Oatmeal!

I tried to hold out as long as I could.  He could very well be my last baby....and I want to keep him that way for as long as possible!  But this kid LOVES to eat.  He is still breastfeeding every 3 hours during the day and gets up 1-2 times at night.  When we eat, he GRUNTS.  He watches us bring the food to our mouths and opens his as well.  It was time.

We started with oatmeal.  Clearly he loved it.

Guess who he is looking at here?!?!

(I am currently having a love-hate relationship with this blog server.  It isn't uploading a lot of my pictures correctly and I am getting very frustrated.  Hopefully the issue resolves itself soon!)

Nicholas' Christening

Nicholas was baptized on Saturday, April 20 at 2:30 in the afternoon.  We were so grateful to have so many family members present for Nicholas' special day.  Nicholas was baptized at St. Ignatius Church in Chestnut Hill (on the Boston College campus) by the same priest that married Michael and I and also baptized Mikey.  The dinner was at The Cottage also in Chestnut Hill.  It was great to be able to spend time with all of our family since everyone lives out of state (excluding cousin & Godmother Emily who attends BC!).  We were able to visit with some on Friday night, everyone on Saturday as well as at breakfast together on Sunday morning.  

Thank you to everyone for coming!  

Handled the holy water without a peep!

Godparents--Timmy Scialabba and Emily Ecker

Mikey had the best view in the house--err--church!

Godparents & Grandma Ruth Ecker

Ecker family shot

Scialabba family shot

Donnelly family

A picture of the four of us!  

VanName (Tulumello family picture)

My parents ("Gran-ma & Bob")

Mimi and Papa Fred

Great Grandma Ruth

With Father McGowan

Great Grandma and Grandpa Scialabba

Nicholas & Emily

Scialabba table!

Grandpa Bob & his Mom 

Donnelly table

Mom & I with Annabelle and Nicholas (29 days apart!)

Always staring at his brother....

Mimi and her sisters

As a side note, Nicholas' christening was the day after the manhunt for the Boston Marathon bombers that caused the city and neighboring towns to shut down completely.  It was nerve racking for many reasons to say the least.  Our church and dinner party were held in Newton (which was in lock down) and the cake was made in Watertown (also in lockdown and where the suspects were!).  It was a very scary day but it was nice to have something happy to celebrate after much sadness that week.

God Bless you, Nicholas Patrick!

(More pictures to come!)

4 Months!

As of March 25 (5 days shy of his 4 month milestone), Nicholas weighs 14 lb 8 oz and is 24" long!  He continues to love interacting with Mommy, Daddy and his big brother.  This week he must be going through a growth spurt since he is eating more frequently during the day AND at night.  He has been cat napping during the day---typically falling asleep while nursing.  As soon as I go to put him down those big eyes OPEN wide and we've lost our chance for a nap.  He does sleep well in the swing during the day (starting with it on and then when he falls asleep I turn it off).  Last night he woke up about an hour after I put him down to sleep and he was able to find his thumb and get back to sleep on his own without crying!  Huge! (Thank goodness for the video monitor to let us be the "fly on the wall"!)

N is trying so hard to roll over but no success yet.  Depending on the surface, he can roll from his belly to his back.  Nicholas will tolerate tummy time briefly and then gets very mad!  I try to give him a break and start over but he gets himself all worked up.  We do this a few times throughout the day.  Mikey is a motivating factor for distracting him and getting him to hold his head up high!  Nicholas is mouthing toys and our hands frequently---often chomping away.  He is very, very drooly and spits up frequently because of the excess saliva.  We always need a burp cloth handy!  I am wondering if we can wait until he is 6 months for solid foods since he is VERY interested in what we are eating and drinking!  I am looking forward to making all of his baby food like I did for Mikey.

Happy 4 month birthday, buddy!  xo

First Weekend Trip

We made our first weekend road trip to Queensbury to meet up with Mimi, Papa Fred and Uncle Timmy for Palm Sunday.  Mikey had a great time playing with Caden (their next door neighbor) as well as all of the toys Daddy and his brothers played with when they were kids.  On Sunday we went to see Uncle Timmy at work with Mimi's brother, Mark and his girlfriend, Erin.

Nicholas did a great job sleeping (slept through the night both nights!).  On the car ride up, Nicholas did great for the first two hours and was irritable for the last hour.  We survived by singing Bon Jovi songs and playing with his rainmaker toy.  For our drive back home, however,  it was a tad more stressful.  We were about 45 minutes into the trip when we stopped.  I took off some layers thinking he was hot since it was not time to eat.  When he started crying again we stopped at another rest stop where I changed and fed him.  He began crying as we were getting back on road again which resulted in me sitting between the boys on the floor (unsafe, yes but it was better than hearing my baby scream for the last hour and a half!).  All he wanted was to see me.  I held his hand and he stopped crying immediately.

All in all, it was a successful trip.  We just won't be traveling any further than three hours for a few more weeks until SOMEONE can tolerate a longer car ride.....

"Mikey, Snowman, and Caden"--per Mikey

Erin, Pam, me

Daddy, Mikey, Nicholas and Papa Fred

The backseat!

Hot Feet?!?!?

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Today we spent the morning snuggling in bed and the afternoon in Brookline at a preschool fundraiser. Mikey celebrated with green milk and Nicholas sported his "Sham Rock" guitar t-shirt from Auntie!  No corned beef and cabbage dinner for us this year with Mommy nursing Nicholas....maybe next year!

Happy Birthday, Papa Fred!

Happy Birthday to you!  We hope you have a great day and we are looking forward to celebrating with you next weekend!

xo

Mikey & Nicholas