Opening of Gifts on Christmas Eve

Traditionally, we open gifts on Christmas Eve after dinner and after Mass. Nickolas enjoyed the Children's Mass at Saint Jude's and particularly had fun playing "Peek-a-Boo" with those sitting behind us. Nickolas had so much excitement, he actually napped as we ate dinner and opened gifts, which then set the stage for when he woke up to a large stack of wrapped boxes just for him. Nickolas does like wrapping paper and I think he liked some of the toys, too. He certainly cashed-out this Christmas. Nickolas also received several different team warm-up outfits. With all of the different teams, his odds are bound to be good for this year's NCAA Final Four tournament.

Christmas Decorations

Nickolas, at 10 months old, fit perfectly into a wooden sled Aimee's Great-Uncle Steve once made. Every holiday season, mom brings it out in front of the fireplace and places a stuffed animal or two on it. This year, it was frequently dragged across the carpet, either with Nickolas in it or by Nickolas. As he grows each year, it will be funny to look back and imagine his wee bum fitting inside of it. Also, for your viewing pleasure are more pictures of Grandma Julie's holiday decor (and home-made stockings for Dayne the dog, David's, Brian's, Nickolas's (which he's tugging), Aimee's and Dan's).

Godparent Christmas Card

Godfather David, Godmother Amy, and Nickolas

Christmas with the aunts, and uncles, and cousins...

We had a fun trip home to Wisconsin over the holidays, so I have a bit of 'blogging' to catch up on. I'll try to do this best in order, otherwise, the next several postings will strive to tell the story of Nickolas's first Christmas. These photos are from the party hosted by cousin Danny (pictured above with oven mits) and Jen (below with our wee boys) for Grandma Julie's side of the family (aunties - if you have any photos to share, I'd love them). Dan's flight was delayed 9 hours due to fog that day, so he did not make it. We found him home and safe when we returned - so much for Dayne the watch dog - but we were happy to see him.

U.S. Botanic Gardens

Sunday was Dan's birthday and we had a fun weekend celebrating it. We've been quite busy ever since wrapping up loose ends before we head out for the holidays. We spent Sunday morning at the U.S. Botanic Gardens on the Hill where these photos were taken. One of Dan's dearest friends Jeff, his wife Christine, and son Bryce joined us for a fun morning.

During the holiday season, the botanic garden is decorated festively and model trains are set up both inside and out. The weather wasn't cooperating when we arrived, so the outdoor trains were not running; however, we did get to see a few. Otherwise, Nickolas visited a jungle, a desert, rare species and the garden court where miniature models of various DC monuments could be found.

Mini Me

Our good friends from work threw us a baby shower back in January and Jen (one of the hostesses) had a great idea to ask our moms - who happily obliged without us knowing - for photographs of us as wee ones. I was going through some drawers today and found the ones of wee Dan circa 1970 and about fell over. Nickolas is a 'wee me' version of Dan! I need to go through more photos of Nickolas to find the perfect one that best resembles this photo, but I can't hold back and not share these of Dan! Let's see what you think...

Mr. Nickolas Goes to the White House

Nickolas went to the White House today for his first time! We had the privilege to take a tour of the White House holiday decorations with our co-workers. Making it even more special, the theme this year was "Holiday in the National Parks", the National Park Service being an agency with the Department of the Interior where Dan and Aimee work (and met - haha). So, we felt it fitting to take our little Buffalo (the bison being the mascot for Interior) for a tour. Unlike other years, our tour began at 5:30 so it was dark outside at the time. Overall, it was very pretty with all of the lights and various gold-leaf decoration that all had a nature theme and Nickolas had a great time looking around at every sparkly decoration.

Nickolas toured the East Wing Corridor with its pretty pine cone wreaths, the Vermeil Room (home to many First Lady's portraits) as well as the room where President Roosevelt had his fire-side chats. The East Room was beautiful and the echoes of a children's choir were heard throughout. He toured the Green Room, the Red Room, and gazed all the way to the top of the huge tree in the Blue Room. We never saw a tree so large and full in that room before. It was decorated with hand-painted ornaments from a majority of the nearly 400 National Park units. The State Dining room was very lovely. What was incredible was this year's White House gingerbread house was literally white -- coated with white chocolate! Apparently, the house was depicted with historical and architectural accuracy by the White House Executive Pastry Chef, according to the tour booklet. Finally, the tour led to the cross hall and entrance hall where Nickolas was eyeing up the Presidential Seal. We had to tell him not to bring the tape measure along for when that house becomes his. However, he did grab on to one of the trees in the cross hall, so that behavior may not get him to the Oval Office. We'll see...

More information on the holiday decorations at the White House can be found at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/holiday/2007/

Prime Time Bubbles

Nickolas has grown so much he's out-grown both his infant tub and the kitchen sink. The last soaking session ended with him practically crawling right out of the sink. He can be a quick and slippery wee one. I was nervous about putting him in the big tub since that, too, can be slippery - and hard - so we purchased an inflatable tub for him which we tried out this evening. I also purchased a rubber spout to spray the water out further and to protect his head. He LOVED the bathtub and was fascinated with the falling water. He wanted to stick his wee head right into the stream. Forget the bath toys, he just wanted to splash around!

Pasha Nickolas's Wee Throne

Here are two photos of Nickolas on his step stool. He was given this back when he was very wee from cousin Sue. He surprised me this morning - now that he's so mobile - by climbing right up into it! His little stool is even personalized with NICKOLAS that you can kind of see in the second photo with little trains on the seat.

Newsflash: First Tooth Appears!

At nine months and about one week, we noticed Nickolas's first tooth! Here's a shot that actually captures the little tiny pearl that has surfaced in the middle of his bottom gum. He's certainly been a trooper with this new development.

Nickolas also had his nine-month check-up this past week. He now weighs 17 pounds 9 ounces, which puts him in the first 10th percentile (out of 100) with a gain of a whopping 3 pounds since his 6 month appointment. He now stands 2 feet 3 1/4 (27 1/4") inches and still has that large noggin with a measurement that puts him in the 70th percentile. I will let Dan take a stab at the metrics conversion for our family overseas. In short, he is still a wee one, but a very healthy, happy, and thriving wee one.