Funny little Nick

Nicholas will be 6 months in just about a week, and I wanted to post a couple of things that I just love about my little guy. Things he does that make me laugh :)

1.) He LOVES to put cloth in his mouth. If you give him a variety of toys to play with, he'll go straight to whichever one is soft or fabric cover and shove it right in his trapper. Then he'll go on playing with the other toys as he sucks on the one dangling from him mouth. He sucks on his shirt, his blankets, his teddy bear, my shirt, the wrap that I put him in, aaaanything that's fabric. We finally bought him a bib for the sole purpose of giving him something to suck on other than his socks or sleeves. Anyway, I left him asleep on my bed the other day and when he wakes up, he usually will start squealing/grunting/squawking to alert me that he's awake, but this day I peeked in the room to check on him and found him like this:
Totally awake with the sheet hanging out of his mouth (it was down below his feet, at the bottom of the bed---I'm still not sure how he got it) and his little arms straight against his sides. Just laying there, sucking away, looking all around. Here he is in Atlantis with my camera strap hanging out of his mouth while he had an Incredible Hulk action figure in one hand and my turkey baster bulb in the other.
2.) He LOVES the mirror now. The mirror in our master bedroom hangs directly opposite the door, so every time you pass by the room, you can see yourself in the mirror. Whenever I'm holding him and I walk past, I turn him toward the mirror and say, "Who's that? Who is that?" And his little head whips around and as he sees himself he breaks into a huge grin and flaps his arms. Then he'll start talking to himself in the mirror and watching his own reactions.

3.) He's a cuddler! He's so active all the time, and always has been, that I didn't think he was a very cuddly baby, but now that we've gotten the reflux under control and taken care of the Candida, he's actually a super cuddly little guy! He LOVES to curl up next to me with his legs propped up on mine and he'll wiggle until he's RIGHT next to me, turn his head until his nose is touching me, and then just fall asleep :) If he does wake up in the night for one reason or another, he loves when I sit in the rocker with him on my lap, and he'll just lean his head against my chest and fall asleep again. I think it's all of the time I spend with him in the wrap. He looooves being cuddled. He's a very physically needy baby---loves to be touched and needs to touch others. His favorite game is when I take his fingers and let him touch my face or my hair or my lips. While he's nursing he doesn't feel content unless he's holding my hand or touching my lips. I've tried giving him blankets or teddy bears or even my shirt to hold onto, but he will swing that little arm around and around until he finds some sort of skin to touch. :)



4.) And my all time favorite thing about my little boy is the way he looks at me and Mando. When I see him first thing in the morning, his face lights up as if he hadn't seen me in years. And when Mando comes home from work in the afternoon, no matter what kind of mood he's been in, he breaks into a grin and starts flapping his arms around. Today I had Nicholas in the Baby Bjorn and we were meeting Mando at the bank on his way home from work. I was on the sidewalk waiting for Mando to walk up, and when Nicholas saw him, he started squealing with delight and reaching out for his Dad. Then, we had to walk the whole way in to the bank so that Nicholas could touch Mando's arm. Every time his hand slipped off, he would flap it around and squawk until he found Mando's arm again :) It was really cute, although I don't think I'm explaining it quite right.
It doesn't matter how Nicholas feels (happy, sad, angry, exhausted, sick, etc.) he looks at me as if I'm the only person in the whole world that he wants to see. He just radiates love and cheerfulness all the time. Even when he's crying he looks at me as if to say, "Mom, why aren't you doing anything? I just want to be with you, can't you see that?"

I think that's my favorite part of being a mother--- I feel like I'm able to calm and soothe my baby no matter what. Just being me is all he wants from me :) Simply my smell and my touch and being near me is enough to soothe him and help him feel loved and safe. I think that's pretty cool.

Anyway, there's so many more things that I love about Nicholas, but I'm getting tired and should go to bed while I can :)

Atlantis

My two favorite guys :)


This year for spring break, my WHOLE family (except Dave, who is on his mission and was sorely missed) went to Atlantis in the Bahamas. Look at those white sand beaches :) It was a great trip. Every day we all gathered (whenever we wanted to meander over) at a small beach in the bay that was pretty close to all of the water slides and other attractions. My favorite kind of vacation is the kind where I get to just lay on a beach and read my book---which is exactly what this was. I got to sit around and read in the sun, nurse my baby, and then read some more while he napped on my chest (which is the best feeling in the world).

Mando was so excited to swim in the Atlantic ocean :) We had to hike all the way to the top of the island so we could get to the "real beach" so he could wade in the water, dunk his head, swim a couple of strokes, and then come right back out again. Funny guy.
I love spending time with my family. The best night the whole trip was when we were all supposed to be "planning" on the first night. My mom was going CRAZY because the whole first day had passed in "pure chaos" with everyone doing whatever they wanted...separately...it was really frustrating for her. Anyway, we were all supposed to meet to plan out the rest of the week, but we ended up sitting around laughing and talking for quite a few hours. I'm so glad I enjoy being with my family--- wouldn't it be sad not to enjoy the company of the people you're going to be with for eternity?

Hopefully we can go back someday when Nicholas is a little bit older and able to enjoy it more. Although, he liked the sand a lot when it was dry and he was dry, wet sand just annoyed him-- you can see him looking at his hand covered in sand in almost every picture :) The sun was a little annoying for him as well. And it was a little frustrating for both Mando and I because we wanted to play with him on the beach or in the pool, but he's not really old enough to do more than smile and laugh at our funny faces....which we can do any place. He had a BLAST playing with the beach ball, though. Check it out.


Here are some of my favorite pictures:
The whole place is like one big aquarium. It was fun to watch Nicholas take it all in. Here he is with Mando looking at one of the sting rays.
Playing in the sand...it was so hard trying to keep all of the sand toys out of his mouth.
He looks so chunky here :) I don't know why he does this stunned look so much...
Grandma playing with Nicholas. I laugh every time I see this picture just becuase of her shirt :)

They looks so wistful...

The shark tank--- that tube is a water slide that goes through the shark tank. It's actually surprisingly creepy. Even though you know you're in a tube, and you know they can't get to you, when you come out of the slide and then start to slowly lull through the clear tunnel in your little tiny inner tube with sharks sliding past the glass right next to you.....whew, well I got a little freaked.
The jellyfish. My favorite part of any aquarium.

Anyway, it was a wonderful trip. Thanks Mom and Dad for another great trip! :)