[Nicolas] Cooker Baby

so sorry for the delay posting everyone. i've been traveling and hosting friends from out of town and trying to do too much for a 38 year old guy with a 2 year old. but the good news is nicolas has been doing great. he's getting more and more fun each day. after school today we went to the daneel playspot on saint charles ave. the rain earlier today has cooled things off considerably and it was unseasonably pleasant for late july. he loved swinging and climbing on the playground equipment and sliding down the slides:

you run into local celebrities in your neighborhood ... here's nicolas with drummer extraordinaire, and all-around great guy, Derrick Freeman, aka Mr. Smoker: hopefully Nicolas can go clock some time on Derrick's awesome drum kit in the near future

nicolas is with my parents for a couple days on the gulf coast. we've been so busy here, i'm finally getting around to posting a weekend update. we had a full day this past saturday - it started with a nice breakfast on my lap a nice bath, and then a visit to the farmer's market where we ate a mango popsicle, listened to some great new orleans musicians playing ukuleles, a clarinet and an accordian, and got to see my good friend emery (who helped make the market so successful) for the first time since katrina. then we headed to city park for some carousel riding: and a visit to storyland where we played with the whale from pinnochio mary's little lamb (he loves lambs) a big scary slide that we decided not to go down this time and some psychedelic mushrooms (note the look on his face) and no trip to storyland would be complete without a stop at the fire engine we shot lots of little video clips over the weekend - and i'll try to get a few of them posted here in the n...

Nicolas' fever broke sometime on Monday and he's back to his normal, cheerful self. Mary took him to the beautiful sculpture garden in city park today. here he is with a couple Rodrigue blue dog sculptures.

we had a really nice 4th of july weekend - we took nicolas to the amusement park in city park and he rode the roller coaster for the first time, which was pretty exciting for us all. mary even snapped a couple pics of us from her seat in the front (notice he's a little concerned, last time we sat down on the roller coaster he made us get up before it could go, so we were really proud of him for being so brave): nicolas also had a great time on some of the other rides like the beautiful historic carousel, the little cars that go around in a circle, the train, and the very cool, very real fire engine in nearby Storyland: unfortunately, saturday night he seemed a bit lethargic, and kept asking me to carry him, which is very unusual. we took his temperature and it was nearly 103º. we had friends over for dinner, and one of them was a nurse (with 2 kids), so she helped us stay calm and we just gave him so tylenol and put him to bed. sunday he woke up and was his normal playful, animated...

while we were in oxford this past weekend nicolas took advantage of grandma and grandpa's blueberry bushes. He couldn't keep more than 6 in his hand before eating them. Thanks to grandpa for the nice video work!:

we had a great time visiting grandma and grandpa this weekend, and nicolas enjoyed meeting some of my old friends from high school at my 21 year reunion. grandma and grandpa's house is a veritable wonderland for nicolas - there's a pond with ducks and canadian geese that will eat right out of your hand, a huge yard to play in, a big aquarium with pretty fish to feed, a coffee maker so he can make coffee for grandpa each morning, tons of cool old toys that my brother and i had 35+ years ago, and a cool built-in house vacuum and lots of carpeting. he was so excited when we got there that he didn't know what to show us first. before we left on sunday grandpa pointed out a snakeskin to him in the yard: and then we packed up and said good-bye: back in new orleans, this morning he woke up and didn't stop talking. he must have taken some smart pills at school because tonight he was telling us all the words he could think of that started with different letters. i don't know...

we took nicolas to oxford (ms) for my 21st high school reunion party this weekend and to visit grandma and grandpa. the reunion was at sardis lake, so nicolas got to play on a really fun playground and then go for a little dip in the water afterward. i know the water doesn't look that inviting, but it felt great and we had a great time:

our little guy is sick again. he caught another cold and has been miserable the past couple days, coughing and all congested. :( At least we had some fun making cookies earlier this past week: first we mix: now they're ready: and finally, we eat: unfortunately we didn't have the camera in his room a few minutes later for bedtime. people have told me the link between sugar and hyperactivity is a myth, but i have witnessed this link first hand, and it is real. he was bouncing off the walls for the next 30 minutes. we couldn't stop laughing long enough to grab the camera. maybe we'll catch it next time.

Nicolas is doing great. continuing to amuse us, really enjoying preschool a few days a week now, and throwing a couple tantrums every now and then. he helped me make some cookies tonight and mary took some pics and video - so we'll try to get some of that up soon. until then, here's what a typical early morning can be like with him - this was taken almost a month ago:

Happy Father's Day! (he's holding the card he got me, with Garfield on it - he doesn't know who Garfield is, but he likes him) ---------------- while he was sick earlier this week mary decided to get nicolas a harmonica to cheer him up a bit. he loved it, and still plays it sometimes when he wakes up from naps or before bedtime. he also likes to sit on our front steps here and play it after dinner. here's his first time with it: and his second time, a few minutes later:

this was taken a few days ago while he was still feeling bad, but nicolas is almost all better now. he went to school on thursday while mary and i worked from home and fought off the same cold he had earlier this week. we're still fighting it, but hope to be better soon so we can all enjoy the weekend. the louisiana seafood festival, creole tomato festival (the 25th annual, actually), and cajun and zydeco festival are all happening today through sunday - all in the french quarter, right next to each other. and the brand new Audubon Insectarium just opened today, also in the french quarter - what kid doesn't love bugs?

my parents came down this weekend to bring us some stuff from our home in nashville and spend some time with nicolas. on friday evening we walked over to city park and nicolas wanted to play on the playground for a bit. as we got closer to it though, we heard trumpets and drums, and saw a 9-piece brass band practicing just on the other side of the bayou that runs through the park. nicolas decided he could play on the playground another day, and walked over to see the band. there was a tuba, 2 trumpets, 2 trombones, a saxophone, snare and bass drum, and a cornet player, and they were working through a collection of popular new orleans brass band songs. we all sat on the footbridge and watched the band while nicolas danced back and forth to the music. it was a beautiful way to end the day and one more affirmation that we made the right decision to come back here. where else in the world are you going to see something like that? the next morning, my parents treated nicolas to a reading of...

nicolas took his first streetcar ride this past friday, and he really enjoyed it. we rode the canal streetcar from a vietnamese restaurant on Carrollton to the end of the line at City Park and the New Orleans Museum of Art. He wanted to stay on and go back down the line, but it was getting late so we pushed him back home in the stroller.

crawfish boils! nicolas enjoyed his first crawfish boil today at our the home of our good friends jonathan and sedoni. mary and i peeled, while he watched skeptically. after his first bite he couldn't wait to eat more. he even danced with new friends (trish): and spent some time with cuter-than-ever harley:

i just uploaded some new pics from this past weekend. bayou boogaloo was great friday night and saturday: nicolas and mary really enjoyed saturday there: nicolas met some cute girls that wanted to grab him: and then he danced with them on our blanket: and he loved seeing all the boats too: The next day (Sunday), we headed up the bayou to lakeview for the annual Greekfest. There were all kinds of cool "Greek-themed" activities like rock climbing, boat rides, greek dancing and live music, but all nicolas cared about was the cool sandbox (he had never played in one before): and the inflatable clubhouse: