Having an awesome summer!

Hey everybody!  I know we haven’t updated for a while, but it has been a bit busy around here.

 

Even if we had absolutely nothing else in the world to do…we would still be busy with Nicholas.  As my uncle Jerry says, "He is one busy boy!"  During waking hours he is non-stop!  I wouldn’t have it any other way, but it sure keeps things interesting.

 

We were on vacation the week of July 4th.  We rented a beach house with some friends at Avon, which is a small town on Hatteras Island in the Outer Banks of NC.  We had a fantastic time.  Nicholas loves the ocean.  As soon as you put his feet on the beach, he heads that direction, and you’d better be hot on his heels and fast!  Our friends, Mary and Jason, have a 5-year old, Mason.  Nicholas wants to be just like his buddy Mason and go further in the ocean.  If the water knocks him over, he does not care.  He gets right back up and does it again.  One morning we took him to the sound.  The sound is very shallow and he could walk in it.  Of course, he tripped and went under.  I fully expected a total meltdown, but he wiped his eyes and kept going.  He has no fear of the water.  I think the excitement of the ocean has ruined the pool for him.  When I took him to the pool at the beach, he seemed almost uninterested.  I hope that won’t be the case now that we are home.

 

The night of July 4th, Jason and Mason were feeding seagulls off the balcony of our beach house.  Mary and I were cleaning up from dinner, when I heard the most awesome  squeals and giggles.  Nicholas thought the seagulls were the greatest.  He would watch them swoop down and just laugh and squeal.  I tried to sneak some pictures of him.  Most came out blurry due to his movement, and all the others have his eyes closed.  I need to buy a new camera that will allow me to turn off the red-eye feature.  You all may have noticed that he either closes or squinches his eyes in most of his photos.  I put the better ones in the photo section.  If you have suggestions for a good camera…I am listening!

 

Nick is getting bigger everyday.  He is now wearing 2T, and people ask me all the time if he is 2 yrs old.  I was watching him sleep in his crib the other day, thinking we may need to switch him to a toddler bed soon.  He is heavy to lift into the crib.  He is so tall when he stands in the crib, that the rails only come to his waist.  I keep thinking he will start trying to climb out soon.  He adores climbing.  There is not a set of stairs that he will not try to conquer.  At the beachhouse, he went up all 3 flights…with Mom behind him, of course!   His playhouse has a climbing wall, and he can climb it!

 

His vocabulary is still weak, but he surprises me often with words he might say.  He is very vocal, babbles all the time, so I know when the vocabulary comes…it will be non-stop too!  Just like Nicholas.

 

We are still having difficulty in the nursery at church.  When I take him, they usually come get me soon after the service has started.  Our church has many kids, but unfortunately they are not his age.  He is the only child in there with a strange adult, and I cannot take him to the service.  As I said above, he is very vocal!  I plan to enroll him in our preschool 2 days per week this Fall.  I am hoping this will help him with the church thing, but it will also give him more time with other children.  He is not around other children very often, but when he is, he loves it.

 

I know that the other part of the nursery thing is he still has quite alot of separation anxiety…especially with Mommy.  He is fine with our normal routine and me going to work, but if he has me available…I am not "allowed" out of his sight!  It can produce a meltdown…even if Dad is in the room!  If anyone has any suggestions to help him with this, I am open to your ideas. 

 

We have had a time with teething too!  All of his first baby molars and canines are trying to erupt all at the same time!  All of them are breaking through except for the lower left ones.  Poor guy!  It makes him a bit crabby from time to time, but I have found that a bit of Motrin will usually take the edge off!  After these get in…then we do it all over again with the second molars.  This too we shall survive!

 

I guess that is about it for now.  I need to get some other stuff done during the rest of nap time!

 

Sonya