[Nicolas] Cooker Baby

nicolas had a fun halloween party at school today, but the poor little guy is fighting off another cold, so by the time he got home he was not up for getting in costume or going trick or treating. he and i stayed home and threw a birthday party for lammie instead, which was kind of fun too. later in the evening i talked him into letting me carry him down the street so he could see some scary houses. he liked that (he liked me wrapping him up in my cape while i held him - mary and i dressed up a little, even though he didn't). he got to experience a tiny bit of halloween, but not like we thought. next year he'll probably get the hang of it and be adamant about going out, regardless of how he's feeling or what the weather may be like. he's been trying to sleep tonight, but every hour or so mary's having to go in and comfort him. he's all congested, coughing and fever-y, crying and obviously miserable. man it sucks to be sick. i really feel for him. fortunately, he

nicolas tried out his costume with his friend harley at her brother jake's birthday party last saturday. he's looking forward to wearing it tomorrow night too.

we took advantage of an empty playground at city park (voodoo fest kept all the car traffic out, so we just walked over - and had the whole place to ourselves). nicolas and i spent an hour there the day before also all by ourselves (the rain kept everyone away yesterday). i convinced him to climb the rock wall. he was scared at first - he told me "i'm going to fall daddy", like i was crazy for suggesting it. but i assured him he wouldn't. and once he got going, he didn't want to stop. we must have climbed that thing a hundred times yesterday. mary came with us today so she could see (and take pics).

Last weekend we took advantage of a beautiful saturday to enjoy the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra in Palmer Park near Carrollton and Claiborne. Nicolas was fascinated by the cellos, trombones and timpani drums and wanted to get as close to the stage as possible. Here he is checking out everything before he and i went up to the front of the stage (don't let the frowny guy behind us get you down): and enjoying a cracker to some lovely live classical music: This weekend, the weather here in New Orleans was even more beautiful, and we took full advantage of it. Mary's mom was in town and we all spent some of the morning on nearby Bayou St. John, just a couple houses down the street from our old home here, We watched hundreds of people pass by as part of a Breast Cancer Awareness Race for the Cure event. There were dozens of folks in canoes and kayaks paddling up and down the bayou as part of the race as well. Nicolas got really excited about that and asked us if we could get a b

Nicolas had his hearing checked on his Tuesday follow-up visit to the pediatrician. The doctor confirmed all the fluid was gone, but one of the tests came back questionable. So today Mary took him to a specialist today to conduct a more in-depth hearing test. Mary said he was great the whole time - very patient and well-mannered. And after the new test the specialist confirmed that Nicolas' hearing is completely fine. yay! The bad news is he still has some pressure on his eardrum, so something's going on in there. The specialist is recommending tubes because he thinks Nicolas will continue to have issues with fluid in his ears and subsequent infections, and he thinks it's being caused in part by allergies. He's also suggesting we give Nicolas Zyrtec or Claritin an hour before bedtime for now to help alleviate some of the discomfort. Despite all this, Nicolas was in high spirits today, which is great considering when I picked him up from school yesterday he seemed kind o

we took advantage of nicolas' return to good health and a beautiful october weekend here in new orleans by enjoying just a couple of the dozens of amazing things going on. friday night mary and i joined our friends Jason and Sharon at a Blues Traveler show outside at Harrah's: while their kids stayed with nicolas and a babysitter at our house. we've been able to spend more time together since we're here in new orleans, and a few days earlier we had dinner at their house and nicolas played with jake and harley: yesterday, we hopped down the street to the 2nd Annual Congo Square Festival. It was on Bayou St. John since Armstrong Park (the original location for Congo Square) is under renovation. It was a gorgeous day and nicolas had so much fun enjoying the great food: and entertaining us with some new dance moves when the brass bands started up: Then, today we headed over to Audubon Park to catch the Steam Train Festival. There was a real steam engine and rail cars and ev

we still need to see the doctor next week, but the antibiotics are all gone and nicolas seems to be feeling much better these days. sorry we've been quiet here. lots to share, just need to find some time this weekend to do it.