June Vacation

I don't know where the summer went!  I'm getting way behind on my blogging since we are busy spending our days playing outside, going to the pool and now starting school!

Here's a quick re-cap of our week to PA and NJ in June:

We started off the week in the Poconos for my grandparents to meet Nicholas.  My parents were there as well.  Highlights were dining at Woodloch, viewing the "parade" and then Mikey going to the show with his grandparents and great-grandparents (Mommy and Daddy took Nicholas back to the house)!

Monday morning we left Hawley and headed to Lancaster to visit Great Grandma Ruth & Honorable Ernie as well as Auntie and Uncle Scott.  It took us 5 hours to get there and the boys were perfect in the car (it was supposed to have taken 3 hours).  Once we got there, we had a great time visiting and catching up.  That night Auntie and Uncle Scott took me out to downtown Lancaster and Michael stayed at the hotel with the boys.

Tuesday morning we headed to Strasburg, PA to see Thomas the Train that was passing through.  Mikey had great time although all we were able to do was ride the train since it was POURING rain.  They had a bunch of other activities to participate in so we will need to do this again in the future.  From there we drove to Manalapan to stay with my parents.

Wednesday was Mom's retirement dinner with her colleagues.  It was different being on the other side of the spectrum--usually my parents attended functions revolving around my sister or I--and here we were listening to one speech after the other praising my Mom on her dedication and hard work that she put in to her years of teaching.  She was the only one to retire this year so the entire party was dedicated to her---which worked out perfectly since she deserved to be the center of attention for once!  Mom had a great time showing off her grandchildren, too.  Mikey loved dancing to the music!

On Thursday we hung out at home with Auntie and went to lunch at a local pizzeria.  We (read: Mike & I) stuffed our faces with yummy Italian food that we don't normally eat up here!  For dinner Mommy made crab cakes and we ate outside on the deck as requested by Mikey.

Friday we went to the park with Aunt Erin, Jimmy and Kevin.  We saw the animals, had lunch and played in the field.  It was great to catch up and introduce them to Nicholas!  After our visit, we swung by Gran-ma's school so Mom could show off her grandchildren to her students.  (She's just a little proud!)  That night Mommy and Daddy went out for a date night to Point Pleasant.  We had dinner and then strolled along the boardwalk, played skee-ball and had ice cream.  It was the first time we had been back to the shore since Hurricane Sandy.  Everything was fixed and running smoothly.  It was nice to see.  The boardwalk itself was empty, however.  A lot of homes were not renovated after the hurricane which means there were less people vacationing there.  I walked with both arms fully extended and didn't touch anyone.  That has NEVER happened before.  (Celebrity sighting: Eric LaGrand--former Rutgers football player who was paralyzed from the neck down during the kick-off to start their game being played at Met Life Stadium.  He now works for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers under his former Rutgers coach.)

On Saturday Michael took Mikey to see Monsters University in 3D and I ran some errands with my Mom.  Saturday night we went out to one of my parents favorite restaurants to celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary.

Sunday we headed back home to Boston.  As I am writing this I don't remember the car ride home, which hopefully means it was uneventful!  All in all, it was a successful trip!

Dinner at Woodloch with parade characters

Riding in the caboose

N's first train ride

                                           

Father's Day with (Grandpa) "Bob"

Father's Day with Daddy

Father's Day with Great-Grandpa Armand

Brothers

Tulumello residence in Hawley, PA

Backyard (the golf course is behind Michael taking the picture)

View from golf course

View from golf course looking at house

Hole #4

Great Grandma Ruth & Nicholas in Lancaster,  PA

Mom and her co-workers

Nicholas and Auntie

Tubby time at Gran-ma's!

Mikey and his BFF Jimmy

                           

                           

                           

                            

                           

                            

                            

New this week!

Nicholas has started clapping, telling us "more" via sign language and babbling with more sounds like "MA-MA". Yay!

First day of school

Mikey started his first day of preschool on September 6. It was a full day from 9:10-3:20. He and I attended an open house at school two days prior to his first day which I feel helped the transition. Nicholas and I dropped him off, he gave us kisses and went along to play. His "job" for the day was the "music helper" in which he selected songs for circle time. He told me he picked "The Wheels On The Bus". I have no idea if he is correct/incorrect so we are going with it! Mikey brings home a folder every day with a little note about what they read, what they played with, etc. He even came home with homework the first day!  We had to complete a worksheet about an event from our weekend and then draw a picture about it. (We selected Nora's birthday party at the park which was held on Saturday.) On Monday Mikey was to share the information with his class. I have no idea how it went since Mikey is very selective on what he tells me.

A typical conversation goes like this:

Me: How was school today?

Mikey: good.

Me: Did you do anything fun?

Mikey: Yes. 

Me: What did you do that was fun?

Mikey: I played...

Me: With...

Mikey: Toys. 

Me: What kind of toys?

Mikey: I don't know. I don't remember. 

Sigh.....

I am looking forward to watching Mikey grow over this school year. It was clear to Michael and I that he had made nice progress over the summer and we are hoping it continues. We are so lucky to be in such a great school system with a wonderful special education program. 

9 Months

9 months old. Woah.

This month you are sitting and playing like a pro. You will attempt to commando crawl but are very content just sitting and watching your big brother. You like your who-zit toy, Sophie the giraffe, rings and other teething toys. You are also starting to put in/take out objects from containers.

You still love to eat. This month we introduced meats and "fun" foods like chicken soup and meatballs. Naturally, you love everything and continue to eat more than Mikey. You love fruit-- especially bananas and peaches. When the food comes at you, you get so excited and twirl your ankles and wrists in anticipation.  Even after you have finished eating and I sit down with my food, the ankles and wrists twirl!  

You make lots of cooing sounds and we have heard you babble "da-da". 

Sleeping has not been the best this month but you have a valid excuse....TEETHING. I called you vampire baby and "fang boy" this month due to your lateral top teeth being well established and no sign of the front top teeth. They are starting to break through this month. You are also getting the laterals on the bottom and we can also see the whites of the top incisors. You have been waking two to three times per night, nurse and quickly go back to sleep. You get one good morning nap and then usually take a short snooze while we are out in the afternoon (usually at the pool during Mikey's swim lesson). We are lucky you are so cooperative and easy going. 

On a sad note, because you are eating so much solid food, my milk supply has dropped drastically. I still nurse you for comfort but am starting to give you formula 1-2 times per day. So sad!! (You don't even notice a difference!)

Here is the latest info from your doctor visit:

Height: 27.75" (28th%)
Weight: 19 lb 7.9 oz (48th%)

Another fun month, Nicholas!  We love you!

2 more teeth!

So it appears that Nicholas gets his teeth two at a time!  Now the top two laterals are coming in....not the two top front teeth.  Hmmm...I wonder what his dentist thinks about that! (Four total teeth at 8 months!)

This is (hopefully) the reason why N has been having difficulty sleeping through the night.  We get up 1-2 times before 5am.  Last night I asked Mike to go in and calm Nicholas down instead of me going in and feeding him.  N screamed his head off until I went into his room.  He didn't even try to eat my face like he usually does--which means he wasn't hungry/didn't want to nurse--he just wanted me.  As flattering as that is, I would much rather prefer that at 9 am rather than 3:15 am.  Sigh.....

Funny little side note: When I do go into N's room in the middle of the night and Michael is already in there (changing his diaper or rocking in the chair),  Nicholas will push Michael away and watch him walk out of the room.  He looks at Michael like "Thanks, Daddy but I got my Mommy now!".  Too funny....

July 2013

Whew!  Where did July go? Here are the highlights from our July (it was a BIG month for us!):

Happy 4th of July!

                                           



Our schedule looked like this:

Mondays and Wednesdays: School 12:00-2:30
Tuesday: PT & OT: 1:00-2:00
Tuesday, Thursday and Friday: My Gym camp 9:30-12:30

Mikey started "The Happy Mouth School" on July 8th.  It was such a smooth transition.  I was a little emotional in the car after dropping him off for his first day but he was so happy and excited (as it should be, I guess...).

Ken the Music Man 

Mikey would love to come home and play with what he used at school.  One week it was the farm.  Nicholas enjoyed playing, too!

My Gym craft--wrestling belt 

                                             

Nicholas started eating more "fun" food this week.  Here he is enjoying his meals...

 He also rode in the shopping cart for the first time....

Nicholas changed to a rear facing big boy car seat after he was getting too heavy for his "bucket" car seat.  Mikey had some difficulty sharing in the beginning (he got promoted to a booster car seat) but then came around.  

                                   

 Mikey got a buzz cut this summer.  His barber loves to give him colored spray after his haircut!

Prior to starting school, we discussed with Mikey that he is now going to be attending "big boy school" and big boys don't use loveys.  The next morning he woke up and decided he was going to give his loveys to baby Grace--our friends Sean and Maryanne's new baby.  We saw Sean at a birthday party that day, Mikey ran over to him and gave him the bag with his loveys.  It was THAT easy.  He went to bed that night and every night thereafter without a problem.  I feel like we always dread big events (stopping the breast feeding, toilet training, cutting out the lovey) and it never seems to be as a big of deal as I envision it to be.

His gift for being a big boy and not using a lovey anymore.  It is the "Octopod" from his favorite Disney show, Octonauts!

We spent LOTS of time at the pool so far.  There are many pools to choose from so every day is a different experience for us.  Sometimes we are at the "frog pool", the "whale pool",  splash pad, "beach" pool (with a small water slide) and always having fun!  A few nights we have grabbed dinner there, had Mikey take a shower and change into "jamas" before heading home.  So convenient.  Nicholas typically takes his afternoon nap while we are there, too!

                                         

The "beach" pool with the gradual decline.  Most days were not very busy (like in this picture) which made it relaxing and fun.

On July 20th, Michael and I went to see Bon Jovi at Gilette Stadium (my Valentine's Day present!).  We had a really nice dinner at Davios before the concert (just the two of us) and then met up with our friends, Bob & Katie.  Grandma and Bob watched the boys for us.

The last Sunday of July we went to Newport, Rhode Island for the day to visit Mimi & Papa Fred as well as Mark & Meredith.  We went on a sailboat ride, walked around the town of Newport and then had dinner before heading home.  It was a fun day trip and visit!

                            

                           

                                         

                                           

I got a new car!  Michael got me the Mercedes GL 450.  It is my birthday present, anniversary present, Christmas present, etc!  I got the car on a Friday and on Saturday we took it for a day trip to Rockport after Michael finished at work.  We walked around the town and checked out all the cute shops and scenic points overlooking the ocean.  We attempted to eat at our favorite restaurant (The Lobster Pool) but it was too crowded.  Just another reason for us to visit again!

I love this picture.  Nicholas is so adorable smiling for the camera while Mikey wasn't being as cooperative!

And that was only HALF of our summer!  Wait until you hear about August!  :)

8 Months

Feeding:

You prefer to feed yourself with your fingers and if you are really hungry, I can spoon feed you.

Your diet goes like this:
Wake up (you nurse either around 5 or 6 and typically go back to sleep until 7:30 or 8)
Breakfast includes rice cereal or oatmeal mixed with a fruit (usually banana, applesauce, pear or mango) and then you pick up Puffs and pieces of banana;
Nurse mid-morning
Lunch around 1:00 consists of soft foods that you feed yourself (usually butternut squash, carrot, canned no-salt green beans, steamed zucchini or yellow squash) or "stew" (pureed yellow potato, apple and butternut squash);
Nurse again in the afternoon 1-2 times
Dinner around 6 with barley or oatmeal cereal mixed with pureed veggie (same veggies as above)
Nurse before bed--around 7.
When the food comes at you, you twirl your wrists and ankles and you grunt with excitement.

The week that you turned 8 months you have been waking up around 2 and then 5.  Boo to that.  I also introduced meat into your diet.  You had chicken soup---drank the broth from an open cup (no spilling!) and finger fed yourself the carrots and chicken.  You also enjoy your mesh feeder which works out perfectly for when you still want to eat but when I cannot feed you.  I put grapes and watermelon in the mesh bag, fasten it to the handle and you are able to hold it and chew/suck on the bag to get the juices out.  I don't have to worry about you choking and it also feels good on your gums.

You are starting to get the concept that you want to move.  When I am holding you, you will pump your legs like you are jumping.  On the floor you are just starting the looks of commando crawling.  You can sit briefly unassisted.  I am trying my hardest to give you a lot of floor time.  Since Mikey's summer schedule isn't so busy these next few weeks (read: you aren't spending most of your time in the car going here, there and everywhere), we should be able to achieve this goal.  You bang up and down and I have seen some hands together which looks like clapping. You open and close your fingers like you are waving, but not yet realizing that it IS a wave.  You cover your eyes with your right hand to play "peek-a-boo".  You are doing lots of raspberries with your mouth, "ra-ra-ra" utterances and vowel sounds come out from time to time.  You are very passionate about what you are doing.  If you really really want something, you won't back down until you get it.  All you have to do is look at Mikey and you crack up.  This happens a lot in the car.  Daddy and I love to hear you laughing and often look at each other and laugh, too.  Daddy says "Baby boy please don't grow up any more.  You are getting too big!" AT LEAST ONCE A DAY.  I tell him that you get cuter every day which makes it okay---but we would like you to stay a baby for a little while longer.

I know I write this every month, but I cannot believe another month as passed.  We love you, Nicholas!