The main attraction for all the kids this year was Wii--I can't even imagine what kinds of toys will be out there when Nikolas is old enough to play with them. Wii was great, Robb enjoyed playing golf while seated on the sofa, and I tried a game of tennis :)
Nikolas is solidifying his new skill of drinking water out of a cup. Here he is, drinking away, with uncle Tom and uncle Mike watching his back...
Tommy and Sean are playing, and Nikolas is still working on that water...
Still drinking (and playing with the little people at the same time)...
Could I ask for a designated driver tonight...!?
It's time to open the presents under the Christmas tree. Nice little red toy that sticks to my fingers... I can't shake it off!
Oh, there are more presents?
Where is the my ribbon, ahhhh?!
We all crowded the TV room for the Patriots' game. Mike and Cynthia's neighbors never realized what an animated and loud group of fans the Moores were until tonight :)
Here is Nikolas in his new Brady shirt, playing with his buddy Sean.
Nikolas, Robb and I were the only ones to stay in Dallas through New Year's: Robb then left for a conference in Colorado for a few days, so Nikolas and I got to hang out with Mike, Cynthia, Kayleigh and Ryan that week. The kids gave us constant entertainment: Kayleigh and Ryan loved playing with the baby and showing him toys, cuddling with him, playing peekaboo, showing him how to climb up and down the stairs, how to play the piano, etc. Nikolas had a blast with them. He is generally into older kids and new things--I haven't yet seen him enjoy the company of a baby his age....those he completely ignores. We also played outside a couple of times when the weather warmed up. He got a juicy lick from a big labrador from the neighborhood one time, and loved it. It would be nice to have a dog he could play with, if only I could rent one and not keep it forever, walk it every day, etc. He loves dogs!
Check out my favorite song:
Click right here, Ryan, where I'm pointing, see!
Wow, interesting game....!
Working on those stairs....
Mischievous look: "Hello there--I'm on my way to the bottom on the stairs where I'm going to disassemble the wooden reindeer for the 20th time, then I'll start climbing the stairs (this is where mommy will get me), and then I'll roam around the area and see if there are any tasty bits on the floor like the pine tree leaves or that piece of mint candy that I found the other day."
Yes, that was pretty funny with the mint candy: I noticed that he put something in his mouth but when I reached to pull it out, he had already swallowed it--but his breath was minty fresh, and not from the toothpaste :)Another one of his acts that made us laugh was when he crawled to an electric outlet that had a clear plastic protector on it, he turned his head towards me to check if I was looking at him (I was), and then quickly before I could grab him and pull him away, he stuck his finger right on the outlet. Of course, because the protector was clear he thought he was still touching the outlet and that he got me. But that look that he gave me and a quick action were genial!
Nikolas loved having Cynthia talk to him--whether it's the voice or the intonation, he reacts to some people more than others (Cynthia and my mom definitely inspire him to talk and shriek!). For now the most frequent words are a loud 'Aaa' and 'Dada', while his more creative monologues usually happen first thing in the morning right after he wakes up (words that sound like 'boy', 'bla', 'baba', 'mama', 'dai', 'nana' and then a whole bunch of 'words' that I'm not sure how to write here....). I'm pretty sure he started understanding, just before we set out on our CA trip, that 'daj' means 'give' (in Serbocrotian, of course) and he gives me the object when I ask for it. Now when I feed him he says 'Da' and points to the food, and I don't know if he is trying to say 'give' or 'yes' for yes, more food!
We've been extremely lucky with his sleep over the holidays. Maybe it was because he's had this bad cold the whole time that we were gone from home, which must have made him exhausted and ready for sleep anytime, but anyway, he has been taking a couple of naps a day and going to bed by as early as 7pm to wake up around 6-7am pretty regularly, no matter where we were staying. He always slept in a play pen. In Dallas I was able to put him in the play pen still slightly awake for his morning and afternoon nap, and he would either go down immediately or after just a few minutes of crying, which was awesome! He even slept through the second half of the Patriot's game with everyone cheering unbelievably loudly just a few meters away from his room! On the other hand, my plan to stop nursing by the time Nikolas turned one got a bit disrupted--he seemed to need it more lately and this was probably because he's had that horrible cold where his nose has been running like a faucet and the poor thing couldn't breathe (he has been wheezing and snoring) or taste his food (his appetite has been down too). I tried to give him a little bit of extra comfort by nursing him 3 times a day, and I figured some antibodies wouldn't hurt either.
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