[Nicolas] Cooker Baby

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.

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 .

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.