[Nicolas] Cooker Baby

last bit from new orleans. he loves those mules:

the first bite: the reaction: and some video of the reaction:

he couldn't get enough of the "clank" sound the manhole cover made when he walked over it

We're back in New Orleans this week - dad's working, mom and nicolas are looking for places we can live. after work yesterday, we couldn't pass up the chance to enjoy dinner at Irene's Cuisine. Guess who likes shrimp linguine?

we figured with this much eating, we should probably start brushing those chompers. here's his first day with his first real toothbrush:

a few posts ago we wrote about how nicolas called blueberries "bee bee" and watermelon "mee mee". here's what it sounds (and looks like):

nicolas learned about "ta-da" from mom and nona this weekend, and really seemed to like the concept:

we took nicolas to the doctor today for his 15th month check-up. he was all smiles when we first got there, waving to everyone, running around the waiting room touching chairs and shouting da-da and ma-ma. he happily followed the nurse down the hall, saying hi to all the other nurses and doctors en route. and then we got to the exam room. he must've remembered his last visit at that point, because he was ready to leave immediately. he cried, and started looking worried, like we'd tricked him or something. at any rate, we got through the initial exam, the doctor's exam, and the final shots. there was a good bit of crying, but by the time we headed back home he was fine. here's the latest stats: weight: 28 lbs (91st percentile) height: 30 1/4" (40th percentile) head size: 18 1/4" (35th percentile) after watching nicolas and talking to us about his day-to-day activities, Dr. Ladd was impressed and said he seemed to be staying within his "swimming lanes"

despite his expression here, nicolas really loves his swing.

Nicolas loves to play outdoors. Seriously, even in this hot July weather there's nowhere he'd rather be than outside. So, today he spent some time in the new pool Grandma Barb got him a few weeks ago. Lots of splashing and lots of fun.

nicolas has kept us smiling a lot around here this past week. he's got some new favorite summer foods that he likes to request now after dinner as a dessert and also during snack time: mee-mee (watermelon) bee-bee (blueberries) and an old favorite: nana (banana) he's learned a few signs to help with the words he's not sure how to say yet (milk, beautiful) and he loves to engage us in a few games - one i like to call "going postal", in which nicolas retrieves some mail from our mailbox (with our help), then presents some letters ("detta") to mom while I'm holding him and she takes them from him and runs away, sending him into a dither. we chase after her and get the letters back, and then run away, and he screams with delight. this goes on way longer than it should, but we all have a great time. he also loves to play chase, right after dinner. he has to hold my hand for this, and mom has to chase him. we run from room to room chasing each other until