Finally, My Bedroom is Decorated!

It took Aimee a good 11 months (in addition to the duration of the pregnancy) to decorate Nickolas's bedroom. Better late than never, right? We only want the best for Nickolas, so we were waiting for the right thing to come along. Nickolas has both a bed and a crib in his room, so we wanted a fun bedspread to add color. We found both a fun and educational one depicting the lower 48 states (Alaska and Hawaii are offered as accent pillows) and from there, went along with a geographic theme, for the most part, with some animals tossed into the mix. The basic goal was to give Nickolas something to look at as he drifts off to sleep and as he waits for us to pick him up when he wakes up, during diaper changes, and for just crawling around.

This is my new IKEA dresser mommy built for me (since daddy built everything else). We had fun picking it out at the store. Did you know they sell baby food at IKEA's restaurant? I recommend the mac and cheese.

Mom says Alaska is cool. I understand Aunt Linda used to live there.

Welcome to my crib.

So Long, Packers. See You Later This Year

It's taken a while for Nickolas to recover from last weekend's loss to the New York Giants. He was trying to think of the right words to say, but basically, words can't express how great it was to be a Green Bay Packers fan this past season. Nickolas knew it was his birth rite to be a Packers fan, but he had no idea how incredible of a season they would have in his first year of life. All he can say is thank you for a fun and exciting season. Go Pack Go.

Nickolas leaping for joy for a great season.

We'll get 'em next year. Perhaps the Frozen Tundra was a little too frozen.

Whoozit?

Nickolas turned 11 months old today! Aimee used that as an excuse to get herself (and Nickolas) a giant Whoozit toy. We saw one once in a store a few months ago and have been searching for it ever since. Nickolas has had a baby Whoozit that has been one of our favorites and now he has a daddy one to accompany it. Nickolas seems to enjoy it and likes to wrestle with it. So now Aimee (and Nickolas) finally has a giant Whoozit, thanks to the Internet.

Packers: On to the NFC Championship!

FINAL SCORE:
Green Bay Packers 42
Seattle Seahawks 20


Nickolas and Aimee had a great time watching the Packers playoff game Saturday afternoon. It didn't get off to the best of starts, but this native Cheesehead was not worried. Nickolas had his Packers pants on, but he was not keen on his cheesehead. He got more and more excited as the game progressed, so he insisted I put on his Packers jersey (thank you Karla!). Next for the Packers - the NFC Championship game. If Saint Lombardi has his way, the following game is the SUPERBOWL! The Packers haven't made it as far as they've gotten today since 1998. Well see - one game at a time...


Half-time snack

It's good (or this wall is fun to climb)!

Wee Cheesehead

Good bye

Goodbye Uncle David.

Goodbye Uncle Brian.

Goodbye Dayne and good luck this weekend, Brett Favre.

Goodbye Godmother Amy and thanks for getting yogurt in my hair.

Goodbye Harley at the airport (manufactured in Milwaukee).

Goodbye Wisconsin.

Time to catch my flight.

Thank you for EVERYTHING Grandma and Grandpa!

New Heights

Nickolas is so incredibly mobile now. He's not walking yet, but he's cruising along every piece of furniture. What he can't cruise to, he sits down, gets on all fours, and crawls to where his heart desires. He can now fully get up from a laying down position, as well, which makes him even more mobile. Nickolas is everywhere. We discovered - with strict supervision, of course - that he can climb all of the way to the top of a flight of stairs. Thank goodness we don't have any in our apartment at this time, however, this is just the beginning. Now comes the discipline and an eye on him every single entertaining second.

Happy 60th Birthday Grandma Julie!

And, a belated 60th birthday to Grandpa Jim (November). Grandma Julie is a New Year's Eve baby and we just celebrated the big 6-0 with a Sima's cheesecake and, most importantly to her, her grandson Nickolas. Does she look it? Happy with her grandson, that is...

Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

Can you tell Aimee likes snow? That's a bit of an understatement - she LOVES snow and all of the attire and fun associated with it. We experienced a couple of very nice snow falls while in Wisconsin and Aimee just couldn't get enough and wanted to share it with Nickolas. On this particular day, we got about 7 inches. The weatherman had said it would be good snowman snow, but we had no such luck. Instead, I kept popping my head outside and on occasion, brought Nickolas out to experience the winter wonderland.

Milwaukee Public Museum

On the day after Christmas, we took Nickolas to the Milwaukee Public Museum -- one of Aimee's childhood favorite past times over the holidays. Milwaukee has a great museum and we could have spent the entire day there if we had it. It's no Kelvingrove (museum in Glasgow), but it certainly is captivating. It was also Dan's first trip to the museum. We began in the section called "The Streets of Old Milwaukee". That exhibit may have single-handedly inspired Aimee's love of historic preservation when she was four years old.

Next, was the European Village, which had just about every country in Europe represented from the turn of the century. Again, it is set in a village-like setting you can walk through and view various ethnic ways of life (or, how holidays are celebrated during the holiday season) through the windows. In addition, all of the 'homes' exteriors also strive to depict the country. We were quite impressed with the Scottish house. From the outside, it really looked like the solid and practical brick homes we saw all over and it even had a slate roof! It almost reminded me of Dan's mother's childhood home overlooking the Loch.

From there, we proceeded to the rain forest, the dinosaur display that used to scare Aimee when she was a wee one, and various continents through time. Nickolas was wide-eyed the entire time and had a great view from his daddy's arms for most of the tour. At the very end as we were about to catch the elevator, Dan asked me to turn around to see if everything was OK 'up there'. I looked at Nickolas who was seated on Dan's shoulders and he literally fell asleep slumped over on Dan's head. He normally makes a few unhappy noises when he gets sleepy, but there was so much to see, he actually fell asleep mid-exhibit with all of the excitement of the new sites and sounds.

http://www.mpm.edu/exhibitions/permanent/index.php