa's coffee.
We offered him some pineapple that he loved! However, the next day he woke up with a rash around his neck. It was hard to say what he reacted to, but as long as we gave him pineapple the rash was there, so it was probably the fruit...

Oranges

We walked around the farmers' market with Jen and Abby and stopped to try some oranges. As I tasted a piece of orange Nikolas demanded that he had some! He was about to make a scene if I didn't give him a piece. I expected him to cringe at the acidity, remembering his reaction to the orange-flavored vitamin drops that he hated when he was 6mo old, but I was in for a surprise: Nikolas devoured that piece of orange like it was the best thing he had ever had! I had to ask the farmer for a couple more samples to keep Nikolas happy (and of course we bought some--my first purchase on kid's demand!).

First birthday!!!

February 23rd, Nikolas's first birthday, and for mommy, whose own birthday last week was overshadowed by Nikolas's, it is the first anniversary of the greatest job accomplished!!!

Baka and deda flew from LA the day before. We thought the house was filled with toys--ha, we haven't seen FILLED yet, until now! Legos, legos, legos.... and more building blocks, books, balls, all sorts of things that will send you flying and falling flat on the floor if you weren't paying attention where you were stepping! Daddy treated the birthday boy with a baseball, football and a couple of long swords (Nikolas loves to play with long sticks). So far his favorite ball is the football! Legos interest him: he spent some 15min straight watching me and trying to stack them properly, which is an amazingly long concentration time for a kid!
The party was on Sunday. We spent a few hours playing with friends at the house. Nikolas also took an opportunity to indulge in food as if we weren't feeding him enough! I couldn't finish a piece of 'zeljanica' as he would demand it as soon as he saw one in my hands. Plus, he devoured an adult portion of his birthday cake. Jen and Abby arrived after everyone else had left, and then all except for the dads took a nice long walk so the kids were completely exhausted by the end of the day. It was a fun, fun day!
On Monday we took Nikolas for his 1-year doctor's appointment:
Height: 29.5"
Weight: 21 lbs
Dr. Grooms and her staff commented on his huge personality :) What a flirt this boy is--can't take him anywhere without having random people stop to check him out or talk to him!
Just as one set of grandparents was about to leave, the other set of grandparents arrived :)
Grandma and I took Nikolas to the park where he loved the swing--he had tried it before and wasn't very thrilled with it, in fact he cried last time I put him in one, but this time he refused to get out! He is still afraid of the slide and grabs onto the side of it as he slides down.
While he sat on the swing I blew him kisses and after a few he blew one back at me for the first time! He showed some attitude in the park that was pretty interesting. He brought one of wooden chips that cover the floor of the playground into his mouth, so I shoved my finger to get it out. He really didn't appreciate me doing this--he immediately bent down and grabbed as many chips as he could in both hands and then shoved them both into his mouth, out of protest!!!! I had to carry him back to the car as he wouldn't stop!
More presents :)
It's been a week or so that he's been exhibiting separation anxiety. I've heard that this could have started in the 9th month, but Nikolas has been very independent and friendly this whole time. Now, when I leave him at the gym daycare he cries for a few minutes after I'm gone, and also at home he sometimes just wants to be picked up and held. He'd point at things and talk or put his head on my shoulder and be happy as long as he was in my arms.
Another change that I've noticed in the same period of time is in his sleep pattern. He is starting to take one long nap a day instead of two shorter ones. So far ideally he'd nap around 10am and again sometime in late afternoon, and both naps would be 45-60min long and very light. Now when he goes down in early afternoon (1-2pm) he can sleep for 2 hours or even longer, and he seems to sleep more deeply. I can make noises around the house without worrying that the slightest noise will wake him up.