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Showing posts from 2006

more christmas cheer

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wow, what a trip! nicolas spent a whirlwind 5 days in new orleans that culminated with the annual negrotto christmas party at uncle lj's and aunt rita's. he met most of mary's relatives there and they really enjoyed meeting him too. a few pics from the day are in a new flickr set we created just for christmas 2006. and here's some video of nicolas hamming it up with his cousin mandy:

merry christmas!

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wishing everyone a merry christmas from down here in new orleans. nicolas got to open christmas presents for the first time yesterday at aunt leslie's. he had so much fun. more pics of him and mary's family are in the flickr set .

uptown nap

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we're in new orleans for the holidays and nicolas spent the afternoon with us visiting friends and hanging out uptown. he finally crashed around 3 this afternoon at CC's coffeehouse on Magazine and Jefferson. so we just hung out there for an hour and let him sleep. it was a gorgeous day in new orleans and we saw lots of old friends just passing by. it's great to be back home if only for a few days.

fingerfood

nicolas had a rice cake for the first time today. he's learning to feed himself! amazing how little mundane things like that get us riled up around here. enjoy:

sunday walk

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it felt like spring here in Nashville on this mid-December Sunday, so Jeremy and Nicolas hooked up the baby bjorn (thanks Aunt Leslie!) and walked down to a nearby park. nicolas continues to crawl more, talk more, and interact with us more. he and mary even play catch (sort of) with a little inflatable ball from his bouncy seat. we're having so much fun with him these days.

december weekend fun

happy holidays!

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nicolas is doing great everyone. he's crawling faster than ever before and interested in everything ! we don't have a christmas tree yet or any decorations, but we thought this might help us all get into the holiday spirit a bit:

8 months!

wow, it's hard to believe it's been 8 months since we first met nicolas. time has flown. each day we see more personality and get a little deeper glimpse into his world. it's mind-blowing for us. here he is saying "mama" for the first time Saturday night: mama

nicolas likes the word "click"

happy times

might as well jump

what's more fun than a jumping baby?

thanksgiving

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nicolas really enjoyd spending time with his grandparents over the thanksgiving holiday.

nicolas swings

we've had gorgeous weather in nashville for the thanksgiving holiday. and we took advantage of it by putting nicolas in the baby swing that the previous home owners left for us here. he seemed to really dig it.

guess who's crawling?

nicolas talks some more

nicolas has started experimenting a lot more with sounds lately. he said "mama" yesterday for the first time, and although we didn't capture that moment on camera, we did get him saying something like "nona" here for your viewing pleasure. then he attacks the camera, sean penn style.

aunt liz says goodbye

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we had a great time with liz this weekend - she helped out tremendously with nicolas, cooked an awesome dinner for us one night, and helped mary grocery shop (and meal plan!). we were sad to see her leave.

aunt liz comes to visit again . . .

happy 7 months old!

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nicolas turned 7 months today. we got out today and enjoyed some fresh air at Radnor Lake - a beautiful wildlife preserve 5 miles from our house here in Nashville. Pretty fall pics like this one: in the nicolas set and the nature set on our flickr site. Enjoy!

happy halloween!

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lots of new autumn pics (sans wigs) in the flickr set .

old and new friends

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we were so glad to finally reconnect with some dear old friends from new orleans this past weekend. our friend reneé has a new baby so it was great to get to meet him, noah, and introduce her to nicolas for the first time.

autumn fun

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cooler weather has started to set in here and it's been a bit of an adjustment from the florida and new orleans heat, but a nice, welcomed change. the leaves are starting to turn, the air is crisp, and some days the entire brilliant blue sky just seems to be smiling down on us. for real. and on days like that, we can usually steal a few minutes away from work on the house and our contract work to both get together with nicolas and relish how perfect days like this can make you feel. it's great to be alive - just look at his smile. oh, and there's a few new pics in the flickr set for you.

still growing . . .

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6 month checkup report: we saw our new pediatrician today in nashville, dr. ladd. it was a great visit - he was super easy to talk to; he had a great bedside manner, and provided some excellent advice. the office ran like clockwork and the entire staff was friendly, attentive, and very professional. we really enjoyed the whole experience. nicolas did too, until the 4 shots he got at the end :(. here's his latest vitals: wt: 19 lbs (80th percentile) ht: 26 in (25th percentile) head circumference: 17 in (50th percentile) overall, dr. ladd thought nicolas looked great and encouraged us to keep doing what we've been doing, which was really nice to hear. we're looking forward to getting settled in here over the next few weeks and making the most of this experience. more updates soon. . .

finally getting settled

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so sorry for the long break since our last post - we've just moved to Nashville, TN and have finally started to settle in. we had an arduous move from Tampa , lots of unpacking and rearranging, but it's starting to feel like home. which is nice, considering we haven't felt that way since Aug 28, 2005 - the day we left New Orleans, evacuating for Hurricane Katrina. our new place is modest, and of course it's not very much like the home we loved so much in new orleans, but there's a nice yard, the neighbors are friendly, and we seem to be close to everything we need. nicolas seems to really like it here. he's doing great - talking more and more, laughing and enjoying some real baby food. though he is cutting more teeth too (his top ones are starting to come in now, poor little guy). so we've had a bit more crying than usual. but overall he's been really happy, as have we. we've been fortunate enough to enjoy some great moments together, like these bel

hair

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looks like nicolas won't have to join the hair club for babies after all ... happy 6 months old!

nicolas says da da (sort of)

we were totally urging him to say it, and he almost kind of gets it. either way, it was fun to watch.

nicolas just after eating

WARNING: the video above contains graphic footage of post-meal, messy baby hands and fingers. we think he likes the bowl because it comforts his new teeth (on top) trying to break through.

nicolas and pa pa

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just a nice moment this past weekend ...

nicolas and magda

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we met our friend magda in tampa before nicolas was born and she's seen him a couple times a month since then. they spent a little more time together last wednesday since we're leaving this weekend, and probably won't see her again. :(

nicolas crawls (backwards)

look at this little monkey crawling around ...

nicolas bouncing

one more for you...

we may not be posting updates for the next several days, so here's one more video clip for you, taken yesterday after nicolas ate his first bowl of rice cereal and talked about it. look closely and you may see a couple teeth:

nicolas' speaks!

after his first bowl of rice cereal, nicolas couldn't stop talking about it . . .

nicolas eats!

today mary convinced nicolas to eat some rice cereal. after several previous failed attempts last month, he finally got the hang of it today. enjoy! there are two versions of this video: 1) just plain old eating: and 2) disco version of nicolas eating:

a visit with uncle lou

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Unlce Lou came by this weekend to meet Nicolas in person for the first time (they'd met previously via iChat). Nicolas was a little fussy and not his normal cheery self, but they were able to spend some nice moments together, including the picture above.

hanging out with uncle midnight

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we spent labor day weekend in nashville visiting relatives and introducing Nicolas to his only uncle, captain midnight. although he's staring at the camera here, he couldn't take his eyes off his uncle's face for most of the time they spent together.

sitting up

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yesterday was the first day nicolas sat up by himself without falling over. banal? yes. fun and exciting for us? of course. plus we added a few new pics to the flickr set.

boot camp for new dads

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nicolas and i attended a boot camp for new dads class today, to help rookie dads (guys about to be first time fathers) prepare for parenthood. as a former rookie dad who took the class six months ago i found it to be really helpful, so it was great to meet with the prospective fathers and answer their questions and put some of their fears to rest. i encourage any guys who are about to be dads to check it out and any guys with new babies to consider volunteering for a class - it's amazing how a little advice and support can make a positive impact on people. more info is at newdads.com .

sleepness nights and happy days

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we finally got little nicolas on some kind of a schedule and then he got this crazy idea to start crying about all this teething nonsense. so we're a little sleepy around here on some days. oddly enough (and thankfully) he usually wakes up happy and refreshed.

hi everybody

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so nicolas has really gotten into this whole teething thing big time lately. lots of drool and recently some weird squealing that is accompanied by a grin, a frown then a hand or piece of clothing (or caterpillar in the above shot) in the mouth. he's also learned how to turn himself over now, which he seems to really enjoy. we're almost at 4 1/2 months ... amazing how time flies.

4 months and growing . . .

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We took Nicolas to the doctor yesterday for a regular checkup. All signs are good - his weight has more than doubled since birth (he's an ounce under 16 lbs!), he's now 25 inches long, and his head is an inch bigger in circumference as well. His doctor said he's in the 75th percentile for weight and 50th percentile for length and head size, and his growth charts look pretty much perfect. Unfortunately he wasn't too excited about the good news because it came during his normal nap time, and was followed by 4 shots (ouch!). today was a good day though - we're back on schedule and starting to figure out a routine for him. maybe we can make it through this afterall.

nicolas and pa-pa

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mary's stepfather bill (nicolas' pa-pa) came over this weekend and held nicolas for the first time. it was a really sweet moment. more pics of nicolas and pa-pa in the flickr set.

a visit from uncle jim

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uncle jim stopped by with his friend ruthie to meet nicolas for the first time. it was nice to see him again and he and nicolas enjoyed hanging out together for a little while. hopefully we can go visit him in jacksonville in a few weeks.

hey everybody!

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We've been having some fun around here lately. Nicolas is pre-teething, so we've got lots of drool and biting of everything, and of course a healthy dose of fussiness. But throughout each day we're also finding a good bit of time to laugh and giggle and get huge toothless grins from him that just make us melt. And today we were really excited, because Nicolas started reading! I know it seems impossible for a 3 month old to read, but see for yourself: Okay, so some skeptics out there may be saying, "Hey! He's not reading! He's just staring at the pages!" Yeah, well. If that's true, then why would he do this? He's obviously tasting the book so he can decide if it tastes as good as it reads. Don't you think? Or maybe he's just teething. Oh well, we're having fun either way.

uh-oh!

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We've been spammed! Just wanted to let you know that we've had to change the way you can post comments to the blog because a spammer has started posting to it, and we had 62 bogus messages this morning. So in order to post comments in the future, you'll need to sign up as a user with blogger.com and login before you post. It's free and only takes a minute, and we'd love for you to keep commenting, but we understand if it's too much of a pain to do so. Fortunately many of you who read the blog are already members - so keep commenting! unless of course, you're a spammer.

nicolas takes a bath

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jeremy gave nicolas a bath tonight. nicolas really loves bath time.

tuesday fun

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we had a great time with nicolas today, despite his somewhat-fussy demeanor, he found time for several laughs and giggles with us. new pics in the flickr set.

baby talk

today was the first day we heard nicolas trying to talk, or at the very least experimenting a bit with sounds he can make. mundane? sure. silly? a bit. exciting? yeah, it was pretty exciting for us all. it's a little over 2 minutes, so unless you're a die-hard nicolas or baby-talk fan, you may not make it through the whole thing. enjoy:

3 months and a week

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nicolas has been a blast lately. smiling a lot and making silly sounds. we've had a few recent sleepless nights, but we're hoping to get back on track and on a normal schedule again soon.

3 months

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we had a nice 4th of july at our friend rusty's house in brandon. nicolas enjoyed the pool and a walk along the golf course. rusty liked holding him too.

almost 3 months

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hi everyone. nicolas will be 3 months old in less than a week. as you can imagine, he's interacting more and more with us - making new sounds and smiling all the time. sure, he still cries and has fussy periods, but the fun times seem to be increasing. we're having a blast. hope you can meet him soon if you haven't already. we also added some new pics that we took this morning to flickr.

hammy

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hey, nicolas is putting on some weight. check out this chubby leg: more new pics are in the flickr set .

Happy Father's Day

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i love being a dad. happy father's day everyone. new pics in the nicolas flickr set .

nicolas, the bunny, and boogie city

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nicolas loves to hang out with his blue bunny in his bouncy seat. today i turned on some of uncle midnight's music for him and recorded the event. if you've got 3 minutes to kill and like watching babies dance a bit, check it out:

hangin with mr cooker

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mary got this cool kangaroo sling the other day and nicolas and i tried it out for the first time today. he reminded me of a buddhist monk, meditating, once he stopped crying and got in. we took a nice walk with the cats up and down our street.

uncle jason

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due to some fortunate timing, on our return trip home we were able to stop and have lunch with one of our best friends, jason berry, in valdosta, georgia. he bought us lunch and we caught up on what's been happening with him. we were really happy to introduce nicolas to him, and they seemed happy to meet each other as well. here's a little video clip from their time together:

charleston

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we arrived in charleston later than we'd hoped last night and had to head out early today (but didn't get on the road until after 3). it was much too short of a visit with our cousins and their loved ones. we had such a good time seeing them, and were sad that we had such little time to spend there. we're not really on vacation here, so it was more of just a "stopping by on the way through" kind of thing. we promised to return and spend several days there soon. the night we arrived, nicolas got to meet and hang out with his 3 cousins - noah, eli, and jonah. he loved staring at their faces and they seemed to really dig him too. their home in west ashley had such a nice vibe to it - nicolas (who'd been screaming a good bit of the last 10 hours in the car) mellowed out great once we got inside and really just enjoyed himself there. alex made some delicious shrimp and grits for us, and Melissa bestowed more helpful parenting tips upon us, while taking care of her

update

hi everyone. sorry for the delay in posting. it's been a crazy week. nicolas' aunt jennifer came to visit last weekend while jeremy was in new orleans. we have some nice pics from her visit that we'll try to post in a few days. nicolas is interacting with us more each day - he's starting to smile back at us, which is pretty fun. he's been a bit fussy lately, so we haven't gotten much sleep, these past 2-3 days but we believe (and hope) it's just a temporary growth spurt. we're visiting cousins tomorrow and will update you from the road or when we get back. much love to you all until then.

7 week check-up

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Nicolas went to the doctor today for his 7-week/2-month checkup. All signs are good - he's growing well - length and weight (and head size) are all right in the middle of normal percentiles. he got his immunizations today. our pediatrician takes a very holistic approach to medicine, and assured us there was no thimerosal (a mercury-containing compound that has been linked to autism) in any of the shots. he did fine - a little crying right after the shots, but not for long, and he enjoyed the ride home too. the big news is that he can now see friends and more relatives and go to public places with us. we're planning a short road trip in a few weeks, so we're open to any advice you might have for us about extended car travel with a two-month old. (what to bring that we might not have thought of, what to expect, etc.)

grandparents!

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jeremy's mom and dad are in town this weekend to see nicolas. they've been having a great time with him. a few pics are in the nicolas set on flickr . more to come soon.

mother's day and milestones

hi everyone. sorry for the delay writing. it's been a busy week. Here's the latest: Mary's sister Leslie came to visit over Mother's Day weekend. She and Nicolas really seemed to bond - he brightened up whenever he saw or heard her, and she actually got him to follow her voice and face. We were pretty excited about it all, so Mary tried it on Sunday . We realize that something so simple may sound kind of silly, but we had a blast with it. It's like we're finally starting to see signs of real interaction with Nicolas - he's responding to us in new ways - reacting to our voices and facial expressions, and yes, it's really really fun. Sure, we're still having a rough night now and then, but things are improving a lot (the book our friends Brian and Julie recommended - the Happiest Baby on the Block - has been a great salvation). And the more we begin to connect with him, the less we seem to mind the few bumpy nights that come along. My parents are visit

pre-mother's day pics

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mother's day is this weekend, so i thought it fitting to add some nice mother and baby pics to nicolas flickr set. enjoy!